UAE Tour 2024, February 19-25

[scribers]

Ah, yes, great finish camera.

Lol. At least we got to see right of center

 

[Netserk]

Did Melier just come 2nd whilst on a flat?

Looks like it. At least the second best sprinter in the world.

 

[scribers]

Cav ran out of steam 500 metres from the line.

Almost as hard as watching Froome still going at it. But hey, it’s only February.

 

[Berniece]

They're gonna show us 5 more pictures where the winner isn't clear aren't they

I always thought the red lines to make clear what the line is, is drawn automatically by the computer. Now I'm wondering if this is added later by hand

 

[DNP-Old]

Bennett is a thief btw.

 

[Salvarani]

Bennett is a thief btw.

Snitches get stitches

 

[repre]

Let's calm down haha. He definitely ain't winning. A top 3 would be insane, and I don't believe in that either. It's not like he has ever proven to be top in a WT stage race.

The boni's were welcome tho. He now doesn't have to drop Valter and Storer anymore to get top 10.

He is improved and looked like one of the best climbers in this race and can be the best at Hafeet. He is young, he doesn't need to be 'proven' to score top-3 here and maybe surprise everybody with better result, that's what great talent do early in the breakout season.

I didn't tell he will win, chances are slight even for top-3, but his climbing form is impressive in the early season

 

[shadowrider]

I think a flat for Merlier. Even if he came from far, with huge speed, it was not normal he couldn't make the difference at the end.

 

[repre]

Merlier is insane to do this with a flat tire, he comes for Phillipsen's crown

 

[Penninepeddler]

Cav ran out of steam 500 metres from the line.

My guess is he could have kept going and maybe finished ~7-10th...

but seems like when Kooij blew past him when Cav was probably already maxed out and knew had some way still to go? He just sat up as knew that even a podium was not on the cards.

He will probably win a few more races this year, maybe even a GT stage, but he just can't compete with Philipsen, Kooij and a few of the other sprinters at the absolute top in a straight drag...

good 2nd tier sprinter still but needs more technical finishes to be able to compete amongst the very best.

Giro stage 21 2023
Milan-Torino 2022
Giro stage 3 2022
UAE stage 2 2022

Biggest 4 wins for Cav in last 2 years really... 3/4 had corners/curves ~250-400m from the finish... and all kind of "technical" last few kms. In those situations can use his positioning and "smarts" to bring the pure power gap back vs the top guys.

 

[scribers]

Cav simply did an elite leadout which is more than Froome has done the last 2 years.

I think he’s been hanging around about 3 or 4 years too long, for a sliver of glory he used to regularly revel in

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

So LVE jumped to the 9th overall with 6 sec bonus. Probably will jump Carr and Foss on sunday as well, has a shot at top-3 too, need collapse of Vine and O`Connor to win.

His form is great so far, but he doesn't just have to hope for both O'Connor and Vine to blow up, but then he also needs to drop Van Wilder, Poole and Bilbao. I rate all three of them higher (so far) as far as pure climbing goes, but Van Eetvelt has shown great form this early. But hoping for all 5 of those riders to be MIA on Jebel Hafeet seems more like wishful thinking.

 

[Netserk]

Won a Giro stage last year and was a mechanical away from a TdF stage.

Also the 2021 Tour is only like 2.5 years ago

2½ years is a lot when you are past 35.

 

[shadowrider]

It has been confirmed. Merlier sprinting on a flat. Just missing the victory for a tyre. Strong performance.

 

[Keldergoat]

Kooij getting his 30th pro win before the likes of Pogacar, Sagan and basically everyone except for Merckx and Remco is quite impressive. Yes, I know this also includes quite some stages at the ZLM Tour etc.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1761010601483001877

View: https://twitter.com/StatsOnCycling/status/1761010601483001877

 

[scribers]

Sprinters should be considered differently

 

[saunaking]

2½ years is a lot when you are past 35.

Yeah but nothing wrong with greats staying past their prime, especially when they can still produce some great results. I'm glad we still have Cav, Valverde's last couple season were fun to have him around.
This is not a Froome situation

 

[armchairclimber]

Nice to see Fretin getting into the frame after his horrible tumble.

 

[yaco]

Merlier must be super human if he can sprint at nearly 7okms on a flat tyre.

 

[SHAD0W93]

Almost as hard as watching Froome still going at it. But hey, it’s only February.

At least Cav has been winning since 2021 and has had a GT stage each year. Cav’s already won this year with he and the team saying before the start that it’s more of a tune up and getting used to being with more sprinters and if a win or podium is there perfect. Now if this was 2017-2020 I would agree with you.

Just watch tomorrow for his win

 

[Penninepeddler]

Yeah but nothing wrong with greats staying past their prime, especially when they can still produce some great results. I'm glad we still have Cav, Valverde's last couple season were fun to have him around.
This is not a Froome situation

Yeh, he can still beat basically anyone on his day in a technical finish. Even if he is in terms of pure power probably in the ~5-10 range of sprinters in peloton.

And do think having Morkov this year will help a lot... last year was basically on his own so, so often and had to fight for position in last few km on his own.

Last year GT sprint stages:

Giro: 4, 141, 8, 3, 19, 1
TDF: 6, 5, 2


Sure that if he had Morkov last year? Would have added at least 1 more GT stage win to the Giro stage 21.

 

[scribers]

At least Cav has been winning since 2021 and has had a GT stage each year. Cav’s already won this year with he and the team saying before the start that it’s more of a tune up and getting used to being with more sprinters and if a win or podium is there perfect. Now if this was 2017-2020 I would agree with you.

Just watch tomorrow for his win

Best part is if he’s having fun, more power to him. Hincapie has said Cav used to make fun of him for not retiring when he was the old man on the bus.

 

[scribers]

fat-Elvis-cav’s magic is always the end of grand tours and sprinter attrition. He is the best of the rest after mountains have passed. In other words, he isn’t winning any straight up sprints with the todays top sprinters at shorter stage races. Fight me on this!

 

[scribers]

Oh. And the last comment. Cav holds the record for most stage wins at the tour. Why try to add one more all these years? Can anyone seriously argue he is sticking around to win UAE sprints?

 

[search]

Oh. And the last comment. Cav holds the record for most stage wins at the tour.

Eddy Merckx is not bad company, but currently it's "only" a shared lead. Both have 34.