***Official 2023 Pro Cycling Thread*** - The Vuelta will be a Primoz, Vigo, G, Remco mosh pit (2 Viewers)

[cheeseypoof]

Scores are up

Spoiler

got dropped by Cheesy and Nick

still 3 km to the top

Bass about to slingshot past

I’m in the red

I think I might be Pinot in this a case and Cheesy is everyone else in the peloton.

It’s all smoke and mirrors. Pinot and Barguil showed up today. Only 6 riders left. Not sure where everyone else stands rider wise.

 

[BobbyLayne]

Scores are up

Spoiler

got dropped by Cheesy and Nick

still 3 km to the top

Bass about to slingshot past

I’m in the red

I think I might be Pinot in this a case and Cheesy is everyone else in the peloton.

It’s all smoke and mirrors. Pinot and Barguil showed up today. Only 6 riders left. Not sure where everyone else stands rider wise.

Think we’re all on 4-6 riders left? @Jaysus has 2-3. Start List was 176, down to 126 (which is about average since Covid hit.)

Honestly I’m just trying to understand the sport more. Been a casual since LeMond. Got into it deeper bc Armstrong, but between him, Landis, Rasmussen, OK yeah everyone lol…got jaded & gave up on it for a long time.

Looking forward to the next two stages regardless of Velogames. None of the three likely GC podium are really imposing their will, def could go any direction.

 

[cheeseypoof]

Scores are up

Spoiler

got dropped by Cheesy and Nick

still 3 km to the top

Bass about to slingshot past

I’m in the red

I think I might be Pinot in this a case and Cheesy is everyone else in the peloton.

It’s all smoke and mirrors. Pinot and Barguil showed up today. Only 6 riders left. Not sure where everyone else stands rider wise.

Think we’re all on 4-6 riders left? @Jaysus has 2-3. Start List was 176, down to 126 (which is about average since Covid hit.)

Honestly I’m just trying to understand the sport more. Been a casual since LeMond. Got into it deeper bc Armstrong, but between him, Landis, Rasmussen, OK yeah everyone lol…got jaded & gave up on it for a long time.

Looking forward to the next two stages regardless of Velogames. None of the three likely GC podium are really imposing their will, def could go any direction.

That’s basically where I’m at. I’d watch the tour in July. Found it fascinating what these guys can do day after day. Especially being the shlub that I am.

Tried following the Vuelta last year. This is my foray into the Giro. Did the GCN+ TV package for the month.

As far as the fantasy games go, I try and pick guys I’ve heard of, and like, to keep my interest. Was a fan of Jens Voigt, Sylvain Chavanel, Thomas Voekler, Romain Bardet, Pierre Rolland and now Thibaut Pinot. In addition to the American guys.

 

[DA RAIDERS]

I’ve only lost remko and teo

 

[BobbyLayne]

Stage 19 DNS: Hugh Carthy ED-Education Post

 

[BobbyLayne]

fm yesterday:

Other teams: "PRIMOZ IS DROPPED! PRIMOZ IS DROPPED!"
Sepp: "Oh, no, he just didn't have his coffee yet this morning"

 

[Nick Vermeil]

Spoiler

They better reel in Cort or Cheesy is going to pass me by. I don't have anyone in the break.

 

[BobbyLayne]

Spoiler

They better reel in Cort or Cheesy is going to pass me by. I don't have anyone in the break.

Spoiler

Derek Gee says I'm tired of finishing 2nd

See if it holds up

If not Cort I think Buitrago has a shot at it

parts of this HC are 14% should get interesting

 

[BobbyLayne]

Spoiler

1-3-6-12-24

990th on the day (out of 19349)

Buitrago more than doubled his pts today

Big surprise

Tomorrow’s TT profile is insane, couple stretches are 22%

Do people expect any more changes? People saying it’s up for grabs but I think the top 3 are settled - GT is superb TTer. But it's extreme enough to make people believe there could be a big swing.


Stage 20

Climb	Cat	Finish	Length	Avg Gradient
Monte Lussari	1	km 18.6	7.3 km	12.1%

Weather
Around 10-15°C. Mostly sunny.

---

Stage breakdown

It’s finally time for the last GC stage of the 2023 Giro, the much dreaded cronoscalata (uphill ITT) to Monte Lussari.

The race has moved to Tarvisio, a mountain resort in the northeastern corner of the country. Roglič should almost feel at home here, Slovenia is just 10 kms away. The first 11 kms are mostly flat, and parts of it take place on a cycling path; then, with 7.5 kms to go, the ascent begins. Monte Lussari is a brand new climb, never used before by the Giro or any other race. It’s been paved for the occasion- it was a narrow gravel road before that. The first 5 kms are ruthlessly steep, the average is 15% but the gradients go above 20% at times. The climb eases for a short while, around the 2 kms to go banner, before picking up again for another km where the gradients get up to 22%. Inside the last km the riders will find a brief descent before a short punchy ramp to the finish line.

The Giro used to have uphill ITTs somewhat regularly but they fell out of favour in recent years, the last proper stage of this kind was the 2016 Seiseralm stage won by Alexander Foliforov; in recent years, there have only been shorter ones such as the opening stage in 2019 to San Luca or the short uphill finales used in Budapest last year and Ortona three weeks ago.

★★★ Thomas

★★ Almeida Roglič

Geraint Thomas. He hasn't looked exactly flashy, but he's ben reliably solid all race long, so he's our safest bet.

Hopefully Primož Roglič won't have too many dejavus: the last time he tackled an uphill ITT on stage 20 of a Grand Tour, leaving right after a young UAE rider in the white jersey, things didn't go too well for him. Jokes aside, he's been in rising form in recent days, and he usually thrives on steep ramps like tomorrow's. His ITT performance in Cesena was also pretty good, although he was 16" behind Thomas on the day.

João Almeida has been lagging behind his other two rivals these last couple of days, but in the end he didn't lose much, so he shouldn't absolutely be counted out; perhaps he will fare better on a single climb. He wasn't stellar in Cesena, but his overall worth as a TTer is out of question.

 

[BobbyLayne]

Alright this is exactly as ridiculous as we expected, lol.

Bike exchange after the flat portion. Road (trail) is freshly paved. Limited moto coverage on the climb bc the road is tiny, they’ve tried a few overhead shots but they’re riding through a mature forest so we can’t see much. They tried to put in an intermediate time check at 14.3km but couldn’t get any internet signal.

The Monte Lussari is ludicrous. 5km at 15%!! Two sections are 22%. One cable car at the top is the only way down.

Anyone has a mechanical I presume we’ll see them walking haha.

 

[BobbyLayne]

Out of context Trek-Segafredo

 

[BobbyLayne]

Anyone has a mechanical I presume we’ll see them walking haha.

support moto

the mechanic has to take the spare bike off the car, then hop on the back of a motorbike, and carry the spare bike for the entire climb

 

[BobbyLayne]

OTL increased from 30 to 50% bc insane parcours so domestiques popping wheelies amidst smoke bombs is a thing now

 

[BobbyLayne]

1 hour breaks between waves for logistics

 

[BobbyLayne]

 

[BobbyLayne]

I don’t believe what just happened followed by I can’t believe what just happened

 

[Nick Vermeil]

I don’t believe what just happened followed by I can’t believe what just happened

Congrats cheesy

 

[cheeseypoof]

I don’t believe what just happened followed by I can’t believe what just happened

Congrats cheesy

Thanks.

I don’t believe what just happened followed by I can’t believe what just happened

Congrats cheesy

Thanks

 

[BobbyLayne]

results are up

looks like the Velogames top 3 is probably set?

***************

in the end my last minute switch worked out fine

Builtrago +23 Kamna and Kuss +368 over Konrad

Stage 19 win (Buitrago) the only thing that kept me on the podium

 

[BobbyLayne]

How the gap between Roglic and Thomas evolved in the finale:

3,3 km to go:
Roglic 34:03
Thomas 34:19 (+0:16)

2,5 km to go, 200m after Roglic mechanical (Roglic lost ~17 sec there):
Roglic 38:05
Thomas 38:14 (+0:09)

0,8 km to go:
Roglic 42:20
Thomas 42:49 (+0:29)

FINISH:
Roglic 44:23
Thomas 45:03 (+0:40)

Basically, Thomas lost Il Giro in the last 2 km where Roglic was 30 sec faster than him. With 1 km to go, Thomas was still in virtual Maglia Rosa but then got tired, his pedalling got visibly very heavy. Anyway, without the mechanical, it wouldn't have been close and zero drama.

 

[Sand]

I don’t believe what just happened followed by I can’t believe what just happened

Congrats cheesy

Thanks.

I don’t believe what just happened followed by I can’t believe what just happened

Congrats cheesy

Thanks

I would say eff you Cheesy, but as is usual with these things I was bloody awful.

Today's stage was beyond epic. How in the world on a single chainring is a chainkeeper not put on?

 

[BobbyLayne]

I don’t believe what just happened followed by I can’t believe what just happened

Congrats cheesy

Thanks.

I don’t believe what just happened followed by I can’t believe what just happened

Congrats cheesy

Thanks

I would say eff you Cheesy, but as is usual with these things I was bloody awful.

Today's stage was beyond epic. How in the world on a single chainring is a chainkeeper not put on?

I’d love to meet the ad exec who’ll come up with the copy for this campaign for SRAM

1x in the mountains? Only if like winning Grand Tours​

 

[Sand]

And if you thought that this Giro couldn't get any more awesome we get that at the end. Wow, just wow. Brilliant!

 

[BobbyLayne]

Derek Gee

Dude had an incredible GT debut

• 2nd place in four stages
• 2nd place in points classification
• 2nd place in KOM classification
• 2nd place in intermediate sprints classification
• voted super combative rider of the 2023 Giro

his team gave him a nice surprise in Rome

 

[DA RAIDERS]

There ya go mark

fun crazy giro. Hopefully no Covid in le tour

 

[BobbyLayne]

Wonderful Losers: A Different World (71 minutes)

Pretty cool doc that follows the doctors car around the Giro.

This is the first time in over 40 years, an independent filmmaker outside of the broadcast networks who has been allowed to film behind the scenes an exclusive insider look at the notorious and celebrated Italian Grand Tour Cycling race Giro d’Italia.Filmed over several years, Arūnas Matelis and his crew joined the medic teams to reveal the unseen footage of the riders at the back of the race - the so-called “water carriers,” “domestiques,” “Gregarios” - who forego their careers and personal victories for the sake of victory for their leader. Its heroes are athletes undertaking the most difficult challenges, while remaining in the shadow of leaders, without the right to personal victory. Through their sacrifice, they pave the way to victory for the band's stars, becoming a universal symbol of sacrifice.

 

[grateful zed]

Tour de France 2023 – Analysing the contenders

The final form ranking for the yellow jersey contenders

www.cyclingnews.com

 

[Sand]

Tour de France 2023 – Analysing the contenders

The final form ranking for the yellow jersey contenders

www.cyclingnews.com

Carapaz is underrated here.

 

[Jaysus]

New Official Trailer for Netflix Tour de France: Unchained

 

[BobbyLayne]

Stage 16 2023 Le Tour - 166 km

• Col des Saisles (13.3 km at 5.3%),
• Cornet de Roselend (19.9 km at 6%)
• Cöte de Longefoy (6.6 km at 7.6%)
• Col de la Loze (28.4 km at 6%)

The queen stage of TDF features 5000 meters of elevation gain

 

[BobbyLayne]

cruel sport

#dauphine

 

[Jaysus]

Dauphine has been fun. Alaphilippe won a stage, Vingegaard has been leading sprints, short TT today, then some mountains to finish it off. Kruijswijk crashed hard and is out of the TdF though, that will throw a slight monkey wrench in TJV's plans

 

[Sammy3469]

I got through the first episode of the Netflix tour “doc”…two thumbs up. A whole bunch of quality peloton GoPro footage.

 

[BobbyLayne]

I got through the first episode of the Netflix tour “doc”…two thumbs up. A whole bunch of quality peloton GoPro footage.

Watched the first two episodes. About what I expected, similar vibe as Drive to Survive. Has to sort of straddle between being appealing to supporters and being appealing to casuals; wish they would geek out on strategy a little more but it's pretty good so far. Will catch the rest of the series this weekend.

 

[BobbyLayne]

altitude camp - Tadej Pogacar and Remco Evenepoel

 

[AAABatteries]

cruel sport

#dauphine

Seems like looking back 5-6 times wasn't a great idea.

 

[Sammy3469]

I got through the first episode of the Netflix tour “doc”…two thumbs up. A whole bunch of quality peloton GoPro footage.

Watched the first two episodes. About what I expected, similar vibe as Drive to Survive. Has to sort of straddle between being appealing to supporters and being appealing to casuals; wish they would geek out on strategy a little more but it's pretty good so far. Will catch the rest of the series this weekend.

Yeah…the teams clearly don’t want the real strategies out there. They sort of flubbed stage 11.

 

[BobbyLayne]

Final 10km brutal climb - Stage 7 Criterium Dauphine

 

[BobbyLayne]

If the Tour de France Champion Rides at THIS Speed...it's Steep | Critérium du Dauphiné 2023 Stage 8

0:50 / 29:47 Critérium du Dauphiné 2023 EXTENDED HIGHLIGHTS: Stage 8 | 6/11/23 | NBC Sports

 

[BobbyLayne]

A Flat TT To Kick Off The Racing! | Tour de Suisse 2023 Highlights Men - Stage 1

 

[BobbyLayne]

Final 1KM | Stage 2 Tour de Suisse 2023

 

[DA RAIDERS]

If the Tour de France Champion Rides at THIS Speed...it's Steep | Critérium du Dauphiné 2023 Stage 8

0:50 / 29:47 Critérium du Dauphiné 2023 EXTENDED HIGHLIGHTS: Stage 8 | 6/11/23 | NBC Sports

caught the recap and the last stage on nbc. Nice to see Julian back. I wish remco would do the tour

 

[BobbyLayne]

Wout Van Aert may take early leave from TDF for birth of second child

 

[BobbyLayne]

Prayers up for Gino Mäder, who went over the handlebars during the final descent of Stage 5 of the Tour de Suisse. Have not seen any photos or video but I know the stage winner hit 100 kph during his descent.

Rider was airlifted off the mountain. Magnus Sheffield also crashed on the same descent.

Hoping for the best.

 

[BobbyLayne]

Prayers up for Gino Mäder, who went over the handlebars during the final descent of Stage 5 of the Tour de Suisse. Have not seen any photos or video but I know the stage winner hit 100 kph during his descent.

Rider was airlifted off the mountain. Magnus Sheffield also crashed on the same descent.

Hoping for the best.

I have him on my Tour Tracker fantasy team for this race... my TdF team is doomed at this rate.

Sheffield was taken by ambulance and update said he's stable. Hearing some scary stuff about Mäder but the reports are unconfirmed AFAIK.

 

[BobbyLayne]

“Both riders are on their way to the hospital. As far as we know, Magnus Sheffield is less seriously injured. Gino Mäder suffered serious injuries, but I can't go into more detail about them,” Tour de Suisse director Olivier Senn told SRF.

The Tour de Suisse organisation later published a statement regarding the crash on the descent of the Albulapass.

“At race kilometre 197 in the descent of the Albula Pass, two riders crashed at very high speed. The race doctor was on the scene of the accident within two minutes. Magnus Sheffield was responsive. He was transported to Samedan hospital with bruises and a concussion,” read the statement.

“Gino Mäder lay motionless in the water. He was immediately resuscitated and then transported to Chur hospital by air ambulance. The severity of his injuries has not yet been fully clarified. An update will be given as soon as new information is available. The circumstances of the accident are being clarified."

Bahrain Victorious subsequently issued a statement confirming the sequence of events described by the Tour de Suisse organisation.

“More news about the consequences of the accident will follow after Mäder undergoes further examinations,” read the statement. “Our thoughts and prayers are with Gino.”

Roland Thalmann (Tudor Pro Cycling) told SRF that he had encountered the aftermath of the crashes as he descended towards the finish in La Punt.

“After a long curve, two bikes were lying on the side of the road, which didn't look nice,” Thalmann said. “When I looked back, I saw that two riders were quite far down.”

World champion Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) criticised the presence of the descent at the end of the toughest mountain stage of the race.

“No one can be satisfied that the race ends after such a dangerous descent," Evenepoel said. “I heard some guys fell. It would have been better if the finish had been on top.”

His thoughts were echoed by the new yellow jersey Mattias Skjelmose (Trek-Segafredo). “Perhaps this descent at the end wasn't the best idea,” he said, according to Blick.

 

[BobbyLayne]

free download - Tour De France Roadbook

The app is called Roadbook Tour de France (Apple store, Google Play, et al)

username: Guest
password: roadbook2023

 

[Jaysus]

Jeez, everything I've read about Mader's crash has been horrific

 

[BobbyLayne]

Jeez, everything I've read about Mader's crash has been horrific

Sad to report that Gino Mäder has passed away at the age of 26

 

[Jaysus]

Rest in peace Gino