General News Thread

[Jumbo Visma Fan :)]

Wow a top-10 contender? He would have been a top-3 contender already last year if he had been able to participate in my opinion.

I haven’t seen enough from Plapp since I don’t watch juniors, but considering yesterday’s performance, he seems destined for at least a top ten.

 

[Mayomaniac]

I don't want to get too political, but looking at the current events I have a hard time seeing Gazprom - Rusvelo entering many races in Western Europe. The main sponsor is a state owned energy corporation who will be hit by the sanctions, so things could go South for the team.
Sucks for all the riders and staff members who are involved.

 

[yaco]

He was in l'Avenir last year, only remember because he refused to work in a break with two other guys, classic australian style.

Are you sure - Plapp rode the Prologue and then crashed in stage one and was a DNS for stage two.

 

[ciranda]

Yes. https://www.directvelo.com/direct/4787/tour-de-l-avenir-etape-1

and from https://www.feltet.dk/nyheder/sande...yrt_da_changizi_gik_i_udbrud_med_ineos-komet/

- Luke Plapp started to sit on from far away. It ruined the collaboration and our chances. It is difficult to go all out when a rider is not working. We start moving against each other and over the top of the last hill we have twenty seconds with ten kilometers to go. (...) I attacked but he does not really want to lead even if it's just me and him. I did not want to drag him to the line so it was difficult to do anything.

 

[firefly3323]

I don't want to get too political, but looking at the current events I have a hard time seeing Gazprom - Rusvelo entering many races in Western Europe. The main sponsor is a state owned energy corporation who will be hit by the sanctions, so things could go South for the team.
Sucks for all the riders and staff members who are involved.

Seems like that is a safe bet.

 

[Velolover2]

PostNord Danmark Rundt - Tour of Denmark

Stage 1:

Stage 2:

Stage 3:

Stage 4:

Stage 5:

 

[tobydawq]

PostNord Danmark Rundt - Tour of Denmark

Stage 1:

Stage 2:

Stage 3:

Stage 4:

Stage 5:

They have extended the final loop because Remco was too good last year, so much of the field was overtaken.

 

[Devil's Elbow]

Stage 3:

That x-axis is a thing of beauty. Also, 241k <3

 

[Velolover2]

They have extended the final loop because Remco was too good last year, so much of the field was overtaken.

And the gravel stage is clearly there for him not to return.

 

[yaco]

Yes. https://www.directvelo.com/direct/4787/tour-de-l-avenir-etape-1

and from https://www.feltet.dk/nyheder/sande...yrt_da_changizi_gik_i_udbrud_med_ineos-komet/

- Luke Plapp started to sit on from far away. It ruined the collaboration and our chances. It is difficult to go all out when a rider is not working. We start moving against each other and over the top of the last hill we have twenty seconds with ten kilometers to go. (...) I attacked but he does not really want to lead even if it's just me and him. I did not want to drag him to the line so it was difficult to do anything.

Plapp definitely crashed at some stage during the stage - Has it occurred to Hansen that Plapp may have been under orders not to work because Australia rated their sprinter and thought it would come back for a sprint - It's hard to hold off a pelton with 20 seconds with 10kms to go, especially when 103 riders finished on the same time - It seems like a case of sour grapes.

 

[ciranda]

First European race for this much hyped rider and what he chose to do was not work with others in a break. It's a type of racing that sucks and even more so in an under 23 race. The others in that break had reasons to be upset. The directvelo link says nothing about a crash.

 

[Jumbo Visma Fan :)]

First European race for this much hyped rider and what he chose to do was not work with others in a break. It's a type of racing that sucks and even more so in an under 23 race. The others in that break had reasons to be upset. The directvelo link says nothing about a crash.

Key words in there: First European Race
You expect him to know that he needs to turn in a breakaway when he’s never raced with the big boys in the u23’s yet. He has time to learn, and it may suck for the riders but the guy hasn’t raced in Europe yet. That’s just hypocritical.

 

[StryderHells]

Key words in there: First European Race
You expect him to know that he needs to turn in a breakaway when he’s never raced with the big boys in the u23’s yet. He has time to learn, and it may suck for the riders but the guy hasn’t raced in Europe yet. That’s just hypocritical.

Plapp knows how to work in a breakaway, it’s not like we don’t have breaks in Australian races.
Oh and on another note, why are people claiming he hadn’t raced in Europe before? He rode the 2018 junior worlds in Innsbruck and in 2019 he rode in 8 races in Belgium winning 2 of them.

 

[StryderHells]

First European race for this much hyped rider and what he chose to do was not work with others in a break. It's a type of racing that sucks and even more so in an under 23 race. The others in that break had reasons to be upset. The directvelo link says nothing about a crash.

He did crash in that stage and broke his elbow

https://twitter.com/x/status/1427538107394498571

View: https://mobile.twitter.com/auscyclingaus/status/1427538107394498571

 

[RedheadDane]

And the gravel stage is clearly there for him not to return.

He can't. He's doing the Vuelta.

And now for the teams:

WorldTour

EF Education - EasyPost
Team DSM
Lotto-Soudal
Quick- Step - Alpha Vinyl
Jumbo-Visma
Ineos Grenadiers
Israel - Premier Tech
Trek-Segafredo

No major surprises there. PCS was wrong about UAE - and honestly that would have surprised me - and Ineos comes in as the team nobody guessed (well, nobody apart from toby and his "just mention all the teams" thing.)

ProTeams

Uno-X Pro Cycling Team
Alpecin-Fenix
Sport Vlaanderen - Baloise
Novo Nordisk
Bardiani-CSF-Faizanè
Bingoal Pauwels Sauces WB
HUMAN POWERED HEALTH

Also what you'd expect. Though, I do wonder why HPH is written in all-caps...

Kontinentalhold

Restaurant SURI - Carl Ras
BHS - PL Beton Bornholm
Riwal Cycling Team
Team ColoQuick
Mazowsze Serce Polski
Team Coop

I guess it's not even a surprise that Serce Polski participates any longer.

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

That x-axis is a thing of beauty.

At least it exists, which is more than can be said for the y axis scale.

 

[Nirvana]

Lang, the director of Tour de Pologne, in an interview for Tuttobici said that the most important stage and the one that couldn't miss from the route is the ITT because he considers it the race of the truth where differences are made since on the climbs they often stay together. Good to see that there is still someone that doesn't follow the mainstream thoughts on race design and just cut it to avoid gaps.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Lang, the director of Tour de Pologne, in an interview for Tuttobici said that the most important stage and the one that couldn't miss from the route is the ITT because he considers it the race of the truth where differences are made since on the climbs they often stay together. Good to see that there is still someone that doesn't follow the mainstream thoughts on race design and just cut it to avoid gaps.

It's also cause and effect. If you have gaps created by a TT then riders can't just stay together on the climb as readily. Yes, overbalancing it so the gaps are too significant to be overcome (hello 2011 Paris-Nice, 2012 Tour) is undesirable, but is it really more undesirable than a "win the one MTF win the race" race like the Tour de la Provence or early editions of the UAE Tour before they added Jebel Jais?

 

[Kaptain Kool]

Well, that's why Tour de Pologne is always boring.

 

[Devil's Elbow]

The abomination of a Milano-Torino route is now official.

 

[roundabout]

I guess this is it and it will be a pre-Sanremo sprinter race for the next few years at least?

 

[RedheadDane]

I guess this is it and it will be a pre-Sanremo sprinter race for the next few years at least?

Isn't that the reason it got moved?

 

[Red Rick]

The abomination of a Milano-Torino route is now official.

I will just use this to convince my grandkids Contador was a mighty sprinter

 

[Ricco']

So... Is Igor Makarov still on the UCI management committee?

 

[StryderHells]

So... Is Igor Makarov still on the UCI management committee?

Yes