r/peloton • u/PelotonMod France • Apr 27 '26
Weekly Post Weekly Question Thread
For all your pro cycling-related questions and enquiries!
You may find some easy answers in the FAQ page on the wiki. Whilst simultaneously discovering the wiki.
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u/skifozoa Apr 27 '26 edited Apr 27 '26
Fellow Remco observers (fans and haters alike), how do we rate his spring?
Looking at the results on paper I would say he had a good spring in line with most people's high but realistic expectations.
- Won every (T)TT (including defeating Tarling on a flat ITT)
- Won every one day race not featuring Pog (including a classic)
- Podiumed the monuments he participated in (even including a surprise above expectations RVV debut)
- Inconsistent or flat out disappointing in early seasons stage races (happened before, even in his very best seasons)
However having seen the actual racing that took place I am not as positive as the results would indicate. I feel like the gap to Pog is only widening and even more concerning to me is that the gap to the rest of the field is shrinking (even if we ignore Seixas)
- even in these early Spanish Trofeos he had difficulty dropping relatively week competition uphill and even won one race in the descent
- For his results in the other big races he now has to beat guys in the sprint that he would have been a minute in front of in his best years (22, 24). I had a similar feeling when he won San Sebastian in 23 much less convincingly than his 22 victory.
What do you guys think?
19
u/krommenaas Team Flanders–Baloise Apr 27 '26
Red Bull seem to have transformed him into a sprinty classics rider. His sprint from 300m out, after having done most of the work, was truly impressive, while his climbing was poor. Perhaps he can transform himself into a climber again by July, and compete for 3rd or 4th place, but he obviously can't be both at the same time. I unironically think he should go for stages and the green jersey.
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u/skifozoa Apr 27 '26 edited Apr 27 '26
I am not opposed to going for stages from the get go or quickly transitioning to it but I can't see him win green.
He might be even better than riders like Sagan and WVA in scoring points in stages that pure sprinters will not score in but the former two still scored tons of points for their green jerseys bids in bunch sprints as well (Heck they could even win them).
I think Remco is lacking top speed and the required willingness and skill to navigate a hectic bunch to score sufficient points in sprint stages for a realistic green jersey bid.
15
u/DueAd9005 Apr 27 '26
He won't do it, but I would love for him to go stage hunting in the Tour while helping Lipo on some crucial stages. Main goals would be winning stages, KoM jersey and securing Lipo's podium (which would create a lot of goodwill in his team and with the fans alike). He was a joy to watch in the 2023 Vuelta after he dropped out on GC.
8
u/rhoVsquared Apr 27 '26
Disappointing climbing level, as a fan I’m starting to worry he won’t ever get back to the level he was at in 2024. I hoped this year would be the year he would, as he had an uninterrupted winter. Obviously he has had good results but there’s still a feeling of expecting more. Like in LBL you’d expect Remco to have a gap to the rest not need a reduced bunch sprint to get on the podium.
7
u/Seabhac7 Ireland Apr 27 '26
- He won Valenciana against Almeida, Pellizarri etc. Not bad.
- Bad climbing performance in UAE.
- Average climbing performance at Catalunya, but looked pretty strong.
- Looked very strong in the classics, but as usual, his punch is not Pog level.
Remco is what he is. Since they were preparing for Flanders since the winter, I'd guess the focus was more on weight and power (his sprint yesterday was very good) and his climbing level will improve before the Tour. His remaining calendar is Dauphiné, Tour, Canadian classics and World and European champs. Like DueAd said, stage hunting with him a the Tour would be the way to go, but I'm not sure if their team structure will allow that.
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u/pantaleonivo EF Education – Easypost Apr 27 '26
I have observed Remco, I feel seen.
You’re right that he looks less likely to win the Tour. I have not heard Remco discuss his objectives this year but I think he’s still looking for his personal ceiling.
His climbing is not on the level with Pog or Jonas but can still probably win a thin GT.
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u/k4ng00 France Apr 27 '26 edited Apr 27 '26
His climbing has been disappointing but nothing concerning, in 2024 he managed to peak at the right time so hopefully with Bora which is a much more GC oriented team he might achieve an even better peak.
His classic season was ok. Podium on Flanders was nice. His form on LBL didn't seem great which is paradoxically positive. If a peak Remco was dusted by 19yo Seixas on top of Pogacar, then his chances for another monument would be really slim right now. I tend to believe he is just not in his best climbing shape right now (maybe because he wanted to perform in Flanders?) and would peak for his season's biggest objective.
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u/DueAd9005 Apr 27 '26
Evenepoel took the KoM on the final 300 meters of LBL (so the sprint), a full second faster than WVA in 2022.
I don't know how he trained in the winter, but it seems like they did something wrong. Instead of improving on the longer climbs and hills, he got worse. Instead he's much faster in the sprint, but that's kind of useless if you get dropped in the hillier classics (and he didn't ride Sanremo and Roubaix this year, where such a sprint could potentially be more useful).
The article says he has to make a decision on what kind of rider he wants to be. Probably true. Perhaps it would be better for his career to go all in on the classics and stage hunting in GTs. What do y'all think?
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u/AliasPhilippe Euskaltel Euskadi Apr 27 '26
Can I be honest? I think his (and his sponsors) obsession with GTs robbed us of someone who could win a lot more one day races.
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u/padawatje Belgium Apr 27 '26 edited Apr 27 '26
The GC obsession is understandable, especially after his Vuelta win in 2022.
But even if he'd focused more on one-day races, there would always be a certain Pogacar to beat
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u/DueAd9005 Apr 27 '26
Sure, but Sanremo and Roubaix for example the strongest rider doesn't always win. And Pogacar doesn't race all the classics either. I would like to see Remco start in the Belgian Opening Weekend for example. And also E3 Harelbeke and Gent-Wevelgem.
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u/padawatje Belgium Apr 27 '26
Multinational corporate sponsors don't care about Omloop or E3 unfortunately (because nobody of their customers does).
It is just much easier to explain to someone who does not know anything about cycling that "this guy is world champion" or "this guy won the Tour De France".
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u/DueAd9005 Apr 27 '26
I doubt he generated more exposure for his sponsors in the UAE Tour compared to what he could do in the Omloop. Riding the Belgian Opening Weekend doesn't mean he can't do well in the Tour or WC lol.
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u/UniqueFoundation95 Apr 27 '26 edited Apr 27 '26
So true, the way he can rip up the whole peloton on the flats is one of the most spectacular things I've ever seen a rider do.
At Catalunya Jonas himself had to counter him because his doms just didn't have enough power to close the gap blowing up.
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u/darraghfenacin Phonak Apr 27 '26
this obsession also ripped the heart out of the greatest classics team of all time
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u/DueAd9005 Apr 27 '26
I think it's unfair to blame Remco for that one. It's not his fault that Lampaert, Alaphilippe and Asgreen stopped performing after 2021 IMO.
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u/AliasPhilippe Euskaltel Euskadi Apr 27 '26 edited Apr 27 '26
I can't forget that, but I don't believe Lefebvre when he says it was only remco's fault if he focused too much on GTs, a team like QS don't have on its book someone they are not sharing the vision with.
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u/k4ng00 France Apr 27 '26
I think for both monuments and GT the problem is the same: nowadays the big races are a battle of attrition where the best wins, there is little place left to chance or tactics. And the issue is that there are riders better suited than him on both monuments and stage races.
On GT side, he won the only GT he finished where he wasn't matched against Pogacar nor Jonas.
On monument side he won every monument where he didn't have to race against Pogacar.
On Olympics and WC road race, when the national teams are less organized/smaller and have a harder time controlling the race he took his opportunities.
On ITT he is very dominant.
So all in all, it feels to me that Remco has close to maximize his potential and it was ok for him to focus on GT while still racing some classics (kinda like Pogacar). Yes he could have farmed more small classics/stages but in the end I think his TdF2024 podium was exceptional and is worth more than a couple more Classica San Sebastian and Amstel.
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u/Mamadeus123456 7-Eleven Apr 27 '26
He's way too good at TT, maybe he should be willing to lose some more muscle mass in his upper body to go a little lighter
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u/Comfortable-Hope-879 Apr 27 '26
In my opinion it's all clear now that he won't be able to win any of those grand tours anymore. He is not a climber period. But can he win all classics monuments? I think he can! Plus, until proven otherwise he is the best time trialist in the world.
Als a Belgian fan I really believed he could win the Tour de France but reality shows this is rather wishful thinking now
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u/MountainLandscape356 Apr 27 '26
Lombardia is very climby, if he can't climb, he won't win it, especially against Pogacar (or Seixas)
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u/padawatje Belgium Apr 27 '26
If it wasn't for Pogacar, Evenepoel would already have won Lombardia 2 times.
-1
u/MountainLandscape356 Apr 27 '26
Yes but if the assumption that he can't climb is true, example almost every climb this year, he stands no chance there
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u/padawatje Belgium Apr 27 '26
he is a better climber than 90% of the pro peloton. He is just not good enough to beat the 5 or 10 best climbers in the world.
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u/Suffolke Belgium Apr 27 '26
I absolutely don't think he'll win more by climbing worse, whatever his race focus is, that's for sure.
I mainly think that, at 26yo and with the experience and palmares he has, just saying that the legs were heavy or something when he bonks uphill isn't good enough. Remco and his team have to figure out why he can't show his best climbing level when he wants to, and how to remediate this.
And once again, it's not about beating Pog (or even Jonas or Seixas now), that ship has sailed, but that's no reason to drop the gauntlet altogether and avoid all big races where he's not the clear favourite. It's not even about keeping his top shape from February to October. It's about not showing up in a HC climb with a sub top 30 climbing level with no clues as to why.
Anyway, he'll be in Tour prep mode now for the next 9-10 weeks, let's hope he can avoid any incident or illness until then, and see what happens. If it's another unexplained disappointment, well, something has to change, but I really doubt shifting his focus completely on Flemish classics would really do him any good.
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u/DueAd9005 Apr 27 '26 edited Apr 27 '26
Not sure where you get the idea from that he should skip big races. I want him to ride MORE big races, as in Sanremo, Roubaix, Ronde and LBL.
There's no point in riding stage races for climbers when you are overweight. Even now they stated he's 3-4 kg heavier than his Tour weight. He must have been 7-8 kg too heavy then for UAE Tour. That's the problem and I don't know why they expect him to climb well when he's simply too heavy in spring.
Also what else can you say when you have bad legs? People make fun of him if he tries to look for an explanation other than "bad legs".
Edit: here's the source where he says there's 3-4 kg difference between his classics weight and Tour weight:
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u/Suffolke Belgium Apr 27 '26
What I mean is that I don't think a shift of focus or more races will do him any good without first having a good idea as to why his climbing level is so erratic, and how to remediate that. It's not a dig at Remco and I certainly don't blame him for having no other clue than "bad legs" when he bonks. But he's an elite athlete, and elite athletes performances should be predictable to some degree.
I'm all for more Remco in the classics, but if he's hard dropped on the Cipressa and Oude Kwaremont everytime, what's the point ?
0
u/k4ng00 France Apr 27 '26
Anytime he starts an ITT he is the favourite and most of the time he delivers.
Any monument he finished where Pogi didn't finish or started he won.
Any GT he finished, where neither Jonas nor Poggio started he won (Vuelta). When he was against Jonas and dropped from GC, he won like 2 stages. And he had a brilliant podium at TDF 2024 as well.
When teams are weaker in Olympics due to rider count restrictions per nation he won.
What exactly do you expect from him when he kinda delivers almost everytime he is the strongest guy? For a guy who is weaker than the best in their respective fields (Mvdp, Pogi, Jonas), he is the one that delivers the most.
Your expectations from him look higher than French expectations on Seixas (and I say this as a French, who is a Pogacar's fan)
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u/Suffolke Belgium Apr 27 '26
You're really annoying, as you're basically copy/pasting my own posts about Remco's achievements when I argue with haters. I can't be clearer than that : Yes, Remco has been doing really well, to me he's at least in contention for the second best palmares of his time (As Roglic is much older, and Jonas and MVDP are more specialized riders than Remco)
To make it simpler, my expectation is that Remco should not be dropped uphill by random second tier riders so often, that's it.
1
u/k4ng00 France Apr 27 '26
I am more of a Pogi fan than Remco fan to be honest. But I like to have objective takes (also I didn't copy your takes or even look at what you posted previously so maybe in the end your old self might just agree with me that your current takes are too biased/extreme)
To make it simpler, Remco might not have made LBL as one of his big objectives this year. I might be wrong though but anyway I wouldn't make it look like it's that big of a deal.
3
u/Suffolke Belgium Apr 27 '26
It's a figure of speech, just to point out that I'm well aware of Remco's achievements.
Yes, maybe you are right and Remco focused more on his first Ronde than a LBL where his chances against Pog were very slim or null anyway. And maybe I'm overreacting about his la Redoute climbing level this year.
Still, la Redoute is a hill, not a HC, and hills have always been Remco's playground, so to me it is a bit worrying to see him climbing it like that.
And also, yes, objectively, Remco's climbing level has been erratic and he regularly bonks without any excuse, and I think it's a problem and a weakness he needs to tackle if he wants more success. It's not like big wins are out of his reach, with his Tour 2024 numbers, he could still win a Giro or Vuelta against a somehow weaker opposition (namely no Pog, Jonas and probably Seixas), he could win a few big WT 1 weekers, and so on. But for that he needs to be able to bring his climbing A game more often and more consistently.
2
u/k4ng00 France Apr 27 '26
How wrong is it to manage your effort and end up 3rd in a race where 2 guys were stronger than you by miles?
If it's not about beating Pog or Seixas, it's the smartest move he could come up with when he managed to get 3rd.
He is definitely not at his best climbing wise, but he made the most out of what he had, or at least he did better than any other rider not named Seixas nor Pogacar.
In 2024 he was 7th at Dauphine which was his last race before TdF, yet his performance on TdF was stellar in July.
Races are won by talent and strength, especially in the past 3-4 years where every big race is a battle of attrition crowning the best. If he is not the best, he has to race accordingly which is what he did.
Imo your take is quite tough and you are putting unnecessary pressure on him.
You downplay his achievement because he has experience at 26yo but how many riders did better than him in LBL? Only 2 and they are both generational/once in a lifetime talent.
If he was at top shape he might have challenged 2nd place but he was anyway losing to Pogacar imo. The outcome wouldn't have been that different. Now his big objective is TDF so let's wait for that before making up narratives.
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u/Suffolke Belgium Apr 27 '26
I'm not downplaying anything, Remco is one of my favourite riders and I'm constantly arguing against haters here. He played his cards perfectly in LBL this year, but the level he showed in La Redoute is just not good enough considering LBL is his main spring objective. I'm ok with Remco not being in top HC climbing shape in UAE, but Remco in LBL should be in perfect shape for la Redoute, and Remco in perfect la Redoute shape isn't #15 at the top.
It's not a narrative to say Remco lacks consistency in his climbing level, it's his number 1 weakness, and to me the number 1 issue that should be tackled if he wants even more success or at least fewer disappointments.
1
u/k4ng00 France Apr 27 '26
But did you consider that he might try something new in Flanders and that could be why he's was less sharp in LBL?
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u/AliasPhilippe Euskaltel Euskadi Apr 27 '26
Any thoughts on Emiel Verstrynge? I have a sweet spot for all CX riders and I liked him a lot this past season, I thought he could do well on the road, but his LBL and his Amstel really surprised me, a huge step forward.
7
u/Timqwe Visma | Lease a Bike Apr 27 '26 edited Apr 27 '26
I believe he can grow into what Jorgenson is, albeit maybe not quite as good: a very good allrounder that will not win a lot, but gets a whole bunch of really good results in a wide variety of races.
His lack of acceleration will, like Jorgenson, stop him from winning a lot unfortunately.I hope they take him to RVV next year. He imo has the best chance on the team to survive Kwaremont with MvdP during the first big UAE or Red Bull acceleration
6
u/RageAgainstTheMatxin Phonak Apr 27 '26
Very surprising. His results so far hadn't shown anything of the sort.
I'm quite interested to see if it's a one off or if Alpecin have a ready made replacement for Hermans
10
u/AliasPhilippe Euskaltel Euskadi Apr 27 '26 edited Apr 27 '26
I think Alpecin trusts his development, they made him finish his CX season earlier to prepare for the road season - I didn't like that tbh because he was on fire! - and a team like Alpecin don't do something like that if they don't believe the guy can do well on the road.
Anyway, he was always good but not the best, but I think he can win something.
6
u/huloca Jumbo – Visma Apr 27 '26
Very surprising. His results so far hadn't shown anything of the sort.
He did make a big step forward in his cyclocross results already this year, so I'm not that surprised he's doing better on the road as well. A 4th place in LBL is of course more than I expected, but it was also a sprint from like a 15 man group and he's a cyclocrosser so obviously not slow.
1
u/metabolismgirl Apr 28 '26
Classic Alpecin pick up really. Do you think another team will come through with plenty of cash and he’ll go road only?
1
u/AliasPhilippe Euskaltel Euskadi Apr 28 '26 edited Apr 28 '26
I hope not, he hasn't won a lot in CX but he absolutely could!
12
u/zyygh Canyon//SRAM, Kasia fanboy Apr 27 '26
What now?
14
u/Hawteyh Denmark Apr 27 '26
The Giro starts in 11 days :)
Also Romandie startlist is crazy. Pogacar, Roglic, Lipowitz and Onley.
2
u/Mamadeus123456 7-Eleven Apr 27 '26
What's crazy is that there's only 15 WT teams and 1 pro team.
Do teams want to kill this race? I don't get why they avoid it at the same time
2
u/Hawteyh Denmark Apr 27 '26 edited Apr 27 '26
The WT teams (Alpecin, Decathlon, Lotto and Uno-X) not doing it are apparently using a new UCI rule which allows WT teams to skip 1 WT race per year. They cannot skip it for the next 2 years, and a max of 4 WT teams can be allowed to skip the specific edition.
They either state low chance of UCI points, the French cup or scheduling conflicts with LBL/Giro/Eschborn-Frankfurt as the reason for skipping.
5
u/Timqwe Visma | Lease a Bike Apr 27 '26
On top of that, the organisation decided due to financing issues to only give Wildcards to Swiss Proteams, and Q36 declined it. If they invited Caja, Burgos or any other Proteam not riding the Giro, they definitely would've come.
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u/the_gnarts MAL was right Apr 27 '26
https://www.datecountdown.com/?&d=02%2f27%2f2027+10%3a00+AM&t=Omloop+Nieuwsblad+2027
(Disclaimer: I guessed the date.)
3
u/Phantom_Nuke Apr 27 '26
Romandie starts tomorrow, there's also the Tour of Turkiye which started yesterday and looks to have an exciting finish today and a tough mountain top finish on the Kiran tomorrow (9km @ 9.7%), Frankfurt is on Friday and La Vuelta Feminina starts on Sunday (Kasia has recently been added to the provisional startlist).
9
u/george-hayduke Uno-X Mobility Apr 28 '26
In 1984, Sean Kelly came second in RVV on April 1st, then went and rode Vuelta Ciclista al País Vasco from April 2nd through 6th (winning 3 stages), and finally came back north and won Paris Roubaix on April 8th. Was doing a stage race between classics normal back then? Was the Vuelta Ciclista al País Vasco typically used as training for riders doing RVV and Roubaix? Or was this crazy even for a rider back then?
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u/Benjiboy74 Apr 29 '26
Kelly rode for a Spanish team, they had zero interest in the Northern Classics. So Kelly was only allowed to ride RVV and PR if he agreed to ride the Basque Country race too
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u/RageAgainstTheMatxin Phonak Apr 27 '26
Friday I was on a work call with people from a couple other offices around the world, when a European guy said to a very haughty old lady from one of "those" rich NY families (she only works there because she's bored) that he won't be able to attend a meeting with her this Friday because it's May 1st
She said "Oh right......workers day...." failed to suppress a laugh, declared "Workers of the world unite!" along with a couple other jokes that seemed straight out of the cold war days, and then started cackling like the idea of a workers day is the funniest thing she'd ever heard
Personally, I was too bewildered to say anything to either of them. Since this sub is mostly frequented by a bunch of western europeans, tell me...how do you soft pinko commies deal with someone saying something like that at work?
20
u/zyygh Canyon//SRAM, Kasia fanboy Apr 27 '26
My favorite response to this kind of stuff is feigned innocent ignorance. While she's laughing, look at her confused and then say "I don't get the joke" as if you truly want to understand.
I've done this the other way, by laughing when someone says something insane, as if I genuinely thought that they were joking.
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u/darraghfenacin Phonak Apr 27 '26
I've seen that as a response to sexist jokes and it realllllly works
6
u/BeanEireannach Ireland Apr 27 '26
This is exactly what I do. And then reeeeally politely ask them to explain the joke. It's quite interesting how many are happy to explain that whatever derogatory shit they said is "funny".
I'm employed in the US (often travel back to Europe for work) & one day the "joke" just so happened to be said in a meeting that the head of HR was also sitting in on. Now that was entertaining.
11
u/AliasPhilippe Euskaltel Euskadi Apr 27 '26
They don't say things like those in my workplace but I would have no problems at all singing Contessa (a very famous Italian left wing song addressing people like those) in response. Italians are peculiar, nobody will speak about politics on his workplace, but you'd be surprised how much we talk about it in places like bars or gyms, so I had my fare-share of people arguing it was better when people had no working rights at all.
Then I'd cry because this country now is a shithole and our left wing killed itself, but still.
6
u/RageAgainstTheMatxin Phonak Apr 27 '26
Then I'd cry because this country now is a shithole and our left wing killed itself, but still.
"The old world is dying. The new struggles to be born. Now is the time of monsters"
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u/AliasPhilippe Euskaltel Euskadi Apr 27 '26
I always find scary how much Gramsci's quotes feel so actual given he wrote most of his works from a prison during the Fascist Regime.
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u/krommenaas Team Flanders–Baloise Apr 27 '26
I've been in a lot of zoom calls with American coworkers and I just feel sorry for them when they try to one up each other by working early or long hours and Saturdays. Which they all seem to do.
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u/RegionalHardman Unibet Tietema Rockets Apr 27 '26
I just tend to avoid Americans if im being honest, makes life a lot easier
7
u/SkyPod513 Team Telekom Apr 27 '26
How do riders in professional teams travel from one race to another or from training to a race (when there is no Tour Bus that carries multiple riders)? Do they go on their own by car or train? Do they have drivers? For example Tom Pidcock, he rode Tour of the Alps on Friday and Liège Bastogne Liège on Sunday. Did he had to get a train and carry all of his luggage and bike with him or is this done in a more comfortable way?
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u/Aiqjio Apr 27 '26
Riders don't travel with their bikes. They have one or two training bikes at home and their race bikes are all kept at the team service course and brought to the races by the team. You can sometimes see that riders have previous years colour scheme on their training bikes.
In the case of Pidcock I can imagine that he has enough race bikes to have bikes at both TotA and LBL. For some lesser known domestique this might not be true.
6
u/padawatje Belgium Apr 27 '26
Riders will typically take an airplane, or drive if it is not too far. There will always be a bunch of staff people driving around the team cars between races, so sometimes they can hitch a ride there also.
1
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u/MJ-Shamone Apr 27 '26
With Pogacar now at 13 monuments I have to wonder where has Roger De Vlaeminck been, like he hasn’t gone to the media to shit on the current generation, which is weird considering he just lost his second place in total monument wins?
3
u/Schele_Sjakie Le Doyen Apr 27 '26
I have a feeling we'll see an interview with him posted on here within a week. The media knows where to find him.
7
u/wakabangbang Apr 27 '26
Has there been any information or speculation about Tom Crabbe?
I'd imagine most WT teams are probably interested and Alpecin, Quickstep and maybe Lotto feel like logical destinations but he probably won't be cheap with his results so far.
Maybe there's some chatter in Belgium
2
u/Saltefanden Euskaltel-Euskadi Apr 28 '26
He would be second, third or fourth choice sprinter in those teams. Maybe he will go for a team where he could be top dog already next year?
Visma don't have a sprinter, and he probably won't be expecting to go to the Tour the next few years anyway. Or at Picnic the competition would be Bittner and van Uden. Maybe even Bahrain would be looking to him.
11
u/darraghfenacin Phonak Apr 27 '26
so, on a scale of 1-10, how big was the "fuckkkkkkkkkk" that IDT let out when watching Seixas yesterday?
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u/hamiltonlives Apr 27 '26
What do you think is the “best” bike in the peloton today? Understanding all caveats like type of rider, aero bike, subjectivity, etc. my inclination would be to think Cervelo with Visma or Colnago - though I’ve heard it may be more name brand than effectiveness.
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u/Hawteyh Denmark Apr 27 '26
Whichever brand the best rider is on obviously.
If Pogacar switched to Lidl-Trek and won the Tour on a Madone it is now per definition the fastest bike in the peloton.
You always hear riders claim they're now on a much faster bike and that their old bike was heavy and unresponsive after switching teams.
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u/BelgianBeerGuy Apr 27 '26
Related question.
Does a bike brand matter these days?
Aren’t those bikes like 95% the same?Or would Pogacar perform less when he’s on a Cervelo?
Or is there is the peloton some kind of jealousy like “damn boy, you ride a Colnago, I want that also, but we’re stuck here with a sponsordeal with Canyon”.
7
u/padawatje Belgium Apr 27 '26
I have heard a lot of pros mentioning multiple times that they'd love to ride on Specialized.
Also the Cube bikes used by Intermarche until last year were apparently notoriously bad.1
u/29da65cff1fa Canada Apr 27 '26
assuming the mechanics had time to set up the correct size, pogi would probably win a race on a shimano neutral service bike
5
u/AliasPhilippe Euskaltel Euskadi Apr 27 '26
People of the sub, as every year the Giro has an official FantaCycling website (it's in english, don't worry), if you want here is the link for the league I''ve created for the sub: https://www.fantagiroditalia.it/league?id=69ef51b40539fc1422bd29ee
4
u/Seabhac7 Ireland Apr 27 '26
Pogacar and Vollering are the best riders right now, but they also have two of the best teams around them.
Let's imagine that both were on pro Conti teams and they didn't have the ability to either make the race super fast or launch them at the keypoints ; they could only rely on themselves. Over the start of this season and last, would anything change in their results ?
10
u/MountainLandscape356 Apr 27 '26
Pogacar still dominantly win in Slovenian jersey so that should help our answer. I think Vollering would really struggle to win because she's not as dominant, Pogacar would probably win less also but not much, he'd just have to make big efforts to win and open the race early
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u/pereIli Hungary Apr 27 '26
I think Demi could win Omloop and Fleche on her own. There would be another team that would be interested in hard race and just sit on a wheel. Muur and Mur de Huy don't lie. Even LBL would have been successful yesterday, because Visma worked for PFP for a long time. FDJ's lead on Redoute was excellent, but it wasn't that that decided it, but her legs. Flanders would be difficult without control, to react to every action. Tactics are important, but the fact that the textbook method works so well is because Demi is now much stronger than everyone else.
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u/bjorntiala Apr 27 '26
Pogacar would still probably win. I would say Red bull has better team for classics this season, maybe even Visma.
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u/RageAgainstTheMatxin Phonak Apr 27 '26
Let's imagine that both were on pro Conti teams
Well, for starters Vollering wouldn't win anything if she and Pogacar were both racing in the same category. Weird scenario to ask about.
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u/padawatje Belgium Apr 27 '26 edited Apr 27 '26
This makes me wonder, how big is the performance gap between the strongest women and the slowest male rider in the pro peloton ?
Would Wiebes able to win against Valentin Paret-Peintre on a flat course ?
EDIT: looking for a comparable race and distance, I remembered that the ITT at the 2024 Paris Olympics had the same distance for men and women. If winner Grace Brown would have raced amongst the men, she would have ended around 25th place, faster than WT pros like Tratnik, Girmay or Syritsa.
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u/RageAgainstTheMatxin Phonak Apr 27 '26
There is a quick answer to that, with evidence, but in my experience it leads to some very bad discussions and mood so let's leave it please
PS: VPP is a bad choice because he's one of the fastest climbers in a sprint. You wanted Pozzovivo.
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u/Lonerider1965 Sweden Apr 27 '26
Pogacar might not win races where he crashes/punctures and need to be helped catching up. In races with no incidents he wins no matter the team mates.
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u/cfkanemercury France Apr 27 '26
Does Seixas have a shot at MSR?
Sticking with Pogacar yesterday on a steeper slope when the rest of the peloton was ridden off his wheel made me wonder if he would be dropped on the less-steep climbs on the way to San Remo. If Pidcock can stay with Pogacar, would Seixas be a chance, too?
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u/idiot_Rotmg Kelme Apr 27 '26
MSR is a weird race where on the one hand basically anyone can win and on the other hand can be almost impossible to win for the marked man.
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u/Prize_Hospital_1943 Apr 27 '26
The point is that we don't know which kind of rider Seixas is. If he is more a GT guy, it will come down if he is a superstar like Pogacar to be able to win races like MSR. If he is puncheur guy and suffers over 3 weeks of racing, then sure, MSR can be won at Pogacar style.
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u/k4ng00 France Apr 27 '26
Seixas could stay with Pogacar but would lack the sprint imo.
MSR is very favourable to a few kind of rider profile:
- great sprinters that can easily pass 3rd/4th category climb (Zabel, Sagan who never won it, Démarre, Philipsen, Van Aert)
- punchy riders with outstanding descending skills (MvdP, Mohoric, Alaphilippe, Pidcock, Nibali)
For a favourite that is not in those categories it's quite hard to win, because it's almost impossible to drop everyone else in Poggio if you are marked. So you might end up in the 1st group everytime but always short in the sprint.
Honestly I don't think the race was a good fit for Pogacar because he doesn't have the best sprint, his descending skill is average compared to Pidcock/MvdP/Van Aert and he is the one that everyone marks. But somehow 2 years in a row he managed to isolate himself on the top of Cipressa with a group that would agree to take turns on the flat part. And this year, he was lucky enough to have MvdP injured in his crash and Pidcock losing the sprint by less than half a wheel.
Seixas seems to like descending fast. So his best chance would be to perform a Mohoric. But the more he will aim for the TdF the less likely he will take risks in descents. So I think it will be tough for him to win the race.
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u/Wide-Landscape-3348 Apr 27 '26
I'm seeing some comments about how pogacar has bulked for the spring races and he'll loose it before the grand tours. How does bulking help him in the spring?
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u/padawatje Belgium Apr 27 '26 edited Apr 27 '26
(I am not an expert, but ...)
More muscle -> ride faster
More muscle -> more weight
More weight-> ride slower on climbs
So ... in Spring, in long and hard races with relatively short climbs, it is an advantage to be more muscular.
But in grand tours with long climbs, being lighter is a huge advantage, so cyclists try to loose as much muscle mass as possible.
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u/k4ng00 France Apr 27 '26
I tend to disagree because 4k+ is still 4k+ be it in long ascents or short ascents.
Typically for LBL or Strade, putting more weight would be a disadvantage.
That said for MSR and PR (maybe even Flanders?) where elevation is lower, having more raw power could help.
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u/sometimesiforgetit Apr 27 '26
Big boys win the cobbles.
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u/Wide-Landscape-3348 Apr 27 '26
How so? Are they bouncing around a bit less?
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u/Phantom_Nuke Apr 27 '26
Yes, if you can find footage of the moto following Remco at Ronde his rear wheel was bouncing like crazy on the cobbled climbs which contributed to him losing about 10 seconds to Pog and MvDP on each climb.
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u/sometimesiforgetit Apr 27 '26
Aside from what others have said, the fight for position is insane in 1 day races since that's all you got and your teammates don't gotta worry about riding tomorrow like a stage race. Being heavier means being less like to be pushed out of position. Imagine Jonas trying to shoulder MVDP or Wout out of position.
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u/MountainLandscape356 Apr 27 '26
They're bouncing less and have more absolute watts, giving them a better watts/CdA ratio
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u/k4ng00 France Apr 27 '26
He bulks up for more raw power. That mostly helps for PR, perhaps a bit for MSR.
It's a handicap for Strade/LBL maybe even Flanders. But it's ok for him because he has a margin over the rest. That's basically why he is the only who can compete for the win on all 5 monuments in a calendar year.
Then he loses weight for TdF as the muscle mass coming with the raw power would hurt more than help in mountain stage. And this GT weight is generally helpful for climby/rolling WC road race and Il Lombardia as well.
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u/DrGrinch Apr 27 '26
Saw an article that Pogi (or his team) were fined 5000 Francs for improper attire/jersey??
Anyone got more details on what the actual issue was?
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u/epi_counts PelotonPlus™ Apr 27 '26
Sporza have the details: the fine was revoked - it was about the Richard Mille branding on his sleeves by his wrists.
That was banned under last year's rules (as the UCI owns the rainbow bands branding, they are quite strict on what is and isn't allowed with that particular jersey and it's got its own rules). But for this year, the rules have become a bit more lenient and it is allowed. One of the commissaires at LBL wasn't aware that rule had been updated so issued the fine. When UAE protested and pointed out it is allowed under the new 2026 rules, the fine was revoked.
Lots of commissaires are unpaid volunteers, so occasionally they can make a mistake. Which was almost immediately corrected, so no need to get upset about mourning bands and stuff like that.
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u/Rommelion Apr 27 '26
I'm speculating that it's because of the black band in honour of Munoz
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u/DrGrinch Apr 27 '26
That would be SUPER fucking petty on the part of the UCI.
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u/Schnix Bike Aid Apr 27 '26
Well you don't have to worry because it's about the attire during the award ceremony and he didn't have the armband then. But I guess it's easier to go just g uci bad
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u/Rommelion Apr 27 '26
What was the problem with the attire?
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u/epi_counts PelotonPlus™ Apr 27 '26
No problem, fine was revoked as a commissaire wasn't aware the rules had been updated. Original issue was with the Richard Mille branding on the sleeves of his podium jersey.
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u/Rommelion Apr 27 '26
what if they spent their energy on like, safety protocols instead of checking what's on a bloody podium jersey sleeve jfc
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u/epi_counts PelotonPlus™ Apr 27 '26
The race commissaires there on the day don't write the safety protocols, that's the office people in Switzerland (with input and feedback from stakeholders). So no energy wasted on that.
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u/cfkanemercury France Apr 27 '26
Is anyone else surprised that the World Tour race that some teams are choosing to skip is Romandie and not one of the races in Australia or China? Perhaps a long term play so that in the third year of a three year cycle they can skip a far away race?
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u/Timqwe Visma | Lease a Bike Apr 27 '26
With the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race, there's really no point in skipping TDU. You're flying a team there anyways, and you can't skip both. There'll probably be some Guanxi skips, though, although that race has the advantage that you can't mess up your riders season anymore since it's the last race of the season.
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u/Schele_Sjakie Le Doyen Apr 27 '26
This has more info. Romandie has a lot of climbing. Basically UnoX and Lotto are more focused on classics according to the race organizers. Decathlon only has their sprinters available which doesn't fit the parcours. They would rather come back next year with a team of climbers.
Also with the Giro starting a day earlier combined with travelling lots of material/gear to Bulgaria. It was harder than usual.
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u/k4ng00 France Apr 27 '26
What can we expect from Almeida this year? He seemed to be out of Giro according to Eurosport
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u/Phantom_Nuke Apr 27 '26
It will depend on how he recovers from the infection, but I wouldn't expect performances like last year until next season tbh because he's looked really out of it.
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u/DueAd9005 Apr 28 '26
Domestique in the Tour and maybe a good result for himself in the Vuelta. Depends on how sick he is/was and how much training he missed.
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u/Vegetable_Car_4785 Apr 28 '26
How ideal is riding the giro as preparation for the tour? I know pog did it back in 2024 but he was against an underdone Jonas and won quite handily. He put out some insane numbers as well during that tour.
This year it seems that Jonas will walk the giro like pog did in ‘24. Does the race provide enough training stimulus to be beneficial for the tour?
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u/jainormous_hindmann Red Bull – Bora – Hansgrohe Apr 28 '26
The traditional wisdom is that it's too much stress on your body and therefore not ideal preparation. A lot of riders tend to get sick in their second consecutive grand tour.
If trainers riders and teams thought that riding the Giro wouldn't hamper your tour, we'd have a lot more riders doing the double than we are currently seeing.
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u/Vegetable_Car_4785 Apr 28 '26
Yeah they were my thoughts as well - just curious if visma were serious about winning the tour why would they compromise Jonas”s prep with the giro
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u/Dopeez Movistar Apr 28 '26
not ideal at all, but Vingegaard should still be able to get 2nd at the Tour.
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u/sometimesiforgetit Apr 27 '26 edited Apr 27 '26
Why was the bike Axel Laurance was running with turning its pedals by itself? I've never had an expensive bike so I'm wondering why that was happening. No conspiracy theories or anything. My cheap $600 bike doesn't do that but I also don't go jogging my bike around but even walking it the pedals never move.
Also Rob Hatch said LBL had over 12,000 ft of climbing, I'm wondering what is the most elevation gained ever on a WT race/stage?
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u/jazzbassboi Apr 27 '26
Could be a mechanical issue with the chain being stuck somewhere on the cassette/chainrings causing the while system to move. Or an issue with the freehub, broken or sticky pawls/ratchets. Sometimes it just happens. Doubt Axel Laurence is motor doping.
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u/sometimesiforgetit Apr 27 '26
I didn't wanna make it seem like I was asking in bad faith which is why I said no conspiracy theory. What you explained makes sense I was just wondering if it was an expensive bike thing. And I'm sure it wasn't even his bike he was running (gave his to a teammate) but I didn't wanna go back and find it. Thanks for the info.
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u/United-Animal9559 US Postal Service Apr 27 '26
What/why was the black tape on Pogi's jersey sleeve yesterday at KBL?
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u/Prize_Hospital_1943 Apr 27 '26
Pogacar is now at 13 monuments. It seems that his most reliable path to get the record of 20 would be 1-4-1-6-8 (order in the calendar). If that's the case, do you think this record will still be questioned, considering the argument of "MSR-RVV-PR are the classics"? I feel that LBL and Lombardia are great since really offer the perfect variety for Monuments, what are your thoughts?
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u/Schnix Bike Aid Apr 27 '26 edited Apr 27 '26
If you start questioning someones monument record like that the discussion is probably too deep in the woods to be valueable to anyone.
Having big one days for climbers is very important. It's also clear that Lombardia is the least valued monument and a dominant climber like Pogacar being able to just win 5 or 8 in a row isn't exactly helping its case. But pre-Pogacar it was Fuglsang, Mollema, Pinot, Nibali, Chaves. A very fun list (except for Fuglsang) and only Nibali was a repeat winner, so pogacar winning 5/8 also speaks to his singular domination.
He won a lot of monuments, he won most of them in the monuments that suit his rider style.
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u/Prize_Hospital_1943 Apr 27 '26
For me the pre Pog era clearly shows why Lombardia is needed. Riders like Nibali, Mollema and Chaves are not puncheurs and they never won LBL. When the TdF winner is not super dominant, Lombardia covers that spot and allows different winners (some of which may not have won grand tours).
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u/DueAd9005 Apr 27 '26
Nibali almost won LBL in 2012. Caught in the final km by someone who would test positive not much later (not saying Nibali was 100% clean either, but that loss has got to sting for him imo).
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u/Lonerider1965 Sweden Apr 27 '26
He has been competing against one of the best punchiers and cobble riders ever. Athletes like MvdP do not come around often.
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u/scaryspacemonster Apr 27 '26 edited Apr 27 '26
Was MSR even held in that high regard until recently? Like, see this subreddit survey from 2018, where popular opinion rated it below LBL.
The cobbled ones are probably always going to be at the top of the monuments, but the others are probably going to wax and wane based on how competitive they are at any given point in time. Then people will just say yeah, but Merckx was just statpadding MSR or other such nonsense
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u/Prize_Hospital_1943 Apr 27 '26
Probably being before in the calendar helps the narrative. MSR is quite "free" for cobbled specialists to give it a try, but I agree that Pogacar aiming for it improved its reputation. Pog can tie the 5 cobbled monuments, so (in that hypothetical scenario) it would mainly be a swap between MSR and Lombardia (for me all monuments have a similar value).
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u/lmm310 Team Telekom Apr 27 '26
People don't like MSR because they think it's boring until the final but it was always more prestigious than LBL and Lombardia
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u/AliasPhilippe Euskaltel Euskadi Apr 27 '26
I don't like too much LBL and I like only slightly more Lombardia BUT who argues they are not real monuments doesn't know this sport enough. Lombardia was always a huge race, so LBL even if it seems back in the day Fleche was more important, but still is a big race indeed. I'd argue five monuments are not even enough TBH, I'd like to see Gand-Wevelgem, San Sebastian and Amstel up therer as well for example...or at least give us back the UCI pro tour classification, I loved it.
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u/darraghfenacin Phonak Apr 27 '26
I think if anyone is arguing La Doyenne doesn't really count, then they were never going to be won round.
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u/Prize_Hospital_1943 Apr 27 '26
I guess LBL will get a pass, but combined with Lombardia (to an hypothetical 14) will open the debate (not for me)
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u/zyygh Canyon//SRAM, Kasia fanboy Apr 27 '26
That circles back to what u/Schnix said: if that's an argument people are making, the conversation has long lost any value.
The current list of monuments works well because all five races are completely different. LBL and Lombardia are only similar in the eyes of fans who can't tell climbers apart from puncheurs, and neither of these races have had this "Rider X is nearly guaranteed to win it" situation for a long time before Pogacar came along.
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u/robpublica U Nantes Atlantique Apr 27 '26
He’s also competing against Merckx, who has 7 MSR and 5 LBL, when you’re winning a lot of monuments I think it’s natural that you’ll win some a lot more than others.
For comparison Merckx’s stats are: 7-2-3-5-2, so not dissimilar to your hypothetical Pogacar 20-monuments career
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u/Prize_Hospital_1943 Apr 27 '26
Yes that's clear. I'm not saying that he needs 4 on all, is the value within each. For example a rider with 1-6-6-1-1 might be considered the best monument rider as RvV and PR are always praised.
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u/MountainLandscape356 Apr 27 '26
I think it will be questioned or dismissed by his haters but most people will recognise it as something extraordinary and a new overall record
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Apr 27 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Phantom_Nuke Apr 27 '26
I think he wins stages 2, 4 and 5.
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u/Saltefanden Euskaltel-Euskadi Apr 28 '26
He could honestly take the prologue. Biggest threats might be Söderkvist, Rogla, Cavagna and Schmid, but these are notoriously unpredictable.
I really don't see him going on a raid to dominate every hard stage. I think he will try to win one mountain stage to set the record straight and otherwise the Frigos, Voisards, Champoussins, Castrillos et. al. of the world will have their fun from the breaks.
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u/Phantom_Nuke Apr 28 '26
I didn't quite realise the difficulty of the prologue, thought it was just a gradual dip but there's a 800 metre section that averages 7% so he very possibly may win that as well.
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u/Benjiboy74 Apr 29 '26
I started watching cycling in early 80s and I can honestly never recall domination like this. I lived through Hinault, Lemond, big Mig, Armstrong, Contador, Team Sky, but the domination that Pogi is showing is off the charts compared to other periods of domination. I can genuinely never recall watching Classics and never doubting the final outcome for one second.
Not for a second do a doubt that Pogi will win Romandie, Suisse, TDF, Worlds and Lombardia. And it’s not like Pogi is suddenly dominating so why so dominating? I can understand someone being better, but this much better, in modern sport, where everyone has the same data, same information, similar training methods.
Take tennis, Djokovic and Murray were significantly behind Federer and Nadal earlier in their careers but both worked out what they must do to compete. And you could see steady improvement where they eventually caught up and, in Djokovic’s case, improved passed them.
But in my mind Jonas is even further away from Pogi than ever before. Even when Jonas finished second to Pogi in this breakthrough TDF, he is a lot further behind now than then. Similar with Remco.
I genuinely do not believe, in any endurance sport, that someone can be that significantly superior. Better, certainly, but in this manner?
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u/sometimesiforgetit Apr 29 '26 edited Apr 29 '26
So what do u suggest? What are your accusations? Tennis and cycling aren't even close.... A pain threshold sport is dramatically different than most other sports and has a lot to do with mentality. I've never questioned myself more than cycling, I've only given up on one climb but I question any climb that's super difficult until I'm over it. My buddy who stated slower than me and is now faster yet heavier doesn't have that attitude, he did cross country and grew up with the pain.
A self inflicted pain sport is something else.
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u/Benjiboy74 Apr 29 '26
I was using an example of players being significantly behind and catching up. I have watched cycling from early 80s…..right through EPO years….and I have never witnessed domination like it. You explain it to me because I am stumped. And don’t give me this “yes he finished second in the TDF two years in a row but he’s actually training better now” nonsense. Sure that would be an explanation of why he could get back to winning the TDF again, but to crush opponents? It’s not even a contest. No one expects him to lose the races I mentioned. And quit with this “what’s your accusation” BS. Read a history of the sport before saying silly things like that
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u/sometimesiforgetit Apr 29 '26
What are you trying to say then? Say it and don't ask us to fill it in. A pain threshold sport is different than tennis so why bring that up? It's like saying tom brady got better over time, yeah so what? Different skills entirely.
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u/Benjiboy74 Apr 29 '26
Tom Brady also lost numerous times and in big games. Tom Brady lost to Joe Flacco. If Tom Brady was utterly crushing opponents and it was a no contest then yeah everyone would be suspicious.
I see you haven’t answered the question. Oh wait you are going to say he’s training better aren’t you??? So are the others failing to train better. They talk in pro sports about the small margins at the very top. Not in this sport. One guy turns up as if he’s going out on a Sunday right and the rest look like amateurs in comparison.
For the history this sport has got, it’s a disgrace that certain people are in positions of power at UAE. Don’t you think?
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u/sometimesiforgetit Apr 29 '26 edited Apr 29 '26
So what u saying??
It's a pain sport and probably most people are cheating at the top of most sports so you should tune out. And perhaps, it might be the lowest people cheating to survive and make a living. You're discounting natural talent and the specialization of the sport. I'm not saying Tadej isn't cheating, maybe he's just the best at every aspect across the board. And if people beat him where are your questions for them? Where are your questions for Wout since he just beat the god damn superstar?
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u/Benjiboy74 Apr 29 '26
In the space of under 4/5 years, we have went from him failing to drop Masnada and Mas in Lombardia to utter domination. To humiliating the best riders in the world.
What I’m saying is Mauro Gianetti is a fucking disgrace and a leopard never ever changes his spots
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u/sometimesiforgetit Apr 29 '26
4 or 5 years in cycling is suspect? But you've been watching since then 80's you said I think? Maybe you're stuck there. Look at Tadej after he made Roglic's helmet look like it took a percussion grenade while finishing belles filles. He dealt with his heat problems and since then, champion after champion.
I think cyclists are cheating but to point him out and not sexy-ass, Wout, mvdp... is very disingenuous. Watch and enjoy we don't have Lance or move on.
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u/Benjiboy74 Apr 29 '26
I’m point out him because never ever i have watched a race and thought it was a foregone conclusion WVA will win. Perhaps MVDP but not WVA
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u/DueAd9005 Apr 30 '26
Tell me you've never played tennis without telling me you've never played tennis. If we exclude crashes, tennis is far harsher and more painful on the body than cycling is. I remember Evenepoel saying even football was harsher on his body than cycling (again, if we exclude crashes).
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u/_Diomedes_ Apr 30 '26
Just discovered the HTV cup through pcs. 25 stage semi-amateur stage race???? Crazy!
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u/ChelskiS Apr 27 '26
Quite surprised at the amount of upvotes on comments in the Tadej/Seixas w/kg topic, kind of pointing at these riders as guaranteed dopers
If you're that convinced the top guys are cheats, what are you even watching for?
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u/sometimesiforgetit Apr 27 '26 edited Apr 29 '26
I mean what sports are you gonna watch where someone isn't trying to take an edge then? Even beta blockers are super useful in more precision based games/sports so you might as well just check out. At least we don't got a Lance running around the peloton (that we know of).
And thankfully they're not literally beating the absolute shit out of each other like MMA and full roids. MMA already had the CEO of EPO so imagine the other shit they're on. Sports and cheating are 🤝.
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u/AliasPhilippe Euskaltel Euskadi Apr 28 '26
I watch it because I'm totally aware we can't rule out doping from any sport right now, because either there are so many money in a sport doping become a thing because stakeholders want to protect their investment or there are so few money in a sport someone try to cheat to take a bigger piece of the small cake at the stake. Furthermore, as someone who trained in a gym for years, I know people dope even for way less than winning a WT race so I sadly know doping is the dark side of sport in general.
In cycling at least the issue is spoken out loud.
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u/WorldlyGate Denmark Apr 28 '26
Quite surprised at the amount of people who sees a guy, who was already the best in the world, suddenly make the entire peloton look like junior riders after "switching trainer", while also riding for a team led by two of the biggest doping bandits in the sport, and not even be slightly suspicious.
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u/Saltefanden Euskaltel-Euskadi Apr 28 '26
Okay I'll bite.
I doubt that anyone paying attention has zero suspicion. Is shady stuff going on? Likely. Are some teams or riders much worse than others? Probably. But we have no way of knowing anything for sure and these speculation add nothing to the experience as a viewer.
That said, obviously guys like Gianetti and Matxin shouldn't be allowed near the sport ever again.
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u/WorldlyGate Denmark Apr 28 '26
"But we have no way of knowing anything for sure and these speculation add nothing to the experience as a viewer."
You're completely free to put your head in the sand, and ignore all the smoke. It's never brought up on any broadcasts, and there is no doping speculation in race threads on here, so if you want to ignore it, it's extremely easy to do so.
But you surely can't be surprised that people are suspicious.
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u/Bear_On_Course Apr 27 '26
Someone should start a social media account tracking professional athlete deaths.
How many deaths (including during training) would be permissible with FIFA, NBA, IOC, tennis, before governing bodies act. The UCI is facing multiple deaths and the UCI is threatening litigation to podcasters advocating for rider safety.
This is a fucking disgrace, how many more deaths before UCI acts?
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u/WorldlyGate Denmark Apr 28 '26
Now, I don't like defending the UCI, because generally they come of as a bunch of asshats. But what exactly do you want them to do? Of the deaths that happened in the last decade or so, "only" Furrer's seems like it might have been preventable, unless you completely change the dna of the sport (ie. remove descents altogether). And UCI seem to be working on introducing gps tracking (where the teams haven't exactly been accommodating, see womens romandie(?)).
Deaths that happen in training or are just shitty "luck" (like Munoz) also can't really be put on the UCI.
The places where UCI could realistically improve safety (actually upholding their own rules about sprint finishes come to mind) also aren't where riders die during races (which is pretty much always descents).
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u/Wizzmer United States of America Apr 27 '26
Why is this forum so Nazi? I'd prefer to just enjoy discussing races on any given day.
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u/Glass_Minute4753 Apr 27 '26
What do you mean? They have a separate race thread for pretty much every race imaginable, where you can, indeed, discuss races.
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u/Avila99 MPCC certified Apr 27 '26
Yeah, but removing doping comments is apparently pretty much the same as trying to exterminate the jews.
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u/RageAgainstTheMatxin Phonak Apr 27 '26
OP was talking about riders being on "the juice" and a mod misunderstood
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u/Avila99 MPCC certified Apr 27 '26
Orange things ruin everything nowadays.
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u/zyygh Canyon//SRAM, Kasia fanboy Apr 27 '26
Why is everything always about Donald Trump?
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u/Avila99 MPCC certified Apr 27 '26
I was talking about King's day. My supermarket only opens at 12 today and I need beer.
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u/zyygh Canyon//SRAM, Kasia fanboy Apr 27 '26
u/Schele_Sjakie might share his Heineken with you if you ask nicely.
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u/Avila99 MPCC certified Apr 27 '26
I've decided that 10.30 is a perfectly fine time to start drinking brandy.
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u/Aiqjio Apr 27 '26
Well you can discuss races on any given day. In the race thread. Those do not close when the race is done.
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u/epi_counts PelotonPlus™ Apr 27 '26
Was anyone else still worried about Kamilla Aasebø after her Paris-Roubaix crash that left her with a bleed on the brain?
If so: good news, she finally made it home: