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Post by basingstokie on Mar 19, 2018 13:22:13 GMT
Taking your own bike or hiring one over there? There are 15 of us. Only 2 from up here though. Some are flying and hiring bikes. I’m driving and taking mine Fair play, I did it last September - Malaucene, Bedoin, Sault. The middle 10k on Bedoin route is absolutely brutal, when you get to chalet Reynard it gets easier although there is a little kick for the last 100 metres on the Bedoin/Sault route. Don't forget to stop and pay respects to Tom
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Post by salopstick on Mar 19, 2018 17:43:17 GMT
There are 15 of us. Only 2 from up here though. Some are flying and hiring bikes. I’m driving and taking mine Fair play, I did it last September - Malaucene, Bedoin, Sault. The middle 10k on Bedoin route is absolutely brutal, when you get to chalet Reynard it gets easier although there is a little kick for the last 100 metres on the Bedoin/Sault route. Don't forget to stop and pay respects to Tom We are doing B M S
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Post by salopstick on Mar 19, 2018 17:44:35 GMT
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Post by thepremierbanksy on Mar 20, 2018 18:23:14 GMT
Noises coming out of UCI today are that the Froome case won't be resolved before the Giro so looks like the saga will continue into a grand tour. Going to be a controversial one if they manage to do the Israel start too. Now we just need to see if Froome has the form to take the pink at some stage.
Would love to try Ventoux, doesn't half look brutal though. Fair play to anyone who does it, and the dragon ride too. Done a few hilly 100 milers but have been completely empty by the end, definitely not up to the job of another 40.
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Post by salopstick on Mar 20, 2018 18:45:37 GMT
Noises coming out of UCI today are that the Froome case won't be resolved before the Giro so looks like the saga will continue into a grand tour. Going to be a controversial one if they manage to do the Israel start too. Now we just need to see if Froome has the form to take the pink at some stage. Would love to try Ventoux, doesn't half look brutal though. Fair play to anyone who does it, and the dragon ride too. Done a few hilly 100 milers but have been completely empty by the end, definitely not up to the job of another 40. Without sounding condescending it’s all about nutrition, hydration and pace get them right and it’s easier than it sounds. When I did dragon last year I forced myself to stop at every food station and eat. You have to remember to drink and the pace sorted itself out. There were only two really hard climbs the rest were steady The lads I was with turned off at the 80 mile route which was a bit annoying as I eased off to ride with them we had a few stop starts which were slowing us down . I ended up doing it in 15mph when I could have easily done 16-17 which over 10 hours of riding would have finished earlier. That’s the aim in June. Just need this weather to fuck off so I can really hit the road. Reps of horseshoe pass in Llangollen is great training
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Post by thepremierbanksy on Mar 29, 2018 11:20:45 GMT
Noises coming out of UCI today are that the Froome case won't be resolved before the Giro so looks like the saga will continue into a grand tour. Going to be a controversial one if they manage to do the Israel start too. Now we just need to see if Froome has the form to take the pink at some stage. Would love to try Ventoux, doesn't half look brutal though. Fair play to anyone who does it, and the dragon ride too. Done a few hilly 100 milers but have been completely empty by the end, definitely not up to the job of another 40. Without sounding condescending it’s all about nutrition, hydration and pace get them right and it’s easier than it sounds. When I did dragon last year I forced myself to stop at every food station and eat. You have to remember to drink and the pace sorted itself out. There were only two really hard climbs the rest were steady The lads I was with turned off at the 80 mile route which was a bit annoying as I eased off to ride with them we had a few stop starts which were slowing us down . I ended up doing it in 15mph when I could have easily done 16-17 which over 10 hours of riding would have finished earlier. That’s the aim in June. Just need this weather to fuck off so I can really hit the road. Reps of horseshoe pass in Llangollen is great training I generally find I struggle more with the discomfort of being on the for a long time bike than energy per se - got a history of minor lower back issues which seem to kick in after about 2.5 hours on the bike - obviously not got enough core strength and flexibility and not helped by being 6'6". I've had a fitting with a reputable fitter/physio but after 8 hours on a bike I feel like Elia Viviani at the end of Gent Wevelgem. Last week of classics have been good, E3 Harelbeke was a quality watch even though I already knew the winner. Wevelgem not so epic. Dwars door Vlaanderen yesterday was pretty decent, slightly comical finish though. Quick Step are looking imperious and I think that probably one of them will pick up one of Flanders/Roubaix and Sagan the other, no idea which QS rider though. Maybe Terpstra. Valverde's season continues to be ridiculous, won his third stage race of the season Catalunya and then finished in the Van Avermaet group on the cobbles yesterday.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 29, 2018 12:09:25 GMT
Without sounding condescending it’s all about nutrition, hydration and pace get them right and it’s easier than it sounds. When I did dragon last year I forced myself to stop at every food station and eat. You have to remember to drink and the pace sorted itself out. There were only two really hard climbs the rest were steady The lads I was with turned off at the 80 mile route which was a bit annoying as I eased off to ride with them we had a few stop starts which were slowing us down . I ended up doing it in 15mph when I could have easily done 16-17 which over 10 hours of riding would have finished earlier. That’s the aim in June. Just need this weather to fuck off so I can really hit the road. Reps of horseshoe pass in Llangollen is great training I generally find I struggle more with the discomfort of being on the for a long time bike than energy per se - got a history of minor lower back issues which seem to kick in after about 2.5 hours on the bike - obviously not got enough core strength and flexibility and not helped by being 6'6". I've had a fitting with a reputable fitter/physio but after 8 hours on a bike I feel like Elia Viviani at the end of Gent Wevelgem. Last week of classics have been good, E3 Harelbeke was a quality watch even though I already knew the winner. Wevelgem not so epic. Dwars door Vlaanderen yesterday was pretty decent, slightly comical finish though. Quick Step are looking imperious and I think that probably one of them will pick up one of Flanders/Roubaix and Sagan the other, no idea which QS rider though. Maybe Terpstra. Valverde's season continues to be ridiculous, won his third stage race of the season Catalunya and then finished in the Van Avermaet group on the cobbles yesterday. I've watched all the races so far and as you say Quick Step seem to have a superb team this year and Valverde seems to be winning almost every race he enters. Quite a comeback after his knee injury. Looking forward to the rest of the Classics and then it's on to the Giro - can't wait ! It's looking as though the Grand Tours will be really competitive this year with quite a few teams having serious GC contenders.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 31, 2018 6:03:43 GMT
The UCI have dismissed Chris Froome's argument over his his high Salbutamol levels and his case will now go to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Previous cases have led to bans of up to a year.
It doesn't seem that it will be heard before the Giro begins but it's looking likely that he could be banned before the TdF starts.
Not looking good for him but I'm (probably naively) still of the opinion that he wouldn't have cheated although it's hard to explain the high levels of drug any other way apart from "carelessness".
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Post by RichieBarkerOut! on Mar 31, 2018 16:19:42 GMT
The UCI have dismissed Chris Froome's argument over his his high Salbutamol levels and his case will now go to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Previous cases have led to bans of up to a year. It doesn't seem that it will be heard before the Giro begins but it's looking likely that he could be banned before the TdF starts. Not looking good for him but I'm (probably naively) still of the opinion that he wouldn't have cheated although it's hard to explain the high levels of drug any other way apart from "carelessness". I hope this prompts him to pull out the the Giro, the race was always going to be about him this year, but now it's for the wrong reason it has the makings of a debacle.
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Post by RichieBarkerOut! on Mar 31, 2018 16:21:05 GMT
Plus, if he does not race, it will allow me to continue my man crush on Tom Dumoulin...
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Post by Deleted on Mar 31, 2018 16:49:26 GMT
I see Valverde has continued his amazing start to the season by winning the G.P. Miguel Indurain today - his 9th win of the season already !
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Post by salopstick on Apr 8, 2018 14:21:38 GMT
Paris Roubaix is brilliant racing
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Post by salopstick on Apr 8, 2018 15:24:49 GMT
That was brilliant from Sagan
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Post by Deleted on Apr 8, 2018 15:30:38 GMT
Yes brilliant from Sagan - to go at 53km from the finish and maintain around a minute gap takes some doing particularly over the cobbles and with the likes of van Avermaet, Terpstra and co chasing.
I thought Gilbert was a possible winner today but he just couldn't match the pace.
The TdF should be good over some of the cobbled sectors - hopefully it will be dry.
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Post by salopstick on Apr 8, 2018 17:25:20 GMT
No news on goolaerts yet
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Post by Deleted on Apr 8, 2018 17:34:49 GMT
Sadly the reports seem to indicate it is extremely serious - worrying that there is no update.
Hope he pulls through !
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Post by Clem Fandango on Apr 8, 2018 20:36:47 GMT
Sadly I cant warm to Sagan at all. Undoubtedly a very talented cyclist but there is something I cant put my finger on which seems to annoy me about him I suppose it could be that he's so good and always makes it look so easy.
Such a quality ride by Dillier as well to be out in the break and manage to take second is impressive and no doubt a career highlight for him.
Bad luck for Luke Rowe after the year he's had he was looking so strong as well.
Cant wait for the Ardennes now.
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Post by Clem Fandango on Apr 8, 2018 20:46:03 GMT
Christ I was watching with the sound down today as I was watching my daughter whilst my partner was out. I saw Eurosport show the image of goolaerts flat out on the side of the road and I rewound Sky to hear what had gone on but Eurosport didnt say much at the time so I thought was it some sort of dummy mock-up especially given that it was in a innocuous place. Only just seen what has happened to him. Fingers crossed he pulls through.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 8, 2018 21:12:33 GMT
I didn't see any footage of Goolaerts but heard the Eurosport commentators discussing the incident. It really doesn't sound good but he's no doubt getting excellent treatment so hopefully he'll be able to recover.
Luke Rowe is having wretched luck but I'm surprised at how poorly Team Sky are doing generally this year, apart from Kwiatkowski winning Tirreno-Adriatico. It seems Chris Froome may be barred from the TdF as his Salbutamol case may not be heard until next year now. ASO say they won't allow a rider to enter the TdF if he has the possibility of a potential drugs ban.
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Post by RichieBarkerOut! on Apr 8, 2018 21:25:39 GMT
I didn't see any footage of Goolaerts but heard the Eurosport commentators discussing the incident. It really doesn't sound good but he's no doubt getting excellent treatment so hopefully he'll be able to recover. Luke Rowe is having wretched luck but I'm surprised at how poorly Team Sky are doing generally this year, apart from Kwiatkowski winning Tirreno-Adriatico. It seems Chris Froome may be barred from the TdF as his Salbutamol case may not be heard until next year now. ASO say they won't allow a rider to enter the TdF if he has the possibility of a potential drugs ban. I hope he's barred from the Giro too, not because I think he's cheating (I'm happy for Chris and the UCL etc to sort that out), I just don't want the grand tours to become a farce.
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Post by Clem Fandango on Apr 8, 2018 21:32:57 GMT
I didn't see any footage of Goolaerts but heard the Eurosport commentators discussing the incident. It really doesn't sound good but he's no doubt getting excellent treatment so hopefully he'll be able to recover. Luke Rowe is having wretched luck but I'm surprised at how poorly Team Sky are doing generally this year, apart from Kwiatkowski winning Tirreno-Adriatico. It seems Chris Froome may be barred from the TdF as his Salbutamol case may not be heard until next year now. ASO say they won't allow a rider to enter the TdF if he has the possibility of a potential drugs ban. Thought Sky had done okay so far Poels and de la Cruz have had wins and Bernal was showing well until he crashed on the penultimate stage of the Tour of Catalunya. I suppose they as always will be all in for grand tours with maybe a tilt at LBL and a bunch of lower ranked stage races. As for Froome I'll be shocked if ASO are able to ban him from the race with CAS getting involved especially given that it is an abnormal reading of a controlled substance (rather than a banned substance).
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Post by salopstick on Apr 8, 2018 21:52:51 GMT
Breaking news that Michael Goolaerts has died from his crash
Very sad RIP
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Post by Clem Fandango on Apr 8, 2018 22:17:07 GMT
Breaking news that Michael Goolaerts has died from his crash Very sad RIP Absolutely awful stuff. Far too many young people fit and seemingly healthy going this way.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 8, 2018 22:19:31 GMT
That's really terrible news !
Very, very sad indeed - just 23 years old !
His family and his team must be absolutely devastated, as well as the world of cycling in general.
R.I.P. young man !
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Post by Deleted on Apr 9, 2018 7:39:10 GMT
Absolutely terrible news about Goolaerts 🙁
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Post by Deleted on Apr 9, 2018 8:14:44 GMT
Just going off at a tangent here.
Yesterday evening I googled for news about Goolaerts condition and there was a link to Paris-Roubaix 2010 and the now infamous battle between Tom Boonen and Fabian Cancellara. I was aware of the controversy over Cancellara's bike maybe having a hidden motor, but had never seen actual footage of the race.
It really is quite astonishing that when two riders are going flat out and quite evenly matched that suddenly one rider (Cancellara) can literally rocket away from the other (Boonen) on a cobbled incline as though he'd almost stopped. Having seen the footage I can't see any plausible reason how Cancellara could have done it as neither rider seemed to obviously change their cadence or effort, and in fact Boonen actually got out of the saddle for a while but Cancellara just disappeared into the distance.
The video also highlights Cancellara's unusual hand position on the handlebars and appears to show him pushing a button just before his sudden increase in pace.
Amazingly the bike was never scrutineered before or after the race.
Looks decidedly fishy to me.
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Post by Clem Fandango on Apr 9, 2018 9:09:27 GMT
Just going off at a tangent here. Yesterday evening I googled for news about Goolaerts condition and there was a link to Paris-Roubaix 2010 and the now infamous battle between Tom Boonen and Fabian Cancellara. I was aware of the controversy over Cancellara's bike maybe having a hidden motor, but had never seen actual footage of the race. It really is quite astonishing that when two riders are going flat out and quite evenly matched that suddenly one rider (Cancellara) can literally rocket away from the other (Boonen) on a cobbled incline as though he'd almost stopped. Having seen the footage I can't see any plausible reason how Cancellara could have done it as neither rider seemed to obviously change their cadence or effort, and in fact Boonen actually got out of the saddle for a while but Cancellara just disappeared into the distance. The video also highlights Cancellara's unusual hand position on the handlebars and appears to show him pushing a button just before his sudden increase in pace. Amazingly the bike was never scrutineered before or after the race. Looks decidedly fishy to me. Yeah I've seen that footage it does look incredibly suspect. It does make you wonder if there has been other instances like this but not really caught on camera. I suppose if they did exist after the cyclocross incident last season it wouldnt be worth the risk of getting caught now.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 9, 2018 9:37:39 GMT
Here's some footage of the 2010 Paris-Roubaix race - watch his right hand at 3.30 and then see the dramatic increase in speed immediately afterwards, he's almost catching the camera bikes although he doesn't appear to be significantly more effort.
It also reminds me of the Rio Olympics when Cancellara won the time trial over a very hilly course by 54 seconds from an in form Tom Dumoulin and 1.02 from Chris Froome. The course was far more suited to them than Cancellara. I remember that the BBC commentators made several comments about Cancellara's bike seemingly having "hidden speed" and then laughing - it just makes you wonder if there were dubious goings on.
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Post by salopstick on Apr 9, 2018 9:45:47 GMT
It also reminds me of the Rio Olympics when Cancellara won the time trial over a very hilly course by 54 seconds from an in form Tom Dumoulin and 1.02 from Chris Froome. The course was far more suited to them than Cancellara. I remember that the BBC commentators made several comments about Cancellara's bike seemingly having "hidden speed" and then laughed - it just makes you wonder if there were dubious goings on. Pro cycling There is always something dubious going on
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Post by thepremierbanksy on Apr 9, 2018 11:23:35 GMT
Quick Step are looking imperious and I think that probably one of them will pick up one of Flanders/Roubaix and Sagan the other, no idea which QS rider though. Maybe Terpstra. Should have put some bloody bets on! Only watched Roubaix as 90 minute highlights but it didn't seem like a classic edition - once they gave Sagan a minute he was never coming back and was always going to thrash the early breakaway guys in a sprint. What happened to Geraint Thomas, did he crash out or was he just nowhere? Really sad news about the lad dying.
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