Generic Pro Road Cycling Thread
- Thread starter Norm
- Start date
Also, nice peak for the Olympic road race for wout!
Aside from his temper at the start of that one stage, where was he boorish? He won 4 stages and was nothing but complimentary to his team. I don’t see the other sprinters finding every person on there team to thank them.
Bikeworks
Well-Known Member
I meant historically, in his interviews he's been boorish. You're right, he has been appreciative and humble during this run, but it's almost dumb-luck he's even here, so he kind of has to be. I mean, who would've foreseen his being picked over Bennett for the Tour? Or even getting picked up by DQS for that matter? Amazing run, and certainly a for the ages sprinter, but I'm not crushed about seeing WVA beat him out using superior tactics
I try not to cross quote threads.
serviceguy
Well-Known Member
Yep, apparently everybody has seen him losing the gold. It was glorious. And mostly of his own making. And the course officials. Waiting for the memes, just an idea for one...MVDP asking ‘why is everyone jumping the ramp and not rolling it?’ While in the background the officials are removing the ramp ‘what ramp dude?!?!’ But seriously, why would they remove a feature that is on the course during the training?!?!
oops, too late?
Everybody got 20-20 in hindsight. lol.
For the record, he did wear yellow for a several races so I was not totally off on my prediction.
Do people not like MVDP for some reason? Every interview I’ve seen and every interaction I’ve seen, he seems like a good kid. I feel bad for him. This crash is super bizarre. He could do that drop on his cross bike. It must have been mental.
For the record, he did wear yellow for a several races so I was not totally off on my prediction.
Do people not like MVDP for some reason? Every interview I’ve seen and every interaction I’ve seen, he seems like a good kid. I feel bad for him. This crash is super bizarre. He could do that drop on his cross bike. It must have been mental.
Ian F
Well-Known Member
I'm not sure... MVDP doesn't seem to have an huge ego or anything. Fairly quiet and courteous. I feel for him although I'm still at a loss to understand why he didn't get the memo about the ramp when everyone else did. As a racing fan, I'm disappointed we didn't get to see him and Pittcock battle it out for the win.
I'm also sure "ramp-gate" will be a subject of debate for some time. It was put back for the women's event, although apparently it was due to the weather causing slower conditions? Many of the women still sent the drop during their race laps as that was faster than rolling it. How Neff managed to not eat it when PFP slowed in front of her to roll it is nothing short of amazing.
I'm hoping that I'll eventually get to watch full replays of the race without having to fork over the $$ for NBC streaming.
I'm also sure "ramp-gate" will be a subject of debate for some time. It was put back for the women's event, although apparently it was due to the weather causing slower conditions? Many of the women still sent the drop during their race laps as that was faster than rolling it. How Neff managed to not eat it when PFP slowed in front of her to roll it is nothing short of amazing.
I'm hoping that I'll eventually get to watch full replays of the race without having to fork over the $$ for NBC streaming.
serviceguy
Well-Known Member
I didn't watch the race, got bits and pieces over the internet. The crash was just an epic OTB that you would expect a noob like me to experience, he was obviously surprised by the drop, as in he did not expect it to be there at all. I have no bad feelings toward the guy, I know is one of the great ones and he's probably going to be one of the greatest of all time especially since he's so versatile on everything two wheels. Nothing but respect from me.
That said, it looks like he was the victim of a perfect storm, where several factors, some under his control other completely out of it, came together to screw his chance at an olympic gold medal. Why you would have a ramp in place during practice only to take it out during the race is beyond my understanding. Is this a regular practice? it would seem weird to me. His team mate and coach told him the ramp wasn't going to be there, so he probably forgot or got confused about it in the heat of the competition. If it's true that he did not attend the officials breafing before the race where apparently the rap removal was reiterated that may have been a little superficial of him but at the end of the day I guess it's a lesson learned, the had way. Hopefully he didn't get hurt too bad. Also, what we know id from media, websites, comments etc. so who knows the real reasons.
With regard to the Tour, I'm sure the frenchies are not going to be big fans of him, you don't quit the most important race in the universe in favor of a meaningless little olympic race not even raced on the road, like it was any Giro, parbleu!
I imagine the reason that the ramp was there was to enable riders to ease into the drop initially during practice and lessen the consequences as they were getting comfortable with the drop. From what I've read, it was removed for the final day of practice so that riders could get used to it not being there. MVDP screwed up, not sure there's more to it than that.
Ramp was reincorporated in the women's race due to the conditions (muddy).
Ramp was reincorporated in the women's race due to the conditions (muddy).
Juggernaut
Master of the Metaphor
Ok, after a few really bad days at work, I’m catching up on the Vuelta. So is it that Jumbo’s DS is demonstrating the Nederland’s stance or recreational drugs or is it that Roglic has had one too many blows to the head? Don’t get me wrong, I hate robotic team tactics. Racers taking super long shot chances against all odds makes for great drama…. But what was the payoff here? It wasn’t a climbers stage. There were no bonus seconds at the end, no way to deliver a crushing blow to his rivals. This was, well, stupid. Like “Bless his Heart” kinda stupid. Thankfully the barrier never came into play and he’s more or less ok... but….it’s emblematic of the difunctional mindset here. Just seems like his career ( under this DS) is destined to end in a headline; one I hope doesn’t include the word “tragic“. That “W” Tyler Farrar made on his historic TDF win to honor the memory of his fried Wout Weylandt (who died in that tragic giro crash) should still be in the back of Raas’s mind.…. Somewhere.
Bikeworks
Well-Known Member
The DS for JV should be canned. Equally dumb was not having anyone on the team in a position to assume leadership responsibilities in the TdF after Roglic went down. When they finally settled in on Vingegaard, it seemed they weren't fully committed. And if I were Kuss, I'd jump ship and join EF; Vaughters would love to finally have someone who can crush the mountains, hell maybe even challenge for a podium, because the best days of Mick Jagg, err, Uran seem to be behind him.
Juggernaut
Master of the Metaphor
They have a ton of talent on that team and lots of results to show for it. But they could have more, a lot more if they got their act togethe.
Juggernaut
Master of the Metaphor
Yeah he’s a fantastic climber and if it was a mountain top finish I’d be all in... But it wasn’t, and he’s not a great descender… like at all. And there was what, 5 maybe 7 km of flat at the end of the course. He had zero chance to maintain a gap under those conditions. It’s just not smart racing.
I agree, it was not smart racing at all. I would assume that the idea was to further crush morale of his GC competitors, which he sort of accomplished with the exception of Mas. The cat 2 climb was steeper than it looks on paper, with a fairly short, technical descent. Overall a silly move, but great for spectating.