Volta Ciclista a Catalunya 2023, March 20-26

[Netserk]

But Roglic might still get a little confused if he got a card from Evenepoel, say... next month, that started with "Happy Birthday".

Happy Birthday. Your thirteenth is important. Maybe your first really public day. Your thirteenth is the chance for people to recognize that important things are happening to you.

 

[Lequack]

Jonas told Rogla on how to beat Remco.

Butt ahead: good
No butt ahead: bad

 

[groogster]

You know Evenepoel is the Messiah when he can convert an entire forum that has been raging on wheelsuckers for over a decade, yelling at Valverde for being a negative rider, to suddenly be overjoyed that somebody is wheelsucking.

As I see it…
People on this forum tend to be over emotional about rivalries.
The beautiful thing about life imo, there’s not 2 equal persons in the entire world, surely not in cycling.
We must give thanks for having riders like Evenepoel, Pogacar, Roglic, Van Aert and MVP.
I loved today’s stage and we must be thankful to Evenepoel for that, he’s like a wild horse riding on the loose, he had to try something and he did, bless him! On the other hand, we cannot ask for Roglic to take turns with Evenepoel in this situation, would it be better for the show? Yes it would! Would it make any sense? No! What if Roglic go on the wild side with Evenepoel taking turns until the end and suddenly had a puncture, what then? No teammates, no quick bike change, Catalunya GC out of the window. People have to understand that we are talking top competitive sports here, Roglic has to be clever in this situation and he was!
I like both, not biased towards anyone, just giving thanks for having so many amazing riders nowadays!
Looking forward for tomorrow’s stage, Evenepoel will put on a show! Be ready!

 

[CyclistAbi]

Congratulations to Kaden Groves for winning the sprint.

Rather typical sprinters stage. Not much has happened till the end. Glad i only watched the final 200m.

P.S. If Roglič would have worked and would lost seconds or jersey. I am sure that the amount of recognition he would get in this third. That would be mesmerizing.

 

[RedheadDane]

Congratulations to Kaden Groves for winning the sprint.

Rather typical sprinters stage. Not much has happened till the end. Glad i only watched the final 200m.

P.S. If Roglič would have worked and would lost seconds or jersey. I am sure that the amount of recognition he would get in this third. That would be mesmerizing.

He might even have gotten recognition if he had been second.

 

[Riek s]

I missed this since I put you on ignore but it was quoted in another post.

....

Fans that denigrate other riders without a Really Good reason (riding smart isn't a good reason) because they're beating their fav turn me off so Goodbye again.

honestly i was thinking of making a broader response, but since your action is to put people on ignore, followed by reacting to them while explicitly stating 'hey i'm ignoring you... not really but really'.



"No risk, no glory" -- Primoz Roglic

 

[Lequack]

"No Remco, no worry" -- Primoz Roglic

Remco interview

https://twitter.com/x/status/1639714099729670148

View: https://twitter.com/lauramtaberner/status/1639714099729670148?s=20

 

[Riek s]

As I see it…
People on this forum tend to be over emotional about rivalries.
The beautiful thing about life imo, there’s not 2 equal persons in the entire world, surely not in cycling.
We must give thanks for having riders like Evenepoel, Pogacar, Roglic, Van Aert and MVP.
I loved today’s stage and we must be thankful to Evenepoel for that, he’s like a wild horse riding on the loose, he had to try something and he did, bless him! On the other hand, we cannot ask for Roglic to take turns with Evenepoel in this situation, would it be better for the show? Yes it would! Would it make any sense? No! What if Roglic go on the wild side with Evenepoel taking turns until the end and suddenly had a puncture, what then? No teammates, no quick bike change, Catalunya GC out of the window. People have to understand that we are talking top competitive sports here, Roglic has to be clever in this situation and he was!
I like both, not biased towards anyone, just giving thanks for having so many amazing riders nowadays!
Looking forward for tomorrow’s stage, Evenepoel will put on a show! Be ready!

I know you know that we know that everyone knows that Roglic is doing the smart thing to not take over. That doesn't mean we as viewers should like that action. And it seemed stating you don't like that action is kind of a blasphemy these days or 'denigrating'.

 

[CyclistAbi]

Sad to hear about Bernal. Soler was in some good form on this race.

As for the final stage. Remco will for sure try. And tomorrow, when and if it will really be only about a stage win. The duo can go all in. In all other situations obviously such requests will get promptly denied. As they should be.

 

[groogster]

I know you know that we know that everyone knows that Roglic is doing the smart thing to not take over. That doesn't mean we as viewers should like that action. And it seemed stating you don't like that action is kind of a blasphemy these days or 'denigrating'.

your words not mine! I did enjoy both, Evenepoel’s move and Roglic’s decision and cold blood! Love it as a viewer! Kind of sad that you didn’t like it .

 

[Divergence]

if this was Pog he would ride, if this was VDP he would ride, if this is WVA he would ride. Sorry, Roglic has a sprint victory in sight here.. and people wonder why some are annoyed by the way he rides like this.

Sure in a one day race Remco's attack would be considered very smart and going for the initiative and Rogla would be considered as a wheelsucker. But in a stage race with the situation being as it is Remco's temper tantrum is just dumb and Rogla is just playing it smart. He does not need to risk losing the sprint and hence the bonifications.

 

[Riek s]

your words not mine! I did enjoy both, Evenepoel’s move and Roglic’s decision and cold blood! Love it!

You re correct, the 'we' is a generifcation I used that is inclusive to more people, but not all people. Don't know what other word i could have used here to make that distinction.

Sad to hear about Bernal. Soler was in some good form on this race.

Did you hear more about Bernal? or just that he fell. Haven't seen any damage report yet

 

[CyclistAbi]

@Riek s

He was taken to the hospital but fortunately no serious injuries.

 

[acm]

Hauptman left the team afterwards (for reasons I don't know) but he always defended Rog & had a very good relationship with him. I think the calls to drop Roglič for the ITT were mostly coming from armchair Slovenian fans desperate for a gold medal (Pog was seen as a safer bet). After the Olympics I think there was some sort of behind the scenes power tussle & Bahrain's Slovenians took over. Beyond that, I don't know.

We need a book about this stuff.

As far as I know Hauptman's contract expired in 2021 and he wanted to focus only on UAE. When you mentioned a book... few months ago a biography of Mohoric was published and he wrote just nice things about Roglic, like they used to hang out together with families etc. But how are things between them after Vuelta comments I don't know.

 

[groogster]

@Riek s

He was taken to the hospital but fortunately no serious injuries.

Thank God! What he and all the medical staff involved has done in the last year is/was mindblowing and he deserves only good things. I really hope that one day he can reach his previous level!

 

[CyclistAbi]

Even in "wheelsucking" Roglič is just beyond. Such a complete rider. Got to hand it to him.

P.S. Even if he occasionally beats your favorite on some race.

 

[Lequack]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1639679274050363399

View: https://twitter.com/laquejadera1/status/1639679274050363399?s=20

 

[nightowl]

I know you know that we know that everyone knows that Roglic is doing the smart thing to not take over. That doesn't mean we as viewers should like that action. And it seemed stating you don't like that action is kind of a blasphemy these days or 'denigrating'.

Of course you can prefer particular riders and want them to win. I’d love to see Remco’s attacks to pay off tomorrow - but equally, it wouldn’t be near as entertaining if there wasn’t someone ahead of him to try and attack. But throwing insults and accusations of cowardice at the other rider and their fans comes across as throwing a tantrum that your rider didn’t win, and is going to rub people the wrong way.

 

[Riek s]

Of course you can prefer particular riders and want them to win. I’d love to see Remco’s attacks to pay off tomorrow - but equally, it wouldn’t be near as entertaining if there wasn’t someone ahead of him to try and attack. But throwing insults and accusations of cowardice at the other rider and their fans comes across as throwing a tantrum that your rider didn’t win, and is going to rub people the wrong way.

Is this because of the word wheelsucker?

The Art of Wheelsucking

Up to 90% of a cyclist’s energy is used to push air out of the way but it is possible to halve the effort by wheelsucking. I have read somewhere that wheelsucking allows the wheelsucker to pe…

kchwheelsuckers.wordpress.com

 

[Ilmaestro99]

Watch this recap. If you can watch the last 30 km somewhere I'd watch it. It was insane comedy!

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8pGg5omqJ0&ab_channel=LanterneRouge

Thanks for responding without sarcasm, it's appreciated .

I am sad actually I missed the stage even though I had a good Saturday. Fausto in the break, of course after several others from quickstep tried it was him with his Grinta, intelligence and Guile that made it. And also I'm sad to miss Remco tantrum, those are always a lot of fun.

Marc Soler is a rider I alway liked but he's maybe becoming my favourite .

 

[acm]

Lol as if I don’t understand why he doesn’t take a turn. That’s not the point. I watch cycling for entertainment. There’s a reason why people say how good it is to watch cycling in this era with the likes of Pogacar, WVA, MVDP, Pidcock and Remco. All of them would have taken turns even when they are in the lead, because they aren’t potatoes. This isn’t a GT, this is a 1 week WT stage race, everyone will forget who won this in a couple of years because it’s not important. We watch this for entertainment, and Roglic is boring

Just for your information, if Roglic wins Catalunya, he will be the first rider to win 6 out of 7 one-week races. So yeah, it's important.

 

[groogster]

If you ask me, today’s stage highlight with Evenepoel arguing with Roglic and the Slovenian playing deaf was simply pure TV prime time stuff. Love it! We will have a wonderful Giro!!

 

[Extinction]

They waited. It's just that Roglič crashed more then once on that stage. At some point you have to draw the line. And even then a cyclist from another team helped to chase. To the extent they both almost crashed.

Ok, Roglic is the Messaih I guess, for he is certainly Remco's idol!

PS: Leonardo da Vinci said it's not enough to equal the master, but you must surpass him!

 

[noob]

If you ask me, today’s stage highlight with Evenepoel arguing with Roglic and the Slovenian playing deaf was simply pure TV prime time stuff. Love it! We will have a wonderful Giro!!

Yeah it was absolamazing utely

 

[CyclistAbi]

Ok, Roglic is the Messaih I guess, for he is certainly Remco's idol!

PS: Leonardo da Vinci said it's not enough to equal the master, but you must surpass him!

Word.