Gent - Wevelgem *spoilers*
Comments
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RichN95 wrote:
Bale actually did play hockey for them as a kid.Pross wrote:Bad weekend for Whitchurch. 2nd in a hockey match, 3rd in a bike race. Lucky Bale upheld their honour!
Also, in Wales, don't we count Friday afternoon as the weekend?
We count Thursday evening as the start of the weekend.0 -
What a great race.
The folk in Flanders seem to have a special take on life... Maybe it's all the death that's happened in the region in the world wars...
A brass band and tractor corridor en route to Purgatory... That's how I want go.
LP was the one geezer other than Geraint I wanted to win from that group...0 -
Mild, not much wind, perhaps one or two showers, on Sunday.Rick Chasey wrote:Great race.
What's the forecast for next week?
But plenty of rain during the week, so at least the roads will be greasy0 -
Cal_Stewart wrote:ThomThom wrote:Cal_Stewart wrote:Didn't enjoy today. It was just a who's the hardest comp for the final selection and I think the others lost it over Paolini winning it. Far from a classic.
It's normally a sprinter's stage this. You do realise that, eh?
Like love the classics however I just couldn't get into it today. The weather forced the selection more than rider skill. E3 was a great deal better to watch.
Nearly correct. This was absolutely fascinating, and some of the work done by the top 6, and Roelandts was awe inspiring.0 -
Has to be said Vandenberg is pretty brainless. Sure, he's strong, but some of the moves he made were completely counterproductive for etixx.0
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Re: Gent - Wevelgem *spoilers*
Postby RichN95 » 29 Mar 2015 19:51
Is there a better domestique than Paolini?
Well deserved win for the man.
Yes, his riding was out of this world.0 -
Contador is the Greatest0 -
FJS wrote:Apparently Wiggins asked the race director to neutralise the race
http://sporza.be/cm/sporza/wielrennen/1.2287560
'One of the best races ever', according to 1980s Flandrien Eddy Planckaert
Would just reiterate my comments on him.
Plus add that I hope he DNF Roubaix. If conditions are bad there is he going to ask it to be neutralized. Lightweight.
Suck on some real classic riders:
Stannard another who DNF
Needs to sort himself out very quickly.Contador is the Greatest0 -
Great race! First I did my own tour of 150km a little to the north (mud, rain, wind), and then I really enjoyed watching G-W. This is cycling as I like it. Still a little curious why these guys still ride high rims with such a cross winds. They're lightweights (riders), and the sponsor has other rims as well.0
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Paolini was involved in a crash earlier in the race:
or two:
as was Sagan:
Excellent photos here:
http://www.nieuwsblad.be/sportwereld/cn ... ?#photosetContador is the Greatest0 -
39 FINISHERS ONLY !!!
Got to be close to the record.
Note that Theuns and Wallays finished.
Respect to all these guys:
# Rider Name (Country) Team Result
1 Luca Paolini (Ita) Team Katusha 6:20:55
2 Niki Terpstra (Ned) Etixx - Quick-Step 0:00:11
3 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Sky
4 Stijn Vandenbergh (Bel) Etixx - Quick-Step 0:00:18
5 Jens Debusschere (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:00:26
6 Sep Vanmarcke (Bel) Team LottoNL-Jumbo 0:00:40
7 Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:01:51
8 Daniel Oss (Ita) BMC Racing Team 0:04:15
9 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Team Katusha 0:06:54
10 Peter Sagan (Svk) Tinkoff-Saxo
11 Edward Theuns (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise
12 Aleksei Tcatevich (Rus) Team Katusha
13 Juan Jose Lobato Del Valle (Spa) Movistar Team
14 Zico Waeytens (Bel) Team Giant-Alpecin
15 Arnaud Demare (Fra) FDJ.fr
16 Jean-Pierre Drucker (Lux) BMC Racing Team
17 Scott Thwaites (GBr) Bora-Argon 18
18 Mathew Hayman (Aus) Orica GreenEdge
19 Florian Senechal (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
20 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) IAM Cycling
21 Björn Leukemans (Bel) Wanty - Groupe Gobert
22 Laurens De Vreese (Bel) Astana Pro Team
23 Eugert Zhupa (Alb) Southeast Pro Cycling
24 Grégory Rast (Swi) Trek Factory Racing
25 Gerald Ciolek (Ger) MTN - Qhubeka
26 Tom Van Asbroeck (Bel) Team LottoNL-Jumbo
27 Marco Marcato (Ita) Wanty - Groupe Gobert
28 Matteo Trentin (Ita) Etixx - Quick-Step
29 Christian Knees (Ger) Team Sky
30 Andriy Grivko (Ukr) Astana Pro Team
31 Manuel Quinziato (Ita) BMC Racing Team
32 Oliver Naesen (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise
33 Nikolas Maes (Bel) Etixx - Quick-Step
34 Jens Keukeleire (Bel) Orica GreenEdge 0:07:00
35 Bram Tankink (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo 0:07:03
36 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing Team
37 Jelle Wallays (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise 0:07:06
38 Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Etixx - Quick-Step
39 Maarten Tjallingii (Ned) Team LottoNL-JumboContador is the Greatest0 -
The big question is, who has Vandenberg or Terpstra on their My Man teams?
Big points loss for them, pair of bloody idiots.Warning No formatter is installed for the format0 -
No tA Doctor wrote:The big question is, who has Vandenberg or Terpstra on their My Man teams?
Big points loss for them, pair of bloody idiots.
“We had Stijn in front but he never won a race [Vandenbergh won a stage and the overall in the Tour of Ireland in 2007]. In the next group we had Trentin, Stybar, Terpstra and Nikolas [Maes]. With Stijn we were chanceless. With Terpstra in the group our situation improved."
“Tersptra is a weird rider. He’s often fighting back from behind. He’s making so many efforts in an echelon race. He’s always burning so many matches. That seems to be his style. He seems to die but then he attacks,” Lefevere said.
On Cavendish:
“We were three times unlucky. One time before the Moeren flatlands when someone rides into his rear wheel. He rode past all the echelons together with Alexander Kristoff. The latter didn’t recover from that too. Paolini was there too. He broke his fork but he bounced back from that,” Lefevere said about the eventual winner.
“Then we put the whole team in front at the cobbles in Izenberge. Then Martin Velits sweeps away due to a wind gust and the whole team is on the ground. He has to chase again. He comes back and then Geraint Thomas rides into his front wheel at the Cassel. He receives a wheel from Stijn [Vandenbergh].”
On his team:
“We lost our team leader so the racing style is more nervous. I’m not telling any secrets when I say that. Boonen is someone who brings a peace of mind in the team. Now they all want to win a race and that results in nervousness among the group. We lose our leaders in the descent of the Poggio during Milan-San Remo. Our bad luck should stop.”Contador is the Greatest0 -
MY MAN - Il Gerva!!! What a ride... so pleased for him! Head and heart indeed...
Cracking race. Had to break off lunch as I turned to have it on in the background just as Thomas took a flyer...
Enjoyed the tractors too. Did someone say we're going to have them at every Belgian race?0 -
frenchfighter wrote:39 FINISHERS ONLY !!!
11 Edward Theuns (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise
19 Florian Senechal (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
Good riding from two neo pros in pro conti teams0 -
"I am really happy today! I did not expect this, because we came here to help Alex (Kristoff), who proved to be in good shape. But in one moment he said he didn’t feel so strong today and told me to try for myself. It was a very hard day with all the bad weather. I crashed two times and I had to change the bike twice, but I still had the power to stay in front. In the final I knew I had to avoid the sprint, because I am not too fast in the sprint. I knew I had to attack. With 6 km to go I tried to attack with 50% of my power to watch the reaction from the others. Nobody answered so I went for 100%. I had luck on my side and I won. Maybe this is the best victory in my career. I want to thank my family, my wife and children for their support and patience, and I want to thank my team, where I feel like we’re family. The team provided us with a very good training program in the winter and I was able to get into great shape.I am super happy today," said Gent – Wevelgem winner Luca Paolini.
"I was able to catch them, even though it cost me a lot. I tried my best to recover at that point. Then I had another flat tire in another key moment. But OK, even with these things in my legs already, I have to say Paolini deserved the victory today. He was already going so fast when he attacked and there was a tailwind. We would have had to do almost 65 kilometers per hour to catch him. It was really hard. He simply did the right attack in a good moment," said Terpstra.Contador is the Greatest0 -
SpecialGuestStar wrote:
That's some great footage. I find those conditions utterly terrifying. It really isn't fun having the bike literally blown out from under you. You can try all you like but when you have such little control it isn't fun. I'm glad I abandoned my ride yesterday when I did.
I have to say though I don't begrudge people who DNF yesterday. What would have been the point if you didn't make the selection in the winds at about 120k to go? Stay on and risk getting blown off and breaking something just for the title of 'hard man' from some internet forum people? Nah, not worth it in my risk calculation.Correlation is not causation.0 -
So some are saying 'great race'. I would agree.
For those who thought it was boring or not very interesting:
-is a strong wind any different to a difficult hill or cobbled section? They are all 'conditions' of a race afterall.
-was it just the wrong winner? A domestique, not a superstar? Wrong team even?
Seriously, what more could you want?! Displays of strength, tactics, testing race conditions...0 -
EKIMIKE wrote:So some are saying 'great race'. I would agree.
For those who thought it was boring or not very interesting:
-is a strong wind any different to a difficult hill or cobbled section? They are all 'conditions' of a race afterall.
-was it just the wrong winner? A domestique, not a superstar? Wrong team even?
Seriously, what more could you want?! Displays of strength, tactics, testing race conditions...
Agreed. How on earth could anyone find that boring - it was supposed to be a sprinters race with a bunch finish, and it turned into fascinating race in brutal conditions where right up until the last couple of KM any of the final selection could have won it.0 -
Thwaites had a good ride. I was surprised that Stannard and Rowe missed out on the front groups, I would have thought those conditions really suited them. Which team rode on the front to cause the initial splits or was it purely the weather and anyone not near the front got caught out?
You have to laugh at Lefevre - Cav crashes twice, the first one is apparently due to someone else catching his back wheel whilst the second is someone taking his front wheel. Surely only one of those can be the other riders fault?0 -
A bit like cricket, some people prefer the one-day game to multi-day ones; others can only watch edited highlights. I suppose it's possible the landscape may have had an inluence - flat Belgium isn't as photogenic as, e.g. Corsica.NorvernRob wrote:EKIMIKE wrote:So some are saying 'great race'. I would agree.
For those who thought it was boring or not very interesting:
-is a strong wind any different to a difficult hill or cobbled section? They are all 'conditions' of a race afterall.
-was it just the wrong winner? A domestique, not a superstar? Wrong team even?
Seriously, what more could you want?! Displays of strength, tactics, testing race conditions...
Agreed. How on earth could anyone find that boring - it was supposed to be a sprinters race with a bunch finish, and it turned into fascinating race in brutal conditions where right up until the last couple of KM any of the final selection could have won it.0 -
Pross wrote:Thwaites had a good ride. I was surprised that Stannard and Rowe missed out on the front groups, I would have thought those conditions really suited them. Which team rode on the front to cause the initial splits or was it purely the weather and anyone not near the front got caught out?
You have to laugh at Lefevre - Cav crashes twice, the first one is apparently due to someone else catching his back wheel whilst the second is someone taking his front wheel. Surely only one of those can be the other riders fault?
As people were literally getting blown off their bikes yesterday I think that luck as much as anything determined the outcome for the majority of the field yesterday.Correlation is not causation.0 -
I'm not 100% sure but I think the conditions were far more to blame for the splits than any deliberate team effort. Even with 120-130k to go it was in pieces. There was a long, long section of exposed straight road where the wind was coming in from the side and it looked incredibly difficult to deal with. Most people seemed to be more concerned about staying upright than anything else. If you look at some of the footage from that point it's hard to see any single team you could say was "in control"! It was Vandenbergh/EQS who made the move that formed the group who eventually got away though.Pross wrote:Thwaites had a good ride. I was surprised that Stannard and Rowe missed out on the front groups, I would have thought those conditions really suited them. Which team rode on the front to cause the initial splits or was it purely the weather and anyone not near the front got caught out?0 -
Contador is the Greatest0 -
Yep eventual decisive split was VDB when his apparent team leader had a puncture, well timed attack you might say.
*With his earpiece out at the time.It's not so much about winning, I just hate losing.0 -
Maybe this is the best victory in my career.
High praise indeed for an Italian who has won a Giro stage.0 -
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Rick Chasey wrote:Milton50 wrote:Maybe this is the best victory in my career.
High praise indeed for an Italian who has won a Giro stage.
Stage win < any classic.
Yeah, even just talking the GTs there are 60 stages a year on offer. On the other hand I suppose alp d'huez beats Paris-Tours
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Well, I've just waded through the whole lot.
Certainly a unique race and far, far more interesting than the average Gent Wevelgem.
Everybody marking Geraint now.
Great ride from Roelandts. Canny ride from the old beard.
Interestingly, Cav's comment about Etix lacking leader focus without Boonan gets highlighted again.
Terpstra perhaps not everyone's glass of Duvel..............or maybe that should read anyone's."Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.0
