Racing in bad weather

[davidw]

Given the bitter weather all over Europe (outside my window here in Padova, the snow is blowing sideways), I thought I'd start a topic about racing in bad weather.

A lot of the riders really seem to dislike it, and I guess I can't blame them. It's no fun riding in crappy weather, but more than that, it's potentially dangerous.

On the other hand, some of the most memorable races I've seen or read about were conditioned by "epic" conditions. Hampsten's ride over the Gavia. Some of the classics (I recall reading about Moreno Argentin winning Fleche Wallone in a snowstorm), and plenty of races even further back.

Are they actually less likely to race with bad weather these days, or did they cancel races / have slowdowns / protest in yesteryear too?

 

[luckyboy]

I think Het Volk was cancelled due to snow 5 or 6 years ago.

 

[craig1985]

They're all soft IMO.

Hinault won LBL in a blizzard in 1980. He was lucky he got to ride a bike that day, because his dad would of made him run the whole distance in bare feet.

 

[Thorum]

They're all soft IMO.

Hinault won LBL in a blizzard in 1980. He was lucky he got to ride a bike that day, because his dad would of made him run the whole distance in bare feet.

I saw images of that earlier this week.

Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne two weeks ago had worse weather.

1. Bobbie Traksel (Ned/Vacansoleil) 184 km/4u43:16 (gem 38,974 km/u)
2. Rick Flens (Ned)
3. Ian Stannard (GBr) 0:02
4. Hayden Roulston (NZl) 1:00;
5. Dominique Rollin (Can) 2:59;
6. Thor Hushovd (Nor);
7. Sébastien Turgot (Fra) 5:40;
8. Davy Commeyne 5:4”;
9. Gregory Rast (Zwi) 5:54;
10. Sebastiaan Langeveld (Ned) 5:55;
11. Martin Mortensen (Den) 6:01;
12. Wouter Weylandt 6:41;
13. Kristof Goddaert;
14. Sébastien Rosseler 6:44;
15. Jurgen Roelandts 6:46;
16. Leif Hoste 6:550;
17. Kenny van Hummel (Ned);
18. Brett Lancaster (Aus);
19. Romain Zingle;
20. Hans Dekkers (Ned) 6:55;
21. Pieter Ghyllebert 6:56;
22. Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) 7:09;
23. Yoann Offredo (Fra) 7:29;
24. Nico Sijmens 9:05;
25. Markus Eichler (Dui) 9:46;
26. Mathew Hayman (Aus) 13:58

These 26 at least are not less than the cyclists a couple of decades ago

 

[bobbins]

KBK wasn't worse weather than Liege the year Hinault won. He was riding alone in the snow. Didn't get the feeling back in his fingers for weeks! Gogle it and get some images, proper hard day out.

 

[ak-zaaf]

KBK wasn't worse weather than Liege the year Hinault won. He was riding alone in the snow. Didn't get the feeling back in his fingers for weeks! Gogle it and get some images, proper hard day out.

Agreed. Worse weather, longer distance.
From what I've seen and read the toughest classic ever.
21 out of 174 finishing.
Hinault never got the feeling back in two of his fingers.
"C'est le metier"

 

[cyclopeon]

I'll take snow over almost-freezing rain any day; h*ll, I have enough trouble riding in warm rain. Although maybe in a peleton there is enough spray off a snowy road to soak a guy anyways, I don't know. If so, more reason to break away

 

[davidw]

I'll take snow over almost-freezing rain any day; h*ll, I have enough trouble riding in warm rain. Although maybe in a peleton there is enough spray off a snowy road to soak a guy anyways, I don't know. If so, more reason to break away

I grew up in western Oregon, and got way more than my share of rides in 5C rain. There's just no way you can stay warm in that kind of weather for long - you get soaked to the bone in short order and just keep getting colder.

Snow is much better in that it doesn't soak in right away and tends to take longer to find its way down into the bottom of your socks and all the other unpleasant places that rain soaks through to.