Hot racing coming up in Australia

[wirral]

Unlucky Caleb Ewok.

 

[RedheadDane]

Come on, DQ! You can't just put the lead-out man in the top-10 like that as well… it's greedy.

 

[42x16ss]

Re:

Gonna be a sprint. I love that they keep trying though

The right riders were there to ditch the pure sprinters, but as usual they all left it too late.

 

[42x16ss]

Re:

Unlucky Caleb Ewok.

Yeah, may have been different if Impey hadn't boxed him in.

 

[yaco]

Ewan seems to be in decent form but not YET getting the rewards - I worry about his team support as he had no riders in the final.

 

[42x16ss]

Re:

Ewan seems to be in decent form but not YET getting the rewards - I worry about his team support as he had no riders in the final.

They didn't need to do anything more, Ewan was dropped right off onto the correct wheel with about 1200 to go. QS train did the rest

 

[Velolover2]

Viviani was always good at following the right wheels but with the Stepper train, he is very hard to beat if the timing is right. With no super sprinter out there, is he the fastest in the peloton man right now?

I mean, Cavendish is aging (and sick as well) and Kittel has been fading a lot. Looking foward to see him sprinting against Gaviria in UAE Tour. Still not sure who is the fastest.

 

[Akuryo]

I think Viviani has the better kick while Gaviria is better on a long drag. Just like Kittel had the advantage over Cavendish when the finish was a wide open, long road. So one is faster over distance while the other has the better acceleration. Viviani is always better in a "messy" sprint and not when every rider has his own train lined up next to each other.

 

[yaco]

Re: Re:

Ewan seems to be in decent form but not YET getting the rewards - I worry about his team support as he had no riders in the final.

They didn't need to do anything more, Ewan was dropped right off onto the correct wheel with about 1200 to go. QS train did the rest

You need one rider for the last 1km - Of the first three only Viviani has a team-mate.

 

[yaco]

Re:

I think Viviani has the better kick while Gaviria is better on a long drag. Just like Kittel had the advantage over Cavendish when the finish was a wide open, long road. So one is faster over distance while the other has the better acceleration. Viviani is always better in a "messy" sprint and not when every rider has his own train lined up next to each other.

You are 100% correct about Viviani - He performs better when following wheels, though Morkov was a big help today.

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

Re:

Viviani was always good at following the right wheels but with the Stepper train, he is very hard to beat if the timing is right. With no super sprinter out there, is he the fastest in the peloton man right now?

I mean, Cavendish is aging (and sick as well) and Kittel has been fading a lot. Looking foward to see him sprinting against Gaviria in UAE Tour. Still not sure who is the fastest.

Far from being the “fastest” sprinter, I’d rank Viviani’s acceleration and top speed towards the lower end of the unusually large current group of top tier sprinters. Where he ranks at the top is in timing and racing intelligence. There is far too much emphasis put on ranking sprinters according to their raw physical outputs. That makes sense when there is a sprinter who is just head and shoulders above everyone else, but when the top guys are all within a reasonable distance of each other physically, it’s more often timing, positioning, support etc that makes the difference.

You could really see how good Viviani and his team are in his duel with Bennett at the Giro. Both were just much faster than the rest of the field. Between the two of them, Bennett put out better max power, sustained power and top speed numbers in just about every sprint according to Velon, but Viviani won four stages and Bennett three. When it was a simple drag race, Bennett had a slight advantage. Viviani’s brilliance is in making sure that he isn’t in a simple drag race with the other top guys if he can help it. He wins by out thinking those guys.

The fastest is probably Kittel, if he gets his form right, or perhaps Groenewegen. The best is currently Viviani.

 

[movingtarget]

Re:

Ewan seems to be in decent form but not YET getting the rewards - I worry about his team support as he had no riders in the final.

I thought it was fine. Someone always gets boxed in and Impey made sure he held his position so Ewan couldn't get out. Just not Ewan's day. I thought the race was one of the better editions.

 

[Velolover2]

Re: Re:

Viviani was always good at following the right wheels but with the Stepper train, he is very hard to beat if the timing is right. With no super sprinter out there, is he the fastest in the peloton man right now?

I mean, Cavendish is aging (and sick as well) and Kittel has been fading a lot. Looking foward to see him sprinting against Gaviria in UAE Tour. Still not sure who is the fastest.

Far from being the “fastest” sprinter, I’d rank Viviani’s acceleration and top speed towards the lower end of the unusually large current group of top tier sprinters. Where he ranks at the top is in timing and racing intelligence. There is far too much emphasis put on ranking sprinters according to their raw physical outputs. That makes sense when there is a sprinter who is just head and shoulders above everyone else, but when the top guys are all within a reasonable distance of each other physically, it’s more often timing, positioning, support etc that makes the difference.

You could really see how good Viviani and his team are in his duel with Bennett at the Giro. Both were just much faster than the rest of the field. Between the two of them, Bennett put out better max power, sustained power and top speed numbers in just about every sprint according to Velon, but Viviani won four stages and Bennett three. When it was a simple drag race, Bennett had a slight advantage. Viviani’s brilliance is in making sure that he isn’t in a simple drag race with the other top guys if he can help it. He wins by out thinking those guys.

The fastest is probably Kittel, if he gets his form right, or perhaps Groenewegen. The best is currently Viviani.

Great analysis, I agree.

Like Sagan, Valverde and Froome, Viviani is predetermined to be a dominant champion in his field. And unlike faster riders like Kittel, he is actually quite versatile which gives him more opportunities to win.

 

[del1962]

To be considered the top sprinter Viviani needs to do it at the TDF

 

[Koronin]

For me Viviani is probably at the low end of the top tier sprinters due to his power and speed. However, he's a very intelligent racer. Like Valverde and Sagan he understands racing and understands what he needs to do to put himself in the best possible position to win.

 

[rick james]

nearly got through a full post without bring up Valverde...so close yet so far

 

[tobydawq]

Re:

nearly got through a full post without bring up Valverde...so close yet so far

To be fair, it wasn't Koronin that made up some weird comparison between the highly team-dependent sprinter Viviani and champions such as Valverde, Sagan and Froome on the previous page.

Apparently he's intelligent because he can follow the wheel of his leadout-man.

 

[Koronin]

Re: Re:

nearly got through a full post without bring up Valverde...so close yet so far

To be fair, it wasn't Koronin that made up some weird comparison between the highly team-dependent sprinter Viviani and champions such as Valverde, Sagan and Froome on the previous page.

Apparently he's intelligent because he can follow the wheel of his leadout-man.

I was looking more at positioning. However, QS does have the best lead out train.

 

[The Hegelian]

Re: Re:

Ewan seems to be in decent form but not YET getting the rewards - I worry about his team support as he had no riders in the final.

I thought it was fine. Someone always gets boxed in and Impey made sure he held his position so Ewan couldn't get out. Just not Ewan's day. I thought the race was one of the better editions.

I thought it was the worst of all additions by some margin.

Was so much more interesting: a/ without race radios and b/before it was WT.

 

[movingtarget]

Re: Re:

Ewan seems to be in decent form but not YET getting the rewards - I worry about his team support as he had no riders in the final.

I thought it was fine. Someone always gets boxed in and Impey made sure he held his position so Ewan couldn't get out. Just not Ewan's day. I thought the race was one of the better editions.

I thought it was the worst of all additions by some margin.

Was so much more interesting: a/ without race radios and b/before it was WT.

Like the TDU it's just not hard enough to regularly split the field. Riders like Ewan and Viviiani had little trouble with the hills especially when the rest of the course is so flat......and then you have the team tactics.....

 

[42x16ss]

Re:

To be considered the top sprinter Viviani needs to do it at the TDF

Cipollini was banned from the Tour for 3 years but everyone still knew who the top dog was.

 

[Wilba60]

Not sure if Meyer is doing the Herald Sun tour but I just noticed why he didn't race the Cadel Evans race

Australia claimed three gold, three silver and two bronze across the three days, highlighted by dual gold to Thomas Clarke, 23, in the sprint and team sprint with teenagers James Brister, 19, and Matthew Richardson, 19, plus omnium gold to Cameron Meyer.

 

[jaylew]

Re: Re:

Viviani was always good at following the right wheels but with the Stepper train, he is very hard to beat if the timing is right. With no super sprinter out there, is he the fastest in the peloton man right now?

I mean, Cavendish is aging (and sick as well) and Kittel has been fading a lot. Looking foward to see him sprinting against Gaviria in UAE Tour. Still not sure who is the fastest.

Far from being the “fastest” sprinter, I’d rank Viviani’s acceleration and top speed towards the lower end of the unusually large current group of top tier sprinters. Where he ranks at the top is in timing and racing intelligence. There is far too much emphasis put on ranking sprinters according to their raw physical outputs. That makes sense when there is a sprinter who is just head and shoulders above everyone else, but when the top guys are all within a reasonable distance of each other physically, it’s more often timing, positioning, support etc that makes the difference.

You could really see how good Viviani and his team are in his duel with Bennett at the Giro. Both were just much faster than the rest of the field. Between the two of them, Bennett put out better max power, sustained power and top speed numbers in just about every sprint according to Velon, but Viviani won four stages and Bennett three. When it was a simple drag race, Bennett had a slight advantage. Viviani’s brilliance is in making sure that he isn’t in a simple drag race with the other top guys if he can help it. He wins by out thinking those guys.

The fastest is probably Kittel, if he gets his form right, or perhaps Groenewegen. The best is currently Viviani.

Honestly, I think you're giving Viviani a bit too much credit. His greatest strength is his team. Every sprinter is elevated with QS. He was always good but only really started to look like a top tier sprinter after joining them.

 

[Velolover2]

Re: Re:

nearly got through a full post without bring up Valverde...so close yet so far

To be fair, it wasn't Koronin that made up some weird comparison between the highly team-dependent sprinter Viviani and champions such as Valverde, Sagan and Froome on the previous page.

Apparently he's intelligent because he can follow the wheel of his leadout-man.

The greatness scale for a sprinter is a bit different. You have to lower the bar a bit. It's not about solo presentations on road.

A really versatile sprinter (without being a puncheur) is also competitive on track and can survive cobbled and lumpy races. Stage race as well as one-day races. The rider has at least one stage win in all Grand Tours.

Viviani has won Olympic Gold in Omnium, Six Days of Ghent, 8 Grand Tour stages and 5 World Tour one day races. If he wins a Tour stage (which is required), Milano-Sanremo and/or Gent Wevelgem, he should be considered to be one of the great sprinters.

 

[claude cat]

Re:

Not sure if Meyer is doing the Herald Sun tour but I just noticed why he didn't race the Cadel Evans race

No, he is not.
MS team is:

Sam Bewley (NZL, 31)
Lucas Hamilton (AUS, 22)
Damien Howson (AUS, 26)
Nick Schultz (AUS, 24)
Callum Scotson (AUS, 22)
Dion Smith (NZL, 25)
Robert Stannard (AUS, 20)

Hamilton is the designated leader.