General News Thread

[kareeem]

Ne enkrat, kar dvakrat na Kolovrat v boju za zeleno

Vrhunec 29. dirke Po Sloveniji bo kar dvakratni vzpon na Kolovrat s tolminske strani, preden se bo odločilna 4. etapa končala v Kobaridu. Boj za zeleno bo od 14. do 18. junija vključeval še vzpone, kot so Jeruzalem, Rakitna, Kladje in Trška gora.

www.rtvslo.si

Tour of Slovenia route is out.

Stage 4 has double Kolovrat but the rest is very meh.

Different side than in last year's Giro though. 9 km at 9%.

 

[KZD]

A bit underwhelming Tour of Slovenia route with only one mountain stage. If there is a season for Pogačar to skip Slovenia and try to win the Dauphiné or Tour de Suisse, this could be the one.

 

[Mayomaniac]

Well, with a stage finish in Kobraid I'm sure that not too many Italians will show up...

 

[Red Rick]

Well, with a stage finish in Kobraid I'm sure that not too many Italians will show up...

How so?

Am I missing some history?

 

[Mayomaniac]

How so?

Am I missing some history?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Caporetto

 

[DNP-Old]

Juan Ayuso is on the provisional startlist for Romandia, but last I heard he still isn't training so you can probably scratch his name again. On the startlist too, and likely participating: Jan Christen, with the national team.

 

[Red Rick]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Caporetto

Well they did refuse to race when they passed through and went up Kolovrat last Giro. You might be onto something

In reality I wonder if the descent isn't a bit dangerous, which means it might get canceled when riders look at the route 5 minutes before the race starts.

 

[Netserk]

Tour de Romandie route (h/t ammattipyoraily):

 

[Mayomaniac]

Tour de Romandie route (h/t ammattipyoraily):

The ITT features a climb of 4.3kms at 5.7% total and 3 short cimbs before it, the middle one is 500m at 6.2%. The climbers should be able to limit the gaps in this one, looks like one of those Romandie TTs for gc riders to me.
The uncategorized small climb 6kms from the finish on the previous stage is 1km at 6%, should be one for the stagehunters.
Higuita and Mäder might be the guys to beat, no idea what to expect from Adam Yates and Plapp form wise.

 

[Red Rick]

I like how Romandie has a very unique identity as a stage race.

And it's identity is that it's terrible.

 

[Mayomaniac]

I like how Romandie has a very unique identity as a stage race.

And it's identity is that it's terrible.

The most terrible thing is usually the weather, racing a week with the typical TdR weather must be really unpleasant (unless you're Spilak).
It used to be 1-2TTs, big mountain stage and the rest reduced sprint stages for Albasini. Now the Albasini stages have been replaced by 1-2 breakaway stages that Küng can win if the weather is bad enough and sprint stage(s).
Last years route was even worse than usual.

 

[Red Rick]

The most terrible thing is usually the weather, racing a week with the typical TdR weather must be really unpleasant (unless you're Spilak).
It used to be 1-2TTs, big mountain stage and the rest reduced sprint stages for Albasini. Now the Albasini stages have been replaced by 1-2 breakaway stages that Küng can win if the weather is bad enough and sprint stage(s).
Last years route was even worse than usual.

Yeah.

They always waste a full day with having 2 TTs in 6 stages. Routes are never balanced well because the one mountain stage is always either too soft or too hard, and the main ITT is pretty climby as well. And the other 3 days are ALWAYS a complete waste of time.

 

[Netserk]

Yeah.

They always waste a full day with having 2 TTs in 6 stages. Routes are never balanced well because the one mountain stage is always either too soft or too hard, and the main ITT is pretty climby as well. And the other 3 days are ALWAYS a complete waste of time.

It has its own balance. Surely it's fine that one stage race suits TTers. The prologue is a necessity of the calender, and I think 1-2 mountain stages is plenty for a short stage race.

 

[Mayomaniac]

It has its own balance. Surely it's fine that one stage race suits TTers. The prologue is a necessity of the calender, and I think 1-2 mountain stages is plenty for a short stage race.

With Trentino/Tota becoming the pefered Giro prep race (if any at all) it's also in a weird spot right after Lbl. Most of the Tour guys just finished their spring campaign,so not too many of them will show up either.

 

[Red Rick]

With Trentino/Tota becoming the pefered Giro prep race (if any at all) it's also in a weird spot right after Lbl. Most of the Tour guys just finished their spring campaign,so not too many of them will show up either.

Its main appeal should be that it's a WT stage race that's winnable for 2nd line contenders, which is why it should attract not the absolute world beaters, but a pretty deep field.

It has its own balance. Surely it's fine that one stage race suits TTers. The prologue is a necessity of the calender, and I think 1-2 mountain stages is plenty for a short stage race.

I don't complain that it suits TTers at times. I complain that it generally has only one road stage that matters and it tends to be Thyon MTF or very lethargic.

The last mountain stage in Romandie I really liked was that 2018 mountain stage.

 

[Netserk]

Yet the podium list of the past decade is still solid. Start list quality is almost a zero-sum game over the whole season and some races will be at the middle of the pecking order.

 

[Mayomaniac]

They really could make better hilly stages.

 

[Netserk]

I actually wonder why ASO hasn't bought the race. I think it better suits their portfolio than Catalunya.

 

[DNP-Old]

If I was a professional rider, I'd put a gun to the head of my directors in order to enforce starting rights to the Tour of Hellas. Most aesthetically pleasing race on the calendar. Prologue in Heraklion, a finish in Olympia. Let's get that mountain stage to Mt. Olympus going so that we may face Zeus himself.

Bonus: Superman is starting.

 

[Netserk]

Hansen was elected unopposed today. A sad day for the sport.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1646728326789181441

View: https://twitter.com/HansenAdam/status/1646728326789181441

 

[tobydawq]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1646728326789181441

View: https://twitter.com/HansenAdam/status/1646728326789181441

That was already discussed here (probably not the most suitable of places):

Page 3 - Adam Hansen

Page 3 - Get up to date with the latest news, scores & standings from the Cycling News Community.

forum.cyclingnews.com

 

[Netserk]

That was already discussed here (probably not the most suitable of places):

Page 3 - Adam Hansen

Page 3 - Get up to date with the latest news, scores & standings from the Cycling News Community.

forum.cyclingnews.com

I didn't see that, thanks. I think it's better than this thread.

 

[Valv.Piti]

The route doesn't look good at all, we can all agree with that, Romandie has that identity and thats fine for me. Don't mind the double TT when you consider the rest of the stage races where we don't see too much of that at all.

The bigger problem for the race seems to be that they really can't draw the best riders anymore for various reasons, but then again, its perfectly fine (to me) to have a big race like this contested by 2nd tier riders and younger lads trying out in big WT stage races where they actually have a change.

Its just Romandie being Romandie, now minus the Giro contestant (and that has been a case for a while now) and the big Tour riders who has other priorities, be it either participating in the classics like Pog after a hard spring or Jonas' razor sharp focus on July. And what does racing hard in Romandie in *** conditions exactly do for you if you wanna win TdF? Not much, lets be honest, it most likely is for the worse and there are more important things to do in exactly that period in the season.

 

[Sciatic]

I don’t know what the riders think of it. But for the viewers who aren’t particularly big fans of Flèche Wallone it provides a bridge from Amstel to LBL.

 

[Armchair cyclist]

I don’t know what the riders think of it. But for the viewers who aren’t particularly big fans of Flèche Wallone it provides a bridge from Amstel to LBL.

It starts 2 days after LBL...