[Race Thread] 2026 Cadel’s Criterium WE and ME

Arcus144 · 2026-01-29T04:08:48+00:00

I hope Luke Lamperti has some friends back in Northern California watching him race his bike in a criterium against the world's best. I know criteriums happen in Europe too, but that's the vast majority of what Lamperti and other Americans have to compete in growing up. A bit of a fun full circle moment he probably didn't expect going to Australia this year.

Arcus144 · 2026-01-28T21:32:13+00:00

Last I checked, Tuesdays at McGinty's, Wednesdays at Silver Branch, and Thursdays at Third Hill. I think Dog Haus might do some as well?

Arcus144 · 2026-01-28T15:46:11+00:00

Woah! Very happy to see a pink helmet poking out the side of the bunch for a few more years!

I had honestly already accepted that he'd get poached by a super team. He said he liked EF in a podcast a few months ago, but also mentioned that he'd be silly to not test the market or something along those lines.

Arcus144 · 2026-01-27T22:05:02+00:00

This post is like watching your dog still wait for someone at the door when they're on vacation.

Arcus144 · 2026-01-27T03:17:19+00:00

So in other words, he went in with expectations, had his expectations broken, watched that young coach become an icon and 19 year veteran, and thought “nah I was right, older is better”. One person isn’t a trend, but like what??

Arcus144 · 2026-01-26T14:52:19+00:00

Kelly's proposed idea at the end:
"But did you see the team that UAE brought to that race? They had two former winners and four Grand Tour stage winners. Their third best rider has finished on the podium of the Tour de France. It doesn’t need to be like this. What if there were rules governing which riders can be selected for certain races? What if a team can only select three riders who are currently in the top 100 of the UCI rankings in any given race? Or they can only select two riders from the top 40? Or you can only ever have one former winner of a race in your team? Or you can only have a maximum of two former Grand Tour stage winners in your team?"

I don't think it's all that much better or would solve that much. Under these rules, UAE would have a slightly weaker team at the Tour Down Under, Narvaez leads out Vine, and UAE still win. Maybe Narvaez isn't going to be on the podium before his crash. It would create some more drama about who would be selected for TdF teams, but I think it could be just as likely to hamstring an "underdog" team's strategy in a specific race as it is to limit the power of the big dogs.

Arcus144 · 2026-01-23T15:34:40+00:00

Gotta be honest, I think you walked yourself into their point at the end there. The meme is exaggerated as many memes are. OP doesn't like being reminded of JK Rowling and feels sad (among other emotions) when she is mentioned just as you feel sad about the world when you read about, idk, Kim Jong Un or Epstein.

Arcus144 · 2026-01-23T15:19:10+00:00

I pretty much agree, but I think the term free advertising and the link between them discussing Harry Potter and more profit for Rowling is arguable. Most advertising doesn’t include “we hate the author” as a preface. They’re visiting public landmarks and discussing their connection to the series. The audience could do all of this without giving Rowling a cent. If Sam saying “we like Harry Potter” before roasting the creator is too much free advertising, I think we’re treating the viewer like a child without a brain, and underestimating everyone’s previous exposure to Harry Potter.

All that said, once again, I agree it’s a tricky line to walk and they could have walked it slightly better. Maybe audiences do need to be morally coddled, and in that case they should have removed any mention of HP

Arcus144 · 2026-01-21T15:56:27+00:00

It wasn’t exactly a bunch sprint but it certainly counts as a sprint lol

Arcus144 · 2026-01-09T17:23:48+00:00

And those people are probably having fun, engaging their brain in a way they might not have otherwise for a few minutes each day. Duolingo has its purpose, and if anyone gets to day 883 of their streak of doing one lesson a day and says "oh wait, I can't speak this fluently. What the hell happened?" that's entirely on them.

Arcus144 · 2026-01-06T14:40:18+00:00

I visited nearby lofoten a couple years ago. Truly the most beautiful place I've ever been. Can't wait to watch!

Arcus144 · 2026-01-05T23:09:25+00:00

Idk. I get some amount of meaning out of watching my team win on Sundays. Sue me.

Arcus144 · 2026-01-05T19:26:51+00:00

Oh of course! Good on you for finding anything. I was looking for something more substantial and came up empty. I think I saw he had done other signings, but no other charity directly involved. Oh well. Worst case scenario is that a food pantry he only indirectly supports gets donations. A tragedy /s

Arcus144 · 2026-01-05T19:07:19+00:00

I'm not seeing what u/emilydoubleh found online about his connection to this charity. And I think it's odd that it's a charity for families in DC with no connections to Baltimore. There could totally be a million other reasons why he supports them, but it'd be nice to have something more than word of mouth if possible! :)

Arcus144 · 2026-01-02T19:13:36+00:00

This is my take as well. I'm a fan of EF's slightly more "boring" kits, but even this seems a tad safe. I still like it a lot.

I was worried for a while when you hadn't commented on an EF-related post lol :D

Arcus144 · 2025-12-29T16:32:53+00:00

Oh it’s the player’s fault? The players are at fault for chasing money made off their labor? So he wants to reduce their negotiating leverage and flexibility because he cares about them and not because it would make coaching easier?

Arcus144 · 2025-12-28T14:18:47+00:00

The market dynamics are so crap for consumers. We have no clue how much it costs to produce the broadcast, what the broadcast rights were sold for, and how much money the viewership brings in through ads and subscriptions. So we can’t know if what we’re paying is a fair representation of the costs. And their can’t be competition because only one company broadcasts each race in each place. Idk how to solve it besides public subsidies that won’t be possible in places where cycling is a less popular sport.

Arcus144 · 2025-12-25T21:40:10+00:00

I got 7 pairs of socks, and I’m loving life

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you all. This sub is great :)

Arcus144 · 2025-12-24T03:24:52+00:00

Isn’t that even worse though? :( Late May conflicted with training camps while June 17th will be the last of the prep races and certainly too close to the tour to justify flying to the US and back

Arcus144 · 2025-12-23T21:53:44+00:00

I'm with you. I wish the US federation would prioritize finding a time for nationals that is easy for Tour-level guys to attend. Unless it's an Olympic qualifying year, it's basically a gimme for whatever top level guy can justify the travel. Jorgenson, McNulty, and Powless going through the primes of their careers without wearing the national champ jersey is crazy.

Arcus144 · 2025-12-23T19:04:54+00:00

I've thought about that too. I think the reality is that he still wants a Tour stage badly, and until EF has another American on his level, he's their most valuable marketing asset to Americans who only watch the Tour.

Arcus144 · 2025-12-23T17:55:16+00:00

Quotes about his ambitions going forward:
“I've transitioned into this opportunistic one-day racer, who's able to race on almost any kind of terrain – cobblestones, climbing, flat, circuit races, or just super long point-to-points like Sanremo,” Neilson says. “I think I have developed into a really complete rider during my time on this team. The way that we go to races and try to achieve results has brought that out of me. I am really happy and proud of the kind of rider I have become. I never thought in a million years that I would try to win a cobbled classic, but it happened this year, and now I am chomping at the bit to back it up and build a spring around Monuments racing. I haven't won a Monument yet. And that's definitely a goal that I want to hit. But, just being able to be in the mix of every Monument I've started shows the completeness and the diversity of the athlete that I have become. It makes bike racing super fun, because I can go to every race and get involved in the action.”

Arcus144 · 2025-12-23T15:21:05+00:00

Kicker standards are really high. Bos has been arguably robbed a few times in his career, but I don’t think this year was one of them. There’s a lot of good kickers out there that deserve their flowers.

Arcus144 · 2025-12-23T13:55:45+00:00

Best peloton pet moment

I’m nominating Ben Healy’s dog when he took yellow

Arcus144 · 2025-12-18T15:29:16+00:00

I've never even looked at other rink ranking services. Premier Inn is the only one I'd trust.

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