WT Races 2013

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Liking your work. Tirreno-Adriatico is my pick for stage race of the year. Course and field are both absolute belters.
 
Bond.ShaneBond said:
Liking your work. Tirreno-Adriatico is my pick for stage race of the year. Course and field are both absolute belters.
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Couldn't agree more. The field to Paris-Nice is looking bicer and a lot of Milan Sanremo riders are looking at the the Tirreno Adriatico. Who's your tip for it?
 

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Rejoice Eastern Staters!

SBS have announced the following races will be covered live:

Milan-San Remo (Italy) is LIVE from 11:10pm Sunday 17 March on SBS ONE, with live streaming online here at Cycling Central. It will be hosted by Michael Tomalaris with David McKenzie and commentary from Matt Keenan.

The Tour of Flanders (Belgium) is LIVE from 10:30pm Sunday 31 March on SBS ONE, with live streaming online here at Cycling Central. It will be hosted by Michael Tomalaris with David McKenzie and commentary from Matt Keenan and Scott McGrory.

Paris-Roubaix (France) is LIVE from 9:30pm Sunday 7 April on SBS ONE, with live streaming online at here at Cycling Central. It will be hosted by Michael Tomalaris with Henk Vogels and commentary from Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen. David McKenzie will provide reports from Europe.

The Amstel Gold Race (Netherlands) is LIVE 10:30pm Sunday 14 April SBS ONE, with live streaming online here at Cycling Central. It will be hosted by Michael Tomalaris with Henk Vogels and commentary from Matt Keenan and Scott McGrory.David McKenzie will provide reports from Europe.

Liege-Bastogne-Liege (Belgium) is LIVE 11:15pm Sunday 21 April SBS ONE. With live streaming online here at Cycling Central. It will be hosted by Michael Tomalaris with Henk Vogels and commentary from Matt Keenan and Scott McGrory. David McKenzie will provide reports from Europe.

Fingers crossed we aren't working on a 2 hour delay in WA.
 
Strade Biache is on tonight. It doesn't have WT status yet, but it belongs in this thread. Last year saw Spartacus absolutely smash it, and seemed to point to a dominant Classics season for the Swiss champ before he had a fall and suffered a broken collarbone. It looks a race in two tonight on the gravel roads, with Spartacus' title being challenged by the Saganator, who is my pick. Outsiders include Iglinsky, Valverde and Cadel. Moser would be a chance, but he is on Sagan's team and hasn't raced this year. Andy is riding for some reason, lock to get another DNF. The conditions will be tough, it is cold and has been snowing and raining during the last couple of weeks so the white roads will be wet.

I absolutely love this race, for me the real season starts now. This is my favourite one day race, possibly a controversial statement but I love the white roads of Tuscany. One of my favourite ever days of racing was during the 2012 Giro when Cadel won on a muddy course including the white roads. Not live on Eurosport, but it ha delayed coverage tonight.
 
Bond.ShaneBond said:
Strade Biache is on tonight. It doesn't have WT status yet, but it belongs in this thread. Last year saw Spartacus absolutely smash it, and seemed to point to a dominant Classics season for the Swiss champ before he had a fall and suffered a broken collarbone. It looks a race in two tonight on the gravel roads, with Spartacus' title being challenged by the Saganator, who is my pick. Outsiders include Iglinsky, Valverde and Cadel. Moser would be a chance, but he is on Sagan's team and hasn't raced this year. Andy is riding for some reason, lock to get another DNF. The conditions will be tough, it is cold and has been snowing and raining during the last couple of weeks so the white roads will be wet.

I absolutely love this race, for me the real season starts now. This is my favourite one day race, possibly a controversial statement but I love the white roads of Tuscany. One of my favourite ever days of racing was during the 2012 Giro when Cadel won on a muddy course including the white roads. Not live on Eurosport, but it ha delayed coverage tonight.
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What are the tatts lotto numbers?!!

Crankandfail smashed it last night, sparticus suffered from being heavily marked and having a shite team around him. Andy failed yet again..
 
Strade Bianche was a belter last night, with a perfect race from Cannondale. They used their quality perfectly to get the quinella, though perhaps in a different order to what was expected. Sagan and Spartacus marked each other well, and there was a breakaway that looked like it would stay away for so long. The tifosi loved the win from Moser. Canc needs to work on a Plan B, he is too much of a threat and with no effective teammates he really is a lone wolf out there. Andy chalked up another DNF, he is soft as butter. Great race, absolutely love it. Only improvement is the camerawork in Siena, with the narrow roads and tall buildings the satellites struggle to get a signal from the motorbikes and the helicopter shots make it difficult to see the action. More fixed cameras are required.
 
The Race to the Sun starts tonight with a ridiculous 3km prologue. Flip a coin for that one, there will be mere seconds separating the entire field. Overall the course is not particularly inspiring, and the field is weak with Tirreno-Adriatico snatching most of the big names. In terms of GC, look out for Gesink, Rui Costa, TJVG, Westra, Fugslang and Richie Porte who is leading Team Sky. It could be a bit of a lottery with a real chance of crosswinds in the early stages.
 
dart said:
Rejoice Eastern Staters!

SBS have announced the following races will be covered live:

Milan-San Remo (Italy) is LIVE from 11:10pm Sunday 17 March on SBS ONE, with live streaming online here at Cycling Central. It will be hosted by Michael Tomalaris with David McKenzie and commentary from Matt Keenan.

The Tour of Flanders (Belgium) is LIVE from 10:30pm Sunday 31 March on SBS ONE, with live streaming online here at Cycling Central. It will be hosted by Michael Tomalaris with David McKenzie and commentary from Matt Keenan and Scott McGrory.

Paris-Roubaix (France) is LIVE from 9:30pm Sunday 7 April on SBS ONE, with live streaming online at here at Cycling Central. It will be hosted by Michael Tomalaris with Henk Vogels and commentary from Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen. David McKenzie will provide reports from Europe.

The Amstel Gold Race (Netherlands) is LIVE 10:30pm Sunday 14 April SBS ONE, with live streaming online here at Cycling Central. It will be hosted by Michael Tomalaris with Henk Vogels and commentary from Matt Keenan and Scott McGrory.David McKenzie will provide reports from Europe.

Liege-Bastogne-Liege (Belgium) is LIVE 11:15pm Sunday 21 April SBS ONE. With live streaming online here at Cycling Central. It will be hosted by Michael Tomalaris with Henk Vogels and commentary from Matt Keenan and Scott McGrory. David McKenzie will provide reports from Europe.

Fingers crossed we aren't working on a 2 hour delay in WA.
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Congrats to SBS on that. If memory serves they had Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix and Liege-Bastogne-Liege last year, so they have added Milan-San Remo and The Amstel Gold Race.
I'm hoping for a greater coverage of Tour of Italy this year as well (not just the MTF's).
 
Paris-Nice was a sprint last night, and cycling has been for the home fans the last few days with the French champ taking it out. As predicted we had a peloton split, with the likes of Boonen and Kittel in the wrong half. Sadly Rui Costa crashed out of the race. Renshaw had half a chance in the sprint, but didn't have the desire to make the risky move. Another sprint tonight.
 
s**t is about to get real. Tirreno-Adriatico starts tonight, and it may just be the best race this year. It has a near perfect course, and a field containing the biggest names in cycling.

Contador, Froome, Rodriguez, Nibali, Evans, Sanchez, Cobo, Schleck will battle out the title (well, Schleck will be battling to finish.)

Cancellara and Martin will battle out the ITT.

Cavendish, Sagan, Degenkolb, Goss, Ciolek, Greipel, Pozzato, Hushovd will duke out the sprints.

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Unfortunately Eurosport isn't onto this, and is showing the sucky Paris-Nice live, with TA on delay. But get around it, I am certain it will be the best week long race in 2013, and possibly just the best race in 2013.
 

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Yep, a good few days for Australia. Goss outsprinting Greipel, Cav and co in a very wet Tirreno Adriatico, Aussie Albasini with a strong sprint from a reduced peloton and Richie Porte taking a firm grip on Paris Nice with a mountain top finish last night.

Let's start with Paris-Nice and Porte looks to have it in the bag. Sky did their thing last night, setting a strong tempo to discourage attacks, before some accelerations from Talansky that were nullified by Porte. The Aussie sprung away with a few clicks to go, and Talansky didn't have the legs to follow. Porte powered on to the win, and it has to be said that it is difficult to see him being found out tomorrow or on the final 9/6 @ 4% ITT. Special shout out to Gesink, who put in a laughable attack where he barely managed to pass the leaders and then quickly dropped away.

Down to a very wet Tirreno-Adriatico, and as mentioned Goss won the first sprint ahead of some big names. Sagan launched too early and Cav seemed to get lost in the bunch, but it is a big win for Goss. Last night it was Sagan's turn, who outsprinted big Greipel, Goss, Ciolek and a boxed-in Cavendish on a flat finish. Huge for Sagan to beat these names on a flat sprint. The sky really is the limit for the young champ. It was an exciting finish, with a chaotic climb and descent in the final 20km. Schleck did well, only losing 5 minutes on the day. Summit finish tonight, which will shape the race.
 
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Here are the two profiles for tonight. Of the two races, one is over bar the shouting. One of these stages will be shown live tonight. The other won't be, and won't be replayed until tomorrow morning.

Take a guess.
 
We will start with Paris-Nice, and as expected there were no real movers in terms of GC, but a good win for Chavanel to outsprint Gilbert and Dumoulin. Final ITT tonight, and Porte will have to have a Rasmussen-like disaster to lose it.

Tirreno-Adriatico was finally in the warm weather, and the broadcast opened with Carlton Kirby speculating that Nibali was a poor descender. What the * man, I listened to you commentate many races featuring Nibali last year so I just don't know how he could come up with an opinion like that.

Anyway, the race was okay, we copped some UK Postal for much of the climb but the final 5-6km were still exciting due to Contador and Nibali. Froome's final dig was Purito-like, and he is surely favourite for the Tour now, even if Contador was clearly below par. For Contador not to work with Nibali was very unlike him, I think that if he could have he would have. Santambrogio should also be mentioned, he did well to outlast the bigger names. But the ride of the day award is shared between Kwiatowski to stay with the big guns and be rewarded with the azzurro, and Moreno's excellent pacing of Purito back up to the favourites group.

Some observations of the big GC guys:
  • Schleck and Samu made an interesting comparison. Both clearly well off form, Schleck dropped back the moment the final climb began and lost 12 minutes, while Samu held on as long as possible to lose 3 minutes.
  • Cadel looked very poor. He was dropped by the Sky train, and couldn't maintain Moreno's pacing of Purito.
  • Purito was also poor, he is a fair way off what we saw last year. Could have something to do with Katusha's uncertainty? I look forward to seeing how he goes tonight.
  • Nibali was superb, if Contador had been able to help him he may be in blue.
  • Contador is clearly not at his peak, but was still entertaining. Really disappointing to see him unable to help Nibali. Rogers was absolutely nowhere in support, which was an eyebrow raiser in comparison to the Sky train of former teammates.
  • Froome was workmanlike until the final km, where his acceleration was again impressive. He should be exciting to watch due to this, but it is just so difficult to root for him as he rides for a boring team against exciting riders. He often gets dropped at the very start of climbs, having to be helped into a rhythm by teammates. I would like to see a GC guy attack him the moment a climb starts to see what would happen.
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Should be a belter tonight, I am hoping for either a crazy Contador long range attack, or a crazy Nibali descent. Or maybe both!
 
tazzietiger said:
Australian Richie Porte won the Paris-Nice race
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Pretty good effort. Now need to see him lead a team into a GT. Also leads the WT rankings by virtue of two stage wins as well.
 
Amazing stage last night, with Nibali showing why he is ******* boss. Cop that UK Postal, great to see them implode. Nibali put in a breathtaking descent, definitely worth finding on youtube as it showed an athlete playing to their strengths. Froome had nothing, and no teammates to respond. All of a sudden Nibali is favourite, and it is daredevil displays like that which is why we love cycling.

Schleck with a big DNF, Sagan with the obvious stage win in the final group of the Shark and Purito. I'm still fist pumping.
 
Read it this morning and will look for it online tonight, sounds like an amazing stage
 
Catching up with the Tirreno-Adriatico.

Stage 2: messy sprinters finish, it was any ones to grab with Cavendish too far back to accelerate from. In the end Australia's own Matt Goss grabs the win, great result.

Stage 3: rain again, always makes things interesting. Another sprinters finish, Sagan bests Cavendish this time, ripper finish.

Stage 4: Cadel starts to struggle with 7km left, as his little group gets drops off a little. Contador and Froome in the lead 8-10. Contador goes with 6.2km left, insane acceleration, then gets pulled back almost immediately. 3.6km left and Cadel makes a go at getting back to the leading group. Contador goes again at 2.7km, better success this time. Nibali goes at 1.9km, along with Santambrogio, who all join Contador as the leading trio. Almost caught with 1km left, Nibali tries to go but can't. Froome attempts to catch up, does so, and goes straight past the top 3. Unbelievable! That acceleration! Wow! Froome wins, insane ride, from Santambrogio and Nibali. Contador is knackered back in 6th. Cadel 1 minute 12 back. Great stage.

Stage 5: another mountain day, s**t starts to get real with about 7km left. Sagan dropped at 6km, Evans isn't even in the group but all the other big names are. They start to accelerate with 4.9km left, Contador at the front dishing the pain. Amador and Kreuziger go out the front with 2.5km left, Sky don't seem too worried. Ridden down at 1.7km, the leading group is still large at around 14 riders. Rodriguez attacks at 1.3km, which breaks the group behind him. Great acceleration. Nibali cracks at 1km, Rodriguez has a great margin with not long left. Contador attacks late, Rodriguez wins by 7 seconds from a group of ~5. Top win.

Stage 6: another wet day, Cavendish retires. At 16km to go, it's the start of a brutal climb. Then a descent, which breaks everyone up a bit. Nibali and Sagan in control at the front, Froome gets lost on the descent, with a couple of groups in between including the big names. Rodriguez with Sagan and Nibali, and they are 22 seconds up on Contadors group with 6.5km left, Froome 51 seconds back. Gaining time at the 5km mark, Froome still 57 seconds back with 3.5km left. Final 1km now, Sagan sprints for it and gets it, nice stage victory, Nibali second. Contador's group 43 seconds back, Froome 48 back. Nibali in the lead overall, 34 seconds from Froome and Rodriguez a further 3 seconds back.

Stage 7: ITT today. Tony Martin holds the fastest time going into the final four starting their rides. Froome vs. Nibali, a hell of a lot of work for Froome to do. Froome comes in at 10.40 and 6th, Nibali at 10.51, 12th and he wins the race. Well done.

Very fun tour.
 
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