Social Media:

https://www.instagram.com/postridecafe/

https://twitter.com/PostRideCafe

Strava:

Aaron - https://www.strava.com/athletes/777347

Sam - https://www.strava.com/athletes/150453

Strava…..Stats of the week!

Sam:  22mi, 1900ft 

Aaron: 94mi, 2700ft Bike; 18.3mi, 5200 ft Hike/Trail Run

Ride of the Week:

Sam -  San Juan to Telegraph Pass

Aaron -  

Pro Cycling New:

Muhlberger signs for Movistar

Ineos signs De Plus, Porte, Pidcock, & D Martinez wtf? 

Cycling News: 

Race Coverage:

World Championships Recap

Womens ITT: Chloe Dygart takes all the headlines. Nasty Crash ends her season for quite awhile. Needs to call WVAs doctor

Mens ITT: A pretty engaging time trial to be honest. The last 10 riders were mostly interesting to watch. The riders time gaps at the time check compared to how they finished was definitely interesting. In the end noone can stop Ganna. What a beast. WVA very impressive. Same for G.

Womens RR: Not much to say. These races are getting pretty boring to watch. It reminds me of the TdF sprints during Cavendish's early reign. You already know the result is going to be from 2-4 riders and just trying to figure out who does the solo attack and from how far. Impressive riding from Van Vleuten though to be there and help her teammate while being injured, then getting second.

Mens RR: I only caught the last 50km or so but it was pretty exciting. Pogacar attacks on the 2nd to last lap and it seems like he is maintaining his gap and could potentially take it all the way. He starts to look human and for no reason Tom Dom attacks to pull him back and then immediately fades as well. No clue what that was all about. Seemed like possible retribution for beating Roglic at the TdF but no clue. Dont get me wrong i was loving it as i thought maybe Domoulin was feeling really good and was gonna go solo to win. The final selection appeared when Nibali kicked off his very aggressive attack on the 2nd to last climb. Only a dozen or so riders make the selection but it is very high profile. At the last climb Alaphilippe puts in a blazing attack that noone can follow and the rest is history.

Take aways: 

Alaphilippe was right in fearing WVA. What a vicious attack. Will be great to see him in rainbows all year and for 2 classics seasons. Sad for Pedersen to not get to ride with the jersey to finish out the season. What a rip. Valverde managed to get second in the peloton sprint just behind Matthews. Fuglsang looked mostly good until the very end. Don't think he was really hoping to win but great practice for the Giro.

Fleche Wallone Preview:

Contenders: Cavagna, Costa, Pogacar, Gorka Izagirre, Wellens, Kamna, Porte, Hirschi, Landa, Kuss, Doumoulin, Kwiatkowski, Dani Martinez

LBL Preview:

Contenders:  VALVERDE Alejandro

 GILBERT Philippe

 VAN AVERMAET Greg

 MARTIN Dan

 COSTA Rui

 KWIATKOWSKI Michał

 ALAPHILIPPE Julian

 ROGLIČ Primož

 WELLENS Tim

Pogacar

Giro d’Italia Preview.

Main Contenders: Fuglsang, Yates, Thomas, Campenaerts, Kruijswijk, Nibali, McNulty, Kelderman

Sprinters: Viviani, Sagan, Demare, Hodeg, Barbier, Matthews, Gaviria

Stage 1:

What a weird ass TT. No clue who to pick on this one.

Sam: Ganna

Aaron: Ganna

Stage 2:

Aaron: Sagan

Sam: Matthews

Next Week Preview: Recap of first 2 stages of the Giro as well as recap of Fleche Wallone and LBL

Social Media:

https://www.instagram.com/postridecafe/

https://twitter.com/PostRideCafe

Strava:

Aaron - https://www.strava.com/athletes/777347

Sam - https://www.strava.com/athletes/150453

Strava…..Stats of the week!

Sam:  0 Bike; 6mi 1,000 ft Hike

Aaron: 45mi, 1400ft Bike; 15.6mi, 2800 ft Hike/Trail Run

Ride of the Week:

Sam -  

Aaron -  New Sneaks 3.5 mi 600 ft (2min off my PR of a 1.66 mi effort climb from 2016)

Race Coverage:

Tirreno Adriatico

• Stage 8: Ganna puts on a clinic in the ITT. S Yates does enough to maintain his lead and win Tirreno

Take aways: The Giro is starting to come together. Yates looks like a strong contender as does Thomas. Fuglsang looking like he may have already peaked earlier in this season but still a strong contender. With no Carapaz it seems even more wide open.

Tour De France Stage 16-21

• Stage 16: Kamna takes the win by over minute over Carapaz. Back in the GC pack nothing really of note happens
• Stage 17: Carapaz again looking good and so close to a stage victory. Lopez ends up victorious taking 15 seconds on Primoz and 30 seconds on Pogacar. Cool finale with the paving of the Col de la Loze
• Stage 18: Hirschi and Carapaz in a fight for the Polka dots. Sadly Hirschi has a crash on a descent and Carapaz and Kwiatkowski go on to take the stage. WVA obviously leads the pack home for 3rd. Excellent to see Carapaz riding so hard for Polka Dots to try salvaging Ineos TdF
• Stage 19: Soren Kragh Andersen takes another victory in a classics style stage. A lot of big classics guys getting ready for the big races coming in the next month. Sunweb having the best TdF of any team it seems.
• Stage 20:  What a TT. Not expecting that amount of a gap and the first we've seen Primoz suffer. Awesome effort by Pogacar and Porte to get the podium. 
• Stage 21: Champs - a bit messy but DQS handles the final leadout and Bennet wins

Take aways: 

World Championships Preview:

ITT (46km): A pretty basic TT profile. Look for the strong TT riders to win this. Dennis, WVA, Ganna

Mens Elite Road Race: 250km. Lots of repeat climbing of one circuit.

Climb doesnt actually look as hard as i thought so some classics guys could still be in the mix. Not necessarily a climbing specialist to take this.

Next Week Preview: Recap UCI 2020 World Championships in Imola

Social Media:

https://www.instagram.com/postridecafe/

https://twitter.com/PostRideCafe

Strava:

Aaron - https://www.strava.com/athletes/777347

Sam - https://www.strava.com/athletes/150453

Strava…..Stats of the week!

Sam:  68 Miles, 1900 ft

Aaron: 212 Miles, 4,500 ft

Ride of the Week:

Sam -  Castle 2

Aaron -  

Pro Cycling News:

Bora adds another man(n) with Wilco Kelderman 

UAE picks up Trentin, CCC has to be done at this point

Race Coverage:

Tirreno Adriatico

• Stage 1: Where did Ackermann come from? Shows sprinters have some nerve to get through gaps and headwind makes such a difference.
• Stage 2: MVDP makes a hard pull into the last 1KM and disrupts the leadout trains. Not much different for Ackermann though who takes another win with Gaviria in 2nd. 
• Stage 3: Good effort from the break getting caught on the last climb. Woods, the strongest of the bunch, drops the rest but majka comes back. The duo take it to the line with Woods winning the sprint. Gain 20 seconds on GC men
• Stage 4: GC men come together on the final climb when that group splits and has Masnada and Hamilton going together on the flat. Hamilton takes the sprint and Woods does enough work to bring down the gap and finish 3rd for the time bonus extending his overall lead over some of the GC favorites.
• Stage 5:
• Stage 6: Messy sprint with Merlier coming out on top. Alpecien showing some depth. 
• Stage 7: Matteo Fabro goes solo to get caught in the last few hundred meters by an attacking MVDP

Take aways:

Tour De France Stage 10-15 Recap

• Stage 10: Straightforward sprint day. Haven’t been many of these but Bennett takes his first TDF win and back the green jersey. Sagan looking better but has a fight on his hands.  Bewely and Formolo crash out.
• Stage 11: Sagan Relegated, rightfully so. His green jersey chase may be done. Ewan taking the win from basically a 4 up sprint beating Bennent and WVA. 
• Stage 12: Bora doing lots of work to drop the sprinters and catch the break. Unfortunately they made the catch too early with another group going including Hirschi who eventually goes clear for the solo win
• Stage 13: Big climb day. I love the profile but the race was rather boring. Break wins the day with Bora pulling a Trek from Il Lombardia
• Stage 14: Should be a break day but Bora is having none of that. Sagan really wants that green jersey but it may not be enough. Cant finish off sprints.
• Stage 15: Big mountain day with an HC climb to finish things off. All climbs near the end, a lot of 10% + gradients. Big surprise is Bernal, losing over 7 minutes. TJV does what is expected. WVA and Tom Dom looked great.

Final Week Preview

Stage 16:

Sam: Alaphilippe

Aaron: De Gendt

Stage 17

Aaron: Roglic

Sam: Rolland

Stage 18:

Sam: Carapaz

Aaron: Hirschi

Stage 19

Aaron: GVA

Sam: Sagan

Stage 20

ITT

Sam: Tom Dom

Aaron: Roglic

Stage 21:

Sprint Finish

Aaron: Bennett

Sam: Bol

Next Week Preview: Recap of final week of the Tour, Final TT for Tirreno Adriatico, Start of Giro Preview

Social Media:

https://www.instagram.com/postridecafe/

https://twitter.com/PostRideCafe

Strava:

Aaron - https://www.strava.com/athletes/777347

Sam - https://www.strava.com/athletes/150453

Strava…..Stats of the week!

Sam:  55 Miles, 2100 ft

Aaron: 130 Miles, 4,400 ft

Ride of the Week:

Sam -  

Aaron -  

Pro Cycling News:

USA Cycling announce their WC team

• Mens: Kuss, Powless, McNulty, Craddock
• Womens: Dygert, Amber Neben, Leah Thomas, Coryn Rivera, Ruth Winder, Tayler Wiles and Lauren Stephens

Cycling News: 

Race Coverage:

Tour De France Stage 3-9 Recap

• Stage 3: Ewan living up to his nickname of the pocket rocket and blasting out of nowhere to take the win. 

• Stage 4: Our first Mountain test. A lot of what we thought with Jumbo Visma Bossing it with WVA being the jefe. Took the group much further than you’d expect and Kuss took over to setup the uphill sprint win by Roglic. They said he hit 50kph in the sprint. No big losers from a GC standpoint.

• Stage 5: The jefe WVA said he was given a chance today by the team and took it. Slight uphill twisty finish and he positioned himself perfectly on the Sunweb train to take the win from Bol. 

• Stage 6: First major break of the tour. I did correctly call a break but my rider (Fraile) was no there. Really strong group including Powless on his 24th bday. Powless very aggressive but Lutsenko is the clear best rider and takes his first TdF stage victory. In the main peloton nothing too exciting happens and Alaphilippe gains 1 second

• Stage 7: A really intense day of racing. Bora takes it to the sprinters right out of the gate over the first cat 3 that is 9km into the stage. Bora has clear sights on getting the green jersey back which they succeed. As predicted there is some wind echelons near the end of the race with some GC riders caught out and some with poor timing of technical issues. Those riders lost just over 1 minute while WVA wins a bit of a messy sprint with Boasson Hagen a close 2nd. Sagan and Alaphilippe both had technicals in the final sprint erasing their chances

• Stage 8: Another day for the break. Powless again there and in the thick of it. Zakarin the best placed rider but Nans Peters takes it for AG2R. 2nd Pro victory with other stage being in the Giro so not bad for him. As for the GC riders we have a big surprise with Pinot being dropped on the HC climb Port de Bales and losing 18 minutes with some back issues. The GC battle picked up steam on the final climb of the day with Pogacar making a great solo attack to gaining 40 seconds of the time he lost the previous day due to a technical. It looked like Bernal was on the ropes at one point as well as Yates but they both clawed their way back onto the group and everyone finished safely in the group with Bardet sneaking away to grab 2 seconds. Nairo looks good as well as Roglic. The overall GC sees a big shift as multiple people lost time. Mas, Mollema and Carapaz all lost almost 40 seconds to the main group as well as Buchmann losing a minute. Higuita, Valverde and Domoulin all lost 2 mins.

• Stage 9: Profile did not look like it would be a good day but going into a rest day is always interesting especially with the Covid testing tomorrow. Really hard to make a break stick and ended up being a solo break by Hirschi with 6-8 riders trying to catch him. Hirschi was bombing the descents in the rain slicked roads. Very dangerous. Rest of the chase and peloton not taking the same risks and he puts time on each descent culminating in a 4:30 minute gap. 

Tour De France week 2 Preview Continued

Stage 10 (Tuesday)

Pancake flat and an obvious one for the sprinters. Too bad it isn't a climb day. I always like to see who doesn't do well after a rest day.

Sam: Ewan

Aaron: Bennett

Stage 11 (Wednesday)

Very unlikely to be a break so expect a bunch sprint. Small kicker at the end but doesn't seem enough to make an issue. The final 1.5km are slightly downhill so expect the bigger sprinters to have their day. Could be one for Sagan and Kristoff

Aaron: Sagan

Sam: Kristoff

Stage 12 (Thursday)

Looks like a pretty easy breakaway day. Look for the climbing focused specialists to have their day.

Sam: Alaphilippe

Aaron: GVA

Stage 13 -  Friday:

Looks like a tough day to control for the GC guys. I'm expecting a large breakaway with satellite riders. Id imagine Trek, Bora, Bahrain-McLaren, and UAE would like to try setting something up for their guy

Aaron: Nairo

Sam: Bernal

Stage 14 (Saturday)

Id be surprised to see the main bunch compete for this. The pace up the Cat 2 will really decide what happens but seems too mountainous for the sprinters to care. Great stage for Sagan to increase his green jersey lead if it does stay together. I'd imagine a break will have a good chance at this stage especially considering tomorrows climb up the Columbier.

Sam: De Gendt

Aaron: Higuita

Stage 15 (Sunday)

Obvious GC day. We shall see if Bernal is feeling good. Lot of riders to watch for today, Nairo, MAL, Pogacar and Roglic. This will be a day to watch. Expect most fireworks on the final climb. Break will include satellite riders that are caught on the Colombier.

Aaron:

Sam:

Tirreno-Adriatico Preview

Rider Highlights: MVdP, Froome, G Thomas, Fuglsang, Ackermann, Viviani, Ballerini, M Woods, Simon Yates, Campenaerts, Matthews, Hindley,]  Nibali, Gaviria, McNulty

(Monday) Stage 1: Sprint

Stage 2: Sprint

Stage 3: MSR type stage. One for the classics riders. 217km. Poggio with 10km to go

Stage 4: Climbing day. Could go to a break. Ends in a descent. I like the profile for a GC attack

(Friday) Stage 5: GC day. GC will be decided most likely here. Uphill Finish

(Saturday) Stage 6: Sprint

(Sunday) Stage 7: Sprint but finale is uphill. Not sure of the gradient. Could be a puncheur depending

(Monday) Stage 8: Pancake Flat 10km TT. Shouldnt make a difference in GC unless its tight.

Next Week Preview: Recap Tirreno Adriatico Recap of Stages 10-15, Preview of stages 16-21

Social Media:

https://www.instagram.com/postridecafe/

https://twitter.com/PostRideCafe

Strava:

Aaron - https://www.strava.com/athletes/777347

Sam - https://www.strava.com/athletes/150453

Strava…..Stats of the week!

Sam:  40 Miles, 2595 ft

Aaron: 150 Miles, 5,555 ft

Ride of the Week:

Sam -  Somo, Easing into Bike Fit - 32 mi 2500 ft

Aaron -  WVC, Rain in AZ - 59 mi 1,1175 ft

Pro Cycling News:

Matthews out at Sunweb

Tony Martin - Extends with Jumbo till 2022

Oomen official with Jumbo for 3 years

Bora and hansgrohe extend to 2024

AG2R-Citroen extend to 2025

Stybar out of the Tour with some knee pain.

• Sad to see him out. Was really looking good since the restart.

Race Coverage:

Tour De France Stage 1 &  2 Recap

• Stage 1: Crashes Crashes Crashes. Degenkolb and Gilbert out. Notable crashes, Roglic, Lopez, Sanchez, Pinot, Gaudu, Molard, Sivakov, Amador, Poels, Kamna, Uran, G Bennett

• Stage 2: An early TDF climbing stage

Tour De France week 1 Preview Continued

Using the profiles from steephill.tv so if you wanted to follow along at home.

Stage 3 (Monday, Aug 31st)

Sam: Classic Breakaway stage. What happened yesterday will predict how this stage goes. If the break has no one in the hunt for yellow it will be let go. Just enough difficulty for De Gendt to show his stuff. Teams with GC ambition might not allow their hunters out into the break.

Aaron: Definitely a sprint stage. Someone who can do an uphill sprint

Contenders: Break: De Gendt, Formolo, GVA, Alaphillippe, Benoot, Calmejane, Gautier

Sprint: Pedersen, Sagan, Ewan, Bennett, Boasson Hagen, Kristoff, Stuyven

Aaron Pick: Sagan, DeGendt

Sam Pick: Benoot, Pedersen

Stage 4 (Tuesday, Sept 1st)

Sam: Im not sure if ive seen a cat 1 mountain stage finish this early in the tour in the past decade. I dont normally look for fireworks this early but it will be a great stage to put in a big attack. 7.1km @ 6.7% isnt going to be too tough but with a blistering tempo we could see some contenders lose their podium ambitions on this stage.

Contenders: All the GC guys

Sam Pick: Roglic

Aaron Pick: Roglic

Stage 5 (Wednesday, Sept 2nd)

This is a weird transition stage. A lot of nothing going to go on here i think. I expect a small break away to form but not really get a long leash. Just not anywhere for it to happen. Not sure what the weather will be like but wind could be the only thing i can see happening here to have an effect. If it wasnt for his role this would be a great stage for WVA. As it stands the finale doesnt seem too hard but it will eliminate the pure sprinters.

Contenders: Break: De Gendt, Formolo, GVA, Alaphillippe, Benoot, Calmejane, Gautier

Sprint: Pedersen, Sagan, Ewan, Bennett, Boasson Hagen, Kristoff, Stuyven

Aaron Pick: Ewan

Sam Pick: Stuyven

Stage 6 (Thursday Sept 3rd)

A tale of two halves this stage. Pancake Flat for the first 155km and then a Cat 1 (11km @ 7.3%) at 25km to go. I expect the domestiques have their work cut out for them on the Col de la Lusette. Possible satellite riders up ahead for GC guys to win the stage. I imagine a breakaway having their day here. Just not tough enough for TJV or Ineos to let anyone get away.

Contenders: GC riders, Break: Izaguirre bros, Gautier, De Gendt, Alaphillippe, Latour, Bilbao, Formolo, Pozzovivo, Nieve

Sam Pick: Fraile

Aaron Pick: Pinot

Stage 7 - Friday Sept 4th

Really tough stage to pick. Sprint or Breakaway? 40km of roughly flat in the finale seems like a sprint stage to me.

Contenders: Kristoff, Sagan, Bennett, Pedersen, Bol, Ewan, Viviani

Sam Pick: Ewan

Aaron Pick: Bennett

Stage 8 Saturday Sept 5th

The Pyrenees await the peloton this weekend. This profile is always a crapshoot to select. The climbs dont seem difficult enough to cause any action. Sivakov, Kuss and Bennett will be putting in work this weekend keeping the reigns in for their leaders. Expect a good breakaway to form and possibly find a winner out of it. Some teams satellite guys will be available for the HC climb if the time gap is small enough.

Contenders: GC Riders, 

Sam Pick: Bardet

Aaron Pick: Roglic

Stage 9 Sunday Sept 6th

The second day in the Pyrenees seems more lackluster than the first day. With the rest day tomorrow i thought this stage would look a bit more exciting. If there is GC action except it on the last climb. I think we can see back to back breakaway winners.

Contenders:

Sam Pick: Carapaz

Aaron Pick: Alaphillippe

Next Week Preview:

Stages 3-9 recap, Stages 10-15 preview

Social Media:

https://www.instagram.com/postridecafe/

https://twitter.com/PostRideCafe

Strava:

Aaron - https://www.strava.com/athletes/777347

Sam - https://www.strava.com/athletes/150453

Strava…..Stats of the week!

Sam:  0 Miles, 0 ft

Aaron: 40 Miles, 2,700 ft

Ride of the Week:

Sam -  New Bike Fit

Aaron -  Hot Rocks

Pro Cycling News:

AG2R shockingly leads the transfer season

• Bob Jungels, Matteo Trentin & Lillian Calmejane join AG2R. Building quite a classics squad

Adam Yates signs for Ineos for 2 years

Simon Yates stays with Michelton-Scott

Tanel Kangert signs for Michelton-Scott

Race Coverage:

Tour de Wallonie

• Stage 1: Ewan wins stage 1. Commentators wouldnt shut up about Cavendish
• Stage 2: Demare takes it over Ewan.
• Stage 3: Bennett wins in a 3 up sprint against Demare and Degenkolb
• GVA and Gilbert are looking good for the tour
• Stage 4: Demare wins the stage and the overall

Takeaways: Demare looks in great form, too bad he is not going to the TdF. Classics riders are looking in good form ahead of the Tour. Keep an eye out for them

Tour De France Preview:

Sprinters / Green Jersey

Sprint Contenders: Viviani, Sagan, Trentin, Bennett, Greipel, Hofstetter, Ewan, Mezgec, Nizzolo, Bol, Arndt, Colbrelli, Stuyven, Kristoff, Coquard, Pedersen, Boassan Hagen

• Missing: Jakobsen and Groenewegen

Ewan, Bennett and Viviani are the men to beat but the 2nd tier is pretty strong with Mezgec, Bol, Colbrelli etc

Green Jersey Contenders: Sagan…… Dark Horses: Van Aert, Stuyven, Pedersen

Polka Dot Jersey: Lame that no one targets it anymore. Left to gc guys who faded

Stage 1:

Contenders: Sagan, Gallopin, Bennett, Pedersen, Trentin, Viviani, Kristoff, Ewan, Mezgec, Greipel, Boasson Hagen, Coquard, Nizzolo, Bol

Sam Pick: Ewan

Aaron Pick: Bennett

Stage 2

Seems like a perfect stage for Alaphillippe to take yellow. Look for Quickstep to keep any break pretty tight. Look to some puncheurs like Gilbert, Sagan, GVA and Alaphillippe to make the final selection

Contenders: Gilbert, Sagan, GVA, Alaphillippe, Kristoff, Trentin, Benoot, Calmejane, Degenkolb, Stuyven, Bettiol

Sam Pick: Gilbert

Aaron Pick: Calmejane

Next Week: Stage 1 & 2 recap, Breakdown next Weeks Stages

Social Media:

https://www.instagram.com/postridecafe/

https://twitter.com/PostRideCafe

Strava:

Aaron - https://www.strava.com/athletes/777347

Sam - https://www.strava.com/athletes/150453

Strava…..Stats of the week!

Sam:  99.8 Miles, 1700 ft

Aaron: 140 Miles, 4,500 ft

Ride of the Week:

Sam -  WVC - Muy Caliente

Aaron -  West Valley - Too hot for this

Pro Cycling News:

Cycling News: 

Jack Haig signs with Bahrain McLaren over Ineos

Race Coverage:

Il Lombardia:

• Dangerous Descents are the theme of the day. Evenepoel has a nasty crash similar to previous editions and reminiscent of Gilberts crash a few years back. Schachmann crashes into stray car?!
• The break crushes the peloton with Trek heavily in the drivers seat based on numbers. They lack the strength as Fuglsang and Bennett are the clear strongest. Fuglsang drops Bennett on final climb and easily takes his 2nd monument

Takeaway: Dangerous Descents and Rider Safety. Why no netting on known areas? Fuglsang seems to be taking to these classics races. Close in Strade Bianche again and now a 2nd monument in a few short years. Could probably win Amstel Gold and Bianche before he is done but not sure about the others.

Criterium du Dauphine

• Stage 1: TJV pulls an Ineos train and lead WVA out for the win
• Stage 2: Repeat Stage 1 except trade for Roglic. Pinot and Buchmann round out podium. Bernal 10th.
• Stage 3: Formolo has a crazy 50km attack and solos to victory. Roglic easily takes 2nd place in the bunch. Pinot and Buchmann again behind. Bernal loses 9 more seconds
• Stage 4: Bernal abandons. Roglic crashes. Buchmann and Kruswskjdfk both crash on unsafe descent and abandon . Breakaway wins the day as no one really wants to pull them back. Lenny Kamna takes the day. Pinot pips Roglic at the line but Roglic just happy to finish.
• Stage 5: Roglic did not take the start. Race is wide open as there are 9 riders within 1 min of new leader Pinot.

Takeaways: Ineos still doesn’t look like they’ve improved from last week. Definitely concerning but TJV have taken their licks in this race as well with Roglics crash and Krusuwkjwks as well. Does Pinot have the opportunity to swoop in for a victory?

Tour de France Contenders:

Ineos: Bernal, G, Froome?

Current Form: Bernal - Dropped out of Dauphine, G - 37th Dauphine, Froome 71st Dauphine

Supported by: Bernal, G, Froome, Kwiatkowski, Sivakov, Castoviejo, Rowe

Question Mark will be: Who is the leader? Will they be the Ineos/Sky of old?

Team Jumbo Visma: Roglic, Dumoulin

Current Form: Roglic - Was winning Dauphine before crash, Dumoulin 7th Dauphine

Supported by: Kuss, Roglic, Dumoulin, WVA, T Martin, Bennett, Gesink

Question Mark will be: Peaking too early, team leader? 

Pogacar:

Current Form: 4th Overall Dauphine 

Supported by: Aru, Formolo, De La Cruz, Polanc

Question Mark will be: Youth, Team Support

Pinot:

Current Form: 2nd Overall Dauphine 

Supported by: Kung, Molard, Gaudu, Reichenbach

Question Mark will be: Team strength, form and consistency

Buchmann:

Current Form: Crashed out of Dauphine (looked strong prior)

Supported by: Muhlberger, Postlberger, Kamna, Grosschartner, Shachmann?

Question Mark will be: His condition from the crash and of Shachmann

Landa:

Current Form: 18th Dauphine

Supported by: Poel, Bilbao, Teuns, Mohoric

Question Mark will be: Consistency

Lopez:

Current Form:  5th Overall Dauphine

Supported by: Izagirre Brothers, Lutsenko

Question Mark will be: Consistency

Nairo: Stage of Paris Nice, Overall Tour of Alps and Tour de la Provence

Supported by: Barguil, Anaconda, Rosa 

Question Mark will be: Knee condition and lack of support

Daniel Martinez: 

Current Form: Won Dauphine

Supported by Uran, Higuita, Woods, Craddock, Tejay, Powless

Question Mark will be: Youth

Others: Yates, Chaves, Soler, Mas, Porte, Alaphillipe, Martin, Bardet, Latour, Campenaerts

Next Week Preview:

Tour De France week 1 Preview

Social Media:

https://www.instagram.com/postridecafe/

https://twitter.com/PostRideCafe

Strava:

Aaron - https://www.strava.com/athletes/777347

Sam - https://www.strava.com/athletes/150453

Strava…..Stats of the week!

Sam:  80 Miles, 3300 ft

Aaron: 180 Miles, 6,500 ft

Ride of the Week:

Sam -  Heart Asplode SoMo

Aaron -  WV Somo

Pro Cycling News:

Cycling News: 

Stan Dewulf and Gijs Van Hoecke sign to Ag2r - Continuing to restructure as a Classics team to support Naesen and possibly GVA

Sean Quinn joins Quickstep as Stagiaire

Impey to sign to ISN to support Froome as a road captain 

Race Coverage:

Milano Torino

• Sagan goes early finishing 4th and Demare sprints to a clean win. Crash just before the end (seemed to be caused by Sagan avoiding touching wheels). Ewan 2nd, WVA 3rd.

Takeaways: Getting back to racing is causing nerves in these sprint stages that typically they would be over at this point in the season. All the sprinters seem to be on top form and WVA continues to impress.

Milan San Remo

Mont Ventoux Challenge

• Martin and Latour pull some moves like I would needlessly attacking each other rather than working together which I think cost them both some energy. Vlaslov makes the move and is not seen again with a TT style up in speed. Porte attempts to pull him back but falls short.

Takeaways: Vlaslov is in some super form winning this and coming in 3rd in GC behind Bernal and Sivakov at La Route d’Occitanie. Porte looks to be going well and Nairo doesn’t look to be yet back to his early season form after the accident.

Tour of Poland

• Stage 1 - Why are they talking about Cavendish so much towards the end when there are real sprinters racing? Just a terrible crash caused by Groenewegen forcing Jakobsen into the barriers; commentators are speechless. 
• Stage 2 - A welcome straightforward sprint won by Pedersen. He held on just long enough  and Ackermann never seemed to be in position - bad leadout. I think yesterday had lingering effects on riders willingness to risk themselves
• Stage 3 - Ineos seemingly oddly riding in the front even after the last 3k but Carapaz has a go early on the uphill sprint and holds off the rest
• Stage 4 - Evenepoel dominates with a long 50km attack and solos to finish and the yellow
• Stage 5 - Tightly contested sprint won by Ballerini ahead of Ackermann

Takeaways:

All aboard the Remco Hype Train. Ackermann also not looking to be at his best currently

Tour de l’Ain:

Stage 1: Bagioli steals stage 1 from Roglic

Stage 2: Roglics revenge ahead of Bernal

Stage 3: Roglic and TJV dominate the finale again with Roglic making chump change of Bernal

Takeaway: Ineos seems like they have a lot to work on. Bernal is looking good but is not getting the help he is used to from his domestiques.

Criterium du Dauphine Preview

• Riders to Watch: Bardet, Lopez, Landa, Buchmann, Uran, Pinot, Mas, Ineos, TJV, Porte, Pogacar, Quintana
• Every stage is an uphill
• How will Ineos look after Tour de l' Ain

Il Lombardia:

243km in length. Small climb, 10% with 4km to go. Descent into the finish.

Riders to Watch: Evenepoel, Bettiol, Wellens, Fuglsang, Oliveira, Mollema, MvdP, Pogacar

Next Week Preview:

Il Lombardia Recap, Criterium du Dauphine Recap, Tour de France Week 1 Preview

Social Media:

https://www.instagram.com/postridecafe/

https://twitter.com/PostRideCafe

Strava:

Aaron - https://www.strava.com/athletes/777347

Sam - https://www.strava.com/athletes/150453

Strava…..Stats of the week!

Sam:  35 Miles, 3400 ft

Aaron: 165 Miles, 14,000 ft

Ride of the Week:

Sam - The Half SaulTM

Aaron - Lookout + Red Rocks

Pro Cycling News:

Dylan Teuns extends for two years at Bahrain McLaren

LaPorte signs with TDE

Cycling News: 

Race Coverage:

Vuelta Burgos

Stage 1 - Grosschartner seems to catch everyone on a late surprise uphill attack and holds it. Almeida, Valverde, Aranburu and Landa come in after

Stage 2 - Gaviria dominant in the sprint win ahead of Demare and Bennett

Stage 3 - Evenepoel attacks with 2km as they catch the last of the breakaway and isn’t seen again. Bennet, Landa and Chaves come in after

Stage 4 - Low speed crash around a tight corner with 1km to go. Bennett takes advantage 

Stage 5 - Peloton catches break 10k to go. 4k Landa and Kuss pull ahead, good practice for some of the domestiques. Landa goes at 3.5k. Remco and Landa trading blows just over 1k out while Sosa hangs on their wheels. Sosa attacks for the win with Landa in 2nd an Remco in 3rd

Takeaways: Gaviria and Evenepoel continue to crush 2020

Strade Bianche Womens

• Van Vleuten comes out of nowhere and attacks the chase group and the solo rider Garcia. Leah Thomas looking strong with an unfortunate mechanical on a dirt section. Van Vlueten makes her final attack on the steep section to sienna with Garcia holding on to 2nd and Thomas in 3rd. Other big name riders seem to have came out of nowhere to finish behind the lead group; van der breggen and Longo borghini. 

Strade Bianche Mens

• Warm edition with temps over 35 degrees C.

Takeaways - Unique edition due to season restart but Strade Bianche continues to deliver exciting races. Both races were highlighted by strong showings from caliber riders. Bettiol is showing Flanders was not a fluke. WVA shows he has mastered the white roads of Italy. Formolo

Milan San Remo Preview:

• Completely revamped profile after the Ligurian coast refuses to permit the MSR to  come through. New route goes inland before returning to the traditional routes coastline with 35km to go.
• Team sizes reduced to 6 riders to create space for 2 more wild cards, Bardiani-CSF and Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec.
• Key Riders: Sagan, Gilbert, Nibali, GVA, Viviani, MvdP, D Teuns, Alaphilippe, Bettiol, Boasson Hagen, Kwiatkowski, Matthews, WVA, Gaviria

Tour de Pologne:

• Stage 1: Sprint finish but small rise from 2km to 1km then a descent into the finish
• Stage 2: Sprint finish
• Stage 3: Transition Stage - 3 short laps into the finish. Lumpy rolly finally with a small uphill finish. Not too steep
• Stage 4: Mtn Stage - 6 Cat 1s with an uphill finish. 2.2km @ 6.8%
• Stage 5: A few mtns in the beginning but should be another sprint finish
• Key Sprinters: Cavendish, Ackermann, Jakobsen, Barbier, Degenkolb, Groenewegen, Philpsen +  McNulty

Next Week Preview:

MSR Recap, Tour of Poland Recap, Criterium du Dauphine and Il Lombardia Preview

Social Media:

https://www.instagram.com/postridecafe/

https://twitter.com/PostRideCafe

Strava:

Aaron - https://www.strava.com/athletes/777347

Sam - https://www.strava.com/athletes/150453

Strava…..Stats of the week!

Sam:  91 Miles, 4600 ft

Aaron: 256 Miles, 17,000 ft

Ride of the Week:

Sam - Silent Sunday

Aaron - Solo 73, 5k ft

Pro Cycling News:

AG2R in the midst of a shake up

• Bardet rumored to Sunweb
• Latour heading to Direct-Energie
• GVA rumored to have offered his services

Skip this for now

Van Vleuten up to her usual tricks

• Wins back to back to back races in Spain

RCS releases details of the opening of the Giro in Sicily

• From Velonews: opening 15km TT, Stage 2 small punchy finish, Stage 3 finish atop Mt Etna.

Strade Bianche Preview:

• 184kms, 11 sections of white roads, final climb up through Siena hits 16%
• Favorites: Alaphilippe, Sagan, MVdP, WVA, GVA, Gilbert, Fuglsang, Kwiatkowski, Benoot, Schachmann, Moscon, Nibali, Pogacar?
•  Italy to impose 14 day quarantine for riders who rode in Sibiu tour - No Strade

https://www.procyclingstats.com/race/strade-bianche/2020/startlist/roster

• Women’s Strade - VAN DER BREGGEN Anna VAN VLEUTEN Annemiek only notables on current startlist

Cycling News: 

Race Coverage:

• Sibiu Tour (The Bora Show)

• Prologue -  Nikodemus Holler wins, Kacper Walkowiak 2nd (CCC Dev), Konrad 15 seconds back, same time as Barbier which sets him up nicely for the overall and shows his TT form
• Stage 1 - Konrad and Muhlberger go 1,2 uphill finish and the two clearly the strongest 
• Stage 2  - Ackermann outsprints Barbier
• Stage 3a - ITT, Muhleberger too strong for his own good wins the TT over a minute on BADILATTI Matteo (was 3rd in stage 1) and his teammate and leader Konrad. Also the margin was large enough to eliminate some riders due to the time cut, notably Barbier
• Stage 3b - All Bora, Ackermann wins and Schwarzmann gets second, cool finish cobbled slight uphill through town - not even close for anyone else

Takeaways - Bora obviously the top team here against some lesser competition, that aside it looks like them and the other WT team ISN are coming into the season with good form

• Clasica Femenina Navarra

-  Van Vleuten solos, Longo Borghini finishes  1:14 behind (cool steep cobbled climb) 

"At the moment when Elisa had a mechanical, we had around one and a half minutes, I was thinking should I stop or is it better to continue with a solid pace and hopefully she could come back.

"When I saw her coming, I waited for her and I was really happy we could ride together. That is not the way to drop someone or the way that you want to win. It felt like fair play and I am happy she came back," Van Vleuten said.

Yet it wasn't long before the world champion hit out on her own, and with just over 20km to go, the Alto del Perdón - 3.1km in length - was the end of Longo Borghini.

https://twitter.com/Vuelta_Navarra/status/1286698361609953287

https://twitter.com/MitcheltonSCOTT/status/1286701176248061953

https://twitter.com/MitcheltonSCOTT/status/1286709495750696966

 Durango-Durango Emakumeen Saria (1.1)

1 VAN VLEUTEN Annemiek

2:51:17

2 VAN DER BREGGEN Anna

0:18

3 LONGO BORGHINI Elisa

1:05

Takeaways - Van Vleuten is on another level, we’ll see if she can hold this throughout the season and as expected Longo Borghini and Van der Breggen will be right there

Next Week Preview:

Strade Bianche Race Recap, MSR Preview

Social Media:

https://www.instagram.com/postridecafe/

https://twitter.com/PostRideCafe

Strava:

Aaron - https://www.strava.com/athletes/777347

Sam - https://www.strava.com/athletes/150453

Strava…..Stats of the week!

Sam:  20 Miles, 250 ft

Aaron: 190 Miles, 15,000 ft

Ride of the Week:

Sam - Just trying to keep some legs

Aaron - Sanitas

Pro Cycling News:

Nairo back on the bike: week earlier than expected

Jasper Stuyven extends with Trek to 2022

Tour de France: All stages revealed 

https://www.3bikes.fr/2020/07/18/tour-de-france-2020-la-carte-du-parcours-les-details-et-le-profil-des-etapes/

Cycling News: 

Deceuninck - Quick Step

• 2019 Stats
• PCS Rank: 1st (9229 pts), Same 2018
• 68 Victories. 35 WT, 10 WT One Day (Alaphilippe - La Fleche Wallonne, MSR, Strade Bianche, Gilbert - Paris-Roubaix-Hayman, Stybar - E3 BinkBank, Omloop Het Nieuwslad Elite, Evenepoel - Clasica San Sebastian, Viviani - Prudential RideLondon-Surrey Classic, EuroEyes Cyclassics Hamburg, Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race)
• 2018 Comparison - 73 Victories, 38 WT, 7 WT One Day
• Team Identity: Classics, Stages, The Wolfpack
• Key Signings: Bennett, Archbold
• Key Losses: Gilbert, Viviani, Richeze, Mas
• Key Riders: Alaphilippe (28), Bennett (29), Evenpoel (20)
• Personal Thoughts on the Team
• Main Topics
• Finally found their new Boonen in Alaphilippe
• Remco Evenepoel: Worth the hypetrain?
• Opinions on Patrick LeFevere’s style of team building, management (Wolfpack mentality) I feel its akin to the Patriots in NFL, buy in to system or you are gone
• Classics: Fun or boring
• Young Riders to keep an eye on
• Remco Evenepoel (20) (Belgium)
• 2nd  - ITT Elite World Championships; 1st, ITT European Championships; Clasica San Sebastian - 1st; Baloise Belgium Tour (2.HC) - 1st GC, 1st Stage 2;
• Fabio Jakobsen (23) (Netherlands)
• Vuelta Espana - 1st Stage 21 & 4; Tour of California - 1st Stage 4; Tour of Turkey - 1st Stage 3; Scheldeprijs (1.HC) - 1st; Volta ao Algarve - 1st Stage 1
• Alvaro Jose Hodeg (23) Colombia
• Sparkassen Munsterland Giro - 1st; Binck Bank Tour (2.UWT) - 1st Stage 5; Adriatica Ionica Race - 1st Points, 1st Stage 1 & 4; Heylen Vastgoed Heistse Pijl - 1st (Philipsen 2nd, Bouhanni 7th, Coquard 11th); Tour of Norway (2.HC) - 1st Stage 2, 2nd Stage 5; Colombia (2.1) - 1st Stage 2
• 2020 Wins (15 wins)
• Sam Bennett: Tour Down Under (2.UWT) Stage 1
• Zdenek Stybar: Vuelta a San Juan Stage 6
• Devenyns - CEGORR
• Jakobsen: Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana - Stage 5, Volta ao Algarve Stage 1
• Evenepoel: Vuelta a San Juan: GC, Stage 3 ITT, Volta ao Algarve: GC, Stage 2 and Stage 5 ITT
• Asgreen: Kuurne-Bruzelles-Kuurne
• Cavagna: Faun-Ardeche Classic
• Better or Worse season than 2019?

Race Coverage:

Takeaways - 

Next Week Preview:

Final Team Breakdown : Strade Bianche Race Preview

Social Media:

https://www.instagram.com/postridecafe/

https://twitter.com/PostRideCafe

Strava:

Aaron - https://www.strava.com/athletes/777347

Sam - https://www.strava.com/athletes/150453

Strava…..Stats of the week!

Sam: 76 Miles, 1400 ft

Aaron: 201.7 Miles, 14,226 ft

Ride of the Week:

Sam - Shit Ride: F GP 5000s

Aaron - Brainard - 51 miles 6,200 ft - 1 min off lefthand climb (10mi 2500 ft 54:29)

Pro Cycling News:

Cycling News: 

Contador Sets New Everesting Record (7:27:20 -2:27 to Morton) (Emma Pooley -15 minutes 8:53:36 Previously Hannah Rhodes took 50 minutes off to get record)

Chris Froome transfer to Israel Startup-Nation Official

Top 10 transfer targets for ISN in offseason

Porte, Clarke, Silvan Dillier (2nd in Swiss TT today), Kelderman, Jungels, Izagirre Bros, Stannard, Polanc, Kangert

British Cycling using Ketones since 2012 “secret study”

Team Jumbo-Visma

• 2019 Stats
• PCS Rank: 2nd (8226 pts), Up 7 from 2018
• 51 Victories. 25 WT, 8 GT Stages, 5 GC (Roglic - Vuelta Espana, TdRomandie, Tirreno-Adriatico, UAE Tour; Laurens de Plus - Binck Bank Tour)
• 2018 Comparison - 33 Victories, 10 WT, 2 GC
• Team Identity: GC, Everything
• Key Signings: Domoulin (29)
• Key Losses: Powless, Van Poppel
• Key Riders: Roglic (30), Domoulin (29), Groenewegen (27), Van Aert (25)
• Personal opinions of team
• Main Topics:
• How will WVA recover from his crash in last years TdF?
• Calendar: Strade, MSR, TdF, Gent-Wevelgem, Flanders, Roubaix
• Can Groenewegen continue his success at the Giro now that Jumbo-Visma has gone all in for GC at the TdF?
• Jumbo Visma all in for the TdF. 1 of 2 Tridents! (only 1 36km TT)
• Roglic, Domoulin, Krujswijk, Martin, Gesink, WVA, Bennett & Kuss
• Can Jumbo win?
• Young Riders to keep an eye on
• Jonas Vingegaard (23) Denmark
• Tour de Pologne 2.UWT: Stage 6, 1st
• Hammer Stavanger 2.1: 1st Overall, 1st Stage 1
• Tour of Denmark 2.HC: 2nd Overall (Benoot 1st, 0:04)
• Tobias Foss (23) Norway
• Tour de l’Avenir: 1st Overall, 2nd 2 Stages
• U23 WC RR: 6th
• U23 Liege Bastogne Liege: 3rd
• U23 Gent-Wevelgem: 7th
• 2020 Victories
• Slovenian National RR - Roglic - Transport!
• UAE Tour Stage 3 (WT) - Groenewegen
• Volta a la Comunitat Valencia (2.Pro) Stage 1 & 3 - Groenewegen
• Better or Worse season than 2019?

Race Coverage:

Takeaways - 

Next Week Preview:

Final Team Breakdown : Deceunick-Quick Step

Social Media:

https://www.instagram.com/postridecafe/

https://twitter.com/PostRideCafe

Strava:

Aaron - https://www.strava.com/athletes/777347

Sam - https://www.strava.com/athletes/150453

Strava…..Stats of the week!

Sam: 60 Miles, 1300 ft

Aaron: 200 Miles, 10,100 ft

Ride of the Week:

Sam - Chill Bike Path Ride 75rpm < 140bpm

Aaron - Any ride in Boulder

Pro Cycling News:

• Quintana involved in crash
• Hit by a car. Doctor ordered two weeks of rest.

• Campenaerts goes to extreme, Pt 2
• What he dubs “intermittent hypoxic training”
• Hour a day at 10,000m
• Main goals are the WC and the Giro
• Sunweb announces team schedules for the first 2 GTs
• Tour de France
• Søren Kragh Andersen
• Nikias Arndt
• Tiesj Benoot
• Cees Bol
• Marc Hirschi
• Joris Nieuwenhuis
• Jasha Sütterlin
• Nicholas Roche
• Giro d’Italia
• Nico Denz
• Chris Hamilton
• Jai Hindley
• Wilco Kelderman
• Michael Matthews
• Sam Oomen
• Casper Pedersen
• Martijn Tusveld

Cycling News: 

BORA - hansgrohe

• 2019 Stats
• PCS Rank: 3rd (8117 pts), Same as 2018
• 47 Victories. 31 WT, 29 Stages, 0 Classics
• 2018 Comparison - 33 Victories, 22 WT, 18 Stages, 2 Classics (Sagan - Paris-Roubaix-Hayman, Gent-Wevelgem)
• Team Identity: Stage Hunters, Classics, Sprints
• Key Signings: None
• Key Losses: Bennett, Formolo
• Key Riders: Sagan, Ackermann, Buchmann
• Personal opinions of team
• Main Topics:
• Bennett Drama?
• Overall strength of domestiques / team
• Sagan sticks to the Giro and abandons the main classics season
• Will Sagan go for Green at TdF?
• Where does that leave Ackermann? Slated to start the Vuelta only
• Buchmann has big expectations this year after 4th at TdF with almost zero help.
• This year the team is built around him. + Sagan and Oss
• Young Riders to keep an eye on
• None
• 2020 Victories
• Paris-Nice: 1st Overall, 1 Stage (Schachmann)
• UAE Tour: 1 Stage (Ackermann)
• Better or Worse than 2019

Race Coverage:

Takeaways - 

Next Week Preview: Team Breakdown: Team Jumbo Visma

Social Media:

https://www.instagram.com/postridecafe/

https://twitter.com/PostRideCafe

Strava:

Aaron - https://www.strava.com/athletes/777347

Sam - https://www.strava.com/athletes/150453

Strava…..Stats of the week!

Sam: 100 Miles, 3300 ft

Aaron: 120 Miles, 4300 ft

Ride of the Week:

Sam - WVC B Group Caboose

Aaron -  Boulder - Old Stage, 1/2 James need O2

Pro Cycling News:

World Championships are a go!

Yves Lampaert extends for two years with Deceunick-Quick Step

Pogacar wins the Slovenian NTT (:09 Roglic Polanc 1:47)

Sagan Giro commercial

Cycling News: 

Astana Pro Team

• Personal opinions of team
• 2019 Stats
• PCS Rank: 5th (7597 pts), down from 4th 2018
• 37 Victories: 15 WT, 3 GC (Fuglsang - Criterium du Dauphine; Ion Izagirre - Itzulia Basque Country; Miguel Angel Lopez - Volta Ciclista a Catalunya)
• 2018 Comparison: 31 Victories, 10 WT
• Team Identity: GC, The Team that almost breaks through
• Key Signings: Aranburu, Felline
• Key Losses: Cort, Bilbao, Cataldo
• Key Riders: Fuglsang, Superman
• Main Topics:
• Will Fuglsang eat more carbs and win a GT?
• Can/Will Superman improve his ITT? Will he finally win a GT
• MAL and the Izagirre brothers rumored to be leaving.
• Young Riders to keep an eye on
• None
• 2020 Victories:
• Vuelta a Andalucia Ruta Ciclista Del Sol: 1st Overall, 2 Stages (Fuglsang)
• Volta ao Algarve: Stage 4 (Lopez)
• Vuelta ciclista a la Region de Murcia: 1 Stage (Sanchez)
• Tour de La Provence: 1 Stage (Aleksandr Vlasov)
• Better or Worse than 2019

Team Ineos

• Personal opinions of team
• 2019 Stats
• PCS Rank: 4th (7757 pts), down 2 from 2018
• 26 Victories. 8 WT, 4 GC (Bernal - TdF, TdSuisse, Paris-Nice, Sivakov - TdPologne)
• 2018 Comparison - 43 Victories, 21 WT, 7 GC
• Team Identity: GC Domination, Fighting Chance in Classics
• Key Signings: Carapaz
• Key Losses: Wout Poels, David De La Cruz
• Key GC Riders: Froome, Bernal, Carapaz, Thomas 
• Main GC Topics
• How do they manage their amazing roster?
• Will Froome be able to win the TdF
• How many GTs will they win?
• Players in 1 week stage races?
• They should be plenty competitive in these
• Not as strong last season in controlling GTs. Same?
• Key Classics Riders: Kwiatkowski, Stannard, Moscon, Van Baarle
• Main Classics Topics
• They said they want to increase their competitiveness of Classics with Ineos coming on board, is that true?
• Will they win a classic this year?
• Young Riders to keep an eye on
• Ivan Ramiro Sosa (22) Columbia
• Vuelta a Burgos 2.HC: 1st GC, 2 Stages; Tour de Columbia 2.1: 2nd Overall; Gran Piemonte 1.HC: 2nd Overall (Bernal 1st)
• Pavel Sivakov (22) Russia
• Giro d Italia: 9th Overall; Tour de Pologne: 1st GC; Tour of the Alps: 1st Overall, 1 Stage
• Filippo Ganna (23) Italy
• World Championships ITT: 3rd (Dennis 1st, Evenepoel 2nd); Italian ITT Champion; Binck Bank Tour: Stage 6 ITT (8.4km) 1st
• Egan Bernal (23) Columbia
• Tour de France 2.UWT: 1st Overall; Tour de Suisse 2.UWT: 1st Overall, 1 Stage; Paris-Nice (2.UWT): 1st Overall Volta Ciclista a Catalunya (2.UWT): 3rd Overall;
• 2020 Victories
• Tour de la Provence 2.Pro: Stage 4 Owain Doull
• Better or Worse season than 2019?

Race Coverage:

Takeaways - 

Next Week Preview: Bora-hansgrohe

Social Media:

https://www.instagram.com/postridecafe/

https://twitter.com/PostRideCafe

Strava:

Aaron - https://www.strava.com/athletes/777347

Sam - https://www.strava.com/athletes/150453

Strava…..Stats of the week!

Sam: 74 Miles, 1400 Ft

Aaron: 150 Miles, 2900 Ft

Ride of the Week:

Sam - West Valley Cycles

Aaron -

Race Coverage:

Slovenian National Championships - Roglic vs Pogacar?

Pro Cycling News:

Niki Terpstra Crash: Out of hospital, 3 months recovery expected. Collapsed lung, broken collarbone, head trauma

Sunweb Implosion?: Oomen & Kelderman giving green light to leave

Jumbo Visma: De Plus heading to Ineos $$$

Lochlan Morton officially breaks Everesting record

Gilbert smashed La Redoute record. 17 seconds from Bardet. Ready for classics

Movistar

• 2019 Stats
• PCS Rank - 7th (6890 pts), down 2 from 2018
• 21 Victories: 7 WT, 1 GC (Carapaz - Giro d’Italia)
• 2018 Comparison - 25 Victories: 12 WT, 3 GC
• Team Identity: GC, Stages
• Key Signings: Enric Mas, Dario Cataldo
• Key Losses: Carapaz, Landa, Quintana, Daniele Bennati, Betancur, Amador
• Key Riders: Valverde (40), Soler (26), Mas (25)
• Personal opinion of team
• Main Topics
• Bloodbath offseason for Movistar. Whats going on?
• What type of season will Valverde have?
• Can Soler step up to the big leagues. GT Podium realistic? 2019 - 9th
• What will Enric Mas do? Best GC 2nd 2018 Vuelta
• Is Movistar rebuilding or on the way down?
• Young Riders to keep an eye on
• Johan Jacobs (22)
• U23 Paris-Roubaix: 2nd; U23 Ronde van Vlaanderen: 7th
• Juan Diego Alba (22)
• Giro Ciclistico d’Italia 2.2U: 3rd GC, 1st Stage 6, 3 Other Top 5 Stage Finishes
• Better or Worse than 2019?
• 
  

UAE-Team Emirates

• 2019 Stats
• PCS Rank 6th (6932 pts), Up 9 from 2018
• 29 Victories: 11 WT, 7 WT Stages (Pogacar - 3rd Vuelta Espana, 1st ToCalifornia)
• 2018 Comparison - 12 Victories, 6 WT
• Team Identity: GC, Stage Hunting
• Key Signings: McNulty, Mikkel Bjerg, Formolo, De la Cruz, Richeze, Dombrowski
• Key Losses: Dan Martin, Rory Sutherland
• Key Riders: Pogacar, Aru, McNulty, Formolo, Gaviria, Kristoff
• Personal opinions of team
• Main Topics
• Team with Best Off Season Signings
• Pogacar Unleashed?
• Have they fixed their nutrition?
• Will Gaviria and Kristoff recover from weak 2019?
• How will McNulty traverse his first WT season?
• Will Formolo meet expectations
• Should we expect anything from Aru
• Young Riders to keep an eye on
• Andres Camilo Ardila (20)
• Giro Ciclistico d’Italia (2.2U): 1st GC,1st Stage 4 & 5, 2 other Top 5
• Jasper Philipsen (21)
• GP de Fourmies 1.HC: 2nd; Brussels Cycling Classic 1.HC: 3rd;  Binck Bank Tour 2.UWT: 2nd Points Classification, 3 Stages Top 5; Tour De France 2.UWT: 3 Stages Top 10; Tour de California 2.UWT: 3 Stages Top 10; Scheldeprijs 1.HC: 9th; Santos Tour Down Under 2.UWT: 1st Stage 5, Top 5 Stage
• Brandon McNulty (21)
• U23 World Championships ITT: 3rd; Giro di Sicilia 2.1: 1st GC, 1st Stage 3, Top 5 Stage
• Alessandro Covi (21)
• Giro Ciclistico d’Italia 2.2U: 4th GC, 2 Top 5 Stages; Ronde de L’Isard 2.2U: 2 Stages Top 5
• Mikkel Bjerg (21)
• U23 World Championships: 1st ITT, 8th Road Race

• 2020 Major Results:
• UAE Tour Stage 5 (Pogacar); Vuelta a San Juan, 3 Stages (Gaviria); Tour de Columbia, 3 Stages (Juan Sebastion Molano); Volta a la Comunitat Valencia, 3 Stages (Pogacar); Saudi Tour Stage 1 (Costa)
• Better or Worse than 2019?

Next Week Preview: Team Episodes: Astana Pro Team & Team INEOS

Social Media:

https://www.instagram.com/postridecafe/

https://twitter.com/PostRideCafe

Strava:

Aaron - https://www.strava.com/athletes/777347

Sam - https://www.strava.com/athletes/150453

Strava…..Stats of the week!

Sam: 109 Miles, 2000 Ft Climbing

Aaron: 151 Miles, 7350 Ft Climbing

Ride of the Week:

Sam - Shadetree

Aaron - Moabz

Pro Cycling News:

Cycling News: 

Vuelta replaced two sprint stages in Portugal with two medium mountain stages in Spain

Campenaerts sets altitude tent to 4700m to ‘feel like a rider on EPO’

Tour of Flanders - Reduced 26km. Tenbosse and Muur van Geraardsbergen removed

Mitchelton-Scott - Team Manuela Fundacion

• Personal Opinions of the team
• 2019 Stats
• PCS Rank 9th (5878 pts), Down 2 from 2018
• 35 Victories: 13 WT, 12 WT Stages, 5 GT Stages (M Trentin - TdF Stg 17, S Yates - TdF Stg 12,15; D Impey - TdF Stg 9; E Chaves - Giro Stg 19)
• 2018 Comparison: 33 Victories, 17 WT Stages, 6 GT Stages
• Team Identity: GC, Stages, Dumb Nicknames
• Key Signings:  ??
• Key Losses: M Trentin, M Hayman
• Key Riders: S Yates (27), A Yates (27), E Chaves (30), L Mezgec (31)
• Main Topics:
• How will they survive without Hayman?
• Will Simon Yates win a GT this year?
• Can Adam Yates or Chaves podium a GT this year?
• Mezgec had a good 2019, will he build on it?
• Young Riders to watch
• Edoardo Affini (23) (Mostly an ITT specialist atm)
• Tour of Britain: Stage 6 ITT (14.4km) 1st; Tour of Norway: Stage 4 1st

• 2020 Key Victories - UAE tour: Adam Yates with a stage and overall at (pogacar, lutsenko, gaudu, majka, kelderman, zakarin, valverde);
• Jayco Herald Sun Tour  Kaden Groves 2 stages (sprinter 21)
• Ruta del Sol: 1 Stage - Jack Haig
• Better or Worse than 2019?

Lotto Soudal

• 2019 Stats
• PCS Rank: 8th (6013 pts), up 6 from 2018
• 23 Victories: 12 WT, All Stages, 8 Caleb Ewan, 6 GT Stages (1 De Gendt)
• 2018 Comparison: 25 Victories - 7 WT, 1 Classic
• Team Identity: Stage Hunting
• Key Signings: Gilbert, Degenkolb
• Key Losses: Tiesj Benoot, Campenaerts, Keukeleire
• Key Riders: Ewan (25), De Gendt (33), Wellens (29), Gilbert (37), Degenkolb (31)
• Personal opinions on the team
• Main Topics:
• Caleb had the season he said he would, more of the same in 2020?
• Redemption year for Degenkolb?
• The De Gendt Paradox. More wins in 2020? (2 in 2019)
• How will Gilbert do in the classics?
• Tim Wellens: Taste of week stage glory in 2020? Will he nab a Classic?
• Young Riders?
• Brent Van Moer (21)
• U23 World Championships: 5th ITT; U23 Paris-Roubaix: 6th; U23 Ronde van Vlaanderen: 9th
• 2020 Victories: 3 Stages Tour Down Under (2 Ewan, 1 Holmes); 1 stage UAE Tour (Ewan)
• Better or Worse than 2019?

Race Coverage:

Takeaways - 

Next Week Preview: Team Episodes: Movistar, UAE-Team Emirates

Social Media:

https://www.instagram.com/postridecafe/

https://twitter.com/PostRideCafe

Strava:

Aaron - https://www.strava.com/athletes/777347

Sam - https://www.strava.com/athletes/150453

Strava…..Stats of the week!

Sam: 37 Miles, 800 ft

Aaron: 207  Miles, 4100 ft

Ride of the Week:

Sam - Shadetree Ride - 37 miles

Aaron - WVC AB - 60 miles

Pro Cycling News: 

Top 10 classics riders on the market - Nils Politt (Israel 26), Terpstra (TDE 36), Philipsen (UAE 22),  Jungles (DQS 27), Tuens (Bahrain 28), Valgren (NTT 28), Stuyven (Trek 28), Lampaert (DQS 29), Vanmarcke (EF 31)

https://www.cyclingnews.com/features/transfer-mechanics-top-10-classics-riders-on-the-market/

Bardet rumored to Sunweb - Confirmed he is looking to move on from AG2R

https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/sunweb-interested-in-signing-romain-bardet/

Lopez rumored to Bora -

https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/lopez-denies-links-to-bora-hansgrohe/

Trek signed Weening -

https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/trek-segafredo-confirm-the-signing-of-pieter-weening/

Cycling News: 

Lance Pt. 2

Topic of the Week:

Trek-Segafredo

• Personal opinions of the team
• 2019 Stats
• PCS Rank 11th (4949 pts), up 2 from 2018
• 11 Victories: 3 WT, 1 Classic (B Mollema - Il Lombardia)
• 2018 Comparison: 20 Victories, 4 WT
• Team Identity: GC, Stages, Classics
• Key Signings: V Nibali, Quinn Simmons
• Key Losses: J Degenkolb, M Irizar, Fumiyuki Beppu, F Felline, J Pantano
• Key Riders: R  Porte, V Nibali, Giulio Ciccone, B Mollema, M Pedersen (WC BABY!)
• Main Topics:
• Is M Pedersens WC win a turning point for Trek? Will they have increased confidence? (Especially with Degenkolb leaving)
• Nibali? Good pickup or bad?
• Porte? Will he be competitive? Can he podium a GT?
• Can Ciccone improve on last years performance in the Giro?
• Young Riders
• Quinn Simmons (19)
• Men Juniors World Championships Road Race: 1st; Junior Gent-Wevelgem: 1st; Spattering of 2.1 races he got 1st on the back of the ITT
• 2020 Key Victories - Stuyven - Omloop
• Porte - Stage and overall of Tour down Under
• Better or Worse than 2019?

EF Education First

• 2019 Stats
• PCS Rank 10th (5785 pts), Up 6 from 2018
• 17 Victories: 6 WT, 1 Classic (A Bettiol - Ronde van Vlaanderen)
• 2018 Comparison: 6 Victories, 2 WT, 2 GT Stages
• Team Identity: GC, Stages, Alternate Seasons
• Key Signings: N Powless, J Keukeleire, M Cort
• Key Losses: T Phinney (Retired), J Dombrowski
• Key Riders: R Uran, M Woods, S Vanmarcke, M Cort, H Carthy
• Personal Opinions of team
• Main Topics:
• Will Uran go the distance in any GT this year?
• Can Michael Woods continue to improve and find more consistent results?
• EF and the classics. Picked up some good help
• Young Riders?
• Jonas Rutsch (21)
• U23 Ronde van Vlaanderen Beloften: 5th; U23 Gent-Wevelgem: 1st
• Sergio Higuita (22)
• Vuelta Espana 2.UWT: 14th GC & 1st Stage 18; 2019 World Championships: 4th Under 23 Road Race; Amgen Tour of California 2.UWT: 2nd GC, 2nd Place Stage 7 (Mt Baldy); Tour de Pologne 2.UWT: 4th GC 

• Daniel Martinez (23)
• Tour de Colombia 2.1: 3rd GC, 1st Stage 1 TTT (14 km), Gree-Tour of Guangxi 2.UWT: 2nd GC Gree-Tour of Guangxi, Vuelta Espana 2.UWT: 10th Stage 10 ITT (36.2km), 4th Stage 1 ITT (13.4 km), Pan American Games: 1st ITT (37km), Tour Basque Country 2.UWT:  2nd Stage 1 ITT (11.3 km), Paris-Nice 2.UWT: Stage 7, 5th Stage 5 ITT (25.5 km),

• Hugh Carthy (25)
• Tour de Suisse: 1st Stage 9, 1st Mountains Classification, Giro d’Italia: 11th GC,16th Stage 1 ITT (8 km), 8th stage 9 ITT (34.8km), 2 Top 5 Stages

• 2020 Key Victories - Higuita and Martinez each with a stage in tour of colombia, Higuita Overall (Bernal, Henao, Chaves Aru). They both also won NC in RR (Higuita) and TT
• Better or Worse than 2019?

Race Coverage:

Takeaways - 

Next Week Preview:

Social Media:

https://www.instagram.com/postridecafe/

https://twitter.com/PostRideCafe

Strava:

Aaron - https://www.strava.com/athletes/777347

Sam - https://www.strava.com/athletes/150453

Strava…..Stats of the week!

Sam: 95 Miles, 2000 ft

Aaron: 170 Miles, 3700 ft

Ride of the Week:

Sam - Shadetree Ride - B Group

Aaron -

Pro Cycling News:

Cycling News: 

Domoulin: At Sunweb, too much pressure being the sole leader

Buchman completes Everesting charity challenge. Misses record by technicality

Topic of the Week: Lance Pt. 1

AG2R La Mondiale

• Personal Opinion of the Team
• 2019 Stats
• PCS Rank 13th (4827 pts), down 2 from 2018
• 14 Victories: 2 WT, 1 GT Stage
• 2018 Comparison: 15 Victories, 3 WT, 2 GT Stages
• Team Identity: GC, Stages
• Key Signings: Lawrence Naesen?
• Key Losses: ???
• Key Riders: R Bardet (29),  P Latour (26), Silvan Dillier (29), O Naesen (29)
• Main Topics
• AG2R seems lost as a WT team.
• Bardet at the Giro?
• Latour at the TdF
• 6th ITT Vuelta (36km), 1:14 behind Roglic
• 3rd Stage 13. 27 sec behind Pogacar and Roglic. Finished w/ Valverde in 2nd group. Finished ahead of Lopez (-1:01)
• Oliver Naesen
• Young Riders?
• None
• 2020 Season Results: None
• Better or Worse than 2019?

Team Bahrain McLaren

• Personal Opinions of the team
• 2019 Stats
• PCS Rank 12th (4948 pts), down 6 from 2018
• 16 Victories: 7 WT, 7 WT Stages, 2 GT Stages
• 2018 Comparison: 28 Victories, 4 WT
• Team Identity: GC, Stages
• Key Signings: M Landa (30), W Poels (32), D Teuns (28), P Bauhaus (25), M Cavendish (35)
• Key Losses: V Nibali, D Rohan, D Pozzovivo
• Key Riders: M Landa, W Poels, M Cavendish
• Main Topics:
• W Poels and M Landa. What will they do?
• Will Cavendish have any return to form? Or is this a sunset contract?
• Will Rod Ellingworth have an impact on the incoming riders he knows.
• Dylan Teuns (Excellent Rut del Sol), S Colbrelli How will they fare?
• Young Riders?
• 2020 Results:
• Stage @ Paris-Nice (Ivan Garcia Cortina, 24)
• TT @ Rut del Sol (D Teuns)
• Bauhaus - 2 Stages at the Saudi Tour and overall
• Better or Worse than 2019?

Race Coverage:

Takeaways - 

Next Week Preview: Team Breakdowns: Trek Segafredo & EF Education. Lance Breakdown Pt 2

Sam and Aaron continue their Team Reviews with Team Sunweb and Groupama-FDJ. Domoulin leaves the MPCC and ESPN has created a new 30 for 30 series on Lance Armstrong.

Social Media:

https://www.instagram.com/postridecafe/

https://twitter.com/PostRideCafe

Strava:

Aaron - https://www.strava.com/athletes/777347

Sam - https://www.strava.com/athletes/150453

Strava…..Stats of the week!

Sam:  100 Miles, 2200 Ft

Aaron:  182 Miles,  4000 Ft

Ride of the Week:

Sam - Loving this Fence on Hummingbird - 65 1700 ft

Aaron - Worth Riding in the Wind All Day - 63 miles 1600 ft

Pro Cycling News:

Dumoulin Quits MPCC - Ketones

Lance Documentary 

Topic of the Week:

Team Sunweb

• 2019 Stats
• PCS Rank 15th (4510 pts), down 5 from 2018
• 9 Victories: 6 WT, 2 GT Stages
• 2018 Comparison: 11 Victories, 8 WT, 2 GT Stages
• Team Identity: Sprints, Stages
• Key Signings: T  Benoot
• Key Losses: T Dumoulin, J Bakelants
• Key Riders: M Matthews, T Benoot, W Kelderman
• Young Riders?
• Marc Hirschi (21)
• Deutschland Tour: 6th GC; Binck Bank Tour: 5th GC, 2nd Stage 4; Clasica Ciclista San Sebastian: 3rd; E3 BinckBank Classic: 10th
• Jai Hindley (23)
• Tour de Pologne: 2nd GC, Stage 6: 3rd; Giro d’Italia: 35th GC
• Personal Opinions of the Team
• Main Topics:
• How will Sunweb respond to Dumoulin’s absence
• Will Kelderman finally ascend to a GC podium?
• Can Matthews get another Green if Sagan is too tired?
• Will Benoot get enough support and win a classic or two? Maybe a monument?

• Key Victories 2020
• 2 Stages Paris Nice - Benoot and Kragh Andersen
• 2 Stages and Overall Jayco Sun Herald - Jai Hindley 

• Better or Worse than 2019?

Groupama - FDJ

• 2019 Stats
• PCS Rank 14th (4705 pts), down 2 from 2018
• 24 Victories: 4 WT, 2 GT Stages
• 2018 Comparison: 31 Victories,  7 WT
• Team Identity: GC, Stages, Sprints
• Key Signings: ???
• Key Losses: ???
• Key Riders: T Pinot, A Demare, S Kung
• Young Riders?
• Valentin Madouas (23)
• Giro d’Italia: 13th GC; Amstel Gold Race: 8th
• David Gaudu (23)
• Tour de France: 13th GC; Tour de Romandie: 1st Stage 3; Liege Bastogne Liege: 6th; UAE Tour: 3rd GC
• Personal Opinions of the Team
• Main Topics:
• After his crushing exit at the Tour, how will Pinot respond
• Demare: Will he learn to sprint without causing chaos?
• Stefan Kung had a great WC, will he see progress this season?
• Key Victories 2020
• Stage Etoile de Besseges (3rd Overall, 5 stages) - Alexys Brunel

• Better or Worse than 2019?

Race Coverage:

Takeaways - 

Next Week Preview:

Sam and Aaron share their ride of the week. They also continue their team breakdowns with Cofidis, Solutions Credits and Israel Start-Up Nation

Social Media:

https://www.instagram.com/postridecafe/

https://twitter.com/PostRideCafe

Strava:

Aaron - https://www.strava.com/athletes/777347

Sam - https://www.strava.com/athletes/150453

Strava…..Stats of the week!

Sam: 80 Miles, 2800 Ft

Aaron: 220 Miles, 6500 Ft

Ride of the Week:

Sam - Freshies San Juan; 40 Miles, 2100

Aaron - Pushing It, 5 hours Deep; 87 Miles, 4100

Pro Cycling News:

Cyclingnews.com - Froome looking at possible mid season transfer 

Everesting - Gaimon, US National XC MTB Champion potentially breaks that record just a few days later. Buchmann also everested for charity. Cavendish and Rowe did a virtual everest.

Topic of the Week:

Cofidis, Solutions Credits

• 2019 Stats
• PCS Rank 17th (3629 pts), Same as 2018
• 20 Victories: 1 WT, 1 GT Stage
• 2018 Comparison: 21 Victories, 1 GT Stage
• Key 2020 Wins 
• Tour des Alpes Stage 1and GC - Anthony Perez (pinot, clarke, storer, bardet in top 10)
• La Tropicale Amissa Bongo Stage 1 - Atilio Viviani
• Team Identity: Appear to be WT but only Pro Conti, Stages
• Key Signings: E Viviani, G Martin, J Vermote
• Key Losses: N Bouhanni
• Key Riders: E Viviani, J Herrada, G Martin
• Young Riders?
• Attilio Viviani (23)
• Schaal Sels Merksem / Johan Museeuw Classic: 1st
• Damien Touze (23)
• National Championships France - RR: 3rd
• Personal thoughts on the Team
• Main Topics:
• Finally a WT team. How long will they last?
• Bouhanni leaves, Cofidis fault or just a time bomb?
• J Herrada, G Martin
• Can Viviani win at his previous level?
• Better or Worse than 2019?

Israel Start-Up Nation

• 2019 Stats
• PCS Rank 16th (3659 pts), up 8 from 2018
• 29 Victories: 0 WT
• 2018 Comparison: 15 Victories, 0 WT
• Key 2020 Wins 
• Le Samyn - Hofstetter
• Stage 1 Vuelta a San Juan - Barbier
• Team Identity: Stages, Sprints?
• Key Signings: The Gorilla, D Martin, Absorbed Most of Katusha Alpecin Squad (N Politt, D Navarro, A Dowsett)
• Key Losses: ???
• Key Riders: D Martin, N Politt
• Young Riders?
• No
• Personal Thoughts on the Team
• Main Topics:
• How will the team handle the WT pressure?
• Team is about 50:50 age split.
• No Marquee rider leaves an open racing style
• Better or Worse than 2019?

Race Coverage:

Takeaways - 

Next Week Preview:

Team Sunweb & Groupama-FDJ

• Strava...Stats of the Week
• Ride of the Week
• 2020 WT Calendar Announced
• Egan says he will not sacrifice himself for Froome or Thomas at the Tour de France
• Team Primer: CCC Team

Social Media:

https://www.instagram.com/postridecafe/

https://twitter.com/PostRideCafe

Strava:

Aaron - https://www.strava.com/athletes/777347

Sam - https://www.strava.com/athletes/150453

Strava…..Stats of the week!

Sam: 82 Miles, 4500 Ft

Aaron: 170 Miles, 6450 Ft

Ride of the Week:

Saturday Sedona Ride

Pro Cycling News:

Leaked WT Calendar ended up being real

Egan Bernal: Wont sacrifice his chances for Froome or Thomas at TdF. Hes in it to win.

Topic of the Week:

CCC Team

• 2019 Stats
• PCS Rank 20th (3199 pts), down 12 from 2018
• 6 Victories: 2 WT, (G Van Avermaet, GP Cycliste de Montreal; P Bevin, Santos TDU Stage 2)
• 2018 Comparison: 23 Victories, 14 WT
• Team Identity: GVA. In search of one
• Key Signings: M Trentin, I Zakarin
• Key Losses: L Ten Dam
• Key Riders: G Van Avermaet, M Trentin, I Zakarin
• Personal Thoughts on the Team
• Main Topics:
• L Ten Dam retired?!? Always been a fan of his since i first started watching cycling. Rabobank Squad
• Can CCC find an identity? Will the new recruits bring a spark
• M Trentin is a great addition, what will his goals be?
• I Zakurin, Can never live up to expectations, what is he looking to do at CCC
• GVA isnt getting any younger (34). Can he have a solid year? Obviously he is capable but does he have the squad support he dearly missed last year?
• Young Riders?
• Attila Valter (21)
• National Championships Hungary (ITT): 1st; Tour de Hongrie: 3rd GC; Belgrade Banjaluka: 3rd GC; Istarsko Proljece - Istrian Spring Trophy: 2nd GC; Baltyk - Karkonosze Tour: 2nd GC
• Szymon Sajnok (22)
• La Vuelta ciclista a Espana: Stage 21: 3rd, Stage 14: 10th, Stage 6: 6th, Stage 3: 9th; Bredene Koksijde Classic: 4th; Danilith Nokere Koerse: 11th
• Better or Worse than 2019?

Next Week Preview:

Team Primer: Cofidis, Solutions Credits

Strava...Stats of the Week

Ride of the Week

Possible WT Calendar Leak

Team Primer: NTT Pro Cycling

Social Media:

https://www.instagram.com/postridecafe/

https://twitter.com/PostRideCafe

Strava:

Aaron - https://www.strava.com/athletes/777347

Sam - https://www.strava.com/athletes/150453

Strava…..Stats of the week!

Sam: 65 Miles, 2900 Ft

Aaron: 188 Miles, 5400 Ft

Ride of the Week:

Sam - Climbs, no KoMs

Aaron -

Pro Cycling News:

Cycling News: Robert Gesink: The five races that changed my life

• Dont want to go too deep here but just mention Gesink comes across as really likeable and human. Excellent spotlight for him. One thing this lack of racing has done is bring some more spotlight on riders big and small.

Leaked World Tour Calendar

Possible overlap of Giro final week and opening Vuelta week

Some Classics (Liege, Amstel, Flanders during Giro) Paris-Roubaix during Vuelta.

TdF mostly alone. Only Tirreno is during. Id rather have a trident!

Topic of the Week:

NTT Pro Cycling

• 2019 Stats
• PCS Rank 24th (2865 pts), Down 3 from 2018
• 7 Victories: 1 WT, (E Boasson Hagen, Criterium du Dauphine)
• 2018 Comparison: 7 Victories: 2 WT, 2 GT Stages
• Team Identity: Slip through the cracks, Stages
• Key Signings: V Campenaerts, D Pozzovivo
• Key Losses: M Cavendish, B Eisel, L Bak, M Renshaw, S Cummings, J Vermote
• Key Riders: V Campenaerts, E Boasson Hagen, R Kreuziger, L Meintjes, M Valgren
• Personal Opinion of the Team
• Main Topics:
• Bjarne Riis joins the team as part owner and Team Manager
• Now that Cavendish isnt warping the team, will they flourish?
• Can Boasson Hagen get that elusive Tour sprint victory again?
• What will Campenaerts get out of this team? Is he just a TT Rider?
• Can Meintjes live up to the hype?
• Young Riders?
• Samuele Battistella (21)
• U23 World Championships: 1st RR; Tour de Limpopo (2.2): 1st; Giro del Belvedere (1.2U): 1st
• Andreas Stokbro (22)
• U23 Ronde Van Vlaanderen: 1st
• Better or Worse than 2019?

Sam - 3 WT wins

Aaron - 4 WT wins

Race Coverage:

Takeaways - 

Next Week Preview:

Team Primer: CCC Team

Social Media:

https://www.instagram.com/postridecafe/

https://twitter.com/PostRideCafe

Strava:

Aaron - https://www.strava.com/athletes/777347

Sam - https://www.strava.com/athletes/150453

Strava…..Stats of the week!

Sam: 76 Miles. 3400 Ft 

Aaron: 134 Miles, 4200 Ft

Ride of the Week:

Sam - Silent Sunday + Friends - 29 Miles 2646 ft

Aaron - Flagstaff Gravel - 20 Miles 1500 ft

Pro Cycling News:

Digital Swiss 5: How does Rouvy compare to Bkool?

Deuceunick extends sponsorship

Italy allowing riding starting May 4th

Topic of the Week: Recovery and Training Conclusions

Let’s sum up the last couple weeks on training/recovery and our takeaways. I think the first major thing to remember is any plan can always be adjusted based on your goals, ability and amount of time you have. For myself adding the extra day of a Z1 spin turned out to be just too much, I really need those 2 rest days per week. Within the last 3 weeks I’ve done my usual 5 days, a 6 day and back to 5 day and noticed significantly less fatigue in the 5 day weeks. Possibly my body can get used to 6 days but riding nearly 200 miles weekly at 5 days and not being an amateur or professional racer I don’t find it necessary. 

With that said here are a couple other things I wanted to touch on. Training by cadence is the first. This can be used as a recovery, as a normal ride activity or interval training. The major purpose of this is relying more on your cardio and putting less stress on your legs. The idea behind this is if you start going out for long rides or are putting multiple days of training or racing in a row you’ll want to limit the fatigue in your legs.

High-Cadence Recovery

As with a standard recovery workout, high cadence recovery will help you recuperate from hard workouts and provide you with active rest. In addition, it will enhance your ability to pedal at higher cadences.

Total Workout Time: 30 to 60 minutes

Warm-up: None, the entire ride is done at an easy pace except for the high cadence spin-ups.

Terrain: As flat as possible.

Gearing: An easy gear that can be pedaled at 90-95 rpm in Zone 1.

Training Zone: 1 – 65-75% of Lactate Threshold Heart Rate (LTHR) or <55% of Functional Threshold Power (FTP).

RPM: 90-95 with 105-120 rpm for the high cadence spin-ups.

Cool Down: None. The effort should not be hard enough to require a cool-down.

High-Cadence Spinning

Total Workout Time: 60 to 120 minutes

Warm-up: 15 minutes

Terrain: Relatively flat with a few rolling hills.

Gearing: Use a gear that allows you to train in Zone 2 at a cadence of 90 to 95 rpm.

Training Zone: 2 – 75-85% of LTHR or 56-75% of FTP.

RPM: 90 to 95 with 110 to 125 rpm for the high cadence spin-ups.

Cool Down: 10 minutes

Cadence Intervals

Total Workout Time: 75-90 minutes

Warm-up: 20 minutes

Terrain: Relatively flat, low traffic road.

Gearing: A gear that allows you to maintain a cadence of 100-110 rpm during the intervals.

The Workout: 3 x 10 min with 5 min recovery between hard efforts.

Training Zone: 3 (85-98% of LTHR or 76-90% of FTP)

RPM: 100-110 during intervals; 90 during recovery

Cool Down: 10 minutes

https://www.trainingpeaks.com/blog/3-high-cadence-cycling-workouts-base-training/

Elevate Browser Plugin: 

One more quick thing I’d like to add is a program I enjoy using myself for training called Elevate, which is a Strava plugin for your internet browser. It’s free, loaded with data and they are currently in the process of making it a standalone app. What does it do? You can plug in your HR zones, height, weight etc and It will compile all of your Strava activities to show things like your current fatigue level, your form, fitness level. You do really need to use a HR monitor to get the most out of it but either way you get really great looking visual data if you’re into that kind of thing. I’d recommend going to the link below to get an idea of what it can do. 

https://thomaschampagne.github.io/elevate/#/landing 

Race Coverage:

Takeaways - 

Next Week Preview:

Surprise Quiz Show 1

Social Media:

https://www.instagram.com/postridecafe/

https://twitter.com/PostRideCafe

Strava:

Aaron - https://www.strava.com/athletes/777347

Sam - https://www.strava.com/athletes/150453

Strava…..Stats of the week!

Sam - 48 Miles, 1800 Ft

Aaron - 180 Miles, 7600 Ft

Ride of the Week:

Sam -  Almost Quit - Castle 4

Aaron - Silent Sundy SoMo

Pro Cycling News: 

• TDF Reschedule August  29 - September 20, no change to WC and other 2 GT’s supposed to be raced after along with the Classics
• TdF 2009 Drama Rehash - Contador goes on a podcast and talks about riding with Lance in the tour. Was one of the first races I ever watched and I didn't really understand how much of a shitshow it really was.

Topic of the Week: Training 

I think a proper follow up to recovery is training because they go hand in hand. Not properly hydrating early in the week or a race will be felt in the days to come and the same goes with overexertion. I’m getting more serious in this area and have been mixing in proper flat/climbing intervals along with varied intensity/distance. The TrainRight articles below do a much better job of getting in depth explanations for the training plans and variety of efforts; I will say my 5 day wasn’t far off from theirs. 

Aaron: Typically I ride 5 days a week that usually looks like this:

Monday - Off/Light Recovery, Stretching, Yoga

Tuesday - Climbing, hill repeats or whatever I can find - Strength Training 

Wednesday -  Medium/Long Ride, not full effort

Thursday - Longer Ride at a good effort 

Friday - Off/Light Recovery, Stretching, Yoga

Saturday - Medium/Long Ride, not full effort

Sunday - High Intensity, usually a group ride or climbing day

Sam: I tried to ride 2-3 days a week. Typically one hard week on the weekend. My weekday rides are usually built around zone 2, intervals, or mountain climbing.

https://trainright.com/short-intervals-improve-performance/

30:15 intervals (3 sets of 13 x 30 second max RPE efforts with 15 seconds recovery between efforts and 3 minutes between sets) yielded greater real-world performance improvements than 5-minute intervals (4 x 5-minutes at max RPE with 2.5 minutes of recovery between efforts)

= Increase of 5% power

https://trainright.com/cycling-training-plan-by-week/

Tips for  Non-Standard Weeks and to Maximize Limited Training Time:

1. Schedule the highest-priority workouts directly after a rest day. Note, I didn’t automatically say “the hardest”. Typically this applies to the highest-intensity interval workouts in the week, but if you are not doing hard intervals it can also apply to the longest moderate-intensity endurance days.
2. Create blocks that start with the highest intensity first. If you have a three-day or two-day block in the week, schedule high-intensity workouts on the first day of the block so you (See #1), and then step down so the “easiest” workout is on the last day of the block.
3. Consistency is crucial, but so are big days. Six one-hour rides per week is consistent, but it’s hard to make substantial progress because you can only generate so much training stress in 60 minutes. Rearranging that time to three two-hour rides or one three hour ride and three one-hour rides all still add up to 6 hours/week, but concentrating workload can be an effective way to amplify the effect on your fitness.
4. Progress to more advanced block training. Speaking of amplification, there are benefits for some athletes to schedule hard workouts on back-to-back days. And some athletes may need to train four days in a row because of their personal and professional schedules. You’re concentrating workload and amplifying the stimulus, you just have to be mindful of scheduling adequate recovery after or between blocks.

Race Coverage:

N/A

Takeaways - 

Next Week Preview:

World Tour Team breakdowns?

Recovery and 2002 Paris Roubaix Re-watch 

Social Media:

https://www.instagram.com/postridecafe/

https://twitter.com/PostRideCafe

Strava:

Aaron - https://www.strava.com/athletes/777347

Sam - https://www.strava.com/athletes/150453

Sam's Ep013 Correction: Morkov was never on Sunweb. I think him being in the national championship jersey looks so close to the Sunweb jersey I got confused. He was on Saxo-Bank which makes sense now.

Strava…..Stats of the week!

Aaron - 194.4mi  6,195ft

Sam - 99.1mi 3,812ft

Ride of the Week:

Sam - 62.74 mi 3,081 ft

Aaron - Fountain Hills Metric - 62.72 mi  2,944 ft

Pro Cycling News:

Topic of the Week: Recovery

https://health.clevelandclinic.org/7-best-tips-to-help-you-recover-after-a-cycling-race/

https://fascatcoaching.com/tips/recovery/

https://www.bicyclestore.com.au/blog/how-does-lactic-acid-affect-your-cycling-effort/

Stretches with yoga strap - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHFu_Thx0MQ 

1. Cool Down Spin - Started doing this more often. I like to stop the Strava the last mile and spin out my legs after a ride. This helps get fresh blood in and metabolic waste out. You also want to continue to move once you are off the bike to avoid your muscles from tightening up.
2. Nutrition, Hydration and Protein - We like to call it “recovery water” which is a magnesium water mix which can be made very cheaply. That helps with the lactic acid and your sleep. Along with that typically will have a protein shake, carbs and usually a meal high in protein/vegetables.
3. 'Recovery Water' Recipe: 2L Bottle (Chilled) of Seltzer Water or Club Soda and 90mL of Milk of Magnesia. Slowly remove the 2L bottle out of refrigerator and open the lide. Pour Milk of Magnesia into the bottle and replace cap. Shake. Let sit for 5-10 minutes and then reshake. Should see the bottle "suck in" a little. Should have little to no milky residue at the bottom of bottle when settled.
4. Massage, Rollout, Stretch - A massage would be nice but we aren’t pros. So a combination of a foam roller, massage balls to pinpoint tight spots and a yoga strap are good tools to stretch.
5. Rest - I’m not a great nap taker but this is always a good idea, barring that a full night's sleep to aid in recovery.
6. Recovery Ride - Maybe the hardest for me personally just because it is hard to not push myself. Ideally an hour or so ride in Z1 or Z2 just to keep the legs moving.

Race Coverage:

In honor of potential rain, rewatch of 2002 Paris Roubaix (100th edition)

Matt White interview pre-race looks and sounds exactly the same, never knew he was on usps. Group of 30+ goes clear at the start of the race. Nobody expected Boonen to last, pressure on Hincapie. Boonen burying himself for Hincapie chasing down Museeuw, cool to see looking back at the changing of the guard in action; Boonen 21 and Museeuw 36. 

Takeaways - Hard to say you should support someone in their 1st year as a team leader but Boonen may have won without having to do so much work on his own. Museeuw had mentioned this being his last year but ended up riding 2 more and named Boonen his successor. Boonen also made the smart move to leave USPS after this year and join Quickstep who could give him support in the classics. 

Next Week Preview: ???

Social Media:

https://www.instagram.com/postridecafe/

https://twitter.com/PostRideCafe

Strava:

Aaron - https://www.strava.com/athletes/777347

Sam - https://www.strava.com/athletes/150453

Strava…..Stats of the week!

Sam - 97 miles 3,970 ft

Aaron - 163 5,243 ft

Ride of the Week:

Sam - “Bartlett Lake Metric” 62.77 2,169 ft

Aaron - “Classics style wind - It pays to have a good domestique” 64 miles 2,172 ft

Pro Cycling News:

Domestique week

Mikel Nieve voted by cycling news readers top domestique and riders vote Tim Declercq - Interesting that while both deserve it they are different styles of riders. Nieve a climber and Declercq who specializes in long pulls on the flats

What is a domestique? What attributes do they have? Where do we or the listeners fall into the domestique category? 

Netflix: Movistar The Unexpected Day. Final Thoughts

Race Coverage:

GVA Wins VIrtual Ronde Van Vlaanderen 

• Ridden on the BKool platform with 14 riders including evenepoel, matthews, stuyven, wva, gva, de gendt, naesen. GVA admitted it wasn’t the real thing but a nice bit of entertainment and training. The initial stream I was watching was pretty unwatchable but I have to say I did enjoy the coverage and commentary on the incycle stream so shoutout to them. Sidenote Matthews has a mechanical during the virtual race saying his gears got stuck and was forced to stop. 

Takeaways -  Kind of a mixed bag. Leading up to the race to the race De Gendt joked that hopefully the BKool system could handle his power after being pulled from a zwift race after putting out “more than realistic power” on one of their races. I personally think it shows the difference between real racing by pros and virtual racing in its current form. It will be interesting to see if the Rouvy system builds on the two during their virtual tour de suisse. The realistic mapping overlays seems like a big bonus for creating a more all encompassing experience.

Next Week Preview:

Aaron: “We have to cover recovery”

Social Media:

https://www.instagram.com/postridecafe/

https://twitter.com/PostRideCafe

Strava:

Aaron - https://www.strava.com/athletes/777347

Sam - https://www.strava.com/athletes/150453

Strava…..Stats of the week!

Sam - 79 mi, 5377 climbing feet

Aaron - 187 mi, 7234 climbing feet

Ride of the Week:

Sam -  “Castle 4 z2” 35 mi, 1500 ft

Aaron - “PV Climbing”

Pro Cycling News:

Tour de France decision set for May 12th

Velon teams create digital eSport race series

April 22-26th, 5 hr, 3 man teams, ‘Digital Swiss 5’, All Velon teams plus every team invited that was due to attend real races. Some Cameras on riders faces.

Inside the Movistar Team 2019

https://www.netflix.com/title/81130094

Eat. Race. Win.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7985540/

Race Coverage:

Topic of the Week: How to pace a climb, pace yourself

How to pace a climb:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_aRlu64SEfw

To me it comes down to the length of the climb and how you are going to ride it: out of the saddle, seated, high cadence/low. There could be different reasons for each depending on what you are trying to accomplish and your abilities. If it’s very steep I try to stay seated and pace myself unless it’s short then I think faster is the way to go. Likely that will involve getting out of the saddle which will take more energy so not something you want to do very long...unless your contador. 

We kind of got into a higher cadence style of climbing a few years back and it has been beneficial. It really started from z2 training to help build a base where you can gradually up your avg speed while keeping a lower heart rate as you progress in your training. Applying that to climbing lets you use less power to go the same speed which results ideally in lower energy being spent and therefore lasting longer. 

https://trainright.com/climb-hills-faster-3-workouts/

The next article breaks down some training for the 3 types they break down: rolling hills, long climbs and the wall.

Rolling Hills:

Momentum and shifting are the keys to thriving in rolling hills. Pedal moderately on the downhill to gain speed and shift gears as you go up the next roller to keep your feet moving at least 80 rpm. Try to resist the temptation to ride the whole hill in the big gear you are in at the base; that’ll work on the first few hills but not all day long.

Long Climbs:

Start a long climb at a conservative pace so you have energy for the steep sections and energy for the last few kilometers. In reality you’re not likely to actually speed up toward the top; you’ll just slow down less. The end result, however, is that you’re likely to complete the entire climb at a faster overall pace (lower elapsed time) because slowing at the top is where athletes lose a ton of time.

The Wall: 

Because of the grade and the resistance your cadence is going to fall, probably below 70rpm. But you have to achieve a balance between over-gearing (which drives your cadence even lower and causes you to bog down) and spinning (which will cause you to lose momentum). These hills are a good opportunity to use your body weight by climbing out of the saddle, especially since they tend to be short enough that you can reach the top before fatiguing.

Next Week Preview:

How to recover from all this climbing

First week without racing, core workouts and importance for cycling.

Social Media:

https://www.instagram.com/postridecafe/

https://twitter.com/PostRideCafe

Strava:

Aaron - https://www.strava.com/athletes/777347

Sam - https://www.strava.com/athletes/150453

Strava…..Stats of the week!

Sam - 46.8mi, 951 climbing ft

Aaron - 102.5 mi, 2953 climbing feet

Ride of the Week:

Sam -  “Sunday Chill Ride” 36 mi, 741 ft

Aaron - “Going Up” 32 mi, 1545 

Topic of the Week:

How are teams and riders coping with Covid-19:

• Thomas de Gendt Tour de Quarantine video
• Oliver Naesen does 365km ride.

How have we been coping with Covid-19?

Core Strength and why it matters

• If you want to extend your distance, you need to increase your core strength
• Fatigue leads to sloppy form and more pressure on the saddle; formation of saddle sores.
• Translate power on climbs.

https://cyklopedia.cc/cycling-tips/core-exercises-for-cyclists/

Good article on explaining core importance and not having a 6 pack doesn’t necessarily translate into not having a strong cycling core. The main function related to cycling is to stabilize and transfer power to your lower/upper body. I find this particularly important in climbing so you are not rocking all over the bike and therefore using less energy; keeping proper form leads to better results.

Some exercises I personally like are similar to the mountain climber and bird dog in the above article where you can start from a plank and bring your knee to your chest or outside elbow if you are in more of a down dog position. Another is a simple leg lift and lower. Slow pace is the key to the exercises and you will really feel the difference. 

People to follow for inspiration: 

https://www.instagram.com/kateplusfate 

https://www.youtube.com/user/yogawithadriene

Next Week Preview:

More cycling workouts and hopefully some inspirational riding while we can!

Classics style racing and super-teams meet for Paris Nice. 

Social Media:

https://www.instagram.com/postridecafe/

https://twitter.com/PostRideCafe

Strava:

Aaron - https://www.strava.com/athletes/777347

Sam - https://www.strava.com/athletes/150453

Strava…..Stats of the week!

Sam - 43 miles, 1000ft

Aaron - 180 miles, 4900ft

Ride of the Week:

Sam - Sunday neighborhood add on ride 43 miles, 1000ft

Aaron - Monday prepping for rain 65 miles, 2200ft

Pro Cycling News:

Race Coverage:

Paris Nice

Stage 1 - Echelons create a split in the race including 5 Sunweb riders doing no work. Barguil spends a massive amount of time coming back to the race behind the team car and seems to be calling it a day but continues behind the car (later disqualified). Benoot and Alaphillipe initiate proceedings with 30km to go and the peloton finally wakes up to bring the gap down going into the final climb. Tuens and Schachmann go in pursuit of the two leaders which brings the group of 4 together. Schachmann closes down the gap to Alaphilippe and Benoot and eventually takes the stage win.

Stage 2 - Sagan leads out Schachmann for 3 sec time bonus. Echelons split the peloton around 30k and shortly after a crash by Nairo and flat by Alaphilippe. 2 main groups form with Schachmann, Nibali and Higuita in the front group. Around 10k Sagan hits the front and further splits the group. Sunweb tactics? They had 4 in the front group and sent back 3 to help Benoot. Sagan does the lead but but Nizzolo comes around Ackerman for the win

Stage 3 - Headwinds. A few minor crashes but action starts around 12k where teams look to split and make the race harder. Crash at 6k and Alaphilippe goes to the front to make it harder. Crash in the final 500 taking out Ewan and Bennett by Hofstetter. Sagan in perfect p2 but couldn’t make an attempt to come around Cortina who wins. Sagan I will say looking stronger these last few days and doing a good amount of work.

Stage 4 - TT. Impressive win by Kragh Andersen. Biggest takeaways though are Schacmann a close 5 seconds in 2nd and how much time he’s put into his rivals; looking like the start of a great stage racer. That and Higuita only conceding 46 seconds putting him better than the main GC riders (Nibali, Pinot, Nairo, showing he can do a decent TT despite his size and knowing he can climb. Disappointing for Alaphilippe at 36 seconds back coming in as a favorite for the stage. Not bad for Porte at 34”. 

Stage 5 - Breakaway can they stay away? Tejay goes home for fear of flights to the US being cancelled. Tratnik from the break takes them to the line...almost. He’s caught within the last 100 by the bunch and Bonifazio takes the sprint.

Stage 6 - Kragh Anderson in the lead group and appeared to be going for yellow. Peloton reels it back near the end of the 2nd to last climb. Benoot and Nibali attack the peloton but Benoot is too strong and drops Nibali. Benoot catches up with Anderson who gives him one token pull and he goes solo. Peloton behind is not really working together. Splits happen and as they come back together no one really wants to do any work. In the end Benoot takes a solo win and the main competitors come in together with very little time gaps. Higuita secures a podium spot overtaking Andersons slot.

Stage 7 - The queen stage. This came down to the final climb as expected but at least in recent years an unexpected attacker, Nairo makes a move around 3.5k that is never brought back. Benoot makes the next decisive attack just over 1k to go and ends up gaining 12 seconds on Schacmann who does everything he can to hold on to the overall. Good to see Benoot and Schacmann clearly going deep as 2 riders that aren’t 100% known as stage or gc riders.

Takeaways - 

What a difference a lack of the classics make; stacked teams and classic style racing tactics; really fun race to watch. Nairo being back is no longer a rumor, good for him. Schacmann I think is turning into a great stage racer along with his ardennes skills; would be ideal I think to stay in those style races. Higuita looks like a future GC star.

Next Week Preview:

Hopefully a better outlook to the remainder of the race calendar but likely the end of racing for a while. Looking to bring more personal insights and ride coverage of our own training.

How do you transition out of your cycling comfort zone? Coronavirus cancellations, Le Samyn recap Paris Nice Preview

Social Media:

https://www.instagram.com/postridecafe/

https://twitter.com/PostRideCafe

Strava:

Aaron - https://www.strava.com/athletes/777347

Sam - https://www.strava.com/athletes/150453

Strava…..Stats of the week!

Sam - 74.5 Miles. 2175 Ft

Aaron - 186.3 Miles. 5981 Ft

Ride of the Week:

Sam: https://www.strava.com/activities/3166619175

Aaron: https://www.strava.com/routes/24222283

Training: How do you transition out of your cycling comfort zone #justdoit

Pro Cycling News:

Velon suspends Hammer Series

Race Coverage:

Le Samyn Women’s

At 20k Chantal Blaak was solo (60k solo of the 90k course) with a 2 minute advantage over the peloton and a minute over the chasing group. Chase group of 5 attacks each other in last 2k but unable to drop any riders, sprint for the finish 

Le Samyn Men’s

DQS is looking for a 3rd win in a row at this race. Rain starts coming down during the Men’s race. Flat for Coquard and Terpstra but got back into the group. Group splits in half around 38k, Ballerini goes off solo. 4 man group breaks 30k , comes back together. Attack at 22k. 1st that looks like it may stick is an 11k group of maybe 14 riders. Reduced bunch comes in and Hugo Hoffstter takes the sprint win.

Takeaways - Nizzolo is there in the group but just didn’t have it in the end, has looked strong all season though. Surprising non-win from DQS, did a lot of work and had a strong team. Israel startup looking good as a new team, 3 wins so far

Next Week Preview:

Paris-Nice: Mostly Sprints. Two possible breakaway days. 1 Climb Day. lots of big names due to cancellations

UAE Tour Recap. Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne Recap, Corona Virus

Social Media:

https://www.instagram.com/postridecafe/

https://twitter.com/PostRideCafe

Strava:

Aaron - https://www.strava.com/athletes/777347

Sam - https://www.strava.com/athletes/150453

Strava…..Stats of the week!

Sam: 35 Miles, 1100 Ft

Aaron: 202 Miles, 6800 Ft

Ride of the Week:

Sam: Discovering a new area for some climbing.

Aaron: WVC 

Pro Cycling News:

Corona - Last stages of UAE cancelled and riders quarantined. Most teams cleared to leave but UAE decided to stay for further testing. It all seems pretty odd but clearly just speculation since nobody knows what is going on. Bigger story is what is going to happen to Strade Bianchi and upcoming Italian races. I’ve heard at least Strade is to be decided tomorrow.

Race Coverage:

UAE Tour

Stage 1 - Ackermann beats Ewan Groenewegen and Barbier

Stage 2 - Ewan wins on hatta dam, beats bennett who goes a bit early

Stage 3 - Yates pulls away early and gains time on pogcar. Gadeau looks good, super hot out (man they love to talk up a brit)

Stage 4 - Windy, commentators talking about Cavendish with a chance, seriously? Chaotic final turn with strong showing by gavira and ackermann but groenewegen winning (Cavendish 21st)

Stage 5 - Repeat of stage 3, literally, they do the same climb. Froome on bottle duty. Pogacar attacks and attacks but can’t drop Yates. They come in as a 3 up sprint with Lutsenko who goes to celebrate just as Pogacar gets him on the line.

Takeaways - Campenarts in breaks, riding with the climbers, must be putting in some serious base training (changing his physique?) 

Omloop

Wout a late add to the lineup who beat Froome’s strava KOM in Tenerife - showing some form

A lot of wind, set the tone for the race. Winning group slips away with 70km to go and end up pulling out almost 2 minutes. Basically boring from that point until the Muur van Geraardsbergen. Jasper Stuyven and Yves Lampaert pull away from the breakaway group. Soren Kragh Anderson manages to keep up and caught them on the small descent.

KBK

Front break goes early with a significant gap 5+ minutes around kilometer 70 there was a crash holding up quite a few riders and an unknown ineos (later found out to be moscon) throws another rider's bike out of his way. This created momentary splits but nothing significant. The race really got away without the peloton knowing when Kasper Asgreen joined the front breakaway riders eventually dropping them and holding off the peloton that finished just 3 seconds later with Nizzolo and Kristoff coming in 2nd and 3rd. 

Next Week Preview:

Strade Bianche

Favorites - Sagan, SEP, WVA, Benoot, Bling, Gilbert, Dege, Nibali, Brambilla, Fulgsang, GVA, Costa, Stybar

Ruta Del Sol, Volta a Algarve, Tour Alps, Omloop Preview (Classics opening weekend)

Social Media:

https://www.instagram.com/postridecafe/

https://twitter.com/PostRideCafe

Strava:

Aaron - https://www.strava.com/athletes/777347

Sam - https://www.strava.com/athletes/150453

Strava…..Stats of the week!

Sam - 0 miles

Aaron - 145 miles 7,129 ft

Ride of the Week: 

Aaron - Silent Sunday, somo PR 45 miles 4,595 ft

Pro Cycling News:

Race Coverage:

Ruta Del Sol

Stage 1 - Fulgsang and Landa go solo - Strade style uphill finish through the city - Winner Fulgsang

Stage 2 - Fast descent 90+ kph leads over a bridge into an uphill finish - Caja Rujal rider goes in the last 750m and holds off the bunch (local knowledge) - Winner Gonzalo Serrano

Stage 3 - Late catch of the break in last 3 km - leaders start to make moves (tuens, landa, fulgsang, haig, izaguirre) Tight corners through city and tuens takes haig into the corner. Mcnulty comes up strong with 3rd behind Fulgsang and Bilbao - Winner Fulgsang

Stage 4 - Haig, Fulgsang, Landa and McNulty strongest of the race go off together. McNulty dropped (too aggressive). Winner - Haig wins 3 up sprint

Stage 5 - Tuens wins the TT just ahead of Fulgsang, Landa shits the bed (fuglsang, haig, landa overall)

Takeaways - Fulgsang is on fire, see if he can hold that over the season. Landa needs to work on his TT but still looks strong, Haig turning into a good stage racer and McNulty steadily improving

Volta Algarve

Stage 1 - Wellens tries to go, MVDP working for teammates - Winner - Jakobsen the strongest 

Stage 2 - Steady climb to the finish and in the last 750m evenepoel rockets away, schachman looking strong but waited just too long to close and barely misses the sprint. 3rd place D martin (such a terrible suffer face) - Winner Evenepoel

Stage 3 - Sprint stage - Winner - Cees Bol goes long and other sprinters can’t out power him

Stage 4 - Steep finish - Joao almeda working well for evenepoel (mtn domestique on a classics team) and schachman also strong. Ineos riders look terrible, thomas dropped early. Superman Lopez breaks in the last 500m and holds off the rest - Winner MAL

Stage 5 - Evenepoel beats Dennis, solid TT from MAL (3rd overall) and same time for Schacmann who moves to 2nd overall - WInner Evenepoel

Takeaways - Evenepoel has won both stage races he’s ridden this year and crushed both TT’s. Schacmann looks great for ardennes style races, MAL looking good and must have worked on his TT, terrible TT for D Martin (no changes) and Ineos look bad in general

Tour Alps 

Quintana takes stage stage win and overall, quietly showing renewed form. Early smaller race but included Pinot, Bardet, and Porte 

Next Week Preview:

Omloop Preview 

Favorites - MVDP, Stybar (anyone from DQT), Pedersen, GVA, Tuens, Kristoff

Wildcards - Bauhaus, Colbrelli, Kung, Boasson Hagen, Benoot, Terpstra, Naesen

Fulgsang and Race Recaps from Saudi Tour, Jayco, Langkawi and Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana

Social Media:

https://www.instagram.com/postridecafe/

https://twitter.com/PostRideCafe

Strava:

Aaron - https://www.strava.com/athletes/777347

Sam - https://www.strava.com/athletes/150453

Strava…..Stats of the week!

Sam - 42 Miles, 900 ft

Aaron - 212 Miles, 4500 ft

Pro Cycling News:

Ferrari News, Fuglsang, Astana etc

-Plus this story: Spanish civil Guard dismantles massive EPO trafficking network

Velonews Interview with Brandon McNulty

Race Coverage:

Saudi Tour

Stage 1: Rui Costa wins on uphill finish. Some drama after

Stage 2: Bonifazio takes the sprint

Stage 3: McLaren delivers a great lead out but Cavendish fades, Bauhaus cleans up Cavendish’s mess

Stage 4: Bouhani

Stage 5: Bauhaus takes final sprint and overall Victory

Jayco Sun Tour

Stage 1: Dainaise

Stage 2: Hindley wins first mtn test.

Stage 3: Groves wins

Stage 4: Hindley wins again (mtn)

Stage 5: Groves wins (sprint)

Tour de Langkawi

Stage 1: Fedorov takes stage 1

Stage 2: Taj Jones wins

Stage 3: Max Walscheid wins for NTT

Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana

Stage 1: Groenewegen

Stage 2: Pogacar beats Valverde

Stage 3: Groenewegen wins again

Stage 4: Pogacar wins again, beats Poels

Stage 5: Jakobsen scores another for Deceuninck-Quickstep (Degenkolb nabs 3rd.)

Ketones, Kiryienka and Race Recaps from Cadel Evans GORR, Vuelta a San Juan and CX WC

Social Media:

https://www.instagram.com/postridecafe/

https://twitter.com/PostRideCafe

Strava:

Aaron - https://www.strava.com/athletes/777347

Sam - https://www.strava.com/athletes/150453

Strava…..Stats of the week!

Sam - 37mi, 917ft

Aaron - 161mi, 5400ft

Ride of the Week:

Sam - Shadetree Bike Shop Group Ride

Aaron - Shadetree Bike Shop Group Ride

Pro Cycling News:

Tour of Oman back on?

Possibility to be rescheduled in early March

Kiryienka Retires due to recurring ‘cardiac issues’

Dutch Anti-Doping Authority ‘uncomfortable’ with Jumbo-Visma’s use of Ketones

Race Coverage:

Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race

Quickstep try it again. Devenyns pulls off the surprise

Vuelta a San Juan

Stage 3: Evenepoel dominates the ITT, McNulty strong 5th

Stage 4: Gaviria takes another sprint finish

Stage 5: Miguel Florez wins on Alto Colorado, Evenepoel manages potential disaster and shows his ongoing development

Stage 6: Stybar shocks the peloton

Stage 7: Gaviria mops up the competition

Cyclo-Cross Worlds

Van Der Poel dominates but Pidcock put in a great fight for 2nd

Gravel talk, Tour Down Under, Vuelta a San Juan

Social Media:

https://www.instagram.com/postridecafe/

https://twitter.com/PostRideCafe

Strava:

Aaron - https://www.strava.com/athletes/777347

Sam - https://www.strava.com/athletes/150453

Strava…..Stats of the week!

Sam - 97.8 Miles, 5774 Ft

Aaron - 189 Miles, 6713 Ft

Ride of the Week:

Sam -  Saturdays Sonoran Ride, 40 Miles, 20mi/h Avg, Sunday SoMo: Took another minute off my time, 30:55 Inching closer to my goal of beating my PR 28:01

Aaron -  Monday Holiday 71 miles some castle climb and curry down to tempe

Pro Cycling News:

Tour of Oman Cancelled

UCI Gravel Worlds - Riders say they already have a gravel worlds, lachlan - dirty kanza and gravel race in lincoln 

Changes to Tour Down Under

Race Coverage:

Tour Down Under

Stage 1: Bennett scores one for the Wolfpack

Stage 2: Ewan Wins

Stage 3: Porte delivers on Torrens Hill Rd

Stage 4: Ewan Wins again

Stage 5: Nizzolo takes the sprint. Bennett 3rd. Ewan...in the dust

Stage 6: Homes beats Porte on Willunga, Porte takes overall

Vuelta a San Juan

Stage 1: Rudy Barbier takes hectic sprint. Crash at 3.4km caused by spectators

Stage 2: Gaviria Wins

Tour Down under preview and Women's recap, weekly news and Vuelta a San Juan preview

Social Media:

https://www.instagram.com/postridecafe/

https://twitter.com/PostRideCafe

Strava:

Aaron - https://www.strava.com/athletes/777347

Sam - https://www.strava.com/athletes/150453

Strava…..Stats of the week!

Sam -  70 Miles, 1800’ Elevation

Aaron - 112 Miles, 2500’ Elevation Bike, 1200’ Elevation Hike

Ride of the Week:

Sam - Heber Muddin’ Ride

Aaron -  Heber Muddin’ Ride

Pro Cycling News:

Colin Strickland declines offer from EF Education

Vegni warns Italian PCT teams to improve or risk missing wildcard invites

Team Ineos announces Riders Calendars, Carapaz to defend Giro, Bernal & Thomas to the Tour, Froome still in recovery

Race Coverage:

Women’s Tour Down Under 

Ruth Winder wins Women's Tour Down Under

Who’s there to win it?

•  Impey, Porte, then Bennett, Powless, McCarthy, Bardet, 

First chance for the sprinters

• Ewan, Bennett, Viviani, Greipel, Philipsen

Next Week Preview:

Mens Tour Down Under

Who’s there to win it? Impey, Porte, then Bennett, Powless, McCarthy, Bardet, 

First chance for the sprinters. Ewan, Bennett, Viviani, Greipel, Philipsen

Vuelta a San Juan 

Begins next Sunday

Off-Season News - NTT, Ineos, EF

Social Media:

https://www.instagram.com/postridecafe/

https://twitter.com/PostRideCafe

Strava:

Aaron - https://www.strava.com/athletes/777347

Sam - https://www.strava.com/athletes/150453

Strava…..Stats of the week!

Sam - 73.5 Miles, 1350 ft

Aaron - 127 Miles, 4047 ft

Ride of the Week:

Aaron - Bicycle Ranch No-Show

Pro Cycling News:

Bjarne Riis takes over Team Manager role of NTT along with 1/3rd Stake in Team

• Can Riis make GTs more interesting tactically?

Campenaerts outlook boosted with Riis as a manager?

Velonews Interview with Neilson Powless about transfer to EF Education

Rohan Dennis opens up about his mental health

Team Ineos going national. Rohan Dennis to lead TdU and All Columbian team for Tour De Columbia

Trouble on the horizon for Froome’s comeback?

The First! Get to know the hosts and the podcast

Social Media:

https://www.instagram.com/postridecafe/

https://twitter.com/PostRideCafe

Strava:

Aaron - https://www.strava.com/athletes/777347

Sam - https://www.strava.com/athletes/150453

A background of the hosts and their cycling journey, our interests in cycling and goals.