2019 PRO thread

[CrankAddictsRich]

I agree with sychen... but also thinks its a combintaion of that and less prevalant doping. I'm not naive enough to say there is NO doping in pro cycling. I think there is, but I also think that as a whole it is cleaner than it was, say 10 years ago. I think this cleaner peloton means that the delta between young, fresh talent and seasoned pros is smaller and it means that pro teams are looking more favorably at the young talent and willing to give them a chance to move up prove themselves at an earlier age. From a budget standpoint, this is also favorable because it is sure less expensive to hire a young neopro than it is someone that has been in the pro ranks already and has a proven track record.

[Orbital]

It’s across the board in a lot of sports. The money involved, the potential contracts, the specialized coaching available, even the lack of uncertainty that these kids are able to carve out a lucrative lifestyle if they focus and put in the work. In hockey, a lot of the excitement is watching rookies come into the league as teenagers and do things with the puck we’ve never seen before. These kids have no fear to be creative and try things.

[mendiz]

Again talking about the poster and not the message. The poster that wrote " you need help"

I am a fan of pro cycling, I am completely sure I have seen more races from 1985 than you, Fignon when a rival fell he attacked every time.
Nowadays I do not like that when someone fell sometimes attack , another times is seen like dirty move.
When Sagan and Cancellara fell in Roubaix 2016, Quick step put an incredible speed seconds later with Tony Martin and Boonen, the race was "not on" and was 155kms to final.
For me always I like attack in every situation. If you pinch , bad luck, if you do a Dumoulin in Giro 2017, you had to go to toilet before.
The absurd for me in pro cycling is who decide when is on or is off the race.
I did not like Movistar attack because they normally is a coward team attacking. They prefer wait and they had a lot kms to attack Roglic in 3 weeks.
Roglic by the way he did not fall, he sit waiting in a wall.

The same when US Postal when Zulle in Tour 1999 fell in Gois.
Or when Sky in Vuelta 2012 and Katusha and Valverde fell because a Sky rider.

Serious lack of class from Movistar.

You do realise I’d say the same about any team.

Stop defining yourself by being a fan. Open your eyes.

[Calnago]

I’m not sure how I feel about the whole “unwritten” rule thing. On the one hand, of course I’m going to wait for my buddy if he punctures, maybe even fix it for him. But that’s not a race. I think it’s easy to hold up a bit for the Leaders Jersey when there’s no chance of things changing as far as the end results go. But things become a lot grayer when not waiting could put you in the leaders jersey. It is a race after all. If you choose to be in the front, working hard, one of the payoffs might be that you don’t get caught up in any of the potential chaos behind, so it could be argued that being in front was part of your race strategy and while it may be harder up there, it pays off in situations like this. Crashes like that are unfortunate for sure but they are part of racing. As for mechanicals, that’s not gray at all for me. If your bike breaks, too bad, in a race where sponsors play a huge role, reliability of equipment is paramount. If someone’s derailleur stops functioning or they drop a chain, I’d be attacking that misfortune immediately. Punctures, while not really in the same class as a mechanical just boil down to bad luck for everyone, but heading into the final stretch I don’t think I’d be slowing up because so and so got a flat.
I dunno... but clearly, it is a grey area, and certainly the majority in this instance, including race officials, thought it was rather poor opportunistic behavior on Movistar’s part.

[AJS914]

It seems that the unwritten rule applies more to three week grand tours than, say, Paris Roubaix. At PR, the race never stops. And PR is a race of positioning and selecting durable equipment.

In any case, Movistar attacking after this crash is low class. Pogacar attacking with 40km to go and taking a place on the podium = high class.

[mattr]

When Sagan and Cancellara fell in Roubaix 2016, Quick step put an incredible speed seconds later with Tony Martin and Boonen, the race was "not on" and was 155kms to final.

Wasn't that the year when Boonen went to the front and slowed the bunch down until they were back on?

[spdntrxi]

It seems that the unwritten rule applies more to three week grand tours than, say, Paris Roubaix. At PR, the race never stops. And PR is a race of positioning and selecting durable equipment.

In any case, Movistar attacking after this crash is low class. Pogacar attacking with 40km to go and taking a place on the podium = high class.

in a one-day... you dont have a leader as in a GC, the leader is whomever is in front at that second. so yeah no waiting.

[Calnago]

Yeah, for sure in a one day event there’s no “sure, I’ll wait for ya” stuff going on. But when it’s coming down to the wire in even a 3 week grand tour, the last couple of stages or so that could make a difference, it becomes almost like a one day scenario as well. I guess there’s no one right answer, other than “It depends”. Gray as the Seattle skies in the fall. Or winter. Or a lot of the spring lol.

[mendiz]

Bernal and Roglic can in Giro Lombardia win GT and monument same year, since Di Luca in 2007 does not happen. I am excited for this Worlds in Yorkshire, Van der Poel is the favourite in betting odds.
What next years we can see, is incredible, with Evenepoel, Pogacar, van der Poel, Bernal and van Aert.
Very comical the gesture of Trentin when he could not pass VDP in Tour Great Bretain opening his arms and writing in Twitter he was vanderpoelized.

[tymon_tm]

Have to think that modern training methods and data availability to everyone does bridge the age gap..

FWIW training methods of - say - the 2000's were better than those in the 80's, those in the 80's were again better than in the 60's, and so on... sure, it's a valid argument and tech is big game changer here, although I believe that willingness to cheat is more about the mental side than anything else. cyclists do have more at stake now, with seven figures contracts being a common thing at WT level, but hey - 20 or 30 years ago money cyclists earned, although a lot smaller, were also significant factor - they just didn't all live in Monaco back then.

[mendiz]

Remco attacking from 56 kms in Montreal right now, this guy is incredible.

[LouisN]

A little warm up scenario for Belgium for Worlds...

Louis

[kgt]

BTW... Vuelta's top 5:

1 ROGLIČ, Primož (JUMBO - VISMA) semi aero frame - rim brakes
2 VALVERDE, Alejandro (MOVISTAR) non aero frame - rim brakes
3 POGAČAR, Tadej (UAE TEAM EMIRATES) non aero frame - rim brakes
4 QUINTANA, Nairo (MOVISTAR) non aero frame - rim brakes
5 LOPEZ MORENO, Miguel Angel (ASTANA PRO) non aero frame - rim brakes

[spdntrxi]

BTW... Vuelta's top 5:

1 ROGLIČ, Primož (JUMBO - VISMA) semi aero frame - rim brakes
2 VALVERDE, Alejandro (MOVISTAR) non aero frame - rim brakes
3 POGAČAR, Tadej (UAE TEAM EMIRATES) non aero frame - rim brakes
4 QUINTANA, Nairo (MOVISTAR) non aero frame - rim brakes
5 LOPEZ MORENO, Miguel Angel (ASTANA PRO) non aero frame - rim brakes

pretty all world cyclist to boot.. regardless of frame and brake setup... I will counter with my short version..

12,4,5 Made in China.
3 team is known for using Chinese frames as well. If v2r another one for the chinese... and it's semi-aero

[dominikk]

Maybe they should stop riding like dicks then. Cause and effect.

Agree 100%.

Lame excuse of about to attack was a weak as pi$$.

Lopez summary was right. Shouldn’t have apologised