2018 classics thread

rick_chasey

Vino'sGhost wrote:

andyp wrote:

Vino'sGhost wrote:

LOL Valverdes not a wheelsucker,

I know you make a habit of posting sh!te on here, but this is the best one yet.

I know you believe you know everything but I cant imagine youve seen some of his recent wins.

inseine

RichN95 wrote:

A-Level cycling essay topic.

Sagan. He wins the Worlds. He doesn't win the Monuments. Discuss.

To be honest i've always thought Sagan was a smart rider and his worlds wins bore out this. Riders and DSs know how the monuments pan out and how to win them whereas the Worlds are obviously on unique courses so riders have to think on their feet more. They also show his breadth of talents.

m.r.m.

Rick Chasey wrote:

Vino'sGhost wrote:

andyp wrote:

Vino'sGhost wrote:

LOL Valverdes not a wheelsucker,

I know you make a habit of posting sh!te on here, but this is the best one yet.

I know you believe you know everything but I cant imagine youve seen some of his recent wins.

Hahaha Hat!

m.r.m.

inseine wrote:

RichN95 wrote:

A-Level cycling essay topic.

Sagan. He wins the Worlds. He doesn't win the Monuments. Discuss.

To be honest i've always thought Sagan was a smart rider and his worlds wins bore out this. Riders and DSs know how the monuments pan out and how to win them whereas the Worlds are obviously on unique courses so riders have to think on their feet more. They also show his breadth of talents.

While you certainly have a point I think it is more down to what Rich wrote. Belgium and other strong nations did the brunt of the work in those races and he benefitted at the very end. Boonen even said as much in his recent interview where he told Sagan to stop complaining.

No_Ta_Doctor

EDIT: this was meant for the P-R thread, but can pobably live here just as well. Except Ricks excellent posts on QS setup aren't "above" any more...

Just watched Stannard's 2015 OHN win again, and the QS failure is very different to the failures Rick describes above. That looked far more lack of cohesion in the team, a classic case of too many chiefs. Why Boonen attacked instead of Terpstra is a bit of a mystery, and why Vandenbergh closed the gap when Terpstra attacked later can only be rationally explained by the fact he wasn't riding for QS the next season.

While I'm sure Boonen's retirement has changed the dynamic a lot this season it really feels like QS have finally managed to add some tactics to the firepower they've always had.

Vino'sGhost

No tA Doctor wrote:

EDIT: this was meant for the P-R thread, but can pobably live here just as well. Except Ricks excellent posts on QS setup aren't "above" any more...

Just watched Stannard's 2015 OHN win again, and the QS failure is very different to the failures Rick describes above. That looked far more lack of cohesion in the team, a classic case of too many chiefs. Why Boonen attacked instead of Terpstra is a bit of a mystery, and why Vandenbergh closed the gap when Terpstra attacked later can only be rationally explained by the fact he wasn't riding for QS the next season.

While I'm sure Boonen's retirement has changed the dynamic a lot this season it really feels like QS have finally managed to add some tactics to the firepower they've always had.

I think there might be something to that but also theres the power of confidence, we see it all the time in all sports and in all walks of life. I dont think theres too much different and if you try the same good idea eventually it pays off. even in the classics and we only need to acknowledge Nibalis win in La Primavera for an example.

I seem to remember a muddy dirty PR with three QS riders in the top three though non of them were recognisable.

pinno

Vino'sGhost wrote:

No tA Doctor wrote:

I seem to remember a muddy dirty PR with three QS riders in the top three though non of them were recognisable.

The Mapei QS lead in by Museeuw in strict order. Bit of a controversial one that one.

andyp

Pinno wrote:

Vino'sGhost wrote:

No tA Doctor wrote:

I seem to remember a muddy dirty PR with three QS riders in the top three though non of them were recognisable.

The Mapei QS lead in by Museeuw in strict order. Bit of a controversial one that one.

That was sunny. I think Vino's Ghost is referring to Knaven's victory in 2001, where he won alone ahead of Museeuw and Vainsteins, all of whom were riding for Domo-Farm Frites (Leferve's then sponsors).

RichN95.

andyp wrote:

Pinno wrote:

Vino'sGhost wrote:

No tA Doctor wrote:

I seem to remember a muddy dirty PR with three QS riders in the top three though non of them were recognisable.

The Mapei QS lead in by Museeuw in strict order. Bit of a controversial one that one.

That was sunny. I think Vino's Ghost is referring to Knaven's victory in 2001, where he won alone ahead of Museeuw and Vainsteins, all of whom were riding for Domo-Farm Frites (Leferve's then sponsors).

This is them. Hincapie, who came fourth, followed by Museeuw and Knaven

RichN95.

No tA Doctor wrote:

Just watched Stannard's 2015 OHN win again, and the QS failure is very different to the failures Rick describes above. That looked far more lack of cohesion in the team, a classic case of too many chiefs. Why Boonen attacked instead of Terpstra is a bit of a mystery, and why Vandenbergh closed the gap when Terpstra attacked later can only be rationally explained by the fact he wasn't riding for QS the next season.

I think they thought they had the race in the bag and were trying to give the win to Boonen as it was the only classic he hadn't won (and never did) while he didn't have great legs that day.

rick_chasey

RichN95 wrote:

No tA Doctor wrote:

Just watched Stannard's 2015 OHN win again, and the QS failure is very different to the failures Rick describes above. That looked far more lack of cohesion in the team, a classic case of too many chiefs. Why Boonen attacked instead of Terpstra is a bit of a mystery, and why Vandenbergh closed the gap when Terpstra attacked later can only be rationally explained by the fact he wasn't riding for QS the next season.

I think they thought they had the race in the bag and were trying to give the win to Boonen as it was the only classic he hadn't won (and never did) while he didn't have great legs that day.

Yeah.

I think the main factors were

1) Stannard was the strongest of the 4 who were away.

2) With numbers come responsibility - the 3 QS guys had to fend off the chasers and had all ridden hard for 40km to keep Sep & greg etc at bay. Standard had, by comparison, 40km of just sitting on.


I think the poor QS tactics come a distant 3rd, tbh.

You could also argue the case for missing ear-pieces. QS guys probably rode harder in the final 40km than they needed to because they didn't get regular updates.

pinno

RichN95 wrote:

Back in the day when they interviewed riders in the shower. When did that quirky* custom stop?

*Probably not that quirky just very non British.

RichN95.

Pinno wrote:

Back in the day when they interviewed riders in the shower. When did that stop?

When buses got better showers than a 19th century men's club. And when everyone got a phone that could take a cheeky dick pic.

pinno

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8v0DBPjWDwg

pinno

Ha ha. That will 'please' a few.

Terpstra even managed to drop GVA on the way in.

Just out of curiosity, Terpstra averaged just under 31mph for the last 16k's solo in RVV and Sagan and co. averaged 27mph over the last 30k's.

ddraver

Rick Chasey wrote:

RichN95 wrote:

No tA Doctor wrote:

Just watched Stannard's 2015 OHN win again, and the QS failure is very different to the failures Rick describes above. That looked far more lack of cohesion in the team, a classic case of too many chiefs. Why Boonen attacked instead of Terpstra is a bit of a mystery, and why Vandenbergh closed the gap when Terpstra attacked later can only be rationally explained by the fact he wasn't riding for QS the next season.

I think they thought they had the race in the bag and were trying to give the win to Boonen as it was the only classic he hadn't won (and never did) while he didn't have great legs that day.

Yeah.

I think the main factors were

1) Stannard was the strongest of the 4 who were away.

2) With numbers come responsibility - the 3 QS guys had to fend off the chasers and had all ridden hard for 40km to keep Sep & greg etc at bay. Standard had, by comparison, 40km of just sitting on.


I think the poor QS tactics come a distant 3rd, tbh.

You could also argue the case for missing ear-pieces. QS guys probably rode harder in the final 40km than they needed to because they didn't get regular updates.

I think Stannard had actually cracked when VDB pulled him back up. It was a comically stupid bit of riding from the big man.

rick_chasey

Brabantse pijl on Wed (presumably).

Vino'sGhost

RichN95 wrote:

andyp wrote:

Pinno wrote:

Vino'sGhost wrote:

No tA Doctor wrote:

I seem to remember a muddy dirty PR with three QS riders in the top three though non of them were recognisable.

The Mapei QS lead in by Museeuw in strict order. Bit of a controversial one that one.

That was sunny. I think Vino's Ghost is referring to Knaven's victory in 2001, where he won alone ahead of Museeuw and Vainsteins, all of whom were riding for Domo-Farm Frites (Leferve's then sponsors).

This is them. Hincapie, who came fourth, followed by Museeuw and Knaven

that is an epic picture one of the all time greats

rick_chasey

Hincape?

:roll:

rick_chasey

So who were your top riders of the flat classics season?

pinno

Terpstra.

...and you have to put in a mention for Sylvan Dillier. Good future methinks.

tailwindhome

Marcus Burghardt

bobmcstuff

Pinno wrote:

Terpstra.

...and you have to put in a mention for Sylvan Dillier. Good future methinks.

Pedersen put in a similarly good ride in RvV.

ContrelaMontre

Rick Chasey wrote:

So who were your top riders of the flat classics season?

Nibali

bobmcstuff

For me, Dillier, Pedersen and Wout van Aert - we all knew WvA was good but I think how good he was over 270km was impressive

Sun Dodger

Sagan & Terpstra - 2 big classics each. #3 either WvA or Pedersen - can't decide which of these two....

kingstongraham

Terpstra with two and a half wins including a monument plus a monument podium takes some beating.

ShutupJens

Sep for consistency. If Sagan is someone who could benefit from switching teams, Sep definitely is

Thumbs down for BMC

pinno

BMC have had a howler.

m.r.m.

BMC and Katusha and Sunweb disappointing. Sky as usual only caring about stage races (albeit people still argue that point here ). The big 4 disappointing teams for the cobbled season for me.

EF Cannondale notable positive mention. P-R saved them a bit with Sep 6th and Phinney 8th. Trek has too much money invested in Degenkolb. They have 2 solid contenders in Stuyven and Pedersen. They should get WVA.

Rider of the cobbled season has been Terpstra. Has clearly vaulted himself into a leading man (captain) for the cobbled season. Sagan is close second.