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.
 
GO EDDIE!!! What a perfectly timed final 2Km. So happy for him. s*it injury ridden 2 years since he won 2 Vuelta stages, but he's a proper mountain goat with such a kick. He was with Jaeco and I was pleased he jumped(or was let go) to Pinerallo Q 36.5 and this is big reward. 🇮🇪
 
Only's still in the white jersey, but Omrzel is still a threat. However, no competition for the black jersey for inability to smile on the podium.

To be fair, he did smile once but usually looks pained to be there.
 
Dunbar was one of the Ineos young guns who got imprisoned as mountain doms instead of getting a chance to try themselves. He left along with Pidcock and others in 22 and with Jaeco the next year finished 7th in the Giro, then following year 2 Vuelta mountain stages demonstrating that devastating kick. He got hit by a motorbike and was out for a lot of this season - he has been unlucky with injuries overall and hasn't had many clear runs at the Tour. Another Grand Tour stage today, aged 30. Still time to win several more if he can stay fit.
 
Watching the replay now, this finish is on what looks like a rail trail. Amazing.

Buitrago in polka dots looking fantastic.

Dunbar attacks and is bridging.

Dunbar blows by him. Clinic.

So great to see 3 ProTeam riders in the four man break for such an important stage. I'm cheering for Pinarello Q36.5.
 
Barring anything untoward on tomorrow's final stage, Mas has won the Vuelta. He really rose to the challenge, as have Movistar. I'm delighted for both. And another blast from the past with Mikel Landa winning the stage at the great old age of 36. His first Vuelta stage in 11 years. He was very emotional at the post race interview. Some achievement, in the terrible heat and crazy fast speeds of modern racing. In his career he's ridden for Euskatel, Astana, Sky, Movistar and now Soudal. 4th in the Tour twice, and 3rd twice in the Giro. But he's not finished, he's heading back to his local team Eusketal for 2 more seasons. Good on him.

Loved Mas's ritual knocking back of the can of Fanta on the finsh line of each stage!
 
By all accounts, we're now deep into "past performance is no guarantee of future results" territory with Mas and Movistar. The sudden and dramatic improvements are hard to fathom.

According to Roll and CVV, Dan Lloyd, and many other credible sources, nothing in their recent histories would have predicted the very impressive way that Mas and team have risen to the opportunity opened by Pogi's Stage 9 crash.

As for Mas, we're talking not just a good day, but a very good 12 days in a row. Where did that come from??

As for the team, CVV has called Movistar's tactics in recent years "laughable" several times, and he's not alone in that opinion. That's largely a "corporate culture" thing, and corporate cultures aren't known for changing overnight. Yet now Movistar seems to be doing everything right.

Really, how can all this be happening at once??
 
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