Cobbled Classics 2022 *** Spoilers***

red.rider

Tim de Waele @ Getty Images

blazing_saddles

tailwindhome said:

Not a monument though

No.
And in it’s current format, never will be.

Dorset_Boy

red.rider said:

Tim de Waele @ Getty Images

Amazing photo. No wonder JA dropped off later in the race. Mind you Pog also went down in that too, but he is on another level to everyone else.
Would have been good to see last year's MvdP with Pog today.

RichN95.

blazing_saddles said:

tailwindhome said:

Not a monument though

No.
And in it’s current format, never will be.

It never will be even if it was longer. Monuments are monuments because they have been around since before World War I.

lettingthedaysgoby

red.rider said:

Tim de Waele @ Getty Images

“Crash with panache”

lettingthedaysgoby

Anyway, thoughts from today:

1 - SB is still my favourite race of the year
2 - Pog is ridiculous
3 - Valverde is two years younger than me. WTF.
4 - Adam Blythe is quickly turning into a fantastic commentator.

amrushton

carbonclem said:

bobmcstuff said:

rick_chasey said:

Well they are like clocks that tell the time that you can put on your wrist via a strap.

Very funny.

Google says Breitling Endurance Pro. Thought Blythe said £250 there but I must have misheard as they are more like £2.5k...

Richard Mille ? £250k …

He usually has a Richard Mille carbon watch. Expensive brand. Cav loves them and has one personally given to him by Richard Mille. Not for me but better than the v ugly Hublot

daniel_b

I know jack all about watches, other than some Garmin ones I have, but thought Blythe said it was 150ks worth.

And yes, re Blythe, he is so good, I really hope he gets as much airtime on the GCN coverage as possible - I'm hoping McEwen coming on does not reduce that, sounds like McEwen will be paired with kirby (the poor barsteward.....) for the TDF, and I think last year Blythe had a gig on the back of a bike for a US channel?

The best thing about Blythe for me, well there are several.
His easy going nature.
The genuine love and enthusiasm for the sport he displays - you can just tell it is not forced
His knowledge of tactics, and the way he will voice his opinions
He makes mistakes, but he corrects them on air

He is their best commentator, at least as the 'expert' they have by a decent margin.

rozzer32

I see the winter “training plan” has been working well for Pog today.

bobmcstuff

blazing_saddles said:

tailwindhome said:

Not a monument though

No.
And in it’s current format, never will be.

It's consistently better than at least one existing monument.

TheBigBean

It was a podium of monument winners. Probably doesn't happen often.

Pross

rozzer32 said:

I see the winter “training plan” has been working well for Pog today.

So predictable and boring

blazing_saddles

bobmcstuff said:

blazing_saddles said:

tailwindhome said:

Not a monument though

No.
And in it’s current format, never will be.

It's consistently better than at least one existing monument.

Tro Bro Leon is consistently better than at least one existing monument.

phreak

Pross said:

rozzer32 said:

I see the winter “training plan” has been working well for Pog today.

So predictable and boring

He's the most prolific winner since Merckx or Hinault and operates under a DS who has overseen some of the biggest scandals of the last 30 years. Given the history of the sport, it would be extremely strange if some pretty massive eyebrows weren't being raised (and he's doing all of this before Merckx had won his first GT).

kingstongraham

He's a star. Love to watch him just give it everything.

RichN95.

Tiesj Benoot desperately hoping this next vehicle is a taxi. Surely one's got to come along eventually.

RichN95.

phreak said:

He's the most prolific winner since Merckx or Hinault and operates under a DS who has overseen some of the biggest scandals of the last 30 years. Given the history of the sport, it would be extremely strange if some pretty massive eyebrows weren't being raised (and he's doing all of this before Merckx had won his first GT).

He's better than Merckx and Hinault

phreak

RichN95. said:

phreak said:

He's the most prolific winner since Merckx or Hinault and operates under a DS who has overseen some of the biggest scandals of the last 30 years. Given the history of the sport, it would be extremely strange if some pretty massive eyebrows weren't being raised (and he's doing all of this before Merckx had won his first GT).

He's better than Merckx and Hinault

Quite probably. I'm not sure anyone has been as successful and as dominant at such a young age in the history of the sport. Since the start of 2021, his worst result outside of the Euros/Worlds was the 7th he got in last year's Strada Bianchi. That includes 4 wins in week-long stage races, the Tour, 2 monuments, and today's win.

RichN95.

phreak said:

Quite probably. I'm not sure anyone has been as successful and as dominant at such a young age in the history of the sport. Since the start of 2021, his worst result outside of the Euros/Worlds was the 7th he got in last year's Strada Bianchi. That includes 4 wins in week-long stage races, the Tour, 2 monuments, and today's win.

The overall standard is much higher now. It's so much more international and all riders are getting good wages so it's an attractive career for people beyond the escaping manual labour cliche of old.

Today the top ten had riders from USA, Hungary, Ecuador, USA, Denmark. If you look at particularly Merckx's monument wins you'd think there are only three countries in cycling.

orraloon

That Tadej is a bit good, no?

RichN95.

RichN95. said:

It's so much more international

To add some facts to this, here's a list of countries that supplied a winner of one of the big nine races (GTs, Monuments, Worlds RR) from outside the big five countries (FR, BE, NL, ES, IT)

Merckx era (66-75): Sweden
Hinault era (77-86): USA, Ireland, Switzerland
Last ten years (12-21): USA, UK, Colombia, Ecuador, Slovakia, Canada, Australia, Kazakhstan, Ireland, Germany, Norway, Poland, Luxembourg, Denmark, Switzerland, Portugal (and maybe Kenya)

Pross

orraloon said:

That Tadej is a bit good, no?

Doping apparently, the evidence being he is quite good.

RichN95.

Apparently some of the Belgian media are saying that Pogacar may even be as good as Evenepoel

TheBigBean

There's an entire thread about him not being the best ride of this century.

RichN95.

TheBigBean said:

There's an entire thread about him not being the best ride of this century.

In terms of palmares, he isn't yet. But in terms of talent and projected palmares, he probably is. But cycling has taught us that you never really know what's around the corner.

TheBigBean

RichN95. said:

TheBigBean said:

There's an entire thread about him not being the best ride of this century.

In terms of palmares, he isn't yet. But in terms of talent and projected palmares, he probably is. But cycling has taught us that you never really know what's around the corner.

Not sure the official Best Rider of the 21st century has a better palmares.

JimD666

RichN95. said:

TheBigBean said:

There's an entire thread about him not being the best ride of this century.

In terms of palmares, he isn't yet. But in terms of talent and projected palmares, he probably is. But cycling has taught us that you never really know what's around the corner.

A bus?

RichN95.

TheBigBean said:

Not sure the official Best Rider of the 21st century has a better palmares.

I guess it's a personal view of what you value. Currently, Pogacar's palmares match Fignon's career. Two Tours, two monuments. I'm not one to value all-round palmares - just the wins wherever they have come.

Yesterday I didn't see anyone point out that Shane Warne's batting average was only 17 (compared the Ashley Giles's 20)

RichN95.

Double

bm5

Amazingly beautiful race to start but after Pogacar attacked it was obviously finished.
I just don't see the point of Wiggins on the motorbike or those awful watches.