Liège-Bastogne-Liège 2023 *** Spoiler thread ***
Comments
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Pross said:
So have we concluded that Pidcock can’t beat the big 4 (other than when he does)?
Ok so future analysis of races: "Remco won the race, because he had the legs." "Pidcock didn't win, because he didn't have the legs." 😛😛😛ddraver said:Sounds like one for the forum archives...
PTP Champion 2019, 2022 & 20230 -
"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 pm0
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He can win a sprint, or win in a Pog/Remco way if they aren't there.
Which is fine, he's up against two guys of about the same age who have ten times as many wins as him.0 -
I think I speak for most people here in that we do appreciate your posts ...m.r.m. said:
I think there is a ton of truth in what you say.
That said "what's in the tank" is a under observed facet .,..what say you?
I would argue WvA himself fades at tad on distance and is vulnerable relative to the others over the 250k mark .
He gets out sprinted at those 250k distances [MSR,RvV] but less so at 200k races [E3]. Which inturn is a distance he can get out sprinted by pidders [Brab Pil AG21 😉]
E3 WvA was super vigilant of his resources and did just enough to stay with pog and MvdP... He just had enough left to take that sprint"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 pm2 -
No rest for young Tom; back on the MTB for the next 3 weekends (and PFP is back).
All Road/ Gravel: tbcWinter: tbcMTB: tbcRoad: tbc"Look at the time...." "he's fallen like an old lady on a cruise ship..."0 -
^ I think therein lies more of an issue. He missed a few weeks of the Classics season due to injury and now he's going off to do MTB prior to the GT season. I get that he enjoys the variety but at some point you have to commit to the road.1
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It's pretty cool he bridges these two worlds though.Pross said:^ I think therein lies more of an issue. He missed a few weeks of the Classics season due to injury and now he's going off to do MTB prior to the GT season. I get that he enjoys the variety but at some point you have to commit to the road.
"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 pm0 -
Sure but it is also probably impacting his success on the road. I can't imagine the MTB pros particularly like it either.mididoctors said:
It's pretty cool he bridges these two worlds though.Pross said:^ I think therein lies more of an issue. He missed a few weeks of the Classics season due to injury and now he's going off to do MTB prior to the GT season. I get that he enjoys the variety but at some point you have to commit to the road.
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I'd guess they like it more than the CX guys when WVA and MVDP pitch up for a few races and win the lot.Pross said:
Sure but it is also probably impacting his success on the road. I can't imagine the MTB pros particularly like it either.mididoctors said:
It's pretty cool he bridges these two worlds though.Pross said:^ I think therein lies more of an issue. He missed a few weeks of the Classics season due to injury and now he's going off to do MTB prior to the GT season. I get that he enjoys the variety but at some point you have to commit to the road.
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Yeah must grate on CX and MTB world a bit ...maybe more of them should try... Plenty of others have done it. Ryder H was MTB? Sagan of course .
"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 pm1 -
Thank you for the kind words. I'm not mad at all. Discussions don't have to go super deep all the time, but I do enjoy understanding things. I have learned a ton about pro cycling from all of you and from this forum and really enjoy watching cycling a lot more ever since I found this forum. 😊mididoctors said:
I think I speak for most people here in that we do appreciate your posts ...m.r.m. said:
I think there is a ton of truth in what you say.
That said "what's in the tank" is a under observed facet .,..what say you?
I would argue WvA himself fades at tad on distance and is vulnerable relative to the others over the 250k mark .
He gets out sprinted at those 250k distances [MSR,RvV] but less so at 200k races [E3]. Which inturn is a distance he can get out sprinted by pidders [Brab Pil AG21 😉]
E3 WvA was super vigilant of his resources and did just enough to stay with pog and MvdP... He just had enough left to take that sprint
The tank size issue is a bit thorny, because afaik the difference of glycogen storage capacity in the liver doesn't vary a huge amount. Glycogen also gets stored in muscle tissue, although looking at cardio athletes it doesn't seem to be that having more muscle leads to better performance due to more muscle stored glycogen.
So, I think it comes more down to many other factors of riding efficiency & uptake etc. etc. like @DeVlaeminck said:DeVlaeminck said:Although I'm not gonna disagree with mrm here because he may well be right it is speculation. There are going to be differences in stuff like glycogen storage, rate of uptake from feeding during the race, fatigue of the nervous system and muscle fibres so the muscles just stop firing effectively etc and more besides - probably some of which is still not really understood even by the experts.
PTP Champion 2019, 2022 & 20230 -
Don't you think they benefit considerably by the added attention MTB gets when Pidcock and MvdP attend races? I get the point that those racing all the races can do without the interlopers, but MTB on the whole could probably use the revenue uptick.Pross said:
Sure but it is also probably impacting his success on the road. I can't imagine the MTB pros particularly like it either.mididoctors said:
It's pretty cool he bridges these two worlds though.Pross said:^ I think therein lies more of an issue. He missed a few weeks of the Classics season due to injury and now he's going off to do MTB prior to the GT season. I get that he enjoys the variety but at some point you have to commit to the road.
PTP Champion 2019, 2022 & 20231 -
Evans - twice World Cup overall winner, Rasmussen - World Champion, Fuglsang - U23 World Champion & Cape Epic winner. However that was before the XCO courses became shorter, and super technical. Back then they were longer climbs, longer laps, descents were less 'gnarly'.mididoctors said:Yeah must grate on CX and MTB world a bit ...maybe more of them should try... Plenty of others have done it. Ryder H was MTB? Sagan of course .
Ondrej Cink had a year at Bahrain-Merida, and did the TdF.....and returned to XC; it didn't suit him. It's not for all - the pay may be better, but so is the pressure/ expectation.
I think what Koreztky & Colombo are doing is interesting; riding on a road team affiliated to the bike sponsor; Specialized/ Scott, and riding for the same manufacturer's top XC MTB team.All Road/ Gravel: tbcWinter: tbcMTB: tbcRoad: tbc"Look at the time...." "he's fallen like an old lady on a cruise ship..."0 -
Do you think the road racers get annoyed when ski jumpers come in and win multiple Grand Tours? Or do they just race whoever is put in front of them like the CX and MTBers do?0
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Rogic doesn't go back and ski jump in the winter, so not a clever comparison really.takethehighroad said:Do you think the road racers get annoyed when ski jumpers come in and win multiple Grand Tours? Or do they just race whoever is put in front of them like the CX and MTBers do?
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I'd suggest there's a bit of a difference in quiting one sport entirely and starting another. It then took said ski jumper 2 years to win his first race and he's never thrown himself of a ski jump (competitively at least) since.takethehighroad said:Do you think the road racers get annoyed when ski jumpers come in and win multiple Grand Tours? Or do they just race whoever is put in front of them like the CX and MTBers do?
That said, you absolutely just have to race whoever is put in front of you. Doesn't mean you're ecstatic about it.0 -
The organisers probably enjoy the additional publicity but I'm not sure it benefits them that much financially. I doubt the other riders like it much at all.m.r.m. said:
Don't you think they benefit considerably by the added attention MTB gets when Pidcock and MvdP attend races? I get the point that those racing all the races can do without the interlopers, but MTB on the whole could probably use the revenue uptick.Pross said:
Sure but it is also probably impacting his success on the road. I can't imagine the MTB pros particularly like it either.mididoctors said:
It's pretty cool he bridges these two worlds though.Pross said:^ I think therein lies more of an issue. He missed a few weeks of the Classics season due to injury and now he's going off to do MTB prior to the GT season. I get that he enjoys the variety but at some point you have to commit to the road.
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I suspect your right ...though long term their sport may benefitPross said:
The organisers probably enjoy the additional publicity but I'm not sure it benefits them that much financially. I doubt the other riders like it much at all.m.r.m. said:
Don't you think they benefit considerably by the added attention MTB gets when Pidcock and MvdP attend races? I get the point that those racing all the races can do without the interlopers, but MTB on the whole could probably use the revenue uptick.Pross said:
Sure but it is also probably impacting his success on the road. I can't imagine the MTB pros particularly like it either.mididoctors said:
It's pretty cool he bridges these two worlds though.Pross said:^ I think therein lies more of an issue. He missed a few weeks of the Classics season due to injury and now he's going off to do MTB prior to the GT season. I get that he enjoys the variety but at some point you have to commit to the road.
"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 pm0 -
The sport definitely needs the publicity, which is why the UCI have probably gone with Discovery/GCN for the World Cup.
There's been plenty of MTB racing already this year - but I bet you didn't realise it. None of the well known cycling outlets really bother, CyclingNews for example.....All Road/ Gravel: tbcWinter: tbcMTB: tbcRoad: tbc"Look at the time...." "he's fallen like an old lady on a cruise ship..."0 -
Isn't it like the small road races when the best riders aren't there? Interesting if you like that sort of thing.0
