Il Lombardia 2024, one day monument, October 12, farewell to Domenico Pozzovivo

[Coffeeplanter]

Remco can’t expect to compete with UAE whilst riding for Soudal. They are just not strong enough in a climbers race. Visma or Ineos, maybe, but not Soudal. If he wants to compete with Pogačar he needs more support.

There is not a singular rider on INEOS this year to be found that performed above average to their relative level and/or booked significant, visible progression. Well, maybe one, but that list starts and ends with Narvaez.

You could argue there is more visibility of regression amongst some of their riders. Not to mention the turmoil that is management. Going there would be suicide. That team is beyond cooked.

 

[Tim Cahill]

Evenepoel should get himself down to ISN, they have random Canadian NPCs like Derek Gee, Aldi/Welsh Dan Martin and child mountain bikers with no road racing experience firing on all cylinders.

The Froome money will be freed up soon.

 

[Unchained]

I gotta say, lots and lots of bad said about course make up for gravel worlds, especially lack of technical, that said, I am being serious, I think Pogacar had a shot at winning that race had he showed up.. Today was real punctuation on his season, he got out of the saddle, nothing explosive, nobody answered, Remco casually observed him rolling away. Pogacar is like a Marvel movie superhero, if you try to get his wheel you just blow up!! End of race camera shots had Pog quietly crushing a massive gear, and when they cut to Remco and Giconne both guys pushing huge gear but their bodies were moving around way more, you could see the effort. Pogacar just looks like he cooling down on a trainer, absolutely effortless

 

[Lequack]

Lanterne rouge recap

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hJOOc2Kp_4

 

[Statze2]

Cycling used to be fun. But watching pogi going solo for the last1,2 or 3 Hours is Not very funny. Hope this will change otherwise you can skip the races where he starts

 

[vwpe]

Crowds were amazing today and there is a whole new generation growing up who has riders like Pog, Remco and others.

Pogacar is revered in Italy. He is looked upon in Italy as the second coming of god it feels like. Ive never seen a more popular rider in Italy outside italians. Italy have a very special admiration for him unlike anything ive seen since Pantani.

 

[Lequack]

Race highlights

View: https://youtu.be/_O6PlaeKrJ0?si=cpmJL95fbHGZsa_6

 

[hayneplane]

Pogacar is revered in Italy. He is looked upon in Italy as the second coming of god it feels like. Ive never seen a more popular rider in Italy outside italians. Italy have a very special admiration for him unlike anything ive seen since Pantani.

That won’t go down well with the Nibali fanboys 😂

 

[YavorD]

Ironically enough without Pogacar the race wouldn't be much better. We probably would have much worse 1st half with a rather weak break and just another long solo by Evenepoel.


Yeah, a different winner but if the racing is dull (and predictable..) not a great fun.

 

[vwpe]

Ironically enough without Pogacar the race wouldn't be much better. We probably would have much worse 1st half with a rather weak break and just another long solo by Evenepoel.


Yeah, a different winner but if the racing is dull (and predictable..) not a great fun.

Some people have wanted to see Evenepoel vs Pogacar in big one day races at least we got to see that both here and in the WC.

 

[Kwaremonster]

Some people have wanted to see Evenepoel vs Pogacar in big one day races at least we got to see that both here and in the WC.

So far that rivalry turns out to be no rivalry at all. Maybe next year in Liege when they are bot fresh. But going on what we see here, I think Teddy will sprint away uphill there as well.

So far the most thrilling rivalries I've seen with Teddy, are where he takes the fight to MvdP on Mvdp's terrain and with Vingegaard in the Tour.

Thinking a bit more about it. The best rivalry in cycling is still MvdP vs WvA, even now that matthieu seems to have the upper hand, there are still the brief moments like in the Olympics where Wout is the only one who can hold Mattieus wheel when he tries to sprint away on this steep short hill.

 

[gregrowlerson]

Love all these cycling is dead shouts - I am old enough to remember people saying Pog will never win another TDF

Pog is like giga Chad: In the heat of the moment we always swear that we'll never go back, but in the cold light of day we always return.

 

[Danskebjerge]

Ironically enough without Pogacar the race wouldn't be much better. We probably would have much worse 1st half with a rather weak break and just another long solo by Evenepoel.

Yeah, a different winner but if the racing is dull (and predictable..) not a great fun.

It's true that Pogacar's dominance isn't the only problem in today's cycling (the men's) . It's also that there are 3-4 riders who are so much better than the rest. It's highly unusual.

There has always been dominating riders, but before, it was more a matter of a few riders winning a lot of races (Valverde, Sagan etc). The problem with Pogacar and Evenepoel is that you hardly have to watch the last hour of the races - you already know what the result will be. That's the issue.

 

[gregrowlerson]

Sky only won 2 monuments and as far as I remember never won this race.

They only ruined some stage races usually, mostly the tour/dauphine and a couple of others, and even then it was more exciting than this, at least there was a bit of tension.

I think there's a fair bit of "back in my day" rose tinted glasses revisionist history being done with Sky in terms of their entertainment value. The Froome/Porte 1-2 punch on a couple of first MTF's were memorable, as was Froome's exploits on Finestre obviously, but most forum members considered that era pretty damn dull, at the time.

 

[Pantani_lives]

This was the most predictable classic I've seen, and yet I didn't find it boring. You get some of the best riders in the world going full for over an hour. It was interesting to see how UAE controlled the race and what the other teams did in an attempt to avoid the unavoidable.

I've seen a lot of races where nothing interesting happened until the final 10 km. At least now the race is on from afar. Of course when they attack early it can also mean the decision comes early.

 

[gregrowlerson]

Sivakov almost crashed into a lady of reasonable carriage crossing the road Could've been disastrous.

From Sky era trains to Pogacar era near train wrecks.

 

[proffate]

Race highlights

View: https://youtu.be/_O6PlaeKrJ0?si=cpmJL95fbHGZsa_6

somber chords to set the mood

 

[gregrowlerson]

It is really mindblowing to me that you can derstoy the whole field on a monument by over 2 minutes and still look bleak and vulnerable, because of one other cyclist, who happens to be cosplaying some old belgian dude from the 70ies.

Remco bringing a knife to a gun fight.

 

[gregrowlerson]

Expecting Evenepoel to get off the bike and chin a random fan

Hemingway would approve.

 

[gunara]

somber chords to set the mood

Yeah, weird music choice

 

[gregrowlerson]

somber chords to set the mood

Red Rick quit moderation and took up music.

 

[Rob5091]

Good to see Lenny VE back and farewell Pozzovivo. Otherwise business as usual.

 

[Salvarani]

So far that rivalry turns out to be no rivalry at all. Maybe next year in Liege when they are bot fresh. But going on what we see here, I think Teddy will sprint away uphill there as well.

So far the most thrilling rivalries I've seen with Teddy, are where he takes the fight to MvdP on Mvdp's terrain and with Vingegaard in the Tour.

Thinking a bit more about it. The best rivalry in cycling is still MvdP vs WvA, even now that matthieu seems to have the upper hand, there are still the brief moments like in the Olympics where Wout is the only one who can hold Mattieus wheel when he tries to sprint away on this steep short hill.

The Remco vs Van Aert national team rivalry is one for the ages as well.

Remco vs guys on his wheel rivalry doesnt seem to go away either.

These are very interesting to follow up more on.

 

[wheresmybrakes]

Remco can’t expect to compete with UAE whilst riding for Soudal. They are just not strong enough in a climbers race. Visma or Ineos, maybe, but not Soudal. If he wants to compete with Pogačar he needs more support.

I don't think it matters which team he is on. He will get the leftovers of whatever Pog decides to leave. It's just an unlucky time for him.

 

[Scarponi]

We'll see, but for now there is this horde, this very loud minority that seems to find this exciting. Either way, I am going to make it very easy for myself: if he is riding, I ain't watching.

Giro del Veneto next week, proper ciclismo.

So you dislike Roglic for sprinting at end and hate Pog for attacking from too far. What’s your perfect winning range? 10km?