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Don’t call it an Unofficial Andrea Tafi Comeback Thread

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Leinster

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Re: Re:

42x16ss said:
Cance > TheRest said:
For sure it will be interesting. Based on the race he rode in Hungary, where a decimated peloton finished with about 48km/h average, he's in more than great shape for a 52 year old. Not that the said effort required was big if all he did was sit in the back of the group. But it's difficult to know.
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What was the length of the race? Also, how hilly?

Still being at the pointy end after 150kms+ at 48km/h suggests Tafi could still race at Div 3 level as a domestique.

With the proper focus he could help the team lead of a Pro Conti team get to the Arenberg in a good position at the least.
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You’d think with his level of experience, he could put in minimal effort on the early kms, coast along in the bunch and stay fresh before the pave really starts to come thick and fast. If he gets onto the front and shows his jersey at Arenberg or any of the sectors immediately following, it’ll have been a worthwhile spend on his sponsor’s part.
 
Cance > TheRest

Cance > TheRest

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Re: Re:

42x16ss said:
Cance > TheRest said:
For sure it will be interesting. Based on the race he rode in Hungary, where a decimated peloton finished with about 48km/h average, he's in more than great shape for a 52 year old. Not that the said effort required was big if all he did was sit in the back of the group. But it's difficult to know.
Click to expand...
What was the length of the race? Also, how hilly?

Still being at the pointy end after 150kms+ at 48km/h suggests Tafi could still race at Div 3 level as a domestique.

With the proper focus he could help the team lead of a Pro Conti team get to the Arenberg in a good position at the least.
Click to expand...
I think this is the profile. Fairly flat. The only other name I recognize in the field is Barnabas Peak.

8518_2018.jpg

http://firstcycling.com/race.php?r=8518&y=2018
 
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SafeBet said:
This is beyond ridiculous and we all know that.
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Ah yeah, of course, but it has just enough of that hint of a possibility, that we can allow ourselves to imagine just how it would look.

I do agree with the suggestions up above that a Masters/over 45s World Tour would be great to see some of the old heads out on the road again.
 
Logic-is-your-friend

Logic-is-your-friend

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Re:

Amazinmets87 said:
I'd love a masters world tour, but I'd worry the marquee riders of the past will have little interest. Once you have the prestigious palmeres what's the incentive to ride races as a shadow of your former self?
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I fear this would end up being a bit of a joke really. Just like the senior ranks in tennis (where you can have Clijsters play against Navratilova... 27 year age difference, and even the Williams sisters are older than Clijsters and they're still playing pro tennis).
The question is: at what age do you start this "past masters"? It won't be possible to have multiple age ranks (organisationally) so it has to be spot on. If you start at 40, then in a year or two, guys like Boonen, Valverde, Cancellara... can join. And the likes of Tafi will still not come even close to winning. There is a huge discrepancy between a 40 year old rider that was still a pro 3 years ago, or a 55 year old rider. Or do you start at 50, and you will have a very limited field of contenders i believe. But i'm sure plastic hip replacements will boom. One major crash in a 50+ year old peloton during Paris Roubaix and those guys will never ride a bike again.

It sounds nice in theory, but i'm not really sure this is such a good idea.
 
tobydawq

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The Masters thing will never work. Rolf Sørensen has often explained how at a certain point in his final season a switch flipped inside him, and after that he just wasn't willing to suffer anymore like he used to. I would imagine this is not uncommon, and I don't think a lot of former pros would have any interest in such a race series. It's not a "fun" sport like tennis where it makes much more sense.
 
GuyIncognito

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Re:

tobydawq said:
The Masters thing will never work. Rolf Sørensen has often explained how at a certain point in his final season a switch flipped inside him, and after that he just wasn't willing to suffer anymore like he used to. I would imagine this is not uncommon, and I don't think a lot of former pros would have any interest in such a race series. It's not a "fun" sport like tennis where it makes much more sense.
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Not long after Rominger's retirement, Millar was staying with Swiss Tony in Monaco when the former champion bemoaned the life of the retired cyclist. Rominger noted how Monaco's resident retired golfers and tennis players always had something in the tank that enabled them to show some of their magic in exhibition events. Retired cyclists - no longer plugging the training miles, no longer counting the calories - were not so blessed: "Me? I'm ***! Never again will I be good on a bike. This is life, David. In professional cycling there are no gifts."
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You just have to look at pictures of Rominger in the first 5 months of that last season - before Cofidis hired a guy to follow him around and slap food out of his mouth - to see that by pro cyclist standards he was positively obese. It was one season too many and he was past caring in the slightest.

It happens to all of them at some point. Some at 36 like Kelly, some at 25 like Saronni, but it catches up to every single rider eventually......

....except Lex Nederlof, that guy's not human


If you ever get to talk to Rolf, ask him how he could win bunch sprints but always lose the breakaway sprints to climbers. That's always baffled me.
 
Nirvana

Nirvana

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Re: Re:

Logic-is-your-friend said:
Akuryo said:
He was with some old frieds from Quickstep/Mapei yesterday and Bramati said that they are ready for his comeback ... there is no way I was right with my joke that he would go back to Lefevere?! Right???
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Depends. Is Lefevre riding?
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He said that Lefevere has told him there is no spot for his comeback.
But even if not Quick-Step is a big team according to what he said to Het Laste Nieuwse.

Anyway I don't take that seriously until I see him in Compiegne with a number on his back.
 
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pastronef

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Re: Re:

Tim Booth said:
tobydawq said:
He says he's found a great team but will not reveal which, yet.

https://www.indeleiderstrui.nl/nieuws/de-klassiekers/198722/rentree-tafi-52-in-parijs-roubaix-stap-dichterbij-heb-een-grote-ploeg-gevonden
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Update 8 november, 17.45
"I can only say that I negotiate with a team. It is a WorldTour team. However, nothing has been signed yet. We are now negotiating for about two weeks. But I can still talk to other teams. "
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stab in the dark: it´s EF-Cannondale, and Rapha will take care of the $$$$
 
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Re: Re:

pastronef said:
Tim Booth said:
tobydawq said:
He says he's found a great team but will not reveal which, yet.

https://www.indeleiderstrui.nl/nieuws/de-klassiekers/198722/rentree-tafi-52-in-parijs-roubaix-stap-dichterbij-heb-een-grote-ploeg-gevonden
Click to expand...
Update 8 november, 17.45
"I can only say that I negotiate with a team. It is a WorldTour team. However, nothing has been signed yet. We are now negotiating for about two weeks. But I can still talk to other teams. "
Click to expand...

stab in the dark: it´s EF-Cannondale, and Rapha will take care of the $$$$
Click to expand...

And it’s conditional on him also riding Tro Bro Leon, Dirty Kanza, and the Red Hook Crit Milan.
 
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