Second pass on the Kwaremont this year. Stud value 10/10.

Awesome shot. Awe inspiring guns.

Second pass on the Kwaremont this year. Stud value 10/10.

Yep, Lotto is looking good and the new bikes in black look great in contrast to their colorful, slick kit. Also, can we talk about Benoot? The lad came in 5th on Sunday, has been riding well all season…and the dude is a full-time college student!! That’s amazing. There are undergrads in my neighborhood, those fucks are too lazy to even take out their garbage! When is this guy finding time to train?!

Oh yes, I went there.

With guns like these, how can you be anything but awesome? (You’ll note I did not choose to use the photo of Heir Greipel and Robert Forstemann’s quads where they dropped trow in the Olympic village. Tighty-whities aside, someone was seen wearing compression socks).

Incredible.

@1860

Greipel, Degenkolb, Kittel and Tony Martin are bringing cycling back into the right direction in Germany. The TdF will also be once again shown on public TV, which makes a big difference.

100% agreed. If the German media don’t embrace their current crop of riders: Greipel, Martin, Degenkolb, Kittel, Burghardt ey al, then when? I’m pretty sure they run clean and you have a nice range of characters and personalities to boot.

The USA would be lucky to have a group like that. FFS, we got nothing! No monuments, no big studly hardmen, no Spring Classics riders. Balls.

Greipel, Degenkolb, Kittel and Tony Martin are bringing cycling back into the right direction in Germany. The TdF will also be once again shown on public TV, which makes a big difference.

100% agreed. If the German media don’t embrace their current crop of riders: Greipel, Martin, Degenkolb, Kittel, Burghardt ey al, then when? I’m pretty sure they run clean and you have a nice range of characters and personalities to boot.

He was my pick for GW, unfortunately for him the weather didn’t give him a chance to cash-in his preparation and form. Based on his solid rides so far he seems to have targeted the Spring Classics this season, but he just hasn’t had the luck you need as a sprinter in spring. I hope he can manage his form as the year progresses and pick up some results – it’ll be hard once Cav and Kittel get going. You’ve got to respect him for taking on the spring. Rather than just targeting the pure sprints and managing his calendar to maximise wins (regardless of their significance), he’s taking the more difficult path and pursuing rides of substance – I don’t think you can’t underestimate how tough the spring programme is for a guy like Greipel – yes he’s powerful, but it would have taken a lot of hard work to build the endurance required to adapt that power to the longer distances.

Spot on assessment, reminds me of Thor Hushovd a few years back. He quickly realised that his sprinting days were gone when Cav came along so he started focussing on amassing points for primes and placings as well as nicking solo stage wins. Remember that epic solo across the Col D’Aubisque while wearing the Rainbow Jersey. I think it was Jeremy Roy who had made the early escape and there was an incredible aerial shot of Hushovd visibly upping the pace once he was in his sights. It really was like hunter vs prey, really awe inspiring stuff. He recorded 98 kmh descending the Aubisque.

With Kittel out of Sheldeprijs, surely the Gorilla is odds on.

If he were racing he might well be odds on.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/scheldeprijs-2015/preview

Also – there’s a lot to like about Lotto Soudal. They animate races with attacking tactics, and they also seem to have sense of style – they’ve not followed the boring black kit trend and their paired back, almost retro jerseys are my favourites of the current bunch. It’s rare that teams have panache, but they seem to be one of the rare exceptions. It’d be brilliant if they could also get some more results as reward. In pure depth and quality terms they’re a little behind EQS, Sky, but sometimes panache can make up for what pedigree might be missing from the start-list.

Plus, they have Campagnolo and Adam Hansen.

Their new Ridley frame looks nice too.

I really like Greipel, here in Milano at the last Milano Sanremo.

What’s not to like?  He’s awesome on the bike, comes across as a top guy and manages to routinely get under Cav’s skin, regardless of the result . His performance up the Koppenberg was beyond impressive and as for those guns…

I really like Greipel, here in Milano at the last Milano Sanremo.