Cycling

They slipstream the cars whenever they can though. It makes a massive difference to a cyclist, especially at the speeds the pros travel at. To me, that is also cheating.

So is having one of the passengers pushing arm-to-arse.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/meersman-penalised-for-drafting-at-paris-nice/

They don't get punished till they take it to Nibali levels of idiocy. What he did was an attack from the trailing group.

A major pile-up inside the final fifty kilometres of Stage 8 of the Vuelta a España has seen four riders exit the race, chief among them Daniel Martin (Cannondale-Garmin) and Tejay van Garderen (BMC Racing). Boeckmans was the most seriously hurt with severe facial trauma including several fractures, concussion, three broken ribs and bleeding in his lung. At the behest of doctors, the Belgian is in a medically-induced coma at a hospital in Murcia.
Race leader Esteban Chaves (Orica-GreenEDGE) was also involved the pile-up but was not seriously hurt, and finished safely in the first group of 48 riders, led home by stage winner Jasper Stuyven (Trek Factory Racing).
Meanwhile Peter Sagan is considering legal action after a support motorcyclist caused him to crash. He obviously had 'words' as he tweeted later "I go back to the team hotel and I read I was fined 300 francs for insults and threats as well as behaviour that damages the image of cycling. Obviously, I will pay it, but I consider it unjust." - Peter Sagan, Tinkoff-Saxo

tricycle wrote:http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/meersman-penalised-for-drafting-at-paris-nice/

They don't get punished till they take it to Nibali levels of idiocy. What he did was an attack from the trailing group.

No idea how far back he was or how much time he gained from it but a nice penalty . At their speeds they could get maybe 5 mph extra I imagine.

I let buses pull out purely so I can slipstream them .

Great ride by Tom Dumoulin to win the latest stage.

That was a killer gradient on the final climb to the finish. I honestly don't think my car would have made it up there.

WideWally wrote:That was a killer gradient on the final climb to the finish. I honestly don't think my car would have made it up there.

"this time making a 4.1km, category-1 assault that averaged 8.9 percent and hit steeps of 19 percent on the way to the finish"

That's a punishing climb. 4k vert!

Looking forward to Stage 11 tomorrow. It is supposed to be one of the toughest ever seen on a Grand Tour.

Preview
By Cycling News August 21, 2015 9:08am
Updated: August 21, 2015 9:08am Race: Vuelta a España
September 2, Stage 11: Andorra - Els Cortals de Encamp 138 km

An absolutely brutal day in the Pyrenees that could serve up a stage for the ages

Movistar team manager Eusebio Unzué described this as the toughest Vuelta stage that he has seen in more than 30 years.

As the man behind this epic challenge, Andorra resident Joaquim Rodríguez’s popularity could take a serious hit as he and his peers take on six categorised climbs within the Pyrenean principality. Crammed into just 138km, the climbing begins immediately on the Beixalis. Of the next four passes, the most brutal is the Collada de la Gallina, which will be reached via a newly surfaced road that averages 8.5 per cent over 12km with ramps of up to 18 per cent.

The middle section of the final climb is also daunting. This could be a stage for the ages.

Javier Guillén (race director):

"This is possibly the hardest stage we have ever put together in terms of the amount of climbing involved. It’s only 130km long although I know Rodríguez would have liked it to be longer. The race needs epic stages like this but obviously we can’t have 21 of them. We have to feature them sparingly."

I can see why they take drugs.

Epic on paper. Just hope it isn't so hard that it neutralises the race.

Froome's had a small crash early on. Back in the main group.

A mate at work who is a former professional triathlete reckons that the teams will usually agree not to attack each other for the first while of the race, saving it all for the last climb.

Sergio Paulinho abandons after being hit by a motorcycle.

Disgraceful.

We have continually seen them very close to the riders.

WideWally wrote:Sergio Paulinho abandons after being hit by a motorcycle.

Disgraceful.

We have continually seen them very close to the riders.

Jjust trying to replicate real life road conditions.

Time Trial later today.

At the moment the General Classification -
1 Joaquim Rodriguez
2 Fabio Aru - 1 second behind
3 Rafal Majka - 1'35" behind
4 Tom Dumoulin - 1'51" behind

Dumoulin is expected to make up plenty of time in the Time Trial. Can he regain the lead?

OMG   Dumoulin wins the Time Trial by more than a minute.

He will regain the lead in the tour but I think he will only be 3 seconds ahead of Aru with a very tough mountain stage to come in a few days time.

Never ceases to amaze how bad Rodriguez is in the tt. Lost at least 3 GTs now due to it, I'd guess.

Dumoulin gains another couple of seconds over Aru. It is not much but it could be crucial tomorrow as he tries to hang on to his lead.

Today's stage should be fascinating. It has 4 Category 1 climbs & Dumoulin leads Aru by just 6 seconds. So we can expect Aru attacking & Dumoulin trying his hardest to hang on to his back wheel. I suppose that Rodriguez must attempt a miracle win & it will be interesting to see how the other two react to his tactics. At the moment Rodriguez trails by 1'24".

The final stage will be on Sunday & I don't know if it is an omen but in the horse racing world on Sunday one of the World's great mile races takes place at Longchamp in Paris - Prix du Moulin de Longchamp.

..... and one of the better chances is Dutch Connection. Another is Arod (a combination of Aru & Rodriguez perhaps???).

thought the arod was a baseball player

Ethics? The Gall! wrote:thought the arod was a baseball player

Yes. I suspect the horse was named after Alex Rodriguez although most of the racecallers don't pronounce his name the same.

But I'm just looking for an omen quinella -
Dutch Connection (because Dumoulin is Dutch)
Arod (Aru & Rodriguez)

Aru attacks & he has put a gap between himself & Dumoulin.

Brilliant stuff. Aru's fantastic value for the win. Nice effort by Majka and Quintana too. Dumoulin's Vuelta has been a bit out of the blue too

Congrats to Matt Hayman. Winning Paris Roubaix at 38 is outstanding.

I went to bed last night with him just ahead of a chasing pack with about 50km left and thought he was no chance.

JGK wrote:

I went to bed last night with him.

He can multitask?

Nice pickup. JGK may not answer for a while if he is still recovering from the attentions of a libidinous chasing pack.

The Giro d'Italia kicks off tonight with a time trial. Interesting to see if Nibali can backup after an average start to the season. Also interesting to see how Valverde goes in his debut Giro.