Watching the peloton - Professional Road Racing thread 2026

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The UCI is obsessed with how the sport is viewed by the public. Always has been, as long as I have been involved. They go to great lengths to present their vision of what the sport should look like, and enforce it with regulations that have penalties. There are way more than most people know about. While all regulations are subject to interpretation and debate by the race jury, it's a slippery slope. If a team commits a violation, and the penalty is not enforced by the book, all of the other teams will scream. This results in clips and clicks that we all consume, but it's not good for the sport.

I know that it seems like I'm defending the UCI, but I'm not. I'm someone who has been on a race jury many times, that understands that those that make the rules are way above my pay grade.
 
So strange to hear pro cycling commentators with distinctly American accents — especially the female's Southern (or Texas?) accent. You'll never guess who won.

 
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The main announcer on that Flo clip sounds like Brett Lee, but I don't have coverage so I'm not sure. There are only a handful of announcers that cover US based cycling races, so you will hear their voices often.

Quinn had some good competition, but wound up crushing them at the end. One might wonder why he would work so hard for yet another jersey he has already won twice. It's more than palmares, he gets to (actually, is required to) wear it in any UCI road race until next year's championships, unless he achieves the leadership position in any race-based jersey competition (leader, points, mountains, etc.).
 
Phil Liggett is a controversial figure for some due to his relationship with Lance Armstrong. But to me, he's the best cycling commentator I've ever listened to by far.

Happily, he'll be calling the 2026 TdF — hopefully with Bob Roll, whose commentary I also admire. For my money, that duo's WAY better than any TNT crew I've ever heard.

Here's an in-depth 5-part look at Liggett's extraordinarily long sportscasting career. The Armstrong connection's covered at the end of Part 3 and start of Part 4.

 
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Could be some last minute changes to Visma's lineup. Affini suffered a hard crash a couple days ago and was taken to the hospital on a stretcher. The team confirmed he never lost consciousness and had no fractures, but was vague otherwise. I read one report that he has both internal and external stitches to treat a deep wound in the groin area.

I can't imagine lining up for 2000 miles of hard riding a week after stitches in that area. Bart Lemmen has pulled out of his national championships, so he is probably next up.

I guess that means Hagenes and Lemmen will be the first line of defense when Visma needs to control the front before climbs.
 
Jeremy McCreary said:
Anyone, 3 silly questions, please:

Q1. Why and when does this become a need for a team?

Q2. Exactly how is it done?

Q3. What kind of chops does a rider need to do well in this role?

Thanks!
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Stop anyone getting away.
Make sure your GC hope is positioned first 10 entering the climb.
Setting a fast but steady pace on the climb that shreds other riders out the back but not your GC hope, doing a fast pace he can do while still protecting him. Wind is less of a factor on climbs but being paced and sheltered is still key.
Also on climbs the psychological battle is enormous if your rival still has 3 riders pacing and you're on your own it weakens resolve.
On the roads leading to the climb you'll have strong powerful riders setting the pace stopping breakaways and hauling back time on the earlier escapees so they don't gain too much time and become a GC danger. Then on the climb itself you have your mountain domestiques, incredible climbers like Sepp Kuss who set a blistering pace. The big teams pay big sums to riders like Kuss because they could be team leader on another team.

End of the day it's all about control. Get your GC leader safely to that final climb and as far up it in front bunch until all rivals shredded or nearly, so last 5km your leader still has enough in legs to attack rival and gain time, or enough to stay with rivals and not lose time. The whole team will kill itself making that happen.
 
BlackHand said:
Could be some last minute changes to Visma's lineup. Affini suffered a hard crash a couple days ago and was taken to the hospital on a stretcher. The team confirmed he never lost consciousness and had no fractures, but was vague otherwise. I read one report that he has both internal and external stitches to treat a deep wound in the groin area.

I can't imagine lining up for 2000 miles of hard riding a week after stitches in that area. Bart Lemmen has pulled out of his national championships, so he is probably next up.

I guess that means Hagenes and Lemmen will be the first line of defense when Visma needs to control the front before climbs.
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Ouch. Yeah climbing alps with groin stitches. And in a massive heatwave. Ouch ouch. I remember Kelly was doing really well in 86 I think and then got a boil -in that area- eventually had to be pulled from his bike. Ended up in tears in the team car. And hard man Kelly never cried. They said it was golf ball sized in the end. But the tears were frustration at his lost chance not the pain.
 
Starting to look at the teams starting line ups. Bora, and I must admit I'm always sceptical about the Bora DS tactics! So they have Remco & Lipowitz and are apparently sharing leadership duties. Lipowitz 3rd last year, must be thrilled.
 
I'm trying to work this out from the management angle. So Lip finished third to Jonas and Pog. If they both got hit by lightning he'd have won the Tour De France. Better than all the rest. At the same time he never once threatened to beat either and no sign he will this year. But would he do better if he had a powerful mountain team around him like Visma?

Instead of buying in a Sepp Kuss, they buy in Remco, costing millions. Is he a sure fire challenger to the Pog & Jonas show? Nope. Not a chance I'd say. Especially looking at his early results on any big hill let alone an Alp.

So for Lip - in terms of confidence- his team didn't surround him with brilliant support climbers but instead brought in a famous rival -hedging their bets. Not great for his mental health unless they reckon the internal competition will bring out the best in him. Possible. But it reduces the number of support riders for either of them. Be interesting to see how it pans out.
 
BlackHand said:
I read one report that he has both internal and external stitches to treat a deep wound in the groin area.
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Yikes, just about my least favorite place for deep wounds.
;^}

Do these personnel changes hurt Vingegaard's chances against Pogi? UAE's also missing some important riders.
 
BlackHand said:
Could be some last minute changes to Visma's lineup. Affini suffered a hard crash a couple days ago and was taken to the hospital on a stretcher. The team confirmed he never lost consciousness and had no fractures, but was vague otherwise. I read one report that he has both internal and external stitches to treat a deep wound in the groin area.

I can't imagine lining up for 2000 miles of hard riding a week after stitches in that area. Bart Lemmen has pulled out of his national championships, so he is probably next up.

I guess that means Hagenes and Lemmen will be the first line of defense when Visma needs to control the front before climbs.
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Affini wasn't a major player like Wout, Campanaerts, or Kuss, but it is a loss. Best to him in his recovery.
 
Jeremy McCreary said:
Anyone, 3 silly questions, please:

Q1. Why and when does this become a need for a team?

Q2. Exactly how is it done?

Q3. What kind of chops does a rider need to do well in this role?

Thanks!
Click to expand...
It's part of the "new era" of pro cycling, the post blood doping era. While I am not naive enough to believe that riders aren't cheating with drugs, the biggest difference between the Armstrong era and now is the focus on the power meter and nutrition. The DS in the team car literally has data telling him when to inform the riders how to ride and when. "Victor, I need you get to the front of Ventoux and go 340w for 40 minutes until you are 5km from the summit. Drink two bottles of water and one with supplements. Eat a gel every 20 minutes. Then pull off and let Sepp take over". "Yes, boss".

When you're talking team riding, the object is for the projected stage leader to do as little work as possible. The "leadout" starts with the diesel tempo rider, followed by the rider that can go shorter and harder with the ability to follow attacks, followed by the puncheur, who measures the riders around him and leads the attacks, followed by the stage leader. The puncheur attacks at a predetermined point, then the leader attacks over the top.
 
stompandgo said:
The DS in the team car literally has data telling him when to inform the riders how to ride and when. "Victor, I need you get to the front of Ventoux and go 340w for 40 minutes until you are 5km from the summit. Drink two bottles of water and one with supplements. Eat a gel every 20 minutes. Then pull off and let Sepp take over". "Yes, boss".
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Given how far team cars can be from the action, surprised that the DS would generally have enough knowledge of the true state of the race to give an order like that. They must get a lot of intel from team riders via race radio.
 
Onley out, no surprise after the awful crash at Alp Rhone, was lucky apparently he wasn't badly - life changingly - injured in that ravine. It means Ineos won't have a leadership dilemma like Bora, though not a reason they'd like. Onley is having a nightmare of a season from 4th TdF last July to now. To add to it all, Kevin Vauquelin has been sick this week and is not confirmed to start, leaving potentially Arensman as only GC contender and Ganna for stage hunting I guess. Not a great way to back up their start of season promise to "get back on the podium" and impress the new sponsors and their distracted by Man Utd boss, Sir Petro chemical Oligarch. If Vauquelin starts he may have the first week to get up to speed, remarkable how they can recover in the race.
 
Jeremy McCreary said:
Given how far team cars can be from the action, surprised that the DS would generally have enough knowledge of the true state of the race to give an order like that. They must get a lot of intel from team riders via race radio.
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The team car with the leaders is rarely more than a minute back. The PCP (President of the Commissaire's Panel, i.e. Chief Referee) directs the flow of team cars in front of him. Plans are also discussed on the bus before the start.
 
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