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Bang a ‘gong: Pro Cycling 2022

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    Brian Robinson has died, a few days short of his 92nd birthday. One of the pioneers of British road cycling, a member of the team that participated in the 1955 Tour de France then three years later became the first Brit to win a stage in the race in Brest after an Italian rider was disqualified for impeding him in a two up sprint. He took a less controversial win into Chalon-sur-Saone in the following edition when he rode for 140k solo to win by twenty minutes. He was a Yorkshireman, still regularly rode his bike until late in his life, and participated in assorted events for the 2014 Grand Depart.

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      The Tour de France routes are currently being announced. The women's race is being covered first, the week after the men again. Most of this had already been leaked so no great surprises here, a finish on the Tourmalet with AVV's name written all over it, then a time trial around Pau on the final day, which is the same course they used for La Course in 2019 when Vos when and Alaphilippe won a TT later in the day. That stage to Rodez is 177k, that's long for a women's race and it gets increasingly lumpy, with the finish up that rise which has created time gaps when the men have used it.

      Last edited by longeared; 27-10-2022, 10:13.

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        Bit naughty of them to slip in at the end "oh, we're not going the whole way up the Tourmalet" but all sounded positive otherwise, bigger teams, extended telly coverage, they had AVV as the climax of the rider parade at the start of the presentation coming on after Pogacar, and I liked their use of language when they referenced that nine Blagnac rugby players are currently playing "at the World Cup in New Zealand". Here's the men's route.



        Not much time trialling, shortest ever "longest stage", Pyrenees finished very early, Puy de Dome back for the first time since 1988, lots of the Alps based around the Savoie and Haute Savoie again (good) including the St Gervais finish (not so good, it's shit), that final Saturday in the Vosges is expected to be lumpy and an opportunity for a late ambush.

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          Not sure about the women's route, think I'd have preferred three medium mountain stages to one hard one. TT in Pau is nice.

          Men's looks decent at first glance, Puy de Dome good, Vosges good, lack of TTing good considering TT-heavy Giro. Starting just over the border in Basqueland and carrying straight on without transfers is great.
          Last edited by delicatemoth; 27-10-2022, 11:02.

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            Hefty transfer between 20 and 21.

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              Gotta finish in Paris!

              Women's stages 2 and 4 offer possibilities, I'm warming to it. Needs to be a big success to have a chance of getting more stages in the future.

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                That transfer to Paris is one of the shorter ones as it goes, and it's one of the less transfertastic Tours I've seen. Certainly nothing like that huge transfer in the Giro from Trieste to Rome for the final day.

                After this year there's a lot of possible sprints there - stages 3, 4, 7, 8, 11, 18, 19, 21 should all be bunch finishes and 10 might be as well depending on how the day plays out. They've not made the Pyrenees all that hard so they're trying to build it to a climax in the Alps, particularly the TT to Combloux and then that absolutely brutal looking stage to Courchevel.

                Pogacar will win, I expect.

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                  That mens' route is covering very little of Franc looking at the map. Basically a couple of hundred mile band line from San Sebastian to Geneva. Nothing north of the Loire (apart from Paris), nothing in the Rhone watershed.

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                    I thought the same thing and tried to manufacture a 'la grande boucle has a flat tyre' 'joke' but decided against it.

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                      I seem to recall that it's one of the things ASO struggle with when they visit the Massif Central. Rather than doing a clockwise/counter-clockwise tour.

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                        Yeah, it's a persistent issue they have when they start in the southern half of France given the geography of the country, either they don't move around all that much or they do as happened in 2013 and have a huge transfer to the north only to turn round and head straight back south again. Potentially they'll have an even more extreme version of the problem next year if all the rumours are correct and they're going to start in Florence to a finish in Nice.

                        It is a good twenty years plus though since they had routes that visited all parts of the country. A lot of that is because the race has got shorter in general, they've pretty much eliminated days where they ride 230k on the flat for six hours to end in a sprint. It's increasingly becoming a made for telly event rather than to be watched from the doorstep, a process which has accelerated since they went to all day telly coverage a few years since.

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                          Sonny Colbrelli announces his retirement at 32 due to his previously undiscovered heart arrhythmia. A real shame, whether or not he was everyone’s cup of tea.
                          'New challenges await me, and with courage, I prepare to face them with a smile on my face' says Paris-Roubaix winner

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                            Koppenbergcross tomorrow and the the European Championship on the Namur course at the weekend.

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                              I'm still on the weekend races though. maasmechelen was a really good course around a post industrial limberg landscape. It felt like this was the first race with everyone here (except Brand of course). It's always good to have the WC stripes racing (Vos) and while she's not front row it's nice to see Backstedt.

                              Van Empel is a monster though, four from four inWorld Cup races this year. They've not been processions in any way though.

                              In the men's, Sweek finally got his first WC win having left Pauwels Sauces so he could race for himself.

                              Edit: it's really nice to see some decent crowds there.
                              Last edited by Levin; 01-11-2022, 21:22.

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                                Any Dubliners in the thread?

                                https://twitter.com/UCIcyclocrossWC/status/1588544668412702720?t=Dba4ozWaMi3KU-t6_TANVQ&s=19

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                                  Namur is brilliant isn't it? It was the European Championship this weekend just gone.

                                  Is there a reference list somewhere if traditional national champion and national team kits?

                                  The Dutch were wearing navy shorts and white tops with a hint of orange. Like if you were to wear a thin white shirt over an orange t-shirt. That's not normal is it?

                                  Van Empel is ridiculously good. I know she's done more of the season while, for example, Vos has only done a couple of races. But she's in a class alone at the moment.

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                                    Partial collection (I am not aware of a complete one)

                                    http://www.memoire-du-cyclisme.eu/pe...sets.php?s=189

                                    The Dutch kit was a disgrace and looks worse on the women (even though AVV won the Worlds in it).

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                                      You are also spot on about the course.

                                      There can't be many top level sporting events that one can take a cable car to (ski races tend to limit access)

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                                        No information about where it's on,so I had to search online. The National Sports Centre is a pain in the arse to get to if you don't drive.

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                                          On Saturday night a friend and I went to see Ned Boulting’s ‘Retour de Ned’ show in Ulverston. The first half was a potted summary of the history of the Tour de France and the second half all about the 2022 race. As a presenter with over 20 years experience of presenting the Tour for ITV he inevitably has a lot of insider stories to tell along the way. Very engaging and entertaining evening. I’m a bit late in recommending Boulting’s show for this year as this was the second to last night but he says he’ll be touring again in 2023. Highly recommended for cycling enthusiasts.

                                          Oh, and he loves Wout van Aert.

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                                            Merksplas in the Superprestige and Overijse in the world cup this weekend just gone were very good. Overijse in particular had enough weather that meant all the finishers were covered in mud.

                                            Puck Pieterse is so much fun. She just looked so excited in the pre race interview to be going out and getting stuck into it.

                                            Pidcock was racing in his rainbow bands in both races in the men's. And WvA and MvdP are coming soon.

                                            This weekend see one of my favourite courses, Hulst. I just really like how they use the star fort, going up and down glacis etc.
                                            ​​​

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                                              Originally posted by Tony C View Post
                                              On Saturday night a friend and I went to see Ned Boulting’s ‘Retour de Ned’ show in Ulverston. The first half was a potted summary of the history of the Tour de France and the second half all about the 2022 race. As a presenter with over 20 years experience of presenting the Tour for ITV he inevitably has a lot of insider stories to tell along the way. Very engaging and entertaining evening. I’m a bit late in recommending Boulting’s show for this year as this was the second to last night but he says he’ll be touring again in 2023. Highly recommended for cycling enthusiasts.

                                              Oh, and he loves Wout van Aert
                                              Thanks for the heads up on that. Looking out for the 2023 dates.

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                                                Caley Fretz has been “let go” by Cycling Tips along with others. Seems rough, he’s an excellent journo and engaging podcaster.

                                                I’m imagining him slotting in with Lionel and Daniel. My imagination is almost certainly where that will remain.

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                                                  The urbancross of Kortrijk really is a very clever course. Lots of surface and elevation changes.

                                                  On to today and MvdP is just too good. Him Pidcock and WvA are, when on average form, just so much better than the pro male cyclocrossers.

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                                                    Pidcock really isn't very good with the post race media. He's really trying, he just can't get his thoughts together like, seemingly, everyone else. This is the English language stuff. He really is trying his best though, he's even learning some Flemish.

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