The biking thread

[Dolph Drago]

I watch the TDF and some of the spring classic 1-day races. Paris Roubaix (The hell of the north), Milan San Remo, Liege-Bastogne-Liege, Flanders, and Strade Bianchi are all very good to watch - they are different than the stage races in that multiple rider types can win and where Julian Alaphillipe, Wout Van Aert, and MvP are so explosive. Paris Roubaix in 2021 was especially epic. I find it hard to stay engaged with any of the stage races not called Tour De France though. I'll maybe watch some highlights of the Giro.

My brother follows the sport more closely than I do. He said I needed to find a way to watch one of the races from earlier this year on cobblestones. Paris Roubaix I think?

Wow. Wout & Tadej put down some impressive time trial numbers, both of them now ahead of Ganna.

Impressive, yes. But how about Lampaert? NBC had no idea he was even on pace to take the stage and were at commercial break when he finished his run.

 

[Eunos_Cosmo]

Chaotic finish today. Wout in yellow after getting pipped at the line by Jakobsen (amazing comeback by Jakobsen considering his horror, near fatal crash a few years ago) and Pogacar coming in pretty late with a puncture. Wout could stay in yellow for quite a few days with that 3+ minute advantage.

edit: I'm not correct on that last bit. Pogacar stands just 8 seconds behind WvA in the GC.

 

[Dolph Drago]

It was funny how they were talking about how clean the race had been with no crashes. Then about 4 of them proceeded to occur throughout the remainder of the race with another nearly happening when Jakobsen and Sagan bumped into each other slightly in the sprint.

 

[W3H5]

I haven't followed The Tour for a few years but I caught some highlights of state 1 & 2 on Lantern Rouge and it piqued my interest.

 

[Omnis]

So since I've gotten the cycling bug I've actually watched a ton of Lantern Rouge and have been learning so much. What's up with Tadej riding for such a garbage UAE team? Money? Seems like the Jumbo Visma and Quickstep guys are always just delivering their prime guys to the finish line on a silver platter. Also, are Grenadiers kind of not so hot right now or do they need big climbing stages to come into their own?

 

[Eunos_Cosmo]

So since I've gotten the cycling bug I've actually watched a ton of Lantern Rouge and have been learning so much. What's up with Tadej riding for such a garbage UAE team? Money? Seems like the Jumbo Visma and Quickstep guys are always just delivering their prime guys to the finish line on a silver platter. Also, are Grenadiers kind of not so hot right now or do they need big climbing stages to come into their own?

He is reportedly the highest paid rider in pro cycling. I also think he likes beating the well-stacked teams by himself. Ineos just doesn't have a GC rider that can go toe to toe with Pocagar Roglic or Vingegaard while Bernal is still recovering. They don't really have a sprinter either, but they did do well on the opening time trial with Ganna (3rd). Geraint Thomas has won the tour, but he seems past his prime and also seems to make a lot of mistakes. Pidcock has potential but doesn't seem consistent. Dani Martinez is good, but not on a level with Pogacar. Yates is good for a stage win or 2, but doesn't seem to be able to put together multiple strong stages. I think their idea was that if you combine a Martinez, Thomas, Pidcock, and Yates, you have a formidable climbing train. But Pogacar just jumps on their wheel and rides the train himself, so it doesn't really prove to be an advantage.

Really appreciating Magnus Cort doing interesting things since we don't have Julian Alaphillipe in the race this year. The panache seems to come with the mustache. I hope he gets a stage win.

Edit: Incredible effort by WvA to win the stage today. 😵

 

[Eunos_Cosmo]

Comment from Tadej Pogacar to Wout after the race today:

"It's good that you dropped your guys also"

 

[Eunos_Cosmo]

Crazy stage today.

Nielson Powless was sooooo close to both winning the stage and taking the yellow jersey. He'll have to settle for 4th and 2nd respectively. I really wonder if EF will pull for Powless to get a podium in the race overall now that Jumbo Visma has stumbled and other GC hopefuls don't seem to be in contention. What happened to Uran?

The other interesting thing about this edition of the tour is that MvdP has not really been a factor in any of the stages. I wonder if he's not feeling well?

 

[Michael88]

Did an experiment on my stationary bike today, cranked the friction up nearly all the way and did a very low RPM stint of 35 minutes to simulate going up a very steep incline the whole time. The friction brake got really hot and smelly lol, ended up doing 350 watts for 35 minutes!
I have to say this was a lot of fun but boy, in the last 3 minutes my vision got fuzzy, like watching TV during bad weather.

 

[Omnis]

Did an experiment on my stationary bike today, cranked the friction up nearly all the way and did a very low RPM stint of 35 minutes to simulate going up a very steep incline the whole time. The friction brake got really hot and smelly lol, ended up doing 350 watts for 35 minutes!
I have to say this was a lot of fun but boy, in the last 3 minutes my vision got fuzzy, like watching TV during bad weather.

350W for 35 minutes, shoots slugs... through his rifle. Was your father a bear? The Avengers could have used you against Thanos.

 

[Dolph Drago]

It would have been awesome to see an American in yellow. Wout once again put on a clinic in the closing stages of the race though. I want to say he was around 1:45 or so back after the final set of cobbles. His group brought it down to 1:04 by the finish. That gain in time is more than the 0:13 Powless found himself behind overall after the stage.

 

[Eunos_Cosmo]

It would have been awesome to see an American in yellow. Wout once again put on a clinic in the closing stages of the race though. I want to say he was around 1:45 or so back after the final set of cobbles. His group brought it down to 1:04 by the finish. That gain in time is more than the 0:13 Powless found himself behind overall after the stage.

And Powless just missed it again today. Pogacar's stage win and bonus time put him in yellow, just above Powless who is 4 seconds behind. Somehow I don't think we'll see yellow on anyone else's shoulders this year...

Powless would likely be leading the race if his own teammate didn't drag Pogacar and Van Aert yesterday when he had two teammates up the road in the breakaway.

 

[Michael88]

350W for 35 minutes, shoots slugs... through his rifle. Was your father a bear? The Avengers could have used you against Thanos.

I am just crazy and that gives me an easier time to push through the limits of my body.

 

[Dolph Drago]

And Powless just missed it again today. Pogacar's stage win and bonus time put him in yellow, just above Powless who is 4 seconds behind. Somehow I don't think we'll see yellow on anyone else's shoulders this year...

Powless would likely be leading the race if his own teammate didn't drag Pogacar and Van Aert yesterday when he had two teammates up the road in the breakaway.

Sadly I believe you're right. We won't see anyone else wearing yellow the rest of the tour, much less an American. So close, yet so far. Damn.

 

[W3H5]

It’s a long race, and injuries and crashes are unpredictable. I wouldn’t be picking a winner just yet.

 

[Eunos_Cosmo]

Another exciting finish today. Van Aert & Pogacar are on a rampage! It's hard not to like either of them, so I don't mind it.

One of the more interesting parts of the Tour (and bike racing in general) is the multiple simultaneous competitions. It gives different motivations at different parts of the race. There are two roles, IMO that are vital to the race that pretty much go unrewarded and for them I think there should be 2 more Jerseys:

1. Maillot Tracteur: High visibility / traffic cone color. For the rider with the most cumulative time at the front of the Peloton. Tim Declerq is excellent at what he does, but there is no reward for his (and similar riders) efforts to drag the Peloton through the tour. Lets give the tractors of the tour some recognition.

2. Maillot Corsaire: Black jersey with Skull & Crossbones on the back. For the rider with the most cumulative time in breakaways. In the early stages of the race, this would overlap a lot with the king of the mountains (as Magnus Cort has proven) but I think it could be interesting to track separately so that flat stage breakaway riders get something.

Both of these would require some sort of specialty timing gear, linked to GPS (probably) that records positions every 100m or so, but that seems like it could be implemented pretty easily.

 

[W3H5]

Another exciting finish today. Van Aert & Pogacar are on a rampage! It's hard not to like either of them, so I don't mind it.

One of the more interesting parts of the Tour (and bike racing in general) is the multiple simultaneous competitions. It gives different motivations at different parts of the race. There are two roles, IMO that are vital to the race that pretty much go unrewarded and for them I think there should be 2 more Jerseys:

1. Maillot Tracteur: High visibility / traffic cone color. For the rider with the most cumulative time at the front of the Peloton. Tim Declerq is excellent at what he does, but there is no reward for his (and similar riders) efforts to drag the Peloton through the tour. Lets give the tractors of the tour some recognition.

2. Maillot Corsaire: Black jersey with Skull & Crossbones on the back. For the rider with the most cumulative time in breakaways. In the early stages of the race, this would overlap a lot with the king of the mountains (as Magnus Cort has proven) but I think it could be interesting to track separately so that flat stage breakaway riders get something.

Both of these would require some sort of specialty timing gear, linked to GPS (probably) that records positions every 100m or so, but that seems like it could be implemented pretty easily.

Awesome ideas. I’d love to see those become a thing.

 

[Dolph Drago]

They've got the most combative rider, so why not add your ideas? I like them.

 

[Eunos_Cosmo]

Man...watching Thibaut Pinot makes me tired. No matter how he is doing in any particular stage or race, you just know that it is going to somehow end in heartbreak. Another Jersey idea: Maillot Ennui or even just Maillot Pinot for the rider most consistently delivering disappointing results.

Fantastic job for Neilson Powless for keeping up with the big boys. Considering he was not EF's primary GC contender, he's doing really well. Its doubtful EF will put together a serious team effort to keep him in the top 10, but he should continue to do well in the mountains. Doing NorCal proud!

 

[Dolph Drago]

Moronic protestors briefly halting the race aside, another great stage today. I'm amazed at how many photo finishes we've had on finishing CLIMBS!

EF has been representing. Magnus Cort and his magnificent mustache pulled through with an unbelievable win. Overall, Powless is still hanging in there only 5 seconds away from the top 10.

Not only the American team, but the other riders from the U.S. continue to impress as well. Jorgenson finished 4th today with Simmons just outside the top 10.

Oh, and Pogacar keeps doing just enough to keep his yellow jersey each day. Kamna jumped up to P2, a scant 11 seconds off the lead.

 

[Dennisch]

It has been a while since I've seen a Maillot Jaune crack like that.

 

[Eunos_Cosmo]

It has been a while since I've seen a Maillot Jaune crack like that.

Wild. I hope it's not because of illness, that would be a disappointing and anti-climactic end to the tour.

Somewhat related - Roglic seems well and truly past his prime now, I can't see him winning the TDF at this point.

 

[Eunos_Cosmo]

This stage is interesting for me - I started paying attention to cycling in 2019, the year that Egan Bernal won the Tour with Sagan winning the green Jersey. It was like right at the end of the last chapter of pro cycling (Team Sky / Ineos & Peter Sagan domination era) but after Chris Froome had his serious crash. I've only ever read about Chris Froome's exploits, I've never seen him be competitive. So it's very interesting for me to see him up at the front as he is today. How can such a legend look so goofy on a bike?

I've been really impressed with Neilson Powless in this race. It proves his win at San Sebastian wasn't just luck - he's a contender. I hope that EF will support him in more of a GC role going forward.

 

[Jezza819]

One thing I've been curious about is why are there so many mechanical difficulties right at the start of the race? I think it was Quintana changed bikes during the neutral start today, somebody had trouble with the saddle height a couple of days ago, somebody else had trouble with the pedals, etc.

They don't do like a little shakedown run each morning to check things like that?

 

[Dolph Drago]

I got a few days behind and was hesitant to hop back into the thread to avoid spoilers.

This has been an fantastic tour. It's had so much. Photo finishes, guys with scintillating rides, riders carrying the team on their back (Vingegaarde may be leading overall, but Wout seems to be able to do whatever the team needs of him even if it means he's forced to drop from a breakaway), chaos with bike issues, American riders and team representing, riders showing they still have some left in the tank (Froome on Alpe d'Huez), the list goes on.

I don't think anyone expected Pogacar to crack the way he did. I would say Vingegaarde has it in the bag, but his teammates have started dropping like flies. Now Roglic is gone and Kruijswijk dropped out with an injury likely due to idiot protestors causing the sudden slowdown of the peloton. But the Tour isn't over yet. Anything can happen over the final week.

 

[Omnis]

One thing I've been curious about is why are there so many mechanical difficulties right at the start of the race? I think it was Quintana changed bikes during the neutral start today, somebody had trouble with the saddle height a couple of days ago, somebody else had trouble with the pedals, etc.

They don't do like a little shakedown run each morning to check things like that?

They're French.

 

[Dennisch]

Looks like we might see a bit of fireworks on the final climb. 3 kilometers of 16-18% and Pogacar hasn't given up on the yellow yet.

Edit.

Nope. Vingegaard looks stronger than Pogacar.

 

[Eunos_Cosmo]

At the beginning of the tour my thought was - anyone but Pogacar. But with the sheer power of the Jumbo squad (a little less powerful now without PR) and the completely helpless UAE team, Pogacar sure seems like the underdog at this point - I'm kind of cheering for him! Jumbo's tactics on the Galibier were pretty legendary, baiting Pogacar into fighting a whole team basically.

And Wout van Aert is simply a monster. I honestly wonder if he could win the Tour outright one day. If he wasn't so busy pulling Vingegaard all around France, he could probably get some enormous breakways - possibly enough to negate his high mountain deficits - but he can also win in the high mountains too! He's an even more complete rider than Peter Sagan was in his prime and he seems more resilient than MvdP as well. I hope MvdP can recover from his current funk soon, we need this rivalry to keep going.

 

[Eunos_Cosmo]

Interesting article on COVID effects on a pro rider, in this case Magnus Cort Nielson

His normal resting heart rate is 37! That's so crazy. I wonder why more research hasn't been done with regards to body metrics and covid. It would be interesting to see if these kind of numbers could reveal a positive COVID case before either symptoms or a test could confirm it. You could really see the practical application outside of sports.

 

[Dolph Drago]

Houle made it look easy today. Such a shame Jorgenson fell late while chasing, though. Maybe, possibly he could have made a run if not for that. Or the fact that he had Woods on his wheels, not looking to help one bit as his teammate took the stage win. Then they were chased down themselves, and poor Jorgenson just missed out on the podium...again. I'm still thoroughly impressed by the riding of the Americans this year.

His normal resting heart rate is 37! That's so crazy.

Kind of off topic, but this reminded me of something. A few years ago I went to the Cincinnati Museum Center with my parents. I've been there many times since I was a kid. It's a cool place to check out if you're ever in the area. The museum had an Apollo 11 display, as it was the 50th anniversary of the moon landing. In the Omnimax theater located there (think larger than IMAX), we watched a documentary with raw feed of the mission. They showed the heart rates of the astronauts during what should have been strenuous parts, such as the takeoff, entering the moon's gravity, and the landing itself. Everyone in the theater had a laugh when we saw just how calm these guys were.

The article below is an interesting read. I enjoyed this bit: "During this period of silence, the module slowed down and slipped into the moon’s orbit before coming back around. In this moment, as the men succumbed to the gravity of another world, Armstrong’s heart rate was 106, Aldrin’s 70, and Collins’s a cool 66." Insane!

The Moment That Made Neil Armstrong’s Heart Rate Spike

Real-time data from the Apollo 11 astronauts, carefully monitored by Mission Control, capture the frenzied maneuvers that put men on the moon.

www.theatlantic.com