All roads lead to Harrogate: Pro cycling 2019

[ursus arctos]

Really sorry that I missed that masterpiece from AVV while I was in the air

[delicatemoth]

Fucking hell I get up and the race is finished already. Hmph.

Having seen why Eekhoff was disqualified (https://www.cyclingweekly.com/news/r...onships-439001) I've added him to my short list of cyclists I dislike - not for cheating, but for having the nerve to be annoyed about being disqualified! He drafts behind the same car for over two minutes, it's hilarious.

[Kevin S]

Yeah, that could possibly work for Remco... Just wonder if Belgium would use it as a softener for one of their more established guys.

Eddie Boss's form doesn't suggest he'll be a contender - out of the 42 stages in France and Spain his best results were two fifth places - but I don't know quite how much form matters at the Worlds. Also the mega distance might even suit Kristoff (though I don't think the hills will).

[Billy Casper]

Not that it'll be any consolation if he wins, but I've gone for Remco, Kev. A solo attack with a couple of laps to go (in my mind).

Would each way on EBH at 150-1 be a bad bet?

[ursus arctos]

Pidcock gets a medal as a result

Konychev also disqualified for the same reason

[longeared]

After a lengthy jury deliberation Eekhoff was disqualified for drafting behind a team car following an earlier crash and Samuele Battistella was awarded the win. Battistella deserves a break as the poor sod is at Team NTT (currently Dimension Data) next season. He did win the fascinating sounding Tour de Limpopo earlier this year.

[longeared]

They made a mess of that and got caught by three more riders in the last k, Pidcock started the sprint too early, faded and Nils Eekhoff won. Knew I'd heard his name before and he did the Tour of Britain recently. He's at Sunweb next year. Dutch win with a Brit fourth. Might see that repeated tomorrow.

[ursus arctos]

What a finish

[ursus arctos]

Now four

They have 15 seconds with four km to go

[longeared]

This race has been puncturetastic and Pidcock is in the leading group of five with 10k left. Sergio Higuita is leading a last bid to get up to the front.

[longeared]

Heh, I see a Norwegian Corner has been set up outside Hales Bar.

[longeared]

Back from a leisure centre car park in Donny where I had my second encounter with the Worlds at the start of the men's under 23 road race. Healthy crowd, a lot of school kids - unusually the sign in podium was indoors and they were excitedly screaming at all the riders - a number of people supporting specific riders, including the Jasper Philipsen Fanclub (sic) which looked like a Camra outing, and the Alessandro Covi fans having a photo with their man.



Quite amused to see how many World Tour buses were in use, about half the teams were represented. Some were predictable - Britain in INEOS, South Africa in Dimension Data, some a bit odder such as the Dutch in CCC and others weird like the US using Boels Dolmans. On the other hand the smaller nations had to make do with whatever they could, I saw a Serbian rider using the portaloos and some riders were supported by personnel from the UCI World Cycling Centre.

Forecast is looking a lot better for tomorrow, which is nice.

[Kevin S]

Yeah Sagan's the best, as we know, but can he do it on a dark, wet Sunday in Harrogate?

[longeared]

Sagan. Because Sagan.

Though it's a long race with a huge neutral zone - total distance is just shy of 300k - it'll take ages and it's going to rain a lot, so that sounds like a van Avermaet sort of day.

[Kevin S]

Netherlands, Germany and, dare I say it, Slovenia also have very well suited men's squads for the terrain. But the Belgians edge it on finishers.

[Kevin S]

Sod's law it'll be Remco now.

[Kevin S]

Gilbert is 12/1 on Paddy Power. I've hedged three Belgians: Gilbert at 12, GVA at 22 and Naesen at 80. They've got the best suited team for this race but who knows what the orders are?

[Felicity, I guess so]

My tip Gilbert is a stingy 3/1 to win, so I might go Valverde e/w at 40/1.

Enjoyed today’s highlights and saw a chunk of yesterday’s between meetings so I’m really looking fwd to Sunday now.

[longeared]

I half watched a fair chunk of it in the absence of OTF; it was an American masterclass. They rode as a cohesive team (which isn't always the case in junior racing), put men in all the moves, Simmons attacked with about 30k to go and always looked to have enough in hand over the chasing Enzo Martinelli. Magnus Sheffield did a lot of work and took bronze - he's worth watching, he'll still be eligible for this category next year. Looked a pretty decent turnout at the finish considering it was raining again - apparently it's going to be absolutely piss wet on Sunday, there's already a yellow weather warning out - and may have been the biggest crowd of the week.

In other news Aigle Martigny unveiled the mountainous route for next year's event, but more excitingly they've got a mascot - Barry the St Bernard (on the right)

[Incandenza]

[URL]https://twitter.com/cyclingweekly/status/1177237276511916032[/URL]

[Kevin S]

Chapeau.

In this case, a Sou'wester.

[delicatemoth]

AVV and AVdB doing their best to keep the margin to 80-90 seconds or so. Seems slightly pointless to carry on watching tbh, but I don't want to just switch them off. What an extraordinary ride.

[ursus arctos]

Quite

She won all four races of the Colorado Classic.

[longeared]

Dygert's been bossing the US road scene all summer, but the big question was how that would translate onto the global stage. That was the sort of performance that suggests she will win a hell of a lot more big races over the next few years.

[ursus arctos]

At Elite level.

Gobsmacking.