The Pro Cycling Thread

Interesting that Orica has pulled out A.Yates from Pais Vasco and replaced him with Simon. Does this have any relationship with Chaves ongoing injury issues.

Doubt Chaves will ride the TDF.

S.Yates with a dominant victory in the GP Indurain one day race - Tomorrow is La Rioja which Orica has won the last three years, though chances are limited in 2017.

RVV - Want to see Gilbert and Sagan compete in the final - No way Gilbert will follow team orders and not work with Sagan - He’ll try to rise Sagan off his wheel.

Blow for Orica with Keukeliere a last minute withdrawal with injury.

Bugger.

Actually not injured, just sick.

Gilbert wins an epic edition of RVV - The race was split on the Muur with 95kms to go - Boonen attacked and brought 14 other riders with him including Gilbert - The other favorites were caught in the second group and sadly all Orica riders were in the second group - The first group had a lead of 35 seconds on the second group coming into the Oude De Klaremont - Gilbert obliterated this section and jumped out alone with 55km to go - At this stage he was around 30 seconds to the chasing group and another 30 seconds to the Sagan group - Then Van Marcke in the chasing group fell on the flat bringing down Rowe - Yet Gilbert continues out front with a lead of 45 to 60 seonds - Part of the Sagan group caught the chasing group with around 25km to go - On to the final ascent of Klaremont - Sagan,Van Avermaat and Naeson broke away from the chasing group - Then disaster when Sagan hit the bottom of a roadside barrier bringing down Van Avermaat and Naeson - Van Avermaat quickly recovered an chased on and sprinted to second 31 seconds after Gilbert - When Sean Kelly states he can’t remember a better performance that says it all - Durbridge ended up coming 12th winning the sprint from the third group, though missing the split at Muur was costly and he probably was a little off his performances in the last two weeks - Edmondson came a fantastic 25th in his first RR - To think he was a last minute replacement for the injured Juul Jensen - He is the future - And a good ride by Cort to finish 30th which augurs well for PR - And Albasini finished 2nd to Sutherland in La Rioja - Race split in the last 30kms with a group of 12 including all Orica riders, but Sutherland has the best legs - Women’s RVV featured outstanding rides by Elvin 2nd and Van Vleute 4th in a sprint finish - Van Vleuten was in an elite group of 4 which got caught in the last km -That group stays away and Van Vleuten would have won the sprint - Today is the start of Pais Vasco - S.Yates for GC and Gerrans for the sprints.

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I think GIlbert would have been caught by the Sagan group if not for the crash.
Still, Gilbert took the risk and it paid off, good for him. I always thought it would be between Sagan, GVA and Gilbert, all three have been a cut above the rest this spring classics season.
Very impressed with Edmondson’s effort, but I did think he’d do well here.

Forgot to mention it was a pity that Boonen got a mechanical with 30kms to go - Think he will have finished on the podium - Gotta think more about my my choice for PR - Boonen will definitely finish top 5.

All Aussie finish in stage 1 of Pais Vasco - Matthews,McCarthy and Gerrans - Poor effort by Gerrans to lose Albasinis wheel with 250 metres to go - Doubt he could have beaten Matthews but could have got second.

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Paris Roubaix is always such a lottery. You always need a healthy dose of luck, as well as needing to be in top form.
Really interested how Durbo and Cort go here.

Dont like Van Avermaat or Gilbert in PR - At this stage I am leaning towards Degenkolb, Naeson,Sagan and Boonen. Van Marcke is running into form but is probably out with a broken finger - Keukeliere is definitely the number option for Orica - Interesting there is no Docker in the field.

I think GVA could do ok at PR. I’d be surprised if Gilbert rides it TBH.
Sagan hasn’t really excelled here, even if he’s made the final selection before. He’ll be a chance, of course, though.
Sep surely won’t ride with a broken finger; besides his form is lousy due to injury and sickness.
Hayman, Keukeliere and Cort all have a shot.
Boonen will surely give it a read hot go. Terpstra could be in with a show.
Stybar in with a chance, as is Kristoff.
Actually I think it’s pretty open this year.

Had the pleasure riding into the Opera House today with one of the indi pac guys that have kept on going.For a guy who has ridden 5500km plus he wasn’t mucking around!
Another arrives tomorrow so will keep her company as well through the Sydney traffic!

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Albasini wins stage 2 of Pais Vasco. Matthews was about 5th in the sprint.
Albasini is aging better than Gerrans.

I am shocked these cyclists continued racing after its cancellation because of the unfortunate death last week - It’s poor form and shows disrespect to the deceased.

Albasini rode a smart race to win the stage as the last 400 metres had two turns and he got himself into the prime position - The Ardennes and Romandie beckon.

How about this scenario - Chaves is unlikely to ride TDF and it’s too late to switch one of the Yates from the Giro - This means stage hunting is the priority - Would you switch Ewan to the TDF to win a stage or two, which at the same time allows you to provide more support to 2 x Yates at the Giro.

Not really the race was cancelled so they are not racing. We don’t know if they took a few days off when race was stopped as a mark of respect, or even stuck to the race route and rules when they started riding again.

The original race rules always offered the option of riders being able to complete the ride, even if they pulled out of the actual race. One rider Juliana got sick and was driven back to perth for medical treatment, then she restarted the ride as a non-competitor.

There are lots of reasons for riders to want to continue. Most of the riders aren’t pro-racers, they are round-the-world and cross-continent riders. I think a lot of them want to complete the ride, so they can cross it off their list. Some riders were raising money for charities … so they might have felt an obligation to complete the full ride. If a rider had come from OS, they might want to complete the ride across the continent this time, as they don’t plan to come back.

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Over the last 2 days ive met all 3 of the cyclists that have finished.As well as about 5 others that stopped and flew into Sydney for the memorial ride. They are a pretty tight bunch and all had no problem with people finish the ride.As for ronight Juliana And Davin finished. Juliana stood on the steps of the opera hpouse and said she finished the ride for MIKE…
You couldn’t meet a nicer group of riders mind you plenty of beers and pizzas on arrival have been eaten!

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I think Ewan could ride both the Giro and TdF if stage hunting was the objective. Just pull him out after stage 14 (? Can’t remember the last sprint stage at the Giro). Perhaps you offer him two leadout riders at the TdF and only one at the Giro? That leaves you plenty to provide climbing support.

Its a definite possibility but can the team devote resources to Ewan for 2 GT. The tdf looks very sprinter friendly with at least 8 sprint finishes.

Bad luck for S.Yates at Pais Vasco. Puncture with around 22kms to go when the race was on. Had teammates around but of course they are bigger than Yates so cant switch bikes. Car a long way down the convoy to change his wheel. Kreuziger and Verona tried to get back to the peleton to no avail. In saying that it seemed that Yates kept his powder dry for stage 5. De La Cruz broke away on the final climb and whizzed down the descent to hold off Kwiatkovski and McCarthy. How do we get McCarthy to Orica.

I stand by my comments about riders continuing on in the cancelled Indo Pac race.

What to you think is wrong with Chaves @yaco55 ?