World Championships Innsbruck 2018

[tobydawq]

Re:

So how many riders are the top teams allowed to bring? 6 or 7?

Valverde
Landa
Soler
Ion
Gorka
Luis Leon
Erviti/Fraile/Verona/Mas/Cruz/Herrada or whatever. Very strong team.

8.

 

[Broccolidwarf]

With the spring the danish riders are having, they will no longer be struggling to get enough ranking points for 6 riders.... and with a good summer for Fuglsang and a couple of stage results at the vuelta, they might even get 8 spots:

Fuglsang
Eg
Hansen
Valgren
Juul-Jensen

Those 5 are pretty certain to go, on that route..... the 6th would probably be either Kragh Andersen (probably) or Würtz Schmidt.

If 8, the question becomes, if it is better to bring continental climbers, or world tour puncheurs, because it's difficult to see, what people like Pedersen, Cort, Bak or Moerkoev should be good for, on that route.

 

[stetre76]

Re: Re:

Why do you need to buy tickets? Do they close off the entire area around the finish line?

Finish area is ticket only. You can go anywhere else on the course for free of course, but podium presentations, finish area etc are ticketed. Not horribly expensive either tbh for the tickets, just find it weird buying the one to cover all events comes out more expensive than each event separate.

That's going to be fun and I am really wondering how they are going to get this going!

My office is some 100m from the finish area, the place where I live is along the road of the final 2k from the finish line.
Haven't seen the area-plans yet, but if they really want to close down a bigger finish area, then I will have a poblem getting to work and/or getting home after work.

On the other hand, maybe I'll just receive a 8-days ticket from my work-place to make sure I come to the office

 

[Bardamu]

Poels said he wants to be team leader of the Netherlands at the WC RR and that this Ardennes week was a test for Innsbruck. Well, that didn't pan out lol.

 

[memyselfandI]

Proper racing comin up! Gramartboden is bit easier than Cumbre del Sol at Vuelta, but this race is a long one and weather can be a factor too. Explosive GT midgets ftw!

 

[yaco]

I suspect this route will suit the diesel type climbers - So riders in the style of Nibali, Pinot, Lopez - I doubt it will suit the more explosive climbers - I suspect we get to the final ramp there will be a maximum of three or four riders.

 

[skippo12]

Re:

With the spring the danish riders are having, they will no longer be struggling to get enough ranking points for 6 riders.... and with a good summer for Fuglsang and a couple of stage results at the vuelta, they might even get 8 spots:

Fuglsang
Eg
Hansen
Valgren
Juul-Jensen

Those 5 are pretty certain to go, on that route..... the 6th would probably be either Kragh Andersen (probably) or Würtz Schmidt.

If 8, the question becomes, if it is better to bring continental climbers, or world tour puncheurs, because it's difficult to see, what people like Pedersen, Cort, Bak or Moerkoev should be good for, on that route.

A lot of countries will have the same problem. Germany has great sprinters and time trialists. They might as well start with an all youth team around Buchmann, Schachmann and Kämna instead of their usual sprinter squad.
Belgium is another big cycling nation that lacks a world class climber. I don`t expect Wellens or Benoot to make the top 20 in a normal race.
It will be interesting to see what those nations with 6-8 riders will do. They have no realistic chance to win but have to try anyway.

 

[Leinster]

I’d expect Belgium to have some sort of plan to get someone, be it Wellens, de Ghent, GvA, into whatever selection can be still around in the final lap. They’re obviously not going to try and follow any Colombian wheels, but they might come up with something creative. By “creative,” I obviously mean “make sure they have a rider in the early break.”

 

[Asero831]

If Alaphilippe can survive Rio, i think he can survive this one. And it will all boil down on the decisive move.
Surely Alaphilippe will attack and that might be enough cushion for him to get into the last murito.

 

[King Boonen]

Re:

If Alaphilippe can survive Rio, i think he can survive this one. And it will all boil down on the decisive move.
Surely Alaphilippe will attack and that might be enough cushion for him to get into the last murito.

France could have a really strong team. With riders like Alaphilippe, Bardet, Barguil, Pinot, Calmajane, Latour, Elissonde, Gallopin, they have guys to stick in breaks, drive the pace, chase if needed and win a bunch finish. Fingers crossed they're all on good form!

 

[King Boonen]

Re: Re:

Depending on form, you'd expect at least six of these (they have 8 spots, right?):

Julian Alaphilippe
Romain Bardet
Warren Barguil
Lilian Calmejane
Tony Gallopin
Pierre Latour
Thibaut Pinot
Alexis Vuillermoz

Frightening team.

Seven of them have already achieved a top-10 in Il Lombardia. Four of them have already achieved a top-5 in that particular race.

Now this potential team is faced with a problem: how do you win (or even podium, that would be enough for us) when you desperately fail to win a WorldTour event year after year.

Seems I missed the discussion about France.

Alaphilippe has shown that he now has the ability to win the final sprint (if he gets there) which is a massive plus for France as they now have multiple options. Calmejane in the break, Bardet, Barguil and Pinot to launch multiple attacks a wreck havoc in the chasing bunch and Gallopin and Ala to hang on until the end with Galla going first and Ala following the wheel of the next best on the ramps (probably still Valverde). It's mainly going to come down to getting a man in the break and then deciding if you pin everything on Gala/Ala towards the end or let the two Bars and Pinot have a go.

 

[Chrispol]

Re: Re:

Depending on form, you'd expect at least six of these (they have 8 spots, right?):

Julian Alaphilippe
Romain Bardet
Warren Barguil
Lilian Calmejane
Tony Gallopin
Pierre Latour
Thibaut Pinot
Alexis Vuillermoz

Frightening team.

Seven of them have already achieved a top-10 in Il Lombardia. Four of them have already achieved a top-5 in that particular race.

Now this potential team is faced with a problem: how do you win (or even podium, that would be enough for us) when you desperately fail to win a WorldTour event year after year.

Seems I missed the discussion about France.

Alaphilippe has shown that he now has the ability to win the final sprint (if he gets there) which is a massive plus for France as they now have multiple options. Calmejane in the break, Bardet, Barguil and Pinot to launch multiple attacks a wreck havoc in the chasing bunch and Gallopin and Ala to hang on until the end with Galla going first and Ala following the wheel of the next best on the ramps (probably still Valverde). It's mainly going to come down to getting a man in the break and then deciding if you pin everything on Gala/Ala towards the end or let the two Bars and Pinot have a go.

Our chance in a sprint will be Alaphilippe. Gallopin will be teammate or captain. He said yesterday of Eurosport that if he is selected, he will not go with the same ambition as the previous years.

I am not sure about Calmejane. He is more a individualistic. He is a good rider but not a devoted teammate. It's impossible to have only one leader between Alaphilippe, Bardet and Pinot but I don't want to relive the fiasco of the Olympics or the 2016 WC.

I want riders to devoted themselves to the others when this is needed.

 

[42x16ss]

Re:

Poels said he wants to be team leader of the Netherlands at the WC RR and that this Ardennes week was a test for Innsbruck. Well, that didn't pan out lol.

Are Dumoulin, Kelderman and Mollema going to ride? TBH they are the only riders I would put ahead. This worlds is a few years too late for Gesink.

 

[SafeBet]

Re:

If Alaphilippe can survive Rio, i think he can survive this one. And it will all boil down on the decisive move.
Surely Alaphilippe will attack and that might be enough cushion for him to get into the last murito.

If surviving means making the final selection, Alaphilippe didn't really survive.
He was dropped by Henao, Nibali and Majka and would have seen them at the finish line if Nibali and Henao hadn't crashed.
Besides, he didn't even make the final selection in the flat, when GVA and Fuglsang attacked.

And Innsbruck is much tougher than Rio. Nothing Alaphilippe has done this year suggests he'll be able to follow the very best at the end of the race.

 

[Red Rick]

Re: Re:

Poels said he wants to be team leader of the Netherlands at the WC RR and that this Ardennes week was a test for Innsbruck. Well, that didn't pan out lol.

Are Dumoulin, Kelderman and Mollema going to ride? TBH they are the only riders I would put ahead. This worlds is a few years too late for Gesink.

If the Dutch pick Poels as team leader I'll lose my *** in ways I've never lost my *** before.

 

[Gigs_98]

Did people miss Paris Nice, pais vasco and the tour of the alps or why are we still talking about alaphilippe. What we saw last week was the super easy version of the WC route and it was already hard enogh for three climbers to distance the rest. It's beyond me how people can still think alaphilippe should be the French team leader.

 

[DFA123]

Did people miss Paris Nice, pais vasco and the tour of the alps or why are we still talking about alaphilippe. What we saw last week was the super easy version of the WC route and it was already hard enogh for three climbers to distance the rest. It's beyond me how people can still think alaphilippe should be the French team leader.

I think looking at performances from the last few days of a stage race is a poor predicter for one day success. It seems like Alaphilippe has pretty poor recovery relative to top stage racers, but that's not really a factor in one day races. The big factor is being able to put out big repeated aerobic and anaerobic efforts on one day for 250+km, something which he has excelled at in the last few years.

His performances at Lombardia last year and the Olympic RR both suggest he is a contender. And he seems to have stepped up another level since then this spring.

 

[rghysens]

Did people miss Paris Nice, pais vasco and the tour of the alps or why are we still talking about alaphilippe. What we saw last week was the super easy version of the WC route and it was already hard enogh for three climbers to distance the rest. It's beyond me how people can still think alaphilippe should be the French team leader.

I think looking at performances from the last few days of a stage race is a poor predicter for one day success. It seems like Alaphilippe has pretty poor recovery relative to top stage racers, but that's not really a factor in one day races. The big factor is being able to put out big repeated aerobic and anaerobic efforts on one day for 250+km, something which he has excelled at in the last few years.

His performances at Lombardia last year and the Olympic RR both suggest he is a contender. And he seems to have stepped up another level since then this spring.

On both occasions he couldn't follow the top 3 climbers in the final. If anything the aforementioned races prove he is not a contender.

 

[Gigs_98]

Did people miss Paris Nice, pais vasco and the tour of the alps or why are we still talking about alaphilippe. What we saw last week was the super easy version of the WC route and it was already hard enogh for three climbers to distance the rest. It's beyond me how people can still think alaphilippe should be the French team leader.

I think looking at performances from the last few days of a stage race is a poor predicter for one day success. It seems like Alaphilippe has pretty poor recovery relative to top stage racers, but that's not really a factor in one day races. The big factor is being able to put out big repeated aerobic and anaerobic efforts on one day for 250+km, something which he has excelled at in the last few years.

His performances at Lombardia last year and the Olympic RR both suggest he is a contender. And he seems to have stepped up another level since then this spring.

Maybe a contender. If all climber teams are falling asleep on the first few laps, the real racing starts very late and you have better climbers looking at each other in the finale, yeah then maybe he has a chance. You know, just like people like Marc Soler have a very small chance, or Wilco keldermann, or davide formolo. The difference is, nobody is hyping those guys as one of the favorites and the leader of one of the strongest teams.

 

[Netserk]

While he took longer (attacked later) than both Purito and Meintjes to bridge from the peloton to the Nibali group in Rio, he also distanced Froome, Costa & Kangert (the next three after him). While all three from the peloton was distanced by Nibali, Henao, and Majka, they climbed the whole ascent faster. While we can always second guess if he would have won without his crash on the last descent, I think we can say that he probably wouldn't if not for Nibali's crash too, in any case.

While the whole Vista Chinesa is harder than the main climb of Innsbruck, it was only tackled 3 times and with a bit more flat inbetween. But most importantly, it wasn't really drilled as hard as Igls can be expected to be, with the difference in team sizes. Summa summarum, I think it'll be too much for Ala, but he should survive deep in to the race and then depending on how it is ridden, he can maybe do something (which needs to be before the very last ascent, I'd think).

 

[DFA123]

Did people miss Paris Nice, pais vasco and the tour of the alps or why are we still talking about alaphilippe. What we saw last week was the super easy version of the WC route and it was already hard enogh for three climbers to distance the rest. It's beyond me how people can still think alaphilippe should be the French team leader.

I think looking at performances from the last few days of a stage race is a poor predicter for one day success. It seems like Alaphilippe has pretty poor recovery relative to top stage racers, but that's not really a factor in one day races. The big factor is being able to put out big repeated aerobic and anaerobic efforts on one day for 250+km, something which he has excelled at in the last few years.

His performances at Lombardia last year and the Olympic RR both suggest he is a contender. And he seems to have stepped up another level since then this spring.

Maybe a contender. If all climber teams are falling asleep on the first few laps, the real racing starts very late and you have better climbers looking at each other in the finale, yeah then maybe he has a chance. You know, just like people like Marc Soler have a very small chance, or Wilco keldermann, or davide formolo. The difference is, nobody is hyping those guys as one of the favorites and the leader of one of the strongest teams.

I agree he's not one of the outright favourites. Imo though he's in a group of riders behind only Nibali and possibly Valverde. He's clearly got more of a chance than the likes of Kelderman or Formolo.

He's finished 2nd in both LBL and Lombardia - so he clearly has one of the most crucial abilities: he can handle the distance and a lot of explosive climbing in one day. Most top 'climbers' can't do that. Froome can't, Porte can't, there's little evidence that Quintana can either. So it's not just a case of looking at the best climbers and assuming they'll win - one day pedigree is more important imo.

Alaphilippe is arguably the finest hilly one day racer in the world right now. While this course may test the limit of his abilities, of course he has to be considered as a serious contender.

 

[DFA123]

Did people miss Paris Nice, pais vasco and the tour of the alps or why are we still talking about alaphilippe. What we saw last week was the super easy version of the WC route and it was already hard enogh for three climbers to distance the rest. It's beyond me how people can still think alaphilippe should be the French team leader.

I think looking at performances from the last few days of a stage race is a poor predicter for one day success. It seems like Alaphilippe has pretty poor recovery relative to top stage racers, but that's not really a factor in one day races. The big factor is being able to put out big repeated aerobic and anaerobic efforts on one day for 250+km, something which he has excelled at in the last few years.

His performances at Lombardia last year and the Olympic RR both suggest he is a contender. And he seems to have stepped up another level since then this spring.

On both occasions he couldn't follow the top 3 climbers in the final. If anything the aforementioned races prove he is not a contender.

It doesn't prove that at all. Finishing 2nd in the latest edition of the most mountainous monument is clear proof that he is in with a chance. It suggests that he can be in contention deep into the race and, if either he has improved slightly since last year, or other riders have got slightly worse, or different tactics are employed, then he has a chance of winning.

And from what we have seen this spring, he has stepped up a level from previous seasons.

 

[Escarabajo]

I think the Colombia team will have its limitation on the distance of this race. We have evidence on Uran, Chaves and Henao handling these distances in one day. Hope Chaves will get better as the season goes on. Henao seems to be building up his form. Maybe different approach as to what he did in previous years. We'll see.

 

[Gigs_98]

Did people miss Paris Nice, pais vasco and the tour of the alps or why are we still talking about alaphilippe. What we saw last week was the super easy version of the WC route and it was already hard enogh for three climbers to distance the rest. It's beyond me how people can still think alaphilippe should be the French team leader.

I think looking at performances from the last few days of a stage race is a poor predicter for one day success. It seems like Alaphilippe has pretty poor recovery relative to top stage racers, but that's not really a factor in one day races. The big factor is being able to put out big repeated aerobic and anaerobic efforts on one day for 250+km, something which he has excelled at in the last few years.

His performances at Lombardia last year and the Olympic RR both suggest he is a contender. And he seems to have stepped up another level since then this spring.

On both occasions he couldn't follow the top 3 climbers in the final. If anything the aforementioned races prove he is not a contender.

It doesn't prove that at all. Finishing 2nd in the latest edition of the most mountainous monument is clear proof that he is in with a chance. It suggests that he can be in contention deep into the race and, if either he has improved slightly since last year, or other riders have got slightly worse, or different tactics are employed, then he has a chance of winning.

And from what we have seen this spring, he has stepped up a level from previous seasons.

I actually don't think he stepped up a level from last year.

 

[DFA123]

I actually don't think he stepped up a level from last year.

Perhaps not, I guess it's too early to tell. But, at the very least, winning his first classic should have given a boost to his confidence, and given him a stronger claim to be leader, or at least have a free role in the French team.