General News Thread

[SafeBet]

Ricky Riccò still going strong and beating Bernal's KOMs

RICCARDO RICCO' SUL GAIATO FA MEGLIO DI BERNAL

L'ex corridore romagnolo fa registrare un tempo migliore del campione colombiano

www.tuttobiciweb.it

 

[RJH]

Ricky Riccò still going strong and beating Bernal's KOMs

RICCARDO RICCO' SUL GAIATO FA MEGLIO DI BERNAL

L'ex corridore romagnolo fa registrare un tempo migliore del campione colombiano

www.tuttobiciweb.it

Very nice he‘s doing well.

 

[Gratemans]

Anybody here follow the Dutch "De Kopgroep" podcast? Damn, that last episode Boogerd clearly had a few too many.
It does speak for him though that even when speaking slurred, he still makes a lot of sense

 

[Mayomaniac]

After 43 years Zalf, one of the big Italian u23 (and before that amateur) teams calls it a day.
Just look at the names of a few riders who rode for them: Ivan Basso, Maurizio Fondriest, Paolo Savoldelli, Michele Scarponi, Alessandro Bertolini, Marzio Bruseghin, Alessandro Ballan, Damiano Cunego, Domenico Pozzovivo, Sonny Colbrelli, Gianni Moscon.

They were declining a bit over the last few years, but that might just be Italian cycling still being very old fashioned and stuck in it's old ways. Someone like De Pretto went straight to WT after riding for them and he's becoming a really solid rider.

 

[Potomac]

It looks like World's 2024 teams are being announced

USA men's road race

Quinn Simmons
Jorgenson
Riley Sheehan
McNulty
Sean Quinn
Neilson Powless
Kevin Vermaerke
Sheffield

 

[tobydawq]

2025 Euro champs road race

https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpreview.redd.it%2Fvj3xf0hxo8nd1.png%3Fwidth%3D1600%26format%3Dpng%26auto%3Dwebp%26s%3De9a2d81a22f23efe7e595c3bfbbd3bd111a46384

It's really good apart from being a week after Kigali WC

Why is that a problem? It's not like PR is dirt because it's a week after De Ronde...

But yeah, a bit odd with two championships races so close to each other. But it's not like this year is much different.

 

[QueenStagiaire]

So we have the Faun-Ardèche classic and Tour du Rwanda championship courses. Those are not the two races held at that point of the season I would like to see turned into championship races.

 

[Samamba]

Why is that a problem? It's not like PR is dirt because it's a week after De Ronde...

But yeah, a bit odd with two championships races so close to each other. But it's not like this year is much different.

Roubaix is 40 kilometers from Oudenaarde, the Ardeche almost 10000 from Rwanda. Bit of a weird comparison, even besides the fact that riders make Worlds their main goal and won't be focused on EC (probably more on Lombardia).

It is obviously possible to do both, but it's far from ideal and combining WC roads with EC TT is completely impossible.

 

[Unchained]

It looks like World's 2024 teams are being announced

USA men's road race

Quinn Simmons
Jorgenson
Riley Sheehan
McNulty
Sean Quinn
Neilson Powless
Kevin Vermaerke
Sheffield

Where's Larry Warbasse?

 

[Valv.Piti]

I'd like to see such a race if you beef it even more up with 270 km and the best riders targetting it. Looks like a great route for a WC

 

[Valv.Piti]

270km it's actually gonna be worse I think cause then it's just 2 possible winners, and considering one of them would also likely win Rwanda WC and not show up it's not all that great to me. Could go up to 220 km for me but it doesn't need more.

Well what I meant was that I would like to see with kind of route with more at stake and at Worlds youre not going to do 200k, but rather 270. Also, I don't really want to randomly see Bardet or Ben Healy win the jersey, Worlds that is

 

[Sciatic]

Interesting sidenote: Vatican City has a rider entered in the EC RR

 

[Libertine Seguros]

So we have the Faun-Ardèche classic and Tour du Rwanda championship courses. Those are not the two races held at that point of the season I would like to see turned into championship races.

Let me guess, Ster van Zwolle and Grand Prix Apollon Temple?

 

[StryderHells]

Interesting sidenote: Vatican City has a rider entered in the EC RR

Is it that 40+ year old that started the last 2 WC road races?

 

[Sciatic]

Is it that 40+ year old that started the last 2 WC road races?

I don’t know—I now remember someone pointing that out for one of the world’s.

 

[Coffeeplanter]

Came out yesterday, but Sven Vanthourenhout will be leaving the Belgian federation to probably become a DS on a trade team, with a multitude of teams being named. Man is just falling straight upwards because he has Remco and Wout on his team.

 

[Mayomaniac]

Came out yesterday, but Sven Vanthourenhout will be leaving the Belgian federation to probably become a DS on a trade team, with a multitude of teams being named. Man is just falling straight upwards because he has Remco and Wout on his team.

There were rumours about UAE wanting him.

Also, I've heared that Greg Van Avermaet might become the new coach of the Belgian NT.

 

[Squire]

Pogacar and Vingegaard can relax again. Blummenfelt ditches his cycling plans: https://velo.outsideonline.com/road...esses-pause-on-project-to-win-tour-de-france/

 

[Mako]

Pogacar and Vingegaard can relax again. Blummenfelt ditches his cycling plans: https://velo.outsideonline.com/road...esses-pause-on-project-to-win-tour-de-france/

He will be way too old for the fast paced Olympic Triathlon then. Right now he'd still have an interesting shot at becoming a pro cyclist. Hell, he could become the most decorated Ironman Athlete over the next years.

But Olympic Distance Triathlon when closing in on 35? I don't see it.

There's a reason track athletes progress through the distances as they get older, e.g. Ingebrigtsen who's going for 5K/10k next olympics and then marathon in 2032.

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

There were rumours about UAE wanting him.

Also, I've heared that Greg Van Avermaet might become the new coach of the Belgian NT.

What does a national team manager/coach do all year? Is it really considered a prestigious role, or one in which someone can meaningfully establish credentials?

 

[Nick2413]

Pogacar and Vingegaard can relax again. Blummenfelt ditches his cycling plans: https://velo.outsideonline.com/road...esses-pause-on-project-to-win-tour-de-france/

Was that remotely serious? He’s good at IM but 15kg too heavy for the Tour and has never specifically excelled on hilly courses let alone mountains.

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

Ride London "paused" for 2025, to allow for "focus on a full strategic review" so they can "design a new concept". If only the same effort were put into organising races as into the creation of PR gobbledegook.

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

Riders on World Tour and Pro Conti teams won't be able to ride the U23 Worlds and European championships from next year

https://twitter.com/x/status/1834299219647115484

View: https://x.com/inrng/status/1834299219647115484


Strongly disagree with that myself: no point in having a WC for "some U23s". If it is not open to all who fit the age restriction, it is not about finding the world's best in that group. Open to all who meet the description, or don't hold it at all.

If some people decide that it is not presitigious for them at that point in their career, fine, but that should be their decision.

And if there are guys regularly riding WT events, and on big salaries, at the Conti level level WT feeder teams, who are to be allowed entry, why should minimum wage riders at Corratec, Euskaltel, Burgos and Novo-Nordisk be considered too professionlal for it?

 

[Samamba]

Say goodbuy to Withen Philipsen next year, Nordhagen too, maybe even Widar and Seixas (depending on if they go pro or not). Ridiculous decision. I get the annoyance about cases like Segaert, Fedorov, Gautherat now at EC, etc. but there's so many riders that are already pro that have every reason to ride in u23 races. Worlds u23 will become 10 times more useless.

Typical UCI decision. From one end of the spectrum to the other end.

Only positive is that it might make rider think twice before going pro too early, but I doubt it as being pro often simply means way more money.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Even in the older days, you had Gerald Ciolek winning a bunch sprint in the Deutschland Tour before he became U23 world champion, and Thomas Dekker competing at the Olympics and U23 WC in the same season.

For me the races have never been about crowning the very best U23 riders, so I don't mind a rule change, but only having conti riders sounds like taking it a step too far. Perhaps limiting it to riders who are in the first year at a WT team could be an idea.