CYCLING

[rolling fog 1,146]

For those of us out there who think that too much sport is never enough, and who could blame you after today, Amstel Gold is on tonight!

In the Fog's opinion, Simon Gerrans in worthy of close attention tonight. This race, as much as any, looks prime for his taking!

[Macca 16,173]

On 4/17/2016 at 11:10 PM, the rolling fog said:

For those of us out there who think that too much sport is never enough, and who could blame you after today, Amstel Gold is on tonight!

In the Fog's opinion, Simon Gerrans in worthy of close attention tonight. This race, as much as any, looks prime for his taking!

And after the big game tonight (hopefully a win) we can settle in for the Leige/Bastogne/Leige classic on SBS (and Eurosports) ... lots of steep climbs involved and I believe it's the last of the Ardennes Classics.

The Giro d'Italia starts on the 6th of May (SBS & Eurosports are providing coverage)

[Macca 16,173]

The Giro d'Italia kicks off tonight in the Netherlands ... in fact, the first 3 stages are being held there.  After the flat stages in Holland, many of the stages in Italy involve a number of gruelling climbs and it's quite relentless (especially stages 6, 8, 13, 14, 16, 19 & 20)  Both SBS & Eurosport are covering the event. 

Nibali is favourite whilst Mikel Landa is a top pick as well ... Valverde is also a big chance.

Here's a few sites to browse ... 

Cycling News

Giro - Official site

SBS - Cycling Central

 

 

 

 

 

 

.

 

Edited May 6, 2016 by Macca

[Macca 16,173]

Stage 6 in the Giro (tonight)  ...
 

Quote

"The first mountain stage and summit finish of the race. There are two early climbs: the 8km Torrecuso, then a haul to the summit of the Bocca di Selva, about a third of the way through. The last climb is a double whammy – first an 8km climb to Roccaraso, then a 3km false flat down to the foot of the Aremogna climb, 8km long, with a very hard start and finish, and flatter sections in between. The GC candidates must show here."

Cycling News

Giro d'Italia - Official site

SBS - Cycling Central

 

Edited May 14, 2016 by Macca

[Macca 16,173]

Stage 14 in the Giro (tonight) ...

Quote

"A historic, barbaric expedition through the Monti Pallidi, the Pale Mountains, that most have dubbed the “Queen Stage” or “Tappa Regina”. Putting riders in early breaks could be key for the overall contenders, as will the Giau – a worthy rival to the Fedaia for the honour of hardest climb in the Dolomites."

Cycling News

Giro d'Italia - Official site

SBS - Cycling Central

[Macca 16,173]

3 stages to go in the Giro ... tonight's stage and tomorrow night's stage will decide things ...

Here are the classifications going into tonight's stage ...

• 1.    KRUIJSWIJK Steven        TLJ 73h 50’ 37”
• 2.    CHAVES Esteban             OGE   3’ 00”
• 3.    VALVERDE Alejandro       MOV   3’ 23”
• 4.    NIBALI Vincenzo               AST    4’ 43”
• 5.    ZAKARIN Ilnur                   KAT    4’ 50”
• 6.    MAJKA Rafal                     TNK    5’ 34”
• 7.    JUNGELS Bob                   EQS   7’ 57”
• 8.    AMADOR Andrey               MOV  8’ 53”
• 9.    POZZOVIVO Domenico     ALM  10’ 05”
• 10. SIUTSOU Kanstantsin       DDD  11’ 15”

 

Stage 19 ...

Quote

Climbed only thrice by past Giri, the 2,744m Agnello is a towering behemoth of a mountain road and the highest in this year’s race, its Cima Coppi. The long descent into France might deter would-be attackers on the Agnello’s airless upper reaches but the 2014 Tour stage to Risoul, won by Rafal Majka with Vincenzo Nibali in the yellow jersey, proved that there is enough bite to the stage to leave a nasty mark.

 

Stage 20 ...

Quote

Ambitious in its scale, stunning in its vistas and probably very cold. Any stage featuring three such climbs as the Vars, Bonette and Lombarda might normally terrify the leaders into stalemate but Mauro Vegni hopes to have reduced that risk by restricting the length to 134km. The 2.3km ramp to Sant’Anna di Vinadio could decide the Giro.

 

Cycling News

Giro d'Italia - Official site

SBS - Cycling Central

Edited May 27, 2016 by Macca

[Macca 16,173]

The Tour de France starts tonight (8.30pm SBS) ... the big news is the tour hits the Pyrenees quite early this time around .   Four of the early stages (stages 5, 7, 8 & 9) involves various climbs of varying degrees.  So the GC riders will start to be sorted out quite early. 

Froome is favourite again but there are any number of cyclists who will feature ... Quintana,  Contador,  Richie Porte,  Pinot,  Fabio Aru,  Nibali,  Tejay van Garderen,  Bardet,  Thomas,  Dumoulin,  Valverde,  Landa & Rodriguez all have claims.  Richie Porte heads up the BMC team (along with Tejay van Garderen) so he's no longer playing 2nd fiddle to Froome.  BMC announces Tour team for super motivated Porte

Official Site

SBS Tracker

Cyclingnews.com

[Macca 16,173]

First day in the mountains tonight (stage 5) ... here's tonight's profile and Friday's profile (stage 7)  Tomorrow night's stage (stage 6) is a flat stage but the riders will have to contend with the Pyrenees on Saturday & Sunday as well.

Any of the GC riders might make a move in the next few days especially those who have already lost vital time (Porte & Contador)

 

Official Site

SBS Tracker

Cyclingnews.com

[Cards13 9,117]

First Tour I've missed in who knows how long, devastated. In Manila until the 15th damn it.

[Macca 16,173]

The big guns are all nearly 6 minutes behind Van Avermaet but the next 2 stages will start sorting the GC contenders out (and Van Avermaet as well)  Tonight's stage looks brutal but tomorrow night's stage looks just as difficult.  Porte is 1:49 from the main contenders so he's not out of it ... Contador is 1:25 behind those same main contenders.

Stage 8 profile ...

Stage 9 profile ...

 

Official Site

SBS Tracker

Cyclingnews.com

[Macca 16,173]

Decent climb to Chalet-Reynard tonight ...  originally the riders were required to climb all the way to Mont Ventoux but gusts of wind have been predicted to exceed 100km/h for today's stage ... all the same, with those sort of conditions the stage could get very interesting - the climb beginning at Bedoin should begin a little before midnight (or thereabouts)  Here's the preview from the official site ...

 

 

Official Site

SBS Tracker

Cyclingnews.com

 

 

Edited July 16, 2016 by Macca

[Macca 16,173]

On their way to the Alps the riders encounter the 'Grand Colombier' tonight ... there are 8 climbs all up tonight and the stage promises to be a good one. 

Froome is looking very strong though and his Sky team have backed him to an immense degree but ... he still needs to get it done.  Porte is working his way up the standings and could still get a podium finish as long as he doesn't have a bad day.

*SBS are covering tonight's stage from 8.30pm.

                    General classification after stage 14

1    Christopher Froome (GBr)    Team Sky                  

2    Bauke Mollema (Ned)           Trek-Segafredo           01:47 

3    Adam Yates (GBr)                 Orica-BikeExchange   02:45 

4    Nairo Quintana (Col)             Movistar Team             02:59 

5    Alejandro Valverde (Spa)      Movistar Team             03:17 

6    Tejay Van Garderen (USA)   BMC Racing Team       03:19 

7    Romain Bardet (Fra)            AG2R La Mondiale       04:04 

8    Richie Porte (Aus)                BMC Racing Team       04:27 

9    Daniel Martin (Irl)                  Etixx - Quick-Step        05:03

10  Fabio Aru (Ita)                       Astana Pro Team         05:16

 

 

Official Site

SBS Tracker

Cyclingnews.com

Edited July 17, 2016 by Macca

[Macca 16,173]

General classification after stage 18

1   Christopher Froome (GBr)

2   Bauke Mollema        (Ned)  03:52 

3   Adam Yates              (GBr)  04:16 

4   Nairo Quintana         (Col)   04:37 

5   Romain Bardet         (Fra)   04:57 

6   Richie Porte              (Aus)  05:00 

7   Fabio Aru                  (Ita)    06:08 

8   Alejandro Valverde   (Spa)  06:37 

9   Louis Meintjes          (RSA) 07:15 

10 Daniel Martin            (Irl)     07:18

Froome has almost certainly got the tour wrapped up but Richie Porte can still get a podium finish.  2 tough stages to come so there may still be a few surprises.

Tonight's stage ...

Saturday's stage ...

 

Official Site

SBS Tracker

Cyclingnews.com

Edited July 22, 2016 by Macca

[Macca 16,173]

Quintana takes the lead in the Giro d'Italia after a gruelling climb to the finish in stage 9

Unfortunately the Giro isn't being shown on SBS due to rights restrictions but the event can be seen on Eurosports if you've got cable. 

Here's a stage by stage preview ... stages to look out for with regards to difficult clubs are stages 11,  14,  15,  16,  17,  18,  19 & 20 (mainly the last week)

 

Edit: And now Dumoulin takes over the lead after a superb time-trial in stage 10.  Dumoulin holds a 2:23 minute lead over Quintana after Nairo had a poor time trial.  There's plenty more to play out though.

 

Edited May 20, 2017 by Macca

[Macca 16,173]

Here are the stages that involve various category 1 climbs in the 'Tour de France' ... click on the highlighted areas for details. 

Cadel Evans gives a summary of each stage as well (provided by the links)

Wed 5th ....... Stage 5

Sat 8th ......... Stage 8

Sun 9th ........ Stage 9

Thurs 13th ... Stage 12

Fri 14th ........ Stage 13

Sun 16th ...... Stage 15

Wed 19th ..... Stage 17

Thurs 20th ... Stage 18

 

[Macca 16,173]

SBS are covering the  Vuelta a España (starts tomorrow night) and this version of the Grand Tour looks to be as tough as it gets. 

There are no fewer than 43 climbs over 14 of the stages (including 12 x Cat 1 climbs)  That includes 8 mountain top finishes. 

It promises to be a grueling affair and Froome has been installed as the short-priced favourite.  He'll get strong competition from Nibali,  Contador,  Fabio Aru,  Bardet and a number of others though. 

The Vuelta might prove to be the pick of the Grand tours (this year)  Blisteringly hot conditions have been forecast as well.

BBC Podcast - Can Froome do the Tour/Vuelta double?

Cyclingnews.com - stage by stage preview

Edited August 18, 2017 by Macca

[Kumamoto_Ken 1,531]

This might be of interest to any cycling fans on here, or just fans of endurance stuff generally.

In a couple of days my cousin is about to start a world record attempt at cycling the Pan-American Highway. It's 22,000km from Ushuaia in Argentina to Prudhoe Bay in Alaska. The current record is 117 days and five hours. Dean's aiming for 110 days.

He's doing it for charity, trying to raise GBP1million for Heads Together, a mental health awareness charity which seems to be similar to Beyond Blue. Sounds like they're about 1/3 of the way there.

Tracking will be available through the main website here, and plenty of background info is also on their facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/pah2018/

[Kumamoto_Ken 1,531]

On 28/01/2018 at 10:56 AM, Kumamoto_Ken said:

This might be of interest to any cycling fans on here, or just fans of endurance stuff generally.

In a couple of days my cousin is about to start a world record attempt at cycling the Pan-American Highway. It's 22,000km from Ushuaia in Argentina to Prudhoe Bay in Alaska. The current record is 117 days and five hours. Dean's aiming for 110 days.

He's doing it for charity, trying to raise GBP1million for Heads Together, a mental health awareness charity which seems to be similar to Beyond Blue. Sounds like they're about 1/3 of the way there.

Tracking will be available through the main website here, and plenty of background info is also on their facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/pah2018/

This is worth a bump...after 48 days ol Deano made it to Cartagena in Columbia and smashed the South American World Record by 10 days!

Now in Panama and cycling on. 

He's had food poisoning twice, ran into a highway sign at 40km/h (not food poisoning related), and has gone from 88kg to 81kg so far. Bloody Legend!

 

[Macca 16,173]

Aussie Rohan Dennis is leading the Giro and he might keep the pink jersey for a few more days yet.  Eurosports are covering the event but unfortunately,  SBS aren't covering the event as they have done in previous years.  You might be able to find the race online with a decent search. 

Although tonight's stage isn't easy by any means and whilst Wednesday's stage is quite tough,  Thursday's stage (stage 6) sees the riders take on Mt Etna and that climb might start sorting out the GC riders from the rest. 

Other stages to look out for with regards to difficult climbs are stages 8 (Sat)  9 (Sun) 14 (Sat) 15 (Sun) 18 (Thurs) 19 (Fri) & 20 (Sat) ... so the grueling climbs are set for the next 3 weekends.  See more at CyclingNews.com

Here's the profile of stage 6 (Thursday) with tonight's profile underneath. 

Edited May 8, 2018 by Macca

[Macca 16,173]

The Giro hots up tonight and tomorrow night ... the riders are just about to tackle Colle delle Finestre with Yates having a 28 second lead over Dumoulin with Pozzovivo trailing by 2:43 and Froome trailing by 3:22. 

Coverage on Eurosports. 

Tonight's profile ...

And tomorrow's penultimate stage ...

 

Edited May 25, 2018 by Macca

[rolling fog 1,146]

Ah yes! Welcome back to this thread.

I've been looking for ward to this time of year to roll around for a while now, although after Froome's result last night I'm not sure what to think anymore...

Now with all the one day classics done, it's time for the big GC's and we're in for a good couple of month's I think!

[Macca 16,173]

The Tour de France started last night and for the first week all the stages are flat and mostly suitable for the sprinters ... but the 2nd week sees the riders venture into the Alps whilst in the 3rd week we're in the Pyrenees. 

In fact,  from stage 10 (Tuesday July 17),  8 of the 10 stages involves 19 Category 1 climbs & 6 Category 2 climbs .. it's relentless.  I'll post up some stage profiles when we get closer to the mountain stages.

There is only 1 individual time-trial and that isn't flat either - and that time-trial isn't being held until the penultimate stage (Stage 20)  The team time-trial will be held tomorrow night (Stage 3)

Official Site

CyclingNews.com

Tour Tracker

And here's a profile of stage 12 ... Robbie McEwan has put this stage in amongst his top 5 for relevant importance ...

Edited July 8, 2018 by Macca

[Macca 16,173]

We're in the Alps for the next 3 days and also in the Alps on the weekend for another couple of mountain stages ... what a shame that Richie Porte won't be there to put the pressure on Froome and the Sky team.  Rotten luck breaking his collarbone again. 

Official Site

CyclingNews.com

Tour Tracker

Here are the stage profiles for the next 3 days ...

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 17, 2018 by Macca

[Superunknown 3,311]

Macca drop in when you’re ready so we can talk tour

[rolling fog 1,146]

We've made it through the first rest day and I think the incredible racing and fascinating results are characterised by the nightmarish first week for some of the GC contenders, sprints and stage finishes that no one could've foreseen , and some of the up and coming next generation riders have announced themselves on the scene.

We'll soon be at the foot of the Pyrenees which is where the race will truly begin, for mine. It almost feels like we've had a week's worth of one-day classics in terms of how the stages have unfolded.

In a year where the Australian presence is a bit less than in recent years, the performance of many Aussie riders has left a lot to be desired, with Ewan the possible exception. The accepted logic seems to be that Trek are a team with a weak roster that have brought a weak contingent of riders to this years tour and this has significantly curtailed Richie Porte's 2019 chances. I think once we get into the Pyrenees we'll have a clearer idea of this. It's interesting to see that SBS continue to put him forward as a GC contender, understandably as the highest rated Australian, however he seems to barely rate a mention in European or US media.

The only thing I do know for certain is that nothing is certain in the Tour and everyone seems to have a different theory on what will play out over the next two weeks. Looking forward to watching the race unfold and dissecting it!