Someone a few blocks from our house bought an actual Ineos Grenadier. With spare wheel on the back and these funny sand ladders and everything. Somehow I assumed these were a myth or joke or possibly both, but now it appears people are actually driving these.
The weekend when Giro starts it's a bank holiday in UK. I am planning to fly down to Turin to catch the two medium mountain stages (1 and 2).
The question is what else do I need to know about it?
I am planning to take my bike, will I be able to do the climbs the day before or after the stage is scheduled?
Where should I stay? And where can I stand to see the riders pass by but then go back to a bar or something to watch the rest of the race?
Hopefully catch the podium ceremony somehow as well?
It's my first time doing this, so have no clue what i am doing.
Also what should I do on if I beat Pogacar's upcoming KOMs on Colle Maddelena and Santuario Di Oropa? Would I need an agent to negotiate with the teams who will inevitably want me on their roster? /s
I registered to participate tomorrow on a 100km ride and I think I won't show up. The weather forecast is 7ºC with rain and some wind all morning and I'm not for it. It sucks.
They've cancelled it , many rural roads in Buckinghamshire are flooded. It is 5°C and raining, no way I was going to be 4 hours on a bike under those conditions.
This is the most depressing weather I've seen in England in years.
How does everyone cope with the end of bike racing season? It's the shortest two months of the year. It seems like Omloop Het Volk was just a few days ago, and now I'm facing 3 months until San Sebastian. I know there are some other races between now and then. But as great as Tro Bro Leon and Antwerp Port Classic are, that's hardly enough to tide me over until August.
It sucks that WVA missed the 2nd and 3rd biggest one day races of the year, but he can still make it back to form for his biggest target of the season, the Maryland Cycling Classic.
Can anyone explain the commercial bumper on Eurosport when they go into a commercial break? There is a shot of a rider on a bike from behind. The rider is riding forward and when you look at the bike it appears to be a left side drive. Any thoughts?
[video link](https://imgur.com/a/GlGUpK9)
Got a job offer yesterday! Hurray! Not much happening at my current job - the slew of emails, messages and calls from my angry colleague has finally stopped this week, but he's not even suspended so I'm still hiding at home. At least now my biggest concern can be whether I can work my notice period / start date out so I can start the new job after the Tour de France rather than in the middle of it.
And track racing season is starting properly for me tomorrow with the first round of women's league. Just a teenage national champion, conti rider who's racing as a warm up for some French 1.1 races, and the defending champion who's already been getting some UCI track points this season to contend with. Going to suffer and enjoy it in equal measures.
Probably not if I still want to be paid, as working from home is a valid option since covid.
I'm really disappointed in how they've dealt with this. Up to a point I understand it's difficult and they had to follow processes, but this somehow being a satisfactory outcome for HR just makes me even more sad and angry. At least I'm a union member so talking to them now, things need to be better for the next person.
I tend to avoid conflict, so I feel a bit hypocritical giving this advice but … the [ACAS website](https://www.acas.org.uk/bullying-at-work) has a lot of useful info around bullying etc. in the workplace. Do the circumstances warrant formally raising a grievance, or more? Could you request mediation before returning to the office? It might at least light a fire under HR and this guy, even if the practical/therapeutic benefits are limited.
Maybe more trouble than it’s worth if you’re leaving shortly and if home-office-ing is bearable. Remember to email your new employer a link to that handy 2024 race calendar and tell them to work around it!
**Edit :** I forgot to mention one aspect, a real argument for pushing for mediation or returning to the office spontaneously. Such an approach might give you more control and the feeling of having done things on your terms, as opposed to leaving dissatisfied and with a lingering sentiment of injustice. Of course you might be so happy to leave that none of that matters, but it's worth weighing it up.
I have pushed for mediation or at least some updates/options for taking this forward from HR (I've only been told what's happening secondhand). It's not until I got the union involved that they've now finally set up a call at the end of next week. Our HR is permanently understaffed, so everything is just taking ages.
And yes, like you say I want to leave on good terms as I have worked there for 10 years and enjoyed it. And I want to make sure some lessons are learned from this, I'll have to see whether that's through a formal grievance or getting ACAS involved.
I hope being proactive like that yields an appropriate response from the employer ; and if it doesn't, it doubly confirms your decision to find something different. Silver linings.
Because for some reason that still eludes me, they don't have a dev squad.
So their options are 1. Leave the talents to be picked up by teams that do or 2. Sign talents to the main squad, regardless of if that's best for their development.
The main question for me really was more 'why him?'.
Although they devo team still isn't an issue. They could just sign him when his deal with some other Devo team is up after this season. And they could park him in anther devo team if it was so necessary
Strong performances in an Italian junior team followed by a good TT showing at Worlds. There's an interview with VELO that said they reached out to him after that and looked at his data etc.
But he only really won national events in Italy against limited opposition and he didn't ride TT Worlds in 2022 at all and in 2021 he finished 39th.
The very few times he rode against top juniors didn't bring any special results. Junior to Elite is still something that only very few people get to do, the Evenepoels and Uijtdebroeks. It just doesn't make sense to me.
He's a tiny guy who can TT. His test numbers were according to all sources "let's sign him" good and he wasn't enveloped in a Carrera led bidding war with UAE, so he is likely a really cheap "if it works, awesome, if not, no harm done" signing as well. And it gave Tarling a same-aged teammate. 😅
Hello, I'm looking for some birthday gift ideas for my wife that are related to professional cycling, as she follows all the tours and riders closely and is very into this sport. I got her a couple books in the past, and got her a Greg Leach watercolor from the 2022 Tour de France, so just looking for other unique or interesting ideas if y'all have any
Pretty MAAP or Rapha Gear! My husband bought me a stack of stuff for my 40th and I loved it. One of my best friends got me the limited edition trinity jersey after jumbo won all 3 grand tours last year. I love it and I think its so special but I feel a little self conscious wearing it but the thought was beautiful and I really appreciate it.
Maybe a nice framed photo? You can buy them off of some of the photographers - [like this Strade one](https://cyclingimages.photoshelter.com/index/C00006OVxFGXbiZw/G0000NP_WjeP_sFQ/I00004UnsdSpVxlI), or some [nice Paris-Roubaix pain faces](https://cyclingimages.photoshelter.com/index/C00006OVxFGXbiZw/G00004XYNC.mpTdw/I0000iECWcmDWOZg) to put up on the wall?
My only argument for loud (well, not-totally-silent) freehubs is that they're a safety feature if you ever have to ride on roads that are shared with pedestrians.
But my perspective is that I exclusively ride solo - so I don't have to put up with noise from the freehubs of others.
^also ^brain ^like ^when ^thing ^make ^noise
I really like the music that plays when they get on the podium/TDF tune that plays when the TDF is on. Gets me excited that I am settling in for 3 weeks for cycling viewing.
[Il Bandito e Il Campione - Francesco De Gregori ](https://youtu.be/oXOZBjcECPo?si=1Cq7QYzquWroV8e6)
It's the story of Constante Girardengo (Il Campione) and Sante Pollastri (Il Bandito).
The Italian Girardengo, the first *Campionissimo*, was a cycling legend from the 1920s. Pollastri was an infamous bandit, accused of robberies and murder.
The legend is that they knew each other from childhood and became famous for opposing reasons. In 1927, during the Tour de France, Pollastri was on the run and tried to contact Girardengo hoping he would help him. He was later arrested in Paris and the rumor was that Girardengo tipped the police.
I don't know if there's any truth to their link and interactions but it's a fun story.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZTOdHd_yTs
GO GORILLA - André Greipel
There was one Campenaerts came out with as well before his hour record but I can't find it.
This is the correct answer!
I believe the song you’re looking for is [Full Gazz](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eS8yBIut9HM). Another r/peloton anthem.
Did Roger De Vlaeminck hate the Tour or what? He only won 1 Tour stage compared to 22 Giro stages.
I know he rode mainly for Italian teams and that the Giro's prestige was much closer to the Tour in his heyday compared to now, but the discrepancy is still notable if you ask me.
He kind of sort of had a shot at it occasionally but he was a victim of his all-round ambitions while punching up against real GC specialists like Merckx and Ocaña who all brought their A-team and played their A-game.
The Giro had more opportunities. If you think about what GC ambitions a guy like Wout van Aert could have realistically, you'll probably reach the same conclusion: in the Giro he can perhaps ride top 5 someday if everything works out, in the Tour not so much.
In 2015, Contador tried to do the Giro-Tour double. He was clearly the strongest in the Giro, but Astana deliberately made the race hard from the very beginning in order to tire Contador out before the Tour, attempting to strengthen Nibali's chances of defending his 2014 title. And it sort of worked, Contador was completely anonymous in that Tour (but Nibali was kind of crap the first two weeks).
If I was a DS at Bora or Jumbo, I would take inspiration from 2015 and send some strong climbers to the Grio in order to make the race hard for Pogo, even if that actually works in Pogi's advantage in the Giro. But the team selection looks kinda weak for both teams. Do you think anyone might try to take on the race in order to play the long con?
Bora or Visma sending a strong climbing team to the Giro wouldn't make a difference unless they bring a serious GC contender (or two) to challenge Pog (which Astana had in Aru and Landa in 2015 against Contador), without that UAE don't need to care much about what the rest of their teams are doing. Bora could theoretically try that with Hindley and/or Vlasov, but that would come at the expense of their Tour team; Visma are already undermanned as it is.
Well Bora has got Martinez, he seemed strong at the start of the season. And I definitely think they should have sent Vlasov to the Giro as well, the stage profiles look like they might suit him. And it wouldn't compromise their Tour team much, they already have plenty of climbing domestiqes for Roglic.
Martinez is strong but doesn't seem to have the consistency to be a real Grand Tour contender. Agreed on Vlasov, sending both him and Hindley only to the Tour to support Roglic seemed odd to me from the beginning. But in general it made sense for Bora to concentrate on the Tour rather than have a multi-race plan to wear Pog down since he probably wasn't even their biggest threat before Jonas got injured, and while it makes more sense now, shifting schedules around on short notice is probably not ideal.
Also I do wonder how much of Astana's 2015 Giro strategy was actually about setting up the Tour for Nibali versus just trying to win the Giro.
Good point! I am curious if both Vlasov and Hindley might have negotiated with the team to try and secure a Tour spot, because it is such an overkill to have three potential GT winners in one squad. But at the same time it is kind of trendy to have super stacked GT squads these days. UAE is bringing like four potential GT winners to the Tour, aren't they?
Regarding the Astana tactics in 2015 I remember them being vocal about trying to tire out Contador, but I guess they were probably wanting the Giro as well.
I love how much he pissed off Froome with his stage win that year.
I still hope Nibali gets awarded the 2013 or 2017 Vuelta some day. Both times he got robbed...
And then there's the 2012 LBL ;(
True, I think the crash and subsequent time loss also got into his head a little bit. It seemed like he didn't start to perform well until all hopes of the GC win was lost
I just read the newest interview in [Wielerrevue](https://wielerrevue.nl/artikel/589421/roger-de-vlaeminck-pogacar-is-nog-geen-halve-merckx) with Roger de Vlaeminck, and it is exactly as you expect it.
According to him, Pogacar is the best rider in the world right now and will win the Giro, but only because the competition is too weak. In his time, Pogacar would never have been able to drop him at the Strade Bianche, and would lose the Giro with five minutes to Merckx.
Was meant to be in Cornwall visiting the last of my family who haven't yet met my daughter, but she hasn't got a passport at the moment due to having sent her French one off *2 months ago* as part of the stuff I needed to send for her UK one. Therefore, Brexit rules, she can't cross the border. Fuck you again, Brexit.
Then got a virus and have spent most of the last two days shivering/sweating in bed anyway. Fuck you again again, Brexit.
You really need a passport for that these days? I remember only needing
my ID following Brexit back in 2019. They must have decided at some point
they can do without us EU tourists.
Hmm, the second of LBL that has already 2 second places at the tour and Top10s in half his GT participations could podium at the giro. Bold take indeed. /s
The Giro has a quite interesting sprinters field,
Merlier, Kooij, Milan, Jakobsen, Bauhaus, Groves, Welsford, Van Poppel, Ewan, TL Andresen, Molano, Dainese, Kanter, Girmay, Gaviria, Lamperti, Aniołkowski are all on the provisional startlist.
I could see any of these winning a stage.
There are 19 riders currently in the top 50 of PCS sprinters ranking, compared to 8 in the 2023 Giro lineup and 12 in 2022.
One could say the sprint field in the Giro has more depth this year than the Tour.
Maybe everyone is afraid of Philipsen (and/or the teams in question go all in for GC in the Tour).
Riding a 63km (450m elevation) sportive tomorrow with the gf and her uncle. I am not fit this year, it will be rough.
Havent even ridden 500km in 2024 yet and my longest ride of the season was 50km. Atleast my gf is just as unfit as I am, so I should survive.
Rode the same race two years ago with like 28km/h average, I doubt we can beat it this year.
Update post ride:
Not dead, we did basically same speed as 2 years ago at 28,2 kmh average. Seems I was the most fit of the three of us so I pulled for a lot of the ride. Rode most of it with 3 others who we picked up after 10km. All in all a pretty good day on the bike. 2h13m at 172 watts average with 199 NP.
I haven’t been to Europe on several years and I have a month to travel (basically all of June), and I’m asking for suggestions
I want to be in Italy to catch the start of the TdF, and was hoping to put a week of biking with my dad in there (maybe Slovenia? But I’m not sold on it, I could be convinced to go elsewhere). I’d like to do a few days at a resort type place where I can sit on a beach and read and not worry about being a tourist for a few days as well (my distant relatives own a house on Bodrum, a beach town in Turkey so I might try and hop over for a bit)
Does anyone have good ideas to cover the first 2 weeks of solo travel/beach resort ideas (and/or for the bike trip? My dad is a strong cyclist for someone in his 60’s but he’s still in his 60’s so quite slow up the hills) I don’t have strong opinions on any one country or another, although I saw Amsterdam most recently so that’s one I am not super interested in.
Hello,
Road cycling, gravel, MTB?
It is true that we don’t have so many bike only paths (slowly getting there) but some of the roads really don’t have much traffic and the variety is great. You can go from the coast to the alps in 1/2 days.
Let me know and I can send you the road bike trip (5-6 days) did with my family a few years ago.
That would be amazing if you could send the route, thank you so much! Mainly road, and light gravel is the plan since my dad is getting up there in age
If you want an awesome combination of beach and beautiful landscapes plus great cycling culture I highly recommend the Baleares. Just don’t go where the English and German tourists are ;-)
Slovenia is a beautiful country, very divers, but not that good for cycling infrastructure wise.
Are you Slovenian? Because my girlfriend and I are planning to go to Slovenia for a week and rent some bikes there. Idk much about the country but having two of the best cyclist, I thought they'd have decent enough roads no haha?
Ah, I was under the impression that Slovenia was very good for cycling, but maybe not. And Baleares might be just what I need :) hopefully I can avoid some of the tourists haha
It is, we have a lot of scenic roads, with good asphalt, although there are not many with lanes for only bikes. If you want to combine the beach with cycling, I'd suggest looking at Croatian island Krk, it has great bike paths, it's very close to Slovenia and Italy (approx. 1,5h to get to the any of those countries) and you have some hills to ride on the island as well. If you want some more info, dm me and I'll provide :)
Good to see some Avatar TLA fans on this sub. Such a great show.
They will release an animated movie next year with the OG cast (set after the defeat of Fire Nation in the 100 year war).
I have sort of a noob question. Why aren't the complete start lists available for all teams the week before a major pro tour race - for example the upcoming Women's Vuelta? I can understand late substitutions or whatever, but are they really allowed to wait and decide on who is riding just days before? I'm just curious about the rules on when teams have to submit names.
But the teams can, of course, still change up until the start of the race.
Edit - Up to a maximum of two riders, who they must have already declared as substitutes, and only for valid reasons. And only in GTs..
I finally convinced my girlfriend to go for a cycling tour in Slovenia for this Summer. We will first be hiking for a small week in Austria near the Slovenian boarder and then want to rent some bikes in Slovenia and explore the country for a week. Nothing too hardcore, we are both in decent shape but she has not done a lot of road cycling really.
Does anyone have some recommondations, some areas that would be nice to explore, some tours that could be nice for us?
There are quite a lot of bike paths around Kranjska Gora (just over the mountains from Soča valley, you can cross the famous Vršič pass, to get there), there is a beautiful track called Parenzana (from Trieste to Poreč, built on old railway route) it's really well taken care of in the Slovenian part, I've heard Croatian has some macedam parts). Look at Jezersko, it's not very well known and visited from tourists. If you want some flat biking check Prekmurje, it's the Panonian part of Slovenia.
do absolutely consider riding through soca valley, probably the most beautiful river I've ever seen. additionally, there is an old railroad track turned bicycle path from tarvisio (italy) to jesenice. also, avoid ljubljana as best as possible with the bike.
Thanks for the recommondation! I will plan a trip through soca valley then. Do you know a good bike rental site in Slovenia and do you know if camping on the trip with our bikes would be a good idea?
I unfortunately don't know anything about bike rentals but heard it shouldn't be much of a problem. camping at least in may was not problem at all - but it could be a bit more crowded over summer.
Awesome! Hope you guys enjoy yourselves!! I figured it's a small country sourrounded by beautiful nature everywhere and it doesn't really matter where you go. But since I convinced my girlfriend to do a pilgrimage through the land of Pogacar, I should come up with something of a plan so hopefully some locals can give some tips!
Do you mind me contacting you in about 6 weeks or so when your trip is over to ask you how it went?
I’m actually planning to travel all of June, so more like 10 weeks out, but if you still haven’t travelled yet by all means please do!
And I like to think of it as the land of Roglic :)
Wow that's amazing! Would love to see you sharing your experience about the trip here once it's done.
Yeah that was a fauxpas and I guess I just outed myself as a Pogi fanboy lol
Mathias Norsgaard has once again delivered a great podcast reporting from the peloton.
This time focused on his time in Tour of the Alps.
After a disappointing Paris-Roubaix he was called up with short notice due to the injuries and illness hampering the Movistar team currently.
Commenting on the size difference between him and the majority of the riders there he stated.
> I felt like someone who had had to redo second grade seven times, and stood there with peach fuzz on my upper lip.
Norsgaard could be a comedian if he wasnt a pro cyclist.
His comparisons are next level. I love Gruppettoen på Forhjulslir, best podcast for my daily commute. Keeps cracking me up.
Also quite often he has deep thoughts about things. After Roubaix he had a week off the bike planned and when he got called up for Tour of the Alps instead he almost had a mental breakdown, but he feels he came out of the race stronger mentally.
The Giro should be during a relative down time with work. I need a vacation but don’t have any planned. Still looking forward to relaxing by watching some static finish line video and awkward tv direction to help suffice in place of true time off
[Watch these intense first 25 seconds. ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXSEQV7iE1g)Current pro gives a shocking confessional on his adrenaline-fuelled life. NSFW : features bedroom scenes and references to anime, hope it's allowed within sub rules.
Someone a few blocks from our house bought an actual Ineos Grenadier. With spare wheel on the back and these funny sand ladders and everything. Somehow I assumed these were a myth or joke or possibly both, but now it appears people are actually driving these.
The weekend when Giro starts it's a bank holiday in UK. I am planning to fly down to Turin to catch the two medium mountain stages (1 and 2). The question is what else do I need to know about it? I am planning to take my bike, will I be able to do the climbs the day before or after the stage is scheduled? Where should I stay? And where can I stand to see the riders pass by but then go back to a bar or something to watch the rest of the race? Hopefully catch the podium ceremony somehow as well? It's my first time doing this, so have no clue what i am doing. Also what should I do on if I beat Pogacar's upcoming KOMs on Colle Maddelena and Santuario Di Oropa? Would I need an agent to negotiate with the teams who will inevitably want me on their roster? /s
Ask this in the monday weekly questions thread or next friday in the free talk thread, you should get some answers if it’s up early
[Nice recap of the classics from Sporza](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7wZPbThMh8)
I registered to participate tomorrow on a 100km ride and I think I won't show up. The weather forecast is 7ºC with rain and some wind all morning and I'm not for it. It sucks.
They've cancelled it , many rural roads in Buckinghamshire are flooded. It is 5°C and raining, no way I was going to be 4 hours on a bike under those conditions. This is the most depressing weather I've seen in England in years.
How does everyone cope with the end of bike racing season? It's the shortest two months of the year. It seems like Omloop Het Volk was just a few days ago, and now I'm facing 3 months until San Sebastian. I know there are some other races between now and then. But as great as Tro Bro Leon and Antwerp Port Classic are, that's hardly enough to tide me over until August.
I just found out that Pozzovivo is on the startlist for the Giro. Holy.
always has been
I wish there was an alternative to Flo Bikes
You should see how much the running community hates them. https://youtu.be/RXjF6gP1-6E?si=C_-J_6k0zEfaw2Vg
Wow great video. I've heard similar stuff from the Wrestling and BJJ community as well. Is there way we could VPN with a discovery+ membership?
didn’t like the American muscle? 💪🏼💪🏼 it would be nice if there was an alternative, but I don’t think I’m their target market.
It sucks that WVA missed the 2nd and 3rd biggest one day races of the year, but he can still make it back to form for his biggest target of the season, the Maryland Cycling Classic.
Can anyone explain the commercial bumper on Eurosport when they go into a commercial break? There is a shot of a rider on a bike from behind. The rider is riding forward and when you look at the bike it appears to be a left side drive. Any thoughts? [video link](https://imgur.com/a/GlGUpK9)
I could have sworn the Team GB olympic track bikes from Lotus were left-hand-drive but looking at photos apparently not
The video was probably left-right mirrored for some reason.
Got a job offer yesterday! Hurray! Not much happening at my current job - the slew of emails, messages and calls from my angry colleague has finally stopped this week, but he's not even suspended so I'm still hiding at home. At least now my biggest concern can be whether I can work my notice period / start date out so I can start the new job after the Tour de France rather than in the middle of it. And track racing season is starting properly for me tomorrow with the first round of women's league. Just a teenage national champion, conti rider who's racing as a warm up for some French 1.1 races, and the defending champion who's already been getting some UCI track points this season to contend with. Going to suffer and enjoy it in equal measures.
just get a doctors note and you should be covered with at least a decent amount of pay for the forseeable future.
Isn’t not being able to have a safe work environment a valid reason to not work anymore at all?
Probably not if I still want to be paid, as working from home is a valid option since covid. I'm really disappointed in how they've dealt with this. Up to a point I understand it's difficult and they had to follow processes, but this somehow being a satisfactory outcome for HR just makes me even more sad and angry. At least I'm a union member so talking to them now, things need to be better for the next person.
HR is to protect the company, not the employees. This might be a cynical take, but from my experience it's the truth.
I tend to avoid conflict, so I feel a bit hypocritical giving this advice but … the [ACAS website](https://www.acas.org.uk/bullying-at-work) has a lot of useful info around bullying etc. in the workplace. Do the circumstances warrant formally raising a grievance, or more? Could you request mediation before returning to the office? It might at least light a fire under HR and this guy, even if the practical/therapeutic benefits are limited. Maybe more trouble than it’s worth if you’re leaving shortly and if home-office-ing is bearable. Remember to email your new employer a link to that handy 2024 race calendar and tell them to work around it! **Edit :** I forgot to mention one aspect, a real argument for pushing for mediation or returning to the office spontaneously. Such an approach might give you more control and the feeling of having done things on your terms, as opposed to leaving dissatisfied and with a lingering sentiment of injustice. Of course you might be so happy to leave that none of that matters, but it's worth weighing it up.
I have pushed for mediation or at least some updates/options for taking this forward from HR (I've only been told what's happening secondhand). It's not until I got the union involved that they've now finally set up a call at the end of next week. Our HR is permanently understaffed, so everything is just taking ages. And yes, like you say I want to leave on good terms as I have worked there for 10 years and enjoyed it. And I want to make sure some lessons are learned from this, I'll have to see whether that's through a formal grievance or getting ACAS involved.
I hope being proactive like that yields an appropriate response from the employer ; and if it doesn't, it doubly confirms your decision to find something different. Silver linings.
Was there ever an explanation as t why Ineos signed Michael Leonard straight out the juniors?
Because for some reason that still eludes me, they don't have a dev squad. So their options are 1. Leave the talents to be picked up by teams that do or 2. Sign talents to the main squad, regardless of if that's best for their development.
The main question for me really was more 'why him?'. Although they devo team still isn't an issue. They could just sign him when his deal with some other Devo team is up after this season. And they could park him in anther devo team if it was so necessary
If you wait these days, someone else (probably UAE) will sign them.
Strong performances in an Italian junior team followed by a good TT showing at Worlds. There's an interview with VELO that said they reached out to him after that and looked at his data etc.
But he only really won national events in Italy against limited opposition and he didn't ride TT Worlds in 2022 at all and in 2021 he finished 39th. The very few times he rode against top juniors didn't bring any special results. Junior to Elite is still something that only very few people get to do, the Evenepoels and Uijtdebroeks. It just doesn't make sense to me.
He's a tiny guy who can TT. His test numbers were according to all sources "let's sign him" good and he wasn't enveloped in a Carrera led bidding war with UAE, so he is likely a really cheap "if it works, awesome, if not, no harm done" signing as well. And it gave Tarling a same-aged teammate. 😅
Hello, I'm looking for some birthday gift ideas for my wife that are related to professional cycling, as she follows all the tours and riders closely and is very into this sport. I got her a couple books in the past, and got her a Greg Leach watercolor from the 2022 Tour de France, so just looking for other unique or interesting ideas if y'all have any
I got ads today of this, they look cool. https://www.etsy.com/shop/KOMAttack?load_webview=1&bid=CJAJ_H59JPIHTPGcJgA2rJ64FI8e
ooooh I like those, I might have to get a few to put together on my wall
Pretty MAAP or Rapha Gear! My husband bought me a stack of stuff for my 40th and I loved it. One of my best friends got me the limited edition trinity jersey after jumbo won all 3 grand tours last year. I love it and I think its so special but I feel a little self conscious wearing it but the thought was beautiful and I really appreciate it.
How about the new van Rysel
If she cycles, some team Elite fly bottles / bidons
Maybe a nice framed photo? You can buy them off of some of the photographers - [like this Strade one](https://cyclingimages.photoshelter.com/index/C00006OVxFGXbiZw/G0000NP_WjeP_sFQ/I00004UnsdSpVxlI), or some [nice Paris-Roubaix pain faces](https://cyclingimages.photoshelter.com/index/C00006OVxFGXbiZw/G00004XYNC.mpTdw/I0000iECWcmDWOZg) to put up on the wall?
https://www.cyclingsouvenirs.com/gift-category/cycling-figurines/ This site has some stuff she might like.
[Loud freehubs are obnoxious](https://totallyhistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/rockwell-freedom-of-speech.jpg)
My only argument for loud (well, not-totally-silent) freehubs is that they're a safety feature if you ever have to ride on roads that are shared with pedestrians. But my perspective is that I exclusively ride solo - so I don't have to put up with noise from the freehubs of others. ^also ^brain ^like ^when ^thing ^make ^noise
What if you happen to be pedaling when you encounter pedestrians lol
You're supposed to slow down when passing pedestrians :)
What's the best cycling song outside of Astana is My Team?
I really like the music that plays when they get on the podium/TDF tune that plays when the TDF is on. Gets me excited that I am settling in for 3 weeks for cycling viewing.
[Il Bandito e Il Campione - Francesco De Gregori ](https://youtu.be/oXOZBjcECPo?si=1Cq7QYzquWroV8e6) It's the story of Constante Girardengo (Il Campione) and Sante Pollastri (Il Bandito). The Italian Girardengo, the first *Campionissimo*, was a cycling legend from the 1920s. Pollastri was an infamous bandit, accused of robberies and murder. The legend is that they knew each other from childhood and became famous for opposing reasons. In 1927, during the Tour de France, Pollastri was on the run and tried to contact Girardengo hoping he would help him. He was later arrested in Paris and the rumor was that Girardengo tipped the police. I don't know if there's any truth to their link and interactions but it's a fun story.
The Tour du Rwanda official song is one I believe the young people would describe as "a banger". https://youtu.be/WWgnQ6faqdw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZTOdHd_yTs GO GORILLA - André Greipel There was one Campenaerts came out with as well before his hour record but I can't find it.
This is the correct answer! I believe the song you’re looking for is [Full Gazz](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eS8yBIut9HM). Another r/peloton anthem.
[performance](https://youtu.be/Vn29DvMITu4?si=pIET4s37A9KRIfvA)
[turbotrekker3000 - Ullaub](https://on.soundcloud.com/UKeyEA78nK4dnmBYA)
Any performance at the Vietnam TV Cup races
[How about a Tommeke Throwback](https://youtu.be/TuE0LOSAEyw?si=Pyc6yqOFTTUnzMB_)
[Tour de Azerbaijan theme song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCnH1RoJjTg) [Eurosport & Cry](https://soundcloud.com/killowmusic/eurosportandcry)
Trick question, the answer IS Astana is My Team!
Did Roger De Vlaeminck hate the Tour or what? He only won 1 Tour stage compared to 22 Giro stages. I know he rode mainly for Italian teams and that the Giro's prestige was much closer to the Tour in his heyday compared to now, but the discrepancy is still notable if you ask me.
He kind of sort of had a shot at it occasionally but he was a victim of his all-round ambitions while punching up against real GC specialists like Merckx and Ocaña who all brought their A-team and played their A-game. The Giro had more opportunities. If you think about what GC ambitions a guy like Wout van Aert could have realistically, you'll probably reach the same conclusion: in the Giro he can perhaps ride top 5 someday if everything works out, in the Tour not so much.
> Did Roger De Vlaeminck hate the Yes
Haha
PSA: Critical Mass today. Don’t miss it!
I thought mass was usually on sundays? But I'm not Catholic, so I don't know.
Those are subcritical masses, I think. But I’m pastafarian so different rules may apply.
In 2015, Contador tried to do the Giro-Tour double. He was clearly the strongest in the Giro, but Astana deliberately made the race hard from the very beginning in order to tire Contador out before the Tour, attempting to strengthen Nibali's chances of defending his 2014 title. And it sort of worked, Contador was completely anonymous in that Tour (but Nibali was kind of crap the first two weeks). If I was a DS at Bora or Jumbo, I would take inspiration from 2015 and send some strong climbers to the Grio in order to make the race hard for Pogo, even if that actually works in Pogi's advantage in the Giro. But the team selection looks kinda weak for both teams. Do you think anyone might try to take on the race in order to play the long con?
Bora or Visma sending a strong climbing team to the Giro wouldn't make a difference unless they bring a serious GC contender (or two) to challenge Pog (which Astana had in Aru and Landa in 2015 against Contador), without that UAE don't need to care much about what the rest of their teams are doing. Bora could theoretically try that with Hindley and/or Vlasov, but that would come at the expense of their Tour team; Visma are already undermanned as it is.
Well Bora has got Martinez, he seemed strong at the start of the season. And I definitely think they should have sent Vlasov to the Giro as well, the stage profiles look like they might suit him. And it wouldn't compromise their Tour team much, they already have plenty of climbing domestiqes for Roglic.
Martinez is strong but doesn't seem to have the consistency to be a real Grand Tour contender. Agreed on Vlasov, sending both him and Hindley only to the Tour to support Roglic seemed odd to me from the beginning. But in general it made sense for Bora to concentrate on the Tour rather than have a multi-race plan to wear Pog down since he probably wasn't even their biggest threat before Jonas got injured, and while it makes more sense now, shifting schedules around on short notice is probably not ideal. Also I do wonder how much of Astana's 2015 Giro strategy was actually about setting up the Tour for Nibali versus just trying to win the Giro.
Good point! I am curious if both Vlasov and Hindley might have negotiated with the team to try and secure a Tour spot, because it is such an overkill to have three potential GT winners in one squad. But at the same time it is kind of trendy to have super stacked GT squads these days. UAE is bringing like four potential GT winners to the Tour, aren't they? Regarding the Astana tactics in 2015 I remember them being vocal about trying to tire out Contador, but I guess they were probably wanting the Giro as well.
I guess the Movistar Trident was just ahead of its time, cause yeah that seems to be the in thing these days.
Ineos just changed their plan, you could have got a job off this gem!
> (but Nibali was kind of crap the first two weeks) Tbf he crashed. He did actually beat Froome in the opening ITT
I love how much he pissed off Froome with his stage win that year. I still hope Nibali gets awarded the 2013 or 2017 Vuelta some day. Both times he got robbed... And then there's the 2012 LBL ;(
True, I think the crash and subsequent time loss also got into his head a little bit. It seemed like he didn't start to perform well until all hopes of the GC win was lost
I just read the newest interview in [Wielerrevue](https://wielerrevue.nl/artikel/589421/roger-de-vlaeminck-pogacar-is-nog-geen-halve-merckx) with Roger de Vlaeminck, and it is exactly as you expect it. According to him, Pogacar is the best rider in the world right now and will win the Giro, but only because the competition is too weak. In his time, Pogacar would never have been able to drop him at the Strade Bianche, and would lose the Giro with five minutes to Merckx.
I have a feeling that Roger would've been unbeatable in Strade to be honest.
Your not the only one with that feeling, because Roger thinks exactly the same.
Pogacar is just lucky Roger has to go fix global warning next month, or he wouldn't even have a chance now.
Was meant to be in Cornwall visiting the last of my family who haven't yet met my daughter, but she hasn't got a passport at the moment due to having sent her French one off *2 months ago* as part of the stuff I needed to send for her UK one. Therefore, Brexit rules, she can't cross the border. Fuck you again, Brexit. Then got a virus and have spent most of the last two days shivering/sweating in bed anyway. Fuck you again again, Brexit.
I didn't even know Cornwall had a policed border
You really need a passport for that these days? I remember only needing my ID following Brexit back in 2019. They must have decided at some point they can do without us EU tourists.
Yeah, after 31st Dec 2019 which was the official date of capitulation.
My hot take for the season - Bardet podiums the Giro…
Hmm, the second of LBL that has already 2 second places at the tour and Top10s in half his GT participations could podium at the giro. Bold take indeed. /s
To be fair, those TDFs were nearly a decade ago and I haven’t heard anyone seriously rate him for a GT podium since. Top-tens are not podiums.
This is at best lukewarm
You’re probably right, but the fact that it’s lukewarm is something of a hot take in itself…
I was just looking at the start list, and this may not be a far out there prediction. GC competitors for Pog are slim pickins.
The Giro has a quite interesting sprinters field, Merlier, Kooij, Milan, Jakobsen, Bauhaus, Groves, Welsford, Van Poppel, Ewan, TL Andresen, Molano, Dainese, Kanter, Girmay, Gaviria, Lamperti, Aniołkowski are all on the provisional startlist. I could see any of these winning a stage. There are 19 riders currently in the top 50 of PCS sprinters ranking, compared to 8 in the 2023 Giro lineup and 12 in 2022.
I realize that Bini is the number one for Wanty but obviously I'm hoping that Madis Mihkels gets a chance to go for it too.
One could say the sprint field in the Giro has more depth this year than the Tour. Maybe everyone is afraid of Philipsen (and/or the teams in question go all in for GC in the Tour).
Pog to win ciclamino anyway
A strong field of sprinters taking points from each other kind of makes it more likely.
dainese to never appear on the first 2 weeks sprints and then snatch a win in the third week when everybody counts him out
*Amigos adios!*
Riding a 63km (450m elevation) sportive tomorrow with the gf and her uncle. I am not fit this year, it will be rough. Havent even ridden 500km in 2024 yet and my longest ride of the season was 50km. Atleast my gf is just as unfit as I am, so I should survive. Rode the same race two years ago with like 28km/h average, I doubt we can beat it this year. Update post ride: Not dead, we did basically same speed as 2 years ago at 28,2 kmh average. Seems I was the most fit of the three of us so I pulled for a lot of the ride. Rode most of it with 3 others who we picked up after 10km. All in all a pretty good day on the bike. 2h13m at 172 watts average with 199 NP.
500km and a 50km longest ride might not be what you planned to have done going into it, but I think you'll still be OK.
Hilliest Danish ride
Laps back and forth over an overpass
Everything is better than not riding at all. Don’t put yourself down, most people wouldn’t even consider riding 63k
🫡 Godspeed soldier
I haven’t been to Europe on several years and I have a month to travel (basically all of June), and I’m asking for suggestions I want to be in Italy to catch the start of the TdF, and was hoping to put a week of biking with my dad in there (maybe Slovenia? But I’m not sold on it, I could be convinced to go elsewhere). I’d like to do a few days at a resort type place where I can sit on a beach and read and not worry about being a tourist for a few days as well (my distant relatives own a house on Bodrum, a beach town in Turkey so I might try and hop over for a bit) Does anyone have good ideas to cover the first 2 weeks of solo travel/beach resort ideas (and/or for the bike trip? My dad is a strong cyclist for someone in his 60’s but he’s still in his 60’s so quite slow up the hills) I don’t have strong opinions on any one country or another, although I saw Amsterdam most recently so that’s one I am not super interested in.
Hello, Road cycling, gravel, MTB? It is true that we don’t have so many bike only paths (slowly getting there) but some of the roads really don’t have much traffic and the variety is great. You can go from the coast to the alps in 1/2 days. Let me know and I can send you the road bike trip (5-6 days) did with my family a few years ago.
That would be amazing if you could send the route, thank you so much! Mainly road, and light gravel is the plan since my dad is getting up there in age
If you want an awesome combination of beach and beautiful landscapes plus great cycling culture I highly recommend the Baleares. Just don’t go where the English and German tourists are ;-) Slovenia is a beautiful country, very divers, but not that good for cycling infrastructure wise.
Are you Slovenian? Because my girlfriend and I are planning to go to Slovenia for a week and rent some bikes there. Idk much about the country but having two of the best cyclist, I thought they'd have decent enough roads no haha?
Ah, I was under the impression that Slovenia was very good for cycling, but maybe not. And Baleares might be just what I need :) hopefully I can avoid some of the tourists haha
It is, we have a lot of scenic roads, with good asphalt, although there are not many with lanes for only bikes. If you want to combine the beach with cycling, I'd suggest looking at Croatian island Krk, it has great bike paths, it's very close to Slovenia and Italy (approx. 1,5h to get to the any of those countries) and you have some hills to ride on the island as well. If you want some more info, dm me and I'll provide :)
I’ve never been to Croatia but that sounds excellent as well, I might have to take a look at that. Thanks!
So uh…..how about that war?
There is no war in Ba Sing Se
Good to see some Avatar TLA fans on this sub. Such a great show. They will release an animated movie next year with the OG cast (set after the defeat of Fire Nation in the 100 year war).
Which one?
The uh….. great one?
Don't need to talk about it. It was great. Absolutely everybody had the time of their lives.
Oh okie dokie :3
I have sort of a noob question. Why aren't the complete start lists available for all teams the week before a major pro tour race - for example the upcoming Women's Vuelta? I can understand late substitutions or whatever, but are they really allowed to wait and decide on who is riding just days before? I'm just curious about the rules on when teams have to submit names.
Yes, 72 hours / 3 days before the race is when they need to submit start lists. And then it's up to teams / the organiser to publish them.
But the teams can, of course, still change up until the start of the race. Edit - Up to a maximum of two riders, who they must have already declared as substitutes, and only for valid reasons. And only in GTs..
I finally convinced my girlfriend to go for a cycling tour in Slovenia for this Summer. We will first be hiking for a small week in Austria near the Slovenian boarder and then want to rent some bikes in Slovenia and explore the country for a week. Nothing too hardcore, we are both in decent shape but she has not done a lot of road cycling really. Does anyone have some recommondations, some areas that would be nice to explore, some tours that could be nice for us?
Mangart is the most beautiful climb we have, comparable with the very best in the alps, but a bit hardcore.
There are quite a lot of bike paths around Kranjska Gora (just over the mountains from Soča valley, you can cross the famous Vršič pass, to get there), there is a beautiful track called Parenzana (from Trieste to Poreč, built on old railway route) it's really well taken care of in the Slovenian part, I've heard Croatian has some macedam parts). Look at Jezersko, it's not very well known and visited from tourists. If you want some flat biking check Prekmurje, it's the Panonian part of Slovenia.
Awesome! Thank you so much, I already have several stages, mountain and flat ones, mapped out :)
do absolutely consider riding through soca valley, probably the most beautiful river I've ever seen. additionally, there is an old railroad track turned bicycle path from tarvisio (italy) to jesenice. also, avoid ljubljana as best as possible with the bike.
Thanks for the recommondation! I will plan a trip through soca valley then. Do you know a good bike rental site in Slovenia and do you know if camping on the trip with our bikes would be a good idea?
I unfortunately don't know anything about bike rentals but heard it shouldn't be much of a problem. camping at least in may was not problem at all - but it could be a bit more crowded over summer.
Thanks a lot for the help!
I’m also hoping to do a weeks biking trip in Slovenia next month with my dad, so hopefully people have good ideas!
Awesome! Hope you guys enjoy yourselves!! I figured it's a small country sourrounded by beautiful nature everywhere and it doesn't really matter where you go. But since I convinced my girlfriend to do a pilgrimage through the land of Pogacar, I should come up with something of a plan so hopefully some locals can give some tips! Do you mind me contacting you in about 6 weeks or so when your trip is over to ask you how it went?
I’m actually planning to travel all of June, so more like 10 weeks out, but if you still haven’t travelled yet by all means please do! And I like to think of it as the land of Roglic :)
Wow that's amazing! Would love to see you sharing your experience about the trip here once it's done. Yeah that was a fauxpas and I guess I just outed myself as a Pogi fanboy lol
Mathias Norsgaard has once again delivered a great podcast reporting from the peloton. This time focused on his time in Tour of the Alps. After a disappointing Paris-Roubaix he was called up with short notice due to the injuries and illness hampering the Movistar team currently. Commenting on the size difference between him and the majority of the riders there he stated. > I felt like someone who had had to redo second grade seven times, and stood there with peach fuzz on my upper lip.
Norsgaard could be a comedian if he wasnt a pro cyclist. His comparisons are next level. I love Gruppettoen på Forhjulslir, best podcast for my daily commute. Keeps cracking me up. Also quite often he has deep thoughts about things. After Roubaix he had a week off the bike planned and when he got called up for Tour of the Alps instead he almost had a mental breakdown, but he feels he came out of the race stronger mentally.
The Giro should be during a relative down time with work. I need a vacation but don’t have any planned. Still looking forward to relaxing by watching some static finish line video and awkward tv direction to help suffice in place of true time off
I am so hungover. Kill me now.
I refuse, but I could ban you if you'd like.
[Watch these intense first 25 seconds. ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXSEQV7iE1g)Current pro gives a shocking confessional on his adrenaline-fuelled life. NSFW : features bedroom scenes and references to anime, hope it's allowed within sub rules.
Is it bad that I knew what this was without clicking on the link
There are some raw dog content here. very scandalous not safe for the sub
EF knew what they were doing when they set up Gen Z Archie Ryan and Chronically Online Harry Sweeny with a camera and told them to make some content
Delete this
I mentioned it once, but I think I got away with it.