Lappartient's is a virtue? Pro Cycling 2018

[ursus arctos]

This is going to be decided on the final climb, if not the descent and run in. What was once an 18 minute advantage for the break is now below 7.

Two more ascents of Igls and then it is time for Höll

[Capybara]

This is brutal.

[ursus arctos]

Finally Valverde

[Felicity, I guess so]

I love the Worlds. Even when it's a flat, predictable sprint. The parade of great jerseys, the fact that commentators don't go on and on about Skeh/Brits the whole time and yesterday, a deserved winner- what a long and consistent season he put in.

Favourite jersey remains Belgium. Italy this year was lovely, so glad that it wasn't soiled by the Sky racist winning.

[Kevin S]

^ this

And he did it the very hard way, too, didn't he? Spent a long time on the front and had to lead out the sprint.

[delicatemoth]

Spratty speaks. I love this rider.

[Kevin S]

Great read, that, thanks for sharing DM.

[Kevin S]

"A three-day Women's Tour of Scotland at 2.1 level has been confirmed for the 2019 calendar"

Yay!

"The race would clash with the European Championships"

Oh.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/wome...nced-for-2019/

[Kevin S]

Lombardia is a weekend later than normal this year, it seems - any ideas why?

[ursus arctos]

I think it relates to the Worlds being a bit later and the need to fit in all of the Italian preparatory races as well as Paris-Tours, as well as the fact that the first weekend in October starts on the sixth.

I haven't checked but it may be that the whole calendar shifted a bit because of the World Cup.

[Kevin S]

A (possibly accurate) look at the major events of the 2018-19 track season ahead:

6 day events, not all of which are six days long:
London 23-28 Oct
Berlin 23-29 Jan
Copenhagen 31 Jan - 5 Feb
Melbourne 7-9 Feb
Manchester 22-24 Mar
Brisbane 12-14 Apr

No Amsterdam this year.

World Cup (series)
Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines 19-21 Oct
Milton, Canada 26-28 Oct
Berlin 30 Nov - 2 Dec
London 14-16 Dec
Cambridge, NZ 18-20 Jan
Hong Kong 25-27 Jan

British Championships
Manchester 25-27 Jan

World Championships
Pruszkow, Poland 27 Feb - 3 Mar

[Kevin S]

I think it relates to the Worlds being a bit later and the need to fit in all of the Italian preparatory races as well as Paris-Tours, as well as the fact that the first weekend in October starts on the sixth.

I haven't checked but it may be that the whole calendar shifted a bit because of the World Cup.

The TdF shifted for the World Cup, so it could all be a knock-on effect of that I suppose. A small shame for me, Lombardia usually comes very close to my birthday! Mind you, the bigger shame is that I've cancelled my ES subscription in protest at their price increase *sniff*

[ursus arctos]

Well, Tiz has the last 20km of the Sparkassen Münsterland Giro (auf Deutsch) at the moment.

[delicatemoth]

Here's the link for the London 6-day thing. First two days have tickets for just over £20, which I could probably stretch to, but they look like all male events, women not on till the expensive days. Still, looks quite tempting if I can manage the anxiety.

[Kevin S]

Well, Tiz has the last 20km of the Sparkassen Münsterland Giro (auf Deutsch) at the moment.

Danke! Mach schon Sam!

[Kevin S]

GCN are commentating on it in English on Facey:
https://www.facebook.com/GCNcycling/...863/?__tn__=-R

[Kevin S]

Worst camera angle ever.

[Kevin S]

Tour de Yorkshire stage winner Max Walscheid gets the win, his first one-day victory.

[Me Old Flower]

Speaking of Track Cycling, is the Revolution series no more?

Somewhat low-key today, but the host towns and cities for the 2019 Tour de Yorkshire will be announced today. Will be interesting to see if organisers attempt to entice teams by incorporating parts of the World Champs course.

[Me Old Flower]

One Pro have decided to quit cycling altogether after failing to find a sponsor for their proposed women's team - that's quite a fall from grace for a team that was Pro Conti a year or so ago. The British pro racing scene could look a lot different next year as JLT-Condor have gone and Ribble stepping up.

[Kevin S]

MOF, yes, I did a search on the Revolution series and the site is only giving last season's results with no events listed for this season. I think it was bailed out at the last minute last year and I guess they pulled out altogether afterwards. They had some grand plans for a Champions League IIRC, pitting pro road teams against track specialists, but it all seems to have gone pear shaped.

Re: the state of British pro cycling, totally agree. There's more money and interest in the sport than ever but we're in a worse position than before 2012.

[Me Old Flower]

TdY host towns are:

Barnsley
Bedale
Bridlington
Doncaster
Halifax
Leeds
Scarborough
Selby

The race has also been upgraded to HC category status. Not sure about this - if it means some British pro teams won't get an invite (if we have any left, that is)

[Ray de Galles]

I didn't realise the Revolution series had stopped completely but it was certainly losing a lot of it's lustre in recent seasons. I regularly attend track cycling and had seen their events in London & Manchester but opted to attend the Six Days over them since that event started again.

Revolution expanded hugely post the 2012 surge of interest in track cycling but clearly overdid it, in retrospect it probably should have stuck to Manchester and left alone the London and Glasgow markets which get Worlds and/or World Cups as well as Six Days.

[Kevin S]

On the HC upgrade, yeah, it does depend how many are left, I suppose. Last time there were five British third level teams (Madison-Genesis, JLT Condor, ONE, Vitus, Canyon Eisberg). They can still invite domestic third tier teams - here's the breakdown for HC:

- UCI WorldTeams (max 70%)
- UCI professional continental teams
- UCI continental teams (of the country the race is in)
- National teams (of the country of the organiser)
- UCI foreign continental teams (max. 2)

but it will depend how crazy the organisers go on the top two criteria. If they get the maximum quota of WT teams, that's 14 of the 20 places. In theory they could then have five British third tier teams plus Team GB but it could be squeezed out by including second tier teams.

[Kevin S]

Landis is going to use his Armstrong settlement money to help start a third-level development team next year. It may be self-promotion for his medicinal cannabis business, but if he can be believed, he says he wants to use the money to give something back to the sport.