***Official 2025 Pro Cycling Thread*** - This year a Grand Prize!!! (2 Viewers)

[BassNBrew]

First edition entered. I should write this one down and see how it fares vs my 358th version.

Last race my first edition had Rondel 242, Martinez 659, Vine 776 = 1677 for Remo 633, Plapp 5, and one of Leonard/Sobero/Arcas 5/5/0 = 638. Difference between winning and 5th in our league. I'd also be 2nd overall in the stage race championship overall instead of 66th.

 

[Jaysus]

@BobbyLayne
@Jaysus
@Sand
@cheeseypoof
@DA RAIDERS
@Nick Vermeil
@brettdj

Please reply to this thread when you have entered your team for the Giro.

no

 

[BassNBrew]

I'll hit up my company's marketing manager (me) for some prizes.

 

[brettdj]

I got in in time. Wow

 

[Sammy3469]

Whoever put together today's woman's Spain stage should be shot. I don't know why race organizers put together such dangerous finishes. Even without the rain, a 90 degree turn that close to the finish is basically ensures whoever's through that corner first is going to finish first.

 

[Sand]

Giro Top 5 favorites (The Cycling Dane podcast)

• Simon Yates

Dude is on crack.

 

[BobbyLayne]

Giro Top 5 favorites (The Cycling Dane podcast)

• Simon Yates

Dude is on crack.

same crew runs the The Echelon Cycling podcast

Can Simon Yates FINALLY Win the Giro d'Italia in 2025?

the comments are gold:

• maybe he can win a bonus sprint from a breakaway
• Oh please. No
• no
• Can Simon Yates win the Giro?
• Nope

 

[BobbyLayne]

he does have 6 stage wins but none since 2022

Brits and their athletes....

 

[Tick]

@culdeus
@Tick

Get your Velogames Giro team in. Sand is giving out prizes this year for something related to the Grand Tours.

Nah, I'm in a bunch of rookie drafts and don't want to figure out fantasy cycling. Nice to have a place to complain about sprint finishes, though.

Women's Vuelta stage was a terrible setting for a final sprint. Predictably half the peloton got wiped out in a big crash (the back half, thankfully).

 

[BassNBrew]

@culdeus
@Tick

Get your Velogames Giro team in. Sand is giving out prizes this year for something related to the Grand Tours.

Nah, I'm in a bunch of rookie drafts and don't want to figure out fantasy cycling. Nice to have a place to complain about sprint finishes, though.

Women's Vuelta stage was a terrible setting for a final sprint. Predictably half the peloton got wiped out in a big crash (the back half, thankfully).

You don't like prizes?

 

[Jaysus]

I REALLY have to stop messing with my Giro squad

 

[Sand]

I REALLY have to stop messing with my Giro squad

I'm locked in now. My boys are ready to go.

 

[cheeseypoof]

Just changed my line-up. Thought I was set but couldn't help myself.

 

[DA RAIDERS]

I’m sure I’ll tweak it tonight. But I’ve only made 3 changes

 

[BassNBrew]

I keep changing to cram in the big two and know that’s the smart move, but I default back to a more fun squad including the guys who always burn me. Surely Lucy isn’t going to pull the ball away this time.

 

[BobbyLayne]

Riders that can complete GT stage trilogy​

List of riders that can complete the trilogy of a stage win in each grand tour.

#	Rider	Giro	Tour	Vuelta
1	VAN AERT Wout	-	9	3
2	BARDET Romain	-	4	1
3	MAJKA Rafał	-	3	2
4	CLARKE Simon	-	1	2
5	YATES Adam	-	1	1
6	POELS Wout	-	1	1

Number of stages per stagetype.

Type	#Stages
Flat	5
Hills, flat finish	7
Hills, uphill finish	3
Mountains, flat finish	3
Mountains, uphill finish	3

 

[BobbyLayne]

Stage overview of Giro d'Italia.

TYPE	STAGE	KM	START
Hills, flat finish	Stage 1 | Durrës - Tirana	160	13:30
Hills, flat finish	Stage 2 (ITT) | Tirana - Tirana	13.7	13:55
Hills, flat finish	Stage 3 | Vlorë - Vlorë	160	13:25
Flat	Stage 4 | Alberobello (Pietramadre) - Lecce	189	13:05
Hills, uphill finish	Stage 5 | Ceglie Messapica - Matera	151	13:50
Hills, flat finish	Stage 6 | Potenza - Napoli	227	11:50
Mountains, uphill finish	Stage 7 | Castel di Sangro - Tagliacozzo	168	12:55
Hills, flat finish	Stage 8 | Giulianova - Castelraimondo	197	12:25
Hills, uphill finish	Stage 9 | Gubbio - Siena	181	13:05
Flat	Stage 10 (ITT) | Lucca - Pisa	28.6	13:15
Mountains, flat finish	Stage 11 | Viareggio - Castelnovo ne’ Monti	186	12:20

 

[BobbyLayne]

TYPE	STAGE	KM	START
Flat	Stage 12 | Modena - Viadana (Oglio-Po)	172	13:25
Hills, uphill finish	Stage 13 | Rovigo - Vicenza	180	13:05
Flat	Stage 14 | Treviso - Nova Gorica	195	12:55
Hills, flat finish	Stage 15 | Fiume Veneto - Asiago	219	11:35
Mountains, uphill finish	Stage 16 | Piazzola sul Brenta - San Valentino (Brentonico)	203	11:35
Mountains, flat finish	Stage 17 | San Michele all’Adige (Fondazione Edmund Mach) - Bormio	155	13:00
Hills, flat finish	Stage 18 | Morbegno - Cesano Maderno	144	14:00
Mountains, flat finish	Stage 19 | Biella - Champoluc	166	12:30
Mountains, uphill finish	Stage 20 | Verrès - Sestrière (Vialattea)	205	10:50
Flat	Stage 21 Roma-Roma	143	15:25

times are Central European Summer Time - 6 hours ahead of EDT

 

[BobbyLayne]

I keep changing to cram in the big two and know that’s the smart move, but I default back to a more fun squad including the guys who always burn me. Surely Lucy isn’t going to pull the ball away this time.

Now see if you were a boomer like me, you'd know never trust anyone over 30

 

[BobbyLayne]

as we say in chess, it's never too late to blunder

6 minutes until the entry deadline

 

[BassNBrew]

Looks like everyone except me, Bobby, and Brett went with the big two.

 

[Jaysus]

Looks like everyone except me, Bobby, and Brett went with the big two.

A bunch of teams with 2 big sprinters too... all but 1 or 2.

 

[Sammy3469]

pure sprinters...WAIT!!!!

 

[cheeseypoof]

My last rework was to get Bardet in my squad for his final grand tour. Worked out for me when I did the same for Pinot. We’ll see I suppose.

 

[BassNBrew]

My last rework was to get Bardet in my squad for his final grand tour. Worked out for me when I did the same for Pinot. We’ll see I suppose.

Nice idea, but I picked him and he always pedals squares on my team. Couldn’t resist one last disappointment from Bardet

 

[cheeseypoof]

1st and 6th for my squad I think.

 

[BobbyLayne]

the hamsters that run the PCS servers ran out of food again

 

[cheeseypoof]

Top 10

1	PEDERSEN Mads FLidl - Trek	180	80
2	VAN AERT WoutTeam Visma | Lease a Bike	130	50
3	AULAR OrluisMovistar Team	95	35
4	BUSATTO FrancescoIntermarché - Wanty	80	25
5	PIDCOCK ThomasQ36.5 Pro Cycling Team	60	18
6	ULISSI DiegoXDS Astana Team	45	15
7	CARAPAZ RichardEF Education - EasyPost	40	12
8	POOLE MaxTeam Picnic PostNL	35	10
9	CONCI NicolaXDS Astana Team	30	8
10	PIGANZOLI DavideTeam Polti VisitMalta	25	6

​

 

[BobbyLayne]

1st and 6th for my squad I think.

Mangier and Tarling were 7 years old when Ulissi won his first Giro stage

1st and 5th for me

 

[BobbyLayne]

Looks like everyone except me, Bobby, and Brett went with the big two.

A bunch of teams with 2 big sprinters too... all but 1 or 2.

Brett got 1-2 so he might be leading

Fortunato and Ciccone were on a lot of teams, they're 2-3 in KOM

Taco should get some breakaway points for a few squads (I took one of the Bais brothers for my breakaway guy)

---

Landa DNF, taken away on a stretcher, hope he's OK

 

[Jaysus]

PCS Results are up... I made so many revisions that I thought I had the best team ever based on all the ins and outs I had - lol

I was in for a surprise when I checked my squad

 

[BobbyLayne]

Boerum Hill:

1-5-12-18 earned points

23-29-46-59-161 stayed upright

Top 20 for Stage & GC earn points

Top 6 KOM & Points

Top 3 Intermediate Sprint

Top 5 Summit on Cat 1 climbs

Top 8 on the Cima Coppi (Queen's Stage - Stage 20 is the highest summit of this year's Giro)

Breakaway - 20 points for each rider (50% of stage), must be a group of less than 30 with at least a 5 second gap

Assist Stage - teammate finishes 1st/2nd/3rd in stage - 8, 4, 2 points
Assist GC - teammate finishes 1st/2nd/3rd in the cumulative GC - 8, 4, 2 points
Assist Team - team finishes in Top 3 Teams Classification - 8,, 4, 2 points (not awarded on the 2 ITT days)

END OF TOUR POINTS
GC - Top 30
Points - Top 10
KOM - Top 10
Teams - Top 5

 

[BobbyLayne]

| Stage 1 |

• 1 687 Late to the party
  Brettdj
• 2 487 Boerum Hill Big Ringing
  BobbyLayne
• 3 464 Squeaky Wheels
  Cheeseypoof
• 4 463 Sand`s Saddle Sores
  BassNBrew
• 5 437 RB Brownwings WGUAFC
  Jaysus
• 6 412 Spokes `n Tokes
  Nick Vermeil
• 7 365 3 Big Mistakes
  Sand
• 8 133 Armstrong’s Needle
  Da Raiders

 

[BobbyLayne]

PSA reminder

Superclasico Fantasy Sixes 2025 1-day race contest has 3 events in the next 4 days:

Saturday-Sunday-Tuesday

• Race 19
  Grand Prix du Morbihan
  2025-05-10 10:00:00
  (CEST)
  
  
• Race 20
  Tro-Bro Léon
  2025-05-11 10:00:00
  (CEST)
  
  
• Race 21
  Classique Dunkerque / Grand prix des Hauts de France
  2025-05-13 10:00:00
  (CEST)

 

[BobbyLayne]

PCS Results are up... I made so many revisions that I thought I had the best team ever based on all the ins and outs I had - lol

I was in for a surprise when I checked my squad

samesy

I had half of the Top 30 on my team in multiple iterations lol

 

[Sand]

Looks like everyone except me, Bobby, and Brett went with the big two.

A bunch of teams with 2 big sprinters too... all but 1 or 2.

I only took Mads. The Giro isn't a sprinters race. And took Bardet. Hopefully he pulls of some heroics.

Not worried about a slow day 1. As usual this is very back loaded. The last week should be epic. Along with that one Slovenian finish, which the whole country may come out for Primoz.

 

[BassNBrew]

Dang I was mistaken, thought Groves could hang.

 

[DA RAIDERS]

Dang I was mistaken, thought Groves could hang.

Same. Not having Petersen today is the biggest difference. I still think groves will perform. Taking thymen looks like my biggest blunder

 

[DA RAIDERS]

tomorrow and the other TT will shake things up big time

 

[Sand]

tomorrow and the other TT will shake things up big time

I took Tarling, who should be value here with two TTs. Very good chance he leads the race after tomorrow.

 

[cheeseypoof]

tomorrow and the other TT will shake things up big time

I took Tarling, who should be value here with two TTs. Very good chance he leads the race after tomorrow.

I'm hoping, but I've been let down in the past when I've chosen Tarling.

 

[Sammy3469]

tomorrow and the other TT will shake things up big time

I took Tarling, who should be value here with two TTs. Very good chance he leads the race after tomorrow.

He got dropped today, so there's no chance he wears pink tomorrow short of everyone else crashing. One of Mads, Wout, Roglic, or McNulty should be in pink after the ITT. My guess is Roglic and they let a break win on Sunday to get out of it since there's no real reason to ride up that climb hard. Wout was still coughing in the interview after today's stage and all I could think is the entire peloton is going to eventually get what he has.

 

[Nick Vermeil]

All this year is proving is how little business i have participating in fantasy cycling.

When in doubt, Wout it out.

 

[DA RAIDERS]

tomorrow and the other TT will shake things up big time

I took Tarling, who should be value here with two TTs. Very good chance he leads the race after tomorrow.

Same. I focused a lot on the TT because there’s not a lot else in this version.i might have 4 in top 10 tomorrow.

There are GC days, but I planned for those. Roglic just needs to stay upright. He looked good today. Hate that ayuso hit the deck

 

[Jaysus]

Damn, Landa broke his back in the crash yesterday

Medical Update | Soudal Quick-Step Pro Cycling Team

Mikel Landa abandoned the first Grand Tour of the year after a crash on the opening stage.

www.soudal-quickstepteam.com

 

[BobbyLayne]

13.7 km ( ~8.5 miles) - finally a relatable ride

 

[BobbyLayne]

***stage winner on the course alert***

 

[BobbyLayne]

love these history tidbits from the PCS live stats feed:

On this day in 1931.

Following his stage win on the opening day of the 1931 Giro d'Italia in Mantua, Learco Guerra became the first ever cyclist to don the Giro's coveted pink leader's jersey. The first jersey was entirely pink and made from wool. It had a roll-neck collar and front pockets. The color was chosen because La Gazzetta dello Sport, the sports newspaper that created the Giro d'Italia, was printed on pink paper.

---

On this day in 1924.

The 12th edition of the Giro d'Italia had 90 cyclists on the startlist, among which Alfonsina Strada, the only woman to have ridden one of the men's grand tours. Riding with BIB number 72, Alfonsina was one of many who crashed during stage 7, when extremely rainy and windy weather conditions led mud and rocks to be swept across the unpaved roads of southern Italy. Her handlebar broke off and she was given half a broomstick by a peasant to replace it. She rode on, but unfortunately finished outside the time limit. The organizers allowed her to continue the race as an individual, and the next day Alfonsina Strada was hailed as a hero, as a crowd lifted her from her bicycle and carried her in triumph after she finished. It motivated her to continue to Milan and finish the Giro.

 

[BobbyLayne]

Good day for JT, as expected - that’ll be 15 Top 10s in 16 career ITT stages - but likely not enough for the maglia rosa.

WvA with a great opportunity to take the lead by day’s end.

 

[BobbyLayne]

I focused a lot on the TT because there’s not a lot else in this version.i might have 4 in top 10 tomorrow.

1-9-16-17
1-7-10-18-19 for me

Tarling-Ayuso-Tiberi-Storer

When I finished my last build I realized I only had two really good TTers (Tarling & Ayuso) and a couple more who could earn points. I was more focused on getting hills and climber specialists in the squad.

@Sand is right about the GC points up for grabs on Stage 16, 17, 19 & 20 + end-of-tour points.

But you have to hope your riders get there - unfortunately, always a lot of DNF in grand tours. I hate crashes, but the guy who is the prohibitive favorite has had a ton of them over the years.