Cycling Thread

[Martino Knockavelli]

High quotient of dickheaded, fancy-dressed fans running along and getting in the way. Time to equip the race commissar's car with a massive harpoon.

 

[Martino Knockavelli]

Interesting. Valverde dead in the water. A correctable wobble for his Nibs or a sign that he's still a bit shy of where he needs to be?

It's not a bad looking part of the world either, is it.

 

[TimeyWimey]

Kruijswijk's looked a class apart throughout the second week, was telling when he looked so comfortable as Astana upped the pace. Chaves looks like there's more to come and Nibali will surely make an attack stick one day, law of averages and all that, but looking unassailable surely?

 

[TimeyWimey]

Loving the picking apart of Gazprom's dopetastic day on twitter though.

 

[Martino Knockavelli]

Croyswig getting a working over here, with 70 odd K to go. Gonna be a bloody hard week for him, with no team to speak of.

 

[TimeyWimey]

I really have more important things to do than be watching this but feck it.

Kruijswijk should be letting Zakarin go for now. Let Movistar and Astana worry about him.

 

[Martino Knockavelli]

The McQuaids "a great cycling family", says Sean Kelly.

 

[Martino Knockavelli]

Nibs is fooked.

 

[TimeyWimey]

Fancy my own chances against those Italian sprinters.

 

[Martino Knockavelli]

Might think it'd have behoved a couple of the bigger names to try and get over the climbs for this one and the last stage. Not gonna get many easier shots at GT sprint wins now that everyone else has gone home, are ye.

 

[Martino Knockavelli]

Blimey. Not a bad effort that.

 

[Martino Knockavelli]

Fucking hell kroyswig....!

 

[TimeyWimey]

Brutal. If he only loses a couple of minutes after that, he's done well. Pretty much landed on his head ffs.

 

[Martino Knockavelli]

If the triage report from that and the Zakarin crash is a single broken collar bone and a bit of lost skin then the cycling gods must be feeling pretty fuckin generous.

 

[Martino Knockavelli]

Proper stage this.

 

[lordofthepies]

Absolutely fantastic stage, that.

 

[Martino Knockavelli]

The third stage of the Baloise Belgium Tour was called off part-way through after a big crash, which was caused by two motorbikes, left numerous riders needing medical attention.

Race organisers told Cyclingnews that the crash occurred on a descent some 65km into the stage, when one motorbike collided with another that was at a standstill, sending both into the bunch of riders. The stage was initially neutralised and then abandoned altogether.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/belgium-tour-stage-3-abandoned-after-motorbikes-cause-big-crash/

Again? For fucks sake...

 

[TimeyWimey]

Such a tough one. Motorbikes clearly needed and on the whole seem to be driven by the best qualified but all these accidents are an absolute disgrace. To have yet more incidents just a couple of months after a death (!) is unbelievable. Need to seriously fast track (sod the 'no knee jerk') a solution in cutting down the amount of motorcycles around the peloton.

Rooting for Chaves today. Partly because of Orica's backstage pass videos and partly lack of trust in Nibali's performance yesterday. Would love to see Kruijswijk hold onto a podium spot too, so harsh if he falls away completely.

 

[TimeyWimey]

On another planet...

 

[Veggie Legs]

Can we have a post-Giro fantasy update, Martino?

 

[TimeyWimey]

Nah, I think we should forget about that fantasy league now.

 

[Martino Knockavelli]

Scores on the post-Giro doors

 

[TimeyWimey]

My team has bonked big time since the classics ended. Landa's going to TdF though, so hopefully Froome will catch flu in week 1 and leave Landa to take 2nd place (cos Pinot's gonna win it, I'm afraid). With Sagan and Bouhanni mopping up stage wins, all will be good.

 

[Veggie Legs]

I'm still not last, so I'm happy with my team's performance so far.

 

[lordofthepies]

My TfF boys will lift me comfortably clear from the bottom.

Maybe.

 

[TimeyWimey]

Quite looking forward to tomorrow tbh.

 

[Martino Knockavelli]

I have no idea what will happen in this race and I am very eager to find out. Feels like a million years since we saw the TdF targeting big boys turn a pedal in anger.

Aside: the chuffing London Nocturne was live on Eurosport tonight. I grew up being told that Max Sciandri being 132nd in GC was a great moment for British cycling, so I'm not sure when I will cease to be surprised by the growth of the sport in the country, but apparently not quite yet.

 

[lordofthepies]

EDIT: Keagan Girdlestone , a 19 year old Saffer racing for Dimension Data has been seriously injured during a race in Italy and is in a critical condition. Some of the media appear to have jumped the gun and had previously declared him to be dead. Doesn't sound good though.

What a horrible year this has been for cyclists.

 

[Martino Knockavelli]

Bit of rough and tumble in the lead out there. Cripes.

 

[TimeyWimey]

Fair fooking play, Fabio.