S*** Small Races 2024
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It did go ahead though, with a stage winner.
They basically said "this is fine to race on road bikes, but if you don't fancy it, no problem".
I don't see the logic behind it. If it's fine to race, those are just the conditions. If it's not safe to race, cancel it.
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Surely part of racing is using the kit suitable for the conditions? Therefore if it was safe enough to ride at all the results should count, if it wasn't safe they should have cancelled the stage altogether. If everyone was on road bikes then it is still an even test.
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For GC riders the risk may not have been worth it. That could have wrecked the GC race for the rest of the stages. For TT specialists, they may have been targeting that stage specifically, and the risk was worth it, so they want to race.
I think it's a fair and sensible compromise, given that some footage and reports of 80km/h gusts suggested that the stage was very, very close to being cancelled.
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I guess the answer above is probably true - it's a s*** small race, and Vingegaard didn't want to do a full on practice TT on his road bike.
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It's either safe or not though, I'd sy it is more indecisive than a compromise. It sounds more like it should have been cancelled completely.
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Vingegaard having to make up a couple of minutes would at least have made a bit of a race of it.
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Anyway, good sprint in UAE today - as an aside, watching Cav glued to Morkov is fascinating, but they just didn't have it today.
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I got the feeling Morkov needed another 25m of pull .... They are both getting on
"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 -
Super finish at UAE - except for the local team who must have had bad guts going around.
And who knows what went on at O Gran Camino other than the inevitable result? They seemed to have called all halt to proceedings before they had started TV coverage which isn't ideal.
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They were supposed to do the finish climb twice, but they cut the loop to the second ascent (20km) as they thought the descent would be too dodgy in high winds and rain. They couldn't get the helis up for TV coverage. JOnas sounded a little disappointed nobody got to see him smiting his foes and laying waste to their villages.
This is the second year they've had weather issues disrupting the race. It sort of makes me question the wisdom of holding a race in a corner of Spain jutting into the Atlantic/Biscay in February....
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Good news from O Gran Camino is that little Lenny looks like he could be a real one, and Bernal is definitely back in much better form.
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It's time for the midweek treat that is a firm fan favourite in early Spring. Yes, it's Le Samyn.
"Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.2 -
One of my favourite races of the early season. It's a great combination of smaller riders with a chance, mad roads and small Belgian teams getting in the mix
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Watching the women's race and there's some seriously sketchy bits of cobble. Wet and muddy
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The Rue de Wiheries looks especially tricky...
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Excellent women's race at Le Samyn.
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Not sure who De Lie was yelling at there
Napoleon, don't be jealous that I've been chatting online with babes all day. Besides, we both know that I'm training to be a cage fighter.0 -
The world, I think.
Probably his replacement bike didn't feel right, and he was really pushing it to get through the convoy. Really looked like he wanted to get into the car.
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bit crashy
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Long wait for result. Wanty rider Laurenz Rex wins rues premature celebration, but just got away with it.
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When it's your first win, you think you'd make sure before celebrating!
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To be fair. He was absolutely sure. Until he wasn't so sure. And then they checked the photo finish and he was the winner. To be sure
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Any idea why De Lie threw his teddies around? First thought, with the way he was gesticulating. was that the camera bike or team car had caught him. Then you see the replay and nobody was near him
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The commentary team thought he might have been complaining about the tyres on the spare bike he was on, having the wrong pressure in them. He hardly banked it over before the wheel went side ways.
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Yeah I heard them speculate that. We have very different definitions of "hardly banked" though! :)
EDIT: Just rewatched it and he wasn't banked over as much as I'd first thought.
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I’m disappointed that I had noticed that Lauren’s brother (I assume) Tim was also riding for Wanty, but didn’t clock him as T Rex until someone posted it on X
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Trofeo Laigueglia today. Ayuso, Hirschi and Lenny.
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It's on tv for once too. Eurosport and Discovery+ from 1:30.
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Another impressive performance from Martinez. Very solid.
Ayuso must have descended brilliantly to get up into third at the finish, he wasn't even mentioned.
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Martinez' form in these races gets him into the Strade Bianche team in place of Kung.
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