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2019 Pro Tour

Terrible crash at 60km/h. Season certainly over.
No need to say, better to keep both hands on the bar when going downhill, we never know what can happen.
 
Apparently was blowing his nose when a gust of wind took his front wheel? Terrible luck.
 
What would you say is the classiest kit in the pro peloton right now? I've got a real thing for the Groupama team kit at the moment. Also, what about back in the day? The Brooklyn kit is a bit of an obvious go to but but so so good...
 
Who can't love the complicated Frenchman for the Tour? However, it's looking like Ineos will run away with the GC so long as nothing too unexpected happens. Their team is absolutely phenomenal on paper!
 
Japanese national championships at Fuji Speedway this weekend.

Raining for the U23 and women's race today.

I have traumatic memories of Fuji Speedway in the rain😱

The effervescent Takei san is following women's hopeful Eri san in the women's race as we speak.

Andy

 
The problem with racing in the rain on a race track is all the tire rubber embedded in the track surface... The course for Men's Elite is 223 km with 3,000 meters of climbing!

I like how they used the track's service roads and not just the course itself.
 
The problem with racing in the rain on a race track is all the tire rubber embedded in the track surface... The course for Men's Elite is 223 km with 3,000 meters of climbing!

I like how they used the track's service roads and not just the course itself.

Yeah, bit of a dummy run for the Olympics finishing circuit next year I guess.

Andy
 
Takei san's team support car yesterday was classic.

Perhaps a gesture to the JCA who he is often in conflict with. No doubt they wanted him to drive a Subaru!

Andy

 
I am now viewing the European National Championships. Finished with France, Spain. Watching now the UK champ.Only 4 Ineos riders and no top start riders, except Cavendish or Stannard . All top riders were present in Spain, and Bardet/Alaphilippe missing in France.
I find it always interesting to watch the champs and see how the con/pro-con teams/guys can go with the World Tour guys/teams on such long races. At the end of the day, it is a world tour guy victory but there are surprises at times. And no earphones, direct communication with DS cars.
This mix of riders is even more interesting here in Japan with amateurs and pros. I also like to see how far the non J-pro tour riders can follow and finish the race. 3 out of 25 finishers were from non pro teams last Sunday.
I was following the race on the Matrix Lap Clip site and saw that some Elite riders, though non finishers, did pretty well.
Regarding the choice of the circuit, I find it a bit sad that this year, the national championship is not held on a proper public road. It shows how the sport remains minor here.
By the way, as some E1 / University riders do join the race, I was wondering what are the criteria to join the race for the non j-pro tour guys? Based on the results of some other races ?

Start of the TdF saturday.
 
It was my first time watching the nationals this year. It was interesting to see how the local continental team riders stacked up against the two guys on world tour teams. Seemed they did pretty good.
By the way, as some E1 / University riders do join the race, I was wondering what are the criteria to join the race for the non j-pro tour guys? Based on the results of some other races ?
Every year the JCF puts out a list of races and results that act as qualification for the national champs. This year's: link. Top ten on a couple of JBCF races in E1 is enough, and the three "Challenge Cycle Road Race" (number 11) are pretty much open to anyone. So any amateur can join the race if they have the legs.
One interesting story this year was that Genta Konno, one of the best non-pros, could have finished top ten, but dropped places on the last lap to avoid getting UCI points. He's planning to compete at Niseko then at the Gran Fondo world champs in Poland this year, and having UCI points would have disqualified his entry.
 
@GrantT

Thanks for the link. I was supposing the E1 actual or previous year ranking would also have been a criteria but not.
Interesting story for Genta Konno.
I think one of your teammate did also do well.
Was there a lot of fans in Fuji ?
by this weather.....
 
Last night's stage was fantastic entertainment. This is my first year to watch The Tour properly and I haven't been disappointed. I actually resubscribed to JSports 4, which has definitely been worth it as they've got the sub channel in English. It's a couple of Aussie guys and they're not bad, though I'm not sure exactly who they are.

Anyway, back to the action. I really enjoyed Wellens going for the KOM checkpoints to get the polka dot jersey, something I'd never really appreciated before. Alaphilipe's break after the final category climb to get the win was great too. That guy is so exciting to watch.
 
@GrantT

Thanks for the link. I was supposing the E1 actual or previous year ranking would also have been a criteria but not.
Interesting story for Genta Konno.
I think one of your teammate did also do well.
Was there a lot of fans in Fuji ?
by this weather.....

Nicely spotted. That is Iwashima-san who used to ride with Nalshima Frend in the J Pro tour. He held on for most of the race but got dropped then timed out a few laps from the end. Impressive for a non-pro rider.
I think most of the people watching were friends of riders, family, people in the industry, and maybe a scattering of fans dedicated enough to brave the weather.
A pretty nice look back at the race was just posted on YouTube.
 
It was my first time watching the nationals this year. It was interesting to see how the local continental team riders stacked up against the two guys on world tour teams. Seemed they did pretty good.

Every year the JCF puts out a list of races and results that act as qualification for the national champs. This year's: link. Top ten on a couple of JBCF races in E1 is enough, and the three "Challenge Cycle Road Race" (number 11) are pretty much open to anyone. So any amateur can join the race if they have the legs.
One interesting story this year was that Genta Konno, one of the best non-pros, could have finished top ten, but dropped places on the last lap to avoid getting UCI points. He's planning to compete at Niseko then at the Gran Fondo world champs in Poland this year, and having UCI points would have disqualified his entry.

LOL that is some pro-level sandbagging.

There are about 30 different ways to get into nationals but you have to be a citizen of the country in question, hence why there aren't a bunch of Spanish JProTour riders in the nationals.
 
LOL that is some pro-level sandbagging.

There are about 30 different ways to get into nationals but you have to be a citizen of the country in question, hence why there aren't a bunch of Spanish JProTour riders in the nationals.

Some went back to Spain and did well
Prades finished 5th and Mancebo 35th
 
I love that the tour goes back to France with a Frenchman in yellow. Probably beyond Alaphilipe, but it would be great to see a French GC winner (now that Porte seems unlikely (already))

Pinot is the only and real chance this year and I hope he could succeed. With not much TT and a lot of mountains. the route has been traced for him ( and Bardet) but at the end of the day, I think he might be at best on the podium. His team is not strong enough to take control. Unless riding through the Champagne region gave the team enough juice for three weeks
 
Last night's stage was fantastic entertainment. This is my first year to watch The Tour properly and I haven't been disappointed. I actually resubscribed to JSports 4, which has definitely been worth it as they've got the sub channel in English. It's a couple of Aussie guys and they're not bad, though I'm not sure exactly who they are.

Tonight will be the first test for GC contenders and certainly, an entertaining stage too.
I also resubscribed to JSports as for the past few years as the streaming I was watching was stopping too often. Really irritating when that happens during the final km , or a key move…
If I'm not wrong, one of the commentators is the ex-pro Robbie McEwen so I guess JSports does use the SBS broadcast. Aussies could better answer. Beyond the good analysis they do, I think they are very quick to react and to recognize accurately the pros seen on the images.
 
Tonight will be the first test for GC contenders and certainly, an entertaining stage too.
I also resubscribed to JSports as for the past few years as the streaming I was watching was stopping too often. Really irritating when that happens during the final km , or a key move…
If I'm not wrong, one of the commentators is the ex-pro Robbie McEwen so I guess JSports does use the SBS broadcast. Aussies could better answer. Beyond the good analysis they do, I think they are very quick to react and to recognize accurately the pros seen on the images.

Yeah, today should be a lot of fun, though I imagine the big teams will be in uber control mode and will end up cancelling each other out. That gravel section should be interesting at the top of the La Planche des Belles Filles (old article but nice satellite image of the climb) should be interesting to see. Fingers crossed it's not an anticlimax.
 
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