Sheeeeeeeeeeit.... My chugging game isn't what it once was - and I'll reserve the right not to use Kwaremont or Amstel.

Thanks all for the fun season and to WannaB for the admin work. Onto grand tour season, though I'll admit, like others here, MTB is getting a good bit of my attention.

It's an interesting time to be a cycling fan with Pog and MvdP so utterly dominant - it does make for less exciting racing but there is a certain amount of awe in witnessing this. Also, this must be the worst classics season the Wolfpack has seen as long as I can remember, and there is a certain amount of schadenfreude in seeing Pat L. taken down a few notches.

Women's racing has been another pleasant surprise - it seemed like there would be a certain inevitability to SD-Worx dominance and it's been awesome to see that not happen - the racing is quite wide open and a lot of young guns giving reason for optimism for many great clashes in the years to come.

Pog put time into Remco's climbing performances last year at LBL and into a headwind with less support I'd say. Remco also had a tail wind.

same...

These 40-80k attacks are killing the experience for me at least.

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The entire event (IM) is like "death by 1000 cuts" and the best race is minimizing all those cuts and losing less blood than the other guy. - Dev

Not just 40-80k attacks, but often with 30k+ solo. The feel of inevitability makes it all a downer of sorts.

Also inconvenient for those of us in the western hemisphere who aren't morning people. Normally it's not a huge deal if we're a little late getting going in the morning, the kids watch their cartoons and I make breakfast, and once we're done with that there's still 1.5-2 hours of racing. Twice this year I checked in on the race situation and to my dismay found that the race was effectively already over before I had even been able to tune in.

The Peacock announcers are lucky I watched the LBL races in order. Vs. what I'll typically do which is watch the women's live, then the men's replay. Because during the women's race the accouncers called out something like, "By this point on La Redoute Pogacar had already gone clear..." Flo probably perked up their ears and are putting together an offer to poach them from Peacock.

I don't mind long-range attacks with groups and the dynamics that play out. What does suck is the fact that there are 3 people this year (Venga, Pog, MvdP) who can just nuke a race and stay away from everyone else. They effectively end the race with 1+ hours left at times and that makes for some bland viewing.

Seems like this wouldn't be happening so much if everyone was healthy and racing.
Could Remco have gone with Pog? Could Wout have stayed with Mathieu?

This is of course the million dollar question.
It's pretty unbelievable how just 2 people being injured has in all likelihood changed this classics season from one that could have been super exciting to one that turned out to be pretty boring.

Unfortunately it's looking pretty likely that the Giro and Tour might turn out to be a six week snooze fest.

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http://www.instagram.com/cyclewise

The Giro almost never disappoints. 2021 was the last boring one that I could recall, and there were some serious drama in most of the past 10+ editions. Only the 2011, 2013, and 2015 editions were others with a foregone conclusion

Tour, otoh, has high chances of being a snoozer.

wout hasn't shown not even once that he can go with mvdp when mvdp is in top form...

remco couldn't close on the first group with mvdp wout and pogi during worlds...

so IMO the outcome would have been the same.

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The entire event (IM) is like "death by 1000 cuts" and the best race is minimizing all those cuts and losing less blood than the other guy. - Dev

Last year Wout stayed with Mathieu in PR until he flatted with 25-30K to go. Before that he went to the line at Flanders, missing out by inches.

Wout won CX Worlds three times, beating Mathieu every time.

Head to head, Mathieu will win 2 out 3 times. But not many stand a better chance than Wout.

I still think that had wout not flatted in Roubaix last year, he was at least the equal of MvdP on the day. Was so exited for this classics season, since I've been thinking his issues have been more with scheduling and training approach towards the big days than with a lack of ability.

One thing that MdVP and Pog seem really good at is circling a few dates on their calendars, and then being ready on those dates. MdVP spends large parts of every season with sub-thermobiblical form (like his last two races) - but usually those periods come before or after what he really cares about. I don't know if MdVP will ever circle "LBL" on his calendar....seems like he'd prefer to just rack up more P-R/Flanders. LBL, despite Monument status, just isn't quite the same cachet.

Of course it's easier to appear "smart" about that when you have a lot of physiological reserve to play with vs. the rest of the peloton.

You are absolutely right about this approach by MvDP, and this is also the approach that Wout was trying to take this spring by racing less and putting it all on the line for Flanders / Roubaix.....

100%. Like I’ve said, Wout wins races, MvP wins Monuments. Pogacar seems to have a little more range than both but I wonder if he’s now on a similar calendar. List of big ones for him and MVP to win is getting shorter, and can’t imagine the smaller stuff is as much a priority for them at this point.

Thanks again

Giro dog stage 8

I just saw that del Toro was extended at UAE through 2029. They must have some amazing belief in him.

It's Romandie prologue day people.

Good call. I tend to think of the likelihood of a Giro Dog sighting varying inversely to the latitude. I'll go with the next stage (9, which ends in Naples).

Crazy short, technical prologue in Romandie. Not really the realm of TTers. Nice run by the LFF.

Definitely an unexpected result in Romandie!

And meanwhile in Turkey, Bora's woes continue ...

Stage race season is here.

And as of right now UAE looks like they have the best collective bunch of GC guys for the next dozen years.

Its good to see him at the pointy end of things. Here's hoping to more.

I'm thinking we see Giro Dog before that. I'm not sure when, but its sure to make its presence known. Let's not forget the horse from Strade running alongside Demi Vollering. Let's hope that thing doesn't feel like attending a grand tour.

They are stacked with talent, that's for sure.