La Doyenne *spoiler*

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  • greasedscotsman
    greasedscotsman Posts: 6,962
    Rick Chasey wrote:
    Tusher wrote:
    Could have wept for Nibali.

    Dan Martin- so close and yet so far. This guy has the talent, why has he yet to win big?

    Not old enough me thinks.

    Like Sagan. :wink:
  • RichN95.
    RichN95. Posts: 27,150
    greasedscotsman wrote:
    Rick Chasey wrote:
    Tusher wrote:
    Could have wept for Nibali.

    Dan Martin- so close and yet so far. This guy has the talent, why has he yet to win big?

    Not old enough me thinks.

    Like Sagan. :wink:

    So far, Sagan hasn't won anything bigger than the Tour of Poland.
    Twitter: @RichN95
  • greasedscotsman
    greasedscotsman Posts: 6,962
    RichN95 wrote:
    greasedscotsman wrote:
    Rick Chasey wrote:
    Tusher wrote:
    Could have wept for Nibali.

    Dan Martin- so close and yet so far. This guy has the talent, why has he yet to win big?

    Not old enough me thinks.

    Like Sagan. :wink:

    So far, Sagan hasn't won anything bigger than the Tour of Poland.

    Who wants to bet that Sagan will win a classic before Dan Martin then?
  • greasedscotsman
    greasedscotsman Posts: 6,962
    edited April 2012
    greasedscotsman wrote:
    RichN95 wrote:
    So far, Sagan hasn't won anything bigger than the Tour of Poland.

    Who wants to bet that Sagan will win a classic before Dan Martin then?

    No wait, forget that. Sagan is 22, Martin is 25. How many classics/major races will Sagan win before he's 25?
  • EKIMIKE
    EKIMIKE Posts: 2,232
    Wouldn't say it's moving towards chipper status. More that the riders are riding it like a chipper. Sit in, don't attack, fanny around with the break. They're still crapping themselves abut Roche aux Faucons. Not really very good this year 'cos everyone waited until then.

    If they ride La Redoute properly too, like they did last year, then it can be a great race. Sod all happened on La Redoute this year. No-one even upped the pace. Rubbish.

    Chapeau to Iglinsky though. Had the nuts to go and chase. Has been looking strong all week. Standard outsider win - all the favourite's look at each other (Nibali obviously being the exception).
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  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 72,586
    greasedscotsman wrote:
    greasedscotsman wrote:
    RichN95 wrote:
    So far, Sagan hasn't won anything bigger than the Tour of Poland.

    Who wants to bet that Sagan will win a classic before Dan Martin then?

    No wait, forget that. Sagan is 22, Martin is 25. How many classics/major races will Sagan win before he's 25?

    Gilbert didn't hit the big big time till he was well into his late 20s.
    _
  • greasedscotsman
    greasedscotsman Posts: 6,962
    Rick Chasey wrote:
    greasedscotsman wrote:
    greasedscotsman wrote:
    RichN95 wrote:
    So far, Sagan hasn't won anything bigger than the Tour of Poland.

    Who wants to bet that Sagan will win a classic before Dan Martin then?

    No wait, forget that. Sagan is 22, Martin is 25. How many classics/major races will Sagan win before he's 25?

    Gilbert didn't hit the big big time till he was well into his late 20s.

    Andy Schleck was 24 when he won Liege.
  • RichN95.
    RichN95. Posts: 27,150
    greasedscotsman wrote:
    No wait, forget that. Sagan is 22, Martin is 25. How many classics/major races will Sagan win before he's 25?

    None, because Boasson Hagen is going to win them all. Or at least that was what everyone was saying when he was 22.
    Twitter: @RichN95
  • greasedscotsman
    greasedscotsman Posts: 6,962
    RichN95 wrote:
    greasedscotsman wrote:
    No wait, forget that. Sagan is 22, Martin is 25. How many classics/major races will Sagan win before he's 25?

    None, because Boasson Hagen is going to win them all. Or at least that was what everyone was saying when he was 22.

    I wasn't.
  • iainf72
    iainf72 Posts: 15,784
    RichN95 wrote:
    greasedscotsman wrote:
    No wait, forget that. Sagan is 22, Martin is 25. How many classics/major races will Sagan win before he's 25?

    None, because Boasson Hagen is going to win them all. Or at least that was what everyone was saying when he was 22.

    Slight difference is there was almost no evidence to indicate EBH would do that. Sagan has shown he can be there at the end of the big classics. Biggles never has.
    Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.
  • Turfle
    Turfle Posts: 3,762
    To defend Hagen a bit, he did win GW as a 21 year old, and I think this was the first year he was healthy enough to ride RvV and Roubaix since that age.
  • RichN95.
    RichN95. Posts: 27,150
    Turfle wrote:
    To defend Hagen a bit, he did win GW as a 21 year old, and I think this was the first year he was healthy enough to ride RvV and Roubaix since that age.

    I wasn't really having a go at him - just pointing out that predicted glorious futures don't always pan out (EBH may yet come good). I could have instead mentioned the six or seven Tours that Jan Ullrich never got round to winning or the five Giros Cunego seems to have mislaid or even looked at a different sport to, for example, wonder where Sergio Garcia's major wins are.
    Twitter: @RichN95
  • pottssteve
    pottssteve Posts: 4,069
    Is it cynical of me to ponder two wins by Astana in a week........?
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  • greasedscotsman
    greasedscotsman Posts: 6,962
    RichN95 wrote:
    I wasn't really having a go at him - just pointing out that predicted glorious futures don't always pan out (EBH may yet come good). I could have instead mentioned the six or seven Tours that Jan Ullrich never got round to winning or the five Giros Cunego seems to have mislaid.

    But that's not really the point is it. Rick was saying that Martin was too young to win Liege. But as has been pointed out, Schleck was 24 when he won Liege, EBH was 21 when he won Gent Wevelgem, Cunego was 22 when he won the Giro and Ullrich was 24 when he won the Tour. So quite plainly, age is not a barrier to winning big races. You are either good enough to win or not, simple as that.

    Maybe Dan Martin will come good when he gets older, who knows. I would love to see him win Liege, but think he has a better chance to win Lombardy.
  • RichN95.
    RichN95. Posts: 27,150
    greasedscotsman wrote:

    But that's not really the point is it. Rick was saying that Martin was too young to win Liege. But as has been pointed out, Schleck was 24 when he won Liege, EBH was 21 when he won Gent Wevelgem, Cunego was 22 when he won the Giro and Ullrich was 24 when he won the Tour. So quite plainly, age is not a barrier to winning big races. You are either good enough to win or not, simple as that.

    Maybe Dan Martin will come good when he gets older, who knows. I would love to see him win Liege, but think he has a better chance to win Lombardy.

    Yeah, but my point had nothing to do with Dan Martin. I was just saying that Sagan hasn't actually won any classics yet, so it's best not to hang medals around his neck before he's won them.
    Twitter: @RichN95
  • iainf72
    iainf72 Posts: 15,784
    Turfle wrote:
    To defend Hagen a bit, he did win GW as a 21 year old, and I think this was the first year he was healthy enough to ride RvV and Roubaix since that age.

    Like I said, he's never shown anything that would make you think he could win a real classic. :wink: Maybe if they started lopping 50km off the length. I'm not saying he couldn't, but just I've never seen anything that makes me think he would dominate.

    Sagan has (to my mind) shown more aptitude.
    Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.
  • greasedscotsman
    greasedscotsman Posts: 6,962
    RichN95 wrote:
    Yeah, but my point had nothing to do with Dan Martin. I was just saying that Sagan hasn't actually won any classics yet, so it's best not to hang medals around his neck before he's won them.

    Yeah, but he will do...

    :D
  • greasedscotsman
    greasedscotsman Posts: 6,962
    iainf72 wrote:
    Like I said, he's never shown anything that would make you think he could win a real classic. :wink: Maybe if they started lopping 50km off the length.

    Or if EBH did the first 50km in the team car?
  • nevman
    nevman Posts: 1,611
    Did anyone else see Nibali pretend to sit up on the top of Redoute,look around as the chasers did the same then grabbed 10 metres?Or was it me.Looked like great racecraft anyway.
    Whats the solution? Just pedal faster you baby.

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  • inkyfingers
    inkyfingers Posts: 4,400
    Was out so just watched it on Sky+. Utter tripe until Nibali's attack, really wanted him to win but have to give respect to Iglinsky for closing the gap and rescuing the race as a spectacle.
    "I have a lovely photo of a Camargue horse but will not post it now" (Frenchfighter - July 2013)
  • afx237vi
    afx237vi Posts: 12,630
    greasedscotsman wrote:
    iainf72 wrote:
    Like I said, he's never shown anything that would make you think he could win a real classic. :wink: Maybe if they started lopping 50km off the length.

    Or if EBH did the first 50km in the team car?

    G-W was only 200 km when EBH won it, so that's more or less what he did :wink:
  • greasedscotsman
    greasedscotsman Posts: 6,962
    nevman wrote:
    Did anyone else see Nibali pretend to sit up on the top of Redoute,look around as the chasers did the same then grabbed 10 metres?Or was it me.Looked like great racecraft anyway.

    No, I think it was Nibali. :wink:

    And wasn't it on the Roche aux Faucons?
  • frenchfighter
    frenchfighter Posts: 30,642
    Respect to Nibali. Always been an exciting rider with fire in his legs.

    20km solo and put some time in.

    Chapeau Iglinsky and also to Gasparotto who has had a fine week.

    Lightweight Andy...

    Why is Valverde DNQ? I see he had a mechanical on the Redoute, had to change bikes.
    Edit: Looks like he and a few others went off course at some point so were DNQ. He also had to take a teammates bike.

    Oh, Voeckler was 4th. Thanks.

    Great job Martin.

    Shame J-Rod had to blow.

    Decent by Cunego given he had his legs ripped off in Trentino. Scarponi finished well considering.

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    Contador is the Greatest
  • ms_tree
    ms_tree Posts: 1,405
    Moomaloid wrote:
    Scarponi in there... he looked poor in Trentino...

    I know - I was shouting at Harmon that it was Scarponi and not Cunego but typical man he never listened to me!
    'Google can bring back a hundred thousand answers. A librarian can bring you back the right one.'
    Neil Gaiman
  • RichN95.
    RichN95. Posts: 27,150
    Deleted
    Twitter: @RichN95
  • greasedscotsman
    greasedscotsman Posts: 6,962
    frenchfighter wrote:
    Why is Valverde DNQ? I see he had a mechanical on the Redoute, had to change bikes.
    Edit: Looks like he and a few others went off course at some point so were DNQ. He also had to take a teammates bike.

    Says here he finished outside the time limit.

    http://www.cyclingnews.com/liege-bastog ... tos/219322
  • Squaggles
    Squaggles Posts: 875
    Great ride by Nibali , got to love riders who attack like that , sadly you don't always win but a fantastic effort

    LBL isn't my favourite race though , I only saw the last 40 km , I knew I wouldn't miss much
    The UCI are Clowns and Fools
  • frenchfighter
    frenchfighter Posts: 30,642
    Yeah, just took it from:

    Former two-time winner Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) was never in contention, the Spaniard spending key moments of the race at the back of the peloton before suffering a mechanical problem on the La Redoute climb, which prompted him to borrow a teammate’s bike.

    To add to the Spaniard’s woes, he was later declassified along with three of his teammates for going off course.

    http://velonews.competitor.com/2012/04/ ... ali_214585
    Contador is the Greatest
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 72,586
    Right.


    We need to get to the bottom of why this race is rubbish. Clearly once upon a time it wasn't. What's changed? That extra edition in the finale? That teams will sit in and anticipate and race for the win but not at the expense of a reliable top 10 place? I've never seen one I'd want to watch again.
    _
  • greasedscotsman
    greasedscotsman Posts: 6,962
    Was it rubbish? I quite enjoyed it. OK, some attacks a bit earlier would have been nice, but there you go, I still enjoyed it. Not against changes though, come on Rick, what do you think, what would you change?

    No, wait. I don't think cycling racing is for you. Your always complaining it's boring, not really sure why you watch. Have you ever thought of watching something like wrestling instead? Think you might like it! :D

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