Watching the peloton - Professional Road Racing thread 2026

Jeremy McCreary said:
At about 112.5 km and again at 110.2 km to go in today's Vuelta Stage 17, I spotted roadside fire trucks drenching the peloton with thick plumes of water mist. In both cases, on totally straight, wide, flat road with no white paint beyond the usual center and shoulder lines.

Bet that felt good.
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I did a race where there were young ladies in bikinis spraying us with a water hose. Miraculously, nobody crashed.
 
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Nomadmax said:
I agree.

But....how does Brennan compare to the current crop of fast men who aren't there? Not slighting the young man at all, just wondering.
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Phillipsen?
Grimay?
Who else?
Let's discuss.

A win is a win is a win. Records broken are records broken. If Mas' lead holds up, would you put an asterisk after his name because Pogi wasn't there? Let's go results for results.

How he compares to the others is open to interpretation. He beat Phillipsen at KBK this year. I don't know about Grimay. I am looking forward to the post season analysis.
 
With two brutal climbing stages ahead, including the queen stage, I expect a number of support riders are not going to go all out in today's 32km flat ITT.

Thornley is current;y in the hot seat at 35:25, at an average speed of around 55 km/h.

Kung just hit 62 km/h. On the flat.

Kung now in the hot seat at 35:21. Wout 8 seconds back at 10km to go. Is there now any doubt that Tudor should be a World Tour team?
 
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stompandgo said:
Phillipsen?
Grimay?
Who else?
Let's discuss.

A win is a win is a win. Records broken are records broken. If Mas' lead holds up, would you put an asterisk after his name because Pogi wasn't there? Let's go results for results.

How he compares to the others is open to interpretation. He beat Phillipsen at KBK this year. I don't know about Grimay. I am looking forward to the post season analysis.
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I'm thinking Merlier and Jasper the Disaster. Grimay not so much.

And yes, an * would be by Mas' win because Pogi crashed out. The same as there is for Sepp, although the reason for the * is different.
 
Nomadmax said:
And yes, an * would be by Mas' win because Pogi crashed out. The same as there is for Sepp, although the reason for the * is different.
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Sounds fair if you mean an asterisk only for the stage win immediately following the crash. But no other stages, right? And if Mas goes on to win the CG, no asterisk there, either.
 
Nomadmax said:
I'm thinking Merlier and Jasper the Disaster. Grimay not so much.

And yes, an * would be by Mas' win because Pogi crashed out. The same as there is for Sepp, although the reason for the * is different.
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You can only race whoever is lined up against you. Part of cycling is crashing. Same as horse racing or motorsports. That Sepp win was... unusual.
 
Jeremy McCreary said:
Sounds fair if you mean an asterisk only for the stage win immediately following the crash. But no other stages, right? And if Mas goes on to win the CG, no asterisk there, either.
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No I meant for the entire Vuelta. If Pogi hadn't crashed out, nobody was going to win the GC but Pogi. Mas, if he wins, is best of the rest. Mind you I like Mas and am rooting for him, but he knows the truth just like everyone else.
 
Awesome. We started racing at around the same time at the same level.

I just have a problem with putting athletes on pedestals. Yes, sometimes their presence changes the race overall, and sometimes it doesn't. Saying that a certain rider would win if they hadn't crashed out is myopic. Even if they hadn't crashed, they could have had an injury, lost major support riders, or gotten sick. You should know as well as anyone how fragile this sport is.
 
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