Recent content by Devil's Elbow

It feels wrong to have an Australian NC where Vine and Plapp are (virtually) irrelevant to the game.

I'm seeing a lot of speculation that undergoing four separate operations on the same iliac artery might not have been the best/safest idea, but without input from medical professionals it's hard to say whether it's because of that or just down to horrible luck.

Colbrelli has said he can still run, ride a bike and ski at a recreational level. I would wager Iserbyt would happily trade positions.

Iserbyt says that he will likely not just be unable to bike, but also to run in any meaningful capacity ever again. What a horrible outcome this is, short of fatal accidents I struggle to remember any cyclists whose bodies were ravaged worse by pursuing the career they dreamed of. It also sounds...

SafeBet had Van Aert, actually.

Lyme disease and shingles.

We'll probably never know, but it's not impossible that he made things worse by trying to ride through it last winter when it had already been diagnosed.

Correct, first pro cyclist from Martinique. I did have a look at him, but it sounded like he was mostly going to be on leadout duty this year.

It really isn't that uncommon a name in the Netherlands and Flanders, although a bit old-fashioned these days. In fact, you have more than two Gerbens in cycling - 14-time Vuelta and 6-time Tour stage winner Gerben Karstens and Dutch CX and MTB national coach Gerben de Knegt come to mind.

You mean the Gerben Thijssen who has done 0 (UCI-sanctioned) CX races in his life?

...he says when discussing Pogacar, a rider not from western Europe, who very obviously cares more about the monuments than the Giro/Vuelta.

Penhoët was on my shortlist, he's definitely better than his score and to an extent his level was also better than his score last year. Ultimately I didn't go for him because there were enough other options that I either judged to be safer or thought had a higher ceiling, but he makes perfect...

For me, the main issue with Seixas doing the Tour would be the massive media storm it would bring on. Not impossible that he would crack under the resulting pressure. Also not convinced he can manage three separate form peaks this early in his career. All in all, doing the Vuelta feels like it...

Pogacar went from 2044 to 3656 in 2021 and was nowhere near the optimal team. Obviously 2021 is not the most representative year, but I reckon 2026 will be high-scoring enough to prevent Evenepoel from being an optimal pick.

Plapp having a terrible ride during the Aussie summer, the world must be ending.