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

[sucotash]

Paterski was great today.

How on earth Cannondale didnt'extend him.

He is better than 90% of their roster

 

[argyllflyer]

Talking about anonymous, aside from Kennaugh, who rode a great race, I think GB was notably absent as well.

Why do they keep selecting Froome anyway?

Considering how defensive the entire race was, is that fair? Kennaugh did get in a break for GB, having been at the front with Rowe for a bit, who were riding for Swift and a bunch sprint. By being in the break it removed the need to do any work on the front at that stage and by the time it was caught, they were down to a few riders anyway. Swift then finished 12th, the bunch sprint not having materialised. I suspect Froome's involvement was as a figurehead for the media as much as anything, with no Cav or Wiggins. He also has Rio as a target for 2016 so would have been further experience to ride with Team GB.

Whether Swift was the right call or not is open to debate though. There was no knowing who'd still be there at the end, and as it was, it was the final climb that left *him* with an empty tank.

 

[theyoungest]

Dumoulin lacks the same descending skills Kwiatkowski has. He would've been swallowed up on the second climb.

But yeah, it would've been nice if one of them at least TRIED to make the race report lol. Now they might have well all not started. Same effect

The point is Dumoulin is critical (and I'm sure the Michael Boogerds of this world will love that) but he didn't do anything himself. He's not strong enough to follow the likes of Valverde and Gilbert on the final climb, he should know that.

 

[trevim]

Paterski was great today.

How on earth Cannondale didnt'extend him.

He is better than 90% of their roster

He was 19th last year as well.

On other news, Costa said he had a bad day and couldn't quite close the gap to the chasing group over the last hill. Also says Kwiatko is a deserving winner.

 

[BYOP88]

Laughing at Gerrans the cry baby. Maybe he'll realize(but I doubt it) that instead of wheel sucking if he'd did a turn or 2 he might have been wearing the rainbow bands in 2015.

 

[May0maniac]

Why wasn't Lutsenko riding the ITT or the road race?

 

[the sceptic]

what is stopping the UCI from putting a real mountain in the worlds btw?

surely it couldnt hurt to try one year

 

[William H]

Considering how defensive the entire race was, is that fair? Kennaugh did get in a break for GB, having been at the front with Rowe for a bit, who were riding for Swift and a bunch sprint. By being in the break it removed the need to do any work on the front at that stage and by the time it was caught, they were down to a few riders anyway. Swift then finished 12th, the bunch sprint not having materialised. I suspect Froome's involvement was as a figurehead for the media as much as anything, with no Cav or Wiggins. He also has Rio as a target for 2016 so would have been further experience to ride with Team GB.

Whether Swift was the right call or not is open to debate though. There was no knowing who'd still be there at the end, and as it was, it was the final climb that left *him* with an empty tank.

I do find it a bit odd that Froome, Yates*2, Thomas and Cummings all dropped pretty early.

 

[Netserk]

what is stopping the UCI from putting a real mountain in the worlds btw?

surely it couldnt hurt to try one year

What city would make a bid that included one?

 

[LaFlorecita]

What city would make a bid that included one?

Tokyo

 

[deValtos]

Nice, Geneva, Salzburg, Naples ... there are many options, UCI doesn't want to though.

 

[ILovecycling]

Tunja.

 

[the sceptic]

well this sounds like a nice project/thread for libertine seguros

 

[roundabout]

Nice, Geneva, Salzburg, Naples ... there are many options, UCI doesn't want to though.

depends what is meant by a "real" mountain

 

[May0maniac]

depends what is meant by a "real" mountain

If you want a real mountain, Cortina d'Ampezzo

 

[hrotha]

I'm happy to see public opinion is practically unanimous on Gerrans.

 

[shalgo]

Condé reports on Gerrans at the press conference:

Simon Gerrans: "I wanted to cry when I crossed the line. I knew I had the legs to fight for the win."

That wasn't the worst of it. He also said:

"Coming to the finish with the small group we were racing for second place and I knew I had good legs.

"If things had unfolded a little differently in the final I knew I could have been racing for the victory."

As though the way "things unfolded" had nothing to do with him.

And best of all:

""I`m a little disappointed but at the same time really happy with the way I raced."

To his credit, however, he did say:

"I was just beaten by a stronger rider with better tactics."

 

[MoreGravityPerKilo]

What city would make a bid that included one?

Hopefully Innsbruck, if they ever get it together to make a bid for it.

 

[Zoetemelk-fan]

Is this the most boring WC ever or was that Madrid?

No.

To me this was one of the most exciting versions in recent years. Suspense to the end and the right winner.

 

[Arnout]

That wasn't the worst of it. He also said:

"Coming to the finish with the small group we were racing for second place and I knew I had good legs.

"If things had unfolded a little differently in the final I knew I could have been racing for the victory."

As though the way "things unfolded" had nothing to do with him.

And best of all:

""I`m a little disappointed but at the same time really happy with the way I raced."

To his credit, however, he did say:

"I was just beaten by a stronger rider with better tactics."

I've always sort of defended Gerrans (not that I liked him, but I think the other riders are also to blame when Gerrans wins), but this is just mind boggling stuff. No reflective ability whatsoever.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

what is stopping the UCI from putting a real mountain in the worlds btw?

surely it couldnt hurt to try one year

What city would make a bid that included one?

Innsbruck (up and down to Igls)
Oslo (Holmenkollen)
Martigny (Col des Planches or Champex)
Zagreb (Medvednica)
San Marino
Aosta (Pila-les Fleurs or Arpuilles)
Nice (Col d'Èze)
Liberec (Výpřež)
Grenoble (Chamrousse)
Gap (Col de Manse)
Bilbao (El Vivero-Ganguren)
Málaga (Puerto del León)
Granada (El Purche)
Clermont-Ferrand (Orcines/Col de Ceyssat)
Neuchâtel (Chaumont)
Catania (Etna-Sapienza)
Karpacz (Przełęcz pod Czołem)
Freiburg (Schauinsland)
Hong Kong (Tai Mo Shan)
Cape Town (Signal Hill)

and Medellín (Alto de las Palmas, Alto de Santa Elena, or even better, the "Colombian Mortirolo", Loma de El Escobero)

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

Watching the final again, i saw Kristoff riding on the front of the group with 300 meters to go, and still won the sprint with ease.

How ****ing strong are you then? That's insane. What a rider.

And he retained his long string of winning the sprint of his group in any race over 250km

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Is this the most boring WC ever or was that Madrid?

Zolder and København were way, way worse than Madrid, and today was better than all three.

 

[BigMac]

[...]

Gap (Col de Manse)

[...]

Could see this one happening more than any other.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Could see this one happening more than any other.

Well yes, because it's not a preposterously huge mountain.

Worlds circuits tend to be around 20km in length so a circuit that climbs a near 20km HC mountain would then have to descend again, plus invariably some linking road as it's seldom you have two ascents almost parallel close to a city that could host the race. Therefore realistically, for a major "climbers' worlds" you'd be looking at a cat.2 type climb to be able to do it reasonably. Karpacz is probably the 2nd most realistic option of those for that reason, though I'm sure they'd have the uphill finish, which would mean climbing the easier side.