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Pro Cycling Thread

Matteh

Matteh

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Looks like that guy from one of the newer Matrix films. Can't remember his name because frankly i don't care enough about the newer matrix films to care.
 
thewizard1o1

thewizard1o1

International Debutant
I picked up Roy Keane's at Big W for $2, so will keep an eye out for it. :)

Let me guess to be released around July?;)
 
Craig

Craig

World Traveller
Yeah the eve of the race apparently. And I should let you know, Allan Davis has ended up at Discovery Channel if you weren't aware, he has a profile on their official fansite the thepaceline which is the site to go to for all the news, races, profiles etc. are so it can be assumed he has joined them.

Too bad he won't ride the Tour.
 
thewizard1o1

thewizard1o1

International Debutant
Connsidering Allan used a Trek bike at the Tour Down Under, so i guessed it was on the cards. But Disco hasn't always been a happy hunting ground for sprinters...Giro and Vuelta for Davis i would say?
 
Craig

Craig

World Traveller
thewizard1o1 said:
Connsidering Allan used a Trek bike at the Tour Down Under, so i guessed it was on the cards. But Disco hasn't always been a happy hunting ground for sprinters...Giro and Vuelta for Davis i would say?
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Yeah I would say so, at this stage, with Basso allowed to race it would be at this stage:

Ivan Basso
Levi Leipheimer
Alberto Contador
Tom Danielson
George Hincapie
Yaroslav Popovych
Pavel Padrnos
Chechu Rubiera
Allan Davis/Stijn Devolder/Egoi Martinez/Vladimer Goussev/Benjamin Noval/Matthew White

Interesting who would get the last spot. Discovery don't do sprinters in the Tour, but it is a change of policy as such as they have picked up a few of them, Devolder is a strong man for the flat, and quite often in races is one of the strongest in the pack but is on the front dishing out punishment to the rest. Showed his depth in climbing by finishing 11th in last year's Vuelta (make of that what you wil)l. Martinez is one for the breakaway I guess on the transitional stages or your undulating ones, but is useful climber who won the mountain competition and a stage in last year's Vuelta. Goussev (otherwise known as the 'Goose' and yes that does sound dire) was one of their more consistent riders last year, often finishing in the top 10 of the one day races towards the end of the season, took a 4th spot in Paris-Roubaix before being disqualified, and one the prolouge and finished high up in the Tour of Germany (at this rate it is challenging the Vuelta in terms of quality and interest, as at least you get people out to watch the stages and they don't go out to the middle of nowhere) so I can think you can describe him as an all-rounder since I believe he had a good Vuelta.

Noval is one of your unsung riders in the peloton, either doing the donkey work on the front with Padrnos or setting the pace on the lower slopes of climbs and I don't think White needs much introduction. That's one strong line-up on paper and the quality of riders that could miss out, when you consider on other teams they would be starting.

The other thing I would like to point out is that I reckon Astana will end up being the current version of T-Mobile in 2005. I just think Alexandre Vinokourov, Andres Klöden, Andrey Kashechkin (3rd in last years Vuelta), and if he rides, Paolo Savoldelli (I assume he will since he bearly races after the Tour) can end up clashing with each other, especially Vino and Klödi given their past.
 
Craig

Craig

World Traveller
Been playing Pro Cycling Manager and I had perhaps my most heartbreaking/annoying result, because I decided to cheat be Discovery and I was in Het Vok (Gent-Lokeren in the game) and I was able to have a four man break of Hoste, Hincapie, Ekimov, Van Heeswijk with 45km to go and who decides to make the junction from the main bunch, you guessed it, Tom Boonen and later on Boonen makes the break with Hoste, and Eki able to jump across and stayed away, and I made Hoste start the sprint a little too early and then Boonen went right around him, and got a sizeable gap and despite Hoste was able to keep sprinting I lost out by half a bike length and Eki took in 3rd, and Hincapie and van Heeswijk taking 4th and 5th.

Gutted.

Haven't had a win yet despite some near misses, although I took 3rd overall in the Tour de Langkawi with Pavel Padrnos (in real life he was weights 81+ kg) and Chechu Rubiera taking the KOM competition in the Tour of Algarve in Portugal. So that sort of counts as a win.
 
Magrat Garlick

Magrat Garlick

Global Moderator
Craig said:
Been playing Pro Cycling Manager and I had perhaps my most heartbreaking/annoying result, because I decided to cheat be Discovery and I was in Het Vok (Gent-Lokeren in the game) and I was able to have a four man break of Hoste, Hincapie, Ekimov, Van Heeswijk with 45km to go and who decides to make the junction from the main bunch, you guessed it, Tom Boonen and later on Boonen makes the break with Hoste, and Eki able to jump across and stayed away, and I made Hoste start the sprint a little too early and then Boonen went right around him, and got a sizeable gap and despite Hoste was able to keep sprinting I lost out by half a bike length and Eki took in 3rd, and Hincapie and van Heeswijk taking 4th and 5th..
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Haha. Talk about putting all your eggs in one basket.

(Mind - no one beats Boonen IRL, why should they be able to in a game? :p )
 
Craig

Craig

World Traveller
Well the UCI-Grand Tours farce has taken another step with the UCI instructing all Pro Tour teams not to start Paris-Nice after Unibet were denyed to start their because of some French law prohibiting online gambling (so as a result in French races they have a ? on their jersey).

Meanwhile after some near misses T-Mobile have their first win of the season with newboy Bernhard Eisel claiming stage two in the Tour of Algarve. While Alessandro Petacchi had had a whinge with Barloworld sprinter Robbie Hunter of South Africa about Hunter apparently sprinting too dangerously (Petacchi got relegated yeasterday for the same thing), but this quote is gold:

Robbie Hunter said:
"If there is a danger, I'm the first to put my fingers on the brakes," he answered. "I wasn't anywhere near Petacchi before the sprint. I wasn't going to sprint anyway because I was a lead out man for Fabrizio Guidi today. The reality is that Petacchi is useless at the moment. He doesn't have the legs for winning. He can't justify the two million euros or so that he makes. But if he's using me as an excuse for losing, he has found the wrong person."
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Scathing.
 
Craig

Craig

World Traveller
Watch woman's cycling, there isn't so much a problem there, because simply the money isn't really there, unlike in the men's. They do for the love of the sport first and foremost.
 
Matteh

Matteh

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Craig said:
Watch woman's cycling, there isn't so much a problem there, because simply the money isn't really there, unlike in the men's. They do for the love of the sport first and foremost.
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Also a Brit is the best at something...boggles the mind.
 
Matteh

Matteh

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
British Cycling is doing one of those stages where anyone can turn up and have a go for £40, like they do in France for Le Tour. I'm very tempted to have a go at it, Craig any idea when/if are you're coming over?
 
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