Unpopular Pro Race Opinions

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  • twotoebenny
    twotoebenny Posts: 1,422
    How can strade bianche be considered a monument?

    jam1e said:

    There are only 3 real monuments - Roubaix, Flanders & Strada Bianche.

    Amen brother
  • m.r.m.
    m.r.m. Posts: 3,312
    RichN95. said:

    Another unpopular opinion: If he rode today Eddy Merckx would basically be a Belgian Vincenzo Nibali

    They are quite different in ability, are they not? Merckx would be a (much) better Belgian Rohan Dennis.
    PTP Champion 2019, 2022 & 2023
  • m.r.m.
    m.r.m. Posts: 3,312

    How can strade bianche be considered a monument?

    jam1e said:

    There are only 3 real monuments - Roubaix, Flanders & Strada Bianche.

    Amen brother
    Because it's a epic one day race. Pretty good almost every year. It's much better every year than LBL or Lombardia.
    PTP Champion 2019, 2022 & 2023
  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 40,215
    Froome would never have got near a GT podium had he not joined Sky.

    Watching Pro cycling on TV is an ideal accompaniment for an afternoon nap.

    Can't wait for Zest to find this thread, he should win it hands down.
  • m.r.m.
    m.r.m. Posts: 3,312
    Landa and Porte are massively overrated. Lieutenants not Captains.
    PTP Champion 2019, 2022 & 2023
  • twotoebenny
    twotoebenny Posts: 1,422
    Yes it is, but does it have the history to be classed as a monument? I'd suggest not.


    jam1e said:

    There are only 3 real monuments - Roubaix, Flanders & Strada Bianche.


    Because it's a epic one day race. Pretty good almost every year. It's much better every year than LBL or Lombardia.
  • bobmcstuff
    bobmcstuff Posts: 11,196

    Yes it is, but does it have the history to be classed as a monument? I'd suggest not.




    jam1e said:

    There are only 3 real monuments - Roubaix, Flanders & Strada Bianche.


    Because it's a epic one day race. Pretty good almost every year. It's much better every year than LBL or Lombardia.
    Yeah but LBL and Lombardia are usually pants. Who needs history when it's a better race.
  • cruff
    cruff Posts: 1,518
    MSR is the dullest 'big' race every year
    Fat chopper. Some racing. Some testing. Some crashing.
    Specialising in Git Daaahns and Cafs. Norvern Munkey/Transplanted Laaandoner.
  • Lanterne_Rogue
    Lanterne_Rogue Posts: 4,091
    edited August 2020
    cruff said:

    MSR is the dullest 'big' race every year

    A proper "unpopular" opinion is that MSR is about 50km too short. And the addition of the Poggio wrecked it.

    Edit: An extra hour of Carlton. What's not to like?
  • jam1e said:

    There are only 3 real monuments - Roubaix, Flanders & Strada Bianche.

    Nope, sorry, as the old saying goes: length really does matter.
    "Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 72,237
    edited August 2020

    Here's an unpopular opinion:

    Strong teams in GTs are overrated. It's nearly always the guy with the best legs that wins.

    2008 Tour de France says different.
    Evans was better?
    Even his own teammates were better than Sastre (the Schlecks)
  • RichN95.
    RichN95. Posts: 27,137
    m.r.m. said:

    RichN95. said:

    Another unpopular opinion: If he rode today Eddy Merckx would basically be a Belgian Vincenzo Nibali

    They are quite different in ability, are they not? Merckx would be a (much) better Belgian Rohan Dennis.
    Elsewhere on the internet someone asked who Coppi, Anquetil, Merckx and Hinault would be today. I said:

    Coppi = de Gendt
    Anquetil = Dennis
    Merckx = Nibali or Valverde
    Hinault = Dumoulin
    Twitter: @RichN95
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 72,237
    Lombady’s place on the calendar basically makes it a tier lower than all the other monuments as it’s basically a consolation monument for riders who can be bothered to go for it / need to prove something.

    No one sets their stall out on winning Lombardy when they decide their season in January.
  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 40,215
    Cobbled Classics are just a niche form of racing to give a chance to those who are too heavy to win on a hilly route and not fast enough to win bunch sprints.
  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 40,215
    Matching shorts and bikes with leader's jerseys is a really good look, especially the Tour polka dots.
  • gsk82
    gsk82 Posts: 3,439
    Strada Bianchi doesn't matter
    "Unfortunately these days a lot of people don’t understand the real quality of a bike" Ernesto Colnago
  • cruff
    cruff Posts: 1,518
    AG2R's kit is the best in the peloton
    Fat chopper. Some racing. Some testing. Some crashing.
    Specialising in Git Daaahns and Cafs. Norvern Munkey/Transplanted Laaandoner.
  • RichN95.
    RichN95. Posts: 27,137

    Lombady’s place on the calendar basically makes it a tier lower than all the other monuments as it’s basically a consolation monument for riders who can be bothered to go for it / need to prove something.

    No one sets their stall out on winning Lombardy when they decide their season in January.


    How is this controversial? It's basic common sense. If the Worlds had stayed in August and the Vuelta in April, it would be dead by now.
    Twitter: @RichN95
  • RichN95.
    RichN95. Posts: 27,137
    cruff said:

    AG2R's kit is the best in the peloton

    Brown shorts. Only Dumoulin likes that.
    Twitter: @RichN95
  • ddraver
    ddraver Posts: 26,348
    Pross said:

    Matching shorts and bikes with leader's jerseys is a really good look, especially the Tour polka dots.

    😲🤯😲🤯
    We're in danger of confusing passion with incompetence
    - @ddraver
  • RichN95.
    RichN95. Posts: 27,137
    Pross said:

    Matching shorts and bikes with leader's jerseys is a really good look, especially the Tour polka dots.


    No. no. no. I have thought that the one thing that the Sky/Ineos haters could give them credit for is staying on their standard shorts.
    Twitter: @RichN95
  • RichN95.
    RichN95. Posts: 27,137
    edited August 2020
    The idea of a 'Patron' (like Hinault especially) is just toxic masculinity and bullying

    All the antipathy against Froome since 2012 is just a surrogate for Armstrong


    An opinion that may not be unpopular - The way the French view cycling and the way England see football is very similar and have the same failings and solutions
    Twitter: @RichN95
  • RichN95.
    RichN95. Posts: 27,137
    edited August 2020
    Pink Floyd. Meh. Sorry. Radiohead. Meh. Sorry. LCD Soundsystem - Yes please.

    Daniel Day Lewis has been a great actor in not great films

    The Shield should be seen as great as The Sopranos and The Wire

    Midnight Run is DeNiro's best film (this is a hill I will die on)
    Twitter: @RichN95
  • m.r.m.
    m.r.m. Posts: 3,312
    Pross said:

    Matching shorts and bikes with leader's jerseys is a really good look, especially the Tour polka dots.

    You're doing it wrongly. It's supposed to be true, yet unpopular.
    PTP Champion 2019, 2022 & 2023
  • m.r.m.
    m.r.m. Posts: 3,312
    edited August 2020
    RichN95. said:

    m.r.m. said:

    RichN95. said:

    Another unpopular opinion: If he rode today Eddy Merckx would basically be a Belgian Vincenzo Nibali

    They are quite different in ability, are they not? Merckx would be a (much) better Belgian Rohan Dennis.
    Elsewhere on the internet someone asked who Coppi, Anquetil, Merckx and Hinault would be today. I said:

    Coppi = de Gendt
    Anquetil = Dennis
    Merckx = Nibali or Valverde
    Hinault = Dumoulin
    I just don't get the Merckx = Nibali, because Merckx was a terrific time trialist. Nibali is a decent tester when he needs to be. Really doesn't fit. What am I missing?

    Can't be based just off GT wins + Monument wins.
    PTP Champion 2019, 2022 & 2023
  • andyp
    andyp Posts: 10,069
    Merckx today equals Van Vleuten. And Vos.
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 72,237
    RichN95. said:

    Pross said:

    Matching shorts and bikes with leader's jerseys is a really good look, especially the Tour polka dots.


    No. no. no. I have thought that the one thing that the Sky/Ineos haters could give them credit for is staying on their standard shorts.
    I think I once said on here that black shorts are the cycling equivalent of jeans.

    Live a little!
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 72,237
    Pross said:

    Cobbled Classics are just a niche form of racing to give a chance to those who are too heavy to win on a hilly route and not fast enough to win bunch sprints.

    Naaaaah!
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 72,237
    edited August 2020
    If Strade Bianche became a monument it’d get a lot duller...

    It works because It’s so early in the season and not many people peak for it.
  • Watching Milan-San Remo live is a total waste of a Saturday afternoon.
    "Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.