Paris - Nice 10 March - 17 March 2019 77th edition

[shalgo]

Re:

Calmejane could take the GC lead.

Not enough of a gap.

 

[RedheadDane]

Re:

So, the stage winner has a 'De' in his name...

"Magnus De Cort"

Guess he lives by the philosophy of "offence is the best defense".

 

[tobydawq]

Three WorldTour breakaway wins for Cort in the past 8 months. Impressive stat.

 

[yaco]

Cort has been off the pace so far in 2019, so the win has to be considered a surprise.

 

[sir fly]

The beard has changed his appearance, I have to notice.

 

[tobydawq]

Re:

Cort has been off the pace so far in 2019, so the win has to be considered a surprise.

He did very well in Kuurne where he had been in the early break but still managed to infiltrate the race-deciding attack. Then he died, of course, but that performance showed good form. It has been pretty stand-alone, though.

 

[Broccolidwarf]

Cort interview:

“It was not the plan to get in the break, but I felt good the first kilometre, so I thought “why not?””......... so 1 K was all it took for him to break team discipline and go win the stage

I love Cort, he is all instinct and heart :razz:

 

[RedheadDane]

Well, his first stage win in the Vuelta a few years ago wasn't exactly planned either.
And the commentators mentioned something about that breakaway in Binck-Bank Tour last year as well.
I think, however, that the Tour stage win last year was very planned (well, getting in the break was planned, you can't just plan to win.)

Why didn't the others try to attack, though? No legs? Didn't wanna be the first, and then explode (due to no legs)?

 

[Lequack]

Cort is looking more and more like his boss Vinokurov, especially with the beard now.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Highly impressive from Cort. He is a serial killer on such stage in the breaks.

 

[armchairclimber]

Good to see Ciccone riding so aggressively this season. He's quite punchy for a little fella. He must be Trek's top rider so far.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re:

Good to see Ciccone riding so aggressively this season. He's quite punchy for a little fella. He must be Trek's top rider so far.

Isn't it usually the smaller guys that are most punchy?

 

[tobydawq]

Re: Re:

Good to see Ciccone riding so aggressively this season. He's quite punchy for a little fella. He must be Trek's top rider so far.

Isn't it usually the smaller guys that are most punchy?

It's Gianni Moscon who is most punchy.

Sorry.

 

[Krokro]

Re: Re:

Good to see Ciccone riding so aggressively this season. He's quite punchy for a little fella. He must be Trek's top rider so far.

Isn't it usually the smaller guys that are most punchy?

Valverde or Teuns are not that small so I'm not pretty sure it's related.

Great win with pure class from Cort. I really liked his style when I discovered him in 2015/2016 during some of the belgian classics, good to see that he's on form.

He was the fastest of this group but still attacked with pure race instinct. Pretty cool guy!

 

[Anderis]

Re: Re:

Good to see Ciccone riding so aggressively this season. He's quite punchy for a little fella. He must be Trek's top rider so far.

Isn't it usually the smaller guys that are most punchy?

Valverde or Teuns are not that small so I'm not pretty sure it's related.

They're medium-height riders.

Most of the tall guys who can climb like Wiggins, Hesjedal, Van Garderen, Dumoulin etc. are usually diesel-type. Although Hesjedal was really good in hilly classics at some point of his career.

 

[Krokro]

Re: Re:

Good to see Ciccone riding so aggressively this season. He's quite punchy for a little fella. He must be Trek's top rider so far.

Isn't it usually the smaller guys that are most punchy?

Valverde or Teuns are not that small so I'm not pretty sure it's related.

They're medium-height riders.

Most of the tall guys who can climb like Wiggins, Hesjedal, Van Garderen, Dumoulin etc. are usually diesel-type. Although Hesjedal was really good in hilly classics at some point of his career.

I'd not say medium, Teuns or GVA are 1m81. Okay for Valverde, I thought he was taller than 1m77. Sagan has a great punch and his 1m84. I think it's more a matter of muscle fiber, isn't it?

 

[Broccolidwarf]

Re: Re:

Good to see Ciccone riding so aggressively this season. He's quite punchy for a little fella. He must be Trek's top rider so far.

Isn't it usually the smaller guys that are most punchy?

"Punchy" is a very loaded word to use in cycling, as it usually refers to this rider type:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puncheur

It's generally used to describe riders who are slightly too heavy to be proper climbers, and will thus fail on the longer climbs..... so no, it is actually the reverse of what you describe.

That having been said, it's a sliding scale, and these days, many riders are hybrids, that cannot be pigeonholed as one thing or another.

 

[Red Rick]

Re: Re:

Good to see Ciccone riding so aggressively this season. He's quite punchy for a little fella. He must be Trek's top rider so far.

Isn't it usually the smaller guys that are most punchy?

"Punchy" is a very loaded word to use in cycling, as it usually refers to this rider type:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puncheur

It's generally used to describe riders who are slightly too heavy to be proper climbers, and will thus fail on the longer climbs..... so no, it is actually the reverse of what you describe.

That having been said, it's a sliding scale, and these days, many riders are hybrids, that cannot be pigeonholed as one thing or another.

Generally, any rider who fills a really narrow niche is also not world class within that niche, the only exceptions usually being sprinters.

 

[Robert5091]

Chapeau Magnus Cort & Astana! (they have not won anything for a couple of days so were due! ) My tip Madouas gave it a go & came in 6th. De Gendt doing what he always does best.

Good to see the breakaway win sometimes - keeps up the pressure on the peloton.

 

[Robert5091]

Paris - Nice 2019 Thursday 14 March stage 5 ITT in Barbentane 25.5 km

The first rider rolls down the start ramp at 13:18 and the race leader is expected to finish at 16:30 – both are local times.

Live video from 3:15pm CET (10:15am U.S. Eastern)

https://www.cyclingstage.com/paris-nice-2019/stage-5-route-pn-2019/

At 25.5 kilometres, the riders face a predominantly flat ITT, although there is a hill in the second half and the route concludes with a short rise to the line.
The first part of the route is pan-flat, while the intermediate climb is 3 kilometres with an average gradient of 3%. The hill is crested near the Abbaye de Saint-Michel de Frigolet, which is also the location of the only time check after 14.5 kilometres.
Following the descent the riders hit a false flat, but as they come storming down the descent it will have no impact. The last 500 metres are something else, as this section rises to the finish line at 7%.

Profile

Last 5 km

map

Weather forecast is cloudy but dry.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re: Re:

Good to see Ciccone riding so aggressively this season. He's quite punchy for a little fella. He must be Trek's top rider so far.

Isn't it usually the smaller guys that are most punchy?

"Punchy" is a very loaded word to use in cycling, as it usually refers to this rider type:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puncheur

It's generally used to describe riders who are slightly too heavy to be proper climbers, and will thus fail on the longer climbs..... so no, it is actually the reverse of what you describe.

That having been said, it's a sliding scale, and these days, many riders are hybrids, that cannot be pigeonholed as one thing or another.

IMO while a puncheur is always punchy, a punchy rider is not necessarily a puncheur. A climber can also be punchy.

How would you describe Purito, Yates, Valverde? They are punchy in the same way as Ciccone. And among climbers, it's usually the smaller guys that are more punchy (or at least that's my impression).

 

[armchairclimber]

Hmmm ... a debate I didn't expect to start. Just looking closely at his performances so far this season. 10 race days, 5 top 10 finishes, 3 podiums and 1 win. That's pretty good going ... especially as he has, along with many other lighter riders, been scuppered by the winds on the first 3 days of PN.

 

[Koronin]

Re: Re:

Good to see Ciccone riding so aggressively this season. He's quite punchy for a little fella. He must be Trek's top rider so far.

Isn't it usually the smaller guys that are most punchy?

It's Gianni Moscon who is most punchy.

Sorry.

Sure it's not Bouhanni?

 

[Koronin]

Re: Re:

Good to see Ciccone riding so aggressively this season. He's quite punchy for a little fella. He must be Trek's top rider so far.

Isn't it usually the smaller guys that are most punchy?

"Punchy" is a very loaded word to use in cycling, as it usually refers to this rider type:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puncheur

It's generally used to describe riders who are slightly too heavy to be proper climbers, and will thus fail on the longer climbs..... so no, it is actually the reverse of what you describe.

That having been said, it's a sliding scale, and these days, many riders are hybrids, that cannot be pigeonholed as one thing or another.

IMO while a puncheur is always punchy, a punchy rider is not necessarily a puncheur. A climber can also be punchy.

How would you describe Purito, Yates, Valverde? They are punchy in the same way as Ciccone. And among climbers, it's usually the smaller guys that are more punchy (or at least that's my impression).

I thought the consensus was that Valverde doesn't fit into any category?

Yates is more of a true climber than either Valverde or Purito are/were.

 

[Broccolidwarf]

Re: Re:

Good to see Ciccone riding so aggressively this season. He's quite punchy for a little fella. He must be Trek's top rider so far.

Isn't it usually the smaller guys that are most punchy?

"Punchy" is a very loaded word to use in cycling, as it usually refers to this rider type:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puncheur

It's generally used to describe riders who are slightly too heavy to be proper climbers, and will thus fail on the longer climbs..... so no, it is actually the reverse of what you describe.

That having been said, it's a sliding scale, and these days, many riders are hybrids, that cannot be pigeonholed as one thing or another.

IMO while a puncheur is always punchy, a punchy rider is not necessarily a puncheur. A climber can also be punchy.

How would you describe Purito, Yates, Valverde? They are punchy in the same way as Ciccone. And among climbers, it's usually the smaller guys that are more punchy (or at least that's my impression).

I know, hence the whole "hybrid" bit

Very few riders today, are purely one thing or another..... I was just trying to avoid confusion, due to the use of the word "punchy".