S*** Small Races Thread - 2021

phreak

All over.

blazing_saddles

If I knew it was coming, why didn’t they?

gsk82

The sheer cluelessness of almost every team at the classics boils my piss. What the hell did Naesen think was going to happen after he pulled off?

joe_totale-2

MVDP needs to get himself a stronger team although I do get the vibes that he likes being the big fish in the small Alpecin-Fenix pond.

ddraver

That was a true...(yuck)... (don't make me say it)...(nooo)...Wolfpack win

🤢

phreak

joe_totale-2 said:

MVDP needs to get himself a stronger team although I do get the vibes that he likes being the big fish in the small Alpecin-Fenix pond.

He had a domestique who was happy to sit in while MvdP was doing big turns, and then that domestique sprinted for the finish. What on earth were they thinking?

Pross

Who was it saying what a great Classics team AG2R have assembled? They got two up there but seemed unable to decide among themselves how to play it. WVA looks like he might need a rest.

DeadCalm

Really enjoyed that. Great ride by Asgreen.

rick_chasey

Pross said:

Who was it saying what a great Classics team AG2R have assembled? They got two up there but seemed unable to decide among themselves how to play it. WVA looks like he might need a rest.

Me

rozzer32

Hahaha Quickstep must be ****ing themselves laughing on the team bus. The other teams might as well have put it on a silver plater.

If I was the Jumbo DS I’d be straight on the phone to Cancellara or Boonen to come show the team how to ride the Belgian classics, they’re clueless. I mean what was WVA thinking with that attack then straight out the back, a junior move right there.

I think it was Boonen who said if you want to win a classic you must be prepared to lose it. That’s what makes QS so good is that it doesn’t matter who wins as long as it’s one of them. The other riders need to learn to just sit up and say you do some work and if we lose the race then so be it.

Fair play to QS though. Came with a strong team, played the tactics perfectly and with the help of the other teams it combined to an easy victory.

gsk82

Pross said:

Who was it saying what a great Classics team AG2R have assembled? They got two up there but seemed unable to decide among themselves how to play it. WVA looks like he might need a rest.

I think it was Rick and I replied saying they had a load of guys looking for placings and no winners. That was 100% proved today.

blazing_saddles

Pross said:

Who was it saying what a great Classics team AG2R have assembled? They got two up there but seemed unable to decide among themselves how to play it. WVA looks like he might need a rest.

That was another no brainer for me. Oliver Naesen is much quicker than GVA in a flat sprint.
Old Gold Top should have been put on watch and work duty.
Taking of work, Wtf was Gianni Vermeersch doing taking all those tows from his boss and never doing a tap until sprinting for 9th place?

takethehighroad

An absolute tactical masterclass from EQS that, from 80k out. Yes the other teams effed up, but as Rick pointed out, Stybar was probably the strongest rider on the day. Marked MVDP to within an inch of his life, allowing the Wolfpack to have the numbers in the end to play the finale they did

No_Ta_Doctor

MvdP got properly worked over there. QS played the numbers game perfectly. And another Viking win, good season so far

tailwindhome

Not every race is worth watching when you already know who won.... But that was.

rick_chasey

E3 is the biz.

Because it’s so much smaller than ToF it can skip a lot of the big main roads the ToF needs to get the circus around the race sorted, and instead uses the twisty narrow roads between the climbs.

Makes for more tactical racing with fewer pauses as everyone limbers up for the big set pieces.

m.r.m.

phreak said:

joe_totale-2 said:

MVDP needs to get himself a stronger team although I do get the vibes that he likes being the big fish in the small Alpecin-Fenix pond.

He had a domestique who was happy to sit in while MvdP was doing big turns, and then that domestique sprinted for the finish. What on earth were they thinking?

At the very least Vermeersch should have then been second wheel behind WVA disrupting the chase instead of doing absolutely nothing. If you are a world class sprinter like Cav in his day you could argue, that you can sit in do nothing and don't mind it coming back together, if you then win the bunch sprint. This was idiotic.
Didn't matter in the end, but is still dumb tactically.

gsk82

m.r.m. said:

phreak said:

joe_totale-2 said:

MVDP needs to get himself a stronger team although I do get the vibes that he likes being the big fish in the small Alpecin-Fenix pond.

He had a domestique who was happy to sit in while MvdP was doing big turns, and then that domestique sprinted for the finish. What on earth were they thinking?

At the very least Vermeersch should have then been second wheel behind WVA disrupting the chase instead of doing absolutely nothing. If you are a world class sprinter like Cav in his day you could argue, that you can sit in do nothing and don't mind it coming back together, if you then win the bunch sprint. This was idiotic.
Didn't matter in the end, but is still dumb tactically.

Mvdp should've been going back and shouting at him to get to the front. Like he should've been shouting at AG2R to commit one of their 2 riders to chase. Asgreen had ridden 50km solo before his final attack and all Naesen could muster as a chase was a couple of hundred metres before deciding that sprinting for 4th was more important.

blazing_saddles

gsk82 said:

m.r.m. said:

phreak said:

joe_totale-2 said:

MVDP needs to get himself a stronger team although I do get the vibes that he likes being the big fish in the small Alpecin-Fenix pond.

He had a domestique who was happy to sit in while MvdP was doing big turns, and then that domestique sprinted for the finish. What on earth were they thinking?

At the very least Vermeersch should have then been second wheel behind WVA disrupting the chase instead of doing absolutely nothing. If you are a world class sprinter like Cav in his day you could argue, that you can sit in do nothing and don't mind it coming back together, if you then win the bunch sprint. This was idiotic.
Didn't matter in the end, but is still dumb tactically.

Mvdp should've been going back and shouting at him to get to the front. Like he should've been shouting at AG2R to commit one of their 2 riders to chase. Asgreen had ridden 50km solo before his final attack and all Naesen could muster as a chase was a couple of hundred metres before deciding that sprinting for 4th was more important.

Why are you giving GVA a free pass?
He did even less and finished 6th

RichN95.

blazing_saddles said:

Why are you giving GVA a free pass?
He did even less and finished 6th

Footage of Oliver Naesen admiring Van Avermaet's crown of gold

phreak

You do also wonder whether WvA and MvdP haven't done a bit too much in the early season and are fading a bit. They're still obviously super strong, but they seem mortal at the moment in a way they don't often do. Doing big efforts in Tirreno and Paris Nice has undoubtedly been great for us spectators, but you do wonder if they're going to finish the classics season empty handed, as neither has a very strong classics team to help.

andyp

MVDP consistently races like this ahead of a big objective with the goal, one assumes of getting a decent training load in the legs. If he'd wanted Vermeersch to do more yesterday, he would've got him to do so, but I think he preferred to work hard himself ahead of Flanders next weekend.

rick_chasey

A stage race it ain’t.

m.r.m.

andyp said:

MVDP consistently races like this ahead of a big objective with the goal, one assumes of getting a decent training load in the legs. If he'd wanted Vermeersch to do more yesterday, he would've got him to do so, but I think he preferred to work hard himself ahead of Flanders next weekend.

At the same time he states in an interview that he felt tired after the Italian block of racing and needed extra recovery. I don't really think he is as tactically savvy as some people make him out to be. He is routinely out of position (which is probably also down to his team) and often works too much in smaller groups. He also routinely gets bailed out by his incredible talent and legs. He took some corners yesterday while on the attack, simply much faster than anyone else.

ddraver

Unlike (almost) any other rider, he's also arrived in the peloton with such a bang that no one has ever thought it worth working with him so we don't really have a 'before he was famous' to compare to. It's hard to be tactical when no one will give you even a hint of assistance.

blazing_saddles

Given the race is now well and truly back to kosher classic length, it perhaps is once more worthy of it's own thread.
Tough luck, I ain't doing it.

83rd Ghent-Wevelgem (254 km), 28th March

In 1990, the UCI decided to cut short its distance to circa 200 km and the race thereby also lost several climbs in France. Since 2014, the race has been extended, with 9 climbs and since 2017, the "Plugstreets" 4 km dirt roads have been added. "Plugstreets" is an English name coming from British World War I soldiers who could not pronounce Ploegsteert correctly.



Route details are a bit difficult to get hold of but this seems to be the profile as it matches La Flamme Rouge's interactive map.





Kemmelberg.



Just like last year, Ghent-Wevelgem does not start from Ghent but from Ypres, or Wipers as it was known to those linguistically challenged Tommys.

RichN95.

Trek are out of Gent-Wevelgem due to the lurgy

gweeds

Bugger. Defending champ Pedersen and Stuyven out then.

Women’s team can still race theirs.

blazing_saddles

This will have a catastrophic effect on the race.
Well, the fantasy versions.....

On the other sign of the lucky coin, check out the wind.

blazing_saddles

Race underway. First 20 minutes covered in excess of 60kph.