DieselnDust

On another note, the ladies stage starts and goes straight up a moerse mountain. Already huge gaps. This is really close racing….

I think the 32er was just too slow

Well Georg didn’t look so good on Sunday

<insertmemeofbokkieeatingpopcorn>

And white bibs…WTF man!!!

people saying tomorrow is easier have not ridden segments of the course. There is a LOT of sand in the back half. There is a good amount of gravel but the first 30km is going to hurt. then the last 40 is going to have the mid to back fielders whipping out their compendium of curses

I was watching the ladies start call up in the highlights. It was terrible. Barely anyone at the spectator point that early in the am and almost zero coverage. Maybe it was a good idea to have a shorter elite ladies race but the execution thus far is just woeful

Well what you waiting for, go on run along and go fetch your mommy

Im sure but it doesn’t seem to be if the same quality as riding in actual heat. whats your take on heat acclimation in a sauna or just warming the room? It’s can’t account for hot dry air surely. The RPE would be different and therefore a different outcome?

2000% agreed, singing from the same hymn sheet here

He held his own very well today. Actually led Matt on many climbs. When absolute bhp was needed Matt did the galloping but Tristan looks to be handling the pressure well

Yes Vollering stands out in calling for shorter races but that doesn’t solve their problem of media exposure. Longer races with coverage that focuses on the ladies race solves that. But the are competing for tv resources and airtime with many many more men’s sporting events. I agree with her that women’s racing isn’t ready for a3 week tour. It’s a money issue. a shorter race doesn’t help a less fast rider keep up because the intensity will just be higher I.e. They will ride faster. So it is very much up for debate. Solving the economic problem for ladies cycling is key to resolving the performance issues. You can’t have the one without the other. In this years epic the ladies are basically starting on the course at SP1 and later. So they’re getting caught by the elite men’s but not so much the amateur men. Although did anyone notice the mixed leaders riding along with the elites ladies ?? The amateur men were likely being held up by the same elite ladies they were last year. the strongest ladies teams still rode faster , even faster than they did last year perhaps so how much did the TSS actually differ?

The ladies tdf is as long as it is because that’s all the sponsors would pay for. The ladies themselves want a longer tdf but the short one is better than none at all. it all boils down to money. Maybe recovery is a real concern but then why not make the ladies race 5 days instead of 8? because their teams also want exposure so they want a race if equal tv time. They haven’t got that in the past 24hrs so what has changed? The ladies race will lose its lustre because of the overall lack of money in the woman’s teams . It has nothing to do with the event format. This is a general cycling comment not specific to the ACE

Georg arrived on Wednesday. I’d say he’s far from heat acclimated. Happened last year also. Lukas was here in January training in the heat and had to carry Georg through the race. They lost 14min today

Or maybe they’re just hiding cost cutting behind altruism

Speed Company not going to be a factor in this Epic. Gaze and Schwartbauer lost 4min with the mechanicals

the yo-yo continues. On again off again and now back on again. This stage is intense

It’s live in YouTube…..

I wonder how the marketeers are going to spin this performance….?

Montagu is staking its claim as a dream breaker so far. When okes asked whattyres i tuned them mixed terrain tyres. Yet XCO rubber is fitted. The front 3 teams using decent tyres today. It’s making the race for them

Matt and T have punctured . Lost about 4min with that

The terrain already taking its toll. Hans Becking team mate blew out the rear tyre. The other Megamo team also having tyre trouble. This used to be the domain of Specialized and Maxxis

Looks like they start at spectator point 1, not at the venue at montagu high school.

Elite ladies start last tomorrow. Does anyone know what the start layout is like?

but last year they had the whoe area under TweedeKamp for parking. There were no cars there this year