Lesser known races 2025 edition

[Devil's Elbow]

Why do you insult people? With those finishes at this race and the crash it would have been smarter for Tudor to try and go for Brenner. that takes nothing away from Rondel who is a great rider but not as good in my eyes on this kind of finishes although today suited him better then the other three stages.

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Fiorelli looking good for his biannual third place on a Giro stage. Torres continues to disappoint, yes he will finish third on GC but there are like ten different instances other than Finestre last year based upon which you would have expected him to win here.

 

[QueenStagiaire]

Could be a sputnik performance but I do think some posters here are underestimating what Callejas did on this climb. On his own for a very long time, mainly shallow gradients, this was not solely because of weak competition.

Definitely, I thought he would have to crack but he was just insanely strong. If this was Tour of Turkey, we‘d all be talking about it.

 

[Samamba]

well, tell that to Polti, Burgos, Bardiani, etc

Completely different cases

 

[Netserk]

If that fits your definition of being insulted then maybe social interaction isn't for you.

Fiorelli looking good for his biannual third place on a Giro stage. Torres continues to disappoint, yes he will finish third on GC but there are like ten different instances other than Finestre last year based upon which you would have expected him to win here.

Torres also had a slow start to the season last year, I don't think he has disappointed.

 

[Devil's Elbow]

Torres also had a slow start to the season last year, I don't think he has disappointed.

A slow start to the season is more common in a first U23 season than a first pro season, though. Especially when you're spending the first months of said U23 season mainly doing pro races.

 

[SafeBet]

Torres also had a slow start to the season last year, I don't think he has disappointed.

Yep none of those peformances came before June (apart from maybe one stage in Abruzzo where he pulled a lot).
Even later in the Giro Next Gen he didn't look better than Rondel until the stage to Fosse where Rondel pulled like a mandman for the whole final climb only to be dropped by the two Spaniards in the final km.
But I agree with @Devil's Elbow he's been a little underhwelming here.

 

[Tim Cahill]

Yesterday you complained about the UAE winning.
Be glad Torres didn't win the stage

This is a one-week race against professionals, Avenir between teenagers.
It's a different level, even though the star list here is very poor.

Seixas and Widar haven't won any races either. They've been in the top5.

I'm not complaining, it was a good stage, I was remarking on how Torres is going to be perceived. If every pro was about to ride that Avenir stage in exactly the same circumstances I'm willing to bet that there aren't 10 World Tour guys who could ride the climb as fast as he did, that's the benchmark he's set, he did a similar demonstration in Bruil Cervina the month prior.

The hype is justified by that, it was the best performance in junior history by a considerable distance, yet he seemed to struggle against a 36 year old and a 70 kilo rouler here. I think it's likely that he isn't in proper form yet rather than a reflection of his real level, but you would expect someone with his capabilities to have a higher baseline than this, even if he is young, Widar and Sexais have looked far more impressive, the former did win last week albeit not at WT level.

 

[Black Betsy]

I was watching Zimmermann on the podium ceremony, when my screen freezed.

 

[Netserk]

Yep none of those peformances came before June (apart from maybe one stage in Abruzzo where he pulled a lot).
Even later in the Giro Next Gen he didn't look better than Rondel until the stage to Fosse where Rondel pulled like a mandman for the whole final climb only to be dropped by the two Spaniards in the final km.
But I agree with @Devil's Elbow he's been a little underhwelming here.

Later this year, or at least next year, I do expect him to take the step up and deliver a Finestre-like performance on the big scene, but I think it's very optimistic to have expected that to have already happened.

 

[SafeBet]

BTW when was the last time a CT level team won a race in Europe?

 

[Netserk]

A slow start to the season is more common in a first U23 season than a first pro season, though. Especially when you're spending the first months of said U23 season mainly doing pro races.

After PdB, I can't make sense of the big climbing performances and how riders peak. This could be his baseline when not fully prepared for a peak performance.

 

[Cycling111]

Zimmermann se distanció un poco del ataque de Brenner, así que sería extraño que Brenner se estrellara contra la pared. También se podría preguntar por qué no siguió antes a De La Cruz y Torres, considerando que eran sus principales oponentes. Al final, demostró ser claramente más fuerte que Fiorelli y Covi, a quienes no apartaba la vista de la pista.

Brenner was held back by having a teammate and by keeping an eye on Covi too closely when it was clear that Covi would be out of the GC today.

Tudor's terrible management, sending Rondel with Torres and De la Cruz.
Rondel worse than them in GC and has collaborated.

Today, I think Brenner was the strongest rider along with Zinmermann, but dude to follow him, because of Rondel situation? All of Tudor's decisions were horrible.

 

[Roku]

So happy for Zimmermann. He is looking a bit better this season but he's not a world beater, so obviously high WT results are difficult to obtain.

Hopefully Wanty are able to control the race tomorrow. The stage does not look overly difficult but the team is rather weak

 

[search]

BTW when was the last time a CT level team won a race in Europe?

on .1 level it's the first CT winner this year, I think.

Petrolike did the same in Sibiu last year, when Caicedo destroyed van Eetvelt etc, though.

 

[QueenStagiaire]

BTW when was the last time a CT level team won a race in Europe?

As @search said, first time this year, but it does happen a few times a year in .1s, of course at almost every stage of the Volta a Portugal, but Krijnsen for example even won a .pro Stage in Denmark last year.

 

[search]

Definitely, I thought he would have to crack but he was just insanely strong. If this was Tour of Turkey, we‘d all be talking about it.

maybe it's more about being used to extraordinary performances? If we see them every week, Petrolike is allowed to get their share as well every now and then.

 

[Cycling111]

Zimmermann is doing Amstel on Sunday, and it's one of his main goals of the season. Will he even start tomorrow?

As Wanty needs the points, I guess yes.

.
Zimmermann isn't a winning rider. Even if the level of this race is low, it's a victory for someone who doesn't usually win. His chances of a podium finish at Amstel are minimal.

 

[Samamba]

on .1 level it's the first CT winner this year, I think.

Petrolike did the same in Sibiu last year, when Caicedo destroyed van Eetvelt etc, though.

Tbf, a Van Eetvelt who discribed his legs as "horrible" cause he just came back from a very long injury. But yeah, also Riccitello and Lipo so there's that. I don't think the latter was in good form either tho.

And I do think Caicedo is different than the guy today. Everyone knew Caicedo.

 

[Tim Cahill]

Edison Callejas, I loved it, never heard of the bloke, old school.

It shows how times have changed when that kind of demonstration is looked upon with a nostalgic fondness, grandfathers of today will be sat in their rocking chair at the fireside pointing to the tv sets and telling their grandkids how they can't even remember the last time.

It's a shame Ryo and Coffeeplanter aren't here to give us a detailed breakdown of their careers and tell us how silly we all are for not knowing who he is and marking him for the win today.

 

[Samamba]

Brenner was held back by having a teammate and by keeping an eye on Covi too closely when it was clear that Covi would be out of the GC today.

Tudor's terrible management, sending Rondel with Torres and De la Cruz.
Rondel worse than them in GC and has collaborated.

Today, I think Brenner was the strongest rider along with Zinmermann, but dude to follow him, because of Rondel situation? All of Tudor's decisions were horrible.

Why are you ignoring that Brenner himself was attacking before Zimmermann went? He obviously did not care about Rondel being in front at that point. Rondel was riding in front either so the goal was always to have Brenner bridge, he just couldn't do it.

 

[search]

Tbf, a Van Eetvelt who discribed his legs as "horrible" cause he just came back from a very long injury. But yeah, also Riccitello and Lipo so there's that. I don't think the latter was in good form either tho.

And I do think Caicedo is different than the guy today. Everyone knew Caicedo.

yeah, sure, it's another level, but Caicedo was like 4th best Petrolike rider in Vuelta a Colombia the week before.

 

[search]

Final stage in Abruzzo today. Not too hard on paper, but with Louis Meintjes surely not able to control it, it's likely to be fun to watch. Everone but the top 3 maybe should go for the attack early on.

The roads look bad on street view, but no idea if that's up to date. For a late attack, there's another little bump at 1k to go. 100m at 9%.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Yep, this could easily be a great day of racing in Italy. In two minds over wanting Zimmermann to hold on or chaos and carnage. Sorry Zimmermann, going with carnage. Just can't help it.

 

[RedheadDane]

Don't forget the French races.
Herrada to crash out today, sit tomorrow's race over, and then win Sunday.

 

[SafeBet]

Final stage in Abruzzo today. Not too hard on paper, but with Louis Meintjes surely not able to control it, it's likely to be fun to watch. Everone but the top 3 maybe should go for the attack early on.

No break yet after more than 30 km.
Bennett and Raccani tried joining the break earlier. Let's see is someone closer in GC will try on the next climb.