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General News Thread

Page 593 - Get up to date with the latest news, scores & standings from the Cycling News Community.
Don't know how big the bicycle industry lobby is in the US but currently China and Taiwan are the American bicycle business and prices set to increase by @25% from tariffs being imposed. Likely dramatic price increases to already expensive equipment. Parents already have sticker shock if your child shows an interest in bike racing!!! I hope sudden increase in prices doesn't deter people from exploring bike riding and racing but that's a likely byproduct of everything costing more!!!
I’ve been much more concerned about the impact on other aspects of the U.S. economy but you’re right that could significantly increase cost of bikes and parts from mainland China. No tariff on Taiwanese imports.
 
I think thematically it needs to be longer. I think the other thematic part, the ride along the coast and the finale on the Poggio it does get hard.

I don't really believe some extra zone 1 work makes that much difference.
I think you maybe underestimate it. Other than the past couple of fast editions the race is often nearly seven hours long, which is pretty unique. I feel like only Liege gets to 6 + regularly? It's really unusual for riders to be cycling for that amount of time uninterrupted, and even if much of it is easy the time takes its toll and it builds fatigue/pain, even if purely because riders' legs aren't used to that length of effort.

Similar sort of logic behind someone walking a half-marathon in, say, 5 hours, comfortably zone one, and then running another half-marathon. It's a big difference compared to running 30km straight in three hours or so, even for someone who is well trained.
 
Brunel my new idol (tbf I already had him in sympathy, I saw some nervous French twitters comments about him months ago and I sided with him)

Brunel on Gaudu

"I hate him. He spat on me on his shitty live shows (Gaudu had said on Twitch that Brunel is always late and is obsessed with padel - something Brunel admits, by the way). He's a horrible person. He thinks he's a champion, but he's not. He may have won a few races, but that doesn't make him great. Nothing to do with Thibaut (Pinot), who is an idol. When Thibaut was on my wheel I gave 1000%, I could have collapsed on the ground just to hit him as best I could".
 
No Montjuïc for the women's Catalunya:

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That's a much easier Sant Feliu de Guixols stage than in recent years, could well be 3 days for the sprinters which is stupid for a race that has never attracted and will never attract strong sprint fields. Aside from the (admittedly excellent) Queralt stage, this is a terrible route.
 
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That's a much easier Sant Feliu de Guixols stage than in recent years, could well be 3 days for the sprinters which is stupid for a race that has never attracted and will never attract strong sprint fields. Aside from the (admittedly excellent) Queralt stage, this is a terrible route.

Nah, for Catalunya standards that's a good route (thanks to Queralt stage).
It doesn't usually have a wide variety of stages.
 
Flanders is 286 km long now, basically MSR length. Don't ask me why
A now deleted post had the profile without Oude Kruisberg, but I think that was just a mistake.
the timetable on the race website (registration needed) has it with Oude Kruisberg and at 268k, same final 90k as last year:


only change there is the early addition of Marlboroughstraat between Molenberg and Berendries.

But maybe it's not up to date anymore?
 
Actually, I think they should emphasize more on a slightly different caracter between the start in Antwerp and Brugge.

In both cases skipp the first Kwaremont (especially from Antwerp they have to make some serious unnecassary detour for it), they can use the kilometers from this detour to make the parcours more interessting

With the start from Antwerp they can focus more on cobbled hills, so instead of going the Oudenaarden and the Kwaremont from Antwerpen, they go through the region called "Kouters". There are some interesting RVV type of hills, like the Putberg, Putteberg, Congoberg, Varent (all paved with cobbles) (and a few more) than they can approach the current route with the Bosberg and the one and only 'de Muur van Geraardsbergen' and connect to the current route with Berg ten Houte.

When they start is in Brugge they can focus more on the first half of the race with wind and flat cobbles. The region at the sea is more known for winds than the Antwerp region. And there are quit some interesting cobbles in West Vlaanderen already, they can easily connect with more known cobbles as the Neringenstraat, Herlegemstraat, Huisepontstraat, Doorn, Hollweg, Kergate-Mater, Ruiterstraat, Jagerij, Haaghoek, Paddestraat, Lippenhovestaat and quite a lot of more unknown shorter sections.

They really should change that boring final, were even there is barely audience on the roads. They could exctally use a part of the Nokere Koerse route. After the last Kwaremont and Patersberg, they should make the final esthetically more beautifully, but also a little bit more tactical. So after the last Kwaremont and Patersberg the do first the cobbles of the Varent, then some 'hilly' terrain with Holstraat, Petegemberg and Fabrieksstraat. To go back to Oudenaarden with some cobbles like Nokereberg, Huisepontstraat, Doorn, go through the Oudenaarde city centre and finish on the same spot as now, but only the riders arriving from the other side of the road. So, the best riders can still make a difference, but I think this final makes more variation in how the race will be decided. No its just pure force and explosiveness on Kwaremont and Patersberg which decides the race, but with a more 'rolling' final, some tactics can become important as well. Even the finish picture will be better with the old medievel city on the background.
 
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