• The Cycling News forum is looking to add some volunteer moderators with Red Rick's recent retirement. If you're interested in helping keep our discussions on track, send a direct message to @SHaines here on the forum, or use the Contact Us form to message the Community Team.

    In the meanwhile, please use the Report option if you see a post that doesn't fit within the forum rules.

    Thanks!

PRO Ötztaler 5500 (1.1)

Page 2 - Get up to date with the latest news, scores & standings from the Cycling News Community.
Congrats to Kreuziger, he was the strongest. It's difficult to see a scenario in this race where the strongest rider doesn't win. Although I think if the last descent didn't have flat parts and small accents in between, Spilak would have caught Kreuziger. He was gaining seconds every time there was a technical part while Kreuziger was gaining on the flat and on the parts going uphill. All in all a very nice race.
 
Jul 14, 2015
708
0
0
Visit site
Re:

yaco said:
Every possibility it could be an Iconic race like Strade Bianchi.

God no, this is a mind-numbingly boring VAM test on perfectly even 10% grades. It's the McDonalds of races and with it comes the realization that more isn't better, just nauseating.
 
Re: Re:

hazaran said:
yaco said:
Every possibility it could be an Iconic race like Strade Bianchi.

God no, this is a mind-numbingly boring VAM test on perfectly even 10% grades. It's the McDonalds of races and with it comes the realization that more isn't better, just nauseating.
Just want to know, did you watch the race and find it boring or is this an opinion you already had yesterday. Because I was definitely entertained.
 
IMHO this was a fantastic race. The Ötztaler Radmarathon already has been a big event with a certain legacy. That we've also got a pro edition now and thus finally a big Alps classic again is simply fantastic!

There was a former Tour de Suisse winner battling it out with the reigning champ of that race. One of the biggest climbing talents of Italy placed third. Jan Hirt who netted a world tour contract at Astana made an all-in aids attack on the Rombo pass because he wanted to win the Ötzi so badly. Ruben Plaza who won 2 gt stages just 2 years ago went in the early breakaway. Damiano Cunego especially trained for this race and builded up decent shape in China. Although eventually he failed. That all while at the same time a gt was raced. And I swear, Steven Kruijswijk and Romain Bardet now probably would've preferred to go to the Ötzi instead. That's fantastic for the first pro edition of this race.

Hopefully this race pretty much gets his own legacy pretty quickly. Just like Strade Bianchi. Simply because like I said it can already build on the history of the normal edition and somehow is a true classic on that calendar already. We've missed such a race and finally it's there!

Oh and the scenery of Tyrol and especially South Tyrol is just pure earthporn! The Giovo pass is where the star of the late Marco Pantani literally arose. And it has been contemned so badly by the Giro d'Italia ever since. It deserves a beautiful race like this for the big guns to finally attempt it again!
 
Good race. While I disagree with the parcours having the hardest climb last, having high mountain classics is definitely something that would improve the calendar. However I don't really think that one race is enough. It would be best if there were a string of races like these in the window of a few weeks, especially if they were to be .HC or WT. It's the perfect thing to add to a calendar after the Tour. There's no room for more races like PV or TA in those slots, and in the GT season they don't matter too much anyway. This is the perfect option to provide climbers with more good races.

It would also give more opportunities for young climbers to test themselves, especially the ones that aren't ready to race a GT yet.

If shitty sprint races can be WT, then races like these can too.
 
Have they used the great Timmelsjoch in a pro race before?

The idea of a string of those races as an alternative to the Vuelta for climbers is a good idea, there simply isn't anything for those types of riders outside longshots in Canada and a few Italians classics in the end. Thats not enough IMO. Looked like a great race, as someone has alluded to in this thread I hope this race will rise quickly in importance like Strade Bianche so we can see the best riders on this monstrous parcours!
 
Re:

staubsauger said:
Apparently it was used in the 1988 Tour of Italy that Andy Hampsten won!

http://cyclingcols.com/col/Rombo_Timmelsjoch

16a%20tappa%2088.gif


You could go Bolzano - Penes - Giovo - Rombo - Sölden OR Rettenbachferner
 
Re: Re:

Max Rockatansky said:
staubsauger said:
Apparently it was used in the 1988 Tour of Italy that Andy Hampsten won!

http://cyclingcols.com/col/Rombo_Timmelsjoch

16a%20tappa%2088.gif


You could go Bolzano - Penes - Giovo - Rombo - Sölden OR Rettenbachferner
Add a nice long TT through the South Tyrolean vine road the day before and there's gonna be a great race plus a big paycheck from the South Tyrol tourist office!
 
Re:

Red Rick said:
If ****** sprint races can be WT, then races like these can too.

Couldn't agree more.

I have little doubt that this race will be World Tour in a few years. Sölden is filthy rich and Tirol has excellent connections to UCI, thanks to the Worlds in innsbruck next year. Also it obviously makes sense to promote Tirol and Südtirol with a race like this.
 
Apr 22, 2012
3,570
0
0
Visit site
Re:

johnymax said:
Congrats to Kreuziger, he was the strongest. It's difficult to see a scenario in this race where the strongest rider doesn't win. Although I think if the last descent didn't have flat parts and small accents in between, Spilak would have caught Kreuziger. He was gaining seconds every time there was a technical part while Kreuziger was gaining on the flat and on the parts going uphill. All in all a very nice race.
Well Spilak was the one who had to take risks, not Kreuziger, who had an advantage. He could ride safely thus allow Spilak gain few seconds here and there. It must be said Spilak wasn't gaining huge amounts anyway, like one, two, three seconds. Kreuziger had full control.

Overall - good old if :)
 

TRENDING THREADS