U23 races and talents

[Mayomaniac]

I guess Pidcock will be the man to beat.

 

[Axel Hangleck]

The European championship was the only road race Pidcock has done this year; and he was pretty impressive. Whether he wins this is another matter. But like a certain Dutchman, he's just an 'all round' cycling talent; CX, MTB, road.

 

[postmanhat]

Very hard to say how Pidcock will go, given his lack of racing. He could well take some of the first few stages, but then fade on the last two.

There's a good preview here in English. It's a little Brit-centric perhaps, and the start list wasn't fully up to date then, but it seems they make Maxim Van Gils the slight favourite.

2020 U23 Giro d’Italia Preview

U23 cycling expert Joseph Doherty previews the 2020 edition of the U23 Giro d’Italia

thebritishcontinental.co.uk

 

[Bushman]

It’ll be interesting to see how Pidcock will fare in the big mountains. We havent really seen him against top competition on big climbs as he unfortunately crashed out of l’Avenir last year before the mountain stages.
He looked great at the Euros though so his shape looks to be fine.

 

[Mayomaniac]

It’ll be interesting to see how Pidcock will fare in the big mountains. We havent really seen him against top competition on big climbs as he unfortunately crashed out of l’Avenir last year before the mountain stages.
He looked great at the Euros though so his shape looks to be fine.

He won on La Planche des belles filles in the Tour Alsace last year, against decent competition. Of course the high mountains could be different, but still.

 

[Mayomaniac]

Very hard to say how Pidcock will go, given his lack of racing. He could well take some of the first few stages, but then fade on the last two.

There's a good preview here in English. It's a little Brit-centric perhaps, and the start list wasn't fully up to date then, but it seems they make Maxim Van Gils the slight favourite.

2020 U23 Giro d’Italia Preview

U23 cycling expert Joseph Doherty previews the 2020 edition of the U23 Giro d’Italia

thebritishcontinental.co.uk

Imo it's rather balanced and a fair overview.

 

[Bushman]

He won on La Planche des belles filles in the Tour Alsace last year, against decent competition. Of course the high mountains could be different, but still.

Yeah I’m aware, but he beat riders like Evans and Valter who are good climbers but still a level a two below the best u23 riders.
With his tiny frame and great tt ability there should be no reason to believe he should struggle on the big climbs but he hasnt been tested that much yet so it’s hard to know.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Any streams?

 

[SafeBet]

Alejandro Ropero (Kometa) wins the first stage.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

01	Alejandro Ropero Kometa - Xstra	5​	​
02	Henri Vandenabeele Lotto - Soudal U23	1​	​
03	Antonio Tiberi Team Colpack - Ballan	​	​
04	Davide Baldaccini Team Colpack - Ballan

 

[F_Cance]

Great result for Tiberi.

 

[Mayomaniac]

Yeah I’m aware, but he beat riders like Evans and Valter who are good climbers but still a level a two below the best u23 riders.
With his tiny frame and great tt ability there should be no reason to believe he should struggle on the big climbs but he hasnt been tested that much yet so it’s hard to know.

He finished ahead of Inkelaar who was a great climber in thr u23 ranks.

 

[Walter1234]

I just realized; Pidcock road the ITT at the ECC at U23 category and the road race with the pros ; funny combination.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

He finished ahead of Inkelaar who was a great climber in thr u23 ranks.

Was Inkelaar a great climber? Among his peers the same age i would not label him as a "great" climber. Am i too harsh?

 

[SafeBet]

Jesus David Pena lost 30 seconds to the top GC guys yesterday.
Camargo more than a minute.
Kevin Vermaerke DNF.

Overall it was a pretty selective stage.

 

[SafeBet]

Luca Colnaghi wins the second stage in front of Jordi Meeus and Jonathan Milan.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Moniquet loses another 52 seconds. Not that i had him pegged as a potential winner, but maybe a top 10 GC.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Wohow, what happened? All Belgian contenders either DNF or lost 20 minutes. Was there a huge crash?

Oh... a crash caused by a motorbike of the organization!

 

[Mayomaniac]

Wohow, what happened? All Belgian contenders either DNF or lost 20 minutes. Was there a huge crash?

Oh... a crash caused by a motorbike of the organization!

What a mess, but apparently there were at least 2 crashes.
Tbf, one has to say that RCS has a lot stricter rules when it comes to driving the motobikes, you need to have more experience and take more courses than usual (aka, the UCI rules). The weather has also been horrible durning the last 2 day, from what I've heard the road was Nice levels of slippery yesterday.

 

[postmanhat]

Commiserations. The nearest Colombian is now about eight minutes back as well.

It's looking good for the Italians, Quinn, and maybe Pidcock

 

[SafeBet]

Kind of an epic stage today? They finished one by one with big gaps.

Let's see if Pidcock (and Aleotti) can hold on in the high mountains.

 

[Mayomaniac]

Kind of an epic stage today? They finished one by one with big gaps.

Let's see if Pidcock (and Aleotti) can hold on in the high mountains.

Pidcock's team already lost a few riders, no idea if they have the firepower to control the race.
The guy himself is just scary good, a 50kg guy who won the junior version of Paris-Roubaix and finished 2nd in the CX WC against the pros.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Pidcock's team already lost a few riders, no idea if they have the firepower to control the race.
The guy himself is just scary good, a 50kg guy who won the junior version of Paris-Roubaix and finished 2nd in the CX WC against the pros.

There is no way those 50kg/1m57 are still accurate. I don't know if you've seen him lately, but that info is simply outdated.

If we go by this image, he should be almost 10cm taller by now:

 

[Mayomaniac]

There is no way those 50kg/1m57 are still accurate. I don't know if you've seen him lately, but that info is simply outdated.

If we go by this image, he should be almost 10cm taller by now:

Thanks, looks like procyclingstats have been a bit lazy with a riders racing weight (once again).
Edit: I looked at some pictures of him and Iserbyt and he's clearly taller than Eli, I'd say he's at least 10cm taller now.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Thanks, looks like procyclingstats have been a bit lazy with a riders racing weight (once again).
Edit: I looked at some pictures of him and Iserbyt and he's clearly taller than Eli, I'd say he's at least 10cm taller now.

PCS doesn't actively update any info, they just wait until somebody sends them proof that the info they have is outdated. If you find an interview where Pidcock (or someone of his entourage) states his weight/height, and you send it in to PCS, they'll update it. If nobody does it, they'll just keep his info of when he was 12 years old.

Iserbyt is (according to PCS) 1m65 and 56kg. He even looks taller than van der Haar, who is 1m69. With Evenepoel being 1m71, he'll probably be about that size, imho, maybe even taller.