World Championships Discussion (With Spoilers) - Page 9

FlashUNC · #**121** 09-24-2017, 04:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by echappist

not only are you uncouth, you are also ignorant

pretty sure Paolo Bettini won Lombardia wearing rainbow stripes

I'm sorry if I insulted your Oscar Freire fandom. He was quite the rider when he was healthy. Wished he'd had a chance to win more, but the body does what it does. And yes, an oversight on Bettini. My apologies to another great champion.

But is Peter lining up for Lombardia? Or still too many hills for the greatest bike riderz evar?

MattTuck · #**122** 09-24-2017, 06:46 PM

Rode this morning, planned to watch this just now. Unfortunately, Eurosport's link to the eurosport player revealed a big picture of the podium, spoiling it for me.

Ugh. Watched the last 10km. With the several KM gap when cameras were lost. Glad I did not invest a lot of time in this, I would have been highly annoyed.

Will have to read the recaps for all the details.

Damn, hats off to Sagan for another year in the rainbow stripes. I thought the hills would have been too much for him honestly, but maybe they were not as bad as reported, or there was enough time after the descent to lessen the impact.

Agreed, would like to see Sagan take on Lomardia. Why not? He's in good shape, why not use it.

Going to throw it out there, but one has to wonder at this point what value the the national teams are providing in the world championships. If Sagan can win 3 years in a row (he's obviously strong, not suggesting otherwise) with a fairly weak team. What are the other teams doing wrong?

It feels a bit like the tour de france, in the sense that teams are very risk averse and unwilling to make a big move... safer bet is to get your best rider to the finish in the group and hope that Sagan has a bad day.

gasman · #**123** 09-24-2017, 08:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by echappist

not only are you uncouth, you are also ignorant

pretty sure Paolo Bettini won Lombardia wearing rainbow stripes

Personal insults are not appropriate or allowed by forum rules no matter how you feel.

choke · #**124** 09-24-2017, 08:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MattTuck

Going to throw it out there, but one has to wonder at this point what value the the national teams are providing in the world championships.

If you doubt the value of a team, just watch the last 10k of the Women's Elite RR from yesterday. The Dutch women rode as a team and won precisely because they did. Chantal wasn't one of their protected riders but once she got clear the two other members of the team (arguably the top two favorites to win) in the breakaway did their part to keep her out front. The Italian team did much the same in the Junior Women's RR.

Sagan is a special case....he doesn't need a team to win. I don't think you can dismiss the value of a team because of his victories.

colbyh · #**125** 09-24-2017, 08:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by echappist

I enjoyed seeing him mature and mellow out a bit over the years.

Too bad about Trentin. He was a good dark horse pick, but Italy has a new classics star in Moscon.

Don't forget, Moscon is the rider that was caught throwing N-bombs @ Kevin Reza and served a 6 week suspension for it. He's crazy talented but I have a hard time supporting the guy. Today's DQ doesn't help either.

FlashUNC · #**126** 09-24-2017, 08:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by choke

If you doubt the value of a team, just watch the last 10k of the Women's Elite RR from yesterday. The Dutch women rode as a team and won precisely because they did. Chantal wasn't one of their protected riders but once she got clear the two other members of the team (arguably the top two favorites to win) in the breakaway did their part to keep her out front. The Italian team did much the same in the Junior Women's RR.

Sagan is a special case....he doesn't need a team to win. I don't think you can dismiss the value of a team because of his victories.

And even if we're being kind, the Belgian and Italian teams are a mess of politics and trade team alliances.

saab2000 · #**127** 09-24-2017, 08:51 PM

Comparing Peter Sagan and Oscar Freire is not a bad comparison. It seems likely Sagan will have a bigger career in the long run but who knows.

Mentioning Oscar Camenzind's Worlds/Lombardia double is like mentioning Milli Vanilli alongside other winners of music awards. Holds no water. At least the other cheaters of his generation seemed to win other things.

Sagan is a generational talent and he continues to prove it. I'd love to see him line up next week for the Lombardia.

cadence90 · #**128** 09-24-2017, 09:25 PM

For those who have not heard Sagan's post-race interview...I for one fail to see what there is to dislike about this guy, but to each their own I suppose.

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oldpotatoe · #**129** 09-24-2017, 09:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cadence90

For those who have not heard Sagan's post-race interview...I for one fail to see what there is to dislike about this guy, but to each their own I suppose.

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His 'history', grabbing a podium girls butt, having a 'farge you' tshirt

cadence90 · #**130** 09-24-2017, 09:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by oldpotatoe

His 'history', grabbing a podium girls butt, having a 'farge you' tshirt

Huh. There's a pretty high vitriol-to-offense ratio then, but I guess some really disliked Anquetil's "antics" too. Seems all pretty minor stuff to me.
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Elefantino · #**131** 09-24-2017, 11:18 PM

Sagan did not take a knee for the national anthem.

weisan · #**132** 09-25-2017, 12:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Elefantino

Sagan did not take a knee for the national anthem.

I say we send him into exile to Monaco.

weisan · #**133** 09-25-2017, 05:17 AM

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tommyrod74 · #**134** 09-25-2017, 06:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FlashUNC

I'm sorry if I insulted your Oscar Freire fandom. He was quite the rider when he was healthy. Wished he'd had a chance to win more, but the body does what it does. And yes, an oversight on Bettini. My apologies to another great champion.

But is Peter lining up for Lombardia? Or still too many hills for the greatest bike riderz evar?

"Faced with the choice between changing one's mind and proving that there is no need to do so, almost everyone gets busy on the proof."

- John Kenneth Galbraith

nooneline · #**135** 09-25-2017, 06:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by choke

Sagan is a special case....he doesn't need a team to win.

I dunno, I wondered who stitched things back together from 4km to 1km to go and when I watched the overhead footage, though I couldn't identify riders by name, I did see a white-and-blue Evade helmets at the front more than once. Albeit ones not wearing Slovakian jerseys.