Milan - San Remo 2021 ***Spoilers***

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Comments

  • Dorset_Boy
    Dorset_Boy Posts: 7,610
    Well JA, WvA and MvdP were in the final selection, so not sure that theory stacks up.
  • kingstongraham
    kingstongraham Posts: 28,227
    rick_chasey said:

    mididoctors said:

    MvdP JA WvA trifectarama neutralising each other has happened before . ...

    Trek won that race too
    That was a flat sprint, it was just wva neutralising everyone.
  • ddraver
    ddraver Posts: 26,717
    The way WvA and MvdP rrode Tirreno might have hurt them a little...

    But a howling tailwind, Caleb Ewan and the 3 big dogs watching each other were far bigger factors.
    We're in danger of confusing passion with incompetence
    - @ddraver
  • phreak
    phreak Posts: 2,953
    rick_chasey said:

    Some speculation this year's T-A was too tough and that blunted the riders who came from that race.

    Anyone with a view on that?

    I'd say the reality is that while the Poggio these days does force a selection, it seldom forces a selection of less than half a dozen riders. When was the last time someone actually went clear on the Poggio and stayed away until the end? Nibali?

    The nature of the race means that few riders have domestiques left by that point, so if you have top sprinters in the final selection no one will want to really chase and pull things back for the sprinters to win.

  • DeVlaeminck
    DeVlaeminck Posts: 9,108
    It didn't look like MvdP really had it on the day - the pre race talk about him being the best classics rider since Merckx and it being a question of how far out he'd attack meant everyone looked at him a little too much. I think a MvdP in a good day tries to win that in the second half of the Poggio and at worst goes over the top with a couple if others.
    [Castle Donington Ladies FC - going up in '22]
  • takethehighroad
    takethehighroad Posts: 6,823
    Cosmo's HTRWW is up, and cites several examples of MVDP being left on his own and the extra energy that will have cost him
  • m.r.m.
    m.r.m. Posts: 3,486
    DeVlaeminck said:

    It didn't look like MvdP really had it on the day - the pre race talk about him being the best classics rider since Merckx and it being a question of how far out he'd attack meant everyone looked at him a little too much. I think a MvdP in a good day tries to win that in the second half of the Poggio and at worst goes over the top with a couple if others.

    He was too far back for most of the Poggio to do that. He made up a lot of ground with almost no support. He only had Sbaragli who wasn't even there for the entire effort. He would have had to have been up front with JA and WVA from the beginning to do that.
    He was also too far back prior to the Poggio on multiple occasions and had to expend energy to move up. Dries de Bondt did a great job for him there.
    PTP Champion 2019, 2022 & 2023
  • ddraver
    ddraver Posts: 26,717
    Kwiato...

    We're in danger of confusing passion with incompetence
    - @ddraver
  • dish_dash
    dish_dash Posts: 5,647
    Interestingly only 3 DNFs on the day.

    Though anyone know why Conor Swift was a DNS?
  • takethehighroad
    takethehighroad Posts: 6,823
    dish_dash said:

    Interestingly only 3 DNFs on the day.

    Though anyone know why Conor Swift was a DNS?

    He saw how long the race was and couldn't and be bothered
  • bobmcstuff
    bobmcstuff Posts: 11,444
    https://www.cyclingweekly.com/news/racing/strava-data-reveals-rapid-ascent-of-the-poggio-in-milan-san-remo-2021-494176

    Fastest Poggio since 2017

    Pidcock did 1100 watts I the sprint which is bloody good for someone that small and after 300k
  • DeVlaeminck
    DeVlaeminck Posts: 9,108
    m.r.m. said:

    DeVlaeminck said:

    It didn't look like MvdP really had it on the day - the pre race talk about him being the best classics rider since Merckx and it being a question of how far out he'd attack meant everyone looked at him a little too much. I think a MvdP in a good day tries to win that in the second half of the Poggio and at worst goes over the top with a couple if others.

    He was too far back for most of the Poggio to do that. He made up a lot of ground with almost no support. He only had Sbaragli who wasn't even there for the entire effort. He would have had to have been up front with JA and WVA from the beginning to do that.
    He was also too far back prior to the Poggio on multiple occasions and had to expend energy to move up. Dries de Bondt did a great job for him there.
    Yes I agree he wasn't in the ideal position but I thought at the time on a couple of occasions he passed up opportunities to move up that he'd have taken had he been100% - I think him being a little further back was as much a symptom of him being knackered as the cause. I mean it's all speculation but that's how I saw it.
    [Castle Donington Ladies FC - going up in '22]
  • m.r.m.
    m.r.m. Posts: 3,486
    Yeah it's definitely possible. Especially since he was lagging way back at times earlier as well. I see your point!
    PTP Champion 2019, 2022 & 2023
  • lettingthedaysgoby
    lettingthedaysgoby Posts: 1,732
    I was rather impressed by Pidcock. He's 21, riding his first monument and managed to get into a position where he could lead them for a while down the Poggio. He's said in interviews that his problem at that point was he didn't know where he was going :D Considering his (lack of) size his numbers are incredible. He really does seem to be the real deal.
  • RichN95.
    RichN95. Posts: 27,262
    lettingthedaysgoby said:

    I was rather impressed by Pidcock. He's 21, riding his first monument and managed to get into a position where he could lead them for a while down the Poggio. He's said in interviews that his problem at that point was he didn't know where he was going :D Considering his (lack of) size his numbers are incredible. He really does seem to be the real deal.


    From what I've seen from him so far, his tactical sense seems top notch. Unlike 'Tictacs' Van der Poel
    Twitter: @RichN95
  • No_Ta_Doctor
    No_Ta_Doctor Posts: 14,692
    In cross he seemed to have an issue with getting caught out positionally and burning matches to get back to the front. I think we've seen that a bit on the road as well, though not MSR, where he couldn't follow the initial attacks and had to close the gap. It wasn't the first time we've seen him having to chase though. Overall an extremely impressive start to his road career, with the improvement of experience to come.

    I'm not sure what his punch is like on walls, he handled himself pretty well at SB, but that will be crucial if the Ardennes is to be his playground. For the cobbles he'll definitely be more suited to Flanders than Roubaix. The surging power changes of Flanders might suit his cross background.
    Warning No formatter is installed for the format
  • andyrr
    andyrr Posts: 1,823
    bobmcstuff said:

    https://www.cyclingweekly.com/news/racing/strava-data-reveals-rapid-ascent-of-the-poggio-in-milan-san-remo-2021-494176

    Fastest Poggio since 2017

    Pidcock did 1100 watts I the sprint which is bloody good for someone that small and after 300k

    Watched the GCN review prog last night that quoted Swift’s HR at something like 190 for 12 minutes towards the end - I’d be dead if I tried that!
  • phreak
    phreak Posts: 2,953
    bobmcstuff said:

    https://www.cyclingweekly.com/news/racing/strava-data-reveals-rapid-ascent-of-the-poggio-in-milan-san-remo-2021-494176

    Fastest Poggio since 2017

    Pidcock did 1100 watts I the sprint which is bloody good for someone that small and after 300k

    Still, the times over the Cipressa and Poggio are not a patch on the 90s times. Think the Cipressa record was about 50 seconds faster than they did at the weekend. EPO is some good shizzle.
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 75,660
    phreak said:

    bobmcstuff said:

    https://www.cyclingweekly.com/news/racing/strava-data-reveals-rapid-ascent-of-the-poggio-in-milan-san-remo-2021-494176

    Fastest Poggio since 2017

    Pidcock did 1100 watts I the sprint which is bloody good for someone that small and after 300k

    Still, the times over the Cipressa and Poggio are not a patch on the 90s times. Think the Cipressa record was about 50 seconds faster than they did at the weekend. EPO is some good shizzle.
    If you watch those videos you'll also see a ludicrous amount of motos too, and very close.
    _
  • yorkshireraw
    yorkshireraw Posts: 1,632
    rick_chasey said:

    phreak said:

    bobmcstuff said:

    https://www.cyclingweekly.com/news/racing/strava-data-reveals-rapid-ascent-of-the-poggio-in-milan-san-remo-2021-494176

    Fastest Poggio since 2017

    Pidcock did 1100 watts I the sprint which is bloody good for someone that small and after 300k

    Still, the times over the Cipressa and Poggio are not a patch on the 90s times. Think the Cipressa record was about 50 seconds faster than they did at the weekend. EPO is some good shizzle.
    If you watch those videos you'll also see a ludicrous amount of motos too, and very close.
    And given how bikes / kit are so much better & more aero now, the relative power numbers must have been nuts.
  • phreak
    phreak Posts: 2,953
    edited March 2021
    rick_chasey said:

    phreak said:

    bobmcstuff said:

    https://www.cyclingweekly.com/news/racing/strava-data-reveals-rapid-ascent-of-the-poggio-in-milan-san-remo-2021-494176

    Fastest Poggio since 2017

    Pidcock did 1100 watts I the sprint which is bloody good for someone that small and after 300k

    Still, the times over the Cipressa and Poggio are not a patch on the 90s times. Think the Cipressa record was about 50 seconds faster than they did at the weekend. EPO is some good shizzle.
    If you watch those videos you'll also see a ludicrous amount of motos too, and very close.
    Gabriele Colombo is the guy with the record on the Cipressa. He won in 1996 without really doing much else of note. He was part of Ferrari's Gewiss jamboree. Guys like him, Furlan, Berzin, and Ugrumov burned incredibly brightly for a season or two and then practically vanished.
  • andyp
    andyp Posts: 10,575
    edited March 2021
    That's harsh on Berzin, at one point he was practically visible from space.


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