Hot racing coming up in Australia

[tobydawq]

Alpecin are trying to accomplish what?

Nothing, as expected.

Instead:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggxfZlheUHU&ab_channel=Velogos

 

[Sandisfan]

Vine takes the Leaders Jersey. Bilbao Win stage and Yates Second.

 

[tobydawq]

This is the third time Yates and Bilbao face off in a 3-man sprint. Now it's 2-1 to Bilbao after Yates won in the 2018 Tour and Bilbao got revenge in the 2021 Tour of the Alps.

 

[Nick2413]

Nice win by Bilbao. Vine got a little trigger happy and blew his shot trying to get a gap 1k out. Probably the favorite in a sprint between those 3.

 

[tobydawq]

Nice win by Bilbao. Vine got a little trigger happy and blew his shot trying to get a gap 1k out. Probably the favorite in a sprint between those 3.

I don't think Vine was ever standing a chance in that sprint?

Alpecin almost got a rider in the top 30.

 

[Nick2413]

I don't think Vine was ever standing a chance in that sprint?

Alpecin almost got a rider in the top 30.

He’s got like 10kg on those guys and they’re not exactly sprint specialists either, guess we haven’t seen much from Vine though

 

[tobydawq]

He’s got like 10kg on those guys and they’re not exactly sprint specialists either, guess we haven’t seen much from Vine though

They're obviously not Kittel and Greipel but both of them have a decent turn of speed.

 

[claude cat]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1616288792645701632

View: https://twitter.com/tourdownunder/status/1616288792645701632?s=20&t=VI6iC_MRerGiZzuq9Ae8iA

 

[yaco]

I was surprised that Yates did not attack Vine on the latter part of the climb as he seemed to be riding OK.

 

[tobydawq]

I was surprised that Yates did not attack Vine on the latter part of the climb as he seemed to be riding OK.

Me too. But I was also surprised he didn't sprint yesterday.

 

[movingtarget]

How can they still use Liggett?

Phil there for his soothing tones as contrast against the the harsh, abrasive tones of the Antipodean English...........

 

[movingtarget]

Good win for Bilbao. Dennis a no show. better ride by Bling in his familiar 4th place.........

 

[stefank]

Phil there for his soothing tones as contrast against the the harsh, abrasive tones of the Antipodean English...........

Does Robbie get paid extra to correct Phil's mistakes?

 

[movingtarget]

Does Robbie get paid extra to correct Phil's mistakes?

Hopefully Robbie made the calculation as Sean Kelly would say when it came to his contract details...........

 

[theyoungest]

He should go fulllTT mode during the climb, not reacting to Yates and Vine accelarations, then sprinting full gas the last 300 meters or so and try to comeback there or in the descent. In fact he can use the biker Milan Vader to pace him for a while, he was 10th at the top of Nettle Hill today.

Good result for Milan Vader today (not so much for Dennis, obviously). Vader had a terrible crash in Pais Vasco last year, was in an induced coma for two weeks with fears of paralysis and with a damaged artery. Also a lot of broken bones. He had to start from literally zero again, so to see him at this level already is encouraging.

 

[DNP-Old]

Corbin crashed.

 

[Red Rick]

Milan Vader 8th. I know this is only Tour Down Under, but this is his first top 10 on the road after nearly dying last year and being in a coma for like 2 weeks last year and only coming back for the Cro race.

He was supposed to help Dennis but Dennis told him to go for his own chances as he felt he didn't have the legs to defend the lead.

 

[Ilmaestro99]

HUGE Pello Bilbao with a great win to start the season , what a consistent rider. Let's hope he can do something to get time on Vine over the weekend, it's been a good little race

 

[pablohidalgo7]

Milan Vader 8th. I know this is only Tour Down Under, but this is his first top 10 on the road after nearly dying last year and being in a coma for like 2 weeks last year and only coming back for the Cro race.

He was supposed to help Dennis but Dennis told him to go for his own chances as he felt he didn't have the legs to defend the lead.

And he was pulling for Rohan until the last km of the climb,
He was like in the 40-50 position and he passed a lot of riders before the end, maybe he was the fourth strongest today.

 

[limak_]

Tuned in for the final 50km and noticed a significant number of riders were reported to have dropped their chains near the foot of the final climb, most notably Matthews. One commentator put the figure at 5 or 6 in the span of a few minutes.

I've raised this before but worth reposting: what is it about modern race bikes and racers that is to blame, if anything? We saw the same in last year's racing throughout the season. I imagine it's the continued push toward thinner and thinner chains and more and more gears.

Haven't we reached the point where teams and riders should push back against this trend driven by component makers?

These days I race on the velodrome, so perhaps I am biased against more than one gear! I'd be interested in the forum's take.

You're exactly right. And I think we've reached that point some time ago already. 12s drivetrains, disc brakes, integrated cockpits with handlebars and steering tubes snapping left and right (because of some sh*t engineering) are all just a marketing things to more or less extent and have nothing to do with improving performance, but instead very often compromise it.

Anyway I don't think riders themselves have that much to say on this topic. At least the situation is quite equal for everyone as all of them ride basically the same equipment (however not that long ago Skyneos guys and Pogacar for instance, were allowed to ride rim brakes, but they're also not able to do that anymore as all of the newest versions of Pinarellos and Colnagos come with discs only).

 

[KZD]

Good win for Bilbao, he and Yates are already in a very good shape on the beginning of the season.

Vine looking great once again, it will be very interesting to follow him in the Giro, he might try soft GC plus stage wins there.

 

[Earns1985]

Moscon out with fractured collarbone today..

 

[stefank]

Big splits forming. Cross winds. What happens next?

 

[RedheadDane]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1616597629164744704

 

[tobydawq]

Wow. Coquard with his first WT win ever.

I kind of think that's against the cycling rules.