Gianni Moscon

Eh, I had it right the first time. That was some beat down by QS.

Now we turn to your namesake hopefully having that kind of ride tomorrow.

Looks like it will be Valverde of Julian

good call

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Terpstra was interviewed after the TTT. Played the corners on the descent for 100 times (not sure if he's exaggerating there)



for your first question, no, it's different from all three (Gnadenwald, Iglis, and that nasty kicker at the end of the men's road race)

for your second question, no idea

GvA seems like the bargain on that list.

I want your crystal ball
What a year for the wolfpack
I think some riders were saving them selves for the ITT, Kung was dropped, Dennis looked tepid.

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res, non verba

You followed the wrong wheel. Sorry. I didn’t really scrutinize QS. They were perfect.

I'm surprised valverde is rated that high, he faded badly in the pyranees.
My pick would be alaphillipe to win, yates and then woods.

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res, non verba

Sports betting dynamics.
Valverde, being who he is, will always have more wager then somebody else. So price will drop.

Surprised that Kung got dropped.

TTTs are a funny thing. Good ITTers do not necessarily make for a fast TTT team; the on/sort of off nature can favor punchy riders who can recover quickly and go again, versus the preferred steady state of a pure TTer. Not sure I’ve suffered as much as during the few that I’ve done.

What type of a bike racing geek are you if this is the last one? We still have Il Lombardia on 13 October, and the TdF 2019 route annoucement in late Oct and the Giro route announcement on deck!!!! More cycling topics to discuss after the world's!!!

I dunno...same reason there isn’t a discussion thread for every single triathlon with a pro field?

The Presidential Cycling Tour of Turkey coming up. If you DNF you have to spend the night in prison.

Valverde always fades in grand tours, Valverde also "always" (or as close as you can get in professional cycling) wins on courses like this one. He's been the best small man sprinter for a long time.

Of course, now there is that French guy to give him a run for his money.

what about Wednesday's ITT? I assume its hilly like the Team event, meaning it not Tom D as the fav?

http://www.uci.org/cyclo-cross

A lot of these are going to be on Olympic Channel, too [I recorded yesterday's from Waterloo, and have Iowa queued up for next weekend]

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"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin

Aru is definitely not targeting that race.

And the TdF route announcement is only slightly more boring than actual TdF itself. That said, and without any inside knowledge of said route, here are my predictions for '19 race:

• On GC days Sky sets crushing tempo, rendering viewing exciting for last 10-12 minutes of stage
• <Insert name> debuts as Team Sky domestique, destroys peloton. Sky's <Insert name> handily wins GC
• Movistar sends entire team of GC contenders who fight amongst themselves about who has to fetch bottles, and 3rd spot on podium
• Bauke Mollema gets into breakaways on every stage with a hill. On days it sticks, he manages podiums but is out-sprinted each time
• Ritchie Porte gets sick, crashes or has bar tape unravel on technical descent, costing him shot at podium
• Teyay van Quintana remains in search of his old self at new home, EF Education sponsored by Cannondale powered by Weiner Dog supported by Tom's Auto Body of Temecula, opts to ride Fondo schedule instead
• Ever the showman, Sagan decides he need a greater challenge and rides Tour on new Specialized Sagan Collection Strider Bike, still wins green jersey
• QS, America's team, wins 8 stages
• Sepp Kuss gets TdF start, giving the Brits someone to talk to in english on tough climbs

Frustrated by Sagan's dominance of the points competition, UCI rules that his bikes - and his bikes alone - may only have one wheel, forcing him to do the entire tour riding a wheelie

He still wins the Green Jersey

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"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin

Comcast put in a $40B bid to buy SKY

That means they'll be too expensive, not offer enough, and never show up on schedule

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"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin

Dude...this was only supposed to be "Road Worlds Spoilers"...thanks a lot.

Remember last year’s course? Had a brutish climb to the finish, and ge bossed it

Dumoulin is still the favorite


Golf clap. Well done

I actually think that the climb favors Dumoulin, and if anything, he would want the climb to be slightly more decisive than it is to push it even more in his favor. He's already a very good climber as it is...especially on the not so steep (less than 12%) and steady type hills. This one is around 4.5 km at 7%, which well within his wheel house. I think if it were 8-9% grade, it would be perfect for him to separate himself from Dennis. The hill as it is keeps Dennis in as one of the favorites.

The descent isn't that steep or technical, so I don't think you're going to see anyone go ape shit on the climb then use the descent to tuck and recover. It's going to be a pretty even distribution of power over 52 km, which means it's favors the TTers who are not overly heavy...aka Dumoulin and Dennis.

Maybe if the hill was 6 km at 10%, and the descent was steeper where it's more about tucking and descending skills, then the course would favor a lighter rider.

Come on, you knew all the Tour stuff other than Sagan's new Strider bike.

Spot-on about TT; exceptional TTers like TD can win on any course unless it's a pure climb.

that's good stuff