Amstel Gold Race 2013 **Spoilers**

RonB

A bit lost in translation from team Twitter feed... "Rodriguez suffered for a strong contusion in the left femoral bicipit muscle. He may be subjected to scan exam now."

Sounds like he will struggle to be up for FW and LBL.

salsiccia1

RonB wrote:

A bit lost in translation from team Twitter feed... "Rodriguez suffered for a strong contusion in the left femoral bicipit muscle. He may be subjected to scan exam now."

Sounds like he will struggle to be up for FW and LBL.

Cheers. That's a pity.

ms_tree

Really pleased for Kreuziger - one of my favourite riders. Also got points in PTP thanks to Gerrans.

tailwindhome

Sunday night......Kimmage is off on one again on Twitter

tailwindhome

Paul Kimmage ‏@PaulKimmage 16m
Hey @Roman86_K Very impressive today but reserving the right to applaud until you clarify this http://www.podiumcafe.com/2012/10/12/34 ... in-english …


Paul Kimmage Paul Kimmage ‏@PaulKimmage 20m
Hey @nicholasroche would you mind asking Roman about this please? It would make a good column.
http://www.podiumcafe.com/2012/10/12/34 ... in-english …

Vino'sGhost

rozzer32 wrote:

ThomThom wrote:

rozzer32 wrote:

ThomThom wrote:

rozzer32 wrote:

Sagan totally no where. I find it funny that everyone hails him as the next biggest thing in cycling yet when it comes to the big classics it's like his legs decide to stay at home. Maybe Sagan will be known as the chipper king.

Is this genuine?

For a guy who loves to do all his celebrating and wheelies etc he just never seems to go that last 5% at the big classics. Maybe he just hasn't got a celebration that's up to the big classic standard yet.

23 years old and hardly missed a podium this year. Tough crowd!

Maybe I am being a bit harsh but everyone bigs him up and he bigs himself up with all these celebrations. I wouldn't mind the celebrations if he was winning all the big races but he's not. He's won some chippers. Maybe it will come with time. I suppose it's a bit like with David Haye. Bigs himself up as the best boxer in the world yet gets battered by Klitschko, but then thinks he is a quality boxer again when he beats Chisora. Suppose I'm just being a bit harsh and if I was half the cyclist Sagan is then I'd be over the moon.

Chippers?????

Green jersey TDF
TDF stage

Surprised he got beyond 3rd cat myself 8)

LeicesterLad

EBH did really really well again. Oh.

Vino'sGhost

frenchfighter wrote:

241km Astarloza was in the break!!!!

Anyone know why JVS got the Most Aggressive award? Surely it should go to Astarloza. Seems like there is some racism at play or hate on people who have served a doping ban.



He even finished over nine minutes down when Astarloza finished in less than 2mins down.

Is there some amazing JVS racing that I missed?!

Probably comes down to the corporateness of the strip

iainf72

Pretty good race

Pity the winner is suspect but hey ho.

Pross

LeicesterLad wrote:

EBH did really really well again. Oh.

Hanging on the back with 90km to go. There's a gap in Sky's roster for F-W, can't see EBH filling it (not sure if he is in Trentino squad?).

frenchfighter

"I felt rough, about 30 to 40 kilometres to go," Sagan told reporters afterwards. "It wasn't ideal but there wasn't anything I could do, I was cramping up."

Sagan said he tried as best as he could to play a part in the finale, but his strength was ebbing fast.

"When [Philippe] Gilbert (BMC) attacked, I wanted to follow him, but it simply wasn't possible. I didn't have the strength to do it."

"I think was because it was a warm day. In last two months I always raced with low temperatures, today my legs suffered in the change of the weather."

frenchfighter

dortmunder

^ great picture thanks!

frenchfighter

Good Gilbert interview:
http://www.rtbf.be/video/detail_reactio ... id=1815133

disgruntledgoat

Tour de France

Points classification (2012)
3 individual stages (2012)

Vuelta a España

3 individual stages (2011)

Stage Races

Giro di Sardegna (2011)
Tour de Pologne (2011)

Single-Day Races and Classics

National Road Race Championship (2011, 2012)
Gent–Wevelgem (2013)
Brabantse Pijl (2013)

Wish I could win chippers like that. Seriously, can we get over this stupid "chipper" thing? Any pro would give their right arms to win GW or a stage of the Tour.

mroli

I was in the front and ready to attack and then Philippe came in just before me so I was right there in perfect position to follow him

Yeah. Ready to attack. Sure you were Gerrans. Sure you were. "Literally, like I was just about to go and Philippe JUST beat me to the attack, like by about 1/100th of a second, or I definitely would have gone. Honest guv...."

milton50

frenchfighter wrote:

241km Astarloza was in the break!!!!

Anyone know why JVS got the Most Aggressive award? Surely it should go to Astarloza. Seems like there is some racism at play or hate on people who have served a doping ban.

He even finished over nine minutes down when Astarloza finished in less than 2mins down.

Is there some amazing JVS racing that I missed?!

I think it's because he was basically attacking right from the start and was the major factor in a break going in the first place. I agree that Astarloza was the much better rider on the day but I can see why they think JVS was the most aggressive.

dave milne

why does everyone hate gerrans so much? class rider riding to his strengths

chrisday

dave milne wrote:

why does everyone hate gerrans so much? class rider riding to his strengths

Ditto. Completely get people have random hatreds of various riders (I should know, I carry my Voekler-shaped chip on my shoulder with pride) but don't remember at all where the anti-Gerrans thing comes from.
FWIW, I quite like him, tho I do also find his face slightly disturbing.

Richmond Racer

Pross wrote:

LeicesterLad wrote:

EBH did really really well again. Oh.

Hanging on the back with 90km to go. There's a gap in Sky's roster for F-W, can't see EBH filling it (not sure if he is in Trentino squad?).

He was drafted in at last minute to replace Ian Boswell, and wasnt there as a leader (thank god). He's not riding F-W, he's totally out of sorts, and he's certainly not riding Trentino.

Richmond Racer

chrisday wrote:

dave milne wrote:

why does everyone hate gerrans so much? class rider riding to his strengths

Ditto. Completely get people have random hatreds of various riders (I should know, I carry my Voekler-shaped chip on my shoulder with pride) but don't remember at all where the anti-Gerrans thing comes from.
FWIW, I quite like him, tho I do also find his face slightly disturbing.

His MSR win last year didnt make him too many new fans - some called it smart racing, but others wheelsucking.

He also has no neck. THAT is pretty disturbing.

dave milne

I agree his neck is pretty odd. last year's MSR was class, had the raw power to stay on cancellara's wheel up the poggio and on the descent then put out 1100W in the sprint (i think I read that somewhere) afterwards to beat him

smithy21

He doesnt appeal to the panache seekers on here. I am sure he can live with it.

Richmond Racer

smithy21 wrote:

He doesnt appeal to the panache seekers on here. I am sure he can live with it.

With his palmares, I'm sure he can!

greasedscotsman

It was kinda funny watching Valverde and Gerrans trying to bridge up to Gilbert.

gsvbagpuss

I enjoyed the race, shame that Valverde drgged his way up and JRod wasn't there at the sharp end but an exciting watch.

Magnus Backstedt made another good commentary contribution. Like Millar at last years WC, a more recent pro has much more interesting anecdotes and insights than someone who stopped riding 20 years ago (and his Irish accent does grate on me!)

Tom Butcher

Each to their own - personally I find Backstedt less insightful than the other Eurosport pundits like Kelly and Smith.

mroli

I don't like Gerrans because he does nothing to make a race. He is obviously a class rider, but does nothing to force a selection, to make things interesting, to attack, to put his rivals into a bit of pain. Yesterday was a prime example - Gilbert lit it up, too late to catch K, but if a race was full of riders like Gerrans then they would be run at 10km/h with no-one ever taking a turn on the front.

I freely admit he is a strong, smart rider with a good palmares who won't give a monkeys about what a lot of internet idiots think about him, but Cadel became a much more interesting, attractive rider when he became more attacking and I think Gerrans would too.

Please feel free to correct me and point me to the many examples of him lighting it up, but I just can't remember any (and I don't remember him acting as an amazing domestique/making the break etc where there is no chance of a win for him)

greasedscotsman

mroli wrote:

I freely admit he is a strong, smart rider with a good palmares who won't give a monkeys about what a lot of internet idiots think about him, but Cadel became a much more interesting, attractive rider when he became more attacking and I think Gerrans would too.

If you accept that Evans is a clean rider, surely he wasn't able to attack more in the earlier part of his career as he was riding against doped up riders. It's not as if he decided one day he could attack rather than just hang on.

Anyway, I have no problem with Gerrans. He rides to his abilities. He isn't as good a rider as Gilbert and if he rode like he does, he wouldn't win anything. Sure, I don't want a bunch full of riders like Gerrans (or Valverde), but then I don't want to see a bunch full of Voecklers!

danlikesbikes

greasedscotsman wrote:

but then I don't want to see a bunch full of Voecklers!

Would be far to much gurning for the watching fans to live with I think..... oh right you didn't quite mean that, sorry.