wingguy

@owl-X: Right? Pidcock has so far raced four senior plus two U23 XCO World Cups at Nove Mesto and won ALL of them despite starting way down the field on most occasions. What's anyone going to do to stop him from 2nd on the grid?

This is really true. A successful comeback after a full season out like Jackson is a great thing - but riders coming back from broken bones etc after only missing one or two races often shouldn’t be celebrated the way it is. Motorbike racers do the exact same thing. Mark Marquez tried to race with a broken arm in 2020 and the damage he did led to injury complications that ultimately resulted in a 5 year wait between titles. Given a less macho approach to the initial break and he could have been pushing the all time records clear out of sight in that time instead. So even from a pure sporting perspective the risk is so often not worth it.

@eae903: Not particularly? You don’t have to like VdP to acknowledge that he is a genuine superstar even if you ignore cyclocross entirely. It’s not even a matter of opinion really, you just have to count the major wins. And sometimes commentators have to answer the daft questions like ‘can such and such win the tour because they’re really good at something completely different?’ but that’s not the same thing as being hyped for it. He’s never been interested in climbing mountains, never been interested in time trialling and struggles to even finish a three week race let alone be competitive in the later stages. For all that he is a multi discipline rider I think his training is actually much more tightly focussed on a narrower range of priorities than WvA! Hence 8 monuments vs 1 and rainbows on the road, but very few GT stage wins, no points jerseys or even any strong points campaigns etc.

@eae903: Who is hyping him as a GC rider? Surely no one that usually follows road riding. He literally isn’t one… at all. Hasn’t tried, will never try. I just meant he’s not just a successful ‘cross rider, he’s a genuine cycling superstar. Agree that Pidcock is a better MTBer, he’s just a perfect mix of attributes for the climbier courses.

That and the monuments. Joint most Flanders wins, could equal the Roubaix record this year, and looks likely to end his career in the top 3 or 4 all time monuments winners. He’s already ahead of Boonen and Cancellara who both retired as stone cold legends of modern road cycling.

@zyoungson: It is unbelievable how clueless they are about basic safety measures. Every time the camera showed Godziek after his crash they kept repeating that he'd be fully assessed by medical professionals who would decide if he was allowed to run again. My dudes... he knocked himself clean out in front of your eyes. There is no assessment in the world that could possibly overrule that fact and find him safe to take a second run. The very idea that it could is pure insanity. As to the guy who said no amount of money makes it better for Silva... I have to assume he meant no amount of money makes it OK. Being paralyzed is unfortunately very expensive - especially for someone who's also lost their job as a result - and once it has happened then having access to a lot of money to do things like adapt a house and car to be fully accessible and useable will absolutely will make quality of life much better.

But who is it sponsored by?

Last time I went to a bike park 8 out of 10 slots on the uplift trailer were taken up by e-bikes. Not sure how to do the maths on that one!

EU regs around DOT? Disposal is obviously strictly controlled because it's such nasty stuff but that's been the case since forever. It's certainly not as if the EU is going to be pushing to get rid of DOT - think how many millions of gallons are in circulation in the motor industry. That sure isn't changing.

I mean... La Thuile is in Italy though?