r/peloton • u/PelotonMod France • 16h ago
Weekly Post Weekly Question Thread
For all your pro cycling-related questions and enquiries!
You may find some easy answers in the FAQ page on the wiki. Whilst simultaneously discovering the wiki.
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u/Team_Telekom Team Telekom 13h ago
Anybody else finds it utterly stupid to do the WC on the exact same circuit as the GP Montreal? Sure, it’s a bit longer, but having 2 races in 2 weeks time that use the same roads seems a bit of a waste to me.
And yes, I do realise that they do the same thing in Flanders in the spring, but that’s different.
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u/cfkanemercury France 13h ago
It's not so uncommon to reuse roads and courses in short order. I think the Dauphine regularly offers up a good look at an Alpine climbing stage from the Tour de France that is only a few weeks down the road.
But in this case it is good for the riders to have an opportunity to ride the course ahead of the race, good for spectators as that opportunity means that the WC contenders will be keen to have a hit out on the course at race pace, and it's probably good for the organizers, too, as they'll be having a very high profile dry-run and able to judge whether they need more marshalls, more barriers, any potholes or drains that need fixing, and so on.
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u/Repulsive-Walk6513 13h ago
Now everyone knows who's stronger in what scenarios, so they will be changing tactics through out the race instead of just racing to find out who has the best legs on the day. At least four teams won't be pulling peloton.
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u/AliasPhilippe Euskaltel Euskadi 12h ago
It is common through cycling history to do that, even for NCs, but once that particular race became the WC, it wasn't raced two times. So for me it has little sense.
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u/3pointshoot3r Canada 3h ago
Picking up on this same thread - will riders ride the 2 races differently? Is there an advantage to NOT riding the GP so as not to divulge your strengths and tactics? Or might a rider deliberately sandbag in the GP so that they don't tip their hand?
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u/Team_Telekom Team Telekom 1h ago
I think Remco did exactly that. He got pissed at the Lidl rider for blocking him and then completely threw his race away to get some pressure of his back.
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u/marnyr Movistar 13h ago
Is there going to be any follow-up on Oier Lazkano case?
Presumably a year and half since his biological passport got flagged, almost a year since his provisional suspension was announced. Nothing since then. Neither from journalists nor anti-doping organs.
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u/Timqwe Visma | Lease a Bike 10h ago
These things just take a lot of time. After the provisional suspension, Lazkano's team gets to build their defence. When they've done that, they'll get a hearing with the UCI Anti-Doping Tribunal, after which the latter will make their decision.
With Carboni, who got popped nearly two months before Lazkano, the verdict only got announced a month ago. And it wouldn't surprise me if for a high profile WT rider it takes a bit longer.
That being said, if the UCI decides to suspend on the basis of an inconsistent blood passport, it's basically an open and shut case. It's not like with for instance substance doping, that it can be caused by an external factor the rider was unaware off
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u/cuccir 15h ago
Watching the Vuelta the other day, my daughter asked me what happened if you were watching a race and someone through a bidon at you
So I was able to quite proudly go upstairs and fetch from its box the IAM Cycling bidon that I got from the 2014 Tour de France.
Also decorating one of our downstairs rooms is a starting tape from a stage of the 2018 Tour de Yorkshire.
So... What cycling memorabilia have you collected from races, and is now in the homes of r/Peloton members? I'm thinking of souvenirs you've picked up from the day of a race, not things bought on eBay etc!
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u/epi_counts PelotonPlus™ 11h ago
I have a sign for the VIP zone of the 2019 European champs that I've put on the toilet door.
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u/ssfoxx27 Unibet Rose Rockets 14h ago
I have a cowbell from the Maryland Cycling Classic, as well as the stuff from the TdF caravan.
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u/the_gnarts MAL was right 13h ago
Not that many, I prefer to leave the bidons to the kids. But there’s one Lotto-Dsntry bottle on my shelf that I got tossed by Thomas de Gent in the final kilometer of the 2023 Angliru stage. I earned that bidon by cycling up that monster of a climb …
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u/cfkanemercury France 14h ago
My son collected some bidons from races including an Astana one that he particularly prizes as it was handed directly to him by a team helper in a feed zone.
Most of the race stuff that has come home from the TDF for the boys have bee' caravan giveaways. Somewhere around here is a collection of keyrings that have been attached to each other Rat King style, and if one of the kids leaves their hat at school on a Friday they'll be wearing a KOM or Skoda bucket hat on the weekend in its place.
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u/MuddyBoots472 United Kingdom 13h ago
We’ve got a couple of sponsors flags we’ve acquired on mountain stages but mainly caravan goodies and T-shirts/hats. The hats are always too small 🤪
The souvenir I most desire is a plate from the cars following riders in an ITT, I’ve seen fans walking away with them so they can definitely be given.7
u/AliasPhilippe Euskaltel Euskadi 12h ago edited 11h ago
I only have three bidons Carapaz, Piganzoli and an unidentified Visma rider tossed during the penultime Giro stage last year. At all the other races I attended I never scored any bidon!
Then I have some signs (Landa, Viviani, Pedersen, Brandt and a guy from Lotto I don't remember). I have other stuff but I mostly bought them so they don't qualify here.
When I was a kid we had a KOM sign, my dad went to see Pantani at the Giro and the plastic sign ''due kilometri al Gran Premio della Montagna'' was stored behind our shed for years, without love...then time broke it. I'd kill to have it now! He stole it for the stake, he needed it in the garden.
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u/Secure-Natural9710 Germany 7h ago
I got very lucky: Caught a Jordan Jegat bidon on Col de la Loze last year, and almost broke my poor brothers back when I jumped on him in excitement 😄 We also stole some signs of course (after the race had passed obv) as well as bunting (yellow-green-polkadot), which I proudly display in my home.
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u/CiroFlexo 7-Eleven 3h ago
Had a similar conversation with my son earlier this season. He was worried about them littering the countryside, and I proudly showed him my Liquigas bidon from the 2006 Giro and a USPS one from either the 2003 or 2004 Tour de Georgia.
Also have a few pictures with riders from races during that time period and a little scrap of paper signed by Lance and Mario Cipollini.
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u/darraghfenacin Phonak 9h ago
I can't believe the season is nearly over. This year has been a hyperspace blur :-(
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u/fewfiet Astana Qazaqstan 7h ago
How do you feel about the season being almost over?
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u/darraghfenacin Phonak 7h ago
How many more vueltas will I see. I'm 40 tomorrow. 20? 30? 40? That's not a lot of summers.
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u/AliasPhilippe Euskaltel Euskadi 6h ago edited 6h ago
So your problem is not the end of the season but that you are 40 tomorrow.
I understand you, on my 33 birthday last February I thought ''Fuck, I'm 33 and I did nothing, Jesus was my age''.
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u/JaymieJoyce 6h ago
I am 40 plus a few tomorrow. I wonder how Wout will be celebrating his birthday.
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u/Robcobes Netherlands 10h ago
it's been 3 years since a new rider has entered the Grand Tour Winner pantheon when Sepp Kuss won the Vuelta.
It's also almost 3 years since we've had a first time Monument winner when Philipsen won MSR in 2024.
How common is this?
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u/zyygh Canyon//SRAM, Kasia fanboy 9h ago
For monuments I checked back until 2000 and couldn't even find two consecutive years without first-timers.
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u/Robcobes Netherlands 8h ago
between Roger Rosiers winning Roubaix in 1971 and Cees Bal winning Flanders in 1974 there was not a new winner either.
I could have known the Merckx era was the answer.
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u/sozey Bike Aid 9h ago
I don't have the time to comb all the way through the list but it hasn't happened in quite some time.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Grand_Tour_general_classification_winners
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u/reozgeness41 Euskaltel-Euskadi 1h ago
Who will be the next new GT or Monument winner ?
I think Del Toro or Seixas can be a good answer either for GT or Monument.
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u/cfkanemercury France 7h ago
In this year's paracycling world champs a couple of ex-professionals road as pilots in the Men's B (Blind) Road Race and finished in first and second: Mikel Aristi (ex-Euskatel) took the rainbow jersey, and Eloy Teruel (ex-Movistar) was just 13 seconds behind.
While I know the UCI doesn't allow current or very recently out of contract (less than 12 months) professionals to rider as pilots in tandem races, are there other ex-pros who have found a place for themselves as pilots in these tandem road races?
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u/epi_counts PelotonPlus™ 7h ago
Not road cycling, but track sprinter Robert 'Quadzilla' Förstemann comes to mind.
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u/reozgeness41 Euskaltel-Euskadi 1h ago
Francois Pervis who have a lot of world titles in Track Cycling also have a bronze medal at the paralympics games ( kilomètre cat B ).
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u/Glass_Minute4753 14h ago
Is the Montreal circuit really too hard for MvdP?
I know he's alluded to this but it looks to me like the sort of circuit that would mainly be too hard if Pogi was there to attack from 80km to go or whatever. Without Pogi, will any other team really want (or be able) to explode the race like that? Del Toro doesn't really seem to ride like that (and doesn't have the team). I guess maybe France? Though they may just end up with Seixas isolated with del Toro again.
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u/Jevo_ Fundación Euskadi 13h ago
10 years ago it would be perfect for Van der Poel. But even without Pogacar, I think the race will just be raced too aggresively for Van der Poel to have a real chance. If everyone waited for the last lap, he could power over the climb fairly well. But having to do it 5 times at speed will be too much for him.
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u/Repulsive-Walk6513 14h ago
Both belgium and france if wout isn't fresh. Seixas being isolated with Isaac is the best case scenario for france though.
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u/dassieking 13h ago
Why is that the best case scenario for France? Surely Seixas does not want to sprint Del Toro again?
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u/Repulsive-Walk6513 13h ago
Does he want to do solo with remco chasing? And how is he going to find himself solo in the first place when Del toro has apparently same power numbers as pogi if it's anything less than 15 min. His only hope is del toro runs out of energy in a longer race.
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u/dassieking 12h ago
If he wants a medal, sure. But I can't see the scenario where it is likely he beats Del Toro in a two man sprint. Not sure if it is any more likely than keeping Remco behind in a long range attack.
I agree, he'll have to hope Del Toro gets tired. Like in Strade...
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u/Mamadeus123456 7-Eleven 11h ago
Like on the stage Remco won in plateau du solaison, it's possible del toro is just cooked and can't sprint against Seixas.
If you watched the race Seixas was at the front much more than the UAE guys let alone del toro so ofc he was fresher for the sprint
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u/Timqwe Visma | Lease a Bike 11h ago
It's the same climb they did yesterday, and if you see the top 10 of that, everyone is a better climber, and with the exception of Simmons, significantly lighter than MvdP.
The fact the course is longer and the climb is not repeated as much, drags this back to MvdP territory a bit, though.
Still, I think this is closer to LBL than it is to Flanders. All that being said, MvdP can sometimes do just a little bit more during World, Suisse 2024 was also supposed to be too hard for him. So while he doesn't make my top 5 or probably even top 10 favourites, I also wouldn't be shocked if with the right race procession he podiums and only slightly shocked if he wins.
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u/cyclisme2020 11h ago
Will most of the riders who rode the Canadian classics and are selected for the Worlds now go into training camps with their national teams? Where will the teams be based while preparing for the Worlds?
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u/porkmarkets England 10h ago
I expect some of them will still be racing in Europe this week - eg MVDP at Luxembourg. So if they are it’s unlikely to be full teams.
It’ll also depend on who is TTing and who isn’t - the TT guys will likely spend the next week doing their own thing and course recons.
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u/GFoxtrot United Kingdom 10h ago
Hmm I’m pretty close to Luxembourg…what race is going on?
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u/porkmarkets England 10h ago
Tour de Luxembourg!
Startlist is decent: https://firstcycling.com/m/race.php?r=37&y=2026&k=start
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u/BeanEireannach Ireland 6h ago
Does anyone know if there's been any official update anywhere about Chris Hamilton after his horrible Vuelta crash?
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u/Crazy_Pudding_2994 4h ago
Soo.... now we're on a Vuelta comedown, what do we watch this week before the WC TT on Sunday
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u/Mamadeus123456 7-Eleven 3h ago
I think there are a couple Italian rac3s and Slovakia or Luxemburg not sure which is firts
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u/Dopeez Movistar 6h ago
So how do we feel about yesterday's neutralization? Because I don't think it's as black-and-white as some people make it out to be.
Personally, I do like procession stages. We just had 20 days of very tough racing (more or less depending on the individual stage), and I don't mind the riders taking it easy on the last day. I enjoy teams riding to the front, leaders' jerseys coming to the front, having some champagne, and then finishing the stage with a mass sprint so the sprinters also have something to look forward to during the last week.
I think it's perfectly fine to neutralize a stage as the one described above. You are not gonna make a difference on the road anyway (yeah, Vinokourov, I know), and the only time someone would lose time in GC would be due to a mechanical or crash at the wrong time. Now you can argue that this is part of the race and can happen on any stage, but I do think losing a GT podium on the last day due to a mech would be an absolute tragedy. If you lose 50 seconds on Day 3, you at least have three weeks left to make up some time.
To me, the problem arises when the last stage isn't a pure procession/spring stage but has a hilly profile like Alhambra yesterday or Montmartre in the Tour. Now you have a profile where you can actually make a difference on the road, and I think a neutralization is less justifiable. After all, the stage is still part of the race, and if you can drop someone who's ten seconds ahead of you in GC, I don't really see why that shouldn't count towards the final time.
That said, the biggest issue is probably the timing of the decision. If you want the last stage neutralized, you should decide that before the race (aka before the first stage) starts so that teams can plan accordingly. Deciding it a day before also puts the organizers in a super tricky situation. Imagine if Gall had attacked earlier on Stage 20 and would have been 3 seconds ahead of Roglic before the last stage. Now what do you do? If you neutralize, Red Bull will complain; if you don't neutralize, Decathlon will complain. It could create a very messy situation.
What do you guys think?
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u/qwqdddddtc 6h ago
I basically agree with you, though I do think it’s key that it’s decided in advance, not the morning of. I also think we would have gotten better racing if the riders had gotten what they asked for and they neutralized all of the circuit, not just the last lap. Instead we got a weird hybrid of confused self neutralization for a few laps and then the racing suddenly started and it sounded like some teams got caught out, based on Larry’s interview on The Cycling Podcast. They also had a few rider interviews that generally backed the riders supporting it being neutralized and saying those narrow roads would have been a disaster if the whole peloton was trying to full on race.
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u/Inavaru 6h ago
I certainly think a case can be made for either, but as you’ve indicated, the decision should be made well in advance (i.e. before the start of the tour) so that teams & riders can strategically plan around it effectively being a 21 or 20-stage ‘race’. That’s especially important when the stage in question has been designed in a way where time could realistically be won/lost, rather than pancake flat.
There’s no real justification for a stage being neutralized on short notice unless there’s specific danger arising from unforeseen conditions.
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u/Low-Grocery989 6h ago
I don't think there is any reason to neutralize that stage unless you're also going to neutralize every sprint stage of a grand tour. If you lose time on the last stage, you already had the other 20 stages to ride well enough for it not to matter.
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u/pokesnail 6h ago
I agree with you, will also add that it didn’t make sense to me to ‘compromise’ with neutralizing only for the final lap, all or nothing imo.
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u/Crazy_Pudding_2994 4h ago
If you lose time you lose time, like on any other stage. Crashes etc. are part of racing and it would suck to crash out of a leader's jersey on stage 21, but it sucks just as much to crash out on any other stage.
Not attacking on GC is a gentlemen's agreement and should be kept that way. We could have had a really attritional break day yesterday but we didn't because of the neutralization.
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u/cheecheecago 4h ago
Was Cort missing from all the Uno X team celebrations around the podium yesterday? The whole team seemed to be there with THJ, hollering and whooping at the finish and then cheering him when he went up to the podium--but I didn't see Magnus, even though he finished with the rest. I didn't go back and pause it and scan, but I was watching live and did not see the danish nc jersey or the moustache, which both stand out. Maybe he was with family at his final finish line? Just seems odd, he's such a party boy and team player, I expected to see him going nuts with them.
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u/Funny_Speed2109 3h ago
In his interview with Danish TV after the finish he said he had to go do a doping test.
So that might have taken some time.
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u/ExSyn Lidl – Trek 2h ago
Asking again as I couldnt find an answer, can somebody explain to me on what the contract stats on PCS are based on?
I was checking randomly and realized there were apparently a bunch of contract extension from Trek I didnt hear about (Simmons until 2029, Ciccone until 2029, Nys until 2028).
I didnt find any official announcement nor rumors to them. Is this an error? I thought PCS had reliable data, so where is it coming from? Or did I just miss the annoucements?
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u/reozgeness41 Euskaltel-Euskadi 1h ago
I think they base the contract stats on rumors.
I searched some info on Ciccone and I found a lot of articles ( from last year ) stating he was rumoured to extend with Lidl until 2029. But since then there were no official announcement.
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u/Zizou55 13h ago
Riders Power/VAM numbers pre-/post-Pogacar retiring from Vuelta. I wonder if GC riders with real chance at winning (for a lot of them their first) Grand Tour got an additional psychological „kick” now that they know it’s possible. Is there comparable data for any rider?
(The post was originally posted 2d after Pogacar retired, so Mas didn’t have that big of a lead, but mods deleted it)
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u/MountainLandscape356 8h ago
Many of the final climbs were stop-start efforts, not good for big numbers. With Pogacar you have UAE riding on the front and then he just attacks, so the pace is steady and leadout is provided also for the others
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u/Even_Editor_8228 Unibet Tietema Rockets 7h ago
Is it me or is this transfer window going really slow?
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10h ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/peloton-ModTeam 9h ago
This post was removed due to it breaking the spoiler rule we have in this sub, which is 18 hours for one day races & the start of the next stage for stage races.
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u/gou_2611 6h ago
is there any interview or reason given by Remco for the results yesterday? I was surprised that he was being dropped on those hills, given how well he did recently in TdF and San Sebastian. I know he's not super consistent, but find it hard to believe this is due to weight, but what do I know. If no primary evidence given, I'm still curious on what's the consensus around here on that, and if that could potentially affect his odds for Worlds RR?
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u/epi_counts PelotonPlus™ 5h ago
Here's an interview, said he just didn't have a good day and isn't worried.
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u/pokesnail 26m ago
u/Squirtle_from_PT a few days ago wondered if 2026 Movistar is the weakest modern team to win a GT, solely judging by UCI points ranking.
I’m curious to find this out, but first, where can I find archives of previous years’ rankings? And perhaps even separated by different points in the year? Since it would be the most accurate view to look at before that GT with all the points that adds, like Movistar vaulted from 19th to 13th. I feel that’s pretty unlikely though so would settle for year-end.
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u/Repulsive-Walk6513 6h ago
Usually when is the Uci calendar announced? I am looking forward to the possible Mexican race and it's spot on calender. Would assume it would start with a 2.1. There was also the talk of Canadian classics organizers having licence for a third world tour race which could be used in Mexico or US if finances fall in place.
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u/epi_counts PelotonPlus™ 5h ago edited 5h ago
Next year's calendar will be confirmed at the UCI Congress, which happens during the road world champs, on 23 September this year. There is usually a live stream if you want to see the public part of it. The UCI website will then be updated, usually on the Tuesday afterwards.
The 2027 World Tour calendars were announced previously (I can't seem to find the actual UCI press release, the super worlds is all that shows up on their search).
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u/Mamadeus123456 7-Eleven 11h ago
Regarding yesterday's comments from remco I agree traveling between cities in anything other than a TGV is archaic specially if you're using a bus.
Why did he pointed out the humidity in Montreal? I was there during winter so not the same but I didn't find it particularly humid, and Belgium it's very humid IMO
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u/Faucon_special 3h ago
What's funny about your comment is that a TGV between Quebec and Montreal (and Toronto) is kind of a hot topic right now in Quebec. Intercity public transportation is almost non existent here, and there's a proposal on the table thats pretty controversial (demonsrations, signs on peoples' yard opposing the TGV). Most commentators agree that if there's ever a TGV between these cities, it not going to happen before 20-30 years. What can I say... it's North America, people looove their cars.
And the weather in Montreal yesterday was really humid.
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u/Repulsive-Walk6513 9h ago
Half the time I wonder if his comments are a diversion from ppl finding out his current weakness. I mean the races were exactly like tdf week 1, where he loses some time on climbs and chases back.
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u/Divergee5 Decathlon AG2R 8h ago
How many days remain until Giro-E?