Paris-Nice 2025, March 9-16

[Gratemans]

Vingegaard is in his own world and does not know how to perform TOUGH KILLER INSTINCT CYCLIST MAN dressed in bright colors for tv cameras and *fans*

but obviously he is seriously determined and ambitious and as tough as anyone

That's actually oddly on point.

 

[Lequack]

Almeida arrives to France. Shame about Buitrago crashing, he was a real contender for the GC.

 

[Moose McKnuckles]

Almeida arrives to France. Shame about Buitrago crashing, he was a real contender for the GC.

Hang it in the Louvre

 

[Lequack]

Update on Buitrago:
"According to Caracol Sports, Santi Buitrago has a fracture in one of his hands, more precisely on a finger, but beyond that, his retirement from Paris Nice is due to a concussion. The cyclist had a lot of headache and chose to withdraw him from the competition."

La fractura que presenta Santiago Buitrago tras la fuerte caída en la París Niza

Santiago Buitrago era gran candidato en la general de la París - Niza y ahora se concentra en una óptima recuperación.

bolavip.com

 

[Netserk]

The beer is expensive in Copenhagen.
Too expensive.
So there.

It's cheaper than in Norway and Sweden.

 

[Bertram Wooster]

It's cheaper than in Norway and Sweden.

And cheaper than in Iceland.

How much for a beer in Greenland?

 

[Netserk]

And cheaper than in Iceland.

How much for a beer in Greenland?

It's one of the most expensive places in the world.

 

[Sciatic]

If I understand him correctly it's the neutralization and starting up again that brothers him. You can lose the race right there, without doing any racing at all. I'm not sure I agree with him, but the organizers really need to have a very good reason for letting the riders stand around like that.

Being very cold can affect performance whether someone complains about the cold or not. Especially some of these guys with -1.3% body fat. Interesting though, the one guy who didn't seem to mind the cold at all (going by his smiling and laughing) was Pollit.

 

[Sciatic]

it never works out anyway. They just get going whenever they want.

They definitely did a better job with the restart this time, and the race director explained (in French) exactly how they would do the restart with time gaps. Much better than we usually get on these kind of occassions.

 

[Salvarani]

It's cheaper than in Norway and Sweden.

Maybe things like beer, but otherwise the DKK been valued quite high in comparison.

 

[search]

They definitely did a better job with the restart this time, and the race director explained (in French) exactly how they would do the restart with time gaps. Much better than we usually get on these kind of occassions.

yeah, definitely, I thought so too.

Naesen (riders' representative in the peloton) was not happy with how it went, though, as there apparently was not enough time given for everyone to get ready for the restart, and then other teams took advantage of the situation.

Oliver Naesen is vlijmscherp na neutralisatie en herstart: "0,0 solidariteit: dit is koersvervalsing" | sporza

Ze trilden aan de finish niet meer zoals ze onderweg hadden gedaan, maar de renners in Parijs-Nice hebben een helse dag achter de rug. Dat de koers een tijdlang geneutraliseerd werd, was de juiste beslissing, zo klonk het in koor. Maar Oliver Naesen hekelt wat er meteen daarna gebeurd is.

sporza.be

 

[KZD]

Very happy to see Almeida beat Vingegaard here. Its a real shame that UAE lost so much time yesterday because he has the legs to push the Dane to the limit in this race.

 

[Samamba]

yeah, definitely, I thought so too.

Naesen (riders' representative in the peloton) was not happy with how it went, though, as there apparently was not enough time given for everyone to get ready for the restart, and then other teams took advantage of the situation.

Oliver Naesen is vlijmscherp na neutralisatie en herstart: "0,0 solidariteit: dit is koersvervalsing" | sporza

Ze trilden aan de finish niet meer zoals ze onderweg hadden gedaan, maar de renners in Parijs-Nice hebben een helse dag achter de rug. Dat de koers een tijdlang geneutraliseerd werd, was de juiste beslissing, zo klonk het in koor. Maar Oliver Naesen hekelt wat er meteen daarna gebeurd is.

sporza.be

Problem isn't really the organizers then (I'm sure they didn't tell anyone to go sit in their cars), but other riders/teams like Movistar who thought it was a good idea to basically attack on a neutralized descent.

 

[Netserk]

yeah, definitely, I thought so too.

Naesen (riders' representative in the peloton) was not happy with how it went, though, as there apparently was not enough time given for everyone to get ready for the restart, and then other teams took advantage of the situation.

Oliver Naesen is vlijmscherp na neutralisatie en herstart: "0,0 solidariteit: dit is koersvervalsing" | sporza

Ze trilden aan de finish niet meer zoals ze onderweg hadden gedaan, maar de renners in Parijs-Nice hebben een helse dag achter de rug. Dat de koers een tijdlang geneutraliseerd werd, was de juiste beslissing, zo klonk het in koor. Maar Oliver Naesen hekelt wat er meteen daarna gebeurd is.

sporza.be

I think this is another case where it would be better if the riders only had the official race radio in their ears. Then everyone gets the same message at the same time.

 

[search]

Problem isn't really the organizers then (I'm sure they didn't tell anyone to go sit in their cars), but other riders/teams like Movistar who thought it was a good idea to basically attack on a neutralized descent.

yeah, there was a press conference afterwards, and the organization said that detailed information were transmitted to the teams via radio tour, and it was up to them to inform their riders

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEiiQ5TtulE


As far as I remember, the Ag2R car was the one which crashed, though, so maybe they were just busy with other stuff.

 

[Peyroteo94]

Tomorrow's stage will be very interesting. I hope Almeida can be good enough, that hill is not good for him.

 

[armchairclimber]

Well that was an entertaining read. The last few kms were nearly as much fun.
Nyhaven is expensive, but a nice place for herring and beers. There, I've said it.
And I didn't see any rats.

Good from Martinez today. Shame about the TTT.

 

[YavorD]

Tomorrow's stage will be very interesting. I hope Almeida can be good enough, that hill is not good for him.

I like the stage but it's really bad for him with all these short and steep hills.

I hope he can perform well though

 

[Netserk]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1896664826287689974

View: https://x.com/lapreuvepar21/status/1896664826287689974

 

[tobydawq]

Tomorrow's stage looks amazing. Strange to have a tappa dei muri in PN and not in Tirreno.

 

[Sciatic]

yeah, there was a press conference afterwards, and the organization said that detailed information were transmitted to the teams via radio tour, and it was up to them to inform their riders

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEiiQ5TtulE


As far as I remember, the Ag2R car was the one which crashed, though, so maybe they were just busy with other stuff.

In addition to the teams, the riders themselves have a certain degree of responsibility here too. Since there was no specific restart time it would make sense to stay close to the front of the stoppage point, even if folks needed to go back to cars to get warmer clothes and food. It's like getting to the airport and despite the plane already being there, something needed fixing and the airline posted that there is a 3-hour delay. One could go to a distant airport restaurant order a big meal, have several beers, and saunter back to the gate in 2 hrs. I almost missed a flight once because they ended up fixing the problem much more quickly than anticipated so instead of a 3-yr delay they were boarding folks just 45 minutes after the original departure time. When there is a delay--in sport, in life, where ever--the length of a delay is always an estimate. Riders who didn't want to get left behind or scrambling madly when the race restarted needed to be somewhat cognizant of that.

 

[Sciatic]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1896664826287689974

View: https://x.com/lapreuvepar21/status/1896664826287689974

Given that there is still chance of snow and course adjustments for the weekend stages, this could be the decisive stage for the overall. Not just because of this final mur, but also the 3-4 short, steep climbs in the preceding 50 km.

 

[ice&fire]

Note to self: when Vingegaard attacks near the finish and gets a gap don't stop watching.

 

[topcat]

Isn't Vingo so much more exciting than Pog? When he's strong he attacks, when he's struggling, he attacks. If getting beaten by Joao f...ing Almeida doesn't shock and excite you, I don't think cycling is the sport for you.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Tomorrow's stage will be very interesting. I hope Almeida can be good enough, that hill is not good for him.

Why is it not good for him? Almeida came 2nd, just 1 second behind Pidcock on Malhao in '23, and ahead of Van Wilder, Buitrago, Dani Martinez... riders who supposedly do well on such a finish. Tomorrow is only 800m shorter than Malhao. I doubt his direct competitors have any real advantage here.