It is crazy that this is going to be the biggest American “road” event of the year.
I think people overestimate American gravel racers and underestimate ex-TDF pros or current Europe-based pros. Even though Simmons has yet to produce results for Trek just being in an elite breakaway in Strade Bianche puts you on a level above anyone else in the US.
But, I hope I am wrong on that point and would love to see a dedicated gravel racer win.
No. He got toasted two weeks ago at Gravel Locos.
Assuming you mean DJ, his video made it look like he won’t be hanging with the Euro Pros any time soon. Still, he had a great placing considering who he was racing against.
Didn’t he finish second to Strickland in 2019? Power is sorta moot when you’re pace-lining. By that I mean Stetina can give up 40 watts in FTP due to the draft. Now, it might make it harder for him to stick a solo move, bu he can punch REALLY hard on w/e climbs there are and put some hurt down.
I like his odds, but any one of these ex-pros could take it.
Is Dylan Johnson definitely riding Unbound? Mohican 100, part of the NUE, is this weekend as well and he has won their a few times in the past.
Good question. I don’t know. I just made the assumption that was who he was asking about. Could be wrong.
I haven’t been following Simmons much this year, but my $ would be on him if he can avoid a mechanical.
That said, I don’t think Strickland is out of his depth with world tour pros and ex pros. Stetina has the edge on most of these guys when the road turns up, but Strickland has an engine that compares well with world tour pros. I’m not saying he’d be the strongest guy in the pro peloton, but he’d be far from the weakest based on his numbers. LTD was a pretty elite guy in his prime. A little heavier these days, but I’d bet his power numbers aren’t off much from his prime. Simmons is an endurance beast when he’s fit, I think it will be between him and LTD.
I agree with this. I think they’re on another level and the best guys follow the money / prestige. Whether they got it or not is another topic, but they at least got that far.
I wonder as this event gets bigger and teams get involved, how much team tactics will play into it.
Should be interesting to see
All his videos make it seem like he’s 100% for unbound. He talked about his set up not changing from locos race to unbound
He is. He mentioned his gearing setup for it.
I know some people think DJ is public enemy #1 on the TR forum, but he’s a pretty baller bike racer and obviously it’s working for him (and others).
Definitely. I won’t repost it, but the Dylan Johnson recap video of last month’s Gravel Loco 150 is worth watching. The critical point in the race comes at 7:30 in the video, when LtD attacks at mile 130.
lol. Hopefully I won’t get excommunicated for saying it, but his race recap videos are some of the best out there.
I’m interested in what the FloBikes coverage ends up looking like. My subscription from last year is still active so I’ll be able to watch it a bit. If they can get good coverage throughout it could make for some great trainer fodder
I’m likely going the GCN+ route, so I’ll have to wait for the Vloggers videos from the race for the video recaps.
Some numbers to sculpt your training:
Definitely cool that they are doing the coverage. Hopefully this will grow. Given that they have a partnership with Lifetime, will be interesting to see if they do coverage of Leadville this year.
I’m definitely in the ‘cool idea, but I’m dubious’ camp right now. I just don’t see how they are going to get good live coverage of even one group, let alone following breaks vs the main front group. I hope I’m proven wrong though!
F1 vs Nascar
Going to depend on the budget. Several moto’s and a helicopter would be ideal… One guy with a Go Pro and a drone…not so much.