To Tachira we will try to win stages with the sprinter, and test if we can win a stage, but it is without pressure because we are starting the season, the biggest expectation is to pick up the pace
I feel so much better than the previous year, I feel more mature, I feel good, I have grown up, we will see how things are going to give us
The list of competing foreign teams is shrinking.I find it hard to believe that these teams all cancelled only 3-4 days before the start of the race. More likely, the organiser just never told the world before now. :(
Ecuador, Cundinamarca, JB Ropa and a Brazilian team have all withdrawn and.....
.......now we can add Colombia Tierra de Atletas to that list.
So no big names, but (and this shows how few results he's had lately) on the PCS ranking of sprinters for this race, Cavendish is rated 26th!In other words, it's now Cavendish who's doing sh*t small races. ;)
Tomorrow sees the start of the next/final (delete as appropriate) chapter of the career of Mark Cavendish. Now at Bahrain, he's got a rather easier list of opponents than his erstwhile team mate/rival Andre Greipel had at the TDU.
Fast men in Saudi Arabia: Bauhaus (on the same team), Bouhanni, McLay, Barbero, Bonifazio, Debusschere, Dupont, Planckaert, Vallee, Gibson, Jules, Cima, Cote, De Kleijn, Reguigui, Carstensen, Malucelli and Aular.
So no big names, but (and this shows how few results he's had lately) on the PCS ranking of sprinters for this race, Cavendish is rated 26th!
Coverage is on Eurosport.
He is in top 10 again :coolWho, Lucas Carstensen? :P
Bouhanni could win the GC.
Tour de Saudi Arabia final stage saw the serial biter bitten.
I quite like that Bahrain - McLaren kit, but it still seems so odd to me to see Haussler leading out "lead-out man" Cavendish. The last time I saw Heinrich play lead out to Mark, it ended with a broken soul and tears for a lifetime.
(https://i.eurosport.com/2020/02/08/2771626-57254537-1600-900.jpg)
"I've got nothing to say to him. I think the people can make their own decision about what happened. Crashes do happen, but not crashes like that. I certainly don't respect him as a rider, or as a person."
Reports at the time suggested that Cavendish spat at Haussler as he lay on the ground, injured.
(https://i.imgur.com/wHI461n.png)
Now look what you boys have gone and done. :P
I'm not clear on that. Did he "miss out" or did he choose not to participate in required qualifying events?He
Stages 2,3 and 4.What a parcours.
Is that the Japanese Viviani who’s just got his first win in Langkawi?
Human Voyage, the organisers of this race and Langkawi have said that they'll need to get a strong list of teams for 2020 to keep their status or get demoted to 2.1.
Pretty much follows the tried and tested race formula again this year.
A dozen world teams turning up with a few regular folks kicking off their season.
52nd Tour Cycliste International du Var et des Alpes Maritimes (2.1)
The third European stage race of the week takes place in France, once again in Provence. With an increase from two to three days, Var looks to have cracking, not to mention iconic parcour.
...
Stage 1 » Le Cannet › Grasse (186.8k)
(https://www.procyclingstats.com/images/profiles/ap/bf/tour-du-haut-var-2020-stage-1-profile-5813f0e407.jpg)
Next up for Remco should be Algarve where the level of competition will be much higher.Go on... :P
Meanwhile, Remco Evenepoel beat out a number of elite climbers to take the summit finish victory on stage two of the Volta ao Algarve.:win
Mathieu van der Poel was dropped from the bunch... :o
Anti-climax is correct.
Can I upvote and downvote this at the same time?
according to Polish media, they are not doing Covid-19 tests in that race, by the waySomeone there hasn't understood the concept of the 'team bubbles'. The whole point is that, after a negative test, you have no contact to anyone other than your teammates & staff (and, during the race, the other teams' riders).
"All teams have been informed which restrictions apply. As an organizer, I do not require teams to bring certificates that they have been tested, because in our opinion this makes no sense. The cyclist was healthy yesterday and may be infected tomorrow, so it doesn't add much. And the teams would have to bear huge costs"
Yes, it costs a lot. But I'd vastly prefer that over becoming another UAE Tour or what could be worse.
I predict that many Conti teams (and maybe even some pro teams?) will race only very little (if at all) in the upcoming months as they can't afford quasi-continuous testing.
Incidentally, nothing was noticed of Corona at the race itself, practically everything was the same as before. We had a normal team presentation and did not have to walk around with masks in the start / finish area. There were hardly any spectators there, only occasionally on the track. I think that was arranged in advance by the organizer. The starting grid was also quite normal.
"And the teams would have to bear huge costs"At first glance, I thought someone was mocking "social distancing" by referencing "bear hugs."
the updated UCI protocol now specifically allows pool testing...
You can do for example 5 tests...[etc]
A late break took it.The entire podium of this stage is on the *ro Sibiu Tour startlist!
https://www.instagram.com/stories/turekalecech/2354459446674905943/
There is some testing in evidence.
Normally on race days @lahavd would wake up, change some clothes and go downstairs to the restaurant. In the ‘new normality’ he has to wait patiently in his room for food. The new corona regulations try to keep him as far as possible from contamination, and avoiding the restaurant is not the only measure taken to keep him uncontaminated.
"It is difficult", Davidzon admits. "But after such a long period without racing, I want to compete as much as possible. Therefore I do whatever it takes to stay healthy."
While Davidzon has to stay in his hotel room, Israel Cycling Academy soigneurs @xescocastello and @alexismg93 prepare his breakfast in a private ICA-camper. The two soigneurs have a tiny kitchen where they make breakfast, lunch and dinner for the group of twelve (riders and staff). It’s a responsibility on top of their work they already have to do.
Davidzon’s oats, cereals and bread is prepared and put in a box that first has been cleaned. Xesco leaves the camper with a face mask on and makes his way to Davidzon’s hotel room. He drops the breakfast and returns back to the camper. While Davidzon enjoys his breakfast, Xesco is preparing the food for the staff members. Corona: It’s the end of a ‘all-you-can-eat’-era in cycling.
Davidzon and the five other continental riders haven’t left the hotel room till they start to get themselves ready to go to the start line of the race. There is no rider meeting at the start, neither do they get to see or speak to riders of other teams before the race. Basically, Israel Cycling Academy travels straight from the hotel to start line, avoiding as much time with other people outside the ‘bubble’ as possible, and if it is necessary to be in touch with others from outside, 1,5m and a face mask are the way to go.
At the start and finish everyone tries to keep a distance from each other, and after the race the riders go straight to the busses. At the hotel, they go directly to their rooms, uploading their rides onto @trainingpeaks.
In addition, ISN and ICA have done blood- and PCR-tests towards the training camps and races, also for Dookola and will keep doing that towards future competitions.
Champion had dropped them all (just about) on the climb, but the Swiss caught him on the descent.
So he became number 2 but ... he is still Champion?
No need to go racing :D
Is it gonna be on some TV channel??
This last climb was really tough with 8-9 kilometers at 8%. It was quite hanging and it was very hot. I think everyone was a little tired after the two stages the day before . It was a tactical race between the riders in the general classification. I just played the stage victory. I tried to play my card well. Fortunately, I was able to attack in the last kilometer and win this stage.
I'm coming home this Sunday. I'm going to take advantage of my wife a day before going back to work
Another win for Gross. He also "won" the sprint in the peloton yesterday.
He's down to race another Polish stage race - Tour Bitwa Warszawska 1920. It starts with a short prologue and the rest of the stages are all very flat.
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EiDPKwGXsAAU99k?format=jpg)That goat (?) looks scary. :o
It does pass through Camembert at least, but from the complete opposite direction