General News Thread

[Robert5091]

Free place at Worlds Opening Ceremony! contact politician Terje Kollbotn :lol:
https://www.bt.no/100Sport/sykkel/Sykkel-VM-inviterte-feil-mann-pa-kanapeer-242120b.html

«The acting County Mayor of Hordaland Pål Kårbø requests the pleasure of your company at a drinks and canapés reception. Guests will be escorted to the VIP area at Torgallmenningen for the official opening ceremony following the reception.»

He's been against public money being used for Worlds in Bergen - 20 million Norwegian Crowns (about 2.5 million US $) is an estimate. He will not be attending.

Nå begynner det å nærme seg galskapen. Det er et proffsirkus og en pengemaskin. Og så må det offentlige inn og ta regningen.

"Now it's madness. A professional circus and money machine, and so must the state go in and pay the bill."

https://www.bt.no/nyheter/lokalt/i/3v09q/VM-asfalten-har-odelagt-gulv-i-bar-og-restauranter
Local watering holes not glad about guests tramping around with new asphalt under their shoes. Damages being sought from Transport Authority.

Edit - update according to https://www.bt.no/btmeninger/kommentar/i/3vd29/Sykling-er-sivilisasjon
It's more like 70 million Norwegian Crowns (about 8 million US $) that the local political authority ("kommune") is using of tax payers money.

 

[Max Rockatansky]

http://www.pezcyclingnews.com/newswire/road-world-championships-veneto-2020-vicenza/#.Wb6aadMjFmA

Vicenza is the only candidate left for worlds 2020. So they will return to Italy.

Also Innsbruck will finally present their courses this week.

 

[Red Rick]

Re:

http://www.pezcyclingnews.com/newswire/road-world-championships-veneto-2020-vicenza/#.Wb6aadMjFmA

Vicenza is the only candidate left for worlds 2020. So they will return to Italy.

Also Innsbruck will finally present their courses this week.

Monte Berico, aka that climb where Gilbert beat Contador in an uphill sprint and where Aru pulled his worst ever faces

 

[Gigs_98]

Re: Re:

http://www.pezcyclingnews.com/newswire/road-world-championships-veneto-2020-vicenza/#.Wb6aadMjFmA

Vicenza is the only candidate left for worlds 2020. So they will return to Italy.

Also Innsbruck will finally present their courses this week.

Monte Berico, aka that climb where Gilbert beat Contador in an uphill sprint and where Aru pulled his worst ever faces

I just hope they don't make an uphill finish like in the giro 2015. If they make a hilly route and a downhill finish it would be great. Monte Berico had some really steep ramps iirc.

 

[Gigs_98]

This isn't really big news but Matthias Brändle just said on TV that he is planning to make an attempt to get the hour record back.

 

[Max Rockatansky]

Re: Re:

I just hope they don't make an uphill finish like in the giro 2015. If they make a hilly route and a downhill finish it would be great. Monte Berico had some really steep ramps iirc.

That's the course they send as application.

 

[TMP402]

This isn't really big news but Matthias Brändle just said on TV that he is planning to make an attempt to get the hour record back.

Well I like that news.

 

[Red Rick]

Re: Re:

http://www.pezcyclingnews.com/newswire/road-world-championships-veneto-2020-vicenza/#.Wb6aadMjFmA

Vicenza is the only candidate left for worlds 2020. So they will return to Italy.

Also Innsbruck will finally present their courses this week.

Monte Berico, aka that climb where Gilbert beat Contador in an uphill sprint and where Aru pulled his worst ever faces

I just hope they don't make an uphill finish like in the giro 2015. If they make a hilly route and a downhill finish it would be great. Monte Berico had some really steep ramps iirc.

Obviously, have it at least 10km from the finish, preferably with another, easier hill later in the circuit

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

This isn't really big news but Matthias Brändle just said on TV that he is planning to make an attempt to get the hour record back.

Well I like that news.

I think Wiggins record is unbeatable for anyone but Dennis (given 1/2 years) and Küng in the future.
Brändle won't even come close

 

[TMP402]

This isn't really big news but Matthias Brändle just said on TV that he is planning to make an attempt to get the hour record back.

Well I like that news.

I think Wiggins record is unbeatable for anyone but Dennis (given 1/2 years) and Küng in the future.
Brändle won't even come close

I agree that Brändle probably won't break it (unless he goes to Bolivia), I just encourage more attempts by any credible rider. It was a big thing for a few months with some random under-the-radar attempts as a sort of retirement party by third-division veterans since then. I was disappointed Cancellara didn't try it. I think Martin doesn't stand much of a chance anymore but could still try it. Dumoulin should try it. Dowsett is apparently planning another attempt. FWIW I think Wiggins' record is beatable. For one thing, no-one has yet tried it at proper altitude.

 

[Frankschleck]

This isn't really big news but Matthias Brändle just said on TV that he is planning to make an attempt to get the hour record back.

Well I like that news.

I think Wiggins record is unbeatable for anyone but Dennis (given 1/2 years) and Küng in the future.
Brändle won't even come close

I agree that Brändle probably won't break it (unless he goes to Bolivia), I just encourage more attempts by any credible rider. It was a big thing for a few months with some random under-the-radar attempts as a sort of retirement party by third-division veterans since then. I was disappointed Cancellara didn't try it. I think Martin doesn't stand much of a chance anymore but could still try it. Dumoulin should try it. Dowsett is apparently planning another attempt. FWIW I think Wiggins' record is beatable. For one thing, no-one has yet tried it at proper altitude.

I think some of the road race riders who have a track background can come very close, like Geriant Thomas, Durbridge etc.

 

[Gigs_98]

This isn't really big news but Matthias Brändle just said on TV that he is planning to make an attempt to get the hour record back.

Well I like that news.

I think Wiggins record is unbeatable for anyone but Dennis (given 1/2 years) and Küng in the future.
Brändle won't even come close

I agree that Brändle probably won't break it (unless he goes to Bolivia), I just encourage more attempts by any credible rider. It was a big thing for a few months with some random under-the-radar attempts as a sort of retirement party by third-division veterans since then. I was disappointed Cancellara didn't try it. I think Martin doesn't stand much of a chance anymore but could still try it. Dumoulin should try it. Dowsett is apparently planning another attempt. FWIW I think Wiggins' record is beatable. For one thing, no-one has yet tried it at proper altitude.

I think some of the road race riders who have a track background can come very close, like Geriant Thomas, Durbridge etc.

Does track background really help you in an hour record attempt. I don't really understand why it should.

Anyway, although I don't think Brändel will beat the record I still think he could be better than last time, especially because back then he made the record on a shorter track with therefore more and sharper turns. That will probably cost you a few hundred meters.

 

[TMP402]

Does track background really help you in an hour record attempt. I don't really understand why it should.

It is noticeable that track riders can (usually) stick to the optimal racing line as if they were a tram attached to it. I think it was Thomas Dekker who was horrible at sticking to the line, and he was really only a lap away from beating Dennis' record, so we can say better line discipline may have won him the record. Constantly weaving inches away from the best line adds up over the course of an hour.

 

[DNP-Old]

The great Lucho Herrera is suffering from skin cancer.

 

[Robert5091]

Re:

The great Lucho Herrera is suffering from skin cancer.

http://www.bbc.com/sport/cycling/41394955

Luis Herrera, the first South American cyclist to win a Grand Tour, says he has skin cancer caused by his exposure to the sun during his career.

The 56-year-old Colombian won the Vuelta a Espana, one of the three major tours, in 1987.

He said cancer spots on his face, arms and hands were likely caused by the lack of precautions taken in the 1980s.

"I'm feeling good, I'm well, but I'm taking great care of my arms and my face," he told Colombia's Blu Radio.

 

[Red Rick]

This isn't really big news but Matthias Brändle just said on TV that he is planning to make an attempt to get the hour record back.

Well I like that news.

I think Wiggins record is unbeatable for anyone but Dennis (given 1/2 years) and Küng in the future.
Brändle won't even come close

I agree that Brändle probably won't break it (unless he goes to Bolivia), I just encourage more attempts by any credible rider. It was a big thing for a few months with some random under-the-radar attempts as a sort of retirement party by third-division veterans since then. I was disappointed Cancellara didn't try it. I think Martin doesn't stand much of a chance anymore but could still try it. Dumoulin should try it. Dowsett is apparently planning another attempt. FWIW I think Wiggins' record is beatable. For one thing, no-one has yet tried it at proper altitude.

Bolivia would be at 3km altitude?

 

[Max Rockatansky]

This isn't really big news but Matthias Brändle just said on TV that he is planning to make an attempt to get the hour record back.

Well I like that news.

I think Wiggins record is unbeatable for anyone but Dennis (given 1/2 years) and Küng in the future.
Brändle won't even come close

I agree that Brändle probably won't break it (unless he goes to Bolivia), I just encourage more attempts by any credible rider. It was a big thing for a few months with some random under-the-radar attempts as a sort of retirement party by third-division veterans since then. I was disappointed Cancellara didn't try it. I think Martin doesn't stand much of a chance anymore but could still try it. Dumoulin should try it. Dowsett is apparently planning another attempt. FWIW I think Wiggins' record is beatable. For one thing, no-one has yet tried it at proper altitude.

Bolivia would be at 3km altitude?

Yes. Velodromo de Alto Irpavi is a 333m concrete track at an altitude of 3.340m. Chris Hoy set the world record there for the flying 500 meters. And also the Kilo world record was set there for a long time until 2013.

The Kilo world record was then set in Aguascalientes Mexico, which is at 1.900 meters. You could also try the concrete track of Mexico City, where Merckx and Ritter set their hour world record. But I don't know if it still exists and under what conditions. This was at 2.300 meters.

Merckx described it as the hardest race he ever did. And I really can't see someone going for it at that high altitude. Or in La Paz, where things will get even more difficult.

 

[Robert5091]

Beard? You're fired! Wait a moment ... you're not Sagan are you?
http://www.velonews.com/2017/09/news/sport-vlaanderen-team-institutes-beard-ban_449091

Cyclists riding for Belgian outfit Sport Vlaanderen will no longer be able to have beards “for aesthetic reasons,” the team’s sport director told local media on Tuesday, according to Belga news agency.

“I’m taking this measure for the elegance of cycling,” Walter Planckaert explained in Belgian daily Het Nieuwsblad.

“We’re a cycling team, with riders. Not motocross riders or rugby players. Snot and food leftovers in the beard of a rider in action, it’s nasty.”

Cyclists for the second-tier Professional Continental team will still be allowed to sport stubble, but any rider opposed to the full beard ban should find another team, Planckaert added. The 69-year-old ex-professional won Tour of Flanders in 1976.

Read more at http://www.velonews.com/2017/09/news/sport-vlaanderen-team-institutes-beard-ban_449091#TT7OTma18Tg40zRH.99

 

[Squire]

Doesn't look like anybody's in danger

 

[Ricco']

“I’m taking this measure for the elegance of cycling,” Walter Planckaert explained in Belgian daily Het Nieuwsblad.

Poor Sport Vlaanderen guys. Now it's the beard, next thing they know they are forbidden of nature breaks on the side of the road, and then they can't open up their jerseys when it's hot.

 

[RedheadDane]

Is it instant firing, or do they start with holding the riders in question down and give them a forced shave?

 

[StephenC2020]

Um, that can't be legal can it?

 

[GenericBoonenFan]

Re:

Um, that can't be legal can it?

Iirc, there's some law here in Belgium having to do with hair in the workplace, dating back to the Industrial Revolution when women would often get their long hair stuck in the machines and therefore there was a only a certain length allowed.

 

[StephenC2020]

Re: Re:

Um, that can't be legal can it?

Iirc, there's some law here in Belgium having to do with hair in the workplace, dating back to the Industrial Revolution when women would often get their long hair stuck in the machines and therefore there was a only a certain length allowed.

Oh, right. Is it common for workplaces to require their employees to shave then?

 

[TMP402]

Re: Re:

Um, that can't be legal can it?

Iirc, there's some law here in Belgium having to do with hair in the workplace, dating back to the Industrial Revolution when women would often get their long hair stuck in the machines and therefore there was a only a certain length allowed.

Oh, right. Is it common for workplaces to require their employees to shave then?

In many countries, the military and police have restrictions on facial hair. In some navies you might be able to request to wear a beard of a certain, traditional type, or a sensible moustache - and even then you might be turned down. If that rule applies in the state sector, why not in the private sector?