World Championships Innsbruck 2018

[RedheadDane]

Okay, I know I'm overly focused on the Danes, but I'm gonna call it already:
The goal of four medals is not gonna be fulfilled!
Started out quite well, then they kinda faded.

 

[UselessToo]

All of 3 road races was great so far

 

[Nirvana]

Pozzovivo has said in the press conference today that is in the form of his life.
If they let him go in a late break with no top climbers could be Italy best option.

 

[RedheadDane]

Re:

Pozzovivo has said in the press conference today that is in the form of his life.
If they let him go in a late break with no top climbers could be Italy best option.

No, that won't do!

 

[Alexandre B.]

Re:

Pozzovivo has said in the press conference today that is in the form of his life.
If they let him go in a late break with no top climbers could be Italy best option.

Unlikely.

 

[greenedge]

Nice words by Lambrecht, said to Hirschi "You rode smart" and i'm 90% sure he said "you were the best"

 

[armchairclimber]

So, the 14th and 15 from last year in Bergen finish 1st and 2nd today.

 

[SafeBet]

Re:

Pozzovivo has said in the press conference today that is in the form of his life.
If they let him go in a late break with no top climbers could be Italy best option.

Even with top climbers if you ask me.

 

[movingtarget]

Great race by the Swiss team.

 

[movingtarget]

Re:

Congrats to Hirschi.
Perfectly executed.

Nibali would approve............

 

[LaFlorecita]

That was a great show! Congrats to Hirschi, Switzerland rode an amazing race. Lambrecht was probably the strongest but too uncontrolled and too easily frustrated. Great to see a Finnish rider on the podium

 

[LosBrolin]

Re:

That was a great show! Congrats to Hirschi, Switzerland rode an amazing race. Lambrecht was probably the strongest but too uncontrolled and too easily frustrated. Great to see a Finnish rider on the podium

It truly is

This is quote from another topic (Lesser known..) and being hindsight is always easy but I just knew that he could surprise a lot of people here and grind some nice result like he just did. He's just been so strong overall whole season. Pro contract should be only matter of time.

Tour du Gévaudan from yesterday

At one point DE had 4 guys in front group (Calmejane was 11th) but they couldn't win. Rein attacked from the leading group and only Hänninen was able to follow and the duo went clear. After the race Jaakko said that he knew where he'd attack on the last km and he did just that and beat Taaramäe on a sprint. Big win for amateur and a good sign for U23-Worlds, he'll be one of the outsiders for sure.

 

[oldcrank]

Always nice to see a rider with a Rainbow Jersey from the World
Junior Track Championships get another jersey on the road.

 

[toolittle]

U23 finished.

Are the climbs selective enough for elite group pure climbers?
It seems that the route is for the faster finisher whose climb well,decent well, high endurance and clever.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Re:

That was a great show! Congrats to Hirschi, Switzerland rode an amazing race. Lambrecht was probably the strongest but too uncontrolled and too easily frustrated. Great to see a Finnish rider on the podium

I don't really know if Lambrecht was the strongest. Hirschi had been in the break, while Lambrecht only had to close a gap of 15 seconds uphill. So until the final, he had not really had to do anything, while all the others had already put in serious efforts. Maybe he was the most fresh in the final, but he didn't play his cards right.

 

[Frankschleck]

I honestly believe Adam Yates is gonna be the World champion.

 

[RedheadDane]

Re:

I honestly believe Adam Yates is gonna be the World champion.

I hope he will. Or Simon, either one.

Then I'll be able to tell them apart!

 

[Frankschleck]

Re: Re:

I honestly believe Adam Yates is gonna be the World champion.

I hope he will. Or Simon, either one.

Then I'll be able to tell them apart!

hahahah thats a good point.

 

[Gigs_98]

U23 finished.

Are the climbs selective enough for elite group pure climbers?
It seems that the route is for the faster finisher whose climb well and clever.

I think the climbs are definitely selective enough. There might be a chance that nobody wants to move early and everything comes down to the final ramp (something I don't think will happen but apparently lots of experts do). In that case everything could theoretically come back together on the descent and the race could be decided in a sprint out of a small group, but then again I think even the likelihood of such a scenario is very small. The Clasica San Sebastian, a significantly easier race with an easier final climb, but a relatively similar run in has been decided in a sprint 4 times in the last decade, once in a five men sprint, once in a 3 men sprint and twice in a two men sprint.

Also, let's not underestimate just how much easier the U23 race was than the elite race. They were missing 4 climbs, which means that the elite men's race has almost twice as much climbing as the U23 race and the difference in strength between the U23 and the elite class isn't that huge (Mark Padun, who was looking like one of the strongest today, won the Tour of the Alps stage this year which finished in Innsbruck went over the main climb of the road race). So if you aren't sure if this course is hard enough to force a selection among the worlds best climbers, with only four laps like today it might have been possible but difficult, but with 3 more laps + a super steep climb at the end, it's more likely than not.

 

[Jagartrott]

Congrats to Hirschi. Proves that descending can be crucial.
Funny picture though. Face alone, he looks a bit like a 30-year-old slightly chubby bank manager.

 

[RedheadDane]

Hänninen, on the other hand, looks like he's 12.

 

[bambino]

Couldn't be more happy for Hänninen. What an achievement for the one man Finnish team

 

[Sciatic]

Niewiadoma's comments on the course:“It’s a hard course, probably the hardest World Championships that I’ve ever done,” she said. “To be honest though, I thought this climb would be harder. It’s super hard, but there are a few places where you can take a little rest and catch your breath. That will give opportunities for more riders to win this race. I think that it’s going to be an interesting race.”

 

[RedheadDane]

Re:

Couldn't be more happy for Hänninen. What an achievement for the one man Finnish team

Yeah. A 100% success rate for podium is quite good.
In comparison Switzerland only had a 20% success rate, and Belgium a 25% success rate.







(I think those are the numbers, percentages - or math in general - have never been my strongest suit.)

 

[Alexandre B.]

Padun climbing style reminds me of Landis.