DDK - Die Deutschen Klassiker

His face was magic. 8k of agony etched all over it, 80m of complete surprise and relief
Love it when the hare escapes the hounds and hats off to him for realising he could go quicker alone than with the other breakaway rider.

And what a fantastic bonus for Wanty Gobert, what a ride, looked like he was in 53 12 for the last 5k. So impressive.

I dunno. I can run 5k in under 53:12










Just

Watching the Giro today I was truly impressed with Remco Evenepoel. Unflustered all day and made it look effortless.
9 months without racing whilst recovering from his crash and this is his first race back.
Mature beyond his years, I'm now expecting great things from him in this race

He’s broadly expected to be the next big thing, especially among the riders it seems.

There used to be an accepted route of certain races on the way to the grand tours for GC riders it feels like that’s a thing of the past now and riders are happy to train, rather than race, their way to form.

Pidcock wins the first UCI MTB race for GB for 21 years and possibly is going to Toyko mtb

Sent from my M2004J19C using Tapatalk

I’m sure the stage yesterday was far better to watch than ride. Brilliant riding/racing and the GC shaken up considerably

Tosh wrote:I’m sure the stage yesterday was far better to watch than ride. Brilliant riding/racing and the GC shaken up considerably

Real shame to see Remco lose 2 minutes. I was hoping to see a good ding dong between him and Bernal

Bernal got a podium in Strada Bianca this year so I expected him to go well.

Remco is riding very well for his come back from injury and his first grand tour. I know the rule book has been rewritten for young riders winning grand tours but he is very young.

Sent from my M2004J19C using Tapatalk

I’ve caught highlights of Ethan Hayter riding on three separate occasions. Two of them he’s lost yellow, and one he crashed. Maybe I should watch something else

3 days of mayhem then BANG! Cav is back...
Chapeau for perseverance and belief

I took much more joy from that - and his/the peloton’s reaction - than I did from the football later.

Interesting 'take' on the TdF crashes..... Discuss!
(Taken from Sticky Bottle web site)

Cycling’s shift towards data and apps like Strava is contributing to the crashes we have seen on the Tour de France’s opening stages, WorldTour rider Mitch Docker believes.

The Australian, who rides with EF Education Nippo and has been a pro since 2006, said the route into pro cycling had changed during his time in the sport. He added the way teams were identifying talent was also different now.

His remarks are interesting as his career spans the period in which data has become so important in all aspects of cycling; from power meters to Strava and Zwift, among other data-based tools and apps. The last five years in particular have witnessed a huge shift towards indoor training and data, even for those very new to cycling.

Docker (34), who will retire after this year’s Paris-Roubaix, believes there has been a greater emphasis on judging riders by their data. This, he says, has been done at the expense of considering riders’ ability to win races, their bike handling and general race craft.

And because of that, Docker believes riders who have very big engines but are not proven winners, race tacticians or expert bike handlers are making it into top teams at a rate never seen before.

He is convinced the higher number of riders with big engines, but poor bike handling skills, in the bunch is helping to contribute to the rate of crashes at the Tour, where rider bike handling and general race craft is really put to the test.

However, he also believes there are many other factors that also contribute to the mass pile-ups, especially at the Tour as it is so important and everyone is so keen to do well and stay at the front.

“The peloton is changing,” he said on The Cycling Podcast. “And what I mean by that is… the feeling I used to have is people got into the (pro) peloton because they were winners. And the way they were winners – and I’m generalising here – is that they learned how to race as a junior.

“And then you worked your way up the ranks. And, yes, you had good data. But it wasn’t all about data. If you could win a race and have shite data, that didn’t matter; no one knew about that data, you just won a race.

“And you learned race skills, you learned race craft, you learned how to win. And when you came into the WorldTour, you knew how to race. You’d learned your skill, you’d learned your trade.

“What I think has been happening over the years, with the access to data; SRM, Strava, whatever it might be… people are finding these engines,” he said of pro teams identifying talent based on data, citing Primoz Roglic as an example.

“He’s been in the peloton since 2013, so he’s been there for a while. But he didn’t grow up as a cyclist, and he’s just one rider. But when you grow up as a cyclist you learn how to race; this race craft, this skill as a junior. It becomes part of you and you understand how to race.

“When you put a whole bunch together now of… let’s say 50 per cent of the guys who haven’t raced as much as the other 50 per cent. And it starts to get sketchy… guys are certainly strong enough (to be pros) but have they got the race craft?

“A lot of guys have got the power to be in the peloton but they don’t necessarily have the skill; that’s my feeling about what’s changed over the years.”

He added “the racing has got faster and there’s stress in the race radio” in the riders ears on races, as well as a whole host of other reasons why there may be more crashes. But he was convinced there was a lack of skill among more and more pros because they were fast-tracked in the pro ranks based on their data.

He felt this was a big factor in causing crashes and it was being overlooked in the media’s analysis of why there have been so many crashes at the Tour, even though not all the incidents could be blamed on poor bike handling.

“To back all that (power) up, the riders don’t have enough skill to handle all that. And that is, I think, the missing element,” he said, adding the Tour route so far had not been “overly dangerous”.

He said riders needed to “regain the race craft” and wondered if it was wise for teams to sign riders based on power output and the size of their engines while overlooking the other basic requirements of being a pro.

“Now (for teams looking for talent) it’s a question of ‘have they got the engine, have they got the power? OK, he’ll learn how to race once he comes into the WorldTour’. And now we’re seeing the results of that.”

-------------------------------
Personally I believe that radios have ruined the spontaneity of the sport. They also lure riders into dangerous manoeuvres based on someone sat in a car (the DS) issuing 'instructions'

Interesting take

The other element (possibly stemming from that) is team radio/pictures where the car is making the calls to get teams/riders positioned as close to “primary” position as possible. Pressure is on most of them to look after their Leader/GC/sprinter as long as possible and there’s a) only so much road (plus loads of street furniture that used not be there) and b) the big engines at the front are so powerful that dropping back a few metres for safety leads to fear of being dropped - if not your fear, then the guy who fills the gap you left - and being dropped/recovering drains energy etc.

Racecraft is one thing, managing your output while keeping in touch with the big engines/protecting your lead is a factor IMO

And then there’s G