General News Thread

[oldcrank]

Chris Froome's biggest rival to skip Tour de France
http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2014/jan/18/chris-froome-nairo-quintana-skip-tour-de-france

For those keeping score :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Migk3Syz7_s

 

[roundabout]

lol

https://twitter.com/Ciclismo2005/status/424673313411973120

 

[movingtarget]

lol

https://twitter.com/Ciclismo2005/status/424673313411973120

Not exactly the sort of publicity you want when you are trying to improve your own team re sponsors, publicity and hopefully a spot on the World Tour. None of this surprises me anymore. Collusion is nothing new.

 

[greenedge]

http://www.sbs.com.au/cyclingcentral/video/120899139694/lachlan-morton-s-big-adventure

Quite cool- no wonder why he looked so lean at the TDU teams presentation

 

[jens_attacks]

lol

https://twitter.com/Ciclismo2005/status/424673313411973120

maybe i don't understand it well but george whishpered the sum of money in the last km. pereiro accepted to pay hincapie to lose. oscarito even arranged himself to look nice for the photos.
and then big george launches that big acceleration and breaks the "agreement" lol. after the finish, pereiro goes to hincapie to ask what just happened and george says that he actually meant that he wanted to PAY pereiro to lose and not the other way around. which of course made more sense. pereiro stupido.
it really is a rather funny as hell story

at the start of the next stage to pau, armstrong makes fun of pereiro saying that "fuccing pereiro" is the dumbest person in the world pereiro angered as hell breaks away from the start and wins in pau

pereiro received the money from george at least

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

maybe i don't understand it well but george whishpered the sum of money in the last km. pereiro accepted to pay hincapie to lose. oscarito even arranged himself to look nice for the photos.
and then big george launches that big acceleration and breaks the "agreement" lol. after the finish, pereiro goes to hincapie to ask what just happened and george says that he actually meant that he wanted to PAY pereiro to lose and not the other way around. which of course made more sense. pereiro stupido.
it really is a rather funny as hell story

at the start of the next stage to pau, armstrong makes fun of pereiro saying that "fuccing pereiro" is the dumbest person in the world pereiro angered as hell breaks away from the start and wins in pau

pereiro received the money from george at least

No sign on the video of Pereiro 'arranging himself to look nice for the photos', and Hincapie is constantly looking around to see whether Pereiro is challenging him.

 

[jens_attacks]

he probably exagerated about it. he tends to do that
also george didn't take a single pull on all the stage and was in magnificent form. he would have won it anyway i guess. but better to be sure

 

[hrotha]

Or maybe Pereiro is full of **** and he's going with the "hilarious misunderstanding" thing because the alternative (that he went and sold a TdF stage win) would make him look worse. That Hincapie didn't do much work, and that Pereiro didn't drop him (2005 fuel be damned) makes a lot more sense if we assume Hincapie was paying.

 

[jens_attacks]

the alternative wouldn't have popped up anyway. it's not like he was under pression and he lied about it. typical gallego friends conversation, a few glasses of wine, a little bit of extra-polishing of the story to sound better and we all know that pereiro is a big heart and also big mouth

otherwise, lance wouldn't have made so much fun of him the next day. pereiro is a lovely guy but not exactly a rocket scientist. keep in mind what ludo dierckxens did one time

i think it might be legit

 

[movingtarget]

the alternative wouldn't have popped up anyway. it's not like he was under pression and he lied about it. typical gallego friends conversation, a few glasses of wine, a little bit of extra-polishing of the story to sound better and we all know that pereiro is a big heart and also big mouth

otherwise, lance wouldn't have made so much fun of him the next day. pereiro is a lovely guy but not exactly a rocket scientist. keep in mind what ludo dierckxens did one time

i think it might be legit

I think it's definitely legit.

 

[JRanton]

Oman startlist: http://www.cyclingfever.com/editie.html?detp=view&_ap=startlijst&editie_idd=MjU1OTU=

Notable participants:

Nibali, Froome, Pozzovivo, Henao, Gesink, Gilbert, Van Garderen, Sagan, Moser, Bouhanni, Pinot, Greipel, Van den Broeck, Boonen, Uran, D. Moreno, Rodriguez, Kristoff, Konig, Kreuziger, Roche, Schleck x 2, Cancellara.

 

[janraaskalt]

Dubai is the first of the 3 Middle East races, but the only one without start list so far.

 

[Wallenquist]

Wiggins aiming Tour of California
Still better than aiming Tour of Turkey...
http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/latest/542178/bradley-wiggins-aiming-for-tour-of-california.html

Somehow i belive he would be pretty happy to ride only Tour and Worlds and finally end his road career and contract with Sky. And focus on Rio.

 

[Afrank]

Wiggins aiming Tour of California
Still better than aiming Tour of Turkey...
http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/latest/542178/bradley-wiggins-aiming-for-tour-of-california.html

Somehow i belive he would be pretty happy to ride only Tour and Worlds and finally end his road career and contract with Sky. And focus on Rio.

Damn you Wiggo, Cali should belong to Dombro.

 

[Christian]

Saxo Bank is now officially a Russian team. Stefano Feltrin, right-hand-man to Oleg Tinkoff, should become the new general manager.

http://cyclismactu.net/news-divers-tinkoff-saxo-est-desormais-une-equipe-russe-37969.html

So Denmark has no WorldTour team anymore... could have some consequences for danish cycling in the future! Of course Riis still has a lot of influence in the team, but I think it will gradually get less and less, maybe he'll even leave or be kicked out before his 3-year deal is up. Denmark still has a lot of Continental teams, but it should get harder for danish riders to break through to the pro ranks, one could imagine!

 

[BigMac]

Emanuel Saldaño, last year's Argentinian national road champion and '09's Giro del Sol San Juan winner died today, victim of a traffic accident.

http://www.diariolaventana.com/articulo.php?id=32379
Sad news.

 

[theyoungest]

Saxo Bank is now officially a Russian team. Stefano Feltrin, right-hand-man to Oleg Tinkoff, should become the new general manager.

http://cyclismactu.net/news-divers-tinkoff-saxo-est-desormais-une-equipe-russe-37969.html

So Denmark has no WorldTour team anymore... could have some consequences for danish cycling in the future! Of course Riis still has a lot of influence in the team, but I think it will gradually get less and less, maybe he'll even leave or be kicked out before his 3-year deal is up. Denmark still has a lot of Continental teams, but it should get harder for danish riders to break through to the pro ranks, one could imagine!

How many Danes do Saxo have on their team right now? Five? I doubt that it would make much of a difference.

 

[Netserk]

How many Danes do Saxo have on their team right now? Five? I doubt that it would make much of a difference.

Seven.

Breschel
Hansen
Juul Jensen
Mørkøv
CAS
Nicki
Valgren

Historical:

2001: 14
2002: 9
2003: 10
2004: 10
2005: 11
2006: 10
2007: 11
2008: 11
2009: 12
2010: 11
2011: 8
2012: 9
2013: 9
2014: 7

 

[Guybrush]

Oman startlist: http://www.cyclingfever.com/editie.html?detp=view&_ap=startlijst&editie_idd=MjU1OTU=

Notable participants:

Nibali, Froome, Pozzovivo, Henao, Gesink, Gilbert, Van Garderen, Sagan, Moser, Bouhanni, Pinot, Greipel, Van den Broeck, Boonen, Uran, D. Moreno, Rodriguez, Kristoff, Konig, Kreuziger, Roche, Schleck x 2, Cancellara.

A very nice race and great starlist, only would need live coverage.

 

[Arredondo]

A very nice race and great starlist, only would need live coverage.

They have good summaries, but true, i would love to see the fight between those guys on the Green Mountain live.

 

[trevim]

Volta ao Algarve 2014 (2.1)
1.ª etapa, 19 fev: Faro - Albufeira, 160 km.
2.ª etapa, 20 fev: Lagoa - Monchique, 196 km.
3.ª etapa, 21 fev: Vila do Bispo - Sagres, 13,6 km (CRI).
4.ª etapa, 22 fev: Almodôvar - Alto do Malhão (MTF), 164,5 km.
5.ª etapa, 23 fev, Tavira - Vilamoura, 155,8 km. Total: 690 km.

Seems like a balanced course with a smaller TT and the same MTF as the previous years. Stage 2 might be really good because it has some 3rd category climbs, some really heavy roads without big climbs and the last KOM is just 5km away from the finish.

 

[BigMac]

Volta ao Algarve 2014 (2.1)
1.ª etapa, 19 fev: Faro - Albufeira, 160 km.
2.ª etapa, 20 fev: Lagoa - Monchique, 196 km.
3.ª etapa, 21 fev: Vila do Bispo - Sagres, 13,6 km (CRI).
4.ª etapa, 22 fev: Almodôvar - Alto do Malhão (MTF), 164,5 km.
5.ª etapa, 23 fev, Tavira - Vilamoura, 155,8 km. Total: 690 km.

Seems like a balanced course with a smaller TT and the same MTF as the previous years. Stage 2 might be really good because it has some 3rd category climbs, some really heavy roads without big climbs and the last KOM is just 5km away from the finish.

Somewhat happy for stage 2. Still waiting for profiles, but if it is like announced, with several cat3 climbs along the route before the final climb (record says it looks like a classic (but can't really trust them)), that means they go immediately to more interior parts of Algarve after they leave Lagoa, and then approach Monchique from the East. I am disapointed on the other hand, because this means they will finish in the actual town of Monchique, and not in the highest point of the mountain which is the Miradouro da Fóia. Still a MTF though only at 450m high.

I like the TT at the middle of the race and the fact that it ends in Sagres. Sagres is the westernmost town of the Algarve and it is known to be in one of the windiest areas in the country, especially at that time of the year. Lookin forward to it.

Also like the addition of a ramp on stage 4, 11km from the finish, 1k @ 13%.

Thanks for the news trevim.

EDIT: Now that I read it again, the fact that the last KOM is located 5km away from the finish line, could mean that we'll have a descent finish from Fóia to Monchique, which would make sence considering the strong rumours of Fóia.

Also, it seems that Tommy V will be in the race, according to the provisional startlist.

 

[trevim]

Somewhat happy for stage 2. Still waiting for profiles, but if it is like announced, with several cat3 climbs along the route before the final climb (record says it looks like a classic (but can't really trust them)), that means they go immediately to more interior parts of Algarve after they leave Lagoa, and then approach Monchique from the East. I am disapointed on the other hand, because this means they will finish in the actual town of Monchique, and not in the highest point of the mountain wich is the Miradouro da Fóia. Still a MTF though only at 450m high.

I like the TT at the middle of the race and the fact that it ends in Sagres. Sagres is the westernmost town of the Algarve and it is known to be in one of the windiest areas in the country, especially at that time of the year. Lookin forward to it.

Also like the addition of a ramp on stage 4, 11km from the finish, 1k @ 13%.

Thanks for the news trevim.

EDIT: Now that I read it again, the fact that the last KOM is located 5km away from the finish line, could mean that we'll have a descent finish from Fóia to Monchique, which would make sence considering the strong rumours of Fóia.

Also, it seems that Tommy V will be in the race, according to the provisional startlist.

Foia would be nice specially with a descent finish. The route has changed a bit and I hope it creates more fireworks from GC guys on the intermediate stage instead of saving everything for Malhao.
[Record usually has it right in cycling news, let's see ]

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Somewhat happy for stage 2. Still waiting for profiles, but if it is like announced, with several cat3 climbs along the route before the final climb (record says it looks like a classic (but can't really trust them)), that means they go immediately to more interior parts of Algarve after they leave Lagoa, and then approach Monchique from the East. I am disapointed on the other hand, because this means they will finish in the actual town of Monchique, and not in the highest point of the mountain wich is the Miradouro da Fóia. Still a MTF though only at 450m high.

I like the TT at the middle of the race and the fact that it ends in Sagres. Sagres is the westernmost town of the Algarve and it is known to be in one of the windiest areas in the country, especially at that time of the year. Lookin forward to it.

Also like the addition of a ramp on stage 4, 11km from the finish, 1k @ 13%.

Thanks for the news trevim.

EDIT: Now that I read it again, the fact that the last KOM is located 5km away from the finish line, could mean that we'll have a descent finish from Fóia to Monchique, which would make sence considering the strong rumours of Fóia.

Also, it seems that Tommy V will be in the race, according to the provisional startlist.

For me, three GC relevant stages out of 5 would be ideal. Happy to see the TT reduced a bit. It was just too dominant last year.

Voeckler already back? Sounds very optimistic imo.

 

[Christian]

For the CRI it would be spectacular if they go all the way out to Henrique o Navegador's fortress and back. On the other hand such strong winds can be dangerous in CRI's, I hope no one chooses to ride with a disc. But from what I saw last year in the Tavira CRI, the Continental squads don't have TT bikes, they just mount TT handlebars on their normal bikes