General race thread 2021 **spoilers**

Itziger

dublin49 wrote: »

fair enough,although I would have thought the general impression of the man in street after 87 was that Roche was the star and Kelly was winning smaller races we knew little about.Little did I know then then that Kelly would today be considered one of the greatest cyclists of all time.I wasnt cycling or that interested back then but would have been immersed in Roche's achievements in 87.

That's fair enough. The feeling was that Kelly won a few sprints and stuff (!!!) but it was golden boy Roche who won the big one. Or big ones as it happens.

I was lucky enough to get into cycling as a spectator sport a bit earlier. I went to France as a small fella in '77 and Kelly was in the Tour so I took an interest in his career. But the early triumphs would only have got a few lines tucked away in the Sports pages of the Irish papers.

dublin49

I have been hoping Eddie Dunbar was the next great Irish rider but his progress seems to have been stalled mostly by injury but maybe others could offer an opinion on his progress and his potential based on their observations of his career thus far.

velo.2010

Carlton on Eurosport...'After that climb we'll be arriving into a place called Bezzy... nothing to do with the Stone Roses I understand'.
Eh, was he trying to reference Bez from the Happy Mondays there?

De Bhál

Some crowds out watching this race in the Basque country finish

Yeah, I'd a raised eyebrow at the numbers at the finish there. All masked though I guess.

CramCycle

nqtfarmer wrote: »

What are people’s expectations for racing to resume here in Ireland for us non elite folk?

June at the earliest, TTs and Mondello, but realistically July or August for proper racing.

Also today, those f*cking motorbike riders should be shot, they are brutal.

harringtonp

dublin49 wrote: »

I have been hoping Eddie Dunbar was the next great Irish rider but his progress seems to have been stalled mostly by injury but maybe others could offer an opinion on his progress and his potential based on their observations of his career thus far.

I would be of the view that any rider signed by the top world tour team (they were top a couple of years back) has definitely "made it". I don't think he will ever be a prolific winner at this level but you will see a lot of him on TV and this speaks for itself.

To draw very loose comparisons with football. in my view you are talking about a solid midfielder who is a regular starter in a mid table premier league team. And what would the current Irish team give for the likes of them.

I was in the same races as him when he was a junior and remember him as an exceptional talent. He could only win back then but there is a bit of a difference in level between that and world tour 😉

Brian?

harringtonp wrote: »

I would be of the view that any rider signed by the top world tour team (they were top a couple of years back) has definitely "made it". I don't think he will ever be a prolific winner at this level but you will see a lot of him on TV and this speaks for itself.

To draw very loose comparisons with football. in my view you are talking about a solid midfielder who is a regular starter in a mid table premier league team. And what would the current Irish team give for the likes of them.

I was in the same races as him when he was a junior and remember him as an exceptional talent. He could only win back then but there is a bit of a difference in level between that and world tour ��

It's a bit early to write Eddie off as a "solid midfielder", it used to be that cyclists only hit their peak around 28 and he's only 24.

harringtonp

Brian? wrote: »

It's a bit early to write Eddie off as a "solid midfielder", it used to be that cyclists only hit their peak around 28 and he's only 24.

Yes it doesn't sound great alright when you pick it out like that but that's not what I meant. A "solid midfielder"playing regularly for the likes of Barcelona or Manchester City would be viewed as a great player by all accounts. One playing regularly for a team a little further down the table would be viewed as a top player.

Typically Belgian day for it from the looks of the womens race at the minute .

breezy1985

harringtonp wrote: »

Yes it doesn't sound great alright when you pick it out like that but that's not what I meant. A "solid midfielder"playing regularly for the likes of Barcelona or Manchester City would be viewed as a great player by all accounts. One playing regularly for a team a little further down the table would be viewed as a top player.

He has certainly "made it" riding with Ineos same as Ryan Mullen has even though it might not look that way going by race wins.

mr spuckler

Amazing news about Jakobsen

Fabio Jakobsen set for racing return at Tour of Turkey

https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/fabio-jakobsen-set-for-racing-return-at-tour-of-turkey/

Bennett, Morkov & Cavendish in a front group with 30 seconds, wonder how that happened!

MangleBadger

Deleted User wrote: »

Bennett, Morkov & Cavendish in a front group of nine with 30 seconds...wonder how that happened?

I think its a much bigger group. 120 ish. Early echelons causing havoc

Yeah it seems to be a big group. Looking forward to the Eurosport coverage starting

FDJ didn't start due to a covid case so no Demare.

MojoMaker

Brilliant news about Jakobsen.

Finnrocco

Break:

Brent Van Moer (Lotto Soudal), Pascal Ackermann (Bora-Hansgrohe), Michael Schwarzmann (Bora-Hansgrohe), Marcus Burghardt (Bora-Hansgrohe), Sam Bennett (Deceuninck-QuickStep), Michael Mørkøv (Deceuninck-QuickStep), Danny van Poppel (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert), Norman Vahtra (Israel Start-Up Nation), Giacomo Nizzolo (Qhubeka-Assos), Max Walscheid (Qhubeka-Assos), Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Fenix), Jonas Rickaert (Alpecin-Fenix) and Clément Russo (Arkéa-Samsic)

Chasers 1 at 0:14

Chasers 2 at 0:30

Mefistofelino

https://twitter.com/Scheldeprijs/status/1379772962920873987

Finnrocco

That could be the winning move, even though over 100 k to race.

Seems to be split to bits behind them.

Mefistofelino

Lorena Wiebes, Team DSM wins the womens race

Finnrocco

Break:

Brent Van Moer (Lotto Soudal), Pascal Ackermann (Bora-Hansgrohe), Michael Schwarzmann (Bora-Hansgrohe), Marcus Burghardt (Bora-Hansgrohe), Sam Bennett (Deceuninck-QuickStep), Michael Mørkøv (Deceuninck-QuickStep), Danny van Poppel (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert), Norman Vahtra (Israel Start-Up Nation), Giacomo Nizzolo (Qhubeka-Assos), Max Walscheid (Qhubeka-Assos), Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Fenix), Jonas Rickaert (Alpecin-Fenix) and Clément Russo (Arkéa-Samsic).

Chasers at 0:40:

Stan Dewulf (AG2R-Citroën), Rüdiger Selig (Bora-Hansgrohe), Mark Cavendish (Deceuninck-QuickStep), Florian Sénéchal (Deceuninck-QuickStep), Bert Van Lerberghe (Deceuninck-QuickStep), Jonas Koch (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert), Cees Bol (DSM), Alexander Kristoff (UAE Team Emirates), Tim Merlier (Alpecin-Fenix), Dries De Bondt (Alpecin-Fenix), Luca Mozzato (B&B Hotels-KTM), Evaldas Siskevicius (Delko), Dries Van Gestel (Total Direct Energie), Jan-Willem Van Schip (Beat Cycling), Luuc Bugter (Beat Cycling) and Piotr Havik (Beat Cycling).

Peloton at 1:45

Most of the guys in second group have lads up the road so you would think that they wont catch them if front group keep tapping through.


Dont let Kristoff up though, he will win after a hard windy race!

Mefistofelino

Finnrocco wrote: »

Dont let Kristoff up though, he will win after a hard windy race!

Cav better be glass-cranking in that chasing group with Kristoff.....

https://twitter.com/Scheldeprijs/status/1379778970326032385

lennymc

might make sense for group 2 to get back in from a dqs perspective, bora have 4 in the front group, dqs have two. If the groups get back together then it's 5 all for bora/dqs, sprinters can take it easier. Sam should have the power to win and out and out sprint if he keeps his powder dry

Any word on how evopro are going? 51kph for the first hour....

mother of god!!

dastardly00

70 km remaining and the two front groups are about to merge

Lots of shaking of heads and hands going there from those who didn't want that coming back.

lennymc

bora and dqs will control this for a sprint i think - bennett, ackerman, kristof, nizoli, merlier, (with Senechal & cavendish in reserve for dqs!)

Finnrocco

Seems to be thirty in front group now, few teams with a couple of riders and they are 2 minutes ahead

Mefistofelino

lennymc wrote: »

bora and dqs will control this for a sprint i think - bennett, ackerman, kristof, nizoli, merlier, (with Senechal & cavendish in reserve for dqs!)

Merlier and Kristoff are two minutes down, back in the bunch. Kristoff crashed earlier - don't know about Merlier.

mr spuckler

lennymc wrote: »

Any word on how evopro are going?

Looks like their main man is out.

Local favourite Michael Van Staeyen won't reach Schoten. The EvoPro Racing rider has been forced to abandon after his earlier crash.