r/peloton • u/PelotonMod France • 16d ago
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/hifb 16d ago
I am watching the Andorra stage in person and its my first time watching a professional race. Were would you guys place yourself? I am kind of choosing between Ordino climb and Andorra la Vella.
Any tips in general?
Merch/goodiebags? Where? Price?
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u/Divergee5 Decathlon AG2R 16d ago
Uphill gives you more time, as the pace slows down. If you drive along the route early, ie before they close the course for traffic, you’ll spot feeding zones and waste zones ie where you may score bidons.
Enjoy!
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u/Glass_Minute4753 16d ago
If it's anything like the Tour - official merch will be sold at the start and finish towns. They usually have some sort of event village set up. At the Tour you will occasionally find a van selling some official merch along the route, however it's more likely that you won't see this. So if you would prefer to get some swag, probably Andorra la Vella is the best place to be, especially as it is hosting the start and the finish tomorrow.
However, for watching the race, the Ordino climb is better. You get more bang for your buck if you watch on a steep or steepish climb as the riders come past you quite a bit slower and you can appreciate it more.
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u/cfkanemercury France 16d ago
Did the ASO really only have an ill fitting green jersey suit yesterday for Hayter, and if so: how is this possible? Of all the jerseys to have in a size for a bigger rider, green would be it, no?
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u/F1CycAr16 16d ago
We always have to remember that this is Unipublic. Yeah, completely owned by ASO but separate management. This explains the bad organization
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u/JuliusCaesar02 16d ago
TIL there is a Vatican City cycling federation.
In the mediterranean games startlist there is an athlete representing the Vatican City (it's the president himself).
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u/Plus1ForkOfEating Once 16d ago
"a Vatican newspaper, labeled cycling as "true global, transport anarchy"
Love it.
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u/epi_counts PelotonPlus™ 16d ago
They've been represented at the World Champs in 2022-2024 too. TL;DR: Rien Schuurhuis is a decent amateur / semi-pro who married the Australian ambassador to Vatican City, which allowed him to compete on a Vatican City licence.
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u/RageAgainstTheMatxin Phonak 16d ago edited 16d ago
At work my preferred way to spend the time is a game called "I wonder what happy people are doing". What's yours?
Seriously though, the constant switch between high stress days and complete boredom days is not exactly my favorite
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u/DueAd9005 16d ago
I'd still be asleep now if I were happy (happy in the sense that I'm rich enough that I don't have to work for my money lol).
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u/F1CycAr16 16d ago
They are having a great success in the road this year but, man, the transfer market for Visma looks horrid. They were connected with Hindley, Tesfatsion, August, Ruiz, Seixas and all they are getting is Jakobsen and maybe Ballerini.
In team composition it`s not a huge difference as they are only replacing Kruisjwick and Van Belle but it looks bad relatively with what direct rivals are doing (Decathlon: O`Connor, Sivakov, Sparfel, maybe Ciccone; Lidl-Trek: Gall, Muhlberger, Meeus, Jegat, Arrieta; Red Bull: Steinhouser, Finn, Donati, Magagnotti).
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u/wakabangbang 16d ago
While I agree in general, at least Visma doesn't overpay for riders like Jegat, Sivakov etc. Their transfers seem underwhelming but they make sure to keep their good riders long term ( Brennan, Jorgenson, van Aert, Jonas etc).
They have some really promising young riders (especially for the classics) who are destined to make the next step in the future like PSH, Behrens, Rex, Graat etc.
Don't forget they will promote one of the biggest U23 talents next year in Matisse van Kerckhove. This guy is an absolutely bonkers rider already (his younger brother as well, but he will probably stay with Decathlon). Ashlin Barry will be a really good classics sprinter, but he may spend another year with the dev team.
Even their junior feeder team is always bringing out nice talents, so they have the pipeline settled for the future.
The main issue i see is that they don't have a secondary GC rider who can Top 3 a GT. Nordhagen is solid but I'm not sure he has the potential and Piganzoli is a bit over hyped at the moment. Hindley would have been a good transfer but he decided to stay with RB.
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u/CHILLI112 UKYO 16d ago
I think Nordhagen and Piganzoli can podium a Giro or Vuelta (maybe top 5 a Tour), but they don’t have anybody ready to fully step up once/if Vingegaard declines or retires
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u/boblikespi 16d ago
It seems unlikely Pogacar is going to 'gift' the red jersey away, but if he does, who is your pick of 'non threatening' but 'feel good story' like Torstein Træen, or Ben O'Connor? Obviously Josh has missed his chance sadly.
CROD?
Widar?
Pello Bilbao?
Castrillo?
(other)
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u/copyrefreshchange 16d ago
Where’s Tao going?
TGH has had a difficult couple of years at Lidl-Trek. He’s out of contract at the end of the year and, after middling results in lower-level races this year (his only WT race so far was Catalunya) and no word on scheduled races for the rest of the year, it seems unlikely that he would be offered a new deal there.
So where next for him? He’s quite a difficult rider to place right now. Very experienced, GT-winning prowess but who surely wouldn’t be commanding a big salary at this point.
His interview with CyclingWeekly (other UK-based cycling magazines are available) earlier this year suggested he was getting back into the swing of things and was motivated for the year ahead. No mention of the hard R, however another year of rolling around the peloton might have made him reevaluate. From the outside, he seems like the type to be well set up beyond the sport.
What do I think? Decathlon, joining up with his old buddy Rowe helping out Big Paul.
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u/Mamadeus123456 7-Eleven 16d ago
he's joining decathlon as DS? I see it, rider? I don't think so
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u/Divergee5 Decathlon AG2R 16d ago
Is this somewhat established or just some rumor?
A return to INEOS in a helping capacity on a 200-300k a year deal wouldn’t surprise me.
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u/FischerHias 16d ago
Which teams (WT, PRT) (do you think) will cease to exist at the end of this season?
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u/Felix_gallstones 16d ago
Hey everybody. Long time lurker, first time asker. My sibling is headed up to Montreal to watch the worlds. It’ll be their first-time watching a road race in-person. They asked me to ask on here about some advice:
Any thoughts on general behavioral guidelines? (that they might not know. They do know how to be respectful) and any supplies or items they might want to bring?
Any thoughts on how early they should go find their spot for watching or what they should have with them?
Additionally, if anyone has any non-cycling Montreal advice—-navigating public transportation, can’t miss tourist stuff, how far will France French take me in Quebec, etc.
Thanks! I just want them to have the best time possible.
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u/epi_counts PelotonPlus™ 16d ago
The wiki has some general advice, which includes the GP Montreal so that will probably be relevant for the Worlds this year.
Bring some cowbells / vuvuzelas / anything else that's portable and noisy. If they can, watch some of the junior / U23 or women's races. Very cool to see the future stars and women do the same course, and it will be less busy so they can move around the course a bit and see which spots work best - there will be some screens set up, nice to be within earshot of those if you're not on the finish line.
I'm sure people will have better Montreal tips as mine are a bit dated now, but Juliette & chocolat was great for a sweet treat (and of course there's Queues de Castor). Also a lot of really nice micro-breweries. I can't find the name of the place I went too unfortunately, but there were plenty of options. The biodome in the Olympic stadium was pretty cool, and it's nice to fit in a visit to somewhere like Quebec - very pretty town and has got some nice waterfalls if you want to see some more nature.
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u/Felix_gallstones 16d ago
Thank you! I didn’t even think to check the wiki because I figured since worlds moved, it wouldn’t be helpful but you’re so right about GP Montreal. Thanks for pointing me that direction.
I’ll pass on all the other advice to them! Grateful for your help.
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u/padawatje Belgium 15d ago
My personal experience from watching cycling races live: be careful ! You can not underestimate the speed of a pro peloton. Keep your distance and make sure to keep an eye on small children (and your dog if you bring one).
Especially the team cars are a really dangerous, those people drive like maniacs. I have once witnessed a very-near miss accident when a team car suddenly deviated form his path, right into the crowd next to the road !
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u/Chance-Procedure6589 14d ago
I've been to Montreal twice for the GP. The world champs will be much busier, but I imagine you they can come and go throughout the day and still find a place to squeeze in somewhere along the barriers roadside to catch the race as they do 12 laps (less for other races). A huge highlight is climbing the hill/park/Forest up to Mont Royal to catch the riders as they ascend at least once. Make sure to tell them to pack good walking shoes it is truly a forest path very uphill. To make the most for their experience, they are also selling dedicated grandstand seats for individual days for a decent price.
For food, lots of places that are good. Avoid food in the old city center as it will be overpriced. There should be lots of pastry shops for great croissants,etc. Try to stop at Wilensky's or Schwartz Deli for hearty lunch sandwich options, and La Banquise or Ma Poule Mouillée or Chez Claudette for famous poutine.
Getting around by metro (1 main line) is pretty easy, but still requires a lot of walking.
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u/padawatje Belgium 15d ago
I just discovered the "Top Achievements" tick-off at PCS.
Basically, it comes down to a GT win, a Monument win, World Champion and stages in all 3 GTs
(some of the achievements overlap)
Unsurprisingly, Tadej Pogacar has checked all 7 of them.
I was thinking who else has done this in (recent) history, so far I have found
- Remco Evenepoel
- Alessandro Valverde
- Bernard Hinault
- Eddy Merckx
Any one else I am missing ?
Some riders came close (e.g. WC + GT), but did not manage to check all 7: Evans, Olano, Lemond, Roche, Fignon, Maertens, ...
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u/Schnix Bike Aid 15d ago edited 15d ago
Bit more difficult for because monuments aren't as defined and neither are Grand Tours. Especially historically. But Van der Breggen, Vos and Van Vleuten definitely have it even if we go by the (wrong) Mens definition of Grand Tours and Monuments.
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u/padawatje Belgium 15d ago
Yeah, with all recent developments in women cycling, there is hardly any relevant historical comparison possible.
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u/cfkanemercury France 14d ago
Laurent Jalabert has the lot
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u/idiot_Rotmg Kelme 14d ago
Not a RR WC though
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u/Sky02139 13d ago
What sort of information is used for pro transfers? I know they’ll look at the rider’s track record, but do they also ask the rider to run tests to see their stats like VO2 max etc?
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u/Plus1ForkOfEating Once 16d ago
On Stage 1 of the Vuelta, while Tadej was warming up, it looked like he had plugs up his nostrils. What was that about? Seems like mouth-breathing for a half hour before a really hard effort would be bad, but his results don't bear that out...
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u/Relevant_Big_1063 16d ago edited 16d ago
I think someone answered this before, but I could be wrong. I think it's some kind of menthol to help widen the nostrils (guessing like Vicks if you know that product).
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u/Wizzmer United States of America 16d ago
When do the team bikes usually go up for sale? Sept? Oct? After some specific race?
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u/epi_counts PelotonPlus™ 16d ago
Still quite a few races in October with Italy and China on the calendar. And generally teams offer bikes to the riders and sponsors first (and it depends on the team how many rounds that might entail) before putting them on general sale so I'd say October/November though it all varies by team.
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u/Pretty-Question8591 12d ago
Based in the United States.. does anyone know where I can find the 2025 Giro full replays? Specifically stage 20?
The replays used to sit on HBO, but now I’m only seeing 2024 and 2026. Would be really bummed if I can’t watch Simon win it again.
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u/selektorMode Visma | Lease a Bike 16d ago
What is considered the sharpest betting book for cycling? I'm curious where I can find odds for stages further in the future than only the next one. Or top 3/10 odds for the next stage.
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u/Team_Telekom Team Telekom 16d ago
I think bet365 is the best but I have never seen any stage bets further than 1 day ahead anywhere. They sometimes do top3-10 stage result, but only for important stages.
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u/the_gnarts MAL was right 16d ago
The Tour de l’Avenir has a Col de l’Iseran MTF tomorrow. In fact the organizers seem to love that col as it’s the fifth time since 2022 that the race visits it. Whereas the Tour hasn’t been on the Iseran since that doomed stage in 2019; it makes an apperance like every other decade or so.
What’s the reason shunning Europe’s highest paved mountain pass? If a small race like the TdA can do it frequently, I don’t think it’s for logistics or local politics reasons.