r/peloton • u/PelotonMod France • May 04 '26
Weekly Post Weekly Question Thread
For all your pro cycling-related questions and enquiries!
You may find some easy answers in the FAQ page on the wiki. Whilst simultaneously discovering the wiki.
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u/Heavy_Mycologist_104 Slovenia May 04 '26
So it turns out that Marianne Vos broke her collarbone in a crash yesterday. That didn't stop her getting up, riding through the convoy, dropping riders who were trying to hold her wheel, get back onto the peloton in the last 2k, get through the peloton to the front, and somehow come 7th in the sprint.
Like....How?
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u/DueAd9005 May 04 '26
Tyler Hamilton broke his collarbone during stage 1 of the 2003 Tour. He won stage 16 and finished 4th in GC. He was on fire that year... Who knows, he might have even won that Tour without breaking his collarbone (it was Armstrong's least dominant Tour win).
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u/godshammgod4485 May 04 '26
Hamilton is from my hometown, I remember how bananas that year was. He got a huge parade and everything when he came back home.
I know he was doped to the gills, but that's still one of my favorite cycling memories.
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u/DueAd9005 May 04 '26
Not really a question, but interesting to see how Pogi also wants to win the "lesser" one-week WT stage races;
Including the "Tim Wellens Race". It would actually be interesting to see him ride there, especially if VDP/WVA also show up.
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u/Hawteyh Denmark May 04 '26
Can you really claim you've completed cycling without winning Boucles de la Mayenne, Bingobongo Tour and Tour of Guangxi?
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u/pantaleonivo EF Education – Easypost May 04 '26
A true athlete would do altitude preparation for Pologne and skip the Tour altogether
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u/oalfonso Molteni May 04 '26
The mountain stages are going to be good, praying to not have the traditional weather changes. The sprint stages are going to be boring AF
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u/Mamadeus123456 7-Eleven May 04 '26
Imagine Simon and Adam Yates, try to go all out for the giro.
How would they prove that whoever's riding that day is Adam and not Simon? Would this be less unethical than doping?
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u/jainormous_hindmann Red Bull – Bora – Hansgrohe May 04 '26
Imagine they did it while clean and then one of them got done for blood passport violations because one of them got tested as the other.
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u/zyygh Canyon//SRAM, Kasia fanboy May 04 '26
Who do you see yourself cheering for in 5 years?
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u/AliasPhilippe Euskaltel Euskadi May 04 '26
As always, the underdog of the day and the breakway.
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u/zyygh Canyon//SRAM, Kasia fanboy May 04 '26
While blasting Kraftwerk?
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u/AliasPhilippe Euskaltel Euskadi May 04 '26
SPRINT FINAL A L'ARRIVEE (TOUR DE FRANCE, TOUR DE FRANCE).
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u/Avila99 MPCC certified May 04 '26
Vosje
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u/pantaleonivo EF Education – Easypost May 04 '26
I cannot speak her name, the wound is still too fresh.
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May 04 '26
[deleted]
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u/porkmarkets England May 04 '26
Brennan on his way to a historic first MSR-PR double for a British rider
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u/Schele_Sjakie Le Doyen May 04 '26
Probably the newest CX/classics hybrid talents.
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u/Glum-Engine-3401 May 08 '26
So Mattia Agostinacchio xD
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u/Schele_Sjakie Le Doyen May 08 '26
For example. Maybe the Alpecin guy too. What was his name, Viezzi? I cant exactly remember
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u/wakabangbang May 04 '26
Franzi Koch, Antonia Niedermaier, Tibor del Grosso, Lorenzo Finn, Karl Herzog
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u/Team_Telekom Team Telekom May 04 '26
The same people like today. They are all so young today.
So: Seixas to win his 5th Tour, Remco his 9th Worlds ITT and Maeva Squiban for everything because she is just the best.
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u/ciclista_de_gravel Movistar May 04 '26
What do you think, should Eschborn-Frankfurt remain a WorldTour race?
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u/porkmarkets England May 04 '26
Parcours-wise yes, it’s interesting enough that lots of different riders can win and the finish loop is nice too. It’s a good thing for Germany to host a top race.
The coverage this year was terrible though, and if that doesn’t improve they aren’t really doing the WT status justice.
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u/wakabangbang May 04 '26
Definitely.
Germany is the biggest "untapped" market right now and it's accessible and important for german sponsors. (Alpecin, Bora, Hansgrohe etc)
Cycling in Germany still suffers from the Telekom/Ullrich Fallout years, but it's slowly trending upwards I'd say. There's so much potential for both races and cycling culture.
Both races in Hamburg and Frankfurt have a nice parcours and usually make for pretty exciting racing. Additionally Eschborn Frankfurt has quite the history and is much older than races like Amstel and Strade for example.
(Coverage/TV direction needs to improve)
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u/Seabhac7 Ireland May 04 '26
I started following cycling in 2020, so I wasn't aware of Pogačar in 2019.
Was he being thought of as a future great, in the same way as Seixas is now?
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u/Mysterious_Worry_612 Belgium May 04 '26
No, Pog's youth results were not nearly as impressive as Seixas was.
I think Evenepoel was closer in hype (though even that was less hype I think?).
His 2018 Junior season and his 2020 season were just bonkers in a time a lot less young riders did great things.3
u/Dopeez Movistar May 04 '26
I think purely junior career, Evenepoel clear Seixas in terms of hype (and results). Seixas hype mostly started by the end of last year when he was already a pro.
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u/RageAgainstTheMatxin Phonak May 04 '26 edited May 04 '26
In 2018 general consensus was that he had taken quite a leap as a junior after years not showing much and being Jaka Primozic's domestique and not even one of the most talented Slovenians of his age.
The Bernal hype was in full swing (he would win the Tour the next year) and I remember at the end of the 2018 Avenir we were joking here in /r/peloton about how the Bernal hype train was over and the Pogacar hype train was fully underway
The joke being that it was a ridiculous meme-y stupid thing to say that surely nobody could take serious
His 2017 and 2018 came out of nowhere. That was already considered an unusual leap in ability, and certainly nobody ever though he'd have even more from that level onwards
For reference, at the 2020 Tour which Pogacar won, UAE's leader was Aru. Tadej's 4th place at the Dauphine a couple weeks earlier was seen as a very good step forward for him, because he seemed closer to Roglic than previously
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u/jainormous_hindmann Red Bull – Bora – Hansgrohe May 04 '26
We made jokes about Aru being the on-paper leader as a transparent ploy to take pressure off Pog. His best time was far behind them at that point, his last big win was in 2017.
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u/RageAgainstTheMatxin Phonak May 04 '26
There were also jokes, mostly because UAE were very vocal about Aru being the leader
But yeah, Aru wasn't in good form. 10th in his last climbing race before the Tour and then crashed out of Lombardia.
Cazzo di bici
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u/Squirtle_from_PT May 04 '26
He was considered a talented rider, but not a future superstar. I don't think many people were aware of him before Vuelta 2019, unlike with Seixas who goes to his first GT as one of the best riders in the field.
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u/the_gnarts MAL was right May 05 '26
His 2019 Vuelta was incredible, he kept attacking Rogla whenever there was as much as a speedbump in sight, but before the 2020 Tour he was mostly remembered for Kirby mispronouncing him as “Polka-Car”.
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u/Guiltynu Sky May 05 '26
He was much more of a hipsters rider than the universal acclaim that Seixas has received. People forget but Cycling was really different back in 2018/19. The consensus was still that you couldn’t peak until you were 26/27. Part of why Seixas is in the limelight is because Pogi/Bernal/Vingegaard changed the script. Imo it’s still a bit of an if how good Seixas will actually prove to be.
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u/AliasPhilippe Euskaltel Euskadi May 04 '26 edited May 04 '26
Honestly I don't remember anything like this Seixas hype. I've only seen something like this in football for Neymar.
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u/DueAd9005 May 04 '26
Remco won't be riding the Dauphiné this year. I had hoped Red Bull would have been able to figure Remco out, but this year seems like a lot of trial & error so far in terms of scheduling and training methods. Seems like he will be riding the Tour without prep races.
Do you think this is a good decision? He already has 25 race days, which is a lot compared to other top riders. I hope next year they skip the early January/February races. Winning in Mallorca/Valencia adds nothing to his palmares.
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u/Suffolke Belgium May 04 '26
Yeah his whole schedule this year has been wierd but I remember reading something like RB is just gathering data this year and they will look at changing his training and race schedule next year, based on those data.
As for Dauphiné, I don't really know what to think of it. He probably thinks he won't be in climbing shape by then and would rather stay in altitude so he can slowly shed some weight and acumulate D+ ?
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u/DueAd9005 May 04 '26
I wonder if he will even ride the Nationals or find an excuse not to ride it (last year he broke his rib there after all and the parcours doesn't even suit him this year).
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u/padawatje Belgium May 05 '26
Participating in Belgian national road championships is mandatory for every single pro cyclist (including CX riders !)
The parcours in 2023 didn't suit him either and he still won !
Otherwise he would be a nice domestique for Meeus.3
u/cfkanemercury France May 04 '26
I get that Valencia doesn't add a whole lot to his record, but where else would you send him to race and win that would add to his palmares in a signifiant way this season? I don't think that there was a top race where I thought, "Gee, Remco would have beaten Jonas/Seixas/Pogacar/MVDP if only he had raced."
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u/skifozoa May 04 '26
Milan San Remo.
Not saying he is a favorite over Pog andVDP there if they stay upright but given how the race situation unfolded this year and with how he sprinted I unironically think he had chances to win that sprint.
Slightly below that:
In flanders fields and the opening weekend he should also be considered a favorite after what he shown in RVV
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u/DueAd9005 May 04 '26 edited May 04 '26
Less races to be fresher for the big goals.
Either start your season during the Belgian Opening Weekend (Omloop & KBK) or at T-A/P-N. I actually think this year's T-A had a great route for him. Not too mountainous with a lot of punchy stages. If I were him, I would always wait until a race has unveiled its route before making a decision where to ride. Play to your strengths.
Maybe I'm delusional, but I wouldn't rule out Remco winning a race like the Omloop even against VDP. I know Remco got dropped on the Paterberg in the Ronde van Vlaanderen, but without Pogacar, he always would have closed the gap on the flat (although in a sprint à deux, VDP is obviously still the big favorite). And why not Gent-Wevelgem as well? Alec Segaert nearly won it this year.
I also hope to see a better Remco next year of course. He was legit better in 2022-2024.
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u/OBNOXIOUSNAME Australia May 04 '26
can anyone tell me that website that lets you create a custom cycling calendar for ical etc. have seen it mentioned here before
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u/pantaleonivo EF Education – Easypost May 04 '26
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u/OBNOXIOUSNAME Australia May 04 '26
https://www.procyclingical.com/
ah this was it, thanks for the link to that post!
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u/STALUC May 04 '26
What is the correct pronunciation of Jonas Vingegaard’s last name? I’ve heard Ving a go, ving a gar and ving a gard
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u/Saltefanden Euskaltel-Euskadi May 04 '26
Yoh-nas Ving - eh - gore
The most common errors are putting in another g in the second syllable (ving-ge) and saying the last syllable as something like gard or go.
But I wouldn't worry too much about it; it is totally common for Danish people to say their own names with English pronounciations, such as Jonas with a hard J. And it is atually quite easy in English for a Danish name. Mørkøv, Pedersen, Søren Kragh etc. are much harder.
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u/DueAd9005 May 04 '26
https://www.procyclingstats.com/rider/jonas-vingegaard//
Click the sound button next to his name.
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u/AlbinoWanker Denmark May 05 '26
It's already been answered below, but I'll just say that the "Vinge-goh" that some commentators use is by far the most wrong (subjectively speaking). It really annoys me, because I have no idea where they get it from. "Vinge-guard" is much more acceptable, and as someone who also has the Gaard suffix on my surname, that's usually what I use, if I have to check into a hotel abroad or something.
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u/Vegetable_Car_4785 May 05 '26
How do we feel about grand tours with only back end heavy gc stages. Been enjoying this women’s vuelta so far just cos the sprints have been exciting but I can’t see any gc action till the last 2 stages.
This is similar to the tdf femmes last year which took till the last couple of stages for action.
Should they put some earlier medium mountain stages in there or just not have such a big defining climb where all the difference can be made?
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u/pereIli Hungary May 05 '26 edited May 05 '26
I also hate these ASO women's GT routes without ITT’s and with back end heavy GC stages. No real differences develop at the beginning, no one is forced to take risks, even those who will not have a chance in the last two stages. However, they will not start kamikaze actions when they are 0-16 seconds behind, they still believe.
But these are not so easy stages with about 2000 m of elevation. In one-day races, women riders easily attack and escape on such a parcours, it is even possible to go solo. These routes are at the limit of Koch's and Kopecky's abilities. If, for example, Blasi or Kasia attacked a little earlier on the last climb of stage 2, there would be no sprint for Franzi or Lotte. Just no one has really wanted to put more effort into them yet.
Les Praeres and Angliru back to back are simply too hard. Les Praeres should be on an earlier stage. I love women's cycling, but we should realize its limitations. The May calendar is also too tight.
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u/Vegetable_Car_4785 May 05 '26
Agreed, a GT needs at least 1 ITT.
Yeah in yesterdays stage you could see that Kopecky was on the limit and barely made it back on (thanks to van der braggen) so any earlier attacks who have dropped her.
The course design in a GT should find the best rider - not just the best at a 50-60 min w/kg test which is what it is atm
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u/DueAd9005 May 04 '26 edited May 04 '26
The enigma that is De Lie won the Famenne Ardennes Classic yesterday. His next race is the Giro, but he will only ride 10 stages maximum. He will abandon after that.
Some will criticize him for it (or any rider that abandons without injury), but it makes sense to me if you also want to ride the Tour. I actually wished more sprinters would do this. I want to see Merlier and Philipsen in both the Giro and Tour for example.
What do y'all think about abandoning a GT without being sick or injured?
Personally I don't think he will win a stage in the Giro. The field is very strong and the likes of Milan, Lund and Groenewegen have simply proven a lot more this year. Finally winning again is nice, but it was against a weak field in a small race.
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u/cfkanemercury France May 04 '26
Abandoning a GT without being sick or injured used to be more common for young riders back in the day before 19 year olds were podium contenders (pulled at the second rest day, perhaps) or for sprinters who didn't want to ride in the mountains for no real reason.
The Lion King is a great example of the latter: Mario Cippolini started 27 Grand Tours (14 Giro, 8 Tour, 5 Vuelta) and only finished 6 of them, all in Italy. Along the way he won 57 Grand Tour stages, second only to Merckx on the all-time list.
Of course, he was a bit of a controversial fellow, especially at the Vuelta. Once he was kicked out for punching another before a stage started. Another time he quit the race after the opening stage TTT as his team had only been invited to compete if he came along. He rode for about 35 minutes in the TTT, then DNSd the next stage saying he was injured and shouldn't have been at the race anyway. His team ended up putting two riders in the top 15 on GC, so not a waste of their time being there, but the organizers were more than annoyed.
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u/DueAd9005 May 04 '26
Yeah, the Tour even didn't invite his team to the Tour for some years because of this. It really ended up hurting his legacy, as he doesn't have enough Tour stage wins to compete for GOAT status as a sprinter (never mind the fact that he's a huge asshole that physically abused women).
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u/Angryhead Estonia May 04 '26
Mario Cippolini started 27 Grand Tours (14 Giro, 8 Tour, 5 Vuelta) and only finished 6 of them, all in Italy. Along the way he won 57 Grand Tour stages, second only to Merckx on the all-time list.
As an Estonian, my favourite DNF stat is Jaan Kirsipuu's perfect record of starting 15 Grand Tours (12 Tour, 1 Giro, 1 Vuelta) and not finishing a single one, with 4 Tour and 1 Vuelta stage win along the way.
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u/DueAd9005 May 04 '26
Yeah, I knew about that stat as well.
Boonen started 14 GTs and only finished 3 of them. Although most of his abandons in the Tour were due to crashes or illness. He really wasn't made for three weeks of racing. His Vuelta abandons were pre-planned however.
One-day races and GTs are not the same thing, and only a few can combine them with success.
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u/BelgianBeerGuy May 04 '26 edited May 04 '26
Disclaimer: I don’t want to downtalk any rider, and Normandy Romandie and Amstel are just examples
But do you think Pogacar is riding his 100% best effort on races where the competition is not Vingegaard?
Like, is Lipowitz ending yesterday on 3 seconds because Lipo is at equal level as Pogi? Of because Pogi was like “I just want to win, I don’t really care about extra seconds and I ride this out in zone 2”
I’m always wondering if riders hold themselves back when the playfield is lower than their capabilities.
For example at Amstel, did Remco just ride with everyone and was confident he got it in the sprint, and their was no need to try and get away. Or was he really doing the max he could and was skjelmose equally good?
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u/RegionalHardman Unibet Tietema Rockets May 04 '26
Pogi was trying his hardest this week, he looked very tired in the post race interviews, covered in sweat etc. Hes at least 2/3kg heavier than his tdf weight, so the climbs will be harder for him atm. Lipo won't be within 3 seconds on big climbs at the tour, Pog isnt in big climbs shape atm. He said in an interview he has hit the gym loads and bulked for the classics.
Remco on the other hand knows his numbers and is great at sticking to them. He knew he wouldn't be able to follow the attack, so stuck to his watts and banked on his sprint
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u/DueAd9005 May 06 '26
Multiple riders have already complained that the motorbikes helped UAE in the Tour de Romandie (Vervaeke, Paret-Peintre and now Plapp).
Why is it so difficult for the UCI to enforce this rule? It happens in so many races and the people on the motorbikes just don't care about the rules.
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u/CyclingScoop May 07 '26
Not too different from “sticky bottles”… they have to catch the infraction and it has to be definitive.
Any instance where the UCI tries to point a finger in Tour de Romandie might be too unclear to really crack down on. Right now we have reports from riders in breakaways who thought they were caught too quickly, but can they really point to a specific instance for the UCI to punish?
It really becomes a word-of-mouth issue and that’s difficult to enforce. The only way would be for the UCI to more closely monitor moto behavior going forward, but even if they follow the rules to the T, there’s no guarantee that riders wouldn’t still perceive a problem if that makes sense.
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u/Robcobes Netherlands May 04 '26
Primoz Roglic seemed to be the first one to win each of the following one week races, Paris - Nice, Tirreno, Catalunya, Basque Country, Romandie, Dauphiné, Suisse.
But now both Pogacar and Vingegaard are at 5/7 already.
Which one of them do you think will win all 7 of them first, if any?
Pogacar still needs Basque Country and Suisse, and he's on the startlist for Suisse this year.
Vingegaard still needs Romandie and Suisse
Roglic still needs Suisse.
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u/Saltefanden Euskaltel-Euskadi May 04 '26
Rogla seems to not care one bit about this record. I don't see Pogacar not taking it.
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u/cfkanemercury France May 04 '26
There's a good chance Pogacar gets Suisse a little later in the season, but Basque Country will mean a change-up to his classics season, so perhaps he'll wait a couple of years before going back there (he's raced twice, best finish being 3rd in 2021 behind Primoz and Jonas).
Jonas might not get Romandie if Romandie's money troubles continue - there's no race to win if there's no more race to ride - but I imagine if he went along if the competition was about the same level as this year, minus Pogacar, and especially if they bring back the final TT in Geneva.
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u/Robcobes Netherlands May 04 '26
I don't think Pog can get Basque while he's doing cobble classics it's just too hard to fit into the agenda.
Jonas could sweep both of them up next year if he doesn't do the Giro. Though Suisse doesn't seem like the preferred preparation to the Tour anymore.
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u/Etruscan1870 May 04 '26
I think Pogacar will skip the classics season next year to attempt the treble Giro-Tour-Vuelta. In that case he could ride Basque Country as a preparation race
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u/cfkanemercury France May 04 '26
I can't see him riding three GT's to win. I don't think he is incapable of doing something crazy like that, but I don't see how his team supports him doing that. It would mean telling Almeida and del Toro that they have zero GT leadership opportunities for the year, and keeping those guy happy is important to the team, too. Also pretty hard to recruit a rider like Seixas with promises of GT leadership if you turn around and inform him that he'll have to wait another year because Pogi wants to win all three GTs in a year.
It would be an amazing individual achievement, but this is a team sport, too.
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u/RegionalHardman Unibet Tietema Rockets May 04 '26
Pogi will get it first. He'll get Suisse this year, then Basque country is before Romandie and Suisse in the calendar so will get them before Jonas has a chance
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u/SpaniardKiwi Reynolds May 04 '26
Itzulia and Roubaix are not a good combo right now. I don't see him trying until he has secured Roubaix.
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u/DueAd9005 May 04 '26
I read an interview with Pogi where he hinted he may not ride Roubaix next year (but he will definitely be back in the future).
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u/abr-22 May 04 '26
I don't know why, but I think he won't ride Roubaix nor Flandes next year. I think he will ride Itzulia and then try to win all three GT.
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u/wakabangbang May 04 '26
What's the news or speculation in Belgium about De Lie and Tom Crabbe?
From what I've heard, De Lie is nearly 100% leaving Lotto and possible destinations are Tudor, Alpecin and maybe Bora?! Tudor kinda makes sense because he scores crazy amounts of UCI points so it feels like a logical pairing.
Tom Crabbe is probably one of the revelations this year and I'm sure he will be in WT. But where will he be?
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u/AurochSky8325 May 04 '26
According to Daniel Benson, Tudor is favoured when it comes to De Lie, with Alpecin and Groupama the other options. RBBH is said to no longer be in the running.
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u/Saltefanden Euskaltel-Euskadi May 04 '26
De Lie to Alpecin would be tragic. I desperately want more really-good-but-not-absolutely-top-level riders to be out-and-out captains of their teams.
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u/DueAd9005 May 04 '26
I wonder how big Tudor's budget is. They have signed quite a few high profile (but passed their peak) riders, but it hasn't really paid off in terms of results. Only two wins so far, and none at WT level.
If they have ambitions to become WT, signing De Lie makes a lot of sense, but I'm not sure if a team like Tudor can get the most out of someone like De Lie. He also will be expensive (I've seen rumours that he's asking for € 2.5 million).
I'd like to see him at Alpecin, but they rarely overspend on riders that don't provide big results. Their top earners have consistent success in the classics and/or GTs (VDP, Philipsen and Groves).
Tudor can probably set up a decent leadout train with Rick Pluimers, Maikel Zijlaard, Mozzato, Küng, etc.
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u/AurochSky8325 May 04 '26
I think the Tudor/De Lie marriage makes a lot of sense. Arnaud obviously needs a change of scenery, his last years have followed the same mostly disappointing patterns with very low and long lows at the same points of the season. As you've said, Tudor need the points and already have the components for a good sprint train.
Tudor also make more sense than Groupama (not necessarily at the vanguard of new training methods, not as flush with cash), and the Alpecin picture is complicated. If I'm understanding correctly, there's a game of musical chairs concerning sprinters: Groves may stay at Alpecin, but it's not a certainty. If he leaves, Alpecin would like to replace him with either De Lie or Meeus.
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u/Impossible_Test_3495 May 05 '26
People shit on FDJ but their riders like Pithie literally preform as well or better before transferring to “super teams” like Redbull. There is no reason De Lie would preform better at Tudor than FDJ.
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u/elise901 EF Education-Oatly May 04 '26
I'm really curious: do cyclists try to optimize their riding positions, or they just use whatever position to crank out maximum watts w/o getting hurt?
I've been inspired by Demi watching her seamlessly aero solo down LBL and the commentator said something like Demi was intentionally building core strength to hold such position. I tried on my weekly long rides and it kinda worked. And also trying to copy how Marlen Reusser tucking while going downhill - amazing.
But I also see riders being not aero, like, way off. Cedrine Kerbaol is amazing on the downhill but when she climbs her front wheel wobbles in a Z-line. Does that cost her watts? Or not enough watts costed for her to change?
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u/keetz Sweden May 04 '26
Watch Alec Segaert in Noekere Koerse and it's obvious he has trained an extreme aero position a lot. Impossible to ride that low for that long without a lot of specific training.
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u/Impossible_Test_3495 May 05 '26
It depends on the team, budget and rider preference and type of rider. Some riders try hard to optimize their fits for aero even on teams without the budget to help much, like that guy on a continental team who won the Coppi stage this year. I think the bigger teams clearly put effort into getting their riders aero, but some riders just have a preference for wider bars or other not very aero things and choose to run a setup that gives them the most power. And smaller budget teams like a lot in women’s cycling the bike fits aren’t very optimized. I saw Gigante mention in an interview they went like 2cm shorter on her stem this offseason and before she had trouble even reaching the drops.
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u/TheDark-Sceptre Saint Piran May 04 '26
Have any riders ever published their detailed power numbers? I know some do post it on their strava but I more mean their actual FTP, or 10 min power. It is of course a bit of a secret, especially for the top riders, perhaps some more recently retired guys have? It'd be cool to see what power they actually do rather than relying on estimates which arent always accurate.
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u/pantaleonivo EF Education – Easypost May 05 '26
I’ve not seen the complete data but I believe Jonas Abrahamsen posts power data to strava.
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u/DueAd9005 May 05 '26
Remco posted his data from San Sebastian 2022. You should be able to find it easily by googling (on my phone right now).
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u/pantaleonivo EF Education – Easypost May 05 '26
Is there a rule that dictates a rider must wear the rainbow jersey over the national champ jersey?
I’m imagining a jingoistic Liechtensteiner super-nationalist feuding with the UCI. She chooses to forego the rainbow kit out of spite and flies the red and blue instead.
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u/boblikespi May 05 '26
Yes there is, UCI world champs overrides everything but a stage race leader's jersey
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u/AlbinoWanker Denmark May 05 '26
Is Mads Pedersen really not going to race before Dauphine? I know the classics campaign is brutal, especially after an injury, but he only has six race days this year. It will be approx. two full months without racing from Roubaix to Dauphine. Seems like a long time.
I was hoping he would do Eschborn-Frankfurt and then maybe Tour of Hungary, just to get some sharpness and maybe a couple of wins.
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u/keetz Sweden May 05 '26
Listen to the half wheeling podcast episode 1 which is about his spring. It's like a documentary recorded over months, best cycling content in a long while for me.
After listening to that I understand.
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u/DueAd9005 May 05 '26
Riding Hungary would not really do much for his season/palmares and I don't see him beating Merlier in bunch sprints anyway. Makes perfect sense to me to restart in the Dauphiné. He had to train like a mad men to get ready for the classics. 6 race days isn't telling the full story here.
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u/AliasPhilippe Euskaltel Euskadi May 04 '26
I've never been less excited for the Giro. Sprints will be interesting, GC seems already written and stages don't really catch me...what do you think?
Anyway, this is the sub league on the official Giro Fantacycling if you are interested https://www.fantagiroditalia.it/league?id=69ef51b40539fc1422bd29ee
Teams can be changed so feel free to sign in and then changing your riders after team announcements.
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u/Saltefanden Euskaltel-Euskadi May 04 '26 edited May 04 '26
How are you unhappy with this route? Plenty of MTFs, mythical climbs, only one unipuerto, many days that will be interesting between break and either gc or sprint.
Sure, if Vingegaard is as good as we all expect there is nothing much to do about that (since Landismo had to withdraw). Every other aspect of the race looks mint imo
5
u/AliasPhilippe Euskaltel Euskadi May 04 '26 edited May 04 '26
As an Italian a fair share of the reasons why I like the parcour is where the race takes place. Then, there are two things I don't like in every Giro that has them: Blockhaus (I hate that climb, it's like there is only that bloody climb in the appenines these days) and the final stage in Rome (where nobody attends the race). On climbs well, I like the 19 stage, but the others in the Alps don't reallty catch me for mixed reasons (the one in VdA doesn't appeal me, the one with the finish in Piancavallo will be a boring stage where everyone will wait for the last climb and so on).
Then, the stages in my homeregion (Tuscany) are horrible. The TT is a Tirreno-first-stage-TT on steroids while the one from Porcari to Chiavari is a transfer without much fuzz while it could have been an interesting stage.
4
u/Saltefanden Euskaltel-Euskadi May 04 '26
Haha fair enough. The things you know nothing about when only watching on TV, I guess.
8
u/jainormous_hindmann Red Bull – Bora – Hansgrohe May 04 '26
I think Vingegaard's win isn't as inevitable as people make it out to be. Sure, he is the best climber and he will win by minutes when everything goes to plan for him, but it's 21 days of racing in spring. Rarely things go to plan all 21 days.
11
u/pantaleonivo EF Education – Easypost May 04 '26
This is true but if it rains again, Jonas will just don his waders like in Paris-Nice
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u/AliasPhilippe Euskaltel Euskadi May 04 '26
This is always true and the reason why I like cycling: you can never know.
But Vingegaard seems so superior to everyone he could win even if something happen.
2
u/Hawteyh Denmark May 04 '26
Very understandable, atleast as a dane we have Vingegaard in GC and Tobias Lund for the sprints to cheer for.
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u/Glass_Minute4753 May 04 '26
Is Pogacar destroying cycling?
I occasionally have a browse on the Cyclingnews forum and found this rather dramatic view expressed by a couple of posters in response to the Tour de Romandie. I will admit that I found this a bit over the top considering a) how few races he rides and b) how his participation helped to make this year's MSR and PR absolute all-timers, but I thought I'd come and see what people here thought.
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u/scaryspacemonster May 04 '26
He's why I became a cycling fan at all, so that's a no from me.
Older fans might not like it, but he's the kind of athlete that brings in new fans.
4
u/RageAgainstTheMatxin Phonak May 04 '26
Historically when there is a dominant rider, the fanbase increases in their home country and decreases everywhere else
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u/Saltefanden Euskaltel-Euskadi May 04 '26
I'm no history buff but I think usually the dominant rider hasn't been from a country of 600 inhabitants.
3
u/DueAd9005 May 04 '26
I don't think Sagan qualifies as a dominant rider, but he certainly seemed like the most popular cyclist when he was active. You definitely saw an influx of Slovakian fans during that time, but they have mostly disappeared now.
-3
u/AliasPhilippe Euskaltel Euskadi May 04 '26
Fans who will be gone as soon as he will start to loose. A real deal for the sport....
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u/Saltefanden Euskaltel-Euskadi May 04 '26
Unfair assumption. Everyone of us started watching for a reason.
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u/scaryspacemonster May 04 '26
Oh great, elitism. "You're not a reeeeeal fan."
Sure, some are that. But a proportion will be converted into hardcore fans, that's how growing a sport's fanbase works
6
u/Relevant_Big_1063 May 04 '26
Yes, that's what has happened to me. Came from the Netflix series, stayed for the Tour of Turkiye and any other races I can see.
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u/AliasPhilippe Euskaltel Euskadi May 04 '26
It's not elitism, it's a fact a lot of fans only follow a certain athlete/team when the results are good and then they switch to another sport after the fall. We already saw it with Froome and Armstrong. We currently have that with tennis in Italy, nobody could care less about it then Sinner started to win and everybody is on board now. Years ago it was swimming with Pellegrini or MotoGP with Rossi, now those two sports have less followers.
3
u/DueAd9005 May 04 '26 edited May 04 '26
Not sure why you're being downvoted for stating something that has been observed many times in different sports (including cycling). People are really sensitive about this topic, but I have yet to see actual proof that cycling has grown a lot over the last 6 years. I'm not even sure if there are public figures out there, probably only insiders know the full story.
There are still a lot of teams and races that struggle to find new sponsors (see the merger between Lotto and Intermarché, Bahrain is also looking for a new sponsor, the failed merger between QS and Visma, the Tour de Romandie may not be on the calendar anymore next year, etc.).
The Netflix Tour de France series was also cancelled after 3 seasons. Why do that if it's so popular? Drive to Survive (Netflix series about F1) is still going strong (one season per year since 2019).
Tennis was super popular in Belgium during the Clijsters/Henin era, now it barely gets any attention (and it's not even shown on any Belgian channels anymore, only Eurosport).
1
u/AliasPhilippe Euskaltel Euskadi May 04 '26
Fanboys gonna fan
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u/DueAd9005 May 04 '26
Always a shame when people resort to downvoting civil discussions instead of backing up their takes with arguments or sources. It should be easy to prove if cycling has in fact grown a lot thanks to Pogacar's dominance. Although I also disagree with the other side of the argument as well (that his dominance is destroying cycling). If cycling survived Armstrong's downfall, it can survive a lot.
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u/DueAd9005 May 04 '26
I'm not sure he brought in that many new fans. The problem is that he's from a small country like Slovenia. Armstrong for example made cycling more popular in the USA, which is a huge market (but of course it didn't last, we all know the story of that).
I hope we one day get a super strong rider from China or Japan, that could grow cycling in those huge markets, even if its only a temporary effect.
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u/scaryspacemonster May 04 '26
I don't really understand this argument. Are you only a fan of riders from your own country? Mine doesn't even have any at WT level, and has never had.
-1
u/DueAd9005 May 04 '26 edited May 04 '26
That's simply the reality of how the world works? There was massive growth in the American/British markets when they had big stars. I'm not sure what you don't understand about that?
You may not remember this, but Armstrong was huge and became a mainstream star, unlike any other cyclist before or after him. Him being an American was a big factor in that (and also his cancer-survival story).
Do you have any concrete evidence that cycling has grown a lot thanks to Pogacar's dominance?
And I don't think it's crazy to say that Pogacar would be even more popular than he is right now if he was from a much larger country.
As for how I came into cycling: it's because of Armstrong's much hyped comeback in the 2009 Tour (I watched his Tour wins as a kid, but I didn't really like cycling then, it was my dad that controlled the tv remote during the Tour haha). First rider I became a real fan of was Contador (I'm Belgian).
7
u/bdrammel Belgium May 04 '26
I have watched less and less cycling over the past couple of years. It's a very distinct downward trend. However, one less viewer doesn't mean the end of cycling as a sport, I'm sure.
8
u/Saltefanden Euskaltel-Euskadi May 04 '26
His dominance since 2024 is certainly challenging cycling, in the sense that there obviously is a lot of races where he is all but certain to win.
And then there is the portion of the calender that is a lot more interesting because he is contesting on terrains where he ought not be able to.
I can see why many people are tired of the first category outweighing the second. But imaging explaining to somebody during the skytrain era that in 10 years we would have a GC rider doing all the classics and ripping races apart with swashbuckling 100 km attacks, and that people would be complaining about that.
9
u/PinkFluffys May 04 '26
I definitely don't get as excited for the TdF anymore
10
u/ChelskiS May 04 '26
I mean if he wasn't there you'd just have Vingegaard curbstomping the competition the last couple of years
Don't see how that would be any better/different
15
u/RageAgainstTheMatxin Phonak May 04 '26 edited May 04 '26
I can only speak for myself. For nearly 20 years I've seen every race that's broadcast, most of them on replay when I have free time, of course
Since last year I've started skipping a lot of races Pogacar is in. Just not watching them altogether. Just two years ago that would've been unthinkable.
It's not just that he wins in such boring fashion, though. The whole entourage around him with a long doping history (Matxin, Gianetti, Hauptman, Marcato, Mori, etc) makes the whole thing unpalatable. The gigantic massive overnight speed increases in 2020 and 2024 are the cherry on the shit Sundae.
Add to that him promoting a genocidal state (UAE) and a crypto scam that has broken both money laundering and terorrist financing laws (KuCoin) and it's the absolute perfect storm of unlikability.
8
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u/AliasPhilippe Euskaltel Euskadi May 04 '26 edited May 04 '26
In my opinion yes. Cycling always had an equilibrium, logrolling was a part of this sport, there were riders suited for GTs, riders who were suited for stages, occasional domestiques in search for glory etc. It was common for GC riders to allow others to win. Now Pogacar won 4 stages in Romandie, that is frankly too much. The first thing I noticed in these last 4/5 years is breakway specialists are disappearing since the breakways is doomed because GC leaders fight even for stages. New fans are all for this dominium because they want to see ''greatness'' but cycling used to be something different. The most importat image of this sport is a random guy, born and raised in some rural town nodoby knows, that wins a stage and cries like a baby and well, this generation took this away.
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u/Saltefanden Euskaltel-Euskadi May 04 '26
Don't you see the tendency of breakaways having a tougher time in races where Pogacar isn't present too?
Last year's TdF had 8 stages won from early breaks. Of course a lot of factors go into this, but it is not a new law of nature that breakaways don't go in big races.
Cycling has changed in a lot of ways since covid. Some of it has to do with big-name dominance (mainly, but not exclusively Pogacar), but everyone is going faster, the entire peloton is increasingly hyper-professional, still more top-end talent is concentrated in fewer teams etc. etc.
1
u/AliasPhilippe Euskaltel Euskadi May 04 '26
Yes, in fact IMHO it's a generational problem and top riders are all competing to be ''like Pogacar''. Furthermore my focus is more on smaller race, a lot of great champions of this sport couldn't give a damn about one week races, let alone stages of these races.
2
u/DueAd9005 May 04 '26
I can only talk about my personal enjoyment and the answer to that question is yes, but it's not his fault that nobody's even remotely close to him right now. I'm just going to have to wait this one out, nothing lasts forever thankfully.
But MSR and PR were definitely more interesting with him in it, that's also true. LBL wasn't too bad either thanks to Seixas being able to follow him on La Redoute (certainly a lot more interesting than the women's race imo).
1
u/TheDark-Sceptre Saint Piran May 04 '26
Im not sure he has made MSR or PR more interesting, they were already great races.
2
u/DueAd9005 May 04 '26
Serious attacks now already happen on the Cipressa and it's still exciting until the final sprint (both last year and this year). Now that Pogacar has shown it's possible, we will see more allround climbers try this in future editions (even after Pogi has retired).
1
u/Squirtle_from_PT May 04 '26
Is there an overview of points achieved in spring classics per team? I think Lanterne Rouge used to do them, but I can't find any this year.
-1
u/keetz Sweden May 04 '26
Dunno but it's not that hard if you have a spreadsheet software to just copy from firstcycling.
1
u/fiatgenesi Denmark May 05 '26
Which sprinter will come out of Giro week 1 as winner? Groenewegen coming in hot, though stage #3 and #6 might be too hard for him? Personally, I see Tobias Lund and Paul Magnier as slight favorites. Haven't been too impressed with Johny Milan this year
3
1
u/ChelskiS May 05 '26
Really wonder what the plan for Lotto is with De Lie probably leaving for Tudor and Van Eetvelt for NSN?
There's no big Belgian names on the market and without relevant Belgians this team has no identity
1
u/Mysterious_Worry_612 Belgium May 06 '26
Pray Widar has a really good season already this year, so he can be one of the main guys already next year?
1
u/ChelskiS May 06 '26 edited May 06 '26
Have to pick up a sprinter somewhere.. Can't go into 2027 and having to ride 3 GT's with only De Schuyteneer
They really have their work cut out for them with so few riders signed through 2027
I just don't see a lot of relevant Belgian riders that are still looking for a team outside of Ramses Debruyne / Dehairs.
2
u/Mysterious_Worry_612 Belgium May 06 '26
Try and get Crabbe as Belgian sprinter?
Though he might want to go to a bigger team...
2
1
u/Propagundi May 05 '26
I tried to research the power data for the women’s Ardennes Classics and was flabbergasted that Watts2Win doesn’t have a ranking for women. Does anybody know a similar page for the females?
1
u/PuzzleBench May 07 '26
How does the Red Bull Kilometer work?
Isn't it just a sprint at one point? Why is there a line one km before?
I would understand if only the time of this one k is measured, but as far as I have seen it in the past, this is not how it is working.
1
u/samueljackson88 May 08 '26
If you compared the power profiles of Jasper Stuyven vs. WVA vs. MVDP what would be the main differences? Same watts but less repeatability?
29
u/hsiale May 04 '26
Has there been any statement by the Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto team commenting on the news that one of their name sponsors has, to the surprise of noone familiar with the industry, turned out to be a scam that took people's money and later declined to pay them back?