Hot racing coming up in Australia

[GuyIncognito]

Re:

I doubt a TTT is needed at the TDU - Want to ruin the race, then have an ITT, and watch Dennis win the next five editions -Moving Target's idea of a split stage with a prologue has merit, though I'd have a short stage in the morning and the Prologue in the early evening.

Split stages are not allowed in the World Tour after the past excesses by organizers in search of every cent of start/finish money led to exhausted riders getting to bed at 2am

 

[GraftPunk]

Re: Re:

If they do a TTT, maybe they should consider requiring the riders to use their road bikes, as everyone having to haul all of their TT machines/gear to Australia for what will probably be a prologue length stage sounds cost prohibitive, especially for the smaller teams.

You didn't read the article did you..?

LOL, I skimmed it, I'll have to give it a more thorough going through when I can.

 

[GraftPunk]

Ah yes, right there in the second paragraph. I'll blame it on a Monday state of reading comprehension.

 

[movingtarget]

Re: Re:

I doubt a TTT is needed at the TDU - Want to ruin the race, then have an ITT, and watch Dennis win the next five editions -Moving Target's idea of a split stage with a prologue has merit, though I'd have a short stage in the morning and the Prologue in the early evening.

Split stages are not allowed in the World Tour after the past excesses by organizers in search of every cent of start/finish money led to exhausted riders getting to bed at 2am

If it was done properly re timing and stages I don't see a problem but if the law has changed so be it. A TTT is not the answer though, not to make the race more interesting and competitive.

 

[The Hegelian]

Re: Re:

Thread is getting pretty trolly.

Taking it back to the bike race - Impey has to be one of the most versatile riders in the peloton at present. Good sprint, excellent TT, great lead out man, good consistency, excellent race awareness, decent climber for his size and excellent team man. A well deserved win.

Question is: let's say he was an outright leader on a smaller team. What races do you reckon he could target and plausibly win? Obviously stage hunting in GT's and smaller stage races. Any one day races that he could target? Or is he just a few % off the genuine puncheurs and classics riders? What about week long races (TDU aside obviously).....?

Apparently he will be a protected rider at the Ardennes - he should go OK at the AMG or Brabantsje Pil, Fleche Wallone is unsuitable and fear LBL is too hard - The two Canadian races should be OK

- So one day races could be Amstel Gold, Brabantsje PIL, Montreal and Edmonton - Eneco Tour and Tour of Britain are suitable races.

I originally thought 'Canadian classics'. Then I thought: they usually have a lot of quality in good form. It's easy to see him in the mix/top ten. But impossible to seem him actually beating someone like Sagan or GVA or Alaphillipe or Matthews.

Eneco tour, maybe top 5.

Best bet is probably stage hunting GT's. With his skill set, he is basically an opportunist with the pedigree to snaffle a win or two if things roll well.

 

[swuzzlebubble]

Cadel's races coming up
Start lists not fully confirmed yet
Glorious day here today 24oC but 38oC forecast for Sunday.
What were the chances of that?

 

[Alex Simmons/RST]

Re:

Glorious day here today 24oC but 38oC forecast for Sunday.
What were the chances of that?

Don't get me started! :lol:

Long range forecast looks pretty good for the Jayco Herald Sun Tour.

 

[The Hegelian]

Temps like that basically guarantee a defensive race. You wonder 'why doesn't someone attack?' and then you realise after the reduced bunch sprint that everyone was totally cooked and on their limit. Pity because the parcours there usually lead to some interesting racing.

 

[Wilba60]

The weather forecast for the Cadel Evans race is for 37C on the Saturday and the womens race, then 39C on the Sunday for the mens race. There is a cool change driving in but it looks at this stage to be some time after the race is over. Days forecast to be 39C can sneak up to 40+ but the winds aren't predicated to be too strong, so hopefully it will stay under the 40C. Still bloody hot though. The first section down to Barwon Heads should be a tail wind, then a side wind along the ocean and a headwind up the back of the course. Meyer rode a great race last year in an Australian team and after watching him at the Aust Road Champs and the Tour Down Under, he might be the main man for Mitchelton Scott.

 

[swuzzlebubble]

Meanwhile in NZ:
https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/348793/fan-shortage-as-sizzling-temperatures-return

Online stores for Bunnings, Briscoes, Mitre 10 Mega and K Mart have all sold out of electric fans.
Demand for fans is unlikely to drop off any time soon with MetService predicting many centres to hit the 30s today.

 

[Tim Booth]

Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race provisional startlist
http://dp3vyvxf88hce.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/CEGORR_Elite-Mens-start-list-21-1-18.pdf

 

[yaco]

It's extremely doubtful it will be 39C near the coast - Agree that Meyer may be the rider for MS, though Chaves has been a last minute addition to the team, as apparently he's been smashing training - Think the four laps of Chamberry will have less than 10 riders finish together - My outsider is Chris Hamilton.

 

[Squire]

Has there been a change to the Cadel race parcours this year?

 

[Alex Simmons/RST]

Re:

Has there been a change to the Cadel race parcours this year?

Looking at the map, it appears there is a slight change.

The race used to arrive on the final circuit after the Challambra/Westbury climb, via Scenic Dr.

Now instead of turning left off Barrabool Rd at the roundabout onto Scenic Dr, instead it goes straight ahead and enters the circuit at Barwon Boulevard, which is the road leading up to the the Challambra/Westbury climb.

So I presume that means it adds one more ascent of Challambra/Westbury to the race.

 

[Tim Booth]

The 2018 event, will see the Elite Men race over Challambra Crescent four times, while it will be the first time in the event’s history that the Elite Women take on the steep and winding ascent.
http://www.cadelevansgreatoceanroadrace.com.au/the-races/the-course-2018/

 

[The Hegelian]

Re:

It's extremely doubtful it will be 39C near the coast - Agree that Meyer may be the rider for MS, though Chaves has been a last minute addition to the team, as apparently he's been smashing training - Think the four laps of Chamberry will have less than 10 riders finish together - My outsider is Chris Hamilton.

A Meyer type rider seems ideal for the parcours, but if a pure climber is going to win it will be someone like Chaves who has good attacking instincts and a decent sprint for his size. Could see a scenario where he wins from a very small group like his Lombardia victory. I think the race needs a climber to win, just to show that it can be done. Thus far the sprinter in a reduced bunch seems a lock in - it's just a bit too far from the final ascent to the finish...

 

[Wilba60]

Re:

It's extremely doubtful it will be 39C near the coast - Agree that Meyer may be the rider for MS, though Chaves has been a last minute addition to the team, as apparently he's been smashing training - Think the four laps of Chamberry will have less than 10 riders finish together - My outsider is Chris Hamilton.

yaco, I live 20mins away and we have had very high temps along the coast. 39C in Melbourne a couple of weeks back and 41C down here. If a sea breeze comes up then it might stay lower but that weather pattern doesn't seem to suggest any cooling till the actual change arrives. I think it is going to be a very hot ride. Mitchelton copied the Gerrans race plan for Impey at the TDU, so they may well follow the Gerrans and Chavez plan they used in this race last year and transpose it across to Meyer and Chavez.

 

[The Hegelian]

Looking at the start list - very hard to pick a winner. Maybe too hard for Viviani and Arndt. Also can't see Bennett getting there. Bora look good with McCarthy and Kennaugh. Devenyns is my pick. Maybe Haas and Slagter. And hoping for Chavito.....

 

[liamito]

Re:

Looking at the start list - very hard to pick a winner. Maybe too hard for Viviani and Arndt. Also can't see Bennett getting there. Bora look good with McCarthy and Kennaugh. Devenyns is my pick. Maybe Haas and Slagter. And hoping for Chavito.....

No Impey? He even said this race was his main aim for the Australian summer.

 

[claude cat]

Race Melbourne crit at Albert Park results

 

[claude cat]

 

[yaco]

Gotta say that Ewan's sprint train has functioned poorly during the Australian summer - They've dropped him off too early, run out of riders in the last km, hd an occasion when the train couldn't keep up the leaders - Ewan is in decent form and has shown an ability to surf wheels which will undoubtedly help him - Things should change when he he re-unites with Mezgec.

Have no doubt the Cadel race will be won by a climber type - The extra time up Chamberry will make a big difference - Remember last time the winner Arndt ( who is decent on short climbs ) was dropped on the last climb and only good riding by his team-mates got him back into the peleton - Reckon Gerrans will find the course too hard - It's a wide open race.

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

Looked easy for Bennett, which is good for him as he was apparently too sick to train yesterday. Ewan went way too early. Viviani just didn’t have the speed to get near Bennett.

 

[dirkprovin]

Re:

Gotta say that Ewan's sprint train has functioned poorly during the Australian summer - They've dropped him off too early, run out of riders in the last km, hd an occasion when the train couldn't keep up the leaders - Ewan is in decent form and has shown an ability to surf wheels which will undoubtedly help him - Things should change when he he re-unites with Mezgec.

Have no doubt the Cadel race will be won by a climber type - The extra time up Chamberry will make a big difference - Remember last time the winner Arndt ( who is decent on short climbs ) was dropped on the last climb and only good riding by his team-mates got him back into the peleton - Reckon Gerrans will find the course too hard - It's a wide open race.

Ewan can surf wheels in races of this level where there aren't the full trains and full on argy bargy. However, in order to be able to surf wheels in the big league when there is far greater physical risk involved, he will need to grow or acquire significantly larger gonads than he has ever demonstrated to this point.

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

Re:

Gotta say that Ewan's sprint train has functioned poorly during the Australian summer - They've dropped him off too early, run out of riders in the last km, hd an occasion when the train couldn't keep up the leaders - Ewan is in decent form and has shown an ability to surf wheels which will undoubtedly help him - Things should change when he he re-unites with Mezgec.

Have no doubt the Cadel race will be won by a climber type - The extra time up Chamberry will make a big difference - Remember last time the winner Arndt ( who is decent on short climbs ) was dropped on the last climb and only good riding by his team-mates got him back into the peleton - Reckon Gerrans will find the course too hard - It's a wide open race.

Yeah, it really shows the importance of a professional lead out. Ewan didn’t look slow, he looked too eager.

I suspect you are right about the Cadel race, at least if it’s crazy hot.