Giro d'Italia Giro d'Italia 2026, stage 1: Nessebar (Несебър) - Burgas (Бургас), 147.0k

[Divergence]

Big difference between not personally being that interested in that type of stages, and thinking that sprint stages simply shouldn't exist and that road sprinters shouldn't be allowed to ride... on the road... that's the thing you seem to be ignoring; guys like Groves and Groenewegen are road sprinters, not track sprinters.
And what about Magnier? He's road sprinter, who also does CX and MTB.
Calling these guys "overweight" is just crazy! They're pro athletes. In fact, they're probably the ones with the healthiest body weight.

It's road cycling, some roads in some parts of countries are flat. Therefore you end up with flat races.

And that's without taking into consideration any desire to include flat stages as active rest days to prevent a GT from becoming pure attrition. In which case it's either that or the transitional breakaway days.

Saying that Milan or Groenewegen or Grovez have no place in the professional peloton makes sense only if you think the geography of the entire world consists of the Alps.

Exactly, some type of humans are not suited for some sports. For example, there is not place for me on a professional basketball court. Also, there is no place for Poland to be organizing a serious cycling race. Road cycling is about being fast in the high mountains. That is what is spectacular for the vast majority of the people. Everything else is just there for legacy reasons.

 

[QueenStagiaire]

Exactly, some type of humans are not suited for some sports. For example, there is not place for me on a professional basketball court. Also, there is no place for Poland to be organizing a serious cycling race. Road cycling is about being fast in the high mountains. That is what is spectacular for the vast majority of the people. Everything else is just there for legacy reasons.

Sure, Paris-Roubaix and Ronde are just there for legacy reasons, doesn‘t have anything to do with them being interesting to watch as well. And if Poland isn‘t allowed to host a serious cycling race, Belgium isn‘t either and to not have Belgium allowed to have cycling races seems like a bit of a weird path to take for Professional cycling.

 

[Rechtschreibfehler]

If you made the routes more realistic, in the end we'd hardly have any mountains just because roads don't tend to prefer going up hill, you know. It's road cycling, not mountain biking, so flat stages are fair. Pan flat stages are boring, okay, but so can be versatile sprinter stages or even high mountain ones if you happen to have strong enough favorites.

 

[Rechtschreibfehler]

Exactly, some type of humans are not suited for some sports. For example, there is not place for me on a professional basketball court. Also, there is no place for Poland to be organizing a serious cycling race. Road cycling is about being fast in the high mountains. That is what is spectacular for the vast majority of the people. Everything else is just there for legacy reasons.

I don't know if you noticed, but legacy is kind of THE thing in cycling when it comes to arguing if a win is relevant or not.

 

[RedheadDane]

And yes, they are overweight for road cyclists. Any real stage profile will have the spat other the back in an instant. Also, all that talk about health is nonsense. Being lean is what is healthy for a human.

Not for sprinters they aren't! I don't know if you're aware, but these guys literally have help from experts who help them maintain the weight for the type of riders they are. Which just so happens to be sprinters.
These guys are lean. Yes, they're muscular, but there's hardly a gram of fat on them.
Big difference between being lean and being underweight. Lots of climbers are underweight, though luckily the sport seems to have moved away from the philosophy of "Just never eat. Be hungry all the time, and you'll be good."
A good example of a rider for whom being as light as possible did not work out is Jonas Abrahamsen.

Exactly, some type of humans are not suited for some sports. For example, there is not place for me on a professional basketball court.

Well, basketball is a sport where the object of every game is the same; score as many times as possible while preventing the other team from scoring. The field always looks the same, thus it makes sense that players all have about the same body type.
While in cycling there are multiple types of parcours, therefore people of all kinds of body types can perform.

Road cycling is about being fast in the high mountains. That is what is spectacular for the vast majority of the people.

That is in fact not the only thing road cycling is about. Dunno if you're aware, but your definition of road cycling would rule out the Spring Classics. I think you'll find that a lot of people find those very interesting.

 

[Divergence]

Not for sprinters they aren't! I don't know if you're aware, but these guys literally have help from experts who help them maintain the weight for the type of riders they are. Which just so happens to be sprinters.
These guys are lean. Yes, they're muscular, but there's hardly a gram of fat on them.
Big difference between being lean and being underweight. Lots of climbers are underweight, though luckily the sport seems to have moved away from the philosophy of "Just never eat. Be hungry all the time, and you'll be good."
A good example of a rider for whom being as light as possible did not work out is Jonas Abrahamsen.

In my opinion, sprinting as constructed nowadays, should not have a place in professional road cycling. Thus, they are overweight for a professional cyclists (sure they are not overweight for a wrestler, for example).
And yes, there is fat on the sprinters. It is not like they maximize being lean when training. Agan, just look at Groenewegen. Looks like he is doing a completely different sport than, say, Derek Gee.
Also, do not get me start about the experts helping the riders with nutrition... Have you seen and listened to the EF guy who was popular some years ago?
Also, hardly anyone in cycling is underweight. The ones who are light and not at the front are not talented enough and/or not training enough.
What you do not seem to understand is that one can be super lean without starving. But it requires a great amount of discipline. I have written about this in other threads, so I am not going to repeat myself.
Abrahamsen was and is an average cyclist. The fact that he has some more watts now, but cannot go over a bridge does not mean he is good now.

 

[RedheadDane]

In my opinion, sprinting as constructed nowadays, should not have a place in professional road cycling. Thus, they are overweight for a professional cyclists (sure they are not overweight for a wrestler, for example).

So, it's your opinion. Not... the knowledge of experts...

 

[Divergence]

Sure, Paris-Roubaix and Ronde are just there for legacy reasons, doesn‘t have anything to do with them being interesting to watch as well. And if Poland isn‘t allowed to host a serious cycling race, Belgium isn‘t either and to not have Belgium allowed to have cycling races seems like a bit of a weird path to take for Professional cycling.

I don't know if you noticed, but legacy is kind of THE thing in cycling when it comes to arguing if a win is relevant or not.

That is in fact not the only thing road cycling is about. Dunno if you're aware, but your definition of road cycling would rule out the Spring Classics. I think you'll find that a lot of people find those very interesting.

I like the classics and I watch most of them. Even Scheldeprijs .
These races are usually selective and one gets to see people battling it out from a long way out (not the last 100m).
What I do not like is flat boring stages in stage races. That makes no sense to me. I just saw some powemeter reading of 180W or so from the giro. Such nonsense. Riders a losing form riding the Giro...

 

[Divergence]

So, it's your opinion. Not... the knowledge of experts...

Sure it is. But it is a good thing to not always default to someone's opinion just because there is an expert in front of it. Questioning thinks and being critical can be quite advantageous.
Also, there is no such thing as expert opinion. There is just a correct and an incorrect one. (I am not talking about subjective things like taste, but there are no experts anyway).

 

[RedheadDane]

Sure it is. But it is a good thing to not always default to someone's opinion just because there is an expert in front of it. Questioning thinks and being critical can be quite advantageous.

But saying that people who clearly aren't overweight are overweight just because they aren't skinny climbers is just silly.

 

[Divergence]

But saying that people who clearly aren't overweight are overweight just because they aren't skinny climbers is just silly.

Come on, you know what I am saying. They are too heavy to climb mountains on a bike. That is it.

 

[RedheadDane]

Come on, you know what I am saying. They are too heavy to climb mountains on a bike. That is it.

Good thing they're sprinters and don't need to be the fastest up the mountains then!

 

[Divergence]

Good thing they're sprinters and don't need to be the fastest up the mountains then!

Hh, OK. I just noticed you have not made a single argument why procession stages with 20s of action should be present in stage racing (or in road cycling in general for that matter).

 

[RedheadDane]

Hh, OK. I just noticed you have not made a single argument why procession stages with 20s of action should be present in stage racing (or in road cycling in general for that matter).

You have not made a single argument about why road sprinters apparently shouldn't be allowed to have a job...
Sprint stages are part of cycling!

 

[Divergence]

You have not made a single argument about why road sprinters apparently shouldn't be allowed to have a job...
Sprint stages are part of cycling!

Sprinter can be plumbers anytime, I do not care, they can have any job people are wiling to give them.
Yes, I did. Sprinting is dangerous and unspectacular and boring. They inevitably crash out rider that can do well and put on a show in the mountains, where it is spectacular to watch.

 

[RedheadDane]

Sprinter can be plumbers anytime, I do not care, they can have any job people are wiling to give them.

Their job is literally being sprinters! Road sprinters!
Road sprinting is indeed a thing in cycling.
Descending can be dangerous too, and much more so than sprinting, so... all road cycling should just be Mountain Top Finishes.

 

[Divergence]

Their job is literally being sprinters! Road sprinters!
Road sprinting is indeed a thing in cycling.
Descending can be dangerous too, and much more so than sprinting, so... all road cycling should just be Mountain Top Finishes.

Yeah, so their job will become obsolete. No problem with that.
Also, descending is dangerous but necessary because road cycling is about going up and, thus, down high mountains. Sprinting adds nothing but danger. No need for that.

 

[RedheadDane]

Yeah, so their job will become obsolete. No problem with that.

So, because you don't like it, kids who are showing talent at sprinting should just be told to not bother?

Cycling. Is. A. Multi-faceted. Sport!
It's not just about going up and down mountains.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

For some reason, and I could very well be wrong, I get the feeling you guys don't agree on this specific topic.

 

[RedheadDane]

For some reason, and I could very well be wrong, I get the feeling you guys don't agree on this specific topic.

Yeah... I guess I have a hard time agreeing with someone who things cycling should be some kind of boring one-faceted sport where all routes are basically the same.

 

[Divergence]

So, because you don't like it, kids who are showing talent at sprinting should just be told to not bother?

Cycling. Is. A. Multi-faceted. Sport!
It's not just about going up and down mountains.

Many others do not like it. And it is a good thing that sprinting is on the decline. Just because you like it does not mean that it should continue to exist. I will stop responding now and maintain my hope that we will stop seeing such useless stages and rider on TV.

 

[RedheadDane]

Many others do not like it. And it is a good thing that sprinting is on the decline. Just because you like it does not mean that it should continue to exist. I will stop responding now and maintain my hope that we will stop seeing such useless stages and rider on TV.

Okay. Cool.
Go watch football. Since you apparently want a sport that's always the same.

 

[Netserk]

Yeah... I guess I have a hard time agreeing with someone who things cycling should be some kind of boring one-faceted sport where all routes are basically the same.

you dont have to agree , so that should be no issue

 

[RedheadDane]

you dont have to agree , so that should be no issue

It's the claim that sprint stages shouldn't exist that bothers me.
If he simply said "I don't personally care much for sprint stages, so I'm not gonna watch them." it would be a different matter.

 

[Netserk]

It's the claim that sprint stages shouldn't exist that bothers me.
If he simply said "I don't personally care much for sprint stages, so I'm not gonna watch them." it would be a different matter.

okay

but is it not fine that he holds an opinion that bothers you ? i dont think you will change his mind , so at some point when youd otherwise just both of you repeat what you had already said , it doesnt really go anywhere but loops