Cycling thread

[davids]

No way Cav wins a sprint like today's - that was a young man's effort from Jakobsen (and Wout). Raw power.

OTOH you could bet the farm on Cav winning at some point if he was here - his form is superb. His national champs win was huge, he lit that race all day in hard conditions.

Just a shame for Cav the h2h decision is against Jakobsen. Maybe next year, but feel this sort of form is very hard to hit for an older sprinter. It might have been his last shot.

Think it was,which led to my question does that suit the Tour that one of the French greats doesn't have his record broken by a Manxman? You'd have imagined that teams would have tripped over themselves to have an all-time record holder ride in Paris in their colours.

 

[davids]

The reason Quick Step is so successful lies in Lefevre's talent to make the right choice at the right time.
Signing Cavendish and Philippe Gilbert at an advanced age at low wages... And getting a tune out of them...
But also choosing to discard them when they're over the top.

That's what's happened here. He made a decision purely on fitness and form. Yet again he's right.

I still don't believe that Jakobsen winning green will make anywhere near the worldwide newspaper headlines that Cavendish would have by becoming the all time record stage winner

 

[Bruce Wayne]

The Maratona today. Dang, those mountains are beautiful

 

[spectateur]

Early days?

For Jobobsen maybe. He'll win a few sprints sure but is he a green Jersey candidate. He's a big fella to get over the mountains inside the time limit.

 

[Rita_Poon]

Trouble on the line there, shades of Sagan Cavendish. A couple squeezed into the barrier and had to back out. Naughty. Ewan pushed out.

 

[Rita_Poon]

Think it was,which led to my question does that suit the Tour that one of the French greats doesn't have his record broken by a Manxman? You'd have imagined that teams would have tripped over themselves to have an all-time record holder ride in Paris in their colours.

Merckx is Belgian, and at least a three times caught and banned drug cheat. Besides that I am onside with the idea that it suits the race owners to not have the most prolific stage winner being a Brit rider. If Cavendish was French he'd be a maximum decorated national hero.

 

[davids]

Merckx is Belgian, and at least a three times caught and banned drug cheat. Besides that I am onside with the idea that it suits the race owners to not have the most prolific stage winner being a Brit rider. If Cavendish was French he'd be a maximum decorated national hero.

He was born closer to the Netherlands than France but you'd never guess that speaking to any French cycling fans,they claimed him and even though Cavendish is Manx they'd see someone they'd term as Brit taking the record in "The Tour" as close to a national disaster.

 

[spectateur]

He was born closer to the Netherlands than France but you'd never guess that speaking to any French cycling fans,they claimed him and even though Cavendish is Manx they'd see someone they'd term as Brit taking the record in "The Tour" as close to a national disaster.

Hinault, Fignon, even Poulidor, and many others are thought of more highly by the French .

 

[jazzy]

Awful start to the Tour really boring stuff.

Wake me up next Friday.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

Merckx is Belgian, and at least a three times caught and banned drug cheat. Besides that I am onside with the idea that it suits the race owners to not have the most prolific stage winner being a Brit rider. If Cavendish was French he'd be a maximum decorated national hero.

For me having someone like Merckx holding the record is more deserving than a sprinter. Great though Cavendish is, he is "just" a sprinter.

 

[spectateur]

Awful start to the Tour really boring stuff.

Wake me up next Friday.

I tend to agree with you..
The old old traditional start of a tt followed by flat stages sprints and multiple crashes.
Get the potential gc men involved from stage 1 for me.

 

[spectateur]

Trouble on the line there, shades of Sagan Cavendish. A couple squeezed into the barrier and had to back out. Naughty. Ewan pushed out.

There's invariably trouble when a rider decides to try to get through an aparrent gap next to the rails.
Many instances of aggro in these circumstances.

 

[davids]

Hinault, Fignon, even Poulidor, and many others are thought of more highly by the French .

I lived for some years in France, believe me Eddie M is on a pedestal.

 

[spectateur]

I lived for some years in France, believe me Eddie M is on a pedestal.

Comme vous voulez mais j'habite la France depuis quinze ans.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

I tend to agree with you..
The old old traditional start of a tt followed by flat stages sprints and multiple crashes.
Get the potential gc men involved from stage 1 for me.

It's determined by geography to an extent though, isn't it? Italy tends to have hills earlier on because they have hills in more places. The north of France is pretty featureless, so a lot of stages that ride in those places are also unless you venture into Roubaix or TroBro territory off-road.