Lesser Known Race Results 2020

[dick the quick]

Hammer Stavanger seems to be a bit disregarded this year:

Stage 1 (hilly): Jumbo-Visma
Stage 2 (sprint): Deuceninck-Quickstep
Stage 3 (TTT): CCC Team

Final: Jumbo-Visma

 

[BalearicBeats]

Pinot seems to be in good form!

Amazed that CCC won the TTT with the team they had, I wouldn't call any of their riders TT specialists

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Re:

Hammer Stavanger seems to be a bit disregarded this year:

Au contraire, I think it's received every bit as much attention as it deserves, and then some.

 

[tobydawq]

Re: Re:

Hammer Stavanger seems to be a bit disregarded this year:

Au contraire, I think it's received every bit as much attention as it deserves, and then some.

Why is it so horrible that a lot of riders have a bit of fun doing these races a couple of times a year and can play a more tangible role in the battle for a victory?

It's not like these events will ever threaten the existence of real racing anyway.

 

[Red Rick]

Re: Re:

Hammer Stavanger seems to be a bit disregarded this year:

Au contraire, I think it's received every bit as much attention as it deserves, and then some.

Why is it so horrible that a lot of riders have a bit of fun doing these races a couple of times a year and can play a more tangible role in the battle for a victory?

It's not like these events will ever threaten the existence of real racing anyway.

Dumoulin was shipped off to Hammer Series instead of racing Il Lombardia last year.

 

[Tonton]

Tour de l'Ain stage 2, Geniez outsprints Pinot ftw. Tomorrow the Grand Colombier...

Pfff, as if there will be any surprise.

The stage starts in thirty minutes by the way.

...no surprise indeed but a win with panache today for Tibopino: he didn't wait until the tough stretch and 5 km to go. He punched everybody in the mouth with 12 km left and Contadored his way up the Grand Colombier. Good for morale, good for my CQ points, good all around .

 

[yaco]

You'll find that the riders enjoy the concept and the experience of the Hammer Series - Reckon it needs a few tweaks to make it better.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Of course the riders enjoy the experience. In 3 days' racing they do as much distance as your average semi-classic. If I was being paid the same amount to do half the work I do, I'd be in favour too.

 

[RedheadDane]

The alternative might be that they wouldn't be racing at all. And what's wrong with the riders having a little bit of fun now and then?
Besides, quite a few of the guys who did Stavanger are going to ride Tour of Norway, so they just got there early and had some fun before the "real" racing begins.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

That used to be the Tour des Fjords. An actual race. Now they do "Hammer Stavanger" and they've had to merge the Tour des Fjords and the Glava Tour into one race. So, you know, no. Hammer is just Velon trying to jockey for some bargaining power because literally the only thing they've done for the sport is some crappy, shaky onboard footage. "Give us more power, or we will set up some more of these dog and pony shows in your markets and take good riders away from your actual races!"

Notwithstanding that now trying to merge the terrain of the Tour des Fjords with that of the Tour of Norway means the route of the Tour of Norway is even more crappy and unrepresentative than usual. In the name of all that is holy, have you seen it? Kristoff will probably win the GC on one leg.

 

[RedheadDane]

Chris Anker Sørensen mentioned during the Sprint that the Tour des Fjords wasn't exactly a good race to do because of the long - sailing - transfers.
And again; what's wrong with the riders having a little bit of fun every now and then?

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Re:

Chris Anker Sørensen mentioned during the Sprint that the Tour des Fjords wasn't exactly a good race to do because of the long - sailing - transfers.
And again; what's wrong with the riders having a little bit of fun every now and then?

The riders can have a bit of fun if they want. But if the riders are doing it for just a bit of fun, then that only emphasises further the fact that it is not an event that merits caring about, because if even the riders only do it for a laugh, it is not to be taken seriously. The fact that literally no conversation was had on it until after three days' worth of "racing" had taken place, and then we've had a 10 post disagreement about whether it's "worthless but ok for the riders" or "worthless, period" tells you how much the fanbase has taken this format to heart. Velon will continue to push it though - because it's the only thing they have in their power play.

And Sørensen whining about having to do transfers as a justification for replacing an actual race with a corporate branded Hammer SufferFest Of 200km In Three Days OMG You Have To See It To Believe It Hard Racing Superfast Yea! event just helps reinforce the impression of the current péloton as wanting to be mollycoddled. The overuse of the Extreme Weather Protocol, the progressive shortening of races and average stage length, the riders' refusal to take the time cut seriously at the Vuelta in 2016 (because of 'how hard the race has been' despite that it was 4 days after a rest day and 2 days after the bunch had rolled in half an hour behind the breakaway in a stage where the organizers had already removed half the climbs), and the popularity of an event which requires one normal stage's worth of distance in 3 days with the riders all continues to contribute to this interpretation.

I know somebody will come back with the "well, hard races just encourages doping" as a means to justify this dumbing down and simplifying, which is being paralleled in several sports too. But it's also patently not true. People dope to run 100m in a straight line. The rewards of victory and success are what cause people to dope, not the difficulty of the route it's on. The advantages of doping remain the same regardless of parcours.

 

[RedheadDane]

Well, there was no problem having all three races right after each other last year. So maybe Tour of Norway and Tour des Fjords just decided to merge.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Re:

Well, there was no problem having all three races right after each other last year. So maybe Tour of Norway and Tour des Fjords just decided to merge.

Which is a loss of three racing days. The same three racing days added to the calendar by Hammer Stavanger. Therefore Hammer Stavanger has squeezed out the Tour des Fjords. Ergo, this dog and pony show has replaced a real race.

Anyway, let's change the subject and get back to lesser known race results, since some real races will be going on that we can discuss rather than giving Velon's clown show more attention.

 

[RedheadDane]

Now... if only Tour of Norway was actually televised…

Cees Bol won stage 1.

 

[Anderis]

Good to see Hofland alive.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Re:

Now... if only Tour of Norway was actually televised…

Cees Bol won stage 1.

On their website last week, they were touting that there would be a lot of coverage, on Belgian national TV, on Dutch national TV... well, i didn't see any of those.

Final few kilometers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=az86mxYeS_8

Looks like Evenepoel crashed in the final 3k.
https://twitter.com/tourofnorway/status/1133404011992891392

Also evident by the ranking of stage 1:
https://firstcycling.com/race.php?r=71&y=2019&k=stages&e=01

 

[rghysens]

Re: Re:

Now... if only Tour of Norway was actually televised…

Cees Bol won stage 1.

On their website last week, they were touting that there would be a lot of coverage, on Belgian national TV, on Dutch national TV... well, i didn't see any of those.

Final few kilometers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=az86mxYeS_8

Looks like Evenepoel crashed in the final 3k. Also evident by the ranking of stage 1:
https://firstcycling.com/race.php?r=71&y=2019&k=stages&e=01

Is he actually able to stay upright on a bike for more than 3 consecutive racing days?

 

[tobydawq]

It is possible to watch the race on Norwegian TV2 - which many Danes can see.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Re: Re:

Is he actually able to stay upright on a bike for more than 3 consecutive racing days?

To be honest, we all knew this was going to be a problem. I'm actually a bit surprised that DQS seem to let him figure it out on his own. I've seen a few instances where you'd have to wonder if he's getting any coaching at all. They know he's a rider with an anxiety to manifest himself, and with virtually no experience in riding in a peloton.

 

[repre]

Anybody has a link for tour of norway?

 

[del1962]

Hodeg wins today stage

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Re:

Anybody has a link for tour of norway?

I think not even The Tour of Norway has a link to The Tour of Norway.

 

[RedheadDane]

Hmm... the attempt at reclaiming Norway for Denmark is not quite going according to plan.
Though, to be fair, I might have forgotten to tell the riders about said plan.

 

[Nirvana]

Re: Re:

Anybody has a link for tour of norway?

I think not even The Tour of Norway has a link to The Tour of Norway.

Some years ago on Bike Channel there were full stages live of both Norway and Fjords so i think there is for sure some norvegian media production for cycling races.

Especially the now gone Tor des Fjords has always been great too see, the 2016 edition was epic with every stage in pouring rain and Kristoff in monster climbing form that was impossible to drop despite others trying on every bump. In stage three BMC forced the pace for Caruso that attacked with Weening on a climb with some 120/130 kms to go and Kristoff followed them and they rode all the way to the finish with a couple of other riders, something incredible.