The big one: Tour of Poland, Aug 1st -7th

[RedheadDane]

they don't look alike at all. lucas is like 11 kg (25 pounds) lighter. totally different build, more a climber. jj is much bigger.

Well... I'm just quoting (sorta) what the commentators said! Never really seen those two brothers side-by-side...

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

Well... I'm just quoting (sorta) what the commentators said! Never really seen those two brothers side-by-side...

I wasn't critizising you, only the announcers you were talking about

 

[The Hitch]

Well... I'm just quoting (sorta) what the commentators said! Never really seen those two brothers side-by-side...

Funny you mention that. Though I made this point a few times earlier in the thread, during the warsaw stage on Sunday I had the honour of standing next to both jj and lucas after the crash as they stood exaxtly side by side and talked to eachother, and I had no idea the guy on the right was heados brother, until I found out afterwards.

Anyhoo, I missed the stage. Was it good? Does anyone have a clip of the last few km? Thanks.

 

[tgsgirl]

Anyhoo, I missed the stage. Was it good? Does anyone have a clip of the last few km? Thanks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqqkLGpWU-A

 

[auscyclefan94]

Another embarrassing Sky move.

Yes, they really don't know how to leadout a rider.

Tom Veelers 4th? How did that happen

I reckon Bulldog Brown got in their and pushed the riders in front out of the way so he could get Tom to the front and then pulled over on the other side and blocked all the other riders so they couldn't sprint.

 

[theyoungest]

I reckon Bulldog Brown got in their and pushed the riders in front out of the way so he could get Tom to the front and then pulled over on the other side and blocked all the other riders so they couldn't sprint.

Because Veelers is... what? A fellow Aussie? No. A teammate? No. Am I missing something?

 

[William H]

Yes, they really don't know how to leadout a rider.

Leadout was fine. Sutton wasn't fast enough.

 

[taiwan]

Because Veelers is... what? A fellow Aussie? No. A teammate? No. Am I missing something?

Possibly a Tom Leezer/Veelers mix up? Anyhow what's so crazy about him getting fourth? It's a good thing, right?

 

[tgsgirl]

Leadout was fine. Sutton wasn't fast enough.

Leadout was not fine, it ended one man too soon, as all of SKY's lead outs do. They're the absolute dominating sprint team, if one manages to forget the final 200 metres.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Possibly a Tom Leezer/Veelers mix up? Anyhow what's so crazy about him getting fourth? It's a good thing, right?

Meh, I didn't rate him that high, find him more of a classics person tbh, but he focusses on the sprint for some weird reason.

 

[El Pistolero]

Why is Greipel racing in all these small meaningless stage races?

Waste of a good sprinter if you ask me. Someone like him should have lead the team at Milan Sanremo and should at least have been put in the Tour de France.

 

[hrotha]

Why is Greipel racing in all these small meaningless stage races?

Waste of a good sprinter if you ask me. Someone like him should have lead the team at Milan Sanremo and should at least have been put in the Tour de France.

Perhaps you're not acquainted with a certain Mark Cavendish?

The Tour of Poland is not a small meaningless stage race, by the way. It's Pro Tour.

 

[taiwan]

Why is Greipel racing in all these small meaningless stage races?
Waste of a good sprinter if you ask me. Someone like him should have lead the team at Milan Sanremo and should at least have been put in the Tour de France.

Perhaps you're not acquainted with a certain Mark Cavendish?
The Tour of Poland is not a small meaningless stage race, by the way. It's Pro Tour.

I detect a note of sarcasm in El Pistolero's post. Or by pointing that out, am I missing something else?

 

[Ferminal]

Why is Greipel racing in all these small meaningless stage races?

As opposed to a UCI ProTour event?

 

[Kwibus]

As opposed to a UCI ProTour event?

We all know what he means though. Simple reason is that his teammate is Mark Cavendish. So Greipel should move to another team and that's likely to happen.

 

[auscyclefan94]

Leadout was fine. Sutton wasn't fast enough.

Sky's leadouts still suck.

Because Veelers is... what? A fellow Aussie? No. A teammate? No. Am I missing something?

Yes you are. I was making a joke.

 

[Ferminal]

We all know what he means though. Simple reason is that his teammate is Mark Cavendish. So Greipel should move to another team and that's likely to happen.

Yeh... it's pretty obvious why Greipel doesn't get a start in "big" sprint races (MSR and TdF).

His wins in these "sh*tty little races" are valuable to any team though.

It's transfer silly season so we should know where he's going sooner or later.

 

[auscyclefan94]

Vacansoleil have been really strong in the leadouts. They nearly split away at one point. Maybe bozic will get his win today? Again BMC leadout was completely wrong but they are not renowned for sprinting. There were 4 guys in the top 25 from bmc and none of them were together. what the hell was sutton doing? Close win!

 

[The Hitch]

Why is Greipel racing in all these small meaningless stage races?

Waste of a good sprinter if you ask me. Someone like him should have lead the team at Milan Sanremo and should at least have been put in the Tour de France.

Its not a meaningless race if eurosport put their A team on it. They have about 6 reserve commentators ready for the smaller races. Sometimes - if the race is good, but not too important, Harmon stays on and Kellly is replaced by a B team guy - usualy Magnus Backsted.

But Harmon and Kelly, has only so far this season been used in - Paris Nice, 4 Monuments, Tour de Romandie, Giro d Italia, Tour de France and .... Tour de Pologne.

The remaining races which will be added to this list are - Vuelta a Espana, Giro di Lombardia and The World Championships.

WOW. Now thats a good list to be on

 

[Ferminal]

The Irish commentator isn't Kelly I'm not quite sure who it is though.

Katowice looked quite nice and pleasant, is all of Poland like that Hitchy?

 

[The Hitch]

The Irish commentator isn't Kelly I'm not quite sure who it is though.

I only saw 2 seconds so i had my suspicions, but the post was written sarcastically and in good humour.

Katowice looked quite nice and pleasant, is all of Poland like that Hitchy?

Are you being sarcastic now? Katowice is without doubt the worst city in Poland. Its nothing but dull factories and pollution and crime. Some reporter who wrote a fawning book about the country and its cities, said it was the worst city hes ever been in.

I would say Poland is generally quite nice and pleasant, just not katowice.

 

[theyoungest]

I would say Poland is generally quite nice and pleasant, just not katowice.

I've been to Poland once, to Krakow, and I gotta say, if you stick to the city center, that's one hell of a nice city. I also made the morally obligatory trip to Auschwitz, which didn't quite restore my faith in human kind.

 

[William H]

Leadout was not fine, it ended one man too soon, as all of SKY's lead outs do. They're the absolute dominating sprint team, if one manages to forget the final 200 metres.

It ended in a position where if sutton was the fastest sprinter he would have won. That's all you can ask.

ps. The "irish" commentator is Brian Smith, who is scottish

 

[tgsgirl]

It ended in a position where if sutton was the fastest sprinter he would have won. That's all you can ask.

ps. The "irish" commentator is Brian Smith, who is scottish

But he's not the fastest sprinter at all, so if they want him to win they have to deliver him closer to the line and they definitely have to stop leading out the entire damn peloton. I can - and I do - ask more than making the same stupid, basic mistake over and over and over again. The slower your sprinter the better your lead out should be to get him a chance at a win.

 

[Ferminal]

It ended in a position where if sutton was the fastest sprinter he would have won. That's all you can ask.

ps. The "irish" commentator is Brian Smith, who is scottish

ah, seemed to be talking lots about Irish racing, but the accent didn't match up.