104th Liège - Bastogne - Liège, 258.5kms :April 22nd 2018 *Spoilers*

13

Comments

  • lettingthedaysgoby
    lettingthedaysgoby Posts: 1,732
    Jungels is massive etc.
  • bobmcstuff
    bobmcstuff Posts: 11,444
    Woods into 2nd, great result. Looked really good throughout, surely due some wins.
  • inseine
    inseine Posts: 5,788
    Valverde didn't even bother sprinting : good for PTP ;)
    http://cyclinganddesign.blogspot.fr/
  • slim_boy_fat
    slim_boy_fat Posts: 1,810
    edited April 2018
    Great ride and great win for Jungels. QS absolutely bossing it again.

    Quite a few riders looking in good form for the Giro.
  • blazing_saddles
    blazing_saddles Posts: 22,730
    All three hilly races follow unusual scripts.
    Both Sunday races with a distinctly "B" list look.
    "Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.
  • Vino'sGhost
    Vino'sGhost Posts: 4,129
    Jungle drums :)
  • inseine
    inseine Posts: 5,788
    QS really have been amazing this spring. I suppose the season is over for them.
    http://cyclinganddesign.blogspot.fr/
  • bobmcstuff
    bobmcstuff Posts: 11,444
    inseine wrote:
    Valverde didn't even bother sprinting : good for PTP ;)

    I am having an absolute shocker, Valverde really hasn't helped.
  • inseine
    inseine Posts: 5,788
    bobmcstuff wrote:
    inseine wrote:
    Valverde didn't even bother sprinting : good for PTP ;)

    I am having an absolute shocker, Valverde really hasn't helped.

    If it makes you feel better, not sure anyone had the top three.
    http://cyclinganddesign.blogspot.fr/
  • Vino'sGhost
    Vino'sGhost Posts: 4,129
    Here come da jungle drums!
  • thegibdog
    thegibdog Posts: 2,106
    That was quite a good finale once it finally got going.

    I didn't expect Jungels to stay away but was obviously aided by the lack of any chase behind. Lotto, Bahrain, Sunweb and Mitchelton-Scott all had a couple of riders but only Astana chased. With a spare rider they could've looked to limit the gap on the flat and then used the final climb as a springboard to get across to Jungels. If someone like Vanendert had been 20s closer at the foot of the climb it would've been a different story.
    https://gibworth.mypixieset.com
  • mididoctors
    mididoctors Posts: 18,912
    that was a pretty impressive performance by jungels there.
    "If I was a 38 year old man, I definitely wouldn't be riding a bright yellow bike with Hello Kitty disc wheels, put it that way. What we're witnessing here is the world's most high profile mid-life crisis" Afx237vi Mon Jul 20, 2009 2:43 pm
  • nickice
    nickice Posts: 2,439
    One of the more interesting recent editions. To my mind one of the many problems with Fleche Wallonne and LBL is that they're just too deep into Wallonia where people are just not as passionate about cycling.. The Flemish make the races. Paris-Roubaix has that advantage of being right on the border.
  • Sun Dodger
    Sun Dodger Posts: 393
    Blazing Saddles wrote:
    All three hilly races follow unusual scripts.
    Both Sunday races with a distinctly "B" list look.

    So, both races didn't have the favorites on the podium.

    Not sure how this would make them B-list.
  • Sun Dodger
    Sun Dodger Posts: 393
    Great win for Jungels - he looks better on the bike than anyone else I can think of.

    Can't think why the teams with two in the following group didn't do anything to bring him back earlier.
  • jam1e
    jam1e Posts: 1,068
    I’m getting a bit bored of the winning move going clear and everyone just sitting up and hoping for the best. It seems to have happened a lot this year and it’s not something I’ve noticed as an issue previously.

    It’s not to take anything away from the various winners but what exactly were BM, MS and Sunweb actually hoping to achieve?
  • TheBigBean
    TheBigBean Posts: 22,029
    Sometimes the riders just don't have the legs to chase let along believe they can win.
  • mididoctors
    mididoctors Posts: 18,912
    edited April 2018
    ignore this...
    "If I was a 38 year old man, I definitely wouldn't be riding a bright yellow bike with Hello Kitty disc wheels, put it that way. What we're witnessing here is the world's most high profile mid-life crisis" Afx237vi Mon Jul 20, 2009 2:43 pm
  • mididoctors
    mididoctors Posts: 18,912
    TheBigBean wrote:
    Sometimes the riders just don't have the legs to chase let along believe they can win.

    the bunch(etto) couldn't bring back Bardet and Woods never mind jungels. anyone with the legs would have gone with them when they clipped off
    "If I was a 38 year old man, I definitely wouldn't be riding a bright yellow bike with Hello Kitty disc wheels, put it that way. What we're witnessing here is the world's most high profile mid-life crisis" Afx237vi Mon Jul 20, 2009 2:43 pm
  • thegibdog
    thegibdog Posts: 2,106
    Wellens had the legs to attack multiple times. Gasparotto and Pozzovivo had the legs to finish 5th & 6th.

    Anyway, that's all moot, it was a great ride by Jungels, attacking at the right time and being able to finish it off.
    https://gibworth.mypixieset.com
  • andyp
    andyp Posts: 10,576
    thegibdog wrote:
    Again, Wellens should've been working for Vanendert.

    He was, he set up Vanendert's attack on the Cote St Nicholas.
  • andyp
    andyp Posts: 10,576
    jam1e wrote:
    I’m getting a bit bored of the winning move going clear and everyone just sitting up and hoping for the best. It seems to have happened a lot this year and it’s not something I’ve noticed as an issue previously.

    It’s not to take anything away from the various winners but what exactly were BM, MS and Sunweb actually hoping to achieve?

    I knew as soon as Jungels had 30 seconds that the race was all but over. There was no-one left in the break with a domestique strong enough to bring Jungels back on his own, and none of the team leaders are going to sacrifice their chances by doing a long hard turn on the front to close the gap, especially with Alaphilippe in their group.

    But none of this is new, this is how a lot of one day races are won, a rider drifts off the front, no-one reacts and soon they are 30 seconds up the road and no one is going to sacrifice their chances to bring them back, especially when it's down to a select group of team leaders.
  • Bo Duke
    Bo Duke Posts: 1,058
    The Sky lad didn't contribute at all, half the first chase group seemed to be going through the motions.
    'Performance analysis and Froome not being clean was a media driven story. I haven’t heard one guy in the peloton say a negative thing about Froome, and I haven’t heard a single person in the peloton suggest Froome isn’t clean.' TSP
  • ShutupJens
    ShutupJens Posts: 1,373
    TheBigBean wrote:
    Sometimes the riders just don't have the legs to chase let along believe they can win.

    This times 100

    Plus Jungels wasn't a major threat and it was a long way out for the winning move to happen
  • DeVlaeminck
    DeVlaeminck Posts: 9,108
    ShutupJens wrote:
    TheBigBean wrote:
    Sometimes the riders just don't have the legs to chase let along believe they can win.

    This times 100

    Plus Jungels wasn't a major threat and it was a long way out for the winning move to happen


    Anyone that didn't get dropped on the inclines had the strength to ride through and off on that long relatively flat bit where they let one rider do all the chasing.

    It's a game of poker but the pendulum does seem to swing too often towards letting any hope of a race win go away from them. There were a few teams with 2 riders in there, even if just those had committed one man to the chase the gap would have been kept small enough to bridge. We had similar with Flanders, riders apparently too fatigued to bring the winner back suddenly had enough to chase down Sagan.
    [Castle Donington Ladies FC - going up in '22]
  • bobmcstuff
    bobmcstuff Posts: 11,444
    DeVlaeminck wrote:
    ShutupJens wrote:
    TheBigBean wrote:
    Sometimes the riders just don't have the legs to chase let along believe they can win.

    This times 100

    Plus Jungels wasn't a major threat and it was a long way out for the winning move to happen


    Anyone that didn't get dropped on the inclines had the strength to ride through and off on that long relatively flat bit where they let one rider do all the chasing.

    It's a game of poker but the pendulum does seem to swing too often towards letting any hope of a race win go away from them. There were a few teams with 2 riders in there, even if just those had committed one man to the chase the gap would have been kept small enough to bridge. We had similar with Flanders, riders apparently too fatigued to bring the winner back suddenly had enough to chase down Sagan.

    But Alaphilippe was right there, covering any moves and could have disrupted a chase had one got going. Leaving aside the fact they wouldn't have wanted to drag him (or Valverde) to the line.
  • ShutupJens
    ShutupJens Posts: 1,373
    bobmcstuff wrote:
    DeVlaeminck wrote:
    ShutupJens wrote:
    TheBigBean wrote:
    Sometimes the riders just don't have the legs to chase let along believe they can win.

    This times 100

    Plus Jungels wasn't a major threat and it was a long way out for the winning move to happen


    Anyone that didn't get dropped on the inclines had the strength to ride through and off on that long relatively flat bit where they let one rider do all the chasing.

    It's a game of poker but the pendulum does seem to swing too often towards letting any hope of a race win go away from them. There were a few teams with 2 riders in there, even if just those had committed one man to the chase the gap would have been kept small enough to bridge. We had similar with Flanders, riders apparently too fatigued to bring the winner back suddenly had enough to chase down Sagan.

    But Alaphilippe was right there, covering any moves and could have disrupted a chase had one got going. Leaving aside the fact they wouldn't have wanted to drag him (or Valverde) to the line.

    Precisely, Alaphillipe did an excellent job. Plus once one rider drifts off the front, the group dynamic tends to change from "someone else will close them down" to "right I'm going with the next person to jump".

    I wonder when Cannondale-Drapac are going to get their big win, so many nearly moments with Sep and now Michael Woods!
  • DeVlaeminck
    DeVlaeminck Posts: 9,108
    bobmcstuff wrote:
    DeVlaeminck wrote:
    ShutupJens wrote:
    TheBigBean wrote:
    Sometimes the riders just don't have the legs to chase let along believe they can win.

    This times 100

    Plus Jungels wasn't a major threat and it was a long way out for the winning move to happen


    Anyone that didn't get dropped on the inclines had the strength to ride through and off on that long relatively flat bit where they let one rider do all the chasing.

    It's a game of poker but the pendulum does seem to swing too often towards letting any hope of a race win go away from them. There were a few teams with 2 riders in there, even if just those had committed one man to the chase the gap would have been kept small enough to bridge. We had similar with Flanders, riders apparently too fatigued to bring the winner back suddenly had enough to chase down Sagan.

    But Alaphilippe was right there, covering any moves and could have disrupted a chase had one got going. Leaving aside the fact they wouldn't have wanted to drag him (or Valverde) to the line.

    Quickstep played it well but Allaphilippe is one rider, he can't prevent a group chasing, yes he'd get a free ride but if the rest all rolled through nobody would be doing much more than he was anyway.

    My point is it "could" have been brought back without burning too many matches and compared to Allaphilippe but instead they all decided to pretend someone else was going to do it.
    [Castle Donington Ladies FC - going up in '22]
  • TheBigBean
    TheBigBean Posts: 22,029
    You also need to consider the dynamic that no one wanted to tow Valverde to the line, but Valverde knew he didn't have the legs to finish it. That conundrum leads to inaction on the part of everyone as the realisation that Valverde is happy to lose arrives too late.
  • bobmcstuff
    bobmcstuff Posts: 11,444
    TheBigBean wrote:
    You also need to consider the dynamic that no one wanted to tow Valverde to the line, but Valverde knew he didn't have the legs to finish it. That conundrum leads to inaction on the part of everyone as the realisation that Valverde is happy to lose arrives too late.

    Yeah, it was a group with Alaphilippe and Valverde who are both well known fast finishers, and one of which would be getting a completely free ride as he's got no incentive to work.

    And Alaphilippe looked strong, he was covering moves easily.

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