S*** Small Races Thread - 2021

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  • davieb78
    davieb78 Posts: 99
    edited September 2021
    Ellen van Dijk won the Women’s European Road Race Championship. She got in a break with about 60k to go, and then attacked solo with about 30k to go. A strong chase group formed and on the final climb the gap got down to about 30 secs. However, the Dutch got their tactics right this time by: a) knowing there was someone up the road; and b) AvV and Vollering doing a good job of marking any attacks and disrupting the chase. Nice to see van Dijk winning it.
  • pinno
    pinno Posts: 52,340
    edited September 2021
    I was quietly smiling at the Italian TV broadcasters who were obviously focusing on Ganna. Kung was off by a couple of seconds at the first time check and it seems that they decided he wasn't in the running and therefore Ganna was numero uno and Kung seemingly slips in the back door after getting didley squat coverage form that first time check and their darling Pippo gets pipped at the post.

    On a side note, both men and the women's TT course was far too short. It was barely double a prologue. I think a rolling course over say 40km would have perhaps invited more entrants.

    I don't think i'll be tuning in to next years EUC's.
    seanoconn - gruagach craic!
  • RichN95.
    RichN95. Posts: 27,253
    edited September 2021
    Sonny Colbrelli won the Euro road race. Group of him, Evenepoel and Cosnefroy got away. Evenepoel did his usual thing of thinking he could just ride away from them. Cosnefroy dropped back and came third, but Colbrelli just sat on and won the sprint. Trentin was the best of the chase group. Italians have one the last four editions.


    Twitter: @RichN95
  • mrb123
    mrb123 Posts: 4,819
    RichN95. said:

    Sonny Colbrelli won the Euro road race. Group of him, Evenepoel and Cosnefroy got away. Evenepoel did his usual thing of thinking he could just ride away from them. Cosnefroy dropped back and came third, but Colbrelli just sat on and won the sprint. Trentin was the best of the chase group. Italians have one the last four editions.


    Was a superb race.

    Bit embarrassing from Evenepoel TBH, was in such a huff that he couldn't ride Colbrelli off his wheel that he completely failed to try any other tactic and just towed him in to the finish.
  • mididoctors
    mididoctors Posts: 18,908
    It's a good jersey imo ...growing in stature
    "If I was a 38 year old man, I definitely wouldn't be riding a bright yellow bike with Hello Kitty disc wheels, put it that way. What we're witnessing here is the world's most high profile mid-life crisis" Afx237vi Mon Jul 20, 2009 2:43 pm
  • m.r.m.
    m.r.m. Posts: 3,475
    Just out of curiosity, what else should he have tried? I don't think he can ever get rid of Colbrelli if he can't ride him off the wheel (which he never should be able to outside of a mountain climb). Colbrelli can always snap on to his wheel with ease since Evenepoel has no real snap of his own. A "GC rider" can't win in such a scenario 1 on 1 (no offense, I wasn't able to watch the race).
    PTP Champion 2019, 2022 & 2023
  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 43,463
    Quite an eclectic mix of riders in the top 10. I assume it was hilly but nothing too big / steep?

    I'm surprised the races aren't given a slot to themselves in the calendar as with Nationals and Worlds.
  • RichN95.
    RichN95. Posts: 27,253
    edited September 2021
    m.r.m. said:

    Just out of curiosity, what else should he have tried? I don't think he can ever get rid of Colbrelli if he can't ride him off the wheel (which he never should be able to outside of a mountain climb). Colbrelli can always snap on to his wheel with ease since Evenepoel has no real snap of his own. A "GC rider" can't win in such a scenario 1 on 1 (no offense, I wasn't able to watch the race).


    Once Evenepoel got away with Colbrelli and Cosnefroy got away it was quickly clear that they weren't going to work with him. He could have recognised that this was not going to work unless he could drop them. But the rode on regardless. Waiting for riders behind (Pogacar & Hirschi) might have changed the mix of the group more favourably for him.

    Going intot eh finale with just Colbrelli and Colbrelli's job is clear. With a couple of others then is muddies the situation. Evenepoel is unlikely to win a two up sprint unless it's against Lopez or Pozzovivo
    Twitter: @RichN95
  • m.r.m.
    m.r.m. Posts: 3,475
    edited September 2021
    That is very true. Letting others catch up and then to counter a Hirschi attack for example and get away while the others are looking at each other is a very viable strategy!
    PTP Champion 2019, 2022 & 2023
  • bobmcstuff
    bobmcstuff Posts: 11,435
    At the very least towing him to the line wasn't smart - stop riding and force Colbrelli to work surely.

    He would have had more chance attacking from a bigger group and hoping they would look at each other.
  • yorkshireraw
    yorkshireraw Posts: 1,632
    andyp said:

    r0bh said:

    Speaking of the Euro champs, Lefevere is off on one again

    https://www.cyclingweekly.com/news/furious-patrick-lefevere-slams-sam-bennett-for-racing-european-championships

    I'm not defending Leferve, whose earlier comments and propensity to handle this stuff in public are reprehensible, but I think he has a right to be angry over this. Bennett is still a DQS rider, hasn't ridden for the team since early May and is claiming he is injured, but is somehow able to represent his country in the national team equivalent of a shitty little race, whilst DQS continue to pay his wages.
    Isn't it more the case that Bennett has said he is now available to race, but DQS (Lefevre) haven't selected him for anything - part out of spite, and partly because if he's 'inactive' for 3 months they can slash his salary for the rest of the year.

    So he lined up for the Euros to make himself 'active' and prevent them not paying him in full.
  • notquite6foot
    notquite6foot Posts: 248
    Pross said:

    Quite an eclectic mix of riders in the top 10. I assume it was hilly but nothing too big / steep?

    Yeah - some big ascents to start but the circuit was centred on Povo (3.6 km @ 4.9% avg).
    Pross said:

    I'm surprised the races aren't given a slot to themselves in the calendar as with Nationals and Worlds.

    Since elite races were added it's usually the first half of August, or (in Olympic years) early/mid-September. 2020 (odd one out, for obvious reasons) was late August.
  • bobmcstuff
    bobmcstuff Posts: 11,435
    Bike Exchange women's team had 12 of their bikes nicked on Saturday at the Tour de l'ardeche and were only able to continue thanks to other teams lending them bikes, which is nice.

    https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/bikes-stolen-from-team-bikeexchange-at-tour-de-lardeche/
  • notquite6foot
    notquite6foot Posts: 248
    And it pays off handsomely with Teniel Campbell winning stage 6.

    It's the Trinbagonian's first victory with BikeExchange and her first .1 win in Europe.
  • RichN95.
    RichN95. Posts: 27,253
    How it started:



    How it's going:

    Twitter: @RichN95
  • Dorset_Boy
    Dorset_Boy Posts: 7,573
    Oooops!
  • pinno
    pinno Posts: 52,340
    yorkshireraw said:

    andyp said:

    r0bh said:

    Speaking of the Euro champs, Lefevere is off on one again

    https://www.cyclingweekly.com/news/furious-patrick-lefevere-slams-sam-bennett-for-racing-european-championships

    I'm not defending Leferve, whose earlier comments and propensity to handle this stuff in public are reprehensible, but I think he has a right to be angry over this. Bennett is still a DQS rider, hasn't ridden for the team since early May and is claiming he is injured, but is somehow able to represent his country in the national team equivalent of a shitty little race, whilst DQS continue to pay his wages.
    Isn't it more the case that Bennett has said he is now available to race, but DQS (Lefevre) haven't selected him for anything - part out of spite, and partly because if he's 'inactive' for 3 months they can slash his salary for the rest of the year.

    So he lined up for the Euros to make himself 'active' and prevent them not paying him in full.
    So Bora loose Sagan and gain Bennett. Sagan in his prime could pick a sprint without a lead out train and I presume that Bennett will need a better lead out than Bora currently has.
    seanoconn - gruagach craic!
  • jimmyjams
    jimmyjams Posts: 781
    bobmcstuff said:

    Bike Exchange women's team had 12 of their bikes nicked on Saturday at the Tour de l'ardeche and were only able to continue thanks to other teams lending them bikes, which is nice.

    https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/bikes-stolen-from-team-bikeexchange-at-tour-de-lardeche/

    I don't know where the women were overnighting when their bikes were stolen, but the second time I and two companions did the Ardechoise several-day cyclosportive, in 2015, ours a 4-day route, it included an overnight at a hotel in Aubenas (Département Ardèche, and where the women's tour started last Wednesday), where we were together with 20-25 other participants. All our bikes were put in the large cellar of the hotel, it then locked up.
    Next morning a good third of the bikes were gone – somehow stolen overnight, value probably at least 30,000 Euro. Fortunately not the bikes of my little group. But it made me wonder who would carry liability, the cyclosportive organisers or the hotel, if either at all. As I didn't know any of those who lost their bikes, I never found out.
  • m.r.m.
    m.r.m. Posts: 3,475
    Probably worth putting Apple Air Tags in the bikes when on such adventures.
    PTP Champion 2019, 2022 & 2023
  • jimmyjams
    jimmyjams Posts: 781
    RichN95. said:

    m.r.m. said:

    Just out of curiosity, what else should he have tried? I don't think he can ever get rid of Colbrelli if he can't ride him off the wheel (which he never should be able to outside of a mountain climb). Colbrelli can always snap on to his wheel with ease since Evenepoel has no real snap of his own. A "GC rider" can't win in such a scenario 1 on 1 (no offense, I wasn't able to watch the race).


    Once Evenepoel got away with Colbrelli and Cosnefroy got away it was quickly clear that they weren't going to work with him. He could have recognised that this was not going to work unless he could drop them. But the rode on regardless. Waiting for riders behind (Pogacar & Hirschi) might have changed the mix of the group more favourably for him.

    Going intot eh finale with just Colbrelli and Colbrelli's job is clear. With a couple of others then is muddies the situation. Evenepoel is unlikely to win a two up sprint unless it's against Lopez or Pozzovivo
    I watched the race and don't think Evenepoel would have been better off waiting for the group behind, I think the group was too strong and he may have then ended up fourth or fifth.
    He also made a big mistake on, or rather just before, the last bend, letting Cobrelli get in front just before it, so Cobrelli took the optimum line around and out of it, and essentially blocked Evenepoel. Evenepoel should have read his roadbook.
    Much as Evenepoel tactics were naive, I'm surprised Colbrelli hasn't received much criticism for the manner of his victory.

    In the women's race, it was good that Lippert got silver – she was the one who most tried to enliven things in the second half of race and at one point I wondered whether she might have been better off going it alone after Van Dijk - for a while on the last-but-one climb Lippert got clear of her companions and was less than 10 secs behind Van Dijk. But Lippert hesitated, seemed to want support from one of the other non-Dutch (to help on the descent?) but none came, so she was soon caught.
    Repeated on the last climb, though by then the gap to Van Dijk was too big to bridge.

  • RichN95.
    RichN95. Posts: 27,253
    jimmyjams said:


    I watched the race and don't think Evenepoel would have been better off waiting for the group behind, I think the group was too strong and he may have then ended up fourth or fifth.
    He also made a big mistake on, or rather just before, the last bend, letting Cobrelli get in front just before it, so Cobrelli took the optimum line around and out of it, and essentially blocked Evenepoel. Evenepoel should have read his roadbook.
    Much as Evenepoel tactics were naive, I'm surprised Colbrelli hasn't received much criticism for the manner of his victory.

    He may have come fifth in a group of five but it would have given him a greater chance of a win as he needs to get a gap and that is more likely if there are riders who are going to hesitate chasing. Colbrelli on his own isn't going to hesitate.

    As for his sprinting tactics, it really didn't matter. That was the biggest mismatch since Sagan v Froome at the 2016 Tour.
    Twitter: @RichN95
  • pinno
    pinno Posts: 52,340
    MvdP looking good again.
    seanoconn - gruagach craic!
  • andyp
    andyp Posts: 10,553
    Joao Almeida takes the opening stage of the Tour of Luxembourg, winning the sprint from a group of 25-30 riders.
  • blazing_saddles
    blazing_saddles Posts: 22,726
    edited September 2021
    Today is the start of a very busy few days before the Worlds.
    GCN/Eurosport have it all live.

    Besides the Queen stage of Luxembourg, the Italian Autumn series begins with the Giro della Toscana, It's up to Belgium next, for the GP Wallonie and finally, the Tour of Slovakia kicks off.
    Tomorrow, it's naother Italian semi: the Coppa Sabatini and the two stage races.
    "Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.
  • blazing_saddles
    blazing_saddles Posts: 22,726
    Marc Hirschi takes the Queen stage of Luxembourg while Tibault Pinot appeared to have taken up a temporary DQS contract by towing Almeida up the finishing climb for the last km and a half and leading him out for the sprint.

    No wonder the French win so few big races.
    "Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.
  • m.r.m.
    m.r.m. Posts: 3,475
    Well at the very least it's nice to see Hirschi winning again.
    PTP Champion 2019, 2022 & 2023
  • davieb78
    davieb78 Posts: 99
    1.6 km prologue in the Tour of Slovakia! Surprisingly entertaining. Kaden Groves won by 0.32s, Sagan 10th about 2 seconds back. We won’t talk about Froome.
  • RichN95.
    RichN95. Posts: 27,253
    davieb78 said:

    1.6 km prologue in the Tour of Slovakia! Surprisingly entertaining. Kaden Groves won by 0.32s, Sagan 10th about 2 seconds back. We won’t talk about Froome.


    I think even at his peak Froome would have been terrible at a flat one mile TT on a road bike
    Twitter: @RichN95
  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 43,463
    blazing_saddles said:

    Marc Hirschi takes the Queen stage of Luxembourg while Tibault Pinot appeared to have taken up a temporary DQS contract by towing Almeida up the finishing climb for the last km and a half and leading him out for the sprint.

    No wonder the French win so few big races.

    I started watching but gave up after 15 minutes of CK and I don't know if I've just watched too much racing this year but I just couldn't get interested
  • davieb78
    davieb78 Posts: 99
    RichN95. said:

    davieb78 said:

    1.6 km prologue in the Tour of Slovakia! Surprisingly entertaining. Kaden Groves won by 0.32s, Sagan 10th about 2 seconds back. We won’t talk about Froome.


    I think even at his peak Froome would have been terrible at a flat one mile TT on a road bike
    It was mostly just a strange thing to watch.

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