Watching the peloton - Professional Road Racing thread 2026

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Have you tracked UCI XCO competition in Les Gets?
MVDP came the second behind the Specialized guy Adrien Boichis. You might even be the best pro peloton rider in the world but there always will be a rider who can understand the mountain bike better than you do :) Still, big congrats to the Dutch!

 
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Stefan Mikes said:
Have you tracked UCI XCO competition in Les Gets?
MVDP came the second behind the Specialized guy Adrien Boichis. You might even be the best pro peloton rider in the world but there always will be a rider who can understand the mountain bike better than you do :) Still, big congrats to the Dutch!

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He started as a mountainbiker. Has European & National jerseys & 3 World Cup round victories.

These days he isn't seeded so does the short lap qualifying race, couple of days ago, finished 10th which bought him a second row start and then had to fight his way to the front in the early laps, caught the five in front like a hunting shark even took the lead at one point and managed to come second. His bike skills looked pretty damn good to me!

I like the Les Gets course. Some XC courses don't seem technical enough or varied but this one has everything.

Last year Van Der Poel must have started further back, similarly he went on the hunt and nearly made the front but the effort exhausted him and he finished 6th I think. That was his last mtb race before this weekend!
 
Wow, that hail storm reminded me of our Denver days. Got serious to apocalyptic hail there several times a thunderstorm season (roughly May-September).

Can't imaging riding and especially descending in that stuff — including the hail already on the ground. Was really looking forward to the finish, but glad they canceled the stage.
 
Jeremy McCreary said:
Wow, that hail storm reminded me of our Denver days. Got serious to apocalyptic hail there several times a thunderstorm season (roughly May-September).

Can't imaging riding and especially descending in that stuff — including the hail already on the ground. Was really looking forward to the finish, but glad they canceled the stage.
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That lightning could have been dangerous too.
 
Rás Cnoic said:
That lightning could have been dangerous too.
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There were two reasons that the stage was neutralized then canceled, and they were not rain and hail. The two reasons were lightning and Tadej Pogacar. We do not, at any level of bike racing, race in a lightning storm. It's in the insurance documents. How the jury handles the results is up to the jury. The other influence was the leader. They have no official capacity to dictate any decision of the commissaires, but they can gather the peloton to unite and simply stop riding. The commissaires know this, so when a leader comes back to the red car, they listen.
 
This young Belgian lad looks an interesting future prospect, Jarno Widar. Finished 2nd today, aged just 20 but bloody impressive early palmares. One to watch.
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In TdF 2026, Tadej racked up a huge GC advantage early on. Then he used some of the wiggle room that gave him to boost Del Torro in a big way.

Today's stunning Stage 4 win puts him in a similar poition in the Vuelta early on. Will he boost a different UAE rider this time — say, Ayuso or Vine?

Have other big stars done this kind of "philanthropic" team development? How do the team mates not chosen feel about such favoritism?
 
Jeremy McCreary said:
In TdF 2026, Tadej racked up a huge GC advantage early on. Then he used some of the wiggle room that gave him to boost Del Torro in a big way.

Today's stunning Stage 4 win puts him in a similar poition in the Vuelta early on. Will he boost a different UAE rider this time — say, Ayuso or Vine?

Have other big stars done this kind of "philanthropic" team development? How do the team mates not chosen feel about such favoritism?
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Can't remember but it's not usual at the pointy end because it's rare there is any oxygen to spare. Pog is rare. Racing is never so one sided where you have the space to be magnanimous.

I do think the race for second looks interesting which is a consolation.
 
Jeremy McCreary said:
In TdF 2026, Tadej racked up a huge GC advantage early on. Then he used some of the wiggle room that gave him to boost Del Torro in a big way.

Today's stunning Stage 4 win puts him in a similar poition in the Vuelta early on. Will he boost a different UAE rider this time — say, Ayuso or Vine?

Have other big stars done this kind of "philanthropic" team development? How do the team mates not chosen feel about such favoritism?
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The Vuelta has now officially become boring. Sigh.

Who goes where and when is usually decided in the team bus after a breakfast conversation. A lot depends on how everyone feels that morning. It's also about UCI points and what would work out best for each rider and the team. There is usually a Plan A and a Plan B. So if Tadej looks like that he is sacrificing his own results for another teammate, that's part of the plan. How other riders feel about the "chosen one" depends on whether they approve of the plan or not, but once it's in the plan, that's the plan. Riders that deviate from the plan are putting their contract at risk, unless that deviation is caused by something out of their control (Plan A or B rider crashes, has a long mechanical stop, runs out of gas, or the like) and the team car gives them the go-ahead.

Personally, I am not a fan of this type of riding. It's one thing for a rider to slay themselves to support the leader. That is a team racing tactic. It adds excitement to the racing. It's another thing for the leader to stop racing in order to support another rider. That is also a team racing tactic, but it detracts from the excitement of the racing. Not only that, it degrades the value of the accomplishment for the rider that received assistance from the leader. It's an asterisk next to their palmares that will never go away.
 
Rás Cnoic said:
Can't remember but it's not usual at the pointy end because it's rare there is any oxygen to spare. Pog is rare. Racing is never so one sided where you have the space to be magnanimous.

I do think the race for second looks interesting which is a consolation.
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It will be a good race for second until Tadej gets involved. If he can stay out of it, watching Roglic battle Kuss could be fantastic racing.
 
stompandgo said:
The Vuelta has now officially become boring. Sigh.
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Exactly. For a 3 week Grand Tour to have no central, riveting GC competition really does diminish it. Not Pog's fault but after the similar situation in France it's getting very boring now. I'm hoping young riders like that Belgian kid and Onley put in a good showing and the race to the podium is tight right to the end. I'm not sure Roglic has it in the legs anymore but he's a tough canny competitor.
 
They were talking yesterday about Roglic's well known tactic of gaining position by gunning for bonus points. The race behind Tadej is close enough now to figure into every team's plan.

Netcompany must be breathing a huge sigh of relief with Onley up there.
 
stompandgo said:
Netcompany must be breathing a huge sigh of relief with Onley up there.
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was thinking that too, Onley then said he had a terrible night before the stage, didn't sleep at all. No reason given. Netcompany (and Geraint Thomas) will still be jittery!
 
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