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Roglic's Revenge: Pro Cycling 2021

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    Roglic's Revenge: Pro Cycling 2021

    The road season has got underway so let's start a new thread. The normal Australian swing to kick off the season was all ditched long ago, so we've had an old school start with the GP La Marseillaise last Sunday won by Ag2r La Citroen Mondiale's Aurelien Paret-Peintre, then Macron not imposing a third lockdown in France has had the pleasant side effect of enabling the Etoile de Besseges stage race to begin yesterday. With there being absolutely no certainty of what racing we will get in the short term this has attracted a far stronger field than the race normally manages, there's eleven World Tour teams for a start. Amidst this Cofidis won the opening stage when Christophe Laporte outpowered Nacer Bouhanni up a punchy climb, then today there was an absolutely crashtastic sprint finish won by WB Bingoal's Timothy Dupont with all the sprinters having to swerve a phalanx of photographers on crossing the line.

    A lot of the early season races in Europe have been postponed with the possibility of them being rearranged later in the year, but nothing significant has come under any threat yet save for some suggestions the Amstel Gold course might be remodelled. From this distance it feels as if the big races should mostly happen on their planned dates, but the smaller stuff will have to take their chances a lot more. The British calendar has already been reduced, the Tour de Yorkshire was cancelled last autumn, Ride London was scrapped last week and turned into a virtual race, the city centre Tour Series has been shifted from May to August and several domestic races have been cancelled. The Women's Tour proudly announced recently that they are having live telly coverage for the first time but given that the race is scheduled for June it feels optimistic to say they will go ahead at that time. There are gaps in the World Tour calendar in August and September so not impossible they'll be shifted. I'd say there's a possibility the men's Tour of Britain will happen in early September.

    There's been loads of riders changing teams all over the place as usual. INEOS have bought a shitload of Grand Tour riders so it's a bit weird to see them announcing Thomas will lead them in the Tour. TGH and Carapaz are the back up there (although I suspect Carapaz will end up as leader by hook or by crook) and Bernal is off to the Giro. There's a lot to unpick from this, the Tour used to be their primary target around which they shaped the whole season and they're currently backing a rider who they didn't feel able to pick for last year's race. So either they've changed their goals, they're bullshitting, or they're tacitly admitting Pogacar and Roglic aren't beatable. UAE haven't really made the signings everyone expected save for Majka and a late move for Hirschi so it's not clear how much back up Pog will get. Jumbo have still got a massively strong team even allowing for Dumoulin taking his timeout and will hopefully have learnt lessons from last year. Though I did enjoy Roglic's "we won the argument" comment recently where he claimed they had won by virtue of how well the team had ridden. Hmmmmm. Carlton Kirby thinks Wout van Aert will win the Tour and that's got even less chance of happening than Froome doing so at Start Up, where they've built a whole team around him which feels brave.

    The women's calendar has been similarly impacted by Covid cancellations, the campaign is expected to get underway at Het Nieuwsblad at the end of the month - Opening Weekend literally being the case there. AVV has gone to Movistar, Vos to the new Jumbo-Visma team. Boels Dolmans are now SD Worx and Anna van der Breggen is scheduled to retire at the end of the season. Lizzie Deignan's Trek team look really strong and hopefully we'll get to see something of Elynor Backstedt this year.

    The Tour has announced their wild card teams while I've been typing this, they've been given UCI approval to race 23 teams so there are predictable invites for B&B (who lost their co-sponsor over the winter, a hotel chain who've undoubtedly been impacted by Covid), Arkea Samsic and Total Direct Energie. The Giro has also made an announcement today as the Grande Partenza will be in Piedmont, they're starting with a 9k time trial in Turin which sounds as if it has Ganna written all over it. Full route is being announced at the weekend I think.

    As things stand the road worlds are in Flanders in September, track Worlds are in October somewhere - not sure if that change of timing is Covid related or not.

    #2
    Excellent intro and thank you

    Is Eurosport showing Bessege? I haven't even thought to look for streams

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      #3
      Don't think so, the Tiz stream was from French TV.

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        #4
        Ah, bon

        I prefer them to Kirby

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          #5
          Great to see cycling back, if only through longeared starting this thread (ta!)
          My AG2R gilet order was cancelled because the German site couldn't cope with Brexit regulations. Rather narrows my online gear range unless it gets sorted.

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            #6
            This year's World Tour kits. Smart improvements from Bora and Jumbo-Visma, quality work from Canyon SRAM but not keen on that new AG2R.

            https://www.rouleur.cc/blogs/the-rou...m-jerseys-2021

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              #7
              Meh to most of them.
              went down a rabbit hole in there of the 10 worst kits- shocked to see Riso Scotti and Acqua Sapone mentioned as bad ones as I really liked both

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                #8
                Way late to the party, I have just discovered Richard Moore’s excellent Cycling Podcast which is now apparently about seven years old. It seems they make over 100 each year so whilst I can’t go back to square one I have at least been catching up with last year’s episodes taking in the Grand Tours. Very good recent edition on Ineos’s new grasp for world domination. I find it engaging, highly informative and hugely entertaining.
                Last edited by Tony C; 15-02-2021, 10:00.

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                  #9
                  DM thanks for those kits, overall they’re all right.

                  Tony C nice tip with that podcast. Maybe this is the year I actually devote a bit more time to this sport. I’m playing the game now after all.

                  The game, you ask? Online Cycling Manager - see thread in Games #plug #plug

                  Cycling Simulator is a free online cycling manager game. Create your own team and win the biggest tours in the world.

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                    #10
                    Oh dear. Very average kits I thought. The Canyon one has a bit of something but it still very dark. The only one I actually like is the SD Worx

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                      #11
                      I quite liked the Intermarche one, but I have no real frame of reference except football where kits go from dire to worse. At least they don’t have bookies all over them, the new tobacco.

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                        #12
                        Done better earlier

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                          #13
                          In wholly unsurprising news the Women's Tour has been postponed, the organisers are hoping to rearrange to dates in early October.

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                            #14
                            Originally posted by Tony C View Post
                            Way late to the party, I have just discovered Richard Moore’s excellent Cycling Podcast which is now apparently about seven years old. It seems they make over 100 each year so whilst I can’t go back to square one I have at least been catching up with last year’s episodes taking in the Grand Tours. Very good recent edition on Ineos’s new grasp for world domination. I find it engaging, highly informative and hugely entertaining.
                            I tried that Richard Moore podcast; started with the first of 2021, “The Speculation Episode”. Promising, I like the interaction.

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                              #15
                              https://twitter.com/taogeoghegan/status/1362497372115374085?s=21

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                                #16
                                Good on him.

                                So, if it wasn’t obvious already I know between nothing and very little about WT cycling, and am swotting via that excellent podcast. So yesterday they were talking about this guy called “Theo Gegenhaardt” who had apparently won last year’s Giro. Imagine my surprise when they interviewed him.

                                Did that register much in British news coverage, or do they mostly only bother with the Tour?

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                                  #17
                                  More than it would have done ten years ago, less than if he'd won the Tour. Actually he began his season today at the Tour du Haut Var, crashed not too seriously towards the end and this is currently the biggest story on the BBC Sport website outside of Wolves v Leeds.

                                  (When I saw the initial race results he was listed last an hour down and I was wondering what the fuck had happened. I guessed he'd had a bike change)

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                                    #18
                                    The men's World Tour has got underway today, it's the UAE Tour which will likely be the biggest event outside Europe this season. Rather brave of the organisers to run it again after the Covid incident last year where some riders ended up being quarantined in Abu Dhabi for three weeks. Anyway the first stage was won by a non-World Tour rider in the shape of MVdP who won the sprint. There wasn't much of a field to contest this as the wind blew and a couple of dozen riders gained eight minutes on the rest of the bunch, so that now means the GC will likely be won by Pogacar, Yates or Almeida who all made the split. Key stages will be the summit finishes on Tuesday and Thursday (I think), there's a time trial tomorrow and Pippo Ganna is on the race so he'll win that.

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                                      #19
                                      It's Omloop time! I just woke up so I don't know what's going on.

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                                        #20
                                        Ballerini the latest example of Quick Step Magic

                                        And AvdB wins the women's race

                                        Caleb Ewan denies Sam Bennett a triple in the UAE final, with Pogacar taking the GC that has been nailed on for days

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                                          #21
                                          Kuurne Brussels Kuurne finished in a predictable sprint, but it was an interesting way of getting there. MVdP bridged up to the morning break with 80k to go and managed to keep the remnants of that group away, helped by an uncohesive chase behind. Kasper Asgreen kicked off the final phase of the race by attacking from the second group with 3k left, which really forced others to chase and they caught the front group in a crosswind with 1.5k to go. The sprint was won comfortably by Mads Pedersen. Pidcock third!

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                                            #22
                                            Tony C thanks once again for plugging Richard Moore’s podcast. Ever since then I’ve been enjoying a combo of this year’s latest episodes, along with a crash course on 2020’s action, dipping in on the vital stages of the Tour and the Stelvio in the Giro. Will be seeking out some YT action too. My knowledge levels are still pitiably low, but learning is fun.

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                                              #23
                                              I know, I’m finding it compulsive.

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                                                #24
                                                Bright and sunshiney for the GP Samyn today which is a bit of a shame, it's much more fun when they're going down the farm tracks in the pissing rain. Anyway the women's race has just finished, won by Lotte Kopecky after Emma Norsgaard started her sprint too early. Anna Henderson has had a strong start to the season with 20th in KBK on Sunday and was prominent again here, she made a late attack with a couple of k remaning and managed to retain enough energy to participate in the sprint, coming in about tenth at a guess.

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                                                  #25
                                                  Men's race also finished as a sprint, won by Alpecin's Tim Merlier who nearly chucked it away with a premature looking celebration. MVdP forced a move on the last cobbled section but it didn't stick then his handlebars broke ruling him out of the sprint. Cav had a strong outing, he got in an earlier move and still made it to the finish with the front group.

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