Watching the peloton - Professional Road Racing thread 2026

It was a fantastic race last year. This year's start list notables as of today:
Remco, with Lipowitz, Hindley, and D. Martinez
Almeida, with Vine, McNulty, and Soler
Jonas, with Kuss, Amarail, and Kelderman
Meana, with Zana and Dianese
Gall with Ricitello
Only, with Godon and Jungels
L. Martinez with Sanchez
Carapaz, with Steinhauser and Fernandez
O'Connor with Gamper
Martin with Gaudu
Pidcock, with Bennett and Pijuan
DeBod, Pickrell, Munton, Stuart, Haug and Stites for Modern Adventure :)
 
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stompandgo said:
It was a fantastic race last year. This year's start list notables as of today:
Remco, with Lipowitz, Hindley, and D. Martinez
Almeida, with Vine, McNulty, and Soler
Jonas, with Kuss, Amarail, and Kelderman
Meana, with Zana and Dianese
Gall with Ricitello
Only, with Godon and Jungels
L. Martinez with Sanchez
Carapaz, with Steinhauser and Fernandez
O'Connor with Gamper
Martin with Gaudu
Pidcock, with Bennett and Pijuan
DeBod, Pickrell, Munton, Stuart, Haug and Stites for Modern Adventure :)
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So my question of the day is what separates a GC leader from a GC leader in the same team?!

Who tells a rider who has shown GC chops in big Grand Tours that actually they are now just mountain domestiques? Or is it left open in the team and based- going into a stage race like Calalunya - on early stage performance & riders have to prove it/fight it out?

We've got a couple of tasty situations here:

Remco v Lipowitz - Remco 3rd TDF '24, Lipowitz 3rd TDF '25
Onley V Carlos Rodriguez - Onley 4th TDF '25 Carlos 5th TDF '23 & 7th '24

In Movistar (Big local race on the calendar for them), we have the aging Enric Mas who has come close with the Vuelta (twice 2nd and best 6th overall TDF but back in 2021) and new boy Cian Uijdtebroeks - If you remember he was headhunted as a boy wonder the next Jonas, from his local team Visma to German Boro in a shock and scandalous move but he didn't deliver at Boro so to everyone's surprise they flogged him on to Movistar last autumn, probably to make room for Remco & because they (very quickly) lost faith in him. Boro always seem to be involved in controversial transfers, too much money not enough sense I think. Bit unfair on Cian but he burnt a lot of bridges when he left Visma.

Anyway these team decisions, internal rivalries always make for interesting viewing in these shorter stage races as we look towards July.
 
Q1. How are they able to show a rider's power in real time on TV? Telemetry? Estimate calculated from speed, grade, and wind?

If calculated, you'd also need the bike's tire Crr and system (rider+bike) mass and CdA. Seems like a lot of unknowables.

Q2. Do the bikes actually raced even have power meters? If so, how do the riders themselves use that info? How about the race directors?

Thanks!
 
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Volta Catalunya Stage 1 done. Worth watching just for the spectacular coastal scenery.

I came in at 40 km out. Not much action till final sprint. Winner said last 50 m felt like an hour. I like this guy.
 
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Jeremy McCreary said:
Volta Catalunya Stage 1 done. Worth watching just for the spectacular coastal scenery.

I came in at 40 km out. Not much action till final sprint. Winner said last 50 m felt like an hour. I like this guy.
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Yep uphill finish. Pidcock said the terrain on the coast was all up and down with a lot of winds; cross, head and tailwinds. The recovery of these guys is insane, 2nd in Milan San Remo Saturday, third here on Monday with all the travel in between.

The travel alone would force me into a lazy day on arrival!

Remco and Pidcock after time bonuses at finish (as well as stage win) to counter Jonas and other big climbers. Have to say they are all looking in excellent form for this part of the year. Jonas kept to the front a lot out of danger, it's just about 2 years since his almost career ending crash in April 24 at the Basque Country race. Taking no chances this year & rightly so.
 
Don't recall hearing Godon's name before this year, and now he's won stages in Paris Nice and Volta Catalunya. Looked very strong at the finish today Seems like an interesting guy as well.
 
Rás Cnoic said:
So my question of the day is what separates a GC leader from a GC leader in the same team?!

Who tells a rider who has shown GC chops in big Grand Tours that actually they are now just mountain domestiques? Or is it left open in the team and based- going into a stage race like Calalunya - on early stage performance & riders have to prove it/fight it out?

We've got a couple of tasty situations here:

Remco v Lipowitz - Remco 3rd TDF '24, Lipowitz 3rd TDF '25
Onley V Carlos Rodriguez - Onley 4th TDF '25 Carlos 5th TDF '23 & 7th '24

In Movistar (Big local race on the calendar for them), we have the aging Enric Mas who has come close with the Vuelta (twice 2nd and best 6th overall TDF but back in 2021) and new boy Cian Uijdtebroeks - If you remember he was headhunted as a boy wonder the next Jonas, from his local team Visma to German Boro in a shock and scandalous move but he didn't deliver at Boro so to everyone's surprise they flogged him on to Movistar last autumn, probably to make room for Remco & because they (very quickly) lost faith in him. Boro always seem to be involved in controversial transfers, too much money not enough sense I think. Bit unfair on Cian but he burnt a lot of bridges when he left Visma.

Anyway these team decisions, internal rivalries always make for interesting viewing in these shorter stage races as we look towards July.
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The DS is taking the 10,000m view. Before the season starts, during training sessions, they form a plan for the season. Who will focus on winning which races. Then it comes down to who is on form, and who is available. Every team has lost someone important, and the season just started. This is the job of the DS. Past performance is a factor, but today is much more important than yesterday.
 
Jeremy McCreary said:
Q1. How are they able to show a rider's power in real time on TV? Telemetry? Estimate calculated from speed, grade, and wind?

If calculated, you'd also need the bike's tire Crr and system (rider+bike) mass and CdA. Seems like a lot of unknowables.

Q2. Do the bikes actually raced even have power meters? If so, how do the riders themselves use that info? How about the race directors?

Thanks!
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All riders have power meters now. The telemetry goes back to the DS cars. They are watching their output throughout the race. This is much more important for the domestiques than the potential leader. Power meters and telemetry have introduced another form of negative racing - putting a rider on the front with a teammate or two and being told to ride at a set power level (usually 3s power) for x minutes. The riders are watching that number and sticking to it. The exact number depends on the rider's training and racing data, and the DS and rider's perception of current form. For example, just because Campanaerts can sit on the front at 350w for an hour today doesn't mean that he can do the same tomorrow. It could be more, or less, or it's not his day and he's along for the ride. This is why RPE is the third data point in the Power-HR-RPE triangle. The measured numbers are important, but how the rider is feeling is an integral part of the DS/rider communication, and subsequent decision making.
 
Another great finish in a somewhat utilitarian stage. Godon wins by a tire width, and smartly does not celebrate. Nothing is more embarrassing than celebrating second place. You will never live it down. Jonas played it smart. I thought that he might try and launch on the climb, but Remco and Almeida had a gap on him, so no point. Byron Munton is the GC leader for MAP. Tomorrow's stage:

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stompandgo said:
All riders have power meters now. The telemetry goes back to the DS cars. They are watching their output throughout the race. This is much more important for the domestiques than the potential leader. Power meters and telemetry have introduced another form of negative racing - putting a rider on the front with a teammate or two and being told to ride at a set power level (usually 3s power) for x minutes. The riders are watching that number and sticking to it. The exact number depends on the rider's training and racing data, and the DS and rider's perception of current form. For example, just because Campanaerts can sit on the front at 350w for an hour today doesn't mean that he can do the same tomorrow. It could be more, or less, or it's not his day and he's along for the ride. This is why RPE is the third data point in the Power-HR-RPE triangle. The measured numbers are important, but how the rider is feeling is an integral part of the DS/rider communication, and subsequent decision making.
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Thanks! During races, do the riders themselves use their own power figures for anything else besides following DS orders?
 
Jeremy McCreary said:
Thanks! During races, do the riders themselves use their own power figures for anything else besides following DS orders?
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I can only speak for myself. Yes, I did. It's what I've said several times, power is one of three metrics, along with HR and RPE, that I would have in my head while racing. Most of the races I did were criteriums, consisting of a number of laps, with the race duration as time. If the course had a hill on it, I'd watch my power on the hill, and try and minimize it by positioning and optimizing how to attack it. I also knew that on a good day, I had so many X watt bursts in my legs, and after that, it declined. If I was attacking the field starting a break, I would manage the metrics so that I was pulling away but at a pace that I could sustain.

So, no, I didn't stare at it, and I never raced with a radio. It was useful information during the race that had relevance to training metrics.
 
A good day at Catalunya today, only a couple of bad crashes, and solid racing. The break was doomed from the start as it did not have the right combination of teams in it. When I put the contenders list in the first post, I was going to add Magnus Cort, but thought that it had been a while since he won anything, so I didn't. My mistake for overlooking him. He timed his sprint perfectly for the win. All the contenders are within 10 seconds, so plenty of racing to go.
 
stompandgo said:
A good day at Catalunya today, only a couple of bad crashes, and solid racing. The break was doomed from the start as it did not have the right combination of teams in it. When I put the contenders list in the first post, I was going to add Magnus Cort, but thought that it had been a while since he won anything, so I didn't. My mistake for overlooking him. He timed his sprint perfectly for the win. All the contenders are within 10 seconds, so plenty of racing to go.
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Nice to see him win again. And good for Uno X.
 
Tomorrow's course profile. Two climbs at the start that lead into a rolling finish. Will the sprinters be able to hang this time?

1774396434076.png

Quote of the day from Jonas, courtesy Cycling Flash:

Some experts say your choice to ride the Giro d’Italia before the Tour de France this year is a sign that you have already given up the fight against Pogačar in France.
Vingegaard: “I don’t think those who say that should call themselves experts.”

This is why I love that guy.
 
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