Campy aren’t exactly a forward thinking business, and they don’t even have the cash to supply the neutral support vehicles like they used to.
Sponsorship generally is taking a bit hit though, PMU are no longer a TdF sponsor and they’ve been backing the green jersey for about 30 years.
Until SRAM release that wireless groupset I can’t see any reason for the pro peloton to use it. I’m a red22 user and I really like it but you can’t argue that the 9070 is probably the best shifting group on the market. With the exception of maybe Cancellara who still insists on mech of electronic it’d be hard to argue against anyone using it.
Given that Zipp and Sram are the same parent company I’m not surprised to see a move away from those wheelsets. Tinkoff were using Roval wheels as early as le tour last year, if not sooner. I noticed it when berty binned it going down that hill in the wet. Astana use FSA components on their bikes so I’m not entirely surprised to see tinkoff go down that route.
Rhys is bang on, Canyon aeroad wins in the looks department again imo…definitely heaps better than the venge. Tarmac is the same as the sl4 and the pro teams always have pretty average paint aside from special riders getting birthday paint jobs etc. I like the propel too, my old neighbour has one in that exact colourway minus the red sponsor decals and they’re nice up close, especially in the smaller sizes (though I’ve never seen a modern bike over 56 that I thought looked good).
Super keen for these early races and the lead up to the spring classics. I’ve been feigning interest in grand tours the past year or so with the exception of mountain stages that pose a real threat to the gc or allow an unmarked rider to solo to victory. It would appear that Froome is again going to ride for the tour so hopefully Richie Porte can stay healthy and kick on at the giro as was the plan last year. I wonder if Sagan is going to ride like a moron again this year and win on raw talent? That sort of thing quickly caught up with Cavendish who spends too much time having a moan when things don’t go his way. Kittel seems like a genuinely good dude so I don’t mind watching him win.
I’m also amazed at the astana stuff that’s happened over the summer as well, perhaps my vinokurov tarmac has something special in it too.
Brain dump over…look forward to many a discussion.
My thoughts on the above:
Just had a look at the course and looks like it would again favour one of those punchy riders who can put the hammer down on a small steep climb.
Kittel’s head annoys me, Cav is sook, Sagan should make Bike Party 4 and go away. GO GREIPEL!!
Yeah it has less climbing than Valkenburg, Florence and Ponferrada and it’s being talked up as more of a kermesse course with some bergs than anything else
Matt Goss, he’s good but he’s pro conti standard and Just can’t deliver at the highest level. MS-R I think he got lucky.
I’m with you Loki. I hope Sagan wins nothing this year. Better still I hope Cancellara and Boonen beat him in everything. He is a little boy in a man’s world.
Haha…I don’t hate Kittel but the hair worship is a bit much. I just like the interviews I’ve read with him. I like Greipel too though, and the fact that despite being a sprinter he has a proper dig on the climbs etc. I remember seeing him in a breakaway giving it hell over some rolling terrain.
Excellent call on Sagan from both of you kents, he’s instagram fodder at best.
I always thought Goss should have tried to reinvent himself as a punchy rider like Gerro™ or a great domestique like o’grady. Being on the same team as Edvald Boassan Haggan will render him a human bidon cage.
That MTN kit is also horrible… Newcastle United football strip. Bunch of geordies on bikes.
Matt goss makes me very depressed about cycling. Broken dreams etc
Yep. In 2011 when Jack Bobridge soloed off the front for a few laps to win, Goss came second leading home a bunch that included Gerrans, Meyer and Matthews.
By his own admission he was a classics rider, who Greenedge tried to turn into a flat-out sprinter. Hopefully now he can get back to targeting the hilly classics and a few stages here and there.
Yeah but he can still go to bed for the rest of his life knowing he won MSR. I’d take that!
Agree. I reckon Sagan had his chance to stand up and be one of the big boys, but it seems that his immaturity in life carries over into his racing. Or something. What am I, a psychologist?
Doesn’t Tyler Farrar say the reverse? Look how well that turned out for him.
Tyler Farrar, wow. Haven’t heard much from him the last few years. You could say he really…fell off.
Oooooooooooooooh sh1111111111111t.
Haha I think MTN-Qhubeka are brave taking on Farrar, Goss and Boassen-Hagen. Ciolek did well with MSR but I don’t know if they can expect a repeat from those three.
My premonition: MTB-whatsit will be an utter failure.
Does anyone here do those fantasy league things? Maybe we should set up a thing for FOAers if there’s interest?
you mean all those wrongs don’t make a right?
