2022 season thread

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Unfortunately the 2022 season kicks off with some awful news about a serious crash for Egan Bernal. Currently in intensive care after hours of surgery, which sounds like it has been successful...but the injuries sound career altering at best.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/60113862

From an Ineos point of view, he was going to the Tour as their designated leader...now they'll probably have to shuffle some schedules around and maybe make Carapaz the leader for the Tour rather than the Giro?

[dummy_half]

Sounds like Bernal bashed himself up pretty badly - spinal surgery to stabilise a compression between vertebrae in his neck appears to have been successful in preventing damage to the spinal cord, so at least he's not paralysed. Fractured femur and knee cap plus some chest trauma. Sounds like it's bad but was inches away from being a lot worse.

[Azabache]

Oh dear-a nice start (not) to this year's thread.

When he won his first Tour many of us foresaw another long spell of dominance in the Grand Tours similar to Froome; back problems, Covid restrictions, then the emergence of those two Slovenians, checked that but he still put in some fair performances and, of course, won the Giro...some say "just".

I have some hope that he'll get over the injuries-after all he has access to the best treatment and support with Ineos-but that back concerns me.

There's no doubt that he's a tough nut (like Quintana); we can only hope for, and wish him, the best.

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

On a slightly lighter note - I don't profess to follow all cycling news all the time, but the team previews that the Lanterne Rouge Cycling Podcast have been doing for the 2022 season have been super useful for a casual fan like myself.

I'm sure many of you already know about it, but if not the link to the channel is here - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1sTqWskIXqSItyojGhXPyQ

[dummy_half]

Early success fot British cycling, with Tom Pidcock winning the world cyclocross title. Obviously made easier by the absence of Van Aert and van der Poel, but you can only beat what's in front of you, which he did very effectively.

[Azabache]

Paris-Nice is looking interesting after just 2 stages with Jumbo-Visma in awesome mode taking the first three places yesterday; and retaining these today after some classic, entertaining crosswind echelon panicking. Roglic seems near imperious yet again.

He's never been my favourite rider but I wish him well and hope this year that he avoids the bad luck of the two previous ones, particularly in the Tour....

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Caught some of Strade Bianche on Saturday, and Pogacar was in imperious form with a 50km solo victory. Helped no doubt by a horrendous crash in crosswinds for Alaphillipe, but still a great win for him…will he make a run at more spring classics? I think he is down to ride Flanders

[dummy_half]

For all Pogacar is ridiculous, Flanders is surely a race he can't win - riders need to be bigger and bulkier to be able to put the power down on the cobbles. Have to go back to 1994 and Gianni Bugno to find the last Grand Tour winner to win there, and Merckx for the last Tour champion to win Flanders.

Obviously, Lieige-Bastogne-Liege is well within Pogacar's scope. Wonder if he could challenge Allaphilipe at Fleche Wallonne

[Lowlandbrit]

For all Pogacar is ridiculous, Flanders is surely a race he can't win - riders need to be bigger and bulkier to be able to put the power down on the cobbles.

Lost out to van der Poel in the end (good to see him back looking fit), but probably looked the best rider there. Scary.

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Think if Pogacar was better positioned coming into the first Oude, he might've broken away from the group. He was going past people like it was a video game on that climb, but was attacking from quite far back going into the climb.

Great ride by MvDP - especially considering he only started racing again a few weeks ago. Fred Wright with a fantastic top 10 too.

A disaster classics season for Quickstep so far - going to need Alaphillipe to bag one of Liege/Amstel, or do better in Roubaix to salvage something from it

[dummy_half]

For all Pogacar is ridiculous, Flanders is surely a race he can't win - riders need to be bigger and bulkier to be able to put the power down on the cobbles. Have to go back to 1994 and Gianni Bugno to find the last Grand Tour winner to win there, and Merckx for the last Tour champion to win Flanders.

Obviously, Lieige-Bastogne-Liege is well within Pogacar's scope. Wonder if he could challenge Allaphilipe at Fleche Wallonne

Well, that very nearly didn't age well - one of the two best on the day, but just didn't have the faith in his sprint in the end to beat MvdP and ended up getting pipped for the podium by the two guys closing from behind.

Not sure better positioning earlier would have made that much difference - van der Poel was very strong and managed to close the gap down on the Paterberg after losing ground on a bike handling error, and he was the only guy in the same ball park for strength.

If Pogacar continues with this form and this racing programme (i.e. taking on the big one day races, several of the shorter stage races and the Tour), we might have to re-think the current cycling philosophy of the specialists. Hasn't been anyone since at least Hinault, and probably Merckx who could be a serious challenger across such a range of road races. When does he start adding in some MTB and cyclo-cross to challenge van Aert, van der Poel and Pidcock across all disciplines?

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

The Giro starts on Friday in Hungary - looking at the stage profiles, it appears to be a little bit of an easier edition than usual, not many big GC stages until the final week. As such, plenty of sprinters in the field with Ewan, Cavendish, Demare headlining amongst many others

[Azabache]

Good to see Tom Dumoulin back.

[mountain man]

Can I ask are there many cyclists on here, by that I mean regular keen average joes who like to ride for fun etc.

[Azabache]

I've done 15 Etape du Tours, one Marmotte and a Maratona; am hoping to finish my final Etape this July, then am "retiring" from Continental sportives due to advanced age!

Have also ridden for "fun" all my life.

[Lowlandbrit]

A bad day for Yates, and suddenly it's all looking very open. Carapaz probably the favourite, but a bunch of 'nearly men' in with a real chance of making it to the top step too.

[Azabache]

Yeah-Landa and Bardet seem rejuvenated, but can they improve at this juncture from perennial "nearlies"?

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