General race thread 2021 **spoilers**

Dodge

Dodge wrote: »

Narrator : it did not change

How many races did they start together before Flanders last year?

And when was the last time both Van Aert and Van der Poel started a cyclo-cross that neither of them won?

retalivity

velo.2010 wrote: »

We need a poll... Who's the best male rider in the world.

Alaphilippe
Van Aert
Van der Poel
Roglic
Pogacar

Honourable mentions for Bernal, Bennett, Hirschi, Ewan etc. Oh and Evanepoel when he returns.

MVDP for me, he's a monster with effectively no team around him.

retalivity

retalivity wrote: »

MVDP for me, he's a monster with effectively no team around him.

Alpecin have improved a lot this year, they're more visible longer into any races I've seen. Plenty of WT teams performing worse than them at the moment.

Christoph Roodhooft spoke recently about the need to avoid a repeat of the situation when Niels Albert had to suddenly retire.

CantGetNoSleep

retalivity wrote: »

MVDP for me, he's a monster with effectively no team around him.

Let's see him in a Grand Tour first

breezy1985

CantGetNoSleep wrote: »

Let's see him in a Grand Tour first

GTs are not everything

Eamonnator

breezy1985 wrote: »

GTs are not everything

Here's a list, compiled by someone or other, of the Top Ten Male Cyclists of all time.
Eight of them have won GTs.
The list seems to be in reverse order, i.e., no. 10 is best.

https://sportsshow.net/greatest-cyclists-of-all-time/

breezy1985

Eamonnator wrote: »

Here's a list, compiled by someone or other, of the Top Ten Male Cyclists of all time.
Eight of them have won GTs.
The list seems to be in reverse order, i.e., no. 10 is best.

https://sportsshow.net/greatest-cyclists-of-all-time/

1. Complete fraud

3. Won a Vuelta but is on that list because of the classics he won
6. Not even close to the top 10 ten or 20 even
10. Won everything thats what makes him the best classics and GTs


Also you gonna tell me Boonen, Fabu, Sagan, Gilbert, Cavendish, De Vlaeminck are all failures

dublin49

breezy1985 wrote: »

1. Complete fraud

3. Won a Vuelta but is on that list because of the classics he won
6. Not even close to the top 10 ten or 20 even
10. Won everything thats what makes him the best classics and GTs


Also you gonna tell me Boonen, Fabu, Sagan, Gilbert, Cavendish, De Vlaeminck are all failures

some silly entries there but laughable if Merckxis is not no 1 ,He is not only the GOAT of all time but must be the most unequivocal GOAT in any sport.

TheBlaaMan

After the stage, van der Poel was overheard saying that the others weren't trying hard enough.....

Eamonnator

^^^^
Great image that.
"He won sitting up"
Edit:
I've just noticed, all the shoes and socks in the photo are white.

breezy1985

TheBlaaMan wrote: »

After the stage, van der Poel was overheard saying that the others weren't trying hard enough.....ðŸ˜႒

Sagan level shenanigans

Weepsie

Roglic has podiumed in something like 16 of 18 stage races in a row now, and one of those he didn't finished he was leading comfortably and had to pull out.

That said I wouldn't say there is one standout "best cyclist" but a serious amount of absolutely brilliant ones pushing each other on.

I'm hoping Remco Evenpoel doesn't have any significant long term effects from his crash, but van wert has come back from a similar enough one

For van der poel and other younger guys this level of success has to carry a heavy price though surely?

You have to pay the piper at some point, to go from road to CX and back to road with the different training involved and the lack of breaks in-between can only be sustainable for so long surely.

Dodge

Van der Poel and Van Aert aren’t even that young. 26 for both of them

And while they may have been doing cyclocross and MTB etc, others have been doing track etc

No one knows how it’ll pan out but it’s great to watch at the moment

at1withmyself

Sam in the break today, fighting for green again :-)

If he makes the intermediate sprint and for some bizarre reason Roglic doesn't win the stage then he might have a chance of being the rightful owner of it after today, some very wishful thinking though!

Ha just noticed his name in the break on pro cycling stats. There's a few in the break between 2-3 minutes down on GC. They might not be left go.

at1withmyself

Deleted User wrote: »

Ha just noticed his name in the break on pro cycling stats. There's a few in the break between 2-3 minutes down on GC. They might not be left go.

Ya it must be really annoying for the guys stage hunting when someone high on GC goes into the break on days like today. Still they should be able to hold till the first sprint.

Theres a shot of him pulling on the front of the break on the cycling news feed.

https://www.cyclingnews.com/races/paris-nice-2021/stage-7/live-report/ It's at 11:39 on the time line

dastardly00

How many points are available for the intermediate sprint? Rog is on 42 and Sam is on 36

dastardly00

dastardly00 wrote: »

How many points are available for the intermediate sprint? Rog is on 42 and Sam is on 36

3, 2 and 1 I think with 2 intermediate sprint points the final one looks to be close to the finish on the climb :eek:

Dodge

I’d imagine it’s more of a training run for Milan San Remo than a tilt at green

Shows his motivation for this day next week.

retalivity

Savage seeing Sam drop the polka dot jersey!

at1withmyself

retalivity wrote: »

Savage seeing Sam drop the polka dot jersey!

Perez's job is done for the day so no need to continue, he has secured the jersey so I wouldn't consider Sam dropping him.

Itziger

retalivity wrote: »

Savage seeing Sam drop the polka dot jersey!

I thought I was dreaming. There's a lad in green at the front. Who is it though? Been there much too long for it to be Sam B. Da heck?? It is!!

breezy1985

at1withmyself wrote: »

Perez's job is done for the day so no need to continue, he has secured the jersey so I wouldn't consider Sam dropping him.

Still fun though

retalivity

Now he's sitting up to bring his teammate back to the head of the break!

harringtonp

Is the voice about 5 seconds behind the pictures in anyone else's feed ?

Seth Brundle

That was some stage win!

retalivity

Sickened for mader there!