heywoodu

Van Aert was a little cold.

Valtteri Bottas discovered De Ronde. Lol.

Van Aert is apparently rather eager to get back in the fields now that that season has gotten underway

The peloton is never going to let him forget this

But that's just future generations being dumb then, since the name has nothing to do with when it started going downhill I find it more annoying that a huge majority of the population (here, at least) calls it 'corona'. As in, "I heard he has corona". Ugh.

Yeah, don't litter, Gregor.

Yes, if the non-medical masks help 5-10 percent or so (more than that is just a bit too optimistic and/or based on everyone using masks in the absolute perfect way, which probably not more than 1% actually does), it's not at all a problem to wear them (not for me, at least), every little bit helps. It's just that, at least here (country, not 'here' as in this forum), some people seem to think it's like one of the biggest steps in stopping the spread. It helps a tiny bit, but it's not really the thing that gives big hits to the spread.

Well those were 50 useless kilometers by Julien Vermote to try and get to the lead group, which he decided to try when the gap was only half a minute or so but he waited a few kilometers too long. Sucks to not have the Patbonus anymore, Vermote is finding out now that he's riding for Cofidis.

Meanwhile some more facemask research being done, this time by the Delft University. The results are....not promising: only a medical KN95 mask is tested as 'good' and those are specifically mentioned by the government as things people should not buy (the rules specifically state people should wear non-medical masks). The regular masks one buys were tested very poorly and the homemade things from bedsheets or clothes or something aren't even worthy of being called 'poor'. So yes, false sense of security coming in, while distance - as always - remains the only effective way to stop the spread.

Hey, Sinterklaas/Saint Nicolas spotted

That's fine and dandy for small countries or in case of bigger ones, countries like China or something (you know, 'get your test or lose your life' or something), but in most places it's just not the most feasible thing to do. Of course there would be an easy solution: everyone has to quite literally stay in place for two weeks without meeting anyone and the whole thing would be done, but that's obviously not possible.

In case anyone is interested in the odds:

It's The Day. TV is live and waiting for the start, let's go.

Almeida, Kelderman and McNulty were the big winners today, apart from Ganna of course. Well, we can count Honoré as well (assuming the answer is yes)

Rohan Dennis going for another fine due to his clothing not being compliant with UCI rules.

Ganna putting down 660 W on the asphalt on the climb, sweet lord.

Bassino! And what a run for Vlhova.

Robinson throws my last hope for some Predictor points down the drain.

Ouch, painful crash by Molano.

Vini-Zabu's Matteo Spreafico and Simone Bevilacqua really don't want to finish the Giro and so decided to go for a two-man time trial, by the looks of it. That is just really dumb (or smart if they indeed want out).

Yeah, that was awesome to see. Finishing and very first thing he did was lift Kiplimo into the air

That was a fantastic run by Kiplimo, who also happens to shatter the Ugandan record by over a minute.

Very impressive surge from young Jacob Kiplimo Joshua Cheptgei had to let go and is hanging on for dear life for a chance for bronze.

[hide] Week 2 - Stages 10-15 Stage Top 3 Riders Lanciano - Tortoreto Stage 10 October, 13th 1st: Michael Matthews 2nd: Giulio Ciccone 3rd: Ben Swift Simon Clarke Jai Hindley Michael Matthews Mikkel Honoré Enrico Battaglin Matteo Fabbro Fabio Felline Andrea Vendrame Diego Ulissi Joao Almeida Peter Sagan Porto Sant'Elpidio - Rimini Stage 11 October, 14th 1st: Arnaud Demare 2nd: Peter Sagan 3rd: Michael Matthews Michael Matthews Fernando Gaviria Alvaro Hodeg Arnaud Demare Ben Swift Davide Ballerini Davide Cimolai Andrea Vendrame Elia Viviani Peter Sagan Cesenatico - Cesenatico Stage 12 October, 15th 1st: Giovanni Visconti 2nd: Einer Rubio 3rd: Jhonatan Narvaez Lucas Hamilton Michael Matthews Ben O'Connor Thomas De Gendt Valerio Conti Giovanni Visconti Diego Ulissi Simon Pellaud Mark Padun Lawson Craddock Cervia - Monselice Stage 13 October, 16th 1st: Peter Sagan 2nd: Diego Ulissi 3rd: Ben Swift Michael Matthews Fernando Gaviria Sebastian Molano Mikkel Honoré Arnaud Demare Enrico Battaglin Gianluca Brambilla Fabio Felline Andrea Vendrame Diego Ulissi Peter Sagan Conegliano - Valdobbiadene Stage 14 October, 17th 1st: Filippo Ganna 2nd: Joao Almeida 3rd: Mikkel Bjerg Rohan Dennis Victor Campenaerts Mikkel Bjerg Tony Martin Alex Dowsett Filippo Ganna Jos Van Emden Steven Kruijswijk Wilco Kelderman Joao Almeida Chad Haga Rivolto Air Base - Piancavallo Stage 15 October, 18th 1st: Wilco Kelderman 2nd: Jakob Fuglsang 3rd: Domenico Pozzovivo Patrick Konrad Harm Vanhoucke Jakob Fuglsang Giulio Ciccone Fausto Masnada Vincenzo Nibali Domenico Pozzovivo Steven Kruijswijk Wilco Kelderman Rafal Majka Joao Almeida Pello Bilbao [/hide]

Hola VPN reaching the 1-hour free limit (which can be refreshed but needs a small break to do so) not even 3 seconds after the finish, that was a nervous last two minutes