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News in December
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| sutty68 |
Posted on 12-12-2014 16:09
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Tour de France Champion
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Maybe they should all wear that in the peleton to shame them  |
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| TheManxMissile |
Posted on 12-12-2014 16:18
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Tour de France Champion
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I don't give a f*ck Astana. You're still bastards and i will hate you for a very very ver long time. This is the time to show some humility and talk about the procedural changes your going to bring in, not to be cute and funny. Is Astana was a person i' classify them as a delusional psycopath at this point
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| sutty68 |
Posted on 12-12-2014 20:58
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Tour de France Champion
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I agree totally with that statement Manx  |
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| Shonak |
Posted on 13-12-2014 16:19
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Tour de France Champion
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Has someone posted this already? Anyway, Rio 2016 route has been announced. Will be a brutal race for sure.
The men will cover 256.4km in the road race, starting and finishing in Flamengo Park, as well as passing through iconic Rio locations including the Copacabana. The peloton will take on the ‘Grumari Circuit’ four times during the race, which contains the 1.2km, 7% average gradient Grumari climb and the 2.1km climb of Grota Funda which averages 4.5%.
There will also be a 2km cobble stone section on the course, though how much it resembles the cobbles of Paris-Roubaix wasn’t confirmed (not that much we’d expect)
Read more at https://www.cyclin...ses-148721
Any thoughts of favourites? Surely, guys like Kwiatkowski, Wellens and Gallopin will become better in the coming year, easily in contention then. Yet the final climbs look to be something for the real top climbers, so maybe Nibali (or Aru) makes a Bettini and gets gold for Italy. Spaniards and Colombians (if in form) should be a force though.
"It’s a little bit scary when Contador attacks." - Tommy V
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| TheManxMissile |
Posted on 13-12-2014 16:25
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2km of cobbles won't make a difference in this race. All about those 4 passes of Chinesa. That said 23km from summit to finish is an awful long way. Bunch sprint of 20-50 riders most likely outcome looking at the profile. Certainly if it's a smaller group they will go away after the climb on the flat which would mean some strong rouler types. Certainly don't see Aru or Quintana as a winner type. A Gallopin, Wellens, Cancellara type though must be very excited. And of course Sagan!
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| Shonak |
Posted on 13-12-2014 16:27
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20-50 bunch sprint in a olympic road race? No way, not with this reduced team sizes of 5 max. Not even London was a bunch sprint.
"It’s a little bit scary when Contador attacks." - Tommy V
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| TheManxMissile |
Posted on 13-12-2014 16:32
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Well London had a 22 man group from 3rd to 25th, i'd call that a bunch sprint (albeit behind the two late attackers). I'm just not expecting a small group attack on the climb then survive 23km along the flat
Edited by TheManxMissile on 13-12-2014 16:36
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| dark_x2012 |
Posted on 13-12-2014 17:07
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Actually Chinesa would be too tough for a sprinter no matter how well he can climb. I'd rather expect the best sprinter among the decent climbers. I also doubt it'll go to one of the big guns like Purito, Valverde or Dan Martin |
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| Stromeon |
Posted on 13-12-2014 21:37
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TheManxMissile wrote:
2km of cobbles won't make a difference in this race. All about those 4 passes of Chinesa. That said 23km from summit to finish is an awful long way. Bunch sprint of 20-50 riders most likely outcome looking at the profile. Certainly if it's a smaller group they will go away after the climb on the flat which would mean some strong rouler types. Certainly don't see Aru or Quintana as a winner type. A Gallopin, Wellens, Cancellara type though must be very excited. And of course Sagan!
 You must be looking at the wrong profile.
This is way way tougher than London which, discounting the two man winning break barely managed a 20 man group at the end. I would be extremely surprised to see a group of 20 or so make it to the finish here, unless its raced ultra-conservatively. People like Kwiatek, Costa, Uran will be the ones to watch here, but Quintana and others could have a say if it's raced aggressively.
I'm excited about this race already - tough uneven sharp climbs with high gradients, pave, high potential of crosswinds, high humidity... what more could you ask for?
The time trial at 60km taking in the Grumari/Grota Funda combo should also be great fun. 
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| TheManxMissile |
Posted on 13-12-2014 21:48
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I'm sorry but that 23km summit to finish, and ~50km from penultimate summit to finish, just looks too far to me. Racing is getting more defensive in classics so i'd be surprised to see anything less than a 10-man group going from climb to finish.
Also don't get too excited about pave. It contributes less than 1% of the total distance so unless it's the roughest cobbles ever or comes inside the final 15km it's just too small to seemingly make a difference.
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 08-12-2025 13:04
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| CountArach |
Posted on 13-12-2014 22:06
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TheManxMissile wrote:
I'm sorry but that 23km summit to finish, and ~50km from penultimate summit to finish, just looks too far to me. Racing is getting more defensive in classics so i'd be surprised to see anything less than a 10-man group going from climb to finish.
Also don't get too excited about pave. It contributes less than 1% of the total distance so unless it's the roughest cobbles ever or comes inside the final 15km it's just too small to seemingly make a difference.
I agree with TMM. That's just a long way to go without having a second group catch up after being dropped.
Though a lot depends on the strength of the major nations here, and we can't know their line ups for a long time.
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| Shonak |
Posted on 14-12-2014 02:20
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Even if Purito & Co get caught after the Chinesa, ~25 kilometers is an awful long challenge to keep control of a (small) group, especially since there will be hardly any (meaning, no?) helpers left. I really see no possibility of a bunch sprint.
Remember, classic-lessons & knowledge plays little role in a olympic road race. 5 team max, one chance in 4 years, gold a childhood dream. That kinda stuff. Four times Chinesa will be a serious selection, that's a 8,5 long climb. 8,5! That's longer than any stuff you handle this side of Ardennes or World Championships. Four times.
Looking at that course it's brutal and will harm anybody. Stromeon has called up the conditions. This will be nothing like a LBL cold war borefest.
Edited by Shonak on 14-12-2014 02:30
"It’s a little bit scary when Contador attacks." - Tommy V
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| Cossack |
Posted on 15-12-2014 09:14
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Domestique
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I'm almost sure somebody will pull a Vino or Kwiatkowski for a surprising win within the last few kilometers, small uncategorized hill (probably) less than 10 km to go seems an obvious place for that.
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| CountArach |
Posted on 15-12-2014 13:53
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Grand Tour Champion
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Torku legitimately seems to be trying to turn their image around by joining MPCC and appointing a new manager:
https://www.mpcc.f...er-of-mpcc
I have mixed feelings about this but I think I'd be willing to see them join if it means that they are actually trying to do the right thing.
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| sutty68 |
Posted on 15-12-2014 15:37
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Tour de France Champion
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Would you trust them after there past record though  |
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| gargatouf |
Posted on 15-12-2014 16:54
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Betancur to race in Giro + Vuelta. Seems to be over his problems of last year and wants to start racing seriously again.
He also says he doesn't want to leave AG2R coz he's got the leader role he wants. |
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| the_hoyle |
Posted on 15-12-2014 18:24
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Team Wiggins details have been released (along with possible Jersey design as well)
8 full-time riders in total (plus Wiggins in June) - Steven Burke, Mark Christian, Jon Dibben, Owain Doull, Dan Patten, Iain Patton, Andy Tennant, Michael Thompson. Other riders from Olympic Academy Programme will be drafted in over the season to gain experience, and make up numbers.
Budget apparently on a level with JTL-Condor (formally Rapha-JTL) and Madison Genesis ,with Simon Cope moving from Wiggle-Honda to take up role of DS.
Races expected to be British Road Series and Elite Circuit Series, Tour Series, and the UK UCI Ranked Races.
Jersey looks very simple, and as Cycling Weekly have said - as least it isn't a dark / black design! Expected additional sponsors to be Rapha and Pinarello due to links to Team Sky and British Cycling.
Edited by the_hoyle on 15-12-2014 18:25
.: Manager of :.
.: My Awards :.
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| sammyt93 |
Posted on 15-12-2014 21:53
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That reminds me I think this may have got forgotten amongst the Astana/Ferrari doping news.
Basically Wiggins isn't the first one to announce they are launching a British continental team this season, cricketer and England Wicket Keeper Matt Prior beat him to it.
https://www1.skysp...five-years
ONE Pro Cycling has some decent names as far as the British scene is concerned featuring Yanto Barker, Marcin Bialoblocki, Johnny Bellis, Jon Mould and Chris Opie as 5 members of the 12 man team.
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| TheManxMissile |
Posted on 15-12-2014 21:55
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He's basically filling the gaps left by other teams collapses, not that i'm complaining.
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| sutty68 |
Posted on 16-12-2014 01:41
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The British racing scene looks like it will be interesting next season  |
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