Road Cycling
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@Chris-B said in Road Cycling:
Tour Down Under on at present.
I think there's 12 New Zealanders riding in it, which is surely a record for a World Tour race - at least, I can't remember a number like that.
Which is weird because it isn't going anywhere near Coogee
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@Chris-B said in Road Cycling:
Tour Down Under on at present.
I think there's 12 New Zealanders riding in it, which is surely a record for a World Tour race - at least, I can't remember a number like that.
I see that Sam Gaze is riding in it.
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@Crucial Gaze did a really good time trial in the prologue (5th).
Corbin Strong, Michael Vink and Paddy Bevin were all in the top 20.
Strong has gone on with it and currently 5th in the GC - just 14 seconds behind Rohan Dennis. George next best at 38th (39 seconds down) - the others all have lost more than 2 minutes.
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Didn't watch today's stage, but Jay Vine wins the GC and is second behind Simon Yates on the stage.
Yesterday, a Frenchman called Bryan Coquard won the sprint (and did it well). His first ever win on the World Tour in 10 years of trying and couldn't have looked more thrilled.
George ends up 15th on the GC and would be quietly chuffed with that, I think. 7 seconds off 9th place and finished in the first pack on every stage (as well as shepherding Vine to the win). Not a race he would have peaked for and with a better prologue time trial could have been well inside the top 10.
Corbin Strong came 5th in yesterday's sprint - never close to heading Coquard, but showing a bit of promise to win stages sometime, somewhere.
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@Chris-B said in Road Cycling:
Yesterday, a Frenchman called Bryan Coquard won the sprint (and did it well). His first ever win on the World Tour in 10 years of trying and couldn't have looked more thrilled.
Jeepers. I would never have guessed he hadn't got a World Tour win, having seen him win quite a few times. Turns out that they were all Div 2 races.
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George Bennett – From 'as cracked as a man can get' to ready to roll with the punches
'I just want to get back to being good again' says New Zealand rider after hopeful start to 2023 following 'horrible' 2022
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@Chris-B said in Road Cycling:
@Crucial I see he came second to Aaron Gate in the ITT.
Got a bit closer than he should have because Gate's chain came off.
Going from online results I think he came 6th in the nationals in a sprint finish. Had to close a two minute breakaway up to be there.
Young Rueben Thompson (Groupama FDJ) won the U23. He seems to be a good young talent. He’s the rider I saw flying up the Coronet Peak Road a while back. -
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@Chris-B said in Road Cycling:
@Crucial Check out the video of the finish on Cycling NZ's Facebook page.
Some guy on the finish line videoing it on his phone and the ground announcer struggling to pick out the riders.
The comments are scathing!
just the usual cockwomblery from cnz.. have road nats with all our best riders on closed roads in the arse end of no where with zero cell coverage so no updates and no spectators.
way to grow the sport..
will be memorable as last ever nz champs won on rim brakes! -
@WillieTheWaiter said in Road Cycling:
@Chris-B said in Road Cycling:
@Crucial Check out the video of the finish on Cycling NZ's Facebook page.
Some guy on the finish line videoing it on his phone and the ground announcer struggling to pick out the riders.
The comments are scathing!
just the usual cockwomblery from cnz.. have road nats with all our best riders on closed roads in the arse end of no where with zero cell coverage so no updates and no spectators.
way to grow the sport..
will be memorable as last ever nz champs won on rim brakes!It's all quite bizzarre really. They made an effort a few years back around Cambridge with some stationary cams at good vantage points and a stream via the Sky Youtube channel but this year was almost done in secrecy.
I get that RR is an expensive coverage to do even half well but it is still piss poor. -
I see George is back doing what he does best, part of a near perfect team performance to set up Pog for stage and GC wins at Vuelta a Andalucia.
Hit the road straight after getting off the plane and has been strong on the hills.
I doubt we'll ever see stage or tour wins now from George. He is set to do this one job and he is very good at it (and gets paid handsomely for it).
Have to say that UAE are using him better than TJV did. TJV seemed to want him to get team position ranking alongside his main job while UAE seem happy for him to go hard setting Pog up then cruise to the finish with no expectation.
Anyway Pog wins the 5 day tour and George at 22nd
Sam Gaze was also riding this tour and came in 65th (46mins down).Meanwhile other teams targeted the Volta ao Algarve at the same time (probably due to the different race composition with an ITT to finish. Ineos were to the fore for this and Pidcock lost the lead losing a lot of time on the TT. Martinez took the GC win.
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@Crucial It will be interesting to see which Grand Tour(s) George rides this year. UAE has added Adam Yates and Jay Vine to their squad so they've got a shitload of firepower.
They seem to like the NZers though - with George, Finn Fisher-Black and now Michael Vink in the squad.
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@Chris-B said in Road Cycling:
@Crucial It will be interesting to see which Grand Tour(s) George rides this year. UAE has added Adam Yates and Jay Vine to their squad so they've got a shitload of firepower.
They seem to like the NZers though - with George, Finn Fisher-Black and now Michael Vink in the squad.
@Chris-B said in Road Cycling:
@Crucial It will be interesting to see which Grand Tour(s) George rides this year. UAE has added Adam Yates and Jay Vine to their squad so they've got a shitload of firepower.
They seem to like the NZers though - with George, Finn Fisher-Black and now Michael Vink in the squad.
Until he got Covid, George was doing a great job support Pog in TdF. As soon as he wasn't there Pog had no show. George is also an experienced TdF rider and knows the routines.
Previous years he has been given a chance at other Tours but I think he is well settled in as Pogs key climbing support rider now and that is where priority will go.
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@Crucial I think (hope) that might be the way they go as well. Though they're spoiled for choice with potential support riders.
Right now, I'd probably pick something close to Pog, with Yates as a back-up option, Majka, George, Soler, Vine, Trentin and another big munter or two.
Leave Almeida, Ayuso and others with the Giro - but, when you look at who's available even that will be a formidable team - Hirschi, McNulty, Ulissi, Covi, Polanc, Grosschartner, Formolo, Wellens...
