Minor Races Thread 2015 - [SPOILERS]

[Flying_Monkey]

That was a finish that came straight from his track endurance experience. Absolutely brilliant. If he stays upright, Thomas has so much potential.

 

[raindog]

Yes, and I can't help feeling he should've been winning stuff like this a couple of years ago instead of being made to pull Froome up hills.

 

[Apollonius]

Marvellous. Stood and cheered when G crossed the line. Really delivering on his potential now. That was Sky's biggest win since Froome's TdF in my view. Sorry Cancellara is out of Paris Roubaix though. I was looking forward to seeing him in the flesh.

 

[smutchin]

If he stays upright, Thomas has so much potential.

Aye, you're not wrong there. I may have mentioned before that I'm a bit of a Geraint Thomas fan. Glad to see that he's finally living up to the hype I've been giving him for years!

Completely missed today's race but I'll be watching the highlights on repeat for a while.

It's normal for a 42yo man to feel a bit emotional about someone winning a bike race, isn't it?

 

[smutchin]

Yes, and I can't help feeling he should've been winning stuff like this a couple of years ago instead of being made to pull Froome up hills.

The way British cycling is structured, far too much emphasis is placed on track racing, but he's often seemed more interested in track than road. He was always too god for the track imo, always had a lot more in his locker.

Although as FM says, his track experience may have been beneficial in many ways too.

 

[raindog]

Although as FM says, his track experience may have been beneficial in many ways too.

Absolutely - that last 4.3k was more or less a pursuit for him
It seemed obvious that he would jump around the 5k mark, and that with the smallest gap, Stybar would be beaten.
It was good racing - I would've been happy to see any one of those three get it, but it was definitely Geraint's moment.

 

[rich p]

What a day for Team Sky. E3 Harelbeke win, GC jersey in Catalunya, GC jersey at Coppi e Bartali. Plenty to catch up on when I get home tonight!

Nice to see Ben Swift actually win something albeit a fairly minor event

 

[Shadow]

What a day for Team Sky. E3 Harelbeke win, GC jersey in Catalunya, GC jersey at Coppi e Bartali. !

Indeed. And I'm not a huge Sky fan. And with Stannard's win the other day, i wonder if there has been a change of thinking back at Sky HQ. Learning from the past couple of years, letting some of their riders of the leash a little and let them ride to their abilities instead of being told from above this is what you do to win a race. It's been said before here, riding the road, especially these one day races, is so different from the track.

 

[Apollonius]

Let's cut Sky some slack here shall we. I have been following (mostly from quite a distance during my working years) cycle racing since I was teenager. It was always foreign and exotic. Any UK interest was (Simpson excluded) eccentric and largely making up the numbers. The idea that a UK rider could win major races was nothing but a dream. The Sky project set out to change that and to do it clean. They bought new ideas and something of a management culture to cycle racing - Brailsford reminds me so much of one of my own excellent line managers. The riding tempo thing brought two TdF wins. Unsurprisingly, the same techniques do not work for the totally different demands of one-day racing. Since Brailsford devoted himself full-time to Sky and left BC to Shane, he has been able to develop their approach. I am sure he would have done it using the same thorough, professional, supportive management techniques I have mentioned previously.
It amazes me that so many people want to knock Sky and all they have achieved. This is a great British success story achieved fairly (Walsh says so) and professionally. The success has been miraculous and they are still learning and developing. I am delighted by Sky's day of triumph yesterday.

Edit for typo.

 

[Pro Tour Punditry]

Ben King, called in as a replacement 2 days ago, wins the 1st stage of Criterium International.

 

[Flying_Monkey]

Ben Swift fails to hold on the overall in the Coppi e Bartoli. Louis Meintjes of MTN-Qhubeka takes the final stage and the overall - great result for the African team.

 

[smutchin]

Great win for Lizzie Armitstead at the Trofeo Alfredo Binda today, beating Ferrand-Prevot, Van Der Breggen, Longho Borgini and Amaliusik in a five-way sprint finish.

 

[Flying_Monkey]

Great win for Lizzie Armitstead at the Trofeo Alfredo Binda today, beating Ferrand-Prevot, Van Der Breggen, Longho Borgini and Amaliusik in a five-way sprint finish.

I started a separate thread on the Women's World Cup. It's a bit crap having discussion of these races in the 'Minor Races' thread, no? https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/womens-world-cup-thread.177282/

 

[The Couch]

They are going to arrive very quickly today in the 3daagse De Panne.
The wind has picked up again and is blowing quite hard from a South-Western direction (i.e. general direction from the start to to the finish of the stage today)

 

[The Couch]

The first 12K of the day is being neutralized (because you have very narrow roads there and open fields)
Funny enough the riders are divided on it:
while some applaud it
others believ the flying start will make it even more dangerous