General Race Thread 2023 **spoilers**

Paddigol

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120225636#Comment_120225636

Such a pity. I'm not going to hammer CI on this because I just don't know what the position is re finances and fixing historical issues etc etc. But its a shocking indictment of the lack of interest from the very top (i.e. Govt.) that cycling and athletics in this country are so poorly funded, especially when you consider the money poured into greyhound racing and horse racing over the years. Yet we produce some exceptional athletes, all off the back of volunteer coaching and athlete self-sacrifice. Imagine what we could do with proper facilities and investment. I hope when he's winning Tour stages and being feted on his return home Archie Ryan remembers the lack of interest from politicians and tells them where to go when they look for photo ops.

breezy1985

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120235099#Comment_120235099

It always drives me nuts around Olympics time when people start to shout about how x or y can win way more medals or how "minnows" qualify for tournaments in soccer ahead of us.

It's all about money.

retalivity

Pog starting his season today in Jaen in Spain. Looks interesting enough, they seem to be marketing it as the Spanish Strade Bianche. So "Calle Blanca" I guess? "Autopista Grava"?

mewso

Good looking race for a remote day :) Busy week of racing ahead. Looks like at least 3 stage races kick off during the week and I think all on Eurosport.

Mefistofelino

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120235638#Comment_120235638

Live on GCN now. Looks nice.

Pog dropping wattage bombs at the mo

retalivity

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120236456#Comment_120236456

Day 1, destroys everyone. Nice to see him back!

dahat

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120236456#Comment_120236456

Well that was a vulgar display of power.

Mefistofelino

Vino looking to "sweat the asset" already

https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/cavendish-set-to-ride-giro-ditalia-before-tour-de-france-stage-record-attempt/

Cav hasn't started two GTs in the same season since 2013

at1withmyself

I'd be assuming he'll ride till the first rest day as a couple of chances for stage wins and then retire before it hits the high mountains. Could be a good training block for him.

CramCycle

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120245984#Comment_120245984

100% if he feels he can make it through he might but I'd say that, he will be going to the tour with a plan not to make it past the first week.

Mefistofelino

The run to the first rest day is far from typical. Two ITTs, two flat stages and five mountain & hill stages.

retalivity

I got my days messed up with the Ruta del Sol, watched highlights of stage 1 thinking it started yesterday, didnt realise theyve had 2 stages completed already, and Pog has won both of them. The power he has on the final cobbled climb yesterday is unreal, and is now 2/2 in the race and 3/3 for the season. Would not bet against him winning today as well, with another steep ramp finish. He looks in prime shape to target the belgian/ardennes classics.

Ceepo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120251638#Comment_120251638

He certainly looked awesome the past few days. I'm not so sure he could ride the likes of MvdP WvA off his wheel as easy in some of the classics though. It will definitely be interesting to watch

retalivity

Some finish in the algarve.

Mefistofelino

Ganna's sprinting style is awful. It's like someone headbanging while on a tightrope.

cunavalos

I don't know if it has been withdrawal symptoms but some of the early season racing has been very entertaining.

It is not often we see yellow jersey wearers attacking the peloton but we had it in 3 different stage races over the last week and makes for great viewing before the start of the classics season.

One thing we haven't seen in either sprint finishes or GC is any team exert an element of control which leads to more exciting racing. ( To borrow a phrase from Chris Horner - "a lot of knucklehead moves"). Granted things may change as we enter the likes of the Belgian Classics as well as Paris-Nice and Tirreno-Addriatico.

retalivity

Pan-flat boring stage 1 of the UAE tour turned on its head with the wind.

Sam was in thr front group but got dropped. Merlier, Cav, Ewen, Kooij, Bauhaus in a select group with Remco 1min ahead of hte peloton, 7k left

mewso

Blimey how did that decide that?

retalivity

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120264855#Comment_120264855

No idea how that was called.

Dodge

The overhead still they showed had a little bit more of Merlier’s tire overlapping their line. Unscientific and the camera placement wasn’t great though

But it looked a dead heat to me

mewso

Here it is.

CantGetNoSleep

Think they gave him the win because the shadow was a bit in front

retalivity

Pog skipping Strade Bianche to take on Vingegaard at Paris-Nice instead is surprising

mewso

Seems like he wants to change things about this year. I certainly don't blame him for skipping UAE. I suppose once you choose Paris-Nice over Tirreno then Strade isn't really an option. Doubt if it had much to do with Vingegaard. We still get the cyclocross big 3 at Strade.

CrowdedHouse

World Cup Cross back in Dublin this year

https://www.stickybottle.com/latest-news/uci-cyclocross-world-cup-is-coming-back-to-ireland-this-year/

breezy1985

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120275719#Comment_120275719

That's brilliant.

Although the earlier slot in with the Italy race makes me think we won't be seeing the big road racers involved.

mr spuckler

I see Eurosport is to cease broadcasting on free to air and become part of a rebranded pay per view offering. It says that BT Sport goes away in July but Eurosport timing sounds less clear.

Eurosport, which has been a staple on British pay-TV since 1989 when it was part of the channel lineup when Rupert Murdoch changed the UK market with the launch of Sky, will be “rolled into the new brand at some time in the future”.

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2023/feb/21/eurosport-bt-sport-disappear-tnt-rebrand-tv

edit...this thread felt like the best home for this given it's general race related!

CantGetNoSleep

No doubt they will try to kick out those of us who have been subscribers for years and get us signed up to some new package at three times the price just to add on crap that we will never watch

breezy1985

I currently have Eurosport but what's the story with GCN.

Are they part of this umbrella too or could I just switch to them ?

Weepsie

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120276157#Comment_120276157

Eurosport isn't FTA is it? There German version was at one point. It just happens to be included in a lot of basic enough packages.