2015 Amstel Gold Race *** Spoiler ***

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Comments

  • keydon
    keydon Posts: 144
    Above The Cows wrote:
    Nibbles not ready to give up yet. Puts in a dig. Big Tone just carries on spinning and Nibbles can't get away.


    In other news, why does Valverde always look like he has a dirty face?



    That's just his honesty shining true, thankfully it was anybody but Piti!!
  • milton50
    milton50 Posts: 3,856
    FJS wrote:
    Milton50 wrote:
    This is my favourite race of the three "ardennes" classics but the finish is just a bit too far from the Cauberg now.
    Don't agree. Makes it much more interesting as far as I'm concerned. Finish at the top of the Cauberg made it just a Fleche-like hillpsrint

    No I absolutely agree that it shouldn't be right at the top of the Cauberg but at the moment it's just a bit too long. There were 30 or so riders in that sprint - too many for my liking.
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,667
    Ah my man Kwia wins it.

    That was a proper exciting end to a bike race. I think the left in to the Caulberg is my favourite corner in procycling.

    Great move, made sure he was always in someones draft when he launched his sprint.
  • above_the_cows
    above_the_cows Posts: 11,406
    I am reassessing my feelings about the new finish line...
    Correlation is not causation.
  • Paul 8v
    Paul 8v Posts: 5,458
    Longest 2km ever! I thought Valverde was going to do his normal thing so I was swearing at the telly but thankfully it came back together!

    I never get that excited by the Amstel Gold for some reason, not sure if I'm in the minority. Possibly because I associate it with a horrible beer!
    Road
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  • bobmcstuff
    bobmcstuff Posts: 11,435
    My internet cut out at 2km to go and fortunately just came back for the finish line.

    Sky internet, just like Sky cycling = slightly disappointing.
  • above_the_cows
    above_the_cows Posts: 11,406
    To continue a conversation from another thread, do we reckon Kwia would wave at you if you saw him out on a ride?

    I reckon he would.
    Correlation is not causation.
  • thomthom
    thomthom Posts: 3,574
    Fell asleep. Cool win though by Kwia.
  • above_the_cows
    above_the_cows Posts: 11,406
    Yuck. Valverde's watch is yuck.
    Correlation is not causation.
  • hammerite
    hammerite Posts: 3,408
    Above The Cows wrote:
    To continue a conversation from another thread, do we reckon Kwia would wave at you if you saw him out on a ride?

    I reckon he would.

    Anyone with the nickname of Flowerman would wave at everybody.
  • above_the_cows
    above_the_cows Posts: 11,406
    hammerite wrote:
    Above The Cows wrote:
    To continue a conversation from another thread, do we reckon Kwia would wave at you if you saw him out on a ride?

    I reckon he would.

    Anyone with the nickname of Flowerman would wave at everybody.

    This is good to know. I can now enjoy my non-Amstel Paasij in the sun happy.
    Correlation is not causation.
  • tailwindhome
    tailwindhome Posts: 19,436
    Panache retweeted

    Tim Liew ‏@timliew · 6m6 minutes ago  Thatcham, England
    Random stat: today the first time since LBL 2013 that any Ardennes classic has finished with someone other than Dani Moreno in 9th #AGR


    I don't even care if that's true or false.
    Stat-tastic
    “New York has the haircuts, London has the trousers, but Belfast has the reason!
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 75,661
    Kiwa played that like a seasoned prof.

    Matthews went very deep to stay with Phil Gil, Kiwa didn't go super deep.

    Bmc terrible lead out.

    Better finish location.
    _
  • Mad_Malx
    Mad_Malx Posts: 5,182
    That was very impressive. Looked like he was out of it at 2k, but had enough confidence to wait for a tow back. Impressively invisible before the final sprint.
    Won a few now with a finish 1km or so after a hill, either by dropping the climbers on the slope or having enough left to take on the sprinters.
  • frenchfighter
    frenchfighter Posts: 30,642
    Woo Kwiatek win is always worth celebrating but not a way of winning worth writing home about. My men in 1st, 2nd and 7th. Thank goodness that aussie sprinter didnt win. This race is pretty weak as it is so finishing it not at the top of the Cauberg is awful. 20 up bunch sprint after 6.5 hrs = failed race or poor parcours.
    Contador is the Greatest
  • hammerite
    hammerite Posts: 3,408
    frenchfighter wrote:
    Woo Kwiatek win is always worth celebrating but not a way of winning worth writing home about. My men in 1st, 2nd and 7th. Thank goodness that aussie sprinter didnt win. This race is pretty weak as it is so finishing it not at the top of the Cauberg is awful. 20 up bunch sprint after 6.5 hrs = failed race or poor parcours.

    Agreed, the last 20k isn't tough enough. The way the race zig zags around the countryside they could quite easily reconfigure the course so that the don't use that last finishing circuit. The organisers just seem desperate to use the Cauberg as many times as possible.
  • RonB
    RonB Posts: 3,984
    Amstel Gold Race 2015 Results
    POL 1 KWIATKOWSKI, Michal (ETIXX - QUICK STEP) 6:31:49
    ESP 2 VALVERDE BELMONTE, Alejandro (MOVISTAR)
    AUS 3 MATTHEWS, Michael (ORICA GreenEDGE)
    POR 4 FARIA DA COSTA, Rui Alberto (LAMPRE - MERIDA)
    BEL 5 VAN AVERMAET, Greg (BMC RACING)
    FRA 6 GALLOPIN, Tony (LOTTO SOUDAL)
    FRA 7 ALAPHILIPPE, Julian (ETIXX - QUICK STEP)
    ITA 8 GASPAROTTO, Enrico (WANTY - GROUPE GOBERT)
    POL 9 PATERSKI, Maciej (CCC SPRANDI POLKOWICE)
    BEL 10 GILBERT, Philippe (BMC RACING)
  • blazing_saddles
    blazing_saddles Posts: 22,725
    Just finished watching.

    Overall, another gawd awful edition.
    Huge group left at the foot of the Cauberg.
    Ridiculously strong BMC manage to mirror the Etix cobbles calamity.

    250 odd kms to end in a group sprint.
    To cap it all off, Eurosport leave before any of the official results.
    A poor man's sport in their eyes.
    "Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.
  • ddraver
    ddraver Posts: 26,697
    ThomThom wrote:
    Fell asleep.

    Seems to be a theme this weekend, a slightly over large lunch and the sun streaming in through the door were too much for me
    We're in danger of confusing passion with incompetence
    - @ddraver
  • FJS
    FJS Posts: 4,820
    Blazing Saddles wrote:
    Just finished watching.

    Overall, another gawd awful edition.
    Huge group left at the foot of the Cauberg.
    Ridiculously strong BMC manage to mirror the Etix cobbles calamity.

    250 odd kms to end in a group sprint.
    To cap it all off, Eurosport leave before any of the official results.
    A poor man's sport in their eyes.
    Is a reduced group sprint in itself a bad thing? Plenty of things happening in the last hour. It wasn't epic, but at least some proper attacks from some decent names (Nibali, Kelderman, Tony) with 40 km to go, unlike Flanders and Roubaix
    BMC rode very differently from Etix. If Van Avermaet would have been allowed to ride with Fuglsang, BMC could have won
  • blazing_saddles
    blazing_saddles Posts: 22,725
    FJS wrote:
    Blazing Saddles wrote:
    Just finished watching.

    Overall, another gawd awful edition.
    Huge group left at the foot of the Cauberg.
    Ridiculously strong BMC manage to mirror the Etix cobbles calamity.

    250 odd kms to end in a group sprint.
    To cap it all off, Eurosport leave before any of the official results.
    A poor man's sport in their eyes.
    Is a reduced group sprint in itself a bad thing? Plenty of things happening in the last hour. It wasn't epic, but at least some proper attacks from some decent names (Nibali, Kelderman, Tony) with 40 km to go, unlike Flanders and Roubaix
    BMC rode very differently from Etix. If Van Avermaet would have been allowed to ride with Fuglsang, BMC could have won

    Pretty standard for those sort of attacks with the standard non cooperation result.
    GVA not being allowed to work with Fuglsang is another example of the prescribed nature of the race, if not the week.
    "Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.
  • tailwindhome
    tailwindhome Posts: 19,436
    Must be a great feeling to line up for a race and see that Big Tony is on your side.



    Mark Cavendish @MarkCavendish
    · 2h 2 hours ago
    Wow!! @michalkwiatek!!! Sheer class in #AmstelGoldRace! The overhead shot of him finding space in the group in the last 500m is impressive.
    “New York has the haircuts, London has the trousers, but Belfast has the reason!
  • hammerite
    hammerite Posts: 3,408
    Blazing Saddles wrote:
    To cap it all off, Eurosport leave before any of the official results.
    A poor man's sport in their eyes.

    Granted the coverage and commentary are sometimes a little off, but just look at all the racing they're showing over the next week (Amstel Gold, Flèche Wallonne, Tour of Turkey, Tour of Croatia and Liege Bastogne Liege). It's far from a poor man's sport.
  • philwint
    philwint Posts: 763
    Just finished watching. I thought there was plenty going on in the last 50k to provide entertainment. I was wishing Martin had worked a bit more with nibs - just because I like watching him tear it up. But he had beed doing a load of work on the fron for a long time before that break went.

    I like Kwia, so very pleased with the result.

    Dan Lloyd is almost good enough to counteract f*cking Kirby
    Phil

    www.philwinterbourne.co.uk
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 75,661
    Nothing wrong will falling asleep during a bike race!

    Part of the cycling experience. It lulls you to sleep like a lullaby like nothing else, and you naturally wake up at the interesting bits.
    _
  • Paul 8v
    Paul 8v Posts: 5,458
    Rick Chasey wrote:
    Nothing wrong will falling asleep during a bike race!

    Part of the cycling experience. It lulls you to sleep like a lullaby like nothing else, and you naturally wake up at the interesting bits.
    Sean Kelly (Bless him) is the best at making me fall to sleep. Every time, especially if I've got up early in the morning to squeeze a ride in so I'm already tired.
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  • thomthom
    thomthom Posts: 3,574
    Rick Chasey wrote:
    Nothing wrong will falling asleep during a bike race!

    Part of the cycling experience. It lulls you to sleep like a lullaby like nothing else, and you naturally wake up at the interesting bits.

    Nah, this rule only applies GT stages!
  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 43,463
    Rick Chasey wrote:
    Nothing wrong will falling asleep during a bike race!

    Part of the cycling experience. It lulls you to sleep like a lullaby like nothing else, and you naturally wake up at the interesting bits.

    Yep, lost track of the times I've dozed off to wake for the final 500m. Must be the change in commentary, unfortunately this means I wake every 5 minutes when Carlton is on - usually to see someone making a half hearted dig off the front or almost losing it on a corner.
  • kamil1891
    kamil1891 Posts: 658
    It's a great feeling seeing a World Champion winning a race of this caliber. Today's win was even more special as Kwiatek is my man and countryman! It was a really good day for Polish cycling, which is currently at its best, with a first and ninth place in the AGR, Domagalski (Raleigh Team) winning in Scotland and Bialoblocki (One Pro Cycling) in Ham Hill RR. :-)
  • adr82
    adr82 Posts: 4,002
    delete

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