De Panne 2013 **SPOILERS**

Ed_tron

Was really close. Demare had to ease off for a split second in the sprint as Sagan came across a little bit

calvjones

inkyfingers wrote:

Sagan is the greatest cyclist ever.

That sounded great, can't wait to watch when I get home.

demare would have beaten him all ends up in a square sprint.

I think Sagan is the New Merckx but only from the neck down.

Fair play to him for apologising though.

emadden

Kirby... the muppet... has come up with a classic: In the last 50m there could be "lane tape" to help riders keep their line... He asks Magnus what does he think. Poor Magnus.

emadden

Looking at that replay again, there was no need for Demare to sit down and touch Sagan... There was a lot of room on the right. I think Demare was definitely catching and wouldve passed Sagan if he didnt "screw up"

emadden

Demare doesnt look too disappointed in the interview!

blazing_saddles

Sky ought to sign Sagan, just for the nuclear explosion in the Clinic.
The jury lets the result stand, anyhow.

Mad_Malx

emadden wrote:

Looking at that replay again, there was no need for Demare to sit down and touch Sagan... There was a lot of room on the right. I think Demare was definitely catching and wouldve passed Sagan if he didnt "screw up"

Not sure Demare had a choice - I'm not sure Sagan knew he was heading toward the barrier. Could have come out better for Demare if Sagan had carried on going (ie cutting him off). As it was Demare had the worst outcome - couldn't get past and impediment wasn't enough.

nic_77

frenchfighter wrote:

Who made the initial selection?

Sagan went with 11 or so to go, Chav marked him back to the Peloton. Then another Cannondale went at 10 and got a bit of a gap, OPQS killed Cav chasing him back. Sagan eased forward on a short sharp climb with Gatto and Chav following wheels. Few others bridged across, but game over for the pack... and foregone conclusion at the front (except for Demare).

frenchfighter

Thanks.

Pross

frenchfighter wrote:

frenchfighter wrote:

Mad_Malx wrote:

nic_77 wrote:

calvjones wrote:

Does everyone else have to put up with the pics of the larger ladies, looking for love on the stream :shock:

Pross wrote:

Nope, must be one of those clever ads that picks out your search history.

FAIL

I think that the tracking algorithm links cyclists with ads for women looking for luurv. I'm pretty sure I never searched for well-upholstered middle aged women in my local grotty town.

There is an app that suppressess them in Chrome.

**Nobody likes ads but they pay for the site so please have the class not to whine about them**.org

Automatic edit by this site fyi. Not my words.

Off topic sorry but that auto edit doesn't even ring true. The site is here to generate traffic and attract advertising revenue to boost Future's profits and also to advertise Future's magazines so to make out that the ads are just to pay so we can have a site is completely backwards. They should have the class not to make such statements! Numerous times I have replied on a thread without seeing the whole of it because it pauses loading the page at the banner ads!

Pross

frenchfighter wrote:

That old school look really suits Cav. There's a few riders in the peloton that look like they belong in that vintage.

garyhoop1

Videos from Stage 1 - http://bit.ly/16VPDk7

disgruntledgoat

inkyfingers wrote:

Sagan is the greatest cyclist ever.

That sounded great, can't wait to watch when I get home.

Steady on sir.

inkyfingers

disgruntledgoat wrote:

inkyfingers wrote:

Sagan is the greatest cyclist ever.

That sounded great, can't wait to watch when I get home.

Steady on sir.

frenchfighter

Trying to create a reaction on this quiet day on the forum with the Sky-twitter posters not having an interest in this race.

Good day.

frenchfighter

rick_chasey

We can safely say it's a chipper then.

knedlicky

emadden wrote:

Looking at that replay again, there was no need for Demare to sit down and touch Sagan... There was a lot of room on the right. I think Demare was definitely catching and wouldve passed Sagan if he didnt "screw up"

I agree but on the other hand Demare couldn’t be sure that Sagan wouldn’t move farther over and really box him in.

The commentary I was following said that there is a unwritten rule nowadays that, to avoid these occurrences, a leading rider in a sprint isn’t supposed to get within so close of the barrier. I forget how close the commentator said, maybe 1.5 or 1.75 m, but I can’t say I’ve ever heard of such a rule, unwritten or not. Maybe the commentator was trying it on, it is nearly April 1st.
And anyway I'd say Sagan left near enough 1.5 m when he came closest the barrier. Demare should have just kept riding.

tailwindhome

Rick Chasey wrote:

We can safely say it's a chipper then.

The Rick Chasey "Same rider winning every stage" definition may come into play here.

I'm also surprised he's riding.

Macaloon

OPQS had a ridiculous number of riders at the sharp end. Seemed a bit negligent to not even give Sagan a headache. Were Chavanel and Terpstra hoping that Cav would get back to the front?

blazing_saddles

frenchfighter wrote:

Trying to create a reaction on this quiet day on the forum with the Sky-twitter posters not having an interest in this race.

Good day.

Glad you managed to watch this one, FF.
Always rate De Panne day one; nice little semi-classic in it's own right.........
...........well, if Gent-Wevelgem is chipper worthy.

Peter "The Slovakian Pit Pony" Sagan looking as if he'll pull the legs off all the Spring Stallions.

pottssteve

I watched the last 40km on Sporza - looked really brutal. Sagan is a beast on this kind of parcours.

Pross

Finally had a chance to watch, really good close finish but nothing at all wrong with Sagan's sprint, he just went a bit wide which is understandable on a 90 degree bend at that speed. I was impressed with Cavendish and Greipel today, not scared to put their noses in the wind with Greipel having a little dig and Cavendish working hard to close down Sagan's first attack. Farnese Vini or whatever they are called these days full of racing. As I said at the start of the thread I do like this race.

deejay

Macaloon wrote:

OPQS had a ridiculous number of riders at the sharp end. Seemed a bit negligent to not even give Sagan a headache. Were Chavanel and Terpstra hoping that Cav would get back to the front?

No, I think the object today was to keep Chavanel with the danger man Sagan then sort it out in the TT.
OPQS will probably work for Cavendish in the next 2 stages in the hope he wins them. :?:

Yellow Peril

Pross wrote:

Finally had a chance to watch, really good close finish but nothing at all wrong with Sagan's sprint, he just went a bit wide which is understandable on a 90 degree bend at that speed. I was impressed with Cavendish and Greipel today, not scared to put their noses in the wind with Greipel having a little dig and Cavendish working hard to close down Sagan's first attack. Farnese Vini or whatever they are called these days full of racing. As I said at the start of the thread I do like this race.

I agree with this. A great race, just a pity it is difficult to watch being on working days. Sagan is a difficult man to break. Bring on the Ronde!

Tom Dean

frenchfighter wrote:

FDJ miles ahead in arm/legwarmer coordination. Cannondale need to sort out their 3rd cat look.

alihisgreat

They'd look ridiculous with lime green warmers... or blue warmers.. or white warmers -> so what other options do they have apart from black?

Crankbrother

Cannondale are looking for a co-sponsor so creating a whole load of co-ordinated kit wouldn't be the smartest idea for such a low budgeted team ...

Sadly with the loss of Nibali it's gonna be difficult with such an Italian centric team ... Sagan wins alot but that just means someone else's chequebook will whisk him away rather than fill the team coffers ...

prawny

ALIHISGREAT wrote:

They'd look ridiculous with lime green warmers... or blue warmers.. or white warmers -> so what other options do they have apart from black?

Agreed, I think the warmers are the best part of the kit. They need to sort the shorts and jersey out.

tailwindhome

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