Étoile de Bessèges 2021 (February 3-7)

[tobydawq]

Nibali 13th. In the bag

Damn, I was just going to post that xD

Now we just have to determine what it is that is in the bag. Olympic gold? Giro win? MSR? Vélo dOr? Ballon d'Or?

 

[RedheadDane]

Those aren't parked cars. This is a classic small race thing. It's just oncoming traffic being stopped and directed to the side of the road when the front of the race reaches them. It makes racing super nervous and dangerous.

I could understand that happening in a amateur race (cat.2 or lower) because organisers simply wouldn't have the means to completely block traffic, but a cat.1 race? And coming directly towads a full peloton like that.

Spoiler: Not really a spoiler, just not super relevant for this race...

Hate it! Especially given what happened in Denmark two years ago...

 

[Faserr]

Maybe a gift for old time's sake.

Nah, when you run out of anaerobic reserves, you run out. It happens in such a finale, and he had been doing quite a long effort.

Yes, Laporte increased his speed again a bit in the last 100-200 metres when he saw that Bouhanni was in his slipstream and Bouhanni was cooked

 

[gerundium]

I could understand that happening in a amateur race (cat.2 or lower) because organisers simply wouldn't have the means to completely block traffic, but a cat.1 race? And coming directly towads a full peloton like that.

Spoiler: Not really a spoiler, just not super relevant for this race...

Hate it! Especially given what happened in Denmark two years ago...

completely agree, it's not a good look for a pro-level race. it's really sketchy the way the peloton has to weave to miss the cars.

 

[wheresmybrakes]

Damn, I was just going to post that xD

Now we just have to determine what it is that is in the bag. Olympic gold? Giro win? MSR? Vélo dOr? Ballon d'Or?

Silly question....all of them!

 

[Red Rick]

Damn, I was just going to post that xD

Now we just have to determine what it is that is in the bag. Olympic gold? Giro win? MSR? Vélo dOr? Ballon d'Or?

Moral Vélo dOr winner, by CN forum.

 

[Jungle Cycle]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1357008369731665922

View: https://twitter.com/DataCycling/status/1357008369731665922

 

[Simurgh]

Good win for Laporte, definitely the strongest. Surprisingly strong showing from Nacer as well. Hoping to see more battles between the two. Wow, it feels good to watch some competetive bike racing again! Cyclocross is fun, but road racing is something else...I felt that there was some semblance of normalcy for a while. It was nice.

 

[RedheadDane]

Silly question....all of them!

French Open too!

Yes, I know it usually overlaps with the Giro! No problem; he'll ride the Giro stages during the day, then skip over to France for the evenings to play his matches; easy-peasy.

 

[tobydawq]

French Open too!

Yes, I know it usually overlaps with the Giro! No problem; he'll ride the Giro stages during the day, then skip over to France for the evenings to play his matches; easy-peasy.

They have even installed lights now just to make that possible for him.

 

[SafeBet]

I'm checking the results on various websites. No time gaps?

 

[LosBrolin]

I'm checking the results on various websites. No time gaps?

Translated : "For the fall that occurred 6 km from the finish, a technical problem on the terminal of the last 3 km did not allow us to identify all the runners, therefore they are credited with the same time."

 

[Berflamand]

Translated : "For the fall that occurred 6 km from the finish, a technical problem on the terminal of the last 3 km did not allow us to identify all the runners, therefore they are credited with the same time."

But there was no fall/incident (unless I missed it) in the last 3 km so shouldn't just the actual finishing times have to count for every rider instead of identifying the group at 3km? Or am I missing something here?

 

[SafeBet]

Translated : "For the fall that occurred 6 km from the finish, a technical problem on the terminal of the last 3 km did not allow us to identify all the runners, therefore they are credited with the same time."

I don't get it. What about the gaps created during the last 3 km?
There were riders taking it easy on the last hill and coming in a minute (or more) down. Why should they still be in contention for the GC?

 

[RedheadDane]

I actually just assumed that the 3-K rule wouldn't have applied anyway...

 

[LosBrolin]

I'm not the race official just copypasting communique

 

[Devil's Elbow]

But there was no fall/incident (unless I missed it) in the last 3 km so shouldn't just the actual finishing times have to count for every rider instead of identifying the group at 3km? Or am I missing something here?

There was a minor crash at about 2.6k to go. As visible from 10:15 onwards in this video. Still doesn't excuse the amateurism though.

 

[Nirvana]

Meh, we are already starting with the "lets neutralize everything"...

 

[yaco]

Jordi Meeus is fast in a flat finish - He could podium a flatter sprint finish.

 

[topcat]

Damn, I was just going to post that xD

Now we just have to determine what it is that is in the bag. Olympic gold? Giro win? MSR? Vélo dOr? Ballon d'Or?

All of these in the bag of course and he would have won all the cancelled races.

 

[rbl85]

There was a minor crash at about 2.6k to go. As visible from 10:15 onwards in this video. Still doesn't excuse the amateurism though.

There was an other crash just before the climb but it wasn't shown on TV

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

Jordi Meeus is fast in a flat finish - He could podium a flatter sprint finish.

It will be interesting to see how good he is. It won’t be at this race though unless theres Something wrong with Ackermann

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

Weird to actually be interested in this race and see it with its own thread

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

Who dat Jake Stewart?

Brit trackie kid.

 

[DJ Sprtsch]

Break of five, all from lesser teams, just passed the last Kat. 2. with 45km to go.
Bunch sprint in sight as they only have an advantage of 1.20