Figured instead of a "dedicated" TdF thread we could make it more generic. Paris-Nice is underway right now.
2025 Cycling Thread
- Thread starter Jack Straw
- Start date
Paris-Roubaix Femmes under way, possibly my favorite race of the year (P-R in general, not just the women). What can I say, I like to see people suffer. Looks like nice weather at least.
Incredible win for Pauline Ferrand-Prevot. She went away solo with over 10km to go and never lost any time to the chase group.
High drama in the men’s race- Pocagar and van der Poel riding clear of everyone and Pocagar overcooks a turn in a cobblestone section and goes off the road and is now 19” behind.
And van der Poel wins his 3rd Paris-Roubaix in a row. To me, he looked the strongest. After Pocagar had his little mishap, he ended up losing time the rest of the way. Mads Pedersen gets third.
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It was probably Van der Poel's anyway but it's too bad we didn't get to see a proper showdown between him and Pogacar.
Wout Van Aert made a respectable comeback in the end, but man does he have bad luck at Roubaix. And has not looked in great form so far this season.
Yeah, it didn't appear that Pocagar would be able to drop van der Poel and you have to figure vdP would win a sprint at the end. But for his first shot at P-R, pretty impressive ride by TP. He handled everything well... except for that one curve
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Yeah, it didn't appear that Pocagar would be able to drop van der Poel and you have to figure vdP would win a sprint at the end. But for his first shot at P-R, pretty impressive ride by TP. He handled everything well... except for that one curve
It's insane that he can finish second being a grand tour rider who is so much smaller than the favorites.
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Pogacar showing he's kinda human by "only" coming in 2nd in Paris-Roubaix and Amstel Gold. Still fun to see him animate these races though.
He blew everyhone away in Fleche Wallone and now looks to be doing the same thing in Liege-Bastone-Liege. I think Paris-Roubaix will always be a tough one for him because it’s basically flat.
Remco not looking too good today.
Kim Le Court becomes the first cyclist from Mauritius (which I admit I couldn't find on a map until today) to win a Monument. Vollering finishes 3rd but had a pretty good excuse:
“Today, my hormones were working against me. I’m a woman, right? We deal with that monthly issue"
And some idiot fan (using the term loosely here) in a UAE jersey jumped into the race on his bike:
'I thought it was Tadej Pogačar' – Rooijakkers able to laugh as 'ridiculous' spectator rides on course during Liège-Bastogne-Liège Femmes
“Today, my hormones were working against me. I’m a woman, right? We deal with that monthly issue"
And some idiot fan (using the term loosely here) in a UAE jersey jumped into the race on his bike:
'I thought it was Tadej Pogačar' – Rooijakkers able to laugh as 'ridiculous' spectator rides on course during Liège-Bastogne-Liège Femmes
- Mar 4, 2004
- 28,545
- 33,591
- Mar 4, 2004
- 28,545
- 33,591
I don't know if anyone is watching the Giro on Max/TNT Sports but i will never get tired of Jens Voigt's commentating, even though I can't understand a lot of what he's saying. I just love the way the guy talks.
Unfortunately I don’t have Max so haven’t been able to watch it. Don’t know why Peacock didn’t get it. Always loved Jensie.
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- Mar 4, 2004
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The Giro is apparently owned by a different organization than the Tour de France or Vuelta. So have a different tv contract. It’s annoying.
Peacock had been pretty great. It’s the first time I’ve seen a lot of the spring classics.
When I saw that Max was also carrying the French Open I broke down and got it. Watching the Giro now, I like the commontaters and not having to listen to Bob Roll makes it worth by iteself.
Sean Kelly on the broadcast. Legend.
Sean Kelly on the broadcast. Legend.
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Wout is a beast. Such a shame that he’s had so much bad luck in recent years.
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What a reversal of fortune today. Simon Yates attacks on the penultimate climb of the day and neither del Toro nor Carapaz respond, both seeminly waiting for the other to go. Yates catches up to Wout who had been in an earlier break and Wout does what Wout does and pulls Yates to a winning time gap. Fantastic ride by Yates and it will win him the Giro. Not to mention exorcise the demons of 2018. Extremely questionable tactics by UAE and EF.
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- Mar 4, 2004
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Epic epic stage today. I never would've thought Yates could pull it off let alone win with a 4 minute cushion. Perfect ride and tactics by Visma today, what a pull by Wout, and what the heck were UAE and EF thinking???
One of the strangest things I've ever seen in a grand tour. Two of the top 3 just let the 3rd guy ride away, knowing that he has a strong team-mate waiting up the road. It's like they just gave up.
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Agreed.
It’s one thing if they just didn’t have the legs but neither one looked like they were giving full effort on the limit. Carapaz and del Toro played a game of chicken and both lost.
You’d think at some point their team directors would be screaming in their ears to go after Yates.
Some answers coming out:
Carapaz:
"Today we could have been the strongest, but it was the most intelligent who won," he said.
A journalist then asked if he felt that Del Toro had been racing more against Carapaz than racing to win the Giro. The exhausted, heartbroken Carapaz didn't have much to say on the matter, and chose his few words carefully.
"Well, finally he lost the Giro," he said curtly. "He didn't know how to race well and the most intelligent won."
Like Carapaz, the team seemed convinced that the Ecuadorian had the legs to win the Giro, but was undone by a tactical puzzle that they just couldn't get out of.
"To win you need to play like this. The risk is that you can also lose," EF Director Sportiff Juanma Gárate told Cyclingnews and Bici.PRO. "They both had the legs, it was down to tactics. We weren't going to ride just to help UAE and finish second.
And del Torro:
"At the beginning of the Finestre he wanted to crack everybody and I just showed they can't do that," Del Toro said.
"I wanted to be smart on the climb and not go crazy, I knew it would last an hour. I didn't want to push 1000 watts and then stop, like I knew would have happened. That's why I paced myself.
"Simon came up and I know he has experience and that he'd ride steady and smart. I think I could have stayed with him but I knew I had to mark Carapaz because he was the closest to me in GC. Yates was third and Richie was second, so Richie needed to follow him. I had 1:20 on Simon and so I could let him go a bit.
"I told Richard that I wouldn't work so that he could attack and drop me on the last climb. He told me he wouldn't ride and I said 'Okay'. Everyone then saw what happened."
Carapaz:
"Today we could have been the strongest, but it was the most intelligent who won," he said.
A journalist then asked if he felt that Del Toro had been racing more against Carapaz than racing to win the Giro. The exhausted, heartbroken Carapaz didn't have much to say on the matter, and chose his few words carefully.
"Well, finally he lost the Giro," he said curtly. "He didn't know how to race well and the most intelligent won."
'No regrets. Zero'
A kilometre down the road from where Carapaz was slumped over the bike in physical and emotional pain, his team were already beginning to dissect what had happened.Like Carapaz, the team seemed convinced that the Ecuadorian had the legs to win the Giro, but was undone by a tactical puzzle that they just couldn't get out of.
"To win you need to play like this. The risk is that you can also lose," EF Director Sportiff Juanma Gárate told Cyclingnews and Bici.PRO. "They both had the legs, it was down to tactics. We weren't going to ride just to help UAE and finish second.
And del Torro:
'I had the legs to win overall'
Del Toro refuted probing questions about his and UAE's race tactics, in turn questioning how Carapaz raced."At the beginning of the Finestre he wanted to crack everybody and I just showed they can't do that," Del Toro said.
"I wanted to be smart on the climb and not go crazy, I knew it would last an hour. I didn't want to push 1000 watts and then stop, like I knew would have happened. That's why I paced myself.
"Simon came up and I know he has experience and that he'd ride steady and smart. I think I could have stayed with him but I knew I had to mark Carapaz because he was the closest to me in GC. Yates was third and Richie was second, so Richie needed to follow him. I had 1:20 on Simon and so I could let him go a bit.
"I told Richard that I wouldn't work so that he could attack and drop me on the last climb. He told me he wouldn't ride and I said 'Okay'. Everyone then saw what happened."
Visma caps off a great Giro with Kooij winning the final sprint after a leadout from, who else, Wout van Aert.
