Ponferrada 2014 World Championships, Sep. 21st-28th

[Parrulo]

Not so sure about that, the attacker has won, not the sprinters.

Racing is much less organized and the difference between riders is bigger in the u23 cat.

This is nothing for the pro's. . .

Freaking UCI not allowing the spanish organization to use the course they wanted, and even worse from the organization for not having the balls to stand up to the UCI

 

[DFA123]

Not so sure about that, the attacker has won, not the sprinters.

Only because the peloton was massively dis-organised. Australia would chase a break like that down easily in the last 2km in the elite race.

 

[Hugo87]

Congratz to Bystrøm, can't say I enjoyed this race, but his timing was impeccable.

 

[Gloin22]

Wait...so Benoot was indeed the better choice than Teuns..

Who wouldhave thought

 

[Cance > TheRest]

Impressive attack by Bystrøm. Have to feel a little sorry for the Colombians, though.

 

[Sasquatch]

Well . . . we are in for some ****ty men's race aren't we?

I'm liking Cancellara's chances based on this. No 1 team is going to be able to control it. We just need to hope it's hard enough so Cancellara can just time trial away.

 

[TheGreenMonkey]

Racing is much less organized and the difference between riders is bigger in the u23 cat.

This is nothing for the pro's. . .

Freaking UCI not allowing the spanish organization to use the course they wanted, and even worse from the organization for not having the balls to stand up to the UCI

Attackers make it in MSR some times.

 

[Sasquatch]

Racing is much less organized and the difference between riders is bigger in the u23 cat.

This is nothing for the pro's. . .

Freaking UCI not allowing the spanish organization to use the course they wanted, and even worse from the organization for not having the balls to stand up to the UCI

I'm hoping the non sprinting teams actually makes this hard. It's possible.

 

[Eyeballs Out]

The weather on sunday could make it much more selective than it otherwise would be. I think it's going to turn out to be a real strong man's race

 

[Arredondo]

Great race overall. Bystrom deserving winner, superstrong attack.

Colombia also did a really strong race, with a great Ramirez and Lopez. What surprised me, was that Gaviria was the man who did attack on the last climb and not Lopez. I thought Gaviria would wait for the sprint, because he could fight for a medal. But strong from him he actually made the race instead of following.

 

[MoreGravityPerKilo]

Racing is much less organized and the difference between riders is bigger in the u23 cat.

This is nothing for the pro's. . .

Freaking UCI not allowing the spanish organization to use the course they wanted, and even worse from the organization for not having the balls to stand up to the UCI

Quite curious, do you maybe have a profile for the original intented route for the race?

 

[whittashau]

The Italians and the Spanish are going to have to ride the climbs extremely hard on sunday in order to make a selection

 

[jens_attacks]

there will be a big selction no doubt. the last 80 kms will be very fast i hope

nice finale today

 

[Parrulo]

Quite curious, do you maybe have a profile for the original intented route for the race?

IIRC it was a one climb course (with maybe another small hill) but the climb was properly hard for a race of this kind (a cat 2 or something like that). It was posted several times here on a thread speculating about the course so it shouldn't be hard to find.

 

[DFA123]

I'm liking Cancellara's chances based on this. No 1 team is going to be able to control it. We just need to hope it's hard enough so Cancellara can just time trial away.

Would be good to see, but will be incredibly difficult for him to win. Every contender will know that is Cancellara's main tactic and will be watching his wheel like a hawk on the last lap, hoping to get a free pull to the finish.

 

[Jerkovin]

I enjoyed that race.

men's is going to be exciting. If only Sagan was in half-decent form - that finish has him written all over it.

 

[Arredondo]

I enjoyed that race.

men's is going to be exciting. If only Sagan was in half-decent form - that finish has him written all over it.

The Sagan of 2014 will even have trouble to beat Gerrans and co.

 

[Sasquatch]

Would be good to see, but will be incredibly difficult for him to win. Every contender will know that is Cancellara's main tactic and will be watching his wheel like a hawk on the last lap, hoping to get a free pull to the finish.

True. I'm hoping it's hard enough for him to do it, but I know I'm hoping for a lot.

What's Degenkolb's health like? Has he recovered? If he has Vuelta form you would think the race is his.

 

[Hugo Koblet]

The Sagan of 2014 will even have trouble to beat Gerrans and co.

Gerrans is fast, but let's keep it real: Sagan is still much faster than Gerrans.

 

[kanari]

Great win for Bystrom, of course he already signed for Katusha but nice for him to prove that he has something to contribute and not just coming to be a training partner for Kristoff.

 

[roundabout]

Gerrans is fast, but let's keep it real: Sagan is still much faster than Gerrans.

http://cqranking.com/men/asp/gen/race.asp?raceid=24031

 

[TheGreenMonkey]

Cancellara is not the only possible attacker. Nibali, Gilbert, Dan Martin, Kolobnev, Colombians are among the other possible attackers. I suspect Gerrans will try and join such a group if it gets away and try and win the same way he won MSR. If a few of these get away together they have a good chance of staying away. Sagan and Valverde are another couple who would try and get into this kind of attack as well.

Australia's tactics will probably mirror their tactics from today, so to the Colombians.

 

[hfer07]

The Italians and the Spanish are going to have to ride the climbs extremely hard on sunday in order to make a selection

indeed. Today's U23 race gave us a preview of what needs to happen in order to win it. I still believe is going to be a sprinter with climbing abilities to take it , the likes of Gerro, Valpiti, Sagan, Kristoff, Kwait,Cance- even Bouhanni & Degankolb can make it under the right circumstances

 

[maltiv]

Wow what a ride by Bystrøm! Really surprised by his strength on the last climb. He's a great rider, but usually he lacks that little bit extra to actually win races.

However, he's been training like a madman since he was very young and is incredibly disciplined, so good to see the hard work paying off.

Skjerping has also had an incredible season with 2nd in RVV, 3rd in worlds and a stage win in l'Avenir, surely he'll be picked up by a pro-team as well.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Well, that was pretty uninspiring for the most part. Attacks never really looked convincing, too much control with a big peloton chasing.

But the finale was ok, an impressive win by Bystrom.

Ewan looked very good too.