Minor Races Thread 2015 - [SPOILERS]

[smutchin]

"LOL"

 

[Crackle]

Yeah sorry.

 

[Berk on a Bike]

The Route du Sud is underway. This is a nice little race, and there'll be eurosport live streams everyday. Contador and Quintana are riding this year as Tour preparation.
http://www.routedusud.fr/

British Eurosport prefers live tennis so there are only highlights in the UK. Might be live on the Player app.

 

[Berk on a Bike]

The European Games in Baku have been some way under the radar in this country (perhaps due to our lack of participation?). Anyway, the time trials took place today and Vas Kiryienka won gold for Belarus. Woo hoo!

The women's and men's road races are on Saturday and Sunday respectively. Who knew?

EDIT: having looked at the website GB has sent a sizeable squad across a wide range of sports. No cyclists though.

ANOTHER EDIT: Women's TT was won by Ellen van Dijk...

 

[raindog]

British Eurosport prefers live tennis so there are only highlights in the UK. Might be live on the Player app.

here you go
http://privatestream.tv/player?streamname=ysicm873zorgoe&width=600&height=510
87k to go - nice clean feed for once, too

 

[smutchin]

Kittel and Greipel are both in the Ster ZLM Toer, which started yesterday with a 6.4km prologue.

This is the profile for this afternoon's first stage proper - a twisty but not especially lumpy circuit round 's-Hertogenbosch...

My money is on a bunch sprint.

 

[The Couch]

For the people interested to see how pro's who aren't climbers (and therefore don't get televised) ride up the Rettenbachferner after +200K of racing, here is Sep Vanmarcke being videotaped from his team managers' car:

Seems very unfair that he has to climb much more kilometers then the best climbers

 

[smutchin]

My money is on a bunch sprint.

And a bunch sprint it was, but one with only 37 riders - not including Kittel.

Greipel won, unsurprisingly.

 

[raindog]

Tronet mugged the peloton in the Route du Sud. Europcar tried to set it up for Coquard but it all fell apart. Lively end to the stage and nice countryside.
I often enjoy these smaller races more than the GTs - am I a pervert?

 

[smutchin]

Tronet mugged the peloton in the Route du Sud.

That was bizarre. Europcar looked like they had it all under control and then went awol in the last few hundred metres.

 

[Berk on a Bike]

For the people interested to see how pro's who aren't climbers (and therefore don't get televised) ride up the Rettenbachferner after +200K of racing, here is Sep Vanmarcke being videotaped from his team managers' car:

Seems very unfair that he has to climb much more kilometers then the best climbers

Matt Stephens used a term I'd never heard before to describe that sort of riding. He called it "paperboying". I thought that was pretty funny.

 

[fimm]

Is Sep Vanmarcke the really tall guy? Not ideal for climbing...

 

[Strathlubnaig]

TdS, Sagan made that look easy at the end. Saw Cavendish looking around for someone to blame.

 

[raindog]

riders not happy with yesterday's finish
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/news-shorts-safety-concerns-over-tour-de-suisse-stage-finish

 

[smutchin]

I expect Geraint Thomas was reasonably happy with it - he took five seconds out of Pinot's lead.

Assuming they both stay pretty close to the front end of the race over the next two stages, Sunday's TT will be interesting - maybe not Lemond vs Fignon levels of interesting, but the result could be equally close either way.