We've got a good ITT in Gran Camino today. Venga, Tarling, et al. Looking to see how this one shakes out.

Got it @WannaB, thanks.

As an aside, and not directed to anyone in particular but rather the whole thread, I've always appreciated the generally amicable and respectful tone of this thread (we even had "civil discourse" in a previous thread title). That atmosphere, along with the vast amount of cycling knowledge and experience, with a healthy dose of humour/irreverence, has made the various iterations of this thread consistently one of the better places on the internet. I resolve to do better at staying out of the muck moving forward. Carry on, gents.

Gran Camino, while not a super deep field teams-wise, will be interesting - VLAB, Ineos, EF all came to play in terms of GC, and we'll see today how much time Venga puts into of the likes of Bernal and the 'Paz today. Fingers crossed for a strong performance from Bernal in this race.

 
het volk
pidcock/kung/laporte
girmay/trentin

kbk
wout/demare/philipsen
mohoric/lazkano

AGREED!

Tarling might be Venga’s toughest test this week, not to take anything away from Rigo or Ritchie.

Wait...are we doing this with the times not being counted to GC and on road bikes?

Omloop is closing in....a lot of the Spoilers are looking at each other....wondering who's going to take up the chase......there goes Spackler followed by Trail and Davis with some picks...hey Martin and Likes Bikes formally known as Burgles are in ..Mudge and echappist are shouldering one another and may get relegated........Wanna Be and buzz bridge across!......it's a strong group.....Phil is getting all the names wrong........McNulty is still looking around can't figure out how to play this.......there's a beer glass on the line so he's focused.....ww Peto do?....no one will work with him.....does he go for a flyer?

Just saw that. Yeah, high winds knocked out the stage and everyone will start on same time tomorrow.

So, old argument but why aren’t all TTs done on road bikes to level the field?

I just saw the shots of the sea and it looks treacherous.

As for TTs, no comment. I'm biased and love TT bikes though I would be opposed to occasional Merckx style.

Update: I'm actually loving this TT on road bikes.

Tarling was great. It looks like Venga soft pedaled since the day didn't count anyway. Smart I suppose.

Not the TT I expected with road bikes and no GC-time. Still entertaining. I love TT tech but like the Merckx style too, it certainly helps level the playing field for the smaller teams. One thing is when it's on road bikes, it's really clear who's going for it and who's just cruising home - on the TT bikes everyone is down in the skis, but on road bikes you can see a huge difference between the dudes who are in proper aero, flat forearms etc. and the guys who are riding in the drops with arms straight down.

This turn of events is of course good news for Ineos and EF's GC hopes in this race, makes the whole thing a little more interesting, cause it could have been over today if Venga blitzes it.

So, what does proper aero on a road bike look like now that puppy paws are verboten?

Angled shifters as much as allowed, skinsuits, TT helmets, flat arms, aero socks.

Palms on the hoods (though you can push it a little, moving your arms forward and in so you're just hooking the hoods with your pinkies), forearms flat with elbows at 90 degrees, shoulders shrugged/neck turtled. Nothing new really. Remco's good at it (see images 1 and 6 in that post).

 

its a shame gc was neutralized, that was a really nice tt and i love when they do them on road bikes.

feel bad for barta, he really sent that.

Seems like the so called sphinx position (perpendicular elbow, hands on hoods).

As the self-admitted pedant, I'm not sure if the rules actually forbid puppy paws in time trials.

The current (2024 version) of the rules states (at sec 2.2.025):


And the 2024 version of sec. 1.3.008 states:

Note the usage of "normally" (as opposed to something like almost always except in extenuating circumstances).

According to the Max announcer, they're OK on a road bike in a TT. Forget who the announcer was.

And guys were clearly doing it.

Interesting. I know we had a discussion about it for the ITT in 2023 Tour Down Under. A bit surprising that UCI choose not to clamp down further afterwards.

Though I must admit there's a possibility that what UCI meant was that the additional support point in the form of forearm and/or elbows is allowed in an ITT (given it named only three allowed support points for all other types of racing). However, onus is on UCI to state that position (pun intended) clearly, as opposed to word it in a somewhat ambiguous manner.

On a tangent, it took me 3-5 readings to figure out that you meant Max and not Cavendish the Manx rider. I'm still trying to get it sorted in my mind that the channel best known for Band of Brothers and Thrones now has cycling coverage.

Once he retires, the Manx on Max would be a hell of an announcer. Someone would have to their finger on the mute button at all times.

@McNulty-Lord-of-Nicknames will be happy to know that Max is all-in with Orla.

Tip of the hat on that nickname.

One wonders what would happen were Cav and McEwen in the same broadcasting studio. Don't think i've ever seen a broadcast team have two sprinters. Over what would they engage in argy-bargy? I think Sean Kelly is known for going on breaks to bring back coffee and baked sweets; would two sprinters headbutt each other over coffee and scones?

Manx on Max would be amazing...Cav has an amazing ability to recall the most minute details of races and has a good personality to comment.

Although yesterday was pretty funny. When the echelons were forming the chaos started and you could see an angry Cav screaming and pointing at riders to arrange themselves properly so they wouldn't get shelled.

Max seems to have someone reading the room. Well done so far and, yeah I was dismayed to see no Orla at first but YES!
#femmepro

Cav and McEwen would be hilarious. Mark might need subtitles and a slight audio delay.

Alright I'm making my 'loop picks but holding off on KBK until I see how Saturday shakes out. No surprises with the podium. I think Tratnik is on form and King Kung is my rouleur pick (and was looking good last week)

Wout, De Lie, Piddles
Tratnik, Kung

the reality of missing Oomloop due to my staunch anti-FloBikes stance is starting to settle in. And I don't like it. :/ broke down getting both max and peacock. which is fine. but just can't go Flo. I'll need med assist the closer we get to Flanders

---

cock-up before conspiracy

I hear you, and i refuse to give Flo a single cent.

That said, it does have a monthly subscription of $30 now, compared to the outrage of $150 for not much more than some Flandrian races + Worlds. So all in, $90 as opposed to $150.