Watching the peloton - Professional Road Racing thread 2026

Just started the Stage 3 replay. According to the commentator, Sweeney said that he was doing 600W when Vine just rode away uphill on his final attack for the Stage 2 win.

Yet, if you saw Vine on the street and didn't know who he was, world-class athlete would never cross your mind.
 
Psychology question
Riders are smiling and chatting away, looking very relaxed, during Stage 3's long 30-minute controlled start. Yet every single one of them has hours of suffering and severe mental stress ahead.

Mentally, how important are these chances to calm down and socialize ahead of the melee?
 
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I can only talk about my experience as an elite amateur. Calm only came after I crossed the finish line. Friendly chat during staging, when we are all stationary, was just fine. Neutral starts or parade laps can be as dangerous as the race itself, so I stayed focused. Once the officials gave instructions, it was game on. I also never focused on the suffering and mental stress before it was happening.
 
Jeremy McCreary said:
Just started the Stage 3 replay. According to the commentator, Sweeney said that he was doing 600W when Vine just rode away uphill on his final attack for the Stage 2 win.

Yet, if you saw Vine on the street and didn't know who he was, world-class athlete would never cross your mind.
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Yeah, I woke up at 5:45 this morning and put stage 3 on while doing housework. I guess I'm used to watching bike races at weird times...
 
Jeremy McCreary said:
Just started the Stage 3 replay. According to the commentator, Sweeney said that he was doing 600W when Vine just rode away uphill on his final attack for the Stage 2 win.

Yet, if you saw Vine on the street and didn't know who he was, world-class athlete would never cross your mind.
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It was only a matter of time before the Grand Tour riders took over. Jay Vine, the only thing about him that would surprise me would be him winning a bunch sprint. His performance in last year's TdF was beyond belief. Day after day after day in the mountains he got to the front and ground the field to a pulp. If Luke Plapp had at least one other rider as capable as him in the break today, he would have had a good chance to win the stage and potentially take the leader's jersey. He wound up cooking off both of the other riders. Finally, has anyone seen Ben O'Connor?
 
Rás Cnoic said:
Well that didn't take long, first big casualty of 2026 Jonathan Narvaez out with 'several fractured thoracic vertebrae' after high speed crash on flat seafront road in high crosswinds. Ouch.
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Any updates on his status or the cause of the crash? Those are potentially life-changing injuries. And entirely consistent with the way he was grimacing and holding himself in the early footage.
 
Jeremy McCreary said:
Any updates on his status or the cause of the crash? Those are potentially life-changing injuries. And entirely consistent with the way he was grimacing and holding himself in the early footage.
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His status, haven't checked, cause was probably crosswind-wheel touch or hit kerb and down at speed. Ugly and those fast ones on the flat can be the worst.

Funniest thing today was Jay Vine getting taken out by a Kangaroo! He's fine (Vine I mean, no word on the kangaroo). Just so Aussie.
 
Vine wins by over a minute after hitting a kangaroo in the butt. Another UAE rider transported, that makes three I believe. I haven't heard anything about Narvaez, which tells me it was his fault. It will come out eventually. O'Connor sneaks into the top ten due to #7 dropping out. I liked today's circuit, it was perfect for the final stage. I have no idea what Plapp was thinking. He dropped back off of the break to return to the field, picking up team bottles along the way, and then changed his mind and started chasing back. He got an earful from his DS on the radio and eventually relented. Kids these days. No respect for authority. All in all, it was a fun race to watch, minus the injuries.
 
Exciting final 12 km of Stage 5! Hope the kangaroos are OK.

This was my 1st TDU. Great racing and seemed well-planned for all concerned. Will definitely be watching next year.

Do riders like stage routes (like this Stage 5) with many reps of the same circuit?
 
stompandgo said:
Vine wins by over a minute after hitting a kangaroo in the butt. Another UAE rider transported, that makes three I believe. I haven't heard anything about Narvaez, which tells me it was his fault. It will come out eventually. O'Connor sneaks into the top ten due to #7 dropping out. I liked today's circuit, it was perfect for the final stage. I have no idea what Plapp was thinking. He dropped back off of the break to return to the field, picking up team bottles along the way, and then changed his mind and started chasing back. He got an earful from his DS on the radio and eventually relented. Kids these days. No respect for authority. All in all, it was a fun race to watch, minus the injuries.
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Did you see how Plapp screwed up the Nationals a week ago? He powered up to a teammate (Durbridge) dragging a rival, (Patrick Eddy, Team Brennan) convinced he could shake him off on the final hill to the line with his power. Ended up catching and then dropping Luke Durbridge, but couldn't drop Eddy who then easily passed him coming to the line so Jaco ended up with nothing. Both Jaco & Plapp got a huge amount of flack for screwing up the race. It seemed brainless. Possible because Patrick Eddy and Brennan are a local Conti team, he underestimated him.
 
Hard to see a rational explanation for Plapp's recent behavior. Acts like a foolish wild child who won't be tamed. But how does that coexist with the discipline and personal sacrifice and racing savvy that it must take to become a World Tour rider in the first place?

Could he be fired for these stunts? Could that be what he wants?
 
Jeremy McCreary said:
Hard to see a rational explanation for Plapp's recent behavior. Acts like a foolish wild child who won't be tamed. But how does that coexist with the discipline and personal sacrifice and racing savvy that it must take to become a World Tour rider in the first place?

Could he be fired for these stunts? Could that be what he wants?
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It's just racing. In the Nationals he was the previous year's holder and desperately wanted the jersey again to wear all year, so he/Jaco gambled and got egg on their face. With the TDU not sure, but it's his home race, he's clearly feeling very fit and wants to win at home. It's a question of tactics and how much is team orders. Jaco likewise have a lot to prove/home race. O'Connor is an exceptional rider but seemingly blows hot or cold so their pre race plans might have been shredded especially once Vine got that lead. I didn't see the full stages and I find highlights frustrating & misleading to determine what exactly unfolds. Plapp was a teen wonderkid, winning everything and touted as an Aussie Remco, he was snatched up by INEOS and like a lot of young talented riders when he didn't immediately knock it out of the park, was relegated in team hierarchy as they desperately searched for an answer to Pog after Bernal had that almost career ending crash. So I guess Plapp has a lot to prove, he's 25 now, starting his 3rd Jaco season and that clock is ticking.
 
Also, remember for Aussies, this month is their one chance every year to preform for home crowds, get the local headlines and that must mean a lot to them, before packing up and heading to Europe for the next 9 months. Thinking about that - it's still bizarre to me that there isn't a single Pro Tour race in the US each year. Canada has those two Quebec/Montreal classics, surely it wouldn't be difficult to have a New York Classic or somewhere close to Quebec the following weekend as all the big names are over from Europe anyway. Obviously maybe not in current climate with border crossings being what they are, but in general it's a real head scratcher that a single day race or a week long hasn't been there since what, the Tour of California?
 
Jeremy McCreary said:
Exciting final 12 km of Stage 5! Hope the kangaroos are OK.

This was my 1st TDU. Great racing and seemed well-planned for all concerned. Will definitely be watching next year.

Do riders like stage routes (like this Stage 5) with many reps of the same circuit?
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Puncheurs do, climbers and sprinters don't. Organizers and sponsors do, because of the exposure to the crowds. It's why criteriums are the main form of racing in the US.
 
Rás Cnoic said:
Did you see how Plapp screwed up the Nationals a week ago? He powered up to a teammate (Durbridge) dragging a rival, (Patrick Eddy, Team Brennan) convinced he could shake him off on the final hill to the line with his power. Ended up catching and then dropping Luke Durbridge, but couldn't drop Eddy who then easily passed him coming to the line so Jaco ended up with nothing. Both Jaco & Plapp got a huge amount of flack for screwing up the race. It seemed brainless. Possible because Patrick Eddy and Brennan are a local Conti team, he underestimated him.
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I did not see it, but it sounds like the same train of thought as in yesterday's race. As I said before, he either had the green light to do it or he didn't. Judging from the shot of his DS in the car, choking on the radio microphone so his lips could not be read, he did not. In the end, it didn't matter for this race, but this kind of behavior cannot be tolerated as he will become a cancer on the team.
 
Jeremy McCreary said:
Hard to see a rational explanation for Plapp's recent behavior. Acts like a foolish wild child who won't be tamed. But how does that coexist with the discipline and personal sacrifice and racing savvy that it must take to become a World Tour rider in the first place?

Could he be fired for these stunts? Could that be what he wants?
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As I said above, there are a whole lot of regulations that control when a rider can be hired, their minimum pay, and the terms and conditions around termination of their contract. Also, if he does get released, they'll need a replacement, and there are regulations around that as well. What is common is what the UCI calls a "transfer", which in US sports terminology, is what we would call a "trade". From Jayco's point of view, they would have to "trade down" to let him go. That's why you will see teams relegate a talented rider to "scut" duty, like what happened with UAE and Ayuso, rather than give up value during the season. The UCI does have a "silly season", where free trading is open and less restricted than during the season.
 
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