Cycling 2024

This is turning out to be the most pointless classics Spring ever. Pogacar with an 80km solo in the Strade, VDP without any sort of competition in the cobbled monuments. Undoubtedly phenomenal riders and performances, but pointless to watch.

Not sure LBL and the Giro will be any better either. Let's just hope Vingegaard can recover and be in top form in the Tour.
 
I’m not even convinced the outcome would have been any different in Flanders and Roubaix if the likes of Wout, Stuyven, Kirsch, Laporte, etc. had been available. The dynamic might have been a bit different, but MVDP is just different gravy.

Let’s hope Vingegaard, Roglic and Remco have decent preparations for the Tour despite their crashes.
 
Terrible terrible year so far. Outside of Paris Nice no bigger race, be it stage race or classic, had anything to offer and no improvement in sight until the Tour. Pog will wreck everyone at LBL and the Giro and then we just have to pray that all the favorites recover till July.
 
Mike Smalling said:
I’m not even convinced the outcome would have been any different in Flanders and Roubaix if the likes of Wout, Stuyven, Kirsch, Laporte, etc. had been available. The dynamic might have been a bit different, but MVDP is just different gravy.

Let’s hope Vingegaard, Roglic and Remco have decent preparations for the Tour despite their crashes.
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The result might have been the same, but it would've been a lot more interesting to watch. These races just offered nothing.
 
Ainu said:
The result might have been the same, but it would've been a lot more interesting to watch. These races just offered nothing.
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Agree. If Lidl-Trek had a few more riders in that last 30 man group they could have mounted a chase perhaps. Or if Visma had Wout and Laporte.

40-50 km solo rides have been pretty boring. At least Sanremo had a decent finish.
 
First time in forever I turned off Roubaix before the end, genuinely can't remember the last time I did that, perhaps when Cancellara won his first one.

It took one attack and you just knew he was gone. 50km left but he would've won even with a few flat tires thrown in.

And yeah, no matter how good MVDP is, he won't stand a chance against Pogi in Liège. Those extra kg's won't do him any good when it's going up.
 
Imagine if Pogacar wins LBL and the Giro easily, and then faces a Vingegaard with poor preparation for the Tour (seems like the best case scenario for him, given he is still in hospital). Seriously underwhelming season in that case.

Could anyone challenge Pogacar at the Tour? I just don't think Roglic has it anymore.
 
That was a pretty good race to watch, and a nice win from Pidcock. Hopefully bodes well for the rest of the Ardennes classics.

Disaster for Wiebes in the women's edition though. That's gonna hurt for a long time.
 
Mike Smalling said:
That was a pretty good race to watch, and a nice win from Pidcock. Hopefully bodes well for the rest of the Ardennes classics.

Disaster for Wiebes in the women's edition though. That's gonna hurt for a long time.
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Pidcock did really well there, great seeing him win a sprint at his size. Thought Benoot looked clear favourite in the final stretch
 
whitbyviking said:
Pidcock did really well there, great seeing him win a sprint at his size. Thought Benoot looked clear favourite in the final stretch
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Benoot? He's never been a good sprinter. And don't forget Pidock once beat Van Aert in a sprint in the Brabantse Pijl, and some would say in the Amstel Gold Race as well.

In any case, this was an exciting finish. More of that in LBL please! Though with Pogacar taking part, who am I kidding?
 
Ainu said:
Benoot? He's never been a good sprinter. And don't forget Pidock once beat Van Aert in a sprint in the Brabantse Pijl, and some would say in the Amstel Gold Race as well.

In any case, this was an exciting finish. More of that in LBL please! Though with Pogacar taking part, who am I kidding?
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I wasn’t expecting a sprint sprint, more of an every man for himself broken dash from about 1km out and Benoot was looking strong. If he’d moved towards the fence he’d have blocked Pidcock and Hirschi in too, so he missed out there.

Pidcock definitely beat Van Aert that year at Amstel, even Benji from the Lanterne Rouge admits it. :lol:

Lookong forward to LBL, think Pogacar can be got at to hopefully make it a bit interesting.
 
It'll be a non-race just like the Ronde and Roubaix. None of them can even remotely come close to what Pogi can do uphill. He'll be more fresh, more motivated and just plain simple a lot better than his opponents. If he doesn't crash, he's a guarantee to win for me.

Best case scenario is he waits until the Roche aux Faucons. Worst case, he's gone at Redoute just like Remco last year.
 
Crazy conditions for Fleche Wallone today! Just saw a clip of Skjelmose fully hypothermic after he DNF'ed. Tough one for him after being one of the pre-race favorites. Great effort from Kragh Andersen, but 60 km solo in those conditions was never going to be easy. Great finish from Williams!

Also, delightful win for Niewiadoma in the women's edition :drool: didn't realize it had been that long since her last road victory.
 
So far, this is going exactly as everyone predicted: Pogacar solo on La Redoute and the race is virtually done. Impressive, but not much reason to watch the last 30 km.
 


So great to see! Almost exactly four weeks since he broke his collarbone and several ribs. Hope we get to see his best at the Tour.
 
Well, this Giro is going exactly as expected so far. Basically done and dusted within a week and not a hint of excitement in sight, much like the rest of this cycling season.

Can 2025 get here already? Assuming it's going to be any better then of course.
 
Ainu said:
Well, this Giro is going exactly as expected so far. Basically done and dusted within a week and not a hint of excitement in sight, much like the rest of this cycling season.

Can 2025 get here already? Assuming it's going to be any better then of course.
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I mean cycling is already pretty stale when its basically Pogacar vs Team Jumbo Visma for everything.

Evenepoel isn't going to step up to that level, his climbing just isnt good enough.

You just got to pray someone like Ayuso, Gregoire, Martinez really kicks on, Pidcock focuses on road and gets a 5% boost, or one of the younger prodigies like AJ August step up.
 
actually, AJ august is my biggest hope for someone eventually breaking the TJV vs Pogacar farce.

The guy at the age of 17 did 7.2w/kg for 14 minutes to beat a climbing record.
 
AfonsoAlves said:
It's clearly an attempt to downplay French riders doping - I mean all of those got busted. Why is Froome, getting busted for Salbutamol after this graph was made, somehow a worse doper or "more suspicious" than Fignon who was on Ampethamines and god knows what, or Voeckler who was on a full fledged Europacar EPO program that resulted in their team getting suspended?
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How is that an attempt to downplay anything. The graph is based on the max power generated at each turns, it just happens that the french riders don't have the highest watts for l'Alpe d'Huez. None of that tells you who is a worse doper.

Also the source of that graph is cyclisme-dopage.com and the data is from chronowatts, the former repertory virtually every doping incident and the other one is a website about watts. Neither are even close to mainstream media.
 
Ainu said:
Well, this Giro is going exactly as expected so far. Basically done and dusted within a week and not a hint of excitement in sight, much like the rest of this cycling season.

Can 2025 get here already? Assuming it's going to be any better then of course.
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Just gotta pray that Vingegaard can make it to the Tour, and maybe that Roglic can roll back the years abit. And then there is of course the Olympics and World Championship to look forward to. But yeah, it's been underwhelming - especially the cobbled monuments.
 
Pogacar with 5 stage wins, and a +7 minute GC lead in the Giro. Cool.

Vingegaard better be ready for the Tour.
 
Mike Smalling said:
Pogacar with 5 stage wins, and a +7 minute GC lead in the Giro. Cool.

Vingegaard better be ready for the Tour.
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Doubtful he will be, he had a nasty injury.

Cycling is just really boring nowadays, and I've lost the will to watch.

It's just Pogacar vs TJV in every big race with MVDP sliding in in some classics.
 
AfonsoAlves said:
Doubtful he will be, he had a nasty injury.

Cycling is just really boring nowadays, and I've lost the will to watch.

It's just Pogacar vs TJV in every big race with MVDP sliding in in some classics.
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There’s always the hope that Pog will be a bit fatigued after the giro, but seeing as all he has to do is follow the rest of the race, it’s prob unlikely.
 
Fastest Giro in history they reckon, around 2.5km/h faster than the previous best. Pogacar destroying everything in his path with ease. I know he's supremely talented and facing a reduced quality field, but I can't help feeling we're in the midst of another doping era and it just hasn't come out yet.
 
Badunk said:
Fastest Giro in history they reckon, around 2.5km/h faster than the previous best. Pogacar destroying everything in his path with ease. I know he's supremely talented and facing a reduced quality field, but I can't help feeling we're in the midst of another doping era and it just hasn't come out yet.
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I'd be surprised if they blood dope and use EPO and growth hormone like in the 90's and 00's. But it's probably pretty likely that they use some other substances that are in a grey zone. A bit like when Bradley Wiggins had a bunch of therapeutic use exemptions. And maybe some of them micro-dose for parts of the year.
 
Mike Smalling said:
I'd be surprised if they blood dope and use EPO and growth hormone like in the 90's and 00's. But it's probably pretty likely that they use some other substances that are in a grey zone. A bit like when Bradley Wiggins had a bunch of therapeutic use exemptions. And maybe some of them micro-dose for parts of the year.
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They're always one step ahead. Pogacar seems pretty fresh despite being at the end of a 3 week grand tour.
 
Badunk said:
Fastest Giro in history they reckon, around 2.5km/h faster than the previous best. Pogacar destroying everything in his path with ease. I know he's supremely talented and facing a reduced quality field, but I can't help feeling we're in the midst of another doping era and it just hasn't come out yet.
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The doping era started in the 80s and never stopped. Of course Pogačar is doping, so is everyone else. You think Jumbo Visma isn't the new US Postal/Discovery? Please. They're the same people from Rabobank
 
Badunk said:
They're always one step ahead. Pogacar seems pretty fresh despite being at the end of a 3 week grand tour.
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That's because he's been pretty sure of victory since two weeks ago and has been in economy mode ever since apart from the stages he won, which are just short high wattage outputs similar to training blocks for him.

Did we really expect a real battle here from 38-year old Geraint Thomas? The field hasn't been this weak in a grand Tour in forever and they are up against the biggest phenomenon cycling has seen maybe ever.
 
Another huge crash in the pro peloton - this time in Criterium du Dauphine. Dylan van Baarle and Steven Kruijswijk both driven away in ambulances, so it looks bleak for them with respect to Tour participation. If Vingegaard does make it, that's two really good domestiques missing.

This season has been awful.
 
Good to see Roglic on form and taking both the win and yellow today. I don’t think it matters much when he’s up against Pogacar, but I’m going to tell myself that he can put up a fight.
 
Mike Smalling said:
Good to see Roglic on form and taking both the win and yellow today. I don’t think it matters much when he’s up against Pogacar, but I’m going to tell myself that he can put up a fight.
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I get the opposite impression actually. On a climb like today, he should be putting over a minute into someone like Guillo ciccone, not 3s
 
On another note Remco looked bad on a climb that suited him, could be ominous form or could be a result of crash
 
AfonsoAlves said:
On another note Remco looked bad on a climb that suited him, could be ominous form or could be a result of crash
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He has been pretty open that he doesn’t really know where his form is. I think he’s still finding it after the Basque Country crash. But he was never going to be a GC contender in the Tour anyway.
 
AfonsoAlves said:
I get the opposite impression actually. On a climb like today, he should be putting over a minute into someone like Guillo ciccone, not 3s
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Yeah, this turned out to be right. I thought he looked strong the last two days, but today he was beaten by Gee and Jorgensson and nearly lost GC. He's not gonna challenge Pogacar unfortunately.
 
New season of the Netflix Tour de France series dropped yesterday. I'm about halfway in, and so far most of it is dedicated to just shitting on Ben O'Connor :lol:
 
I think Remco will be fine. He was pretty clear that he'd treat le Dauphine as training, and after a week of racing there, coupled with a week in the mountains and some tapering before the 29th, he should be in good shape.

Primoz will also be a contender, but that depends heavily on whether he can avoid any crashes.

As for Jonas, I'm not so sure. Reports of a punctured lung and a significant hospital stay in Spain suggest he had a pretty severe crash. Mere mortals wouldn't even think about getting back on the bike for a long time after such an incident. Of course, Jonas is not a mere mortal, but Le Tour might be coming a tad too soon for him. Tadej is my top pick, but he just won Il Giro, and there’s a reason why the Giro-Tour double hasn't been done since Marco Pantani.

It will be an interesting Tour. I expect UAE to set a fierce pace in the initial stages to challenge Jonas, who may not be at full strength, and establish an early lead.
 
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