Recent content by The Hegelian

Yes, my passion has greatly diminished over the years. Passion for tdf has always been pretty low for me. I abandoned it completely during the Armstrong years. Then enjoyed the period after, only to have it destroyed by the Sky era. That was definitely the worst - I found it kind of offensive...

Very good OP. I went unsure, but I think the true answer for me is more like "Probably, but don't care". There's a lot about this generation (outside of cycling) that I don't really get. Within cycling, the level is pretty crazy, in terms of watts, climbing times, recovery, time in peak etc...

6. One for each Pogi stage win. To see yellow on the attack is something good. Historically somewhat rare. To see 3 of the big 4 all in good shape was good. Other than that, it was pretty meh. Too many sprints, and I'm not sure the quality was as good as last year. Not enough GC uncertainty...

Agree. I don't have much investment in terms of fanboy/irrational hate - which has got the thread 1000+. But I have carried a pretty legitimate skepticism about his performance in high mountain stages, 3rd week of a GT. I think he has put that to bed in this tdf, and makes him much more of a...

To the OP: yes, I am psychologically ready. I already watch Pogacar with the assumption he is probably the best ever. But this is one of those one in ten year instances where another opinion on the internet changes my own. What Penninepeddler points out here is pretty damn compelling. Palmares...

I take your point. We could lose a lot of hours on the neuroscience/phenomenology of awareness and I think maybe this could be the key area where tangible safety improvements are won. So I hope this work is done by someone connected with the UCI etc. Mindfulness can be learned. The problem...

It's part of his legend for sure, also the very tragic manner of his passing. If one was to see Jimi Hendrix on Youtube as a Grandpa, talking about his new Vegan diet, his rock star pathos would become very diluted compared to how he lives in our imagination now. Pantani as a 35 year old...

Agree. "The pure climber" in cycling is romance not reason. Great mountains themselves are kind of mythical. Pantani was just sheer romantic, mythical glory all the way down. End of story. Unsurpassed in any era I have seen.

This makes a lot of sense. I was riding bikes in traffic before I could drive a car, so I have always driven like a cyclist - a lot of awareness, the assumption that you are usually invisible, the expectation that someone probably will turn in front of you/fail to stop etc. It's saved countless...

Yeah, it is a fine balancing act. With someone with Roglic's history, you probably would sacrifice a climber or two for more rouleurs. Evans won in 2011 with this approach, with a similarly crash ridden past. I wonder if the deficiency is more about awareness rather than bike handling?

Fair point, I can't remember exactly when it was brought in. What I do remember is how crazy, dangerous and hectic the finales used to be when GC and sprinter teams would be on full gas together....and how pointless and unnecessary it was.....and how many contenders would be out with a broken...

Wrote the OP in 2020. I think things have improved quite a bit. The 3km GC stage finish rule has worked great. Maybe little tweaks like that are as good as we can do - remove those unnecessary pressure points. As a lot of people have argued, danger is inherent to the sport. I agree. The sport...

Sure - if this was purely a task of reason, no one could ever be the GOAT, because no person would meet the sufficient criteria of being able to judge objectively. But some other part of my mind, having seen a lot of exceptional riders, and knowing the rich history of different eras, can still...

Couldn't get through the first series, but kind of enjoying the second. Not sure why. I like the O'Connor subplot. Shows the pressure of being leader with high wage, big expectations and uncertainty around legs. Same with Pidcock. He comes across as a bit of psychopath, but, maybe that's what...

I've been following the sport since the early 90's. I voted GOAT now. Why? Because when I see what he is doing, I very often have the thought: "this is the best rider we will ever see." Of course I did not see Merckx, and the rational approach is to evaluate based on palmares at the end of it...