79pmooney
Posts:3189
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| 02/03/2022 11:01 AM |
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Volta a la Comunitat Valencia. Racing resumes. CN's first Live Reports of 2022.
Q-S and Evenepoel are off to a good start! With all the uncertainty in the world now is good to see a small slice of "normal". Good to see Remco clearly running on all cylinders again. I don't know that he'll ever be a favorite for me but he can sure ride and bring life to races!
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Cosmic Kid
Posts:4209
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| 02/03/2022 01:10 PM |
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Don't forget Etoille de Besseges is going on too....the finish on both of the first two days have been brutal!
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| Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!
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Orange Crush
Posts:4499
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| 02/03/2022 04:10 PM |
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And they're racing in between the desert sand. Not sure about Besseges but other two have gravel as the new trend of must have finishes. Also a new Strada type race was announced in Spain, looks quite interesting.
Old man Valverde already has his first win, on Mallorca per usual.
Bernal, all the best to him for recovery to a normal life. Not sure if he'll ever race again. Certainly not this year.
VDP did his first outdoor training ride this week, not sure if we'll see him for classics (which would be a big miss). |
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Orange Crush
Posts:4499
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| 02/03/2022 06:28 PM |
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| BTW - the amount of Sporza articles devoted to Evenepoel ahead of Valencia was crazy, for what is effectively just a warmup race. The amount of pressure on this kid is enormous and ridiculous. |
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Habanero
Posts:257
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| 02/04/2022 07:44 AM |
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| I'm glad to see racing resume! Now to balance the work/streaming equation! |
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Orange Crush
Posts:4499
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| 02/04/2022 10:41 AM |
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| Gravel is not kind to Evenepoel. |
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Cosmic Kid
Posts:4209
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| 02/05/2022 08:07 AM |
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| I don’t think it was the gravel as much as it was he was just at the end of his rope….he seemed to lose way more time once they got back on asphalt. And for a good chunk of the time on gravel, he was setting the pace (in an attempt to keep it under control, I’m sure) |
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| Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!
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Dale
Posts:1767
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| 02/05/2022 09:47 AM |
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I've fallen out of favor with the mixed surfaces stuff. Either have a road race, a gravel race, or a cobble race but throwing in a section of gravel like that in a stage race is bordering on triathalon- like.
Strada Bianca? 100% on board
Paris-Roubaix? Same
Sand at Zonhoven? Epic!
Mid-South? Yup!
Stage race... pavement only. |
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Cosmic Kid
Posts:4209
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| 02/05/2022 10:20 AM |
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I don’t mind some light gravel tossed in….but race organizers are jumping on it so hard it is becoming a gimmick, which is devaluing the overall appeal.
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| Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!
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Orange Crush
Posts:4499
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| 02/05/2022 10:20 AM |
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You missed Paris Tours. It’s reinvention racing in gravel through vineyards is awesome.
There’s also a lower level race in Belgium that is superbly. Not big on radar and name escapes me but both VDP and van Aert won it . And there’s a cyclo off-road version of Flanders, if that ever becomes a race |
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Cosmic Kid
Posts:4209
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| 02/05/2022 10:21 AM |
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| And what a pull by Evenepoel today in the finale….I won’t call it a lead out because no QS rider was involved in the sprint, though. 🤣 |
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| Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!
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Orange Crush
Posts:4499
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| 02/05/2022 11:25 AM |
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It probably was bad position before gravel more so than gravel. He had to expend a bunch of energy on early part of gravel to get back to front which ended up costing him in end.
Agreed on gimmick aspect. I see a future where road racing becomes less important and season alternates between cyclocross and gravel racing. Haha.
Too bad Fabio got locked in today. |
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79pmooney
Posts:3189
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| 02/13/2022 10:32 AM |
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| Nice year's start for Quintana. A very well deserved win. Yes, the word is probably that the final climb was custom made for him (though twice as long and twice as high would have been better!). But he won this on good, old fashioned blue collar racing. Did what he needed to do on the opening TT. Rode the front group the next two days, making every split. The ride of a quiet, seasoned pro. |
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79pmooney
Posts:3189
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| 02/13/2022 11:10 AM |
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| And more Q-S. Tour of Oman. Top two podium spots today. First and fourth overall. Green jersey. Leading the team overall. Yeah, they had to settle for second in that other race. |
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Orange Crush
Posts:4499
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| 02/14/2022 02:59 PM |
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Lutsenko wins first edition of Clásica Jaén Paraiso.
https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/riders-give-thumbs-up-to-clasica-jaen-spains-nod-to-strade-bianche/ |
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