General News Thread

[rghysens]

Re: Re:

That's a romantic idea, but it wouldn't work nowadays.

That's like saying that including le Manie won't affect the outcome of Milano-San Remo.

Also it doesn't get much tougher than Wanne/Stockeu/Haute Levee, but it hardly has any effect.

If you do a complete redesign of the course, you can skip the Wanne, approach Stockeu from the east, do the full climb (2.3km @ 9.9%), then the Wanneranval (1.8km @ 9.3%), then the Thier the Coo (2.6km @ 8.5%) and then Haute levee. Much harder central part of the race.

 

[togo95]

Re: Re:

If you do a complete redesign of the course, you can skip the Wanne, approach Stockeu from the east, do the full climb (2.3km @ 9.9%), then the Wanneranval (1.8km @ 9.3%), then the Thier the Coo (2.6km @ 8.5%) and then Haute levee. Much harder central part of the race.

Plus there is a possibility to add Mont-de-Fosse (1km @ 11.8%) and Rue Mionfosse (1.5km @ 9.5%) in between the second and third of those. The current route in that part is far from the hardest possible, especially now that they don't even do the first half of Stockeu.

 

[Brullnux]

Re: Re:

That's a romantic idea, but it wouldn't work nowadays.

That's like saying that including le Manie won't affect the outcome of Milano-San Remo.

Not really. Fauniera is saying how that a hard start and middle bu an easy finish will just result in a bunch sprint rather than attcks from afar, which I agree with.

 

[TMP402]

Re:

Vanmarcke thought about quitting after the critisism last year.

http://m.sporza.be/#!/snippet/56cd4ecfc9976f72b7ea0d3e

That's sad but he had so much bad luck last year.

 

[Lupi33x]

I'm still coming to grips with this new ranking system.
So am I right in assuming all continental races now count towards world tour ranking?

Do they count as the same amount of points on the UCI world ranking?

Are there any continental tour races that are worth more ranking points than world tour races?

Are U23 races included in the UCI world ranking?

When will the UCI award a jersey to the UCI ranking winner and give it some prestige?

Forgive me if there's another thread covering all of this, please direct me to it.

 

[Max Rockatansky]

The Volta has always been way to focused on the North though. I'm glad to see this region back in it. Realistically, the South is not quite as suited for a race finish as it lacks serious mountains compared to the North (highest point south of Portalegre has got to be...Fóia?). But having a so-called tour of Portugal regularly doing just half the country is ridiculous. Sometimes I just wish they'd have the Volta go WT replacing Algarve and we'd see a proper race. Sadly, the Volta's folklore pretty much dictates the August date. It'd be like taking the TDF out of July.

The Volta ao Alentejo in March has two hilly stages. Stage 1 to Castelo de Vide and stage 2 to Montemor-o-novo.

However this is still far away from hard Volta mountain stage design. Yet I think it is possible to build a Volta with tough stages without using Serra da Estrela and Senhora da Graça. Of course not in the south, but with Serra de São Macário, Portas de Montemuro or Serra da Arrada you can't go wrong.

 

[TMP402]

Re:

I'm still coming to grips with this new ranking system.
So am I right in assuming all continental races now count towards world tour ranking?

Do they count as the same amount of points on the UCI world ranking?

Are there any continental tour races that are worth more ranking points than world tour races?

Are U23 races included in the UCI world ranking?

When will the UCI award a jersey to the UCI ranking winner and give it some prestige?

Forgive me if there's another thread covering all of this, please direct me to it.

The UCI World Classification will include all male riders from the World Tour down to U23 riders. Points will be awarded on all races from World Tour level down to 1.2 and 2.2 races. The sliding points scale is as follows: Winning the TdF = 1000 points, 850 for Giro or Vuelta, 500 for TDU/P-N/T-A/MSR/G-W/RVV/P-R/AGR/LBL/Dauphine/Suisse/Romandie/GP Quebec/GP Montreal/Lombardia, 400 for E3/FW/San Sebastian/Vattenfall/Pais Vasco/Pologne/Eneco/Catalunya/GP Ouest-France, 200 for any HC race, 125 for 1.1 and 2.1, 70 for Nations Cup, 40 for 1.2 and 2.2 and 30 for 1.2U and 2.2U

 

[Lupi33x]

Re: Re:

I'm still coming to grips with this new ranking system.
So am I right in assuming all continental races now count towards world tour ranking?

Do they count as the same amount of points on the UCI world ranking?

Are there any continental tour races that are worth more ranking points than world tour races?

Are U23 races included in the UCI world ranking?

When will the UCI award a jersey to the UCI ranking winner and give it some prestige?

Forgive me if there's another thread covering all of this, please direct me to it.

The UCI World Classification will include all male riders from the World Tour down to U23 riders. Points will be awarded on all races from World Tour level down to 1.2 and 2.2 races. The sliding points scale is as follows: Winning the TdF = 1000 points, 850 for Giro or Vuelta, 500 for TDU/P-N/T-A/MSR/G-W/RVV/P-R/AGR/LBL/Dauphine/Suisse/Romandie/GP Quebec/GP Montreal/Lombardia, 400 for E3/FW/San Sebastian/Vattenfall/Pais Vasco/Pologne/Eneco/Catalunya/GP Ouest-France, 200 for any HC race, 125 for 1.1 and 2.1, 70 for Nations Cup, 40 for 1.2 and 2.2 and 30 for 1.2U and 2.2U

Amazing you could win the two Canada 1 day races and get equivalent to the TdF
Those and the TDU really should be HC, but I suppose everybody already knows this except for the UCI.

 

[StryderHells]

Re: Re:

I'm still coming to grips with this new ranking system.
So am I right in assuming all continental races now count towards world tour ranking?

Do they count as the same amount of points on the UCI world ranking?

Are there any continental tour races that are worth more ranking points than world tour races?

Are U23 races included in the UCI world ranking?

When will the UCI award a jersey to the UCI ranking winner and give it some prestige?

Forgive me if there's another thread covering all of this, please direct me to it.

The UCI World Classification will include all male riders from the World Tour down to U23 riders. Points will be awarded on all races from World Tour level down to 1.2 and 2.2 races. The sliding points scale is as follows: Winning the TdF = 1000 points, 850 for Giro or Vuelta, 500 for TDU/P-N/T-A/MSR/G-W/RVV/P-R/AGR/LBL/Dauphine/Suisse/Romandie/GP Quebec/GP Montreal/Lombardia, 400 for E3/FW/San Sebastian/Vattenfall/Pais Vasco/Pologne/Eneco/Catalunya/GP Ouest-France, 200 for any HC race, 125 for 1.1 and 2.1, 70 for Nations Cup, 40 for 1.2 and 2.2 and 30 for 1.2U and 2.2U

Amazing you could win the two Canada 1 day races and get equivalent to the TdF
Those and the TDU really should be HC, but I suppose everybody already knows this except for the UCI.

Why stop there? Eneco, Pologne, Vattenfall should also be HC!
Or people should accept that cycling is global now and WT races can be outside of the traditional cycling heartland

 

[GenericBoonenFan]

Re: Re:

I'm still coming to grips with this new ranking system.
So am I right in assuming all continental races now count towards world tour ranking?

Do they count as the same amount of points on the UCI world ranking?

Are there any continental tour races that are worth more ranking points than world tour races?

Are U23 races included in the UCI world ranking?

When will the UCI award a jersey to the UCI ranking winner and give it some prestige?

Forgive me if there's another thread covering all of this, please direct me to it.

The UCI World Classification will include all male riders from the World Tour down to U23 riders. Points will be awarded on all races from World Tour level down to 1.2 and 2.2 races. The sliding points scale is as follows: Winning the TdF = 1000 points, 850 for Giro or Vuelta, 500 for TDU/P-N/T-A/MSR/G-W/RVV/P-R/AGR/LBL/Dauphine/Suisse/Romandie/GP Quebec/GP Montreal/Lombardia, 400 for E3/FW/San Sebastian/Vattenfall/Pais Vasco/Pologne/Eneco/Catalunya/GP Ouest-France, 200 for any HC race, 125 for 1.1 and 2.1, 70 for Nations Cup, 40 for 1.2 and 2.2 and 30 for 1.2U and 2.2U

Amazing you could win the two Canada 1 day races and get equivalent to the TdF
Those and the TDU really should be HC, but I suppose everybody already knows this except for the UCI.

Why stop there? Eneco, Pologne, Vattenfall should also be HC!
Or people should accept that cycling is global now and WT races can be outside of the traditional cycling heartland

Eneco is not in the traditional cycling heartland?

 

[TMP402]

Re: Re:

I'm still coming to grips with this new ranking system.
So am I right in assuming all continental races now count towards world tour ranking?

Do they count as the same amount of points on the UCI world ranking?

Are there any continental tour races that are worth more ranking points than world tour races?

Are U23 races included in the UCI world ranking?

When will the UCI award a jersey to the UCI ranking winner and give it some prestige?

Forgive me if there's another thread covering all of this, please direct me to it.

The UCI World Classification will include all male riders from the World Tour down to U23 riders. Points will be awarded on all races from World Tour level down to 1.2 and 2.2 races. The sliding points scale is as follows: Winning the TdF = 1000 points, 850 for Giro or Vuelta, 500 for TDU/P-N/T-A/MSR/G-W/RVV/P-R/AGR/LBL/Dauphine/Suisse/Romandie/GP Quebec/GP Montreal/Lombardia, 400 for E3/FW/San Sebastian/Vattenfall/Pais Vasco/Pologne/Eneco/Catalunya/GP Ouest-France, 200 for any HC race, 125 for 1.1 and 2.1, 70 for Nations Cup, 40 for 1.2 and 2.2 and 30 for 1.2U and 2.2U

Amazing you could win the two Canada 1 day races and get equivalent to the TdF
Those and the TDU really should be HC, but I suppose everybody already knows this except for the UCI.

Why stop there? Eneco, Pologne, Vattenfall should also be HC!
Or people should accept that cycling is global now and WT races can be outside of the traditional cycling heartland

It's not just about that though. Pologne is no different to loads of week long races held throughout the year, and might struggle to get even the fairly average field it normally attracts if it wasn't a WT race.

But actually I'm more interested in 200 for any HC race and 125 for 1.1: a guy like Rebellin could equal a TdF win after about two weeks of late season Italian races.

The points scoring system is here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UCI_World_Ranking#Explanation_of_the_new-for-2016_points_system

you also get 120 points for a stage win at the TdF: if a sprinter had a great year, they could end up with more points than the yellow jersey.

 

[roundabout]

It's not that bad.

It used to be 500 points for a GT win and 70 for a GT stage in the pre-WT days. 1000/120 is even an improvement

Here's a link to the points in 1998

http://autobus.cyclingnews.com/results/1998/ucipoints98.html

 

[Lupi33x]

Pologne gets reasonable fields. TDU gets by far the worst fields for a WT because of its inconvenience in distance and timing. It'd probably be a better race if more conti teams were allowed in as they'd be more motivated. ie make it HC, and now that HC races can accrue WT points you get the best of both worlds.

 

[postmanhat]

Matt Hayman is out of the spring classics with a broken elbow. Who will lead Orica now, Keukerle?

 

[GenericBoonenFan]

Re:

Matt Hayman is out of the spring classics with a broken elbow. Who will lead Orica now, Keukerle?

yep

 

[yaco]

Re:

Matt Hayman is out of the spring classics with a broken elbow. Who will lead Orica now, Keukerle?

OGE has a weakness in cobbles racing - Keukeliere would have been leader anyway but he is a notch off the top riders. Then again every team has a weakness.

 

[Brullnux]

Re: Re:

Matt Hayman is out of the spring classics with a broken elbow. Who will lead Orica now, Keukerle?

OGE has a weakness in cobbles racing - Keukeliere would have been leader anyway but he is a notch off the top riders. Then again every team has a weakness.

What about GC? Without Yates and Chavez they wouldn't get into the top 10. Mind you, they can only just about get there.

 

[Max Rockatansky]

País Vasco-Euskal Herriko Itzulia

Lunes 4 de abril. 1ª etapa: Etxebarria - Markina-Xemein, 144 km
Km 10,6 Gontzagaigana (3ª)
Km 23,1 Santa Eufemia (3ª)
km 62 Azkarate (2ª)
Km 76 San Miguel (2ª)
Km 91,8 Gontzagaigana (3ª)
Km 102,8 Santa Eufemia (3ª)
Km 118,1 Ixua (1ª)
Km 135,7 Aiastia (2ª)

Martes 5 de abril. 2ª etapa: Markina-Xemein - Garrastatxu (Baranbio, Amurrio), 174,2 km
Km 45,7 Untzella (3ª)
Km 56,3 Krutzeta (2ª)
Km 127,2 Mendeika (3ª)
Meta Garrastatxu (2ª)

Miércoles 6 de abril. 3ª etapa: Vitoria-Gasteiz - Lesaka, 194,5 km
Km 94,5 Uitzi (3ª)
Km 104,7 Usategieta (2ª)
Km 164,9 Aritxulegi (2ª)
Km 173,3 Agiña (2ª)
Km 184,4 La Piedad (3ª)

Jueves 7 de abril. 4ª etapa: Lesaka - Orio, 165 km
Km 29,4 Jaizkibel (1ª)
Km 47,8 Arkale (3ª)
Km 99,8 Aia (2ª)
Km 131,5 Garate (2ª)
Km 147,6 Aia (2ª)
Km 151,9 Aia (2ª)

Viernes 8 de abril. 5ª etapa: Orio - Arrate, 159 km
Km 24,9 Itziar (2ª)
Km 39,4 Kalbario (3ª)
Km 65 Karabieta (2ª)
Km 79,4 Kanpazar (2ª)
Km 98,4 Intzortako Atea-Asentzio (2ª)
Km 123,7 Ixua (2ª)
Km 138,1 San Miguel (2ª)
Km 157 Usartza (1ª)

Sábado 9 de abril. 6ª etapa: Eibar - Eibar, 16,5 km CRI
Km 8,3 Santuario Arrate (Cruce de Ixua)

 

[Ricco']

Brutal parcours, Itzulia never disappoints.

I don't know how hard are Ixua and Aiastia but for now only stage 3 appear a stage to a reduced bunch sprint. All the other ones seem capable of doing some GC differences.

 

[Netserk]

Re:

Brutal parcours, Itzulia never disappoints.

I don't know how hard are Ixua and Aiastia but for now only stage 3 appear a stage to a reduced bunch sprint. All the other ones seem capable of doing some GC differences.

Stage 1 has the same four climbs and finish as the stage in 2014 that Swift won.

 

[yaco]

Re: Re:

Matt Hayman is out of the spring classics with a broken elbow. Who will lead Orica now, Keukerle?

OGE has a weakness in cobbles racing - Keukeliere would have been leader anyway but he is a notch off the top riders. Then again every team has a weakness.

What about GC? Without Yates and Chavez they wouldn't get into the top 10. Mind you, they can only just about get there.

Time will tell about GC, though OGE is progressing in this area and it is a priority - Think OGE's next priority should be to get a quality cobbles rider who can win races like Paris Roubaix - It means to spend dollars - Then again the number one team Moviestar seems to get by without an outstanding cobbles rider.

 

[yaco]

Is it my imagination but the parcours for Pais Vasco seems more brutal than ever - You'll need to be a good climber. I always wonder about category 3 mountains in Spain - They are normally closer to category 2 .

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Re:

Brutal parcours, Itzulia never disappoints.

I don't know how hard are Ixua and Aiastia but for now only stage 3 appear a stage to a reduced bunch sprint. All the other ones seem capable of doing some GC differences.

Ixua

In stage 1 they do the easier side. In stage 5 they do the harder side. Twice, because it's part of the road to Arrate.

 

[Valv.Piti]

A hill/mountain top finish on stage 2? That interesting. How hard is the Aia stage?

 

[Libertine Seguros]