USA Pro Challenge - Jens last race *Spoilers*

tailwindhome

http://www.usaprocyclingchallenge.com/

Starts today - lots of coverage on @cyclocosm
Live TV on ES

Jens last race as a pro






Paul Sherwen @PaulSherwen · 10h

@thejensie 11 years married, 12 years at school, son is 19 years and he's raced a bike 33 years!!! What a record #FarewellJens

tailwindhome

Jens Voigt @thejensie · Aug 15
Hahahaha- another one of my checklist! Last 5 hrs long trainingride with intervalls in my LIFE EVER done- check!!! Yay!!! Yippieh!!


Cyclocosm.com‏@Cyclocosm
Jens aware of big US fan base, says it "just felt right" to finish in the US, "maybe with one of my stupid breakaways". #prochallenge


Cyclocosm.com @Cyclocosm · 10h
Schleck: "The team leader is going to be Jens…Ten years ago he was strong and beautiful, today he is only strong." #jensupdate

ilm_zero7

I like what they have done with his bike - a pity they have not seen fit to improve upon that kit, which is dire!

oldbazza

ILM Zero7 wrote:

I like what they have done with his bike - a pity they have not seen fit to improve upon that kit, which is dire!

They should do a limited run with that scheme,don't think they'd have much trouble selling them.

mroli

Couple of nice posts on the washing machine post from Charlie Pearch (who is the JLT (insurance company not disgraced rider) link). A great race for RCJLT to ride - they've been out there for a week trying to acclimatise. Got the ride by all accounts due to the link with Kristian House - but they've got an interesting team out there. House (obv), but also Cuming, Carthy and Handley are decent riders and Briggs would back himself in a sprint against pretty much anyone (even if no-one else would).... Of course, they don't have a chance against a strong pro line up, but you can but dream.....

lyn1

mroli wrote:

Couple of nice posts on the washing machine post from Charlie Pearch (who is the JLT (insurance company not disgraced rider) link). A great race for RCJLT to ride - they've been out there for a week trying to acclimatise. Got the ride by all accounts due to the link with Kristian House - but they've got an interesting team out there. House (obv), but also Cuming, Carthy and Handley are decent riders and Briggs would back himself in a sprint against pretty much anyone (even if no-one else would).... Of course, they don't have a chance against a strong pro line up, but you can but dream.....

Sadly he will not get the chance. OTL stage 1.
Good experience for those who can hang in.

frenchfighter

frenchfighter

takethehighroad

The podium girls in the US are consistently top drawer. Just saying, like

salsiccia1

TakeTheHighRoad wrote:

The podium girls in the US are consistently top drawer. Just saying, like

Say it. They're two beautiful ladies.

frenchfighter

Lance spectating and he and Basso lock eyes. Some serious memories there.

richa

Neutralised & restarted the stage today. Recriminations to come...

DeVlaeminck

Strange decision to say the least.

frenchfighter

“I attacked my breakaway companions about 10K away from the climb,” said Carpenter. “I couldn’t see anyone. The last time check I saw was 30 seconds to the peloton. I had it in my head that if I could get over the top of Kebler Pass with enough time, I could end up getting to Crested Butte with 30-40 seconds. This win is huge for us and for me personally it’s massive – the best ride I’ve had in my short career so far.”

@RobinmCarpenter · 6h
Couldn't have pulled it off without the best support in the country, and the best teammates. @HincapieDevo I am floored.

@holowesko
Guess it's time for another bomb on the @HincapieDevo @FleetwoodRVInc bus.

RichA wrote:

Neutralised & restarted the stage today. Recriminations to come...

@BenKing89
Really cool that we ride through an insane thunderstorm on muddy roads and then get neutralized with ten km to go after all the danger. Not.

"The neutralisation made for a funny run in," Howes said. "It was really disorganised, and even when we were riding flat out, we were talking amongst ourselves, 'are we doing this? Are we racing or not racing? Tejay hit out under one kilometer to go, and I followed his wheel, and I looked down and thought, 'the legs are doing it, this is going to work out'"


As the riders climbed toward Kebler Pass, the rain that had been threatening all day started to fall in earnest, and the gravel descent off the pass turned into a greasy, slippery slide. Officials noted the condition and neutralized the race until riders were back on pavement with about 12km remaining.

Officials stopped Carpenter on the descent and let the slimmed-down peloton catch him. The race was restarted with Carpenter's gap of 45 seconds reestablished, setting up the finale on Mt. Crested Butte.

Carpenter built a lead of more than one minute as he headed toward the final climb to Crested Butte. The field climbed fast behind him but the young rider held on for the win in what turned out to be a nail-biting finale all the way to the line. Howes and van Garderen rode into the finish just six seconds behind Carpenter. Howes took second place and van Garderen third on the day.

takethehighroad

That quote by Ben King was lifted straight out of Borat

frenchfighter

Video of the stoppage:
http://www.cyclingfans.com/node/14956?g ... UbIJyg3dEp

“Again our livelihood & hard work affected by incompetence of officials. Chief comm should be sent home NOW…” BMC’s Brent Bookwalter tweeted. Shär wondered if an official could be sent home in the middle of the race.

“If you were gonna neutralize it because of how dangerous the race was you need to do that before the dirt. But we had already ridden all the dangerous sections and we had 10k to go all on pavement and then they just stop us in the middle of the road,” TJ VG said. “And the rain was coming down hard and we’re out there in lycra. When you stop, moving like that, you get pretty cold. We were out there shivering and freezing. We wanted to keep going.”

Pross

Seems a big difference in opinion between the riders and the officials then. This is the sort of thing that can ruin a race's reputation and stop big teams being prepared to travel over there. I guess there's quite a reliance on US sponsors who will demand they continue to attend though.

specialgueststar

frenchfighter wrote:

Lance spectating and he and Basso lock eyes. Some serious memories there.

that's a great shot

frenchfighter

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/riders- ... our-events

frenchfighter

tailwindhome

Just caught up with this now.

They didn't neutralise it.

They stopped the race
Let them all get cold
Then restarted


What was the point of that?

LeePaton

SpecialGuestStar wrote:

frenchfighter wrote:

Lance spectating and he and Basso lock eyes. Some serious memories there.

that's a great shot

Like seeing a ghost... "No it can't be" I imagine that was said followed by a splash of water in the face.

frenchfighter

Didn't realise Majka was riding this.

Stage 3 Results
USA 1 VAN GARDEREN, Tejay (BMC RACING) 3:50:41
POL 2 MAJKA, Rafal (TINKOFF-SAXO)
MDA 3 TVETCOV, Serghei (JELLY BELLY P/B MAXXIS) + 20
BEL 4 HERMANS, Ben (BMC RACING) + 24
USA 5 DANIELSON, Thomas (GARMIN SHARP)
USA 6 JONES, Carter (OPTUM P/B KELLY BENEFIT STRATEGIES) + 30
USA 7 ROSSKOPF, Joseph (HINCAPIE SPORTSWEAR DEVELOPMENT) + 39
USA 8 BUSCHE, Matthew (TREK FACTORY RACING) + 45
POL 9 HUZARSKI, Bartosz (NETAPP - ENDURA) + 51

General Classification after Stage 3
USA 1 VAN GARDEREN, Tejay (BMC RACING) 10:34:53
POL 2 MAJKA, Rafal (TINKOFF-SAXO) + 20
BEL 3 HERMANS, Ben (BMC RACING) + 23
USA 4 DANIELSON, Thomas (GARMIN SHARP) + 34
MDA 5 TVETCOV, Serghei (JELLY BELLY P/B MAXXIS) + 37
USA 6 BUSCHE, Matthew (TREK FACTORY RACING) + 46
USA 7 JONES, Carter (OPTUM P/B KELLY BENEFIT STRATEGIES) + 49
USA 8 ROSSKOPF, Joseph (HINCAPIE SPORTSWEAR DEVELOPMENT) + 55
POL 9 HUZARSKI, Bartosz (NETAPP - ENDURA) + 1:09
USA 10 KYER, Julian (TEAM SMARTSTOP) + 1:22

FJS

Pretty impressive Summer for Majka, after already completing the Giro and TdF

Quintana, Majka, Kwia, Kelderman, Aru, Pinot, Bardet, Yates, Dumoulin: the future's looking bright for GC riders

takethehighroad

Just looking at Yates and Dumoulin on that list. I'd say they need a good ride at one of the GTs next year to avoid being left behind.

r0bh

TakeTheHighRoad wrote:

Just looking at Yates and Dumoulin on that list. I'd say they need a good ride at one of the GTs next year to avoid being left behind.

Yates is a first year pro. Everyone else on that list is in at least their 3rd year at World Tour level apart from Dumoulin who is in his 2nd. I think he could and should be allowed a little more time to develop, don't you?

takethehighroad

They say a week in politics is a long time, a week in cycling is even longer.

Yates has already ridden the Tour to great fanfare. Dumoulin has built his palmares slowly.

If Yates has a quiet year 'developing' next year, he'll be forgotten about and left behind. If Dumoulin doesn't prove himself over three weeks, the rest of the names on that list will move ahead.

RichN95.

TakeTheHighRoad wrote:

They say a week in politics is a long time, a week in cycling is even longer.

Yates has already ridden the Tour to great fanfare. Dumoulin has built his palmares slowly.

If Yates has a quiet year 'developing' next year, he'll be forgotten about and left behind. If Dumoulin doesn't prove himself over three weeks, the rest of the names on that list will move ahead.

Have another look at that that list and look at how long some of them have actually been pros. Most of them were around for a couple of years before anyone really noticed them. Yates (Adam at least) is way ahead of the curve at this point

1 year: Yates
2 years: Aru
3 years: Bardet, Kelderman, Dumoulin
4 years: Kwiatkowski, Majka, Quintana
5 years: Pinot

Art Vandelay

TailWindHome wrote:

Just caught up with this now.

They didn't neutralise it.

They stopped the race
Let them all get cold
Then restarted


What was the point of that?

The organisation of this race is pretty amateur - after Robin Carpenter crossed the line Howes and TJ almost sprinted into the coms car that followed Carpenter. Too many 'fans' sprinting alongside the riders too.

k-dog

frenchfighter wrote:

Lance spectating and he and Basso lock eyes. Some serious memories there.

That's amazing. I hadn't seen that. Surprised that LA hasn't tweeted it!

takethehighroad

RichN95 wrote:

TakeTheHighRoad wrote:

They say a week in politics is a long time, a week in cycling is even longer.

Yates has already ridden the Tour to great fanfare. Dumoulin has built his palmares slowly.

If Yates has a quiet year 'developing' next year, he'll be forgotten about and left behind. If Dumoulin doesn't prove himself over three weeks, the rest of the names on that list will move ahead.

Have another look at that that list and look at how long some of them have actually been pros. Most of them were around for a couple of years before anyone really noticed them. Yates (Adam at least) is way ahead of the curve at this point

1 year: Yates
2 years: Aru
3 years: Bardet, Kelderman, Dumoulin
4 years: Kwiatkowski, Majka, Quintana
5 years: Pinot

I'd say Yates is with the curve and Aru is ahead of it. Bardet & Kelderman had breakthroughs last year, Quintana and Pinot 2 years ago.

So if Yates wants to be considered among the same company then he needs to do something in a GT next year (could be the Vuelta)

If his brother does something in this year's Vuelta it will make him step up for sure.