MinnMan

It's interesting this time of year, with many small and minor races attracting marquee pros who are focusing on gaining form but also winning. Quintana's fantastic descending attack in the Tour de Var the other day was a case in point - a race that attracted even less attention than the relatively minor Algarve and Ruta del Sol events that were happening in parallel.

Similarly, Michael Wood's Watt bomb today in the brutal finish to stage 2 of the Gran Camino was pretty impressive





Compare the 5 minute power to the top of the classic Training Peaks chart....

GrainBrain

What a beautiful race. I'm watching back through now having watched the final 35km live. Looking back to see Pogacars initial attack and descent. I agree with Wiggins - he's just freaking incredible! Such bike handling! Valverde looks to be back into it as well after that nasty Vuelta crash. Quinn Simmons was right up there also.

Snapped this screen shot...

GrainBrain

sincos

That was a tour de force. The compelling things about watching the guy is that Pogacar doesn't know what his limits are and he doesn't play safe. Attack downhill on a sketchy surface and solo 50 km for the win? Sure, why not. Maybe the most telling parts of the post race interview was when he said he wondered if he was going to blow up and have to walk to the finish, and looking back and wondering, "Where is everybody?". He did have a few things break his way: MVdP and Bernal were out, Alaphilippe got into a spectacular crash, van Aert wasn't there (though it's not likely any of them would have made a difference when he's on that form.) The tight, hilly, sometimes slippery parcours made it tough to organize a proper chase, and on the way back to Siena had several stretches of tailwind. All that said, that was a command performance.


Great result for Simmons! I think we'll see him on the top step of the podium before long, though maybe not here: as he said himself, 75kg guys like him are always going to have a hard time compared to lighter guys in the hills. Great effort by Asgreen: he was the only one who showed real urgency in the chase (except maybe Valverde, who was playing a cannier game).


Style points for Pog on his endo. Triple style points to Ala for adding a bike toss and swan dive belly flop. As a spectacle Strade Bianche doesn't disappoint.

MinnMan

Yes, Simmons did very well. Coming from a MTB/unpaved background, I think the Strada Bianche (or its newer Spanish cousin) are races where he has some advantages. Apart from those and domestique duties, I''m not sure if he's yet found his millieu in the peloton. He's too big to be a climber and he's not a sprinter. Maybe he'll follow in McNulty's footsteps and develop a long range attack, but I don't think he has McNulty's time trialing prowess. Maybe he'll evolve into a classics rider, doing tough work in the Ardennes?

sincos

Great result for Cav at Milan-Turin. A result that might cause problems at QS. It's almost as if they're treating him like a charity case. He's clearly not their future, but they can't exactly drop him, especially as he keeps winning races. It all feels a bit shabby. MSR is an unpredictable crapshoot so anything can happen, but I rather hope it won't be QuickStep.

This was Bouhanni's to lose and he did just that. Still, it's good to see the smaller teams punch it out with the big deep-pocket guys.

Great result for Girmay. Was not in a good position (Kristoff was their man anyway) but still finished an easy 10th and he's only 21. I expect to see good things from him in the coming years.

MinnMan

Bully for Cav, but give some credit to Morkov.. And if QS really were not fully supporting Cav, they wouldn't have also sent Morkov to the race.

Also, though Jakobsen is going to Milan San Remo, the chances for the sprinters don't look so good in that one. Pogacar is a more likely winner. So maybe Cav drew the better race opportunity.

diphthong

horrible prediction #6 of the new cycling year...wout ftw at msr. helluva jinx there to overcome.

sincos

While there's some truth to this, it's also a bit facile: nobody's chances look great at MSR. It's not selective enough to have any heavy favorites -- not even Pogacar. Pog's chances may be better than others' but they're still not great. That's part of the draw of MSR. Take Pog out of the picture and Cavendish (or any other sprinter) would still have a better chance at Milan Turin than MSR.

MinnMan

"facile" is a bit rough for this forum, isn't it?

Pogacar or WvA or whomever, my original point stands and you seem to agree with it - sprinters had a better chance at Milano-Torino than they will likely have at MSR. Cav being sent to Milano-Torino may have been drawing the better setup than Jakobsen going to MSR. And how do you think Jakobsen feels about his chances at MSR without Morkov there as his leadout?

slcbob

The bar for facile is pretty darn high around here.

Rumors of Pog taking a flyer from distance well before the Pogg and the Cipressa. Folks really sticking their neck out with wva predictions. Ganna doing his best Spartacus imitation. Lotto and QS aiming to keep it together enough on the Poggio to pull it back together for their fast men. It'll be an interesting race. I'll have to catch the re-run, working Saturday morning and mid-day.

GrainBrain

Apparently Ganna was sick after Tirreno yet still going to ride, though it sounds like he's not really recovered. Huge bummer, I was really wanting to see what he could do!

MinnMan

MvdP is in. I don't think he's there to be a threat - more to ride himself into shape, I'd imagine.

Glad that he's back, though.

GrainBrain

​​​​​​I dunno he's the rider that just lets it fly if he's feeling something, no worries about the logistics of it or thoughts on how to finish. I could see Pog hesitate and MvdP roll the dice on it. Hopefully exciting!

Who's the better climber, Jakobsen or Cav?

slcbob

A lot of stomach flu going around with some last minute drops.

MinnMan

Thus far, Pogacar seems to have race savvy beyond his years. I don't recall many cases when he got caught out owing to hesitation or misreading the race dynamics.

And yeah, if MvdP thinks he's got good legs, he may take a stab at it. But it's a 300 km race, and it seems doubtful that he's got enough miles under his belt to pull something off at that distance.

sincos

No offense intended, and I certainly agree Milan Turin is an easier race for sprinters than MSR. But if you ask the sprinters, chance at MSR or better chance at Milan Turin, I suspect most would go for MSR. But I don't know. I understand that QS have committed to Jakobsen an must support him the point I was trying to make is that QS could at the very least talk to Cavendish.

I do like Pog saying MSR can lack excitement unless you make some yourself -- I guess we'll see what that means soon enough.

GrainBrain

The stars are aligning for Gilbert to be the GOAT

GrainBrain

Hell yeah.

diphthong

shoulda known mohoric would take the cake. he absolutely excels in those ridiculously long stages/races.

slcbob

Another Slovenian to be reckoned with. This time a crafty one with a dropper post.

What's in the water there?

I though Rob Hatch was having an aneurysm when that mechanical-ish thing happened in the final flat.

MinnMan

I wuz wrong.

GrainBrain

I'm super excited he's back into it! Going to be really interesting if he rides the full Giro/Tour - but he has to learn restraint right? It seems those GTs are so attritional it would wreck his punchy form.

GrainBrain

I dunno about his GC prospects, mentally I think he's there. Today he looked fantastic at Catalunya; mountain finish at Boí Taüll. He sprinted alongside Higuita and Almeida - but if he can't TT he's automatically out. It'd be more exciting to see him go for the king of mountains.

MinnMan

I don't really want to start a new thread on this, so even though this thread was supposed to be done (we need another leading up to the Giro - maybe I'll start one), I'll put this here.

It seems that maybe Sagan has long Covid? https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/pet...lems-continue/

So many in the peloton have been sick with covid and with other things. Considering how young and healthy they are, it's sobering.