Watching the peloton - Professional Road Racing thread 2026

A 40km TT used to take an hour. That is how the FTP test came about. How hard could you ride for one hour. Then came EPO, microdosing, super aero bikes, TT helmets with visors, rippled skinsuits, and wind tunnels. 42km is close enough to 40km to be of note but not a factor. You ride it the same no matter how long it takes. Target your FTP and listen to your body. If you have a few percent more, you save it for the end, or for any feature like a hill, turnaround, or wind conditions.
 
Upway Certified Pre-Owned E-Bikes Upway E-Bikes Mobile
I'm watching Ganna crush this TT. He was my pick for the winner, but Jonas hasn't started yet.
 
Last edited:
Urtopia E-Bikes Urtopia E-Bikes Mobile
TNT has been showing the gearing every now and then, but I missed it for Jonas. They did mention that Ganna debated between the 68 and the 64, and he chose the 64. He is winning this stage by over 2 minutes so far. His power wattage was 455w. Remember that Jonas is racing Eulalio, Arensman, and the other GC contenders, not Ganna. He has a shot at taking the jersey today.

Arensman finishes in second behind Ganna.

I gotta mow the lawn. Sigh.
 
Last edited:
That was a disappointing finish for Jonas. +3:00 to Ganna, +1:00 to Arensman. Eulalio keeps the jersey, Jonas +0:27. Now the race gets into high gear.
 
Last edited:
stompandgo said:
That was a disappointing finish for Jonas. +3:00 to Ganna, +1:00 to Arensman. Eulalio keeps the jersey, Jonas +0:27. Now the race gets into high gear.
Click to expand...
Yes some surprised reports about Jonas's TT form compared to similar TTs he did much better in the TdF in the past. They reckon he should have finished 7th or 8th today. Glad to see Eulalio kept Pink. Tomorrow has 3 or 4 big mountains so that might be it. Gall lost over a minute on Jonas but O'Connor did pretty good. That Sky and British Olympic team TT heritage still strong with Ineos. They love a TT.
 
Funny, shortly after the TT, when the TNT pundits (Orla, Matt, Robbie, Adam) discussed Gall's performance, they talked about a rider's natural "ebb and flow" through a Grand Tour.

But when they got to Jonas, they talked about under-performance for this or that reason. The possibility that he'd just been overhyped by pundits never came up.
 
Jeremy McCreary said:
Funny, shortly after the TT, when the TNT pundits (Orla, Matt, Robbie, Adam) discussed Gall's performance, they talked about a rider's natural "ebb and flow" through a Grand Tour.

But when they got to Jonas, they talked about under-performance for this or that reason. The possibility that he'd just been overhyped by pundits never came up.
Click to expand...
It's because until somebody like Seixas proves he is a Grand Tour winner, Jonas v Pog is the only show in town. So Jonas in this season's first Grand Tour is being watched eagle eyed not for the potential of winning here but for any signs that all is not well/ or that he is going super well ahead of their likely clash in this year's TdF. Like touts in horse racing sneaking a look at a horse in training to judge the betting odds better.

People also want them both to be in best form come July to make a mighty contest of it. Pog is currently on altitude camp getting ready, the Rocky music full volume in his headphones, Jonas, here, is slightly under performing, or looks like he is. 2 weeks to go. Lots of road to race yet. It also is punters looking for any cracks so this whole race doesn't feel like just a procession and somebody else might have a chance. Who though? Right now he'd need a couple of bad days in the mountains and it doesn't look likely.
 
The cycling media are Pogi fans. He's been crowned the best ever already. MVDP as well. You get used to ignoring it. Jonas took almost 2 minutes out of the leader in around 40 minutes today. Where's the hoopla about that accomplishment? I'm not holding my breath.
 
stompandgo said:
Jonas took almost 2 minutes out of the leader in around 40 minutes today. Where's the hoopla about that accomplishment?
Click to expand...

Exactly. In fairness, Orla mentioned that during the TNT post-race I mentioned above, but only in passing, and then seemed to dismiss it as much less important than the fact that his TT hadn't lived up to pundit expectations.

I know these commentators take some kind of oath against allowing even a second of dead air, but I really wish they'd think a little more before they speak.
 
I'm not sure that a 3 time grand tour winner and accomplished time trialist deserves hoopla for outperforming a climber who has never won anything at the pro or world tour level and who has never shown much TT prowess.

Sure, Jonas could have done a bit better but a flat mostly straight TT favored the bigger powerful riders. The top 10 finishers on the stage were all over 70kg except Arensman who is 68kg.

I also think Jonas isn't particularly worried. His strategy the last few years is not to lose a race on any given day, and take marginal gains when available without risking much downside.

I'm happy to see Eulalio get a few(?) more days in pink. He's stepped up and handled himself well in the pink jersey. I doubt if he'll hang on to a podium spot but he could be in for a top 10 finish if he doesn't have a collapse in the next 11 stages.
 
Btw, since MVDP and Pogi were brought up. This popped up in my feed. Remember a few years ago when Pogacar was in a two up sprint with MVDP and ended up 4th? 😆

 
I don't need to see any hoopla aimed at Jonas. What is getting tiring are the constant questions and nitpicking as they compare him to Superman Pogi, both directly, and passive-aggressively. They did not compare him to Ganna, which would have been appropriate. Jonas did not have the best TT of his career, but he had a damn good one. From what I saw on tv, he was giving it everything he had.

Comparing Tadej and MVDP in the sprint truly is comical. Tadej is an all arounder, MVDP is the best leadout man since Mark Renshaw.
 
Jeremy McCreary said:
Exactly. In fairness, Orla mentioned that during the TNT post-race I mentioned above, but only in passing, and then seemed to dismiss it as much less important than the fact that his TT hadn't lived up to pundit expectations.

I know these commentators take some kind of oath against allowing even a second of dead air, but I really wish they'd think a little more before they speak.
Click to expand...
I'm not a big TNT coverage fan. They get a bit hysterical for my liking. Kelly obviously is worth hearing. It's a weird hotch potch of the old Eurosport crew Kelly & Kirby, the remnants of the sacked GCN gang and this new TNT styling that is a cheap upgrade to justify their claim that they were going to improve coverage (they haven't) while increasing monthly subs from £6.99 to £31.99. None of which goes back into the sport of cycling just to Discovery/Warners/HBO Max/Paramount to help Ellison claw back his insane merger costs and bribe Trump to get it approved.
 
No Giro live or replay coverage on our Sierra road trip is driving me nuts! What's with these sketchy-looking YouTube channels offering live Giro coverage if you join their live chats?
 
Often wondered why Enric Mas has not won more, being such a good climber. Today in that duel he showed no race judgement, just played into Narvaez hands time and time again. If the fella you are with can sprint and you can't, why pull with him? No gamemanship or cunning at all. Narvaez cheeky grin when asked about it in the post race interview and quoting a book about basically riding my own race. He almost winked. Bravo 3 stage wins!
 
GC unchanged but with Harper gaining 5 places you now have 5 aussies in the top ten! That's pretty remarkable. If Jonas does go out of reach, the other two podium spots look a very tasty battle. At the halfway point there are 7 riders within 1 min 30 of each other. And that's not including Eulalio who could be in play too.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back