General News Thread

[pastronef]

Re:

I think people are severely underestiming the difficulty of all the climbs in LBL if you seriously think Sagan or Colbrelli stand a chance, even if the finish is not in Ans....

No chance.

let´s hope you´re right

 

[Kwibus]

Re:

I think people are severely underestiming the difficulty of all the climbs in LBL if you seriously think Sagan or Colbrelli stand a chance, even if the finish is not in Ans....

No chance.

Its simple, the big guns cant wait for the final 30km, it needs to happen before. If the wait too long then fast men have a chance.

 

[Gigs_98]

I have no doubt the racing will be better on the new route, but I would have liked a harder early part anyway. I don't think this will be decided in a sprint, I think the what happened at the AGR will happen here as well but just the fact that there is a small chance of LBL to end in a reduced bunch sprint is kinda hard to take.

 

[tobydawq]

And let's not pretend that Sagan and Colbrelli are equal climbing-wise...

 

[Koronin]

LBL is still going to be harder than Amstel to start with. Also Sagan and Cobrelli aren't the same type of climbers as Alaphilippe, Valverde, Martin, etc who also have sprints. A reduced bunch sprint could be possible, but then the outcome is almost certainly Alaphilippe and Valverde finishing 1-2 in whichever order on that day.

 

[Max Rockatansky]

Re:

LBL is still going to be harder than Amstel to start with. Also Sagan and Cobrelli aren't the same type of climbers as Alaphilippe, Valverde, Martin, etc who also have sprints. A reduced bunch sprint could be possible, but then the outcome is almost certainly Alaphilippe and Valverde finishing 1-2 in whichever order on that day.

Michael Matthews already finished 4th in Ans. I think he has a really good chance to win here, if there is a small bunch sprint.

The thing with Sagan is, that he will have Flanders and Roubaix in his legs, while most of the other contenders are peaking for LBL or the Ardennes week. There is a reason, why only three riders have won both races in the same year since 1945. But if anyone in the peloton can go into the van Looy, Merckx and Kelly league, it is Sagan.

 

[Velolover2]

Re:

And let's not pretend that Sagan and Colbrelli are equal climbing-wise...

A Colbrelli win was the worst case scenario of no action from the climbers. It's obviously not going to happen.

That said, I like the new course. I think someone like Greg Van Avermaet could do well on it. He has the endurance to race hard on short, steep hills for a long period of time.

 

[jflemaire]

Re: Re:

That said, I like the new course. I think someone like Greg Van Avermaet could do well on it. He has the endurance to race hard on short, steep hills for a long period of time.

Come on, now. These are Ardennes climbs, not Flanders'. Redoute and Faucons are much tougher and longer than anything you can find in Flanders. GvA won't survive them. Unless the bunch soft pedals the whole race, but then anyone can win.

 

[Red Rick]

Re: Re:

LBL is still going to be harder than Amstel to start with. Also Sagan and Cobrelli aren't the same type of climbers as Alaphilippe, Valverde, Martin, etc who also have sprints. A reduced bunch sprint could be possible, but then the outcome is almost certainly Alaphilippe and Valverde finishing 1-2 in whichever order on that day.

Michael Matthews already finished 4th in Ans. I think he has a really good chance to win here, if there is a small bunch sprint.

The thing with Sagan is, that he will have Flanders and Roubaix in his legs, while most of the other contenders are peaking for LBL or the Ardennes week. There is a reason, why only three riders have won both races in the same year since 1945. But if anyone in the peloton can go into the van Looy, Merckx and Kelly league, it is Sagan.

Matthews is going for the cobbles this year.

I think the lead in to the Redoute will definitely be raced harder, so legs will definitely be more tired on the RaF, and in result that will be more selective. Basically the usual attack that used to be long range on the false flat after the RaF will now be the last somewhat selective part of the race and the part where everyone and their mother will want to go solo.

I kinda fear it's just gonna be a very similar race all the way until RaF, at which point we're in the final 20km already. Still better than the usual SN/Ans shenanigans, but I don't think anyone will race with the idea of preventing a bunch sprint, cause there almost certainly isn't gonna be any.

 

[Velolover2]

Re: Re:

That said, I like the new course. I think someone like Greg Van Avermaet could do well on it. He has the endurance to race hard on short, steep hills for a long period of time.

Come on, now. These are Ardennes climbs, not Flanders'. Redoute and Faucons are much tougher and longer than anything you can find in Flanders. GvA won't survive them. Unless the bunch soft pedals the whole race, but then anyone can win.

GVA is not like the other riders in the cobbled classics. He can also do hills quite well. I think he is more like Gilbert than a pure northern classics specialist.

He has been strong in some quite brutal hilly Tour stages and the Olympics. Obviously, he is no Alaphillipe on the steep hills but he is much, much, much better than Terpstra, Naesen, Vanmacke and co.

 

[Nirvana]

I don't think the new route changes much for van Avermaet, he would have been among the favourites and could have won also with the old route if he would have focused on the Ardennes, his problem with Liege is his schedule, riding all the classics from the opening weekend onwards means he's way less fresher than riders focusing only on the Ardennes week and probably also with a declining form.

This year also Matthews will have the same problem considering that he'll ride the cobbles.

 

[Koronin]

GVA is a more likely candidate to win LBL than Sagan is. He's more of a climber than Sagan. However, I still remember Valverde's comment after GVA finished top 10 at LBL in 2017. He said if GVA can finish top 10 here (referring to LBL), I can finish top 10 at Paris-Roubiax. Now that does not mean he's ever going to race Paris-Roubiax as he's said many times he's not going to including recently.

 

[Gigs_98]

Re: Re:

LBL is still going to be harder than Amstel to start with. Also Sagan and Cobrelli aren't the same type of climbers as Alaphilippe, Valverde, Martin, etc who also have sprints. A reduced bunch sprint could be possible, but then the outcome is almost certainly Alaphilippe and Valverde finishing 1-2 in whichever order on that day.

Michael Matthews already finished 4th in Ans. I think he has a really good chance to win here, if there is a small bunch sprint.

The thing with Sagan is, that he will have Flanders and Roubaix in his legs, while most of the other contenders are peaking for LBL or the Ardennes week. There is a reason, why only three riders have won both races in the same year since 1945. But if anyone in the peloton can go into the van Looy, Merckx and Kelly league, it is Sagan.

Matthews is going for the cobbles this year.

I think the lead in to the Redoute will definitely be raced harder, so legs will definitely be more tired on the RaF, and in result that will be more selective. Basically the usual attack that used to be long range on the false flat after the RaF will now be the last somewhat selective part of the race and the part where everyone and their mother will want to go solo.

I kinda fear it's just gonna be a very similar race all the way until RaF, at which point we're in the final 20km already. Still better than the usual SN/Ans shenanigans, but I don't think anyone will race with the idea of preventing a bunch sprint, cause there almost certainly isn't gonna be any.

I really doubt that. I actually think next year La Redoute will be raced harder than RaF in the last few years (which wasn't that hard tbh). Just look at how small the differences usually were on Saint Nicolas. Even in todays age of passive racing riders can't be stupid enough to think they can just easily drop everyone on a one kilometer climb and stay away. Now ofc RaF is harder than Saint Nicolas and all, but still, I just can't imagine the racing not starting earlier next year

 

[Valv.Piti]

Well at least we can now hope something significant is going to happen on Redoute, lol. Amstel def did a better job making a new route, but lets see how its going to play out.

 

[Velolover2]

Re:

Well at least we can now hope something significant is going to happen on Redoute, lol. Amstel def did a better job making a new route, but lets see how its going to play out.

I wish they had skipped Forges and made Redoute the penultimate climb with just under 30k (29 km) to go. That would have made it even more crucial.

 

[Max Rockatansky]

Re:

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.

The race is coming this year. UCI put it into the calendar. It's a new RCS race.

03.04 - 06.04 Giro di Sicilia 2.1

 

[Nirvana]

They changed the finale of Tirreno's stage 2, good for Sagan because they cut the harder climbs to Montecatini Val di Cecina and Volterra and added an easy drag to Serrazzano instead.

 

[Sestriere]

The Tour of California announced their route today. Because the time trial totally took all the fun out of the race last year, they scrapped it alltogether this time
Otherwise, classic finishes at Mt. Baldy and Lake Tahoe plus two hilly stages (one with an interesting looking new finish in Ventura).
https://www.amgentourofcalifornia.com/2019-route-overview

 

[PeterB]

This is quite cool statistics: https://www.procyclingstats.com/statistics/riders/most-1day-profile-views

Before clicking the link, try guessing what rider had the most profile visits on PCS in 1 day? Assume years 2016 - 2018.

I am not sure about rider nr.3 - what did he do on that day?

 

[RedheadDane]

No 5 is just sad...
9 and 10 too…

 

[Alexandre B.]

Huge and sad if true: Bretagne Classic (GP Plouay) could be cancelled because France Television doesn't want to broadcast it anymore.

https://www.letelegramme.fr/cyclisme/bretagne-classic-plouay-jette-l-eponge-01-02-2019-12198692.php?share_auth=63f01a983a5c83ba428b12d9d492f4ac (fr)

 

[Koronin]

Re:

Huge and sad if true: Bretagne Classic (GP Plouay) could be cancelled because France Television doesn't want to broadcast it anymore.

https://www.letelegramme.fr/cyclisme/bretagne-classic-plouay-jette-l-eponge-01-02-2019-12198692.php?share_auth=63f01a983a5c83ba428b12d9d492f4ac (fr)

Wow, that's sad. Esp considering Spain has a couple of races that aren't broadcast. Mallorca gets a highlight package on TV and Murcia is only broadcast locally.

 

[RedheadDane]

Re:

Huge and sad if true: Bretagne Classic (GP Plouay) could be cancelled because France Television doesn't want to broadcast it anymore.

https://www.letelegramme.fr/cyclisme/bretagne-classic-plouay-jette-l-eponge-01-02-2019-12198692.php?share_auth=63f01a983a5c83ba428b12d9d492f4ac (fr)

SAVED!

 

[Breh]

Glasgow/Scotland will host the 2023 UCI World Championships.
It will feature every single sport affiliated to the UCI except for cyclocross. Road racing, track, BMX, MTB, Paracycling,...
It wont be an annual thing afaik.


I wonder how it'll mess with the road racing calendar considering it's unlikely to be held in september. The UCI probably prefers august.

 

[Red Rick]

Re:

Glasgow/Scotland will host the 2023 UCI World Championships.
It will feature every single sport affiliated to the UCI except for cyclocross. Road racing, track, BMX, MTB, Paracycling,...
It wont be an annual thing afaik.


I wonder how it'll mess with the road racing calendar considering it's unlikely to be held in september. The UCI probably prefers august.

If it's like 2 weeks after the Tour I don't think it would affect calendars too much, although the Vuelta would get the short end of the stick, no matter the Worlds route.