TTT's out the way, Sunweb doing a surprising double with wins for the men and women.
ITT tomorrow, should be a good one (good preview [url= https://cyclingtips.com/2017/09/preview-mens-worlds-time-trial-case-dumoulin-vs-froome/ ]here[/url]). In two minds about the course. Certainly not a typical one, quite short, and the big climb to finish and a bike change zone will mix things up a bit. Most reckon it's a two way battle between Froome and Dumoulin. Froome certainly seemed to peak at the Vuelta, but will he have held his form. Dumoulin looks on form too and should be better rested. If I was a betting man I'd probably go for Dumoulin.
ITT ladies, probably van Vleuten, that climb will probably tip it in her favour over van der Breggen.
As for the road race, rolling course should break things up and make it a great race. Three in a row for Sagan possibly?
More preview [url= http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/uci-road-world-championships-2017/preview/ ]here[/url] and [url= http://www.cyclingweekly.com/news/racing/world-championships-road-race-previews-289374 ]here[/url].
Dumoulin for the TT just so long as he goes to the bathroom before the race.
Matthews/Sagan to sprint for the RR. (Don't think Gaviria or Viviani will be able to hang in). Should be interesting, as GvA and Gilbert will have to try and get away as they can't match the two favourites in a sprint.
Dan Martin for the road race for me
ouch
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Have to agree with Tony Martin about bike changes for the final climb. Seems wrong.
as GvA and Gilbert will have to try and get away
Belgium almost have too many options, be interesting to see how they play it tactically. Wellens for a breakaway win?
France look good too with both Alaphilippe and Gallopin.
Would have probably been a good opportunity for Valverde to finally win one too.
Speaking with my Belgian side:
Belgium will screw up (again) due to too many potential winners...
Gilbert's only chance is for it to be super hard from a long long long way out & awful weather.
van Avermaet will again be forced to play second fiddle to Sagan if the race style goes in his direction. They have very similar styles but Sagan just has that extra couple of % 🙁
Wellens will make a badly timed attempt to breakaway (though for once his methodology worked in Namur last week). Naesens &/or Teuns have both been brilliant at moments this year too and have the potential for the win.
For other teams:
I'm sure valverde would have been strong favourite for this one. Trentin has looked good recently & I'd certainly be surprised if Matthews wasn't there or thereabouts.
Team GB? hmmmm - hope for something good in the TT & forget about the road race 😉
Are we doing spoilers/results here?
Are we doing spoilers/results here?
If its what I'm thinking....amazing performance 🙂
no spoilers!
Can't edit it now but you'd have to be pretty dumb not to expect results chat, so spoiler away.
Oh and yes, cracking result. Multi discipline world champ too!
Looks a bit daft for a TT course. They should have used that hill as the finale in the road races.
If its what I'm thinking....amazing performance
It was. And it was!
A win!
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van Vleuten winning the women's as most predicted. Report [url= https://cyclingtips.com/2017/09/fastest-world-annemiek-van-vleuten-wins-worlds-individual-time-trial-title/ ]here[/url]. Wouldn't be a surprise to see her winning the road title too.
Senior men start times [url= http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/2017-uci-road-world-championships-mens-time-trial-start-times/ ]here[/url].
And more on that bike change [url= http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/bike-change-could-be-key-to-worlds-tt-success/ ]here[/url]. Most saying it'll be 20 seconds quicker on the climb on a road bike so worth a change. Wet cobbles could throw up a few incidents too. Definitely not your typical world champs ITT!
So Froome off at 4pm UK. I'll fire up Eurosport player!
Early days but already seen some comedy bike changes.
Looks like the UCI hadn't figured on two riders arriving at the bike change zone at the same time, they need to find another carpet quickly 😆
Whole bike swap thing is a bit of a farce.
They should have made the climb in the middle of the course so there would be a penalty for the flat run in if the rider chose to swap bikes. Or better yet just not allowed bike swaps.
Bike swaps should be banned full stop, even if you have mechanical IMO. (Wheel changes are fine though.)
Is indeed a bit of a farce and I'd not be happy about it if I was one of the riders. World Champs maybe not the place to try something new for the first time 🙄
Quite interesting though. And it is quite a spectacle. Most so far seem to be choosing not to change.
Also getting quite dark with some rather menacing clouds overhead. Could well see someone from the middle of the start list coming out on top if it does tip it down.
the final climb on the mens ITT is mental with huge crowds !
Surely the riders and teams should have to pick one bike most suitable for the course, if that's your road bike with clip-on TT bars then so be it.
Dont agree with them being able to change bikes during the race. Can you imagine if the win is determined by their ability to swap bikes rather than ride them. I presume they will have to get both bikes through scrutineering to make sure they are legal,
let them do it but the bike must be in the hardest gear with no pushing to help get going. 😈
Kelderman off now. Could be in with a real chance, especially if the weather turns.
RE: the bike change. It is a bit of a farce but potentially the only way to be consistent with allowing bike changes for mechanicals - it's be more of a farce if all the riders just happened to have a mechanical at the base of the climb. Allowing wheel changes only on a TT means that if you get a puncture you've lost.
RE: Bergen. What a place! Just look at it! If anyone's tempted to go there then I recommend getting the fish.
Kelderman takes the hot seat (with a bike change). Some great slo-mo chin dribble from Wilco 🙂
Kiryienka on the road.
Allowing wheel changes only on a TT means that if you get a puncture you've lost.
Tough, just look at Greg Minnaars last few DHraces he lost due to mechanical issues, it's part of the sport.
Kiri is an outside shot for the podium in my eyes, he's alright on a climb and, when on it, is very fast on the flat.
Side on shot of Kiryienka there, so relaxed, doesn't even look like he's trying. Only 8 seconds back on the first time check. Though with that hill it's quite difficult to read much into the early time checks.
EBH on a compromised road bike, be interesting to see how he goes, albeit it's not his focus.
I can't quite work out if the bike change thing is a genius plan a la F1 Pit stops. It's definitely adding an extra element of interest!
(not to mention something to fill the commentary 🙂 )
No bike change for Moscon and Kiri. Sky would have done their sums so likely no bike change for Froome.
Kiri looking pedestrian on the climb which probably means he's flying.
What happened to Gougeard there? Some saddle problem. He was going really well.
**** me is that boring....! and how many cars?
i'm off out for a wheelie.
Kiri looking pedestrian on the climb which probably means he's flying.
Probably only doing 500W.
JRA.
Ooof how close was that. Kiri into second by .23 seconds.
Fluke me that was close for Kiri
I'm crap at guessing what 10s of road looks like. I thought both of those were going to get first!
I'm crap at guessing what 10s of road looks like. I thought both of those were going to get first!
It's deceptive as for pace both both were looking ok at 300m and 200m but lost it in the last 100m so it must ramp up a bit right at the finish.
Froome 18s down on Dennis at first check point. Dumoulin 9 seconds up on Dennis.
Getting quite wet in Bergen now.
Is this weather going to turn the results upside-down?
If Dumoulin hasn't gone off way too fast, this is over.
Froome 34 seconds down on tom and it's now pissing it down!
Rain means that the people in the club house must be feeling like there's a chance!
I think Froome has got this you know, he has been very good at pacing TT's recently, almost all of these have meant he was behind at the first check.
hmmm - Froome not bad before the final climb!
You can't write Froome off early on. He's not a daft lad is he!
Froome riding a negative split? Wow, good comeback...
Froome does seem to be speeding up a lot. Pacing crucial, there is a lot of time to gain/lose on that final climb.
Tom D is still flying though!
Can't ride that final climb super fast in the wet. It's way too twisty.
41 seconds to make up on the climb for Froome
Froome just fumbled a turn
No bike change for Dennis and Froome.
I wonder if Dumoulin will change seeing as he kicked off most of the debate around it.
Edit... no change for Dumoulin.
I've heard the word cacophony more times today than the rest of my life put together
Oooh big time by Roglic. Paced that well.
Much better to watch than a flat TT
I know a lot of the final climb is barriered, but hats off to the Norwegian fans, very well behaved from what I can see.
Wow what a margin for Doumilin
tore the field a new one (and chased down froome on a climb)
I know a lot of the final climb is barriered, but hats off to the Norwegian fans, very well behaved from what I can see.
Did you see the police just totally level the bloke in red? LMFAO!
Froome's on drugs and using a motor though, amirite?
Did you see the police just totally level the bloke in red? LMFAO!
Ahh no missed that one.
Not a bad result for Froome in the end really!
What a win by Doumilin. Froome's ride a bit disappointing really considering the year he's had.
Everyone might be laughing at Lutsenko for that bike change, but so far he's got the Strava KOM, and that's all that really matters...
https://www.strava.com/segments/765271
😆
EDIT: Keldernam is on Strava, so I assume that he will post a faster time later.
comentators....
before: vuelta is perfect prep for this giving froome the advantage
after: should be please with the result considering how hard vuelta was
😀 🙄
I know a lot of the final climb is barriered, but hats off to the Norwegian fans, very well behaved from what I can see.
Only because they can't afford to get drunk.
Froome's ride a bit disappointing really considering the year he's had.
? He's just ridden and won 2 Grand tours, over 6000km in six weeks not to mention all the mountains. You don't think he might be just a tad tired and if he was, could you blame him?
Dumoulin was always the favourite though, built his season around the Giro and ITT world champs. Froome wasn't even sure he was going to ride until quite late in the day.
Froome's ride [s]a bit disappointing really[/s] not entirely surprising considering the year he's had.
Brad smashed the Olympics TT a bit after winning the TDF, so not sure why Froome couldn't do better today. sure Dumoulin was fav a and won, but Froome wasn't even close, and was only just made the podium.
Yeah, good old Brad eh...
dragon - MemberBrad smashed the Olympics TT a bit after winning the TDF, so not sure why Froome couldn't do better today. sure Dumoulin was fav a and won, but Froome wasn't even close, and was only just made the podium.
There were 95 km in two time trials in the 2012 TdF so Wiggins would have been well prepared for the Olympic ITT. In contrast only one 40 km ITT in the Vuelta and a massive amount of mountain stages including several 20%+. Froome spent a lot of time between the TdF and the Vuelta training at altitude to get ready for the Vuelta. Does that answer your query?
p.s. He won the Tour and the Vuelta this year too so it probably a little bit tired (mentally and physically) wouldn't you think? Dumoulin skipped the Tour and the Vuelta after winning the Giro and has been training for this event for months.
... and probably re-stating the point, for Brad the Olympic ITT was a big season goal and not a case of "well if I finish the Tour with a bit of form I'll give it a go and see how I get on." For Froome it was always Tour and Vuelta and anything else was a bonus.
No doubt that Dumoulin wanted the result today more than Froome, especially after the Tour crash and the disappointment of Rio last year.
So. No races tomorrow. Who's watching the livestream of the UCI elections?
Well that was better than I thought it would be.
I'm looking forward to next year's showdown on the TdF - Dumoulin v Froome. It's got to happen hasn't it?
I'm looking forward to next year's showdown on the TdF - Dumoulin v Froome. It's got to happen hasn't it?
i know team sky are tdf obsessed but I'm think froome will go for the Giro next year so he will hold all the grand tours at the same time. Whether he can do the double again (giro - tdf version) is anyones guess. Will the tdf organizers make it a Dumoulinesque parcour ? His climbing is much improved but he'll still drop time in the mountains so he'll need TT miles to win it back.
It'll be interesting - I agree that Froome probably would like a Giro but I bet he's also thinking that 5 TdFs would be nice
Though he does have the chance of matching a feat only Mercx and Hinault have ever done by winning 3 consecutive Grand Tours - or maybe even match Mercx with 4 in a row if he can do the Giro TdF double. It has to be tempting to try.
matching a feat only Mercx and Hinault have ever done by winning 3 consecutive Grand Tours
Indurain and Anquetil? 🙂 (though I guess they did 3 in a row on the way to 5 and 4 in a row.)
No doubt he'd like 5 to put him on a par with Anquetil, Merckx, Hinault and Indurain. We'll see how he's regarded a few years down the line. I don't think he's currently thought of in the same class, but it's a different time and an age of GC specialists so expecting wins in the classics is unrealistic (though he might have half an eye on Innsbruck next year.)
And he's 32. Contador retiring at 34 and not won a GT since the Giro when he was 32, and last "won" the Tour back in 2010. Look at Contador, Merckx, Indurain, the decline comes pretty quickly.
[quote=mrblobby ]Indurain and Anquetil? (though I guess they did 3 in a row on the way to 5 and 4 in a row.)
No - Indurain never even won the Vuelta, and whilst Anquetil did the Vuelta TdF double and Giro TdF in successive years which nobody else has ever done, he did them in the wrong order so was never reigning champion of all 3. I'm talking about 3 successive wins across all GTs, Froome is currently on 2 (he already has 3 TdF wins in a row).