Paying The Danegeld ***Spoilers***

[No Ta Doctor]

What did you make of Vinny's ride, Doc?

I thought it was decent but wouldn't have spooked Pog with regard to the Tour. Especially as he'll be a bit cooked from the Giro... possibly!

It's difficult to judge when the top level aren't really there as competition (Ayuso crashing out). Blew Martinez out of the water for 40 seconds in 1km after Red Bull delivered them to the finish, did a big solo the next day - which looked a little like the rest of the race wasn't hard enough for him so just wanted some tougher miles in his legs, then failed to drop the other Martinez on the final day and eventually got outsprinted by him. The final day might have been a little cautious due to the weather and tbh, if I were him I'd have let the French lad win the stage on his home turf but make it look good as a bit of goodwill from a lower level player might not go amiss later in the season (I don't think Jonas thinks like that though).

All in all I don't think we've got a gauge on his level from that, and it's basically impossible to tell until he's head to head with Pog, as they're in a class of their own

 

[rich p]

It's difficult to judge when the top level aren't really there as competition (Ayuso crashing out). Blew Martinez out of the water for 40 seconds in 1km after Red Bull delivered them to the finish, did a big solo the next day - which looked a little like the rest of the race wasn't hard enough for him so just wanted some tougher miles in his legs, then failed to drop the other Martinez on the final day and eventually got outsprinted by him. The final day might have been a little cautious due to the weather and tbh, if I were him I'd have let the French lad win the stage on his home turf but make it look good as a bit of goodwill from a lower level player might not go amiss later in the season (I don't think Jonas thinks like that though).

All in all I don't think we've got a gauge on his level from that, and it's basically impossible to tell until he's head to head with Pog, as they're in a class of their own

All good points.
I fear that unless he has as easy a ride in the Giro as Pog did, he'll struggle more in the Tour this year.
I don't blame him for going for the GT set at all though. Maybe he'll prove the team right in that it'll improve his form and chances but I'm not totally convinced.

I'm also more wrong than right but let's gloss over that 😊

 

[No Ta Doctor]

It seems like Valgren's fantastic stage win in the Giro may have inspired other Vikings, who were on the podium in no fewer than 5 UCI races yesterday - including three wins!

 

[Pross]

Never realised the Peace Race was still a thing!

 

[No Ta Doctor]

Never realised the Peace Race was still a thing!

Well depends on whether it's the original Peace Race or not. Current edition has run since 2013 as an u23 race.
That first edition in 2013 had some interesting riders in it! This was the final top 10

 

[rich p]

It seems like Valgren's fantastic stage win in the Giro may have inspired other Vikings, who were on the podium in no fewer than 5 UCI races yesterday - including three wins!

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Extraordinary. Kudos, or whatever they say in Scandi... 😊

 

[ducknumber1]

I've only just realised Vingegaard is potentially on for holding all 3GTs at once too, slow day up here 🤔

 

[FishFright]

One of my mates broke both wrists in a climbing stunt that went wrong. He had to pay another mate to wipe his ass.😱

When I was a kid i knew a lad who had to do that for his dad who lost his arms in a mining accident.

 

[No Ta Doctor]

It seems like Valgren's fantastic stage win in the Giro may have inspired other Vikings, who were on the podium in no fewer than 5 UCI races yesterday - including three wins!

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Right, lets have a little roundup of how those races turned out:

• The Boucles of Mayenne had a good start with Julius Johansen take the prologue, but faded there - Mads P never quite got it going and only brought a second plate (to Kooij) on the third and final stage, and 4th in the GC home.
• The Peace Race was a nice little outing, Mads Landbo followed up his stage 1 win with a victory again on stage 2 and finished the race with the points jersey.
• After Malthe Risbjerg's stage 1 TT victory in the Tour du Pays de Vaud, Tobias Gren took a lumpy stage two and the held on to take the GC
• In the Alpes Isère Tour Peter Øxenberg bettered his stage two third place with a win on stage 5 that took him to second place on the final GC.
• And in the Tour of Lithuania, Magnus Machholdt backed up his 1st stage podium with another on stage two and three consecutive 8th place finishes to take the the third step of the final GC podium

That's not a bad few days racing for the youngsters!



Elsewhere, some fish-packer or other won some sort of stage race in Italy. They say he's completed some sort of jersey collection or other but tbh, we're not that interested in fashion.

 

[No Ta Doctor]

A bit of a mixed emotions report from Scandiwegia today. Anton Charmig with the biggest win of his career wit stage 2 of the Not The Dolphin It's The Appelation Côtes du Rhône Now Or Something is to be celebrated, the shift to Uno-X giving him the Faxe Kondi he needed.

But elsewhere, Mikkel Honoré's crash in the Heylen Vastgoed Heistse Pijl saw him sent straight to intensive care with 7 broken ribs, 3 broken vertebrae, a broken collarbone and a collapsed lung. God bedring Mikkel.

 

[OzzyDuPalais]

When I was a kid i knew a lad who had to do that for his dad who lost his arms in a mining accident.

Not quite as serious, but same outcome: my cousin managed to get a frozen shoulder in both right and left sides simultaneously… his missus had to do the bum wipe honours. I think with a partner, it’s a little foretaste of what Life (hopefull) further down the line might look.

They aren’t together anymore.

 

[No Ta Doctor]

Anyone wanna see Mads P doing the café ride with Matt Stephens? Of course you do. It's the edition you've all been waiting for, obviously.

Favourite line so far, after Mads says LOTR is too grown up for him:
Matt, philosophically, probing for a conversation starter: "Were you ever scared of losing your inner child?"
Mads, categorically: "No."
*subject closed*




View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIi7pCR3-so