Mont Ventoux Dénivelé Challenge is tomorrow-the 2nd edition. It was of interest to me last year and again this year as local 'kid' Joe Dombrowski is racing. Thoughts on who is climbing well on this restarted season??

If Quintana is close to form earlier this year he'd be hard to beat.

How about van Aert sprinting for 3rd at Milano-Torino? I mean, damn.

Speaking of sprinting, Groenenwegen is such an asshole

I am curious how the UCI will handle this..

It seems that Jakobsen's helmet came off when he fell over the barrier. Hope he will be fine in the long run

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Strava

Is he known as an asshole, or was it just this thing?

It was bad on replay...after opening up on this final sprint to the line, he veered across nearly half the road, clearly knowing he was squeezing someone. Stuck elbow out for final effect.

delete; I mis-remembered

thought it was an incident from a late season 1.1/1.HC race, but haven't found it

“I can never be a servant, my honor is too great for that,” Groenewegen said. “You won’t see me doing a sprint for a teammate. Then my career is just over.”

Any questions?

Question for the aero weenies about a Merckx TT: what's the ideal bottle setup? doesn't matter (bottles in both cages), 1 on downtube, or 1 on seat tube?

It's a SuperSix, so semi-aero. 30mm tires probably negate anything but I'm looking for scrape here. Missed a flat 6-mile KOM by :10, need to try and put the house in order.

Oh no, one knows that the world is coming to an end when a former national ITT champ is soliciting advice from a bunch of have-beens and never-have-beens ;)

Jest aside, this is highly dependent. There was a study by MIT's cycling team from about a decade back, advocating for placement on the seat-tube, but it may be predicated upon usage of frames with round tubes.

I think a lot of modern frames, especially the aero-minded ones, are designed so that max efficiency is accomplished with two bottles (so one could be empty). I think the BMC Time Machine road in particular is a good example.

Personally, unless if it's really hot, I'd stick two aero bottles on the bike (as those bottles aren't insulated). Even if it's really hot, 6 flatish miles should be 15 minutes at most. You could freeze 3/4 of a bottle, it'll be 1/2 or 1/3 frozen when you need a sip.

And yes, do use 23 mm in the future, at least for the front wheel.

ETA: Damon Rinard also chimed in on this previously

Some datas here.

But given that the SystemSix was designed to keep the downtube bottle aero with the wide Kamm deal, that older testing might not be relevant. I'd just go with whichever one you feel the most comfortable reaching for.

Gave it a college try yesterday. Legs didn't feel great but talked myself into it while riding in general direction of the segment. It was too early in day (minimal tailwind), tad warm for me and I had on a road helmet that's a little less aero than another kicking around. But managed to make some good watts--the aero sins be damned. The KOM has stood since 2012 so figure this is deserving of giving it a proper effort. Which probably means my legs will suck and I'll be slower.

I'd be more comfortable with a pitcher of margaritas on the hoods and a motor. But Eddy probably won't approve.

Specialized say back pocket or down tube (on a Crux): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3eRtGIs7MeE
This guy says seat tube (or none): https://www.aerotune.com/...ke-bottle-positions/

So, a whole lot of maybes.

I've always liked Groenewegen, but damn. That was shit today. Didn't know he was such a dick, but I suppose a big ego backed up by raw power is not atypical for sprinters so I shouldnt be surprised.

As for Milano-Torino, Wout cuts a pretty intimidating figure ahead of MSR. Peto might be rounding into form.

here's a clip. the move isn't as terrible as I expected but the carnage is the worst I've ever seen.

http://www.steephill.tv/...23314945&yr=2020

1 in the pocket + 4 watts got it done.

Beast Mode.

Nicely done.

Jakobsen in bad shape, but stable.

JV appropriately none too pleased in their statement.

Nicely done! The poor dude from whom you snatched it never thought he'd incur the wrath of someone who rightly wears stars-and-stripes bands on his sleeves

He's indeed done it a few times already. Squezed Naesen once when Naesen was in a 3-man break and when the peleton with Groenewegen in it caught up at the end, still managed to come over the top of Groenewegen in the sprint who then pushed him into the barriers and acted like he didn't do anything wrong. He knew damn well what he was doing against Jakobsen. Both have quite the ego/are real alpha males so in a situation like that, they're not backing off.

That said, the way people lost their shit when Sagan and Cavendish came together, this is way worse. Groenewegen should get a ban from racing for at least this season, and 2021 as well as far as I'm concerned. No victory is worth the life of a colleague.

The camera man that got hit by Jakobsen at the finish line also had to get CPR, because of the downhill they hit speeds of about 80kph there every year so it was a serious impact.




And the way he did it, he started the sprint in 6th or 7th position I believe. Sagan was never going to make it with how early he went but to beat him, Gaviria, Viviani,.. And he took Ewan right when they went over the finish line. His peak power might be a bit less now that he's an even bigger FTP/TT machine but I guess he can just hold a high power really long still. The pure sprinters were already losing speed and he still comes over the top.

Wow, impressive memory; thanks. I thought it may have been Eurometropole, but i didnt look far back enough. Basically pulled a Bettini on Baden Cooke from that one stage of the Giro (i think the year when Bettini was in Maglia Rosa). DG should have been DQed. Also, impressive kick and handling from Naesen. I hope he has a few fruitful years. Certainly a very likeable rider

 


van Aert is feeling plenty confident if it comes down to a group kick too:

“Démare and Ewan didn’t sprint faster than me,” van Aert said with a swagger after the race Wednesday. “They were just better placed.”

“It was important to do the sprint here,” van Aert told Het Laatste Nieuws. “Now I know when I go to the sprint with those fastmen on Saturday, that I should not be afraid. It will be much more difficult on Saturday. That should normally be in my favor. ”

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"It's good enough for who it's for" - Grandpa Wayne

Vlasov has been climbing incredibly this year. Porte is on good form too.

Van Aeart looks like he is just getting going on what can turn out to be a legendary career.
He can win TT's Classics, and bunch sprints....
He has been less hyped then some of the other up and coming guys but he might turn out to be the best of the bunch (not GC).

Agreed. I've been on the van Aert train from day one. Enormous engine and power, classy rider and classy guy.