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U23 races and talents

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Hey, we only did the original and not quite as irritating version of it! (but we did make some even worse songs during the 90s and early 2000s though)
Music is a subjective bastard and it's not really the place to talk about it. I personally cannot stand both versions because of EXTREME amount of cheese, corn and lame. i hate most 70s music that's not rock with a passion. If i would really need to choose both i think i would still go with Vengaboys one mainly because of the video.
 
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And I guess that brings us back to the frequent discussion about whether riders sometimes should be excluded from doing U23 races, despite technically being young enough. I'd say having done a whole GT (twice, in Zana's case) is definitely on the limit of when it's reasonable to do a U23 race right afterwards.
Indeed; great performance of Zana; he managed to beat the 2 year younger Toon Clynhens who is in his 2th year of a master in engineering. Toon has so far had 2 racing days this year. He had planned exams in June but suddenly got picked up for these races.
It is Toon first ever 2th place... so far his best in any race is a 3th place (he actually came from cyclocross).

It is the difference between the Belgian and Italian approach.
For the Belgians these NCup races are about bringing new talent. For the Italians it seems more about... (I have no idea what they are about; but there is this rule that, the better a country performs in Ncup, the more riders they can sent to the WC in U23).

Actually it is more telling how bad/little talented Zana is if he as full time pro can only beat the student Toon by 1 minute.
It there no talent to be spot in Italy?

Who do you want in your team in 3 years; Clynhens or Zana?

Walter
 
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Indeed; great performance of Zana; he managed to beat the 2 year younger Toon Clynhens who is in his 2th year of a master in engineering. Toon has so far had 2 racing days this year. He had planned exams in June but suddenly got picked up for these races.
It is Toon first ever 2th place... so far his best in any race is a 3th place (he actually came from cyclocross).

It is the difference between the Belgian and Italian approach.
For the Belgians these NCup races are about bringing new talent. For the Italians it seems more about... (I have no idea what they are about; but there is this rule that, the better a country performs in Ncup, the more riders they can sent to the WC in U23).

Actually it is more telling how bad/little talented Zana is if he as full time pro can only beat the student Toon by 1 minute.
It there no talent to be spot in Italy?

Who do you want in your team in 3 years; Clynhens or Zana?

Walter
The talented u23 riders are riding the u23 Giro right now, having this race at the same time is pointless.
 
The talented u23 riders are riding the u23 Giro right now, having this race at the same time is pointless.
For the Belgian riders; if you happen to race for the 1 or 2 teams that have belgian riders in the Giro U24.
Or differently for the belgian riders; there is not much difference in Belgian talents in both races. And when it comes to climbing talents I rate the guys in the Ncup now higher.
 
For the Belgian riders; if you happen to race for the 1 or 2 teams that have belgian riders in the Giro U24.
Or differently for the belgian riders; there is not much difference in Belgian talents in both races. And when it comes to climbing talents I rate the guys in the Ncup now higher.

Yeah we know there is always a Belgian talent to be hyped at the moment. But fact is that none of them can climb. :D

Well with the exception of a certain cobble specialist. ;)
 
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I was surprised to see that he beat Colnaghi in a sprint from a 8 men group, because Colnaghi has been able to win bunch sprints against guys like Jordi Meeus and Jake Steward in this race, so he's really fast.
According to himself he messed up by starting his sprint with 500m (!) to go.

View: https://twitter.com/giroditaliau23/status/1401231230130077705


500m is a stretch, but he definitely started his sprint way too early.

Is there some sort of neutralization in flat stages btw? In the bunch there's like 15 riders sprinting and the others are just riding easy but were placed in the same time as De lie, who won that bunch sprint.

For the Belgian riders; if you happen to race for the 1 or 2 teams that have belgian riders in the Giro U24.
Or differently for the belgian riders; there is not much difference in Belgian talents in both races. And when it comes to climbing talents I rate the guys in the Ncup now higher.

Wdym, basically the only young climbing prospect that isn't pro yet, is Vandenabeele and he's riding the Giro. Ramses DeBruyne is another one but he's only 18 years old and injured.He would've started in the Giro too if he wasnt.
 
View: https://twitter.com/giroditaliau23/status/1401231230130077705


500m is a stretch, but he definitely started his sprint way too early.

Is there some sort of neutralization in flat stages btw? In the bunch there's like 15 riders sprinting and the others are just riding easy but were placed in the same time as De lie, who won that bunch sprint.
Yeah, 500m was probably a hyperbole on his part, but it looks like he went way too early. The guy is really fast and can get over a few hills really well (he was 2nd behind Ayuso in the Trofeo Piva), so at first I was really surprised to hear that he lost the sprint from the breakaway.
 
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...



Wdym, basically the only young climbing prospect that isn't pro yet, is Vandenabeele and he's riding the Giro. Ramses DeBruyne is another one but he's only 18 years old and injured.He would've started in the Giro too if he wasnt.
What do you refer to? There are no belgian riders in Giro u23 and Ncup that are pro; Vandenabeele I would call the 'most pro' of all as he has a guarantee to become pro at DSM.
 
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Wdym, basically the only young climbing prospect that isn't pro yet, is Vandenabeele and he's riding the Giro. Ramses DeBruyne is another one but he's only 18 years old and injured.He would've started in the Giro too if he wasnt.
My comment referred to the idea that the better talents would be riding the Giro instead of the Ncup. This is not so much the case for the Belgian riders. As there are very few teams with belgian participating. And I don't think of those participating they are more talented them the other Belgian riders. They are just riding for a team that rides the Giro U23. I think this is the same for many other countries.
 
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My comment referred to the idea that the better talents would be riding the Giro instead of the Ncup. This is not so much the case for the Belgian riders. As there are very few teams with belgian participating. And I don't think of those participating they are more talented them the other Belgian riders. They are just riding for a team that rides the Giro U23. I think this is the same for many other countries.
I was mainly talking about the Italians when I said that the better prospects are riding the u23 Giro.
I still think that having both races at the same time isn't ideal.
 
Just too strong on stages like this... 2nd win for Ayuso and the maglia rosa!
Won more than a minute on the other GC contenders. Obviously we'll have to see how he'll do in the big mountains, but damn this guy looks impressive.
I guess he might be fine. At this level just pure strength should prevail. Pidcock completely destroyed the climbs (including Mortirolo) last year and he seems to be rather far from a climbing specialist. Also this year the climbs are a bit easier. I guess Ayuso should have it IN DA BAG barring any crashes. Also, seems that Charmig did badly so Johannessen should now be the leader of UnoX. Also interesting to see, how Gloag will develop.