Lesser Known Race Results 2016

[May0maniac]

Re: Re:

Nice result from Moscon, seems to have really stepped up to the required level as a neo-pro, still trying to work out where his real strengths lay, good in cobbles races but I think he could also be good in hilly races, could probably do with his own thread

He is very versatile, he even showed he could do well in the higher mountains in the first mountain stage in avenir, though I dont think that will be his main strength in the pro ranks. Besides that and what you already mentioned he is pretty fast at the line (not to win bunch sprints but he can win sprints from a 30 man group), and he can time trial pretty well (at least the short ITTs, dont think I ever saw him in a longer one).
For a type of rider I think you could compare him a bit to Kwiatkowski.

EDIT: I wasnt expecting him to do well so early between the pro's in the last years we have often seen that the Italians need some time to adjust to the pro levels (even when they were already scoring as interns) so he is really impressive.

The fact that he's able to ajust to the pro level so fast as a neopro who's riding for Sky (not exactly a team known for developing neopros) is really impressive, he's very versatile and strong as an Ox.
He already has a nice nickname Il trattore della Val di Non (the tractor from the Non-Valley) , he comes from a family of apple farmers.
Ciccone finished 6th on gc, he's another very promising 21 years ol Italian neopro who rides for Bardiani who already had a few decent results, 6th on the Tour de Langkawi MTF, 12th in Trofeo Laigueglia and 5th in G.P. Costa degli Etruschi. Last year he finished 2nd in the Piccolo Giro di Lombardia and 6th in Avenir, in 2014 he finished 6th in the Giro Ciclistico della Valle d'Aosta and he was 6th on gc in the Tour de l'Avenir but a crash on the final stage took him out of the race.
Bernal showed his strengh and I'm also happy for Sebastian Henao, he was sooo strong as a neopro in the 3rd week of the 2014 Giro d'italia, just 20 years old and the youngest rider on the Giro startlist and he finished 8th on the 2 hardest stages of the Giro in the 3rd week of a gt, that's just awesome.

 

[Alexandre B.]

Bryan Coquard (Direct Énergie) wins Route Adélie de Vitré for the second time.

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

Re:

Bryan Coquard (Direct Énergie) wins Route Adélie de Vitré for the second time.

Yet another French sprinters race with only one sprinter in it. I hadn't realised before last year just how many of them there are. I wonder do Coquard, Demare and Bouhanni negotiate who will be the only sprinter in each race at the start of the season. They generously let Sam Bennett be the only proper sprinter in one of them last week.

 

[Alexandre B.]

Bouhanni lost to Feillu last year.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Re:

Bryan Coquard (Direct Énergie) wins Route Adélie de Vitré for the second time.

Great stuff. I see no reason why he couldn't deliver during the Ardennes week.

 

[Bushman]

Re: Re:

Bryan Coquard (Direct Énergie) wins Route Adélie de Vitré for the second time.

Great stuff. I see no reason why he couldn't deliver during the Ardennes week.

Deliver what, exactly? The only race I can see him having a chance in is AGR and that is long shot.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Re: Re:

Bryan Coquard (Direct Énergie) wins Route Adélie de Vitré for the second time.

Great stuff. I see no reason why he couldn't deliver during the Ardennes week.

Deliver what, exactly? The only race I can see him having a chance in is AGR and that is long shot.

Deliver as in big result. I see LBL and AGR as targets.

 

[Alexandre B.]

LBL is a big ask. But he's made no mystery of his affinity with AGR.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Re:

LBL is a big ask. But he's made no mystery of his affinity with AGR.

The hardness of LBL is overrated. 50 riders are part of the finale these days. I see no reason why the new rocket shouldn't have a good chance.

 

[Brullnux]

That was once, last year it was a group of 10, and even in 2014 the likes of Gasparotto could only finish 12th, although ofc Gerrans won. It would take a miracle for Coquard to win. An even easier version than 2014.

 

[Popchu]

Re: Re:

LBL is a big ask. But he's made no mystery of his affinity with AGR.

The hardness of LBL is overrated. 50 riders are part of the finale these days. I see no reason why the new rocket shouldn't have a good chance.

I won't deny that Coquard is more than an ordinary sprinter, but LBL?

And even if it's true that "50 riders are part of the finale", how many of them are battling for the victory?

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Re: Re:

LBL is a big ask. But he's made no mystery of his affinity with AGR.

The hardness of LBL is overrated. 50 riders are part of the finale these days. I see no reason why the new rocket shouldn't have a good chance.

I won't deny that Coquard is more than an ordinary sprinter, but LBL?

And even if it's true that "50 riders are part of the finale", how many of them are battling for the victory?

Still see no reason why the new rocket couldn't win a softly ridden race like LBL.

 

[TMP402]

Promising Dutchman Floris Gerts of BMC wins the Hel van het Mergelland aka "Volta Limburg Classic", ahead of Colbrelli, Gilbert and Zabel. Five BMC in the top 10.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Nice win by Gerts on his home terrain.

 

[Bushman]

Mads Würtz (reigning u23 WC time trial champion) won the queen stage of Triptyque des Mont et Chateux yesterday. With a tt today he should have a great opportunity to win the race overall.

This is a great result for him. Throughout his career so far he has, at times, had difficulties transferring his tt talent and engine to road races and he has struggled with confidence before. Last season he seemed to take a huge leap forward mid way through when he was 7th in the national Championships on a tough course, then won the tt and finished 7th on gc in Tour of Denmark, won a stage from a break in Avenir (where he was climbing well also) and at last won the WC in time trial.

He is one of Denmark's biggest talents and if he can overcome the challenges he has had with confidence, motivation and such he can become a really strong rider.

 

[TMP402]

Jon Dibben won the aforementioned ITT and Scott Davies came 2nd by 4 seconds. Both of Team WIGGINS.

 

[Baldinger]

Re:

Jon Dibben won the aforementioned ITT and Scott Davies came 2nd by 4 seconds. Both of Team WIGGINS.

A little disappointed with Würtz. He won yesterday and I had expected a win today too.

 

[Ricco']

No surprise, Matthews wins the Vuelta a la Rioja, one of that sprint one-day races with no real sprinter in it apart from the yearly Greenedge pick.

 

[BalearicBeats]

Re:

No surprise, Matthews wins the Vuelta a la Rioja, one of that sprint one-day races with no real sprinter in it apart from the yearly Greenedge pick.

The annual "Spanish races where Shilov gets a nice placement".

 

[CheckMyPecs]

Re:

No surprise, Matthews wins the Vuelta a la Rioja, one of that sprint one-day races with no real sprinter in it apart from the yearly Greenedge pick.

Didn't it use to be a three-day race a few years back?

 

[TMP402]

Paris-Camembert won by Gautier. Baptiste Planckaert 5th, naturally.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Re: Re:

No surprise, Matthews wins the Vuelta a la Rioja, one of that sprint one-day races with no real sprinter in it apart from the yearly Greenedge pick.

Didn't it use to be a three-day race a few years back?

It's had as many as 5 at times, although like Murcía it's a fairly small area for a 5 day race without becoming repetitious. It's been a one day race since 2009; it had four stages until 2002.

 

[Max Rockatansky]

Riders at Tour du Maroc have climbed Col du Tichka (2.260m) today.

Looks like how the road to Roubaix should be on Sunday. The last six or eight kilometers of the pass are unpaved. The downhill is asphalted, but the roads are in bad condition.

 

[TMP402]

Marc Fournier wins Stage 1 of the Circuit de la Sarthe by 2.15mins. Coquard won the bunch sprint ahead of Holst Enger.

 

[skidmark]

Re:

Marc Fournier wins Stage 1 of the Circuit de la Sarthe by 2.15mins. Coquard won the bunch sprint ahead of Holst Enger.

Okay, so I follow cycling rather closely, and I have absolutely no clue who Marc Fournier is. Looking through his results in procyclingstats isn't much more helpful - aside from a 2.2 stage win last year, he's been pretty anonymous. Anyone know anything about this kid? Did the peloton just kind of let him go today? Either way, I can't see how he loses 2:15 on the Sarthe parcours.