General race thread 2021 **spoilers**

dastardly00

The first stage of Volta ao Algarve is on at the moment. 20 km remaining - live coverage on GCN.

It should be a sprint finish between Sam & Ackermann.

Sam has Morkov, Archbold, Van Lerberghe, Asgreen and Ballerini to help him.

griffin100

Looked easy enough for Sam in the end.

That moto nearly wiped out the front of the peloton.

dastardly00

I think Sam made it look a lot easier than it actually was. Very technical, narrow roads in the last 8 km and the finish was a false flat.
Morkov finished 6th but probably could have been 3rd.
Ballerini absolutely emptied the tank in the last kilometre.

Did yee not read his lips as he bent over the bike after the finish, "I'm f**ked" was what he said. Lucky there was no mic on him

dastardly00

Spot the motorbike! F*cking crazy

dahat

Another shocker from Ackerman, bad year for him.

odyssey06

Surprised Sam isn't riding the Giro? Seems to be a few flat stages early on which would suit him?

dastardly00

odyssey06 wrote: »

Surprised Sam isn't riding the Giro? Seems to be a few flat stages early on which would suit him?

I would guess that he just wants to make sure he is fresh and ready for the TDF

I think he's mentioned before it takes him a good while to recover from the 3 week tours. I always hated seeing sprinters heading home from the Giro early. I know there can be years where there is nothing left for them after 2 weeks but still bugged me.

breezy1985

[Deleted User] wrote: »

I think he's mentioned before it takes him a good while to recover from the 3 week tours. I always hated seeing sprinters heading home from the Giro early. I know there can be years where there is nothing left for them after 2 weeks but still bugged me.

Part of the problem was the points distribution. Taking the Vuelta longer than others to realize that but that's probably due to Valverde constantly getting on podiums thanks to the points

retalivity

Caleb Ewan is planning to do the 3 gts this year, so he may be in less than ideal shape for the TDF with half a giro behind him. Apart from him, who's realistic competition - bouhanni? Ackermann is miles off

breezy1985

retalivity wrote: »

Caleb Ewan is planning to do the 3 gts this year, so he may be in less than ideal shape for the TDF with half a giro behind him. Apart from him, who's realistic competition - bouhanni? Ackermann is miles off

I think Ewan is the only guy up there and possibly even better as a favorite for the sprints. If Bora was anything other than German they would be laughing their arses off at the idea the Ackermann and Bennett are equal.

Matthews and Sagan are smart and versatile enough to challenge for green if not the sprint wins though

dahat

retalivity wrote: »

Caleb Ewan is planning to do the 3 gts this year, so he may be in less than ideal shape for the TDF with half a giro behind him. Apart from him, who's realistic competition - bouhanni? Ackermann is miles off

Demare will be a threat. The full FDJ train was impressive last week which seemed like a training event for the TDF for me.

Dodge

That’s the top 3 Bennett, Ewan, Demare.

Sam might do the Vuelta again. DQT have loads of great riders and it’s rare for anyone to do all 3

breezy1985

Dodge wrote: »

That’s the top 3 Bennett, Ewan, Demare.

Sam might do the Vuelta again. DQT have loads of great riders and it’s rare for anyone to do all 3

I bet Ewan will not do all 3 in the end. He will miss one for some reason or have to pull out early from one at least

Haven't really looked at the profile for the tour but if it's anything like last year WvA could be up there in the sprint again on some stages and MvdP will be there this year too. Sam's faster than both but depending on the type of finish.

retalivity

breezy1985 wrote: »

I bet Ewan will not do all 3 in the end. He will miss one for some reason or have to pull out early from one at least

He's already said he's pulling out after stage 13, the day before they finish on the zoncolan

Carlton was calling the race today, does that mean he's not calling the Giro????? memories of a blissful 2017 though Hatch has gone to the dogs too imo. Lets hope for the return of King Kelly for it.

dastardly00

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Carlton was calling the race today, does that mean he's not calling the Giro????? memories of a blissful 2017 though Hatch has gone to the dogs too imo. Lets hope for the return of King Kelly for it.

Why would him commentating for Algarve mean that he is not doing the Giro?

If they have live coverage of the full Giro stages I think the best scenario is when Kirby & Hatch take it in turns and do a few hours each.

Both Kirby & Hatch are annoying me a lot lately but I'm still putting that down to them commentating remotely and not being at the races.

Algarve overlaps the Giro by 2 days and they don't usually overlap the commentators, it has happened in the past but not often. Here's hoping José Been is on for a while, I've liked her this year though they might have her on for Tour de Hongrie with Magnus next week.

Carlton has done the RCS international feed on previous years.

dastardly00

Ah I see. I didn't cop that Algarve and the Giro overlapped

mewso

Ok so who is going to create the general Giro thread for a preview chat? Another volunteer for a velogames group needed

breezy1985

dastardly00 wrote: »

Why would him commentating for Algarve mean that he is not doing the Giro?

If they have live coverage of the full Giro stages I think the best scenario is when Kirby & Hatch take it in turns and do a few hours each.

Both Kirby & Hatch are annoying me a lot lately but I'm still putting that down to them commentating remotely and not being at the races.

Hatches pontificating needs to stop. He sucks the fun out of every turn, descent or sprint.

And he is forever repeating himself

mr spuckler

mewso wrote: »

Ok so who is going to create the general Giro thread for a preview chat? Another volunteer for a velogames group needed

Part 1 done
https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2058183811

Paddigol

breezy1985 wrote: »

Hatches pontificating needs to stop. He sucks the fun out of every turn, descent or sprint.

And he is forever repeating himself

That's it for me - they're both a bit on the annoying side (but then it's not the easiest sport to commentate on, so I'm very forgiving) but at least with CK there's a light heartedness that goes well with racing in the sun. With RH though, everything is sooooooo serious and the most amazing thing ever to happen. Throw in his OTT pronunciation of foreign names and the scene is ripe for a rant at the telly.

Macy0161

I must be on outlier that I'd take Hatch any day of the week over CK. I don't mind Matt Stephens/ Adam "diamonds in the legs (as the belgians would say)" Blythe. José Been/ Backstedt was probably my favourite combo of the spring though.

breezy1985

Macy0161 wrote: »

I must be on outlier that I'd take Hatch any day of the week over CK. I don't mind Matt Stephens/ Adam "diamonds in the legs (as the belgians would say)" Blythe. José Been/ Backstedt was probably my favourite combo of the spring though.

I used be that way but since last year's high profile crashes and new safety rules he can't shut up.
I know cycling has issues but there is no need to start wailing every time he sees a fan or a motorbike

dastardly00

20 km to go. Rui Costa has crashed.

Any thoughts on who will win the stage?

Dodge

Macy0161 wrote: »

I must be on outlier that I'd take Hatch any day of the week over CK. I don't mind Matt Stephens/ Adam "diamonds in the legs (as the belgians would say)" Blythe. José Been/ Backstedt was probably my favourite combo of the spring though.

I was a Hatch fan up until last years Giro I think when Tao Geoghegan Hart become the best cyclist in the world and Arnaud Demare became the greatest sprinter of all time

Don’t mind Kirby as his worst crime is just to waffle. No real harm.

Blythe and the GCN boys are great. As is Jose Been

breezy1985

Dodge wrote: »

I was a Hatch fan up until last years Giro I think when Tao Geoghegan Hart become the best cyclist in the world and Arnaud Demare became the greatest sprinter of all time

Don’t mind Kirby as his worst crime is just to waffle. No real harm.

Blythe and the GCN boys are great. As is Jose Been

I bet he wouldn't have been half as fawning in his praise if it was Hindley that Dennis was pulling up the road as he suddenly became the greatest mountain Dom ever