General News Thread

[Dekker_Tifosi]

I repeat what other pro riders (NOT dutch, before that card gets pulled) have said

"There seems to be a great disparity between what the fans see and what pro riders see".

As in, pro riders see what Eeckhoff did as perfectly normal and acceptable after bad luck early in the race. So if it isn't, for them it's a huge change in pro cycling.
While fans think they've seen something outrageous, which isn't the case because it happens all the time, basically everytime even.

 

[roundabout]

Applying a rule 50% of the time is worse than applying it 0% of the time imo.

I'd bet my left kidney he wouldn't have been DQ if he didn't win.

Stokbro and Konychev got DQed and they didn't win.

But I probably know what your next argument would be.

And going to CAS over application of rules that they agreed to respect as license holders is frankly hilarious.

 

[Red Rick]

Stokbro and Konychev got DQed and they didn't win.

But I probably know what your next argument would be.

And going to CAS over application of rules that they agreed to respect as license holders is frankly hilarious.

Could you do my next argument for me?

 

[roundabout]

they only got dqed because Eekhoff did

 

[RedheadDane]

Stokbro and Konychev got DQed and they didn't win.

Stokbro was even DQed after he'd already abandoned. Essentially, he that issue (can't remember if it was a crash of mechanic…), tried to get back behind his car, was told to stop, stopped, and realised it was hopeless… So for him it's only a matter of having a DSQ next to his name rather than a DNF.

As for Eekhoff; it's kind of complicated, because… well… not really fair to Battistella to just take his championship away now.
Guess all UCI can do now is to admit that the whole thing was stupid, and promise that in the future they'll be much more careful with (after-the-fact) DQing.

Okay, this is completely crazy! But could UCI essentially decide that "You know what? *** this! You're both World Champions now! Battistella de jure, and Eekhoff de facto!"? It could only possibly work because it's a U23 race, and they're both moving up to the WT, so neither will get a chance to wear the jersey anyway…

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

not really fair to battiostella hahahaha, yeah right

 

[F_Cance]

At least Battistella did not cheat.

 

[RedheadDane]

not really fair to battiostella hahahaha, yeah right

It's not his fault UCI are a bunch of idiots who can't make a - supposedly necessary - ruling in time.
Guess/hope that from now on UCI will be extra careful before DQing people.

 

[42x16ss]

Sagan contemplating retirement after the Giro:

https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/sp...call-it-quits-soon-after-20191025-p53456.html

 

[tobydawq]

Sagan contemplating retirement after the Giro:

https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/sp...call-it-quits-soon-after-20191025-p53456.html

I don't think he will retire next year, also because his contract is through 2021, where the worlds will be held in Flanders. If he doesn't win that, he might unfortunately retire then.

 

[Red Rick]

Looks like a veeery sensationalist headline to me.

 

[tobydawq]

Looks like a veeery sensationalist headline to me.

Definitely. I have seen the interview now, and it was definitely not serious.

Some journalists are just completely clueless when it comes to irony, apparently.

Edit: Did your a button infect your e button?

 

[Red Rick]

Definitely. I have seen the interview now, and it was definitely not serious.

Some journalists are just completely clueless when it comes to irony, apparently.

Edit: Did your a button infect your e button?

I made a habit of typing like I'd speak, apart from phrases like lol and stuff.

Now it's hard to stop

 

[RedheadDane]

Honestly, when I first saw the first post about this (without reading the article) my initial reaction was "Well, did he say anything about how long after?"
Like, Bernal is retiring after winning the Tour de France - obviously, since he's already won it - so "after" in this case could mean one year (hopefully not) or ten years (or twenty years…)

 

[tobydawq]

Honestly, when I first saw the first post about this (without reading the article) my initial reaction was "Well, did he say anything about how long after?"
Like, Bernal is retiring after winning the Tour de France - obviously, since he's already won it - so "after" in this case could mean one year (hopefully not) or ten years (or twenty years…)

Too bad so many riders decide to stop before winning the Tour.

 

[Red Rick]

Too bad so many riders decide to stop before winning the Tour.

They stop so they can stop not winning the Tour de France and start winning the hypothetical Tour de France

 

[Valv.Piti]

They stop so they can stop not winning the Tour de France and start winning the hypothetical Tour de France

How many of those have Contador won? 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014?...

 

[Red Rick]

How many of those have Contador won? 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014?...

He won the real one in 2010 but then they gave Schleck the paper one.

 

[RedheadDane]

And of course someone forgot to tell Rebellin that you are allowed to retire before winning the Tour de France.

 

[Laplaz]

The route of the Tour of the Alps 2020 was unveiled today.

Home - Tour of the Alps

The Official Website of the UCI Pro Series Stage Race, held in the Alps between Italy and Austria, through Tirol, Südtirol and Trentino (April 18-22, 2022)

www.tourofthealps.eu

 

[Red Rick]

Looks kinda boring tbh, though I love Riva del Garda.

 

[Devil's Elbow]

Looks somewhat underwhelming, certainly if you factor in the stage length. Stages 2 and 4 should be solid, the rest looks like reduced bunch sprints. This must also be the only race not to hand out mountain points for the hardest climb of the race (Passo Castrin). And then there's another stage where the hardest climb of the day (Vinschgauer Höhenstrasse) goes uncategorised, makes RCS look logical.

 

[RedheadDane]

No more number 143 in the Tour de Pologne.

Ronde van Polen haalt rugnummer van betreurde Bjorg Lambrecht uit koers | sporza

Er zal in de Ronde van Polen niet meer gekoerst worden met rugnummer 143 van Bjorg Lambrecht. De organisatie van de rittenkoers wil daarmee een eerbetoon brengen aan de jonge Belg die dit jaar overleed bij een val in Polen.

sporza.be

 

[Nirvana]

A couple of news for future Giros:

*Yesterday they tested with some male and female riders (including Caruso) the sterrato road that from Piano Provenzana goes to the Osservatorio Etneo for the already rumored full Etna MTT.

Una tappa "crono" del Giro d'Italia sull'Etna? Il test fino in cima al vulcano

Una tappa «crono» del Giro d’Italia sull’Etna. Non come quelle che si sono viste finora, e che si vedrà anche in una dei primi appuntamenti dell’edizione 2020:…

video.lastampa.it

*The mayor of Grosio is working to have a passage on Passo di Verva, sadly here they want to go a la ASO and pave everything instead of keeping the sterrato because the idea is to have a touristic high mountain bike lane.

L’obiettivo del sindaco Pini «Il Giro in Valgrosina»

Carovana rosa. La tappa dovrebbe passare sul passo Verva a 2.300 metri. «Prima che io finisca il mandato devo riuscire a inserirla nella corsa»

www.laprovinciadisondrio.it

 

[Mayomaniac]

Going up to over 2,800m of altitude at the start of May on an unpaved road sounds totally unrealistic.
The highest realistic finish would probably be the ski station above rifugio sapienza at around 2500m and even that would be hard to do at the start of May.
Sicily would have to be willing to pay for the last 3 stages of a Giro and finding other places in southern italy that are willing to pay for 3rd week mountain stages is probably not that easy.
That said, a real Etna tappone with 3 or 4 different sides of the vulcano would be pretty good, put another climb before it and you get +5,000m of altitude gain.