General News Thread

[tobydawq]

Re: Re:

There are no stage details in any of the news articles about the route, so the profiles will presumably be released later.

But do not for a second believe that being a time trialist will help you in this race. The only info I could find details the time trial. It includes the insanely steep Antigua climb that we saw in the 1st stage of the 2011 edition, when we waited for the riders to come into view of the fixed cameras on the climb. Purito obviously destroyed everyone, winning the sprint after the short downhill to the finish against Samu Sanchez, Klöden and Horner. It was a great finish.

Didn't he win after a photo finish?

Yes, I mentioned the sprint win. He was, however, clearly the strongest on the climb.

Yeah, I just re-watched it. He seemed to underestimate the hill a little bit and couldn't carry his momentum in the last 100 metres. That was probably what gave the others a possibility to regain contact with him.

And in the finish he almost made the same mistake he would do against Valverde 16 months later in Arrate.

 

[Max Rockatansky]

Re:

1ª etapa. Zumarraga - Zumarraga (CRI, 12 km).

2ª etapa. Zumarraga – Valle de Egüés.

3ª etapa. Sarriguren - Santuario de Estibaliz.

4ª etapa. Vitoria - Arrigorriaga.

5ª etapa. Arrigorriaga - Santuario de Arrate.

6ª etapa. Eibar - Eibar.

This is the route for Pais Vasco. I like that they are having the TT on the first day, that should make for a better race IMO. We have the classic Arrate stage, but outside of that, Im pretty lost to what is going to happen. Does anybody have a clue to what the stages are going to look like?

Only the itt so far.

 

[RedheadDane]

I can see Squire's point - from a few posts up - about being a good ITTer not really helping you much.
Unless you're also good at other things, such as climbing.

 

[Koronin]

That looks like an ITT that a rider like Nibali or Contador would like.

 

[tobydawq]

Re:

That looks like an ITT that a rider like Nibali or Contador would like.

Or Purito. He was once second in an ITT in País Vasco, beaten only by Dumoulin.

That was a rare result.

 

[Koronin]

Re: Re:

That looks like an ITT that a rider like Nibali or Contador would like.

Or Purito. He was once second in an ITT in País Vasco, beaten only by Dumoulin.

That was a rare result.

LOL, How did I forget that from someone who had all sorts of problems with ITTs.

 

[GuyIncognito]

Re: Re:

That looks like an ITT that a rider like Nibali or Contador would like.

Or Purito. He was once second in an ITT in País Vasco, beaten only by Dumoulin.

That was a rare result.

Not a flat section to be seen in that one. And most of the route was steep as hell

 

[RedheadDane]

Quick question about the topography of the Basque Country:
Is it even possibly to find much flat road? Short of sending the riders to do laps on a local parking lot.

 

[Koronin]

Re:

Quick question about the topography of the Basque Country:
Is it even possibly to find much flat road? Short of sending the riders to do laps on a local parking lot.

You might be able to find a few connected city streets to do laps around for a bit of a flat road or maybe do some laps at the local air port?

 

[tobydawq]

Re: Re:

That looks like an ITT that a rider like Nibali or Contador would like.

Or Purito. He was once second in an ITT in País Vasco, beaten only by Dumoulin.

That was a rare result.

Not a flat section to be seen in that one. And most of the route was steep as hell

Yeah, of course, but it was before Tom had proven himself in the Vuelta, so it was a bit surprising that he could win a time trial that Purito could finish in second.

 

[GuyIncognito]

Re:

Quick question about the topography of the Basque Country:
Is it even possibly to find much flat road? Short of sending the riders to do laps on a local parking lot.

Sure. They've had a couple of flattish stages in recent years. They just like to put climbs near the end even on those, but you could easily not do that if you wanted to.

 

[Nirvana]

With the first week of 2019 gone UCI has implemented a part (i think the first one to go in effect, if i haven't missed something) of the local french mayor reform, the reorganization of rankings.

The WT ranking has been discontinued and two new rankings has been implemented along the World ranking, one for stage races (led by Simon Yates) and one for one day races (led by van Avermaet).

There are also big changes in the continental rankings that now are based on the nationality of the riders (i.e. every point scored by Valverde is counted in Europe Tour ranking, every point scored by Quintana is counted in America Tour ranking and so on). IMHO is a total non sense because in this way you only split the World ranking in five sub rankings that don't have alomost anything to do with the continental circuits since the best riders in every ranking have a vast majority of their points scored in WT races.
Now Impey led Africa Tour (with only 150 out of 1.444 points scored on African soil), Lopez led the America Tour, Lutsenko the Asia Tour, Valverde the Europe Tour and Matthews the Oceania Tour (without a single day of racing in Oceania since 2014 Tour Down Under).

The last addition is the 2020 Olympics qualification ranking (for nations) that count the points scored since the start of 2019 season (last year's Tour of Hainan).

https://www.uci.org/road/rankings

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

Re:

With the first week of 2019 gone UCI has implemented a part (i think the first one to go in effect, if i haven't missed something) of the local french mayor reform, the reorganization of rankings.

The WT ranking has been discontinued and two new rankings has been implemented along the World ranking, one for stage races (led by Simon Yates) and one for one day races (led by van Avermaet).

There are also big changes in the continental rankings that now are based on the nationality of the riders (i.e. every point scored by Valverde is counted in Europe Tour ranking, every point scored by Quintana is counted in America Tour ranking and so on). IMHO is a total non sense because in this way you only split the World ranking in five sub rankings that don't have alomost anything to do with the continental circuits since the best riders in every ranking have a vast majority of their points scored in WT races.
Now Impey led Africa Tour (with only 150 out of 1.444 points scored on African soil), Lopez led the America Tour, Lutsenko the Asia Tour, Valverde the Europe Tour and Matthews the Oceania Tour (without a single day of racing in Oceania since 2014 Tour Down Under).

The last addition is the 2020 Olympics qualification ranking (for nations) that count the points scored since the start of 2019 season (last year's Tour of Hainan).

https://www.uci.org/road/rankings

Does that mean that Impey, Lopez and Matthews now wear the continental tour leader jerseys (I think those continents, but not Europe, have a leader's jersey)? In all races, or only on that continent?

 

[Red Rick]

https://www.paris-nice.fr/en/stage-1

Paric Nice 2019 route is out.

Long ITT for this kind of race, Uniclimb HC MTF, usual Nice-Nice shenanigans. Other 5 stages are 100% crap, as befitting of an ASO race.

Only noticing now the Nice-Nice stage is the exact same as last year, and that that was different from the previous designs.

 

[Nirvana]

Col de Turrini is one of the hardest MTF ever seen in PN, probably they want to attract GC riders with Tirreno returning to his traditional route for classics riders.

The first stages could be interesting in case of strong wind, usually they designs flat stages on exposed road and that has worked in the past. Anyway I want to see details of stage 1 finale, looking at the fact they put an intermediate sprint with only 3 kms to go probably means there is something that could force action.

 

[sir fly]

It's not that bad route. In fact, I wouldn't call it bad at all. But I guess you have to maintain the image, Red Rick
With the preceding UAE tour and retro Tirreno, I'd say the route will provide exciting racing in widened contenders' field.
The schedule like this (globalizing UAE, Paris - Nice, retro Tirreno - Adriatico) has huge potential. If I'd only live on a slice of the globe where the races fall into the evening prime time, that would be perfect.

 

[roundabout]

1.6 km 8.1% is 1st category now. Sad!

 

[tobydawq]

Re:

It's not that bad route. In fact, I wouldn't call it bad at all. But I guess you have to maintain the image, Red Rick
With the preceding UAE tour and retro Tirreno, I'd say the route will provide exciting racing in widened contenders' field.
The schedule like this (globalizing UAE, Paris - Nice, retro Tirreno - Adriatico) has huge potential. If I'd only live on a slice of the globe where the races fall into the evening prime time, that would be perfect.

Yeah, I guess so too.

Though, the first three stages don't seem very interesting at all. Neither does stage 6.

But the final couple of stages look nice. The last many years, the final stage has been one of the best stages of the entire racing season, and a hard uphill finale the day before is a good idea.

I'm a little worried by a 25km TT, though.

 

[Squire]

Re: Re:

I'm a little worried by a 25km TT, though.

That 25 km TT could be a stroke of genious. Imagine what Quintana and similar riders have to try on the MTF and/or the last stage.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Standard Paris-Nice route. I see no reason to complain since it has been one of the best stage races the last many years. Col de Turini is a nice addition, so is a longish ITT and the last stage always delivers. I like stage 4, one for the classics men.

Remember, the first 2-3 flat stages in Paris-Nice always end up harder and more selective than you'd think.

 

[Nirvana]

According to ANSA RCS is working to revive the "Settimana Ciclistica Internazionale", a stage race that was held during February in Sicily during 80s and 90s.

Note that in 2017 the previous regional government announced the Giro di Sicilia for the next October so, even if in the end nothing happened, means that there is interest for a race there.

 

[PeterB]

Paris-Nice wildcards announced: Cofidis, Delko Marseille Provence, Direct Energie, Team Arkea-Samsic and Vital Concept-B&B Hotels.

It's again all-French selection as the last year just expanded by one extra team invited. That is surprising but welcome I guess if we see more teams competing.

 

[Red Rick]

Re:

Standard Paris-Nice route. I see no reason to complain since it has been one of the best stage races the last many years. Col de Turini is a nice addition, so is a longish ITT and the last stage always delivers. I like stage 4, one for the classics men.

Remember, the first 2-3 flat stages in Paris-Nice always end up harder and more selective than you'd think.

I wonder who's gonna ride it.

It's true that Tirreno is neglecting the climbers this year, but the ITT is kinda long. I think it depends on where Froome, Thomas, Roglic and Dumoulin are going. Dumoulin was confirmed for TA. Thomas might have unfinished business at TA, Roglic could go either way and I honestly think Froome would fancy a crack at it. One of these 4 would be the big favorite.

I just think the first 3 stages are too easy and the supposed hilly stages are just underwhelming. I like the change they made to the last stage last year. Cote de Peille is now basically the main climb of Paris Nice, and the little change they made it a much more suitable place for attack. Then again, old habits die hard.

 

[Max Rockatansky]

It looks like Sky are sending Bernal/Kwiatkowski to PN and Moscon/Thomas to TA. Roglic is also already listed for TA.

Most of the Sky years, Froome skipped those two races. With Colombia 2.1 and UAE Tour in february, I guess we won't see him return to racing before Catalunya.

 

[Koronin]

It looks like Sky are sending Bernal/Kwiatkowski to PN and Moscon/Thomas to TA. Roglic is also already listed for TA.

Most of the Sky years, Froome skipped those two races. With Colombia 2.1 and UAE Tour in february, I guess we won't see him return to racing before Catalunya.

I'm fairly sure Froome is scheduled to go to UAE. Until start lists are finalized, who knows, but it does appear he is headed there.