2025 European Championships ***SPOILERS***

[rich p]

Eurosport commentator, mentioned by me a few pages ago, or good search engines are your friend: https://de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karsten_Migels

Ah, thanks. I don't speak German so it might have passed me by as irrelevant.

 

[mrushton]

It's quite amazing that we've gone from an era of Roglic winning GTs on bonus seconds from attacks in the last 100m to Pog winning everything by attacking from so far out it's in a different time zone

See, i'd forgotten about that era. we all complained about Primoz sitting on the wheel and now some complain about Pog.

 

[Pross]

I'm struggling to recall an era where people thought the racing was exciting. It's almost like whatever constitutes 'exciting' doesn't exist or at least not in a form everyone can agree on.

 

[wakemalcolm]

See, i'd forgotten about that era. we all complained about Primoz sitting on the wheel and now some complain about Pog.

It's not the Roglification or Pogcineration that's the problem, it's the certainty of the outcome that can steal the excitement for some.

 

[yello]

Ayuso says he did all he could and doesn't understand Seixas and Scaroni saying their teammates were chasing behind and refusing to work.

You saw that moment when Evenepoel looked at Seixas and said 'sod this, if you guys want to play silly buggers then I'm off'. And off he went. Top marks for at least trying, and securing 2nd place into the bargain.
I didn't watch beyond Remco finishing so I've no idea how far back the remainder of the French team were. Seemed an odd call to me, Voeckler quite clearly telling Seixas to back off. I dunno, maybe Voeckler could see numbers that suggested young Seixas was at the limit.

Edit: caveat - I don't understand cycling tactics sometimes, if at all.

 

[Dogtrousers]

We're always complaining that cycling is boring. Froome and Sky? boring. Jumbo Visma dominance? boring. Sprint stages? boring. Time trials? boring. Primoz? Boring. Annemiek dominance? boring. Pog dominance? boring.

Maybe my sister was right. She came into the room when I was watching some cycling in which nothing much was happening. After about 5 minutes she said: "It's not exactly a spectator sport is it?"

 

[yello]

After about 5 minutes she said: "It's not exactly a spectator sport is it?"

I said the same thing to my wife. I think, in fairness, you have to be pretty invested in it to find it interesting. It's not something you can just sit down and watch - unless there are helicopters and a château, and dancing cheeses etc.

 

[CXRAndy]

Its fantastic to see such an awesome talent as Pogacar, destroy the opposition. His confidence to go from such a long way out is staggering.

Long may it continue for at least several more years. I'd like him to win at least once all the classics, win four Worlds, take the Vuelta, capture the most GC at the TDF and most stages from Cavendishs record.

Slightly biased matches Cavs record 😁

 

[Gweeds]

I said the same thing to my wife. I think, in fairness, you have to be pretty invested in it to find it interesting. It's not something you can just sit down and watch - unless there are helicopters and a château, and dancing cheeses etc.

Same - but then watching the Men's downhill from Lake Placid later she absolutely loved it. As a skier she could see the skill and sheers balls on display.

 

[No Ta Doctor]

Then either disqualify the world champion from the Euros, or move them back to early August so the jersey is likely to get some showing most years.

Nah, it is what it is, a modern development with only 10 editions, not a bad idea but not really that prestigious. Like national jerseys that you don't see when the winner takes the rainbows, some years it won't be there.

Always feels harsh blaming Pog being boring because none of the others are good enough to go with him when he attacks. On flatter races we have MVDP and Mads who can put up a fight. On hilly races no-one seems capable. What’s he supposed to do, go passive and respond to others pretending he isn’t the best? He’s trying to push his own boundaries by going early and one day he’ll overdo it. Just enjoy watching the greatest of all time.

I don't think anyone's blaming him, it's his job and he does it better than anyone I've ever seen, and possibly better than anyone ever.

Most GOATs are actually A Very Good Athlete Who Is Currently Better Than Most Of His Rivals - for every Messi there's a Ronaldo (and a Ronaldo 9) and a Pele and a Maradona. Athletes who are unarguably the best their sport has ever produced are exceedingly rare. Usain Bolt in sprinting, Kelly Slater in surfing, they're on an elite and very small list. Merckx is legitimately the GOAT - nobody has come close to matching him - until now. Doesn't make it exciting though.

 

[phreak]

Big mig defending 5 mins TT leads on GC for 5 years running

I always thought Indurain was a bit unfairly maligned. Yes, he smashed everyone in the time trials, but I recall he rode everyone off his wheel on a hilly stage to Liege once, did likewise to Hautacam and La Plagne. He perhaps doesn't get the credit for those rides as he didn't actually win the stage on any of them, but he did show himself on non-TT stages.

 

[phreak]

I'm struggling to recall an era where people thought the racing was exciting. It's almost like whatever constitutes 'exciting' doesn't exist or at least not in a form everyone can agree on.

Isn't about unpredictability? I grew up (in cycling terms) in the Pantani era, and it was exciting because he'd normally ship big time in the TTs and be on catch up in the mountains. By the time of the 99 Giro and he was winning literally every MTF, it wasn't quite as exciting.

When you kinda know the outcome before the race has started, it ceases to be exciting.

 

[No Ta Doctor]

I always thought Indurain was a bit unfairly maligned. Yes, he smashed everyone in the time trials, but I recall he rode everyone off his wheel on a hilly stage to Liege once, did likewise to Hautacam and La Plagne. He perhaps doesn't get the credit for those rides as he didn't actually win the stage on any of them, but he did show himself on non-TT stages.

The other thing about Big Mig was that he only dominated stage races and at that point we only got about an hour a day of the Tour anyway. We didn't get to see him smother Paris-Nice or the Giro, so we could appreciate his greatness without having to watch it for hours on end 😜

 

[Dogtrousers]

The women's cycling is quite open these days now AVV has stopped marmalising everyone, and Demi hasn't quite turned into the all-conquering force we thought she might become and PFP has arrived from exile in strange-bike-land.

 

[mididoctors]

I'm struggling to recall an era where people thought the racing was exciting. It's almost like whatever constitutes 'exciting' doesn't exist or at least not in a form everyone can agree on.

I watched the tour this year and it was pretty hard to find a stage where nothing much was happening though out the stage ..."active racing" has never been so prevalent