#201

Spa? No idea if it’s nice or not though…

#202

massage would certainly be nice after a big ride

#203

So near

2 Likes
#204

Just seen the L-B-L result. Fuck off Valverde

4 Likes
#205

doping cunt

1 Like
#206

So sad https://twitter.com/michelescarponi/status/815890248064442368

#207

Namur, Huy or Amay?

#208

So after the dust has settled on a great spring classics season, who were your standout riders? GVA and Phil Gil are my riders of the spring, with Naesen and Durbridge the break through riders. Gripel impressed in P-R.

Good write up here…

And a pre-Ardennes classics write up by INRNG…

In pre #Giro100 news, G Thomas won overall and a stage at the rebranded Grip del Trentino, the Tour of the Alps. Good showings for perennial underachiever Pozzovivo in 2nd overall and Scarponi winning a stage :cry::cry::cry:

Tour of Romandy (have they changed the spelling of this from Romandie?) on at the moment. Heavily challenged by terrible weather, shortened stages, bad crashes (Barguil has broken his pelvis, ouch). Albasini won the first stage, Kung won yesterday. Felline leads the race. Jungels tweeted yesterday that it was his coldest day on the bike ever, colder than MSR a few years ago.

Tour of Yorkshire starts today. Voeckler defending his title :tongue:. Preview here…

#209

Like how you haven’t mentioned valverde at all.

Impressive as gilbert’s form was, hard to look past GVA as man of the spring. Kwiatkowski deserves a mention too.

Getting psyched for the giro now.

#210

mainly for kruijswijk’s shoulders

#211

My opinions on Valverde are evident elsewhere in this thread.

Pinot looking in good form for his crack at the Giro. Interesting to see how Quintana’s Giro/Tour double plays out. Big shoulders man has had a quiet build up. Is Aru racing or not? Will they be able to climb the Stelvio? Can’t wait!!

#212

Giro D’Italia passes pretty close to me so hopefully will be able to catch it this year, although annoyingly seems to basically circumnavigate where I live via the motorway.

Anyone else going or have any general tips on watching races live?

Back to kits - really like this one. Might even be tempted to get one if you could buy them without all the sponsorship logo’s on.

C6lGEGnWgAEORyz.jpg800×1200 116 KB

#213

Pick a spot and get there an hour before the scheduled time (each stage has a projected time through various points on the route). You get to see the publicity caravan this way (presuming the Giro has one). Tacky as hell, but fun.

If you can find a hill (the race will be slower over the hill, so you get to see more of the race at a slower speed). Or a village with a good bar. Watch the race pass through and then watch the rest of it in the bar.

Mountain stages are the best, but this is defined by your geography.

Get some beers and a chair and enjoy it

#214

Cheers - bar at the top of a hill sounds perfect.

#215

plus towards the end of the race the riders are usually more spread out so youll see more bunches go by rather than at the start where its just one big group

1 Like
#216

American pro Chad Young has died after sustaining injuries in a crash at the Tour of the Gila :cry:

#217

only 21 as well. such a shame.

#218

It’s nearly

GIRO TIME!!! HAPPY 100TH BIRTHDAY!

The route
Sardinia to start. Meant to be a glorious homecoming for Aru, but he’s not racing. Oops. Expect lots of stunning hills and seascapes though.
Other than that, lots of climbing, including a trip up Mt Etna that Nibs will try something on and a double ascent of the Stelvio.

Contenders
Nairo is the obvious pick. Going for the TDF double too. Illness/crash aside, can’t see him losing tbh.
Nibali hasn’t shown great form coming in: won in the Tour of Croatia, but barely, and against a weak field. Didn’t look at all convincing on the climbs. But then, that’s nothing new for him. Never write him off.
Pinot/Thomas - both shown some good form this season, Thomas in particular. But with both, I’d expect them to have an off day sometime in the third week. Maybe Thomas to cling on for a podium spot. Pinot 4th.
Shoulders - the snow crash stage last year was my favourite days racing of the year (once it had been established zakarin wasn’t dead, anyway). Not really done anything of note this year, but I think he’ll be up for this.
Speaking of Zakarin… he was right up there last year until that horrible crash. Quite fancy him quietly threatening the top 5.
Mollema - after the disappointment of last year’s TDF, kind of feel it’s now or never for Bauke. Possibly never.
Van Garderen - looked all right at Romandie, but can’t see him breaking into the top 5. Rohan Dennis might usurp him as team leader.
Yates (A) - good bet for a stage win, but will do well for a top 10 I reckon.
Tom Dumoulin - can he build on the heroics of last season? Not sure…

Sprints
Often not great for sprinting, with many of the big names normally giving the Giro a miss. Still, 5 or 6 decent sprint stages and some of the best young sprinters around (Ewan, Gaviria, Bennett), plus the likes of Griepel, Modolo and Nizzolo.

Other notes
Astana to only ride with 8, to respect Scarponi :cry:
Cash prizes for the fastest rider on 10 descents including Stelvio. Hmmm.
Adam Hansen will be riding his 17th consecutive grand tour. Chapeau

1 Like
#219

recently watched a very entertaining video of him showing his kit bag to the GCN crew. what a guy.

(really looking forward to the Giro, will ITV4 have highlights or am I going to have to remember to Eurosport it?)

#220

Think they’ve binned off the descending competition now.

Mad excited. FUCKING LOVE ME A GIRO.

Moe than welcome to join my club’s fantasy league if you fancy it velogames.com code: 580110545815