Fleche Wallone 2018 Spoilers

inseine

M.R.M. wrote:

Amazing 5th for Matthews

I didn't see the race, but was it amazing? Seems like the sort of finish that suits him and he was one of the favorites. Good result though

milton50

Wow. I went on Procyclingstats expecting to see the inevitable result and couldn't believe someone other than Valverde had won for the first time in 5 years.

Pretty impressive from Matthews.

rick_chasey

Why is Matthews impressive?

He’s won on steep hill finishes before.

Or have expectations dropped?

Vanenderdt’s ride was better giving he was supposed to be leading out Wellens and just kept going. He’d even done some chasing beforehand.

Doesn’t speak English much mind.

bobmcstuff

I assumed given the limited number of pages Valverde had done it again, happy-ish to be surprised (2nd is still worth good PTP points, but I an having an absolute shocker...)

dolan_driver

Good win by Alaphilipe and thank God Valverde's grip on this race has finally been broken.

DD.

mididoctors

shame it still came down to the sprint thou the punch up on the multiple circuits had an effect on the outcome. movistar defo got beaten up. a fresher Landa could have moved Valverde up on the climb.

milton50

Rick Chasey wrote:

Why is Matthews impressive?

He’s won on steep hill finishes before.

Or have expectations dropped?

He's won on some steep hills in GT stages before. I remember the Rodez victory. Can't remember any of the others.

Didn't expect him to be 2 seconds off Valverde on the Mur De Huy though.

ShutupJens

Yeah I was surprised at that by Matthews, good ride. Obviously a top tier "punchy sprinter" but I thought the Mur would be too much for him compared to the specialists

poptart242

Definitely agree with that statement, obviously he's a very good sprinter-who-can-climb but the Mur is another level.

m.r.m.

Rick Chasey wrote:

Why is Matthews impressive?

Or have expectations dropped?

Mostly this for me

thegibdog

Poptart242 wrote:

Vandendert led out Wellens so well he took third, no idea if Wellens even held on to the top ten.

In hindsight it would've been interesting if Wellens had worked for Vanendert.

knedlicky

Dolan Driver wrote:

Good win by Alaphilipe and thank God Valverde's grip on this race has finally been broken.

Valverde's post-race remarks:

"There was a lot of chaos* towards the end and it was difficut for us to keep control of things. I was too far back on the last climb and, although we knew our main competitor would be Alaphilippe, he attacked earlier than we expected. I'm in no way disappointed. If I'd won again, it would have seemed too simple, and people need to know that it's never easy to manage a win. Alaphilippe was always an impressive rider. Chapeau to him.“

* I think he's referring to Nibali's attack and also Quick-Step rider Schachmann being up front, forcing Movistar to do much of the work behind.

m.r.m.

Probably the classiest post race/game interview I've ever read

rick_chasey

Vanendert is a bit of an enigma.

On his day he can be really very good.

inseine

M.R.M. wrote:

Probably the classiest post race/game interview I've ever read

If it weren't for his ban he'd possibly be my favorit rider. I still love to watch him (and listen to him!)

thegibdog

M.R.M. wrote:

Probably the classiest post race/game interview I've ever read

I assume that in the full interview he praises Landa for the huge amount of work he did and apologises to his teammates for not being able to finish it off.

milton50

He's pure class on the bike and probably a quite an amiable bloke off it.

rick_chasey

thegibdog wrote:

M.R.M. wrote:

Probably the classiest post race/game interview I've ever read

I assume that in the full interview he praises Landa for the huge amount of work he did and apologises to his teammates for not being able to finish it off.

He’s supposed to be a phenomenal team motivator.

To the point the DS’s will suck up the ego in the TdF when Quintana is riding because he just can’t motivate like Pitti does.


APPARENTLY

shirley_basso

I was thinking 'I wonder how gracious he was in defeat'?. Great snippet.

dave milne

valverde comes across as all round top guy. I will never truly warm to him though for obviously puerto and his refusal to admit anything and the amount of races where he's refused to stick his nose in the wind

philbar72

Rick Chasey wrote:

Vanendert is a bit of an enigma.

On his day he can be really very good.

bang on form this year though. can be very inconsistent.

as for the race, hat tipped to Allaphilipe, he's probably put himself in the driving seat for Liege. Valverde could not have clawed that back, and was slightly too far back.

Just read Valverde's comments, he's pretty pragmatic.

poptart242

I view pro cycling as entertainment these days instead of worrying about the doping angle, so I've no worries about Valverde being an absolute baller. Landa was superb yesterday too, can imagine he really looks up to him.

Matthews was quite funny on social media last night, congratulating Gilbert on the win.

andyp

Rick Chasey wrote:

Vanendert is a bit of an enigma.

On his day he can be really very good.

He's very talented. But can't cope with the pressures of leadership so chooses to ride in a support role.

ShutupJens

andyp wrote:

Rick Chasey wrote:

Vanendert is a bit of an enigma.

On his day he can be really very good.

He's very talented. But can't cope with the pressures of leadership so chooses to ride in a support role.

Interesting, given that he's ridden the tour a few times with Lotto (and Zubeldia'd into solid placings aswell iirc?), you'd think surely that he'd jump at an opportunity to ride for a genuine GC hitter?

Edit - not done much in Grand tours aside from stage wins but snuck onto the podium a couple of times in Amstel

RichN95.

ShutupJens wrote:

Interesting, given that he's ridden the tour a few times with Lotto (and Zubeldia'd into solid placings aswell iirc?), you'd think surely that he'd jump at an opportunity to ride for a genuine GC hitter?

Some riders just don't want the pressure. I remember reading about how Sean Yates was physically not too far from Indurain, but just didn't have willingness for it.

I remember Stephen Fry telling a story about working on a film which starred John Travolta (back in 90s). The rest of the cast had a great time making it but Travolta seemed not to be enjoying himself. Robert Duvall, who was also on the film, explained to Fry that while this was all good fun for them, the success or failure of the film would be put on Travolta.

Leadership comes with expectations, and many riders know that they'll ride better and get some decent results without pressure.

ShutupJens

RichN95 wrote:

ShutupJens wrote:

Interesting, given that he's ridden the tour a few times with Lotto (and Zubeldia'd into solid placings aswell iirc?), you'd think surely that he'd jump at an opportunity to ride for a genuine GC hitter?

Some riders just don't want the pressure. I remember reading about how Sean Yates was physically not too far from Indurain, but just didn't have willingness for it.

I remember Stephen Fry telling a story about working on a film which starred John Travolta (back in 90s). The rest of the cast had a great time making it but Travolta seemed not to be enjoying himself. Robert Duvall, who was also on the film, explained to Fry that while this was all good fun for them, the success or failure of the film would be put on Travolta.

Leadership comes with expectations, and many riders know that they'll ride better and get some decent results without pressure.

What I meant though was that if he liked non-leadership roles then I thought he might be better off as a bodyguard for say, Dumoulin rather than being the best GC rider on Lotto

m.r.m.

Only if the pay is either equal or close

andyp

ShutupJens wrote:

What I meant though was that if he liked non-leadership roles then I thought he might be better off as a bodyguard for say, Dumoulin rather than being the best GC rider on Lotto

He's in his tenth season with Lotto Soudal, he clearly likes it there, and they clearly appreciate what he does for the team. Maybe that's enough.

takethehighroad

andyp wrote:

ShutupJens wrote:

What I meant though was that if he liked non-leadership roles then I thought he might be better off as a bodyguard for say, Dumoulin rather than being the best GC rider on Lotto

He's in his tenth season with Lotto Soudal, he clearly likes it there, and they clearly appreciate what he does for the team. Maybe that's enough.

Tiesj Benoot is Lotto's best GC rider isn't he? Top 10 (or thereabouts) in the Dauphine last year