Are we seeing a changing of the guard? Western Europeans are getting BTFO. Don't get me started on Colombians too...
>Sagan
>Stybar
>Kwiatkowski
>Taaramäe
>>963175
Just out of curiosity, how do rooskys train without becoming the next trending dashcam video on LiveLeak?
http://observers.france24.com/en/20111004-russia-moscow-builds-first-bike-path-obstacle-course-bicycle-cycling-university-video-photo
>>963175
Who you've listed are all good cyclists (where is Majka??) but it doesn't change the fact that the:
>Giro won by Nibali (ITA)
>Tour of Cali won by Alaphilippe (FRA)
>Paris-Nice won by Thomas (GBR)
>Paris-Roubaix wony by Hayman (AUS)
the only somewhat renound UCI event that this year has been won by a Eastern European was the Tour of Flanders by Sagan, who heaps of people regard as being a top cyclist anyway, not really a change of guard in regards.
>>963344
Like everyone else. They most likely don't train on the busy streets where they're more likely to be hit by a cage. Also if they're any good they're going to spend a lot of time on Mallorca, Canary Islands, or wherever their team happens to go for training camps.
Stybar and Taaramäe are notorious underperformers. This giro, 4 out of 21 stages were won by riders from outside of Western Europe, so it's still way too early to speak of a changing of the guard. It's only logical that as these countries become richer and get better roads (this isn't a necessity, Belgium arguably has the worst roads of whle Western Europe), cycling becomes more popular and so does bike racing.
>>963347
Yeah, because roads in Czechia or Slovakia have always been like those in Mongolia, you retard.
>>963345
>where is Majka??
At Sky (aka Dope Central) so expect him to dominate TdF.
>Sagan
He is a fucking clown
>>963375
Is that where he's off to? I've started to follow him more after his stage win last year and I really liked his Giro this year (up with the GC guys but honest about him not quite being there with Nibali/Valverde etc) and I'm excited to see where he goes from here.
hope he doesn't dope TOO much but we all know Nibali probably got an extra kick at this Giro if you know what I mean
>>963402
pic related a great Majka/Quintana one
>>963175
no, since the Soviet era there have been cyclists from Eastern Europe doing well, this is nothing new, likewise Colombians have been racing well for a while.
>>963345
>unironcially comparing ToC to PN, PR and the Giro
>mfw
those races are nowhere near on the same level you dingus
>>963375
Majka and Kwiat are not the same rider
>there are people who watch other people ride bikes on TV
>there are people who actually can tell apart those people who ride bikes on TV
>there are people who know their names
for >>963392 (You)
>>963419
>Majka and Kwiat are not the same rider
Are you telling me I got them confused AGAIN?
>>963424
What of it?
>>963435
their styles/strengths/niches are way different...
>>963375
Majka rides for Tinkoff.
>>963606
Apparently.
He did pretty good at Giro, but it wasn't like the top 3 was in within his grasp, tho.
I had high hopes for Zakarin on this Giro. Shame he crashed so hard.
>>963347
MERCKX
E
R
C
K
X
>>963367
I'm not saying they were unrideable, I'm saying that they got better for cyclists like in most European countries. Even Moscou is building bike lanes now (even though it looks unusable).
>>963668
he got 5th, that's not really much worse. His uphill TT wasn't as good as it could have been
>>963812
Yeah.
Still, best Polak since several decades. I really hope he and Kwiatek are going to show up good (not to undermine the likes of Poljanski, Szmyd back in the day, Niemec, but they're just helpers and not team leaders).
Anyway, my favourite for the TdF is going to be Sagan - this nigga is sick skilled and fun to watch.
There's definitely more internationalization happening in cycling. Not just with Eastern Europe, but also South America is producing some nice cyclists. Used to be professional cyclism was a very Western European thing with most riders being from Belgium, France, Italy, Spain - where most legendary races are still being held.
Eastern Europe needs more World Tour stages desu. Rather see one raced in Russia or Poland than Qatar or Oman
>tfw flemish
>tfw only have flatland and all our cyclist specialize in classics/single day races/cobbles
>tfw our last Grand Tour GC win dates from 1978
at least we still have based Eddy Merckx, the most dominant athlete in any sport ever
>>963729
well it's true with bike paths but we all know that bike paths and professional road cycling don't have much in common, right
