The Peloton
For observations and comments on the Pro scene.
Race Results 2019 - Men
| Event | First | Second | Third | Forth | Fifth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Omloop Het Nieublad Elite | Stybar | van Avermaet | Wellens | Lutsenko | Teuns |
| Kuurne Brussels Kuurne | Jungles | Doull | Terpstra | Groenewegen | Lampaert |
| Strade Bianche | Alaphilippe | Fuglsang | van Aert | Stybar | Benoot |
| Paris - Nice (8d) | Bernal | Quintana | Kwiatkowski | Haig | Bardet |
| Tirreno Adriatico (7d) | Roglic | A Yates | Fuglsang | Dumoulin | Pinot |
| Milan San Remo | Alaphilippe | Naesen | Kwiatkowski | Sagan | Mohoric |
| Volta Ciclista a Catalunya (7d) | Lopez | Yates | Bernal | Quintana | Kruijswijk |
| E3 Harelbeke | Stybar | van Aert | van Avermaet | Bettiol | Jungels |
| Gent - Wevelgem | Kristoff | Degenkolb | Naesen | van der Poel | van Poppel |
| Tour of Flanders | Bettiol | Asgreen | Kristoff | van der Poel | Politt |
| Paris-Roubaix | Gilbert | Pollit | Lampaert | Vanmarke | Sagan |
| Amstel Gold Race | |||||
| La Fleche Wallonne | |||||
| Liege - Bastogne - Liege | |||||
| Tour de Romandie | |||||
| Giro d'Italia | |||||
| Criterium du Dauphine | |||||
| Tour de Suisse | |||||
| Le Tour de France | |||||
| Clasica Ciclista San Sebastian | |||||
| Vuelta a Espana | |||||
| Tour of Britain | |||||
| Grand Prix Cycliste de Montreal | |||||
| UCI Road World Championships | |||||
| Giro di Lombardia |
Race Results 2019 - Women
| Event | First | Second | Third | Forth | Fifth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Omloop het Nieuwsblad | Blaak | Bastianelli | van den Bos | van Vleuten | Ryan |
| Strade Bianche | van Vleuten | Langvad | Niewiadoma | Bastianelli | Ludwig |
| Ronde van Drenthe | Bastianelli | Blaak | van Dijk | Pieters | Kopecky |
| Trofeo Alfredo Binda Women | Vos | Spratt | Ludwig | Chursina | Cecchini |
| Driedaagse Brugge - de Panne Women | Wild | Wiebers | Kopecky | Lepisto | Anderson |
| Gent-Wevelgem | Wild | Wiebes | Paternoster | Bastianelli | Pieters |
| Tour of Flanders | Bastianelli | van Vleuten | Ludwik | Bertizzolo | van Dijk |
| Amstel Gold Race | |||||
| La Fleche Wallonne | |||||
| Liege-Bastogne-Liege Femmes | |||||
| OVO Energy Women's Tour | |||||
| Giro d'Italia Internazionale Femminile | |||||
| La Course by Le Tour de France Women | |||||
| GP de Plouay | |||||
| UCI Road World Championships |
So I guess King Sagan wasn’t quite done after all! What an incredible performance that was.
It’s a funny old season in terms of folk at peak performance. Maybe suits those who respond well to a short buildup whereas some of the perceived GT favourites are better with a long slow season burn.
That can actually be seen in more sports than cycling. I have never seen as many goals scored per game of football as in the start of this season in the English Premier League. 5-2, 6-1, 7-2, 4-3, with a bunch of silly looking mistakes. It looks exactly like what you say, these elite sports stars are having to play themselves into shape rather than complete a full preseason and it happens much faster for some than others.
Paris Roubaix cancelled due to worsening Covid situation.
https://www.velonews.com/news/road/paris-roubaix-canceled-due-to-coronavirus/
Not much else they could have done really. What an unholy mess this entire year has been…
Amstel Gold races (men and femmes) cancelled.
https://www.velonews.com/news/road/amstel-gold-race-canceled-amid-tightening-covid-19-restrictions/?fbclid=IwAR3f_TtJQjNW6sPOG4v4DR20TZdDjKmkEEZodKwn89lYfJIYYWBcjKe4rQw
If anyone wants to know why the pros are pros and were are just dilettantes: https://www.velonews.com/training/power-analysis-uci-elite-mens-world-road-cycling-championships/ Using time differences and VAM-based calculations, we can estimate that the front group was riding at well over 7w/kg on the final climb of the Gallisterna, with Alaphilippe’s attack coming at over 8w/kg. Compared to Kuss’ time of 3:58 (at 7w/kg) on lap 7, Alaphilippe climbed the Gallisterna in a time of 3:30, with a ridiculous VAM of 2177 meters per hour. Julian Alaphilippe – lap 9 on the steep section of Gallisterna: Time: 3:30 (Estimated) Average Power: ~465-500w (~7.5-8w/kg) Keep in mind that… Read more »
And if it had been figures posted by Froome the internet would be having a field day!
I think we may have to admit that these guys are just better than we are…
Adam Yates signs for Team Ineos
Introducing these rules for race organisation and management would seem to make a lot of sense.
https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/van-emden-makes-10-rider-safety-proposals-we-are-not-circus-animals/?fbclid=IwAR12RLziihcoKFLXMYliGM1WDyuLUbnB7cRJZUiTGJZaaNlqctrHXgbYN1Q
Nifty tap dancing by Brailsford. Bernal – Tour; G – Giro; Froome – Vuelta. Covers the bases and avoids seeing G and Froome being embarrassed in the big one..
Yea, watching Froome and Thomas at the Dauphine it was clear they didn’t have the form now. I question whether Froome will have it by the time the Vuelta rolls around. Frankly, it didn’t look like Bernal had the form now either but maybe he will as the Tour progresses. Should be a wide open and exciting Tour. Can’t wait!
Wow! G and Froome left off the Ineos team for Le Tour. Not many teams could afford to exclude a total of five Tour victories from their squad.
Froome is clearly not on the numbers and G is not currently hitting the front with any conviction so I don’t think they had much choice. I suspected at the end of last season that they would target winning all 3 GTs – though I was not guessing they’d do it the way they have announced.
An interesting analysis for those that know far more than me about power stats. At least it’s go FB conspiracy theorists going about someone other than INEOS for a change!
https://www.velonews.com/training/power-analysis-sepp-kuss-on-stage-5-of-the-criterium-du-dauphine/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=velonews&utm_campaign=bfcb4623-6a77-4c29-a4fc-9b3db3ca1e7f
Interesting that Quintana is struck by a car while training only days after he was critical of Colombian agent’s dealings with young cyclists.
Happy Birthday to Eddy Merckx. 75 years young today.
Bon anniversaire au cannibale!
Anti-doping samples from 2017 Tour de France retested in light of Operation Aderlass information
In spite of myself I watched the he new ESPN 30 for 30. It was the story of some cyclist, whose name escapes me, from Texas.
Did anyone else feel the need to watch this “documentary?” If so, I would love to know the impressions of anyone who, like me, couldn’t look away from this train wreck.
I hope everyone is safe, well, and able to ride outdoors, albeit with appropriate social distancing.
I found it surprisingly easy to find something better to do!
Oh and yes we’ve been able to ride outdoors all through this, so far. Interestingly though, I have been limiting my mileage per ride but now we are able to take unlimited exercise so stepped back up a bit. I seem to have discovered a couple of things 1) I’m now optimised for 50Km, 80Km seems a long way 2) 80Km with no cafe stop (they are all still shut) makes it even further!
I am glad that you found something better to do on Sunday. I planned on avoiding the show but my morbid curiosity got the better of me. I know what you mean about riding. My last real weekend of riding included a total of 219.8 KM with 2,715 vertical meters of climbing. For me at least that is pretty good form for mid-March. This past weekend I did my longest ride since that weekend. The 65.4 KM and 553 meters of climbing seemed like the Bataan Death March. My goodness where did that early season form go? We in NYC… Read more »
I’ve been able to get out frequently the last few months. Like you, I seem to be trapped in a 50-70km vortex. It seems to fit into the time I have available. As my fitness gets better, I’m ready to do longer rides, but the weather conspires against me. Today it’s supposed to be 112 degrees (44* C). Water stops are few and far between.
A couple of months ago I watched Stop at Nothing. From commentary of the ESPN story, it sounds like an almost identical narrative. Because of that, I doubt I’ll watch this 30 for 30 of some random Texan cyclist. Also, I heard a podcast interview a while ago, the voice of the person was suspiciously similar to the cyclist in Stop at Nothing. There was a lot of refection, perhaps some wisdom and humbleness creeping in as he aged. But then it ended with – knowing what he knows now, would he do it all over again? He said yes,… Read more »
I watched because … why not? I even added the Sling TV Orange package to get ESPN so I could watch. Nothing new or real revelations. Like him or hate him, Lance is Lance. And he (and his era) are part of the history of our sport.
So what are the chances of pro racing coming back by limiting or entirely excluding spectators at the start and finish? Do you think fans would generally stay distanced on the rest of the course? Personally, I prefer watching the races on TV so I can see the whole race, rather than momentary glimpses of the peloton as it roars by. It would be fun to hang out at the start or finish, but if that was eliminated, do you think most people would just stay home and watch on TV?
Well, I can see how it would be feasible lockdown the start/finish areas (towns/resorts) but the issue would be the classic parts of any event. ie the cobbled climbs on The Classics, the mountain stages on the GTs. So many people would still try to travel that the roads would be gridlocked if they tried to lock them down and then the event probably would not be able to get through. Not sure I can see it happening.
It would be great to have an Autumn Series of The Classics if only for this to come off.
https://racing.trekbikes.com/stories/trek-segafredo-women/first-ever-womens-paris-roubaix-announced-for-october?fbclid=IwAR37YzKZRkGSXtFkMP7QOnjaraGvuvIcTrSsAD8EANMWnd1Ddho0YSHbVNo
It appears that the handwriting is on the wall for pro cycling. The comments of the French Minister of Sports and the harsh reality that CCC is closing stores and restructuring make for a bleak outlook for the sport. While I understand the Minister’s point, I believe that a year sans the TdF may make sponsors reluctant to spend money on what is essentially advertising. In addition, closing stores and costs, as CCC is doing, makes it impossible to justify the expenditures necessary for a pro cycling sponsorship. As a result, I am concerned that we may not see any… Read more »
Another one bites the dust: https://www.cyclingweekly.com/news/racing/jim-ochowicz-confirms-ccc-will-end-sponsorship-at-end-of-season-457445?utm_source=&utm_medium=cyclingweekly&utm_content=4ecbddd9-b6cb-4239-bb61-a54bbe30f613
The fallout from the COVID crisis should be a wake up call that pro cycling’s business model is outdated and not sustainable.
It would be nice if the world could get back to enough normality for Strade Bianche on Aug 1st….
https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/strade-bianche-on-august-1-could-be-first-race-on-post-covid-19-calendar/?fbclid=IwAR3pvbaT5AvCQOhsA9C9GnQQrT_Yu8aGxGjavAAKBUo8OxP0fkNzAuWUbh4
For the rest of you who may be going through racing withdrawal GCN Racing will broadcast De Ronde Lockdown Edition where 13 pro racers compete virtually:
GlobalCyclingNetwork @gcntweet
We are very excited to announce that we will be broadcasting the De Ronde Lockdown edition tomorrow as 13 of the world’s best pro cyclists go head to head on a virtual edition of the Tour of Flanders. Tune in live at 14:30BST
I am planning on catching that but just discovered it’s only the last 32 Km. So just a quick sprint. Thought they might do a bit more than that.
https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/evenepoel-van-avermaet-van-aert-to-race-virtual-tour-of-flanders-on-sunday/
The screen freezes make it pretty crap. I’d also have thought that the graphics would change the road surface when the cobbled sections are so well known.
This is quite funny, De Gendt pulled from Zwift face for pushing too high numbers……
https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/de-gendt-pulled-from-zwift-race-for-going-too-fast/?fbclid=IwAR0oRlDeMIT45NAdgwUG_g50Zcw9FQfVlt0tAzAw1OulzXMqzsNys1nYzso
A bit more lock down viewing. The Flanders Classics channel has a good selection of Spring Classics including behind the scenes type coverage from the team cars etc.
Good for an hour or two on the rollers or turbo.
https://www.youtube.com/user/FlandersClassics1
I was watching Gilbert’s 2017 win in RVV yesterday. That was some ride.
@chris I had him in mind on 2018 RVV when we set off for the last drag after the final climb back into Oudenaarde. Though just hadn’t quite realised it was so far to the finish from the bottom of the descent! Great day though. Not quite at that level of fitness these days.
A bit superficial but interesting nonetheless……
https://www.velonews.com/2019/04/news/flanders-vs-roubaix-what-do-the-riders-think_492009?fbclid=IwAR1Q7J1NeLtb_dfm8YagzsQYgJ6LN9mR3kRhUW2ubWamPR9vJsp8bn8rkrc
Oh THIS should be entertaining!
New Netflix series reveals tensions between Quintana and Landa during 2019 season
Indeed that could well be an interesting way of spending a few hours of lockdown.
This could turn out to be a pretty curtailed season. I wonder how many sponsors will be looking at cutting costs/involvement as a result. There could be quite a knock on impact on pro cycling.
All Italian sport suspended in the latest ramps of the lockdown in Italy.
https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/prognosis-worsens-for-grand-tours-as-coronavirus-crisis-deepens/?fbclid=IwAR0OqRq3DgnYQ6e9_4uxp0X_Nh_8wHEGJxWr9ZxObgOlcOCYnqcrvOd1I8I
https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/coronavirus-lappartient-say-cancelling-giro-ditalia-and-tour-de-france-would-be-a-disaster-for-cycling/?fbclid=IwAR0_SfZe27jzdpWyMkE1e6fITliYgj0UZnEZc5Ou7OARIj-5S4Hx-bB5Utc
From Team INEOS Team INEOS have today taken the decision to withdraw temporarily from all racing until the Volta a Catalunya on March 23. We have notified the UCI that we will not be competing in any races during this period. We have taken this decision given the unique set of circumstances we are facing following yesterday’s tragic news about Nico Portal. And clearly we recognise there is also a very uncertain situation with Coronavirus more widely. We will not be racing the following races: – Strade Bianche – Paris-Nice – Tirreno-Adriatico – Milan-San Remo – Nokere Koerse – Bredene… Read more »
Very sad news about Nico Portal. Seems to have been a top bloke in all respects. A real asset to Ineos. But here’s the question. They hire someone like Portal, and yet continue to employ Moscon. It seems that Ratcliffe keeps away from the team management, but if a regular employee of Ineos behaved as Moscon has: assault, racism, violent behavior in the workplace, they’d have been fired long ago.