S*** Small Races 2023

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Comments

  • kingstongraham
    kingstongraham Posts: 28,227
    That drone pilot is a nutcase.
  • Lanterne_Rogue
    Lanterne_Rogue Posts: 4,340
    edited February 2023
    kingstongraham said:

    That drone pilot is a nutcase.

    Having regularly read the AAIB summaries - an entire section is now dedicated to drones mysteriously falling out of the sky (somewhat less mysteriously in the case of the ones where bits randomly fell off or the batteries packed in) - I'm not altogether comfortable with how it appears to be being flown.
    Twitter: @canocola @thedreadships
  • kingstongraham
    kingstongraham Posts: 28,227
    kingstongraham said:

    True, if it can only attract Alaphillippe, WvA and Mvdp I don't think I'll bother.

    No WvA either at Strade Bianche. Coming closer to this thread....
  • m.r.m.
    m.r.m. Posts: 3,486
    No WVA at Strade? Wtf? Why? Is he all in for Flanders/Roubaix or what's the goal there? Also, why can't you be all in for holy week and be in shape for Strade as well?
    PTP Champion 2019, 2022 & 2023
  • andyp
    andyp Posts: 10,575
    edited February 2023
    m.r.m. said:

    No WVA at Strade? Wtf? Why? Is he all in for Flanders/Roubaix or what's the goal there? Also, why can't you be all in for holy week and be in shape for Strade as well?

    He's been sick, so wants to ensure he's fully prepared before he races. Still plans to start T-A.

    Here's the video the team posted where he talks about it.

  • kingstongraham
    kingstongraham Posts: 28,227
    Starting at TA. Not been well so training not been perfect, staying at Teide for a few more days because he doesn't think he can win yet.
  • m.r.m.
    m.r.m. Posts: 3,486
    Damn what a shame! Not a big deal though as it's all just kicking off.
    PTP Champion 2019, 2022 & 2023
  • takethehighroad
    takethehighroad Posts: 6,823
    One of my favourite S*** Small Races today with Le Samyn

    It's got some cobbles, some hills and sometimes some wind, what's not to love?
  • blazing_saddles
    blazing_saddles Posts: 22,730
    takethehighroad said:

    One of my favourite S*** Small Races today with Le Samyn

    It's got some cobbles, some hills and sometimes some wind, what's not to love?



    Top competitors

    HOFSTETTER Hugo
    JAKOBSEN Fabio
    MOZZATO Luca
    GROVES Kaden
    DE BONDT Dries
    STUYVEN Jasper
    THEUNS Edward
    NIZZOLO Giacomo
    PAGE Hugo
    DAINESE Alberto
    CAMPENAERTS Victor
    NAESEN Oliver
    VANMARCKE Sep
    KRAGH ANDERSEN Søren
    ASGREEN Kasper
    "Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.
  • diplodicus
    diplodicus Posts: 722
    Good length of coverage on Eurosport this afternoon, too.
  • kingstongraham
    kingstongraham Posts: 28,227
    2.5km to go, peloton back together
  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 43,593
    Looks like Lotto have offloaded their curse along with the Soudal sponsorship to Quickstep.
  • kingstongraham
    kingstongraham Posts: 28,227
    Milan Menten wins. Never heard of him but really powered past Theuns and Hotstepper.
  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 43,593
    kingstongraham said:

    Milan Menten wins. Never heard of him but really powered past Theuns and Hotstepper.

    Felt like the slowest sprint in history. Another podium for the bloke off Big Bang Theory.
  • blazing_saddles
    blazing_saddles Posts: 22,730
    Pross said:

    Looks like Lotto have offloaded their curse along with the Soudal sponsorship to Quickstep.

    Did any of them not crash?
    Asgreen was last man standing, until he wasn’t.
    "Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.
  • blazing_saddles
    blazing_saddles Posts: 22,730
    Tomorrow it's Trofeo Laigueglia, which will see the Primavera pass through in a couple of weeks.



    Quite few blanks yet to be filled on the startlist, but it's already got a good cast.

    Top competitors

    CARAPAZ Richard
    GIRMAY Biniam
    RODRÍGUEZ Carlos
    COSNEFROY Benoît
    ROTA Lorenzo
    ULISSI Diego
    PINOT Thibaut
    MOLLEMA Bauke
    CONSONNI Simone
    CICCONE Giulio
    BETTIOL Alberto
    COSTA Rui

    Unfortunately, live coverage isn't being provided by GCN/Eursoport, but it does appear to have coverage on YouTube.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RD0ZeG0Dcpc
    "Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.
  • blazing_saddles
    blazing_saddles Posts: 22,730
    edited March 2023
    It's some folk's favourite day of the year tomorrow, with the 17th edition of the Strade Bianche.
    It's Sienna or bust along this route.





    Ultimi Km.



    Unfortunately, no Wout van Aert or Tadej Pogacar this year. So the focus will be on the road debut for 2023 on Mattheu van de Poel and a rejuvenated Julian Alaphilippe.

    Live coverage begins on GCN/Eurosport from 10-30am, with the action focusing on the women's race.
    The women's course.



    The men's race takes over from 12-50pm. The finish is scheduled for around 3-30pm All times given are GMT.

    The weather will be great for spectating but not so good for mud.





    "Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.
  • RichN95.
    RichN95. Posts: 27,262
    Is this a s*** small race now? Some try and make out it's the 'sixth monument' (a nonsense opinion)
    Twitter: @RichN95
  • gsk82
    gsk82 Posts: 3,620
    RichN95. said:

    Is this a s*** small race now? Some try and make out it's the 'sixth monument' (a nonsense opinion)

    "Some" being gcn and their target audience of post Wiggins 2012 cycling fans.
    "Unfortunately these days a lot of people don’t understand the real quality of a bike" Ernesto Colnago
  • andyrr
    andyrr Posts: 1,823
    gsk82 said:

    RichN95. said:

    Is this a s*** small race now? Some try and make out it's the 'sixth monument' (a nonsense opinion)

    "Some" being gcn and their target audience of post Wiggins 2012 cycling fans.
    It may be new (relative to the established “monuments”) but has it not been a race that has proved to be a great spectacle to watch and hard for the riders due to surface and terrain. I love the 1 day races but I can think of a good number of the existing monuments that have been less memorable- LBL comes to mind, long but sometimes very low on excitement.
    If the monument count can be upped by 1 then this race to me seems worthy of serious consideration. I don’t think it’s just these johnny-come-latelys who see this new race as worthy as Paris-Roubaix or Lombardia.

    If it were given such a hike in status then it might well result in more riders giving it a greater focus for this part of the procycling calendar.
  • m.r.m.
    m.r.m. Posts: 3,486
    It's the third best one day race of the season. 😛
    PTP Champion 2019, 2022 & 2023
  • Mad_Malx
    Mad_Malx Posts: 5,183
    edited March 2023
    You're all being snobs. Heralds spring while we are still shivering and has been a favorite for me since Kwia / Sagan battle in 2014.
    Lovely scenery and italian elegance, tough roads, and in a short time has had some great races.
    MSR is very dull for 250km; I get all excited about PR and then they ride down the gutters instead of the cobbles.

  • kingstongraham
    kingstongraham Posts: 28,227
    m.r.m. said:

    It's the third best one day race of the season. 😛

    I mean, to watch for most of the race, this is probably true.

    Msr is always a good finish, but who watches much before the cipressa? LBL I'd not really clear the decks for, and it's a close run thing with Lombardia.
  • dish_dash
    dish_dash Posts: 5,647
    I'll be roadside so relying on you lot for race updates 😉
  • phreak
    phreak Posts: 2,953
    Mad_Malx said:

    Your all being snobs. Heralds spring while we are still shivering and has been a favorite for me since Kwia / Sagan battle in 2014.
    Lovely scenery and italian elegance, tough roads, and in a short time has had some great races.
    MSR is very dull for 250km; I get all excited about PR and then they ride down the gutters instead of the cobbles.

    MSR was always good because it marked the start of the season proper, so the long preamble before the race hots up was a lovely thing because it was the first serious racing of the year so just seeing the peloton was great. It's stock probably hasn't been helped by the number of $hit small races that are covered throughout January, February, and March, and of course, having Strade Bianchi being a pretty big race in its own right before it in the calendar.
  • takethehighroad
    takethehighroad Posts: 6,823
    The definitive answer is that it can't be a monument as it's not 200k+
  • blazing_saddles
    blazing_saddles Posts: 22,730
    Might as well get it out there now.
    I won't be around to provide stage threads for pretty much the entire classics season.
    On extended travels.
    "Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.
  • andyp
    andyp Posts: 10,575
    takethehighroad said:

    The definitive answer is that it can't be a monument as it's not 200k+

    It's not anywhere close to having over one hundred editions either.
  • Dorset_Boy
    Dorset_Boy Posts: 7,610
    andyp said:

    takethehighroad said:

    The definitive answer is that it can't be a monument as it's not 200k+

    It's not anywhere close to having over one hundred editions either.
    When did the Monuments become the Monuments? How many editions did it need?
  • andyp
    andyp Posts: 10,575
    Dorset_Boy said:

    andyp said:

    takethehighroad said:

    The definitive answer is that it can't be a monument as it's not 200k+

    It's not anywhere close to having over one hundred editions either.
    When did the Monuments become the Monuments? How many editions did it need?
    No-one knows for certain, but the term 'Monuments' was thought to have been coined by a French journalist to describe the only 250 km plus one day races to be included in the World Cup in the late eighties, early nineties. The UCI decreed that all other races could be no longer than 200 kms, so a race like Gent-Wevelgem was reduced by 50 kms, so it was only the five oldest and most prestigious one day races that remained at that distance.

    Strade Bianche is a great race, but it's got less than twenty years of history and it's very short when compared to the real Monuments.

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