Tour de Suisse 2017 (10/06 > 18/06/2017)

[portugal11]

Only cancellara could beat this time.

 

[Irondan]

Re:

Only cancellara could beat this time.

Maybe, but Cancellara couldn't beat Dennis in the short, close to prologue distance ITT in the 2015 Tour when Dennis set the fastest ITT avg. speed in Tour history.

I think someone already said this but short ITT's are Rohan Dennis's specialty, and he's the best in the world in this discipline.

 

[portugal11]

Re: Re:

Only cancellara could beat this time.

Maybe, but Cancellara couldn't beat Dennis in the short, close to prologue distance ITT in the 2015 Tour when Dennis set the fastest ITT avg. speed in Tour history.

I think someone already said this but short ITT's are Rohan Dennis's specialty, and he's the best in the world in this discipline.

Dennis won that time trial because the wind changed... just like quintana who only lost 15 seconds to froome because of this

 

[Irondan]

Re: Re:

Only cancellara could beat this time.

Maybe, but Cancellara couldn't beat Dennis in the short, close to prologue distance ITT in the 2015 Tour when Dennis set the fastest ITT avg. speed in Tour history.

I think someone already said this but short ITT's are Rohan Dennis's specialty, and he's the best in the world in this discipline.

Dennis won that time trial because the wind changed... just like quintana who only lost 15 seconds to froome because of this

"Wind played more of a factor as the day went on", but so did the heat. Cancellara chose the late starting time to get past the hottest part of the day, (in which Dennis rode) because he doesn't like it when it's super hot (neither do I for that matter). In his post race interview he said nothing about the wind but did say that he didn't hit a few of the corners just right.

"What can I say," Cancellara wondered. "Today was a big opportunity but I didn't take the jersey. That's the sport. I know that I lost some seconds in three corners, some millimetres were not perfectly ridden today. I gave all I had."

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/cancellara-misses-tour-de-france-yellow-jersey-by-six-seconds/

Give a guy credit where credit is due.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Pretty excited about this race, I hope Ion will finally win a big race altho his performance today really was pretty bad. Betancur has a legit shot of a podium, thats also pretty strange to think about.

GVA, Sagan and Gilbert duels will be great I think.

 

[Squire]

Re:

Pretty excited about this race, I hope Ion will finally win a big race altho his performance today really was pretty bad. Betancur has a legit shot of a podium, thats also pretty strange to think about.

GVA, Sagan and Gilbert duels will be great I think.

Course didn't suit him at all, and he was among the best GC riders. I'd say that's all right.

 

[Cance > TheRest]

Re: Re:

Pretty excited about this race, I hope Ion will finally win a big race altho his performance today really was pretty bad. Betancur has a legit shot of a podium, thats also pretty strange to think about.

GVA, Sagan and Gilbert duels will be great I think.

Course didn't suit him at all, and he was among the best GC riders. I'd say that's all right.

You are right. The route barely had any climbing, and the few challenging turns all came in the beginning. The last 3 km's were flat on a straight road. Ion is never going to have a chance against the bigger more powerful riders in such terrain. Only TJ, Dumoulin and Caruso were better among the overall contenders.

 

[tobydawq]

I think Ion has taken a small step back in his TT abilities for this season. He is still very good, but the rider that won the prologe of Romandie and the long TT of Tour de Suisse (emphatically) last year is not the same that we have seen this year. I know he has placed in the top ten in all the TTs he has done but I would have expected him to at least beat Valverde in País Vasco and to be closer to Roglic and Porte in Romandie. His Paris-Nice TT was very underwhelming as well, where he was half a minute behind his brother, which is really not normal.

I wonder whether the Merida TT bikes are worse than the Canyons of Movistar (that would not surprise me).

 

[Cookster15]

Re: Re:

Only cancellara could beat this time.

Maybe, but Cancellara couldn't beat Dennis in the short, close to prologue distance ITT in the 2015 Tour when Dennis set the fastest ITT avg. speed in Tour history.

I think someone already said this but short ITT's are Rohan Dennis's specialty, and he's the best in the world in this discipline.

People also forget Dennis briefly held the Hour record. Should be good support for Porte at the Tour.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re:

I think Ion has taken a small step back in his TT abilities for this season. He is still very good, but the rider that won the prologe of Romandie and the long TT of Tour de Suisse (emphatically) last year is not the same that we have seen this year. I know he has placed in the top ten in all the TTs he has done but I would have expected him to at least beat Valverde in País Vasco and to be closer to Roglic and Porte in Romandie. His Paris-Nice TT was very underwhelming as well, where he was half a minute behind his brother, which is really not normal.

I wonder whether the Merida TT bikes are worse than the Canyons of Movistar (that would not surprise me).

Pretty sure they are. Movistar-rider tends to do very well in time trials - the TT in Paris-Nice it probably the best example at that in a race where he otherwise was really good.

 

[Red Rick]

Dutch ES commentators mentioned that the Canyons of Movistar are the best TT bikes in the WT right now. I don't know where that comes from though

 

[May0maniac]

Re: Re:

I think Ion has taken a small step back in his TT abilities for this season. He is still very good, but the rider that won the prologe of Romandie and the long TT of Tour de Suisse (emphatically) last year is not the same that we have seen this year. I know he has placed in the top ten in all the TTs he has done but I would have expected him to at least beat Valverde in País Vasco and to be closer to Roglic and Porte in Romandie. His Paris-Nice TT was very underwhelming as well, where he was half a minute behind his brother, which is really not normal.

I wonder whether the Merida TT bikes are worse than the Canyons of Movistar (that would not surprise me).

Pretty sure they are. Movistar-rider tends to do very well in time trials - the TT in Paris-Nice it probably the best example at that in a race where he otherwise was really good.

Yes, Canyon bikes are top class, but as far as I know Merida always had a good rep when it came to their TT bikes in the last few years and riders like Oliveira, Rui Costa and Malori when he was young always performed prety well on those bikes.

 

[pablohidalgo7]

I think the best bike is probably the bianchi aquila CV, all Lotto nl riders improve a lot or regain their old level, even climbers like Bennett become specialists. But yes, the canyon and the BMC are also excellent TT bikes.

In fact, Vaugthers said something about this when Bennett did almost the same time as Talansky in California, but I believe he was refering to all the TT material and work of the team, not only the bikes.

 

[Robert5091]

Will Gilbert's crazy form hold up? Could be fun!

 

[DanielSong39]

I'm somewhat surprised that Peter Sagan isn't better at these short time trials. He has the body shape and the characteristics of what you would expect from an elite time trialist on a short, flat course. What separates him from the top end specialists?

 

[Screecher]

Re:

I'm somewhat surprised that Peter Sagan isn't better at these short time trials. He has the body shape and the characteristics of what you would expect from an elite time trialist on a short, flat course. What separates him from the top end specialists?

TT needs specific training. I doubt Sagan ever trains on a TT bike.

 

[tobydawq]

Re:

I'm somewhat surprised that Peter Sagan isn't better at these short time trials. He has the body shape and the characteristics of what you would expect from an elite time trialist on a short, flat course. What separates him from the top end specialists?

I have been wondering that as well and yesterday, he seemed disappointed with his ride too.

I didn't think he looked particularly aerodynamic with his head way too high up. So perhaps that is the explanation. Because in a road race, not many riders would be able to ride such a distance as fast as him, as is evidenced by his usual all-mightiness in cross-wind situations.

 

[Dr. Watson]

Re:

I'm somewhat surprised that Peter Sagan isn't better at these short time trials. He has the body shape and the characteristics of what you would expect from an elite time trialist on a short, flat course. What separates him from the top end specialists?

I think he needs it to be more technical or downhill like when he beat Cancellara

 

[portugal11]

Re: Re:

I'm somewhat surprised that Peter Sagan isn't better at these short time trials. He has the body shape and the characteristics of what you would expect from an elite time trialist on a short, flat course. What separates him from the top end specialists?

TT needs specific training. I doubt Sagan ever trains on a TT bike.

This...

 

[Red Rick]

I wouldn't be surprised that with Sagan's body shape and especially TT position, he eats the most wind resistance of all riders.

Put everyone on a road bike and I think Sagan's TT's are relatively way better.

 

[42x16ss]

Re: Re:

Only cancellara could beat this time.

Maybe, but Cancellara couldn't beat Dennis in the short, close to prologue distance ITT in the 2015 Tour when Dennis set the fastest ITT avg. speed in Tour history.

I think someone already said this but short ITT's are Rohan Dennis's specialty, and he's the best in the world in this discipline.

Dennis won that time trial because the wind changed... just like quintana who only lost 15 seconds to froome because of this

Please, Dennis' record in short TTs has been exceptional the last 2-3 years. He's undisputedly the best in the world at the moment up to 15-20kms.

Having said that, 2007-2010 Cancellara would probably beat him.

 

[Breh]

No ES coverage?

 

[Orbit501]

Re:

No ES coverage?

There is on ES player. I've been watching live now on the UCI channel since 3pm, and with commentary too.

 

[Irondan]

Re: Re:

No ES coverage?

There is on ES player. I've been watching live now on the UCI channel since 3pm, and with commentary too.

Wouldn't want to miss that Eurosport Commentary....

I'm just kidding, I like Rob Hatch. It's Carlton Kirby that ruins any telecast for me.

 

[Irondan]

Big crash in the back!