Mntboy

Nino into 4th! What a rider! Alan still in 6th. Hoping he can sneak into 5th! It's going to be a tight fight for the win!

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Showing his absolute class and his determination! Vader with good save!

Nino back in the top 10, looks like 7th.

Nino's 11th at the moment! So a top 10 realistic result out the race for him!

He keeps making it up on the climb. Looking good for a top 10, hoping he crack a top 5. I'm obviously talking about Hatherly, as I assume you are.

That first climb seems to be incredibly hard and difficult to master!

I'm just glad he's there and racing. Doing really well so far! Fluctuating between 6th and 8th!

It does for sure! And yet they all make it seem so easy and only become human once they crash!

Supremely gifted like so many of the lady riders!

And despite all that I wouldn't write off Nino. He's a damn good rider in his own right. I agree though that MVDP is a World Champ in waiting but the bigger question is whether or not he'll decide to give road a proper bash or not. Especially given who his dad is and who his grandfather was.

Not sure, could be that the Hub existed then or maybe the old Bicycling SA forum (I seem to recall that they had a forum as well) had those discussions as well.

LOOOOOOLLLLLLLLL No. Both are fantastic and have done incredibly well at their chosen disciplines and I have too much respect for them both to go down that particular rabbit hole. How do you even begin to quantify certain aspects in order just to get to point where you're legitimately comparing apples with apples? Far happier just to give two incredible Saffa athletes credit for their achievements and be very proud of both of them.

I am assuming that those three are Rob Hunter (stage wins at all three GT's), Daryl Impey and Louis Meintjes. dsw can correct me if I'm wrong but those are the only one's that particularly spring to mind.

Fond's I wouldn't be too surprised if she's (Puck) selected partly due to her IG following (ie she's very marketable regardless results) and you may find that she has certain domestique duties required of her that she has fulfilled by the time she drops out of a race. So in that respect her dropping out would be ok. I do however know that this does bug her as well and she is working on it. Hopefully soon we won't be seeing a DNF against her name.

Yeah if Anna goes through with her decision then her last year of racing will be in the rainbow hoops. I will see if I can find the press release regarding both Anna and Chantel. Edit: Anna will definitely retire at the end of 2021 as per the article below, so yes she has the hoops for her final season of racing. Couldn't find the actual press release but that was at the beginning of the year sometime iirc but there is a link and it is mentioned in this article. https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/van-der-breggen-not-reconsidering-retirement-after-worlds-double/

Thanks for the insights John. Hoping Beers continues to get great results and that it does eventually lead him to getting into the highest levels of cycling!

When I read the press release the team had it confirmed that she will be racing in 2021 and then start being a DS as of 2022. Chantel Van der Broek Blaak is doing the same only she ends her racing in 2022 and starting as a DS in 2023. Glad Ashleigh is joining this particular team. They just generally seem to be that bit better at getting the best out of the riders on their roster!

2021 will be her last season before taking up a DS position with whatever Boels Dolmans get called as of next year.

I suppose we shall have to wait and see. However I am willing to give him the benefit of the doubt due to not knowing the specifics his situation and because I know he is good enough based on John Wakefield's statements on him.

(A) I was trying to point out that some people seem to be very confused as to what your exact role of coach entails and then somehow require that you fulfil a much larger role based on their flawed understanding. Which is obviously wrong. As for Beers we all know he got offered the opportunity that he was because he is an outstanding and highly talented athlete, nothing more nothing less. (B) Seems that you've gone the extra mile for a lot of people who probably didn't deserve it. I am going to take that with the Home schooling decision it was based on giving the kid the best opportunity to succeed at whatever sport he or she was focusing on?

I had assumed that Beers had a reason for not continuing on with Team UAE and it had nothing to do with him not being good enough. I simply assumed that he liked riding and racing his mountain bike more than he did his road bike. I am sure that he will make the very best of the opportunities that comes his way.

I suppose asking for people to have common sense is not enough for them to stop thinking that being a part of club translates into a position of getting on to a professional team?

Yes and No. Yes having good genetics helps and being committed helps as well but it doesn't necessarily explain people like Shane Warne, who to my best knowledge didn't have parents with any serious sporting talent. I suppose Warne is an outlier but he does have 708 test wickets and is considered by some pundits the greatest ever bowler in cricket. We've seen that the kids and/or grandkids of sporting legends often fail to live up to expectations of them to cite a South African example Anthony Pollock who is the son of Graeme Pollock. So while having good genetics is a definite advantage I think have a strong commitment to training and diet and skills development and the right mental attitude also goes a long way towards building a successful International athlete.

I think it can be very hard for people to divorce what you do as a coach from that which a sports manager would be required to do while somehow thinking you do both jobs for your athletes???? Seems something of a foolish notion to me. At least it is clear in my mind that a coach is not a sports manager. Although I assume there are a few who are the exception to the rule. That said the fact that Matt isn't with the team any more (at least to my best knowledge) speaks volumes of how high the standard is at Pro Continental and WT level is not withstanding any potential ideas or vision that the individual athlete might have with regards to his (or her) career. You'll obviously have a much better understanding of exactly how high that standard is and I don't think that Matt not making the cut (for a lack of a better phrase) means he is a poor athlete but rather emphasises the level of sacrifice and commitment required to a member of a pro team never mind being in with a chance of winning at the highest level. The Pro Continental & WT guys and girls really are the top 1% of the racing elites.