2017 worlds

Richmond Racer 2

Moscon might be bloody talented but he doesn't seem to be the brightest pebble on the beach

ocdupalais

Richmond Racer 2 wrote:

Moscon might be bloody talented but he doesn't seem to be the brightest pebble on the beach

Imagine the roller coaster of emotion your mate Dave B was on: Kiryienka looked about to catch Moscon and Alaphilippe, followed by camera black out from about 4km followed by the DSQ... ("phew! Thank Lucifer they were caught, eh Rod!?", he'd have said)
If Moscon is going to continue contending for big wins, surely some sort of off season evening classes to teach him how not to be a racist or dirty cheat fall into the category of "considerable gains"?

philbar72

Pross wrote:

M.R.M. wrote:

Pross wrote:

M.R.M. wrote:

Yeah Swift would definitely generally take it if it weren't for about 25 other riders. :P

And yet he was 5th? :?

Was just teasing. I don't get the Ben Swift love. I made a post or thread about it a little while back.

He is supposedly always in the mix, but there are always 4-5 somewhat changing riders ahead of him. At least he has a strong fan club here. The Anna Kournikova of cycling. :P

But Pross, no offense man! I love you almost as much as you dudes love Swift!

I'm not really much of a fan to be honest. I just see a lot of people ridicule Swift as a sprinter. He certainly isn't successful as one but he's come close a few times at MSR and I was a bit surprised that no-one mentioned him as a possible while mentioning all the other similar riders.

he gets a fair few points for his teams in reduced / tough sprints though. that's his forte, though having seen him sprint, he's got decent top end just takes a while to get there...

to come 5th is not bad at all...

daniel_b

philbar72 wrote:

Pross wrote:

M.R.M. wrote:

Pross wrote:

M.R.M. wrote:

Yeah Swift would definitely generally take it if it weren't for about 25 other riders. :P

And yet he was 5th? :?

Was just teasing. I don't get the Ben Swift love. I made a post or thread about it a little while back.

He is supposedly always in the mix, but there are always 4-5 somewhat changing riders ahead of him. At least he has a strong fan club here. The Anna Kournikova of cycling. :P

But Pross, no offense man! I love you almost as much as you dudes love Swift!

I'm not really much of a fan to be honest. I just see a lot of people ridicule Swift as a sprinter. He certainly isn't successful as one but he's come close a few times at MSR and I was a bit surprised that no-one mentioned him as a possible while mentioning all the other similar riders.

he gets a fair few points for his teams in reduced / tough sprints though. that's his forte, though having seen him sprint, he's got decent top end just takes a while to get there...

to come 5th is not bad at all...

He generally seems to be a good solid, reliable performer - I think he has a lot going for him, and certainly comes across as a decent indvidual off the bike.
Also impressed he left Sky, as I imagine the altogether easier option would have been to stay put til the end of his career, and just carry on taking the money - shows some backbone and nouse from where I am standing.

Question - if Cav had been fit, would he have been in contention at the end, I mean would he have made it up all the climbs?
Supposition I appreciate.

The sprint seemed wide open at the end, I can't help but feel had he been there and fit, he would have had as good a chance as anyone, especially if Swift had still been there to lead him out to some degree.

tailwindhome

Daniel B wrote:

Question - if Cav had been fit, would he have been in contention at the end, I mean would he have made it up all the climbs?
Supposition I appreciate.

The sprint seemed wide open at the end, I can't help but feel had he been there and fit, he would have had as good a chance as anyone, especially if Swift had still been there to lead him out to some degree.

I would have thought had Cav been there would have been more incentive to make the laps harder to eject him.

graeme_s-2

TailWindHome wrote:

I would have thought had Cav been there would have been more incentive to make the laps harder to eject him.

That's what I was about to say. The teams with more classics typed riders would have been looking at who was still in the group and working out whether they fancied their chances against them. If there had still been an out and out sprinter in the group they'd have made it harder to try and ditch them.

If Cav had come out of that final corner with Kristoff, Sagan and Matthews then I'd have fancied his chances, but I just don't think they'd have let him make it that far in the group.

r0bh

The bunch was only about 30 strong by the last km, Cav would have had to be on tip top form to have made that selection

timoid.

Rick Chasey wrote:

Who needs a team eh??

As he said himself in his inteview, he has some friends in the peloton.

Not all your team mates wear the same national colours in the Worlds.

Pross

There were no out and out sprinters in the field really. They are more strong riders with very good sprints, you would expect many of the top 10 to be up there in a bunch sprint but they wouldn't often beat the likes of Greipel, Cav or Kittel in those situations.

DeVlaeminck

Pross wrote:

There were no out and out sprinters in the field really. They are more strong riders with very good sprints, you would expect many of the top 10 to be up there in a bunch sprint but they wouldn't often beat the likes of Greipel, Cav or Kittel in those situations.

Gaviria was the one who perhaps should be kicking himself. I know he's not been sprinting as well as he was earlier in the year but even so he must have been up there with Sagan and Kristoff as co-favourite had he not tried to go with moves in the last 4k.

I'd have liked to have seen more sprinters in the race, I think if they were choosing the squads now then maybe a few more would be in there, certainly Demare and the ones that can get over a speed bump. I think if he'd targeted it and had a clear year Cav would have had an outside shot at being there, hard to know really, certainly in his MSR winning year I think he could have done it.

philbar72

DeVlaeminck wrote:

Pross wrote:

There were no out and out sprinters in the field really. They are more strong riders with very good sprints, you would expect many of the top 10 to be up there in a bunch sprint but they wouldn't often beat the likes of Greipel, Cav or Kittel in those situations.

Gaviria was the one who perhaps should be kicking himself. I know he's not been sprinting as well as he was earlier in the year but even so he must have been up there with Sagan and Kristoff as co-favourite had he not tried to go with moves in the last 4k.

I'd have liked to have seen more sprinters in the race, I think if they were choosing the squads now then maybe a few more would be in there, certainly Demare and the ones that can get over a speed bump. I think if he'd targeted it and had a clear year Cav would have had an outside shot at being there, hard to know really, certainly in his MSR winning year I think he could have done it.

Gaviria can do it all but to have 2 peaks in a year at his young age is asking a bit. he was there or thereabouts and unlike the absolute pure sprinters he can do repeated climbs as well. he's nailed on for something like MSR in the next couple of years.

tailwindhome

There's no guarantee even if Cav made it to the final he would beat Sagan
He didn't last year.




Matthews banging his handlebars. LOL

sherer

Managed to catch it from a bar in Malaysia without commentary for the end. Have to say t's a champions performance, you only need to lead the last few metres over the line, for the rest of the race he seemed to be hiding and saving energy.

Big Sagan fan, even ride around in the Slovakia kit when out training now. Very classy of the guy to dedicate the win to Michelle too.

He's said he thinks he can get over the climbs for next year too, we will see. Great season and think he's now earned a rest

richa

not sure if this has been widely seen. But IMO Sagan did more work in the last few km than just popping up with 250m to go...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZS2rw1G95u8

inseine

RichA wrote:

not sure if this has been widely seen. But IMO Sagan did more work in the last few km than just popping up with 250m to go...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZS2rw1G95u8

Thrilling!
His timing and his ability to close gaps is astounding. He seems to hang off the wheels sometimes but because he can ride in the wind so well he just closes up when he feels like it.

RichN95.

For those that know a bit about Tom Pidcock, here's a job for you:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/sports-personality/41512150

(Ben Woodburn may beat him though)

Bo Duke

RichA wrote:

not sure if this has been widely seen. But IMO Sagan did more work in the last few km than just popping up with 250m to go...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZS2rw1G95u8

Superb video many thanks, as you say not only did he work but he very much looked after himself and had his own race, covered every move. That's why he's the best!