General News Thread

[roundabout]

What's there to like?

At least 1 uphill finish too many (I consider Arrate an uphill finish)

Ibardin where it's really unlikely that anything will happen until the last km.

Only one stage where any action from far out is likely and even then it will be limited to a bit more than 15km

the ITT is not ideally placed as well

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Campenaerts goes to Namibia to do an old fashioned Evenepoel impersonation. He attacks 80k from the finish in some local race and wins with 8 minutes. He then donates the prize money to a local organization "Physically Active Youth Namibia", which helps kids with school, studying and keeping in shape. After the race he does an extra 100k of training.

 

[Bye Bye Bicycle]

Juan Miguel Mercado (of ex-Quick Step, Banesto, Vitalicio fame) used to rob only GT stage wins. Now he's up to something different...

Juanmi Mercado, de ciclista estrella a investigado en una banda de atracadores de Granada

El exdeportista granadino es uno de los cuatro miembros de esta organización a la que se atribuyen 16 robos violentos en el Área Metropolitana

www.granadahoy.com

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Amazing.

 

[Joelsim]

Itzulia profiles.

Looks disappointing to me tbh.

I quite like the look of these profiles.

 

[MartinGT]

Looking at the long range weather forecast. Opening weekend could be interesting!

 

[MartinGT]

Nice to see ex Colpack & Sky rider Josh Edmonson getting beck onto a team. He will be racing for British Elite team Crimson Cycling. He was back on the bike last year then had an accident and fractured his neck! Was in a mad brace for a while but looks like he's back on it. Good to see after his issues with clinic related items.

 

[claude cat]

With Italy closing off Lombardy and Veneto due to the Coronavirus, there has to be a some question if MSR and Strade Bianche (less than two weeks away) go ahead?

 

[yaco]

I feel that the races will go ahead but with limited crowds on the route. Theoretically TA could be in doubt.

 

[Red Rick]

Since I've applauded the Andalucia route, I have now earned the right to ***, moan, complain and cry about another route.

I present to you the Dauphine route. 5 uphill finishes. No ITT.

https://inrng.com/2020/02/2020-criterium-du-dauphine-route/

 

[yaco]

It's seem a slightly tougher route than in previous years - I can live without an ITT.

 

[tobydawq]

Since I've applauded the Andalucia route, I have now earned the right to ***, moan, complain and cry about another route.

I present to you the Dauphine route. 5 uphill finishes. No ITT.

https://inrng.com/2020/02/2020-criterium-du-dauphine-route/

Actually, the Andalucía route suffered severely from the "putting the TT on the last day" syndrome.

Roles reversed. Ha!

 

[sir fly]

The first and third stage seem to be offering a similar kind of opportunity and there I could imagine a tt instead of a regular road stage.
The rest of the route looks rather demanding, but not that uniform. In fact, apart from the two mentioned stages, every stage should favour a different type of riders and racing, leading to a deserved, all-around, GC winner...
That's how I see the mini 2020 Tour route and think what's the idea behind it.

 

[Breezy1985]

Route announced for the resurrected Rás Tailteann (Ireland's Tour). Less mountains than usual probably due to dropping down in ranking this year but I think a good job was done in bringing many in different parts of the country including Dublin and Limerick city and stage 3 is an area I know well and will be a beautiful stage if the weather is good.

http://www.rastailteann.com/event/fbdras_1312.shtml

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

and if it is wet and windy, there are few places as bleak...

 

[Breezy1985]

and if it is wet and windy, there are few places as bleak...

Limerick is statistically on of the rainyest cities in Europe

https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/people/limerick-rain-spitting-rain-sideways-rain-1.2399955

 

[Nirvana]

Limerick is statistically on of the rainyest cities in Europe

https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/people/limerick-rain-spitting-rain-sideways-rain-1.2399955

Ireland (and also the UK) have generally a very huge amount of rainy days but the quantity of rain that fall is not that munch, the 1961-1990 CLINO for Shannon Airport weather station of Met Eireann (not far from Limerick) has an incredible number of 214 rainy days per year but with only an average of 926,7 mm per year, that's less rain than a Mediterranean city like Napoli that has more than 1.000 mm in less than 100 rainy days and with roughly 200 of sunshine.

 

[RedheadDane]

Limerick is statistically on of the rainyest cities in Europe

https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/people/limerick-rain-spitting-rain-sideways-rain-1.2399955

Must. Resist. Tempation. To write limerick. About rain!
(I'm sure it's already been done...)

 

[TourOfSardinia]

The rain it raineth on the just.
And on the unjust fella;
But chiefly on the just,
because. The unjust
hath the just's umbrella

is that a limerick?

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

Ireland (and also the UK) have generally a very huge amount of rainy days but the quantity of rain that fall is not that munch...

That's easy for you to say: all summer, every summer, for holidays as a kid, and every time I go over to visit my mother and siblings as an adult...

 

[Nirvana]

That's easy for you to say: all summer, every summer, for holidays as a kid, and every time I go over to visit my mother and siblings as an adult...

I'm talking about statistical data not the psychological effect that obviously (if you don't like rain, actually I also know people that would love having gray skies and rain even every single day) is way worse where there are an huge number of rainy days regardless of the quantity of the rain.

 

[tobydawq]

After having rendered the cycling season in ruins and almost pointless with the cancellation of the Hammer Stavanger, it has been made public that the Tour of Norway will be ridden this year after all.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Maybe they can have a proper parcours this year, or even better, the Tour des Fjords can become a real race again, rather than "merging" with the Tour of Norway to make room for Hammer Stavanger, resulting in one day being added to the Tour of Norway (a drop of four race days from pre-Hammer days, as Tour des Fjords was 5 days long) and a route which is absolutely syphilitic even by Tour of Norway standards, a race which even in its best days seemed to be trying to compete with the Bayern Rundfahrt for most egregious misuse of available terrain.

 

[RedheadDane]

Maybe UCI can give them some money, so they can actually televise it.

 

[tobydawq]

They always televise it.

It's just you who are too modern to have an old school tv package, containing the main Scandinavian tv channels.