Strade Bianchi ***Spoilers***
Comments
-
I find the very end an anti climax. There's rarely a surprise ending.mrb123 said:Not sure if this is a criticism or praise, but the finish of the course does seem to guarantee that the strongest rider wins without much doubt.
A km or two of flat after the climb would bring in a lot more permutations."Unfortunately these days a lot of people don’t understand the real quality of a bike" Ernesto Colnago0 -
It always feels like a pointless risk for a rider who has to be back holding the bars the day after a crash, even more so with all that gravel to get there.mrb123 said:
Pidcock was definitely gloveless.Pross said:Simmons looked good today too but suffered seriously bad luck. To chase back onto group 2 after that botch of a wheel change and then go to the front at the point it looked certain they were going to catch the leaders was excellent riding. That was also one of the quickest remounts I've ever seen by the Apecin rider that took him out. He'd barely stopped sliding before being back on his bike.
Two things I noticed today. The first was just how hilly the races, I knew it was lumpy but possibly as I've never seen it from so far out before didn't realise quite how tough it was. The second, after musing on the affects of crashing downhill on that gravel particularly on bare hands, was that all the riders I looked at had their hands covered (someone will now post a photo of a group where at least half of the riders had bare hands.0 -
Disagree with this. You don't genuinely know the race is over until the last 500m, but knowing that someone has won it as they cover the last 200m lets you enjoy (and depending on who you were rooting for, come to terms with) their victory. In a movie you'd switch to slow motion to give an audience that time, Strade Bianchi achieves the same deal by easing off once the really nasty stuff is out the way.gsk82 said:
I find the very end an anti climax. There's rarely a surprise ending.mrb123 said:Not sure if this is a criticism or praise, but the finish of the course does seem to guarantee that the strongest rider wins without much doubt.
A km or two of flat after the climb would bring in a lot more permutations.
2km of someone who was clearly going to win the thing just showboating on the flat would be far more anticlimactic.0 -
Incredible.
I’m a fan of MVDP, but didn’t think he’d have the beans to match Alaphilippe, WVA, etc... over the distance and with all the climbs.
Can this now officially be the end of all those complaints about MVDP being over hyped?
Look at who the guy just toasted.0 -
And how he did it.PTP Champion 2019, 2022 & 20230
-
Great race. Disappointing result. No disputing that the strongest rider won, though.0
-
Looking forward to MSR now if he can put out that kind of gas over a short burst, the Poggio should be interesting!1
-
Hopefully the higher speed on the poggio will make it less easy for him. He must be the clear favourite though, like Sagan always used to be.phreak said:Looking forward to MSR now if he can put out that kind of gas over a short burst, the Poggio should be interesting!
"Unfortunately these days a lot of people don’t understand the real quality of a bike" Ernesto Colnago0 -
-
Jose de Cauwer “had tears in his eyes” as it was “one of the best classics ever”0 -
While washing the pots earlier I was trying to think which of the current/ soon to be cycling superstars was missing from that front group.
All I came up with was Roglic, Ganna and Evenepoel."Unfortunately these days a lot of people don’t understand the real quality of a bike" Ernesto Colnago0 -
It’s a rare race day when we are (almost) all in agreement about the quality.
3 -
Personally, I like the fact that the race essentially finishes at the top. There are precious few races that do (aside from Fleche Wallonne, what else is there?). There's no fannying about, there's no trying to attack over the top, there's no trying to leave a little bit for the flat/descent. And the climb itself is so short you get one chance only, so you have to give it everything. It's never raced from a large bunch, so you've got to do the work to get into the selection first.
Yes, it becomes a show of strength, but I don't see anything wrong with that. Of the three I'd have had Alaphilippe as favourite, except for the fact that he'd not looked 100% comfortable following MvdP's earlier attack. Theoretically, his best chance might have been to attack before MvdP, a fair bit earlier, but I don't think anyone would suggest that would have saved him yesterday. Bernal would have been favourite if there had been another 7 km of climbing to follow, or if he'd got to the foot of the climb with a gap.
The fun part is really in the 5km before the finale, because they all know all of this, but they've got chasers behind. They've all seen each others cards by this point. An extra couple of km after the top gives them extra cards to play but lessens the chance they'll get played on the climb, at least until the top.Warning No formatter is installed for the format1 -
For the counter argument, Amstel Gold has improved enormously as a race since they moved the finish away from the top of the Cauberg.
That said, it'd be very difficult to change the finish in Siena as the ridge the old town is built on is quite narrow and not very long. Finishing in the Piazza del Campo is perfect, as it's such an amazing square and adds to the race's charm.1 -
-
Oh I'm not arguing that other finishes provide their own excitement, just that Siena is now unique in being a full on uphill sprint from a very small elite group. I like it for thatandyp said:For the counter argument, Amstel Gold has improved enormously as a race since they moved the finish away from the top of the Cauberg.
That said, it'd be very difficult to change the finish in Siena as the ridge the old town is built on is quite narrow and not very long. Finishing in the Piazza del Campo is perfect, as it's such an amazing square and adds to the race's charm.
Warning No formatter is installed for the format1 -
I'll bring some beers. Who else is coming?rick_chasey said:Just realised how close it runs to the newly acquired holiday home.
🤘🏻Bring on 2022Warning No formatter is installed for the format3 -
I chose to omit him. I don't see him winning much from now on.andyp said:
How quickly people forget Peter Sagan...gsk82 said:While washing the pots earlier I was trying to think which of the current/ soon to be cycling superstars was missing from that front group.
All I came up with was Roglic, Ganna and Evenepoel."Unfortunately these days a lot of people don’t understand the real quality of a bike" Ernesto Colnago0 -
I did wonder if every race in the calender was only between these top three Alaphilippe would always come second?0
-
Well MvdP wasn't there, but WVA was and he became World Champion. Alaphilippe just needs it to be even more hilly. It's still amazing to watch him attack though. Sometimes he just rides in the saddle with such ease and you see even rider's like MvdP, WVA, etc. really grimace. Was like that last year in the Tour of Flanders. He looked incredibly strong and at ease a couple of km's before his crash. The others looked much more laboured despite Alaphilippe being of such a light weight comparatively.PTP Champion 2019, 2022 & 20230
-
Or they'd spend the whole time watching each other and he'd win the lotinseine said:I did wonder if every race in the calender was only between these top three Alaphilippe would always come second?
Warning No formatter is installed for the format0 -
MvdP's stats from Saturday have been released by his team.
He 'only' hit 1,004 watts for 20 seconds to win on the final climb.
389 watts normalised for the duration of the race.
439 watts normalised for the last 90 minutes.
https://cyclist.co.uk/news/9331/mathieu-van-der-poels-insane-strade-bianche-watts-revealed?fbclid=IwAR1aGC6A0DmA-RXs35iBXEKpFgnVjZW4U4c_qwLJnjbRiND_pQnPK0fJoGs0 -
Pidcock keeps lurking at the back and looking behind - issue of some sort?0
-
Max of 1362W - not that far off (relatively) what some of the sprinters produce after 4 hours sat in the bunch on a pan-flat tour day.Dorset_Boy said:MvdP's stats from Saturday have been released by his team.
He 'only' hit 1,004 watts for 20 seconds to win on the final climb.
389 watts normalised for the duration of the race.
439 watts normalised for the last 90 minutes.
https://cyclist.co.uk/news/9331/mathieu-van-der-poels-insane-strade-bianche-watts-revealed?fbclid=IwAR1aGC6A0DmA-RXs35iBXEKpFgnVjZW4U4c_qwLJnjbRiND_pQnPK0fJoGs0 -
As ever with the stats around power, they just confirm what you already know from watching with your own eyes.
What's remarkable about MvdP's style is how he flings his bike about with these accelerations, in a very high cadence.0 -
Yeah, but it is still impressive to see it in black and whiterick_chasey said:As ever with the stats around power, they just confirm what you already know from watching with your own eyes.
What's remarkable about MvdP's style is how he flings his bike about with these accelerations, in a very high cadence.0
