Hirshi is riding unbelievably well. Please, please, please don't test positive! We need something to believe in.

I called him The Bar- bad ass rider, but Echappy indeed pointed him out over a year ago.....Echappy is this thread's one man R&D department.

He is a racer. I'm guessing Spartacus is a big influence with respect to game day strategy.

He also has a Fabian-style huge motor, just not the build.

Thanks for the kind words.

I'm just a blind squirrel who found a few acorns over the years :)

Whoever came up with Hirschi Bar (can't remember if it was you, Spackler, Burgler, or Trail) got a quick wit.

This thread continued to be one of ST's bright spots. In fact, maybe 2020's more generally.

👍

looks like Simmons is out at Trek
https://www.cyclingnews.com/...nts-on-social-media/

Interesting. I stopped following Jose a while ago, too much political stuff.

i misspoke; supended until further notice

Not surprised that he made that type of comment, he’s an odd duck. And also wouldn’t be surprised if he’s out; he made himself easily expendable with a stupid comment.

Just catching replay. Pretty fun and surreal watching these races 7, 10 days after TdF.

After epic three weeks...no time for hangover. Chug Alaphilippe. Do a shot of Porte, Pogacar, Kwiato punching there way up as Hirschi busts on through.

So looking forward to this weekend.

I hope the exciting racing impacts sponsorship decisions

I have 3 acquaintances on 3 teams that don't know if they have a team next year. And this is on top of CCC.

My guess is there is more than a half dozen teams on the brink. Some big names.

ugh......it's such a made for TV sport, it's a shame there can't be more money generated there....i guess the rabid fan base has to extend beyond western europe.......

As do I.

In other news, who are we picking for the Giro?

Vlasov and Thomas are my picks.

Thomas looks good.

Though even more importantly, LBL is around the corner

Have to throw my hat in one more time for Nibali. Probably a long shot but I’ve gotta dream.

Tough route with a few brutal stages. Going to be <hopefully> logging a lot of weekend TV hours this month between the Giro and classics.

My big disappointment going into this is that WvA isn't riding. He has been such a badass and a joy to watch.

I would love to see Fuglsang. One last kick at the can.

I'll take Kruiswijk and Yates. Both have unfinished business at the Giro. I like a good redemption story.

Going with Wilco bc I like his music and Nibs bc he's Nibs.

Joe D. gets a stage bc Nibs will be racing GC and won't be in the break to punk him.

also, Pedersen with another stage win, this time at Eneco. Something about him mixing it up in group sprints is a bit surprising, given that he shot to fame (at least to me) when he finished 2nd at RvV.

Seems to be rounding into form just fine.

I never really think of Mads as a sprinter but he certainly can sprint. He was up there in the Tour a couple times while doing double duty shepherding Porte.

I thought he was all slow twitch (to wit, that long break at De Ronde), but his sprinting since the restart was a bit surprising.

Agreed. Both those guys would love to set things right and get the maglia rosas they got so close to before.

Lots of good storylines though. Thomas making a statement after the Tour non-selection, Nibbles with what might be a last shot at grand tour glory in his home race, Fuglsang perhaps settling once and for all whether he is indeed at grand tour guy, Peto trying to salvage his season after a poor Tour and missing Worlds and the Classics, and Viviani also looking for redemption in his home race.

And the profile for the Giro looks crazy. Lots of really hard stages, though we'll see what the weather has in store. Hopefully Kruijswijk stays out of the snowbanks.

LBL has an interesting lineup this year, lots of potential winners and missing a lot of the usual suspects.

 

Not sure how you guys watch

I use expressVPN. I go to steephill.tv look at all the countries, pick english (New Zealand or Australia) or french (Belgium or France) and boom. Works every time. Speaking French helps.

Belgium is always better than France for French coverage...go figure