Recent content by hayneplane

It probably would not be wholly solo but bridging to a small group. Every chance of some mutual cooperation from UAE teammates like Del Toro and Almeida who are also their countries best chance of a podium so have no great conflicts of interest. Such moves would benefit the chances of good...

I know Slovenia will have a very weak team but I honestly can’t see a scenario short of a serious crash or illness where he doesn’t just scythe through the field and destroy everyone. He might have to go from 150 out to cover secondary challengers from Belgium/Italy/France/USA if it is an...

Not much of an uphill sprint with the last 3.4km being at barely 2.5% average gradient.

What kind of support can you offer from 2km further down the mountain?

Feels absurd that they are kicking off with 10km at 10% right out of the box which would be compelling viewing with riders strung out all over the mountain yet they are not going to broadcast it. Would far rather watch the morning road stage than the ITT in the afternoon.

He would be co-leader at every classic that Pogacar doesn’t race but yes you would think that Ineos would be a much better option as would Soudal Quickstep from a sporting sense but they might struggle to afford to meet his demands financially.

There could be a grey jersey for best over 21 rider.

Totally. I think every rider should feel free to race to win whatever they can whether that is a sprinter, climber, GC rider or one who can win almost anywhere.

Not sure if it’s a deliberate policy or not but I have noticed the team always being referred to as IPT on the TNT coverage of the Vuelta when previously I am fairly sure they were usually referred to by their full team name.

Ooof. Why couldn’t he have thought about the consequences for my CQ ranking team and waited until after La Vuelta to fall out with the team 🤣

I actually think with it being so short there is a good chance of proper break formation action as teams might think there is a strong chance that a break could stick all the way if big engines like Campanaerts, Ganna, Kung make a big push. The other likely scenario is Lidl Trek drilling the...

Kind of nice to watch it with some suspense of not being certain who would win but equally I would have enjoyed watching Pogacar put everyone to the sword Flèche Wallone style.

The drafting benefits of there still being a group of 40+ riders until the last 500 metres must be huge.

Looks like they will only even really start to notice they are climbing until the last 4-5kms. Given no team will likely see any value in ripping it up am I being insane to think Mads Pedersen might survive this to the end.

Now that they have Lipowitz as their star rider I would expect them to pivot Bach to a parcours where a climber can win the GC.