Liege - Bastonge - Liege 2021 ***Spoilers***

kingstongraham

JimD666 said:

Just finished catching up with both the mens and the womens.

Enjoyed both but what on earth is it with Rob Hatch's fascination that its been 41 (now 42) years since a French man won?

Had the stat ready for when Alaphillippe won and didn't want to waste it. Also mentioned how long it had been since the world champ had won LBL.

ddraver

He's tweeted that his pictures were slightly behind so he thought JA had won.

That said, he is somewhat of a member of the "Of course Alaphilippe won because...of course" club...

m.r.m.

gsk82 said:

phreak said:

I wonder if this race is foretelling the rest of the year for Ineos? They have lots of strong guys, but no one you would really say is on the level of a Roglic/Pogacar. Plenty of numbers today but when the pinch came they had no one strong enough to follow. You feel in the GTs they could easily have 3 or 4 guys in the top 10, but do they have anyone to crack the top spot?

Bernal should win the giro if his back holds up and he avoids accidents. Assuming it does and he goes to the tour next year at 100%, would he challenge for the win?

Depends on whether the rehabilitation of the other invalid Remco is on track or not. If Remco is back to his old self, I don't see the Giro being a cake walk for Bernal.

phreak

m.r.m. said:

gsk82 said:

phreak said:

I wonder if this race is foretelling the rest of the year for Ineos? They have lots of strong guys, but no one you would really say is on the level of a Roglic/Pogacar. Plenty of numbers today but when the pinch came they had no one strong enough to follow. You feel in the GTs they could easily have 3 or 4 guys in the top 10, but do they have anyone to crack the top spot?

Bernal should win the giro if his back holds up and he avoids accidents. Assuming it does and he goes to the tour next year at 100%, would he challenge for the win?

Depends on whether the rehabilitation of the other invalid Remco is on track or not. If Remco is back to his old self, I don't see the Giro being a cake walk for Bernal.

Bernal was 3 minutes behind WvA in Tirreno. Granted, WvA is the greatest cyclist of the 21st century, but even Landa beat him. I'm not sure that would have happened if he was in his 2019 form. Simon Yates is probably the form pick at the moment?

tailwindhome

m.r.m. said:

gsk82 said:

phreak said:

I wonder if this race is foretelling the rest of the year for Ineos? They have lots of strong guys, but no one you would really say is on the level of a Roglic/Pogacar. Plenty of numbers today but when the pinch came they had no one strong enough to follow. You feel in the GTs they could easily have 3 or 4 guys in the top 10, but do they have anyone to crack the top spot?

Bernal should win the giro if his back holds up and he avoids accidents. Assuming it does and he goes to the tour next year at 100%, would he challenge for the win?

Depends on whether the rehabilitation of the other invalid Remco is on track or not. If Remco is back to his old self, I don't see the Giro being a cake walk for Bernal.

https://twitter.com/deceuninck_qst/status/1386313667034107908?s=20

m.r.m.

Froome is riding as well. Doesn't mean he is back on track entirely.

m.r.m.

phreak said:

m.r.m. said:

gsk82 said:

phreak said:

I wonder if this race is foretelling the rest of the year for Ineos? They have lots of strong guys, but no one you would really say is on the level of a Roglic/Pogacar. Plenty of numbers today but when the pinch came they had no one strong enough to follow. You feel in the GTs they could easily have 3 or 4 guys in the top 10, but do they have anyone to crack the top spot?

Bernal should win the giro if his back holds up and he avoids accidents. Assuming it does and he goes to the tour next year at 100%, would he challenge for the win?

Depends on whether the rehabilitation of the other invalid Remco is on track or not. If Remco is back to his old self, I don't see the Giro being a cake walk for Bernal.

Bernal was 3 minutes behind WvA in Tirreno. Granted, WvA is the greatest cyclist of the 21st century, but even Landa beat him. I'm not sure that would have happened if he was in his 2019 form. Simon Yates is probably the form pick at the moment?

I agree. Although I think Remco is in it, if he is back to his own self.

mididoctors

m.r.m. said:

gsk82 said:

phreak said:

I wonder if this race is foretelling the rest of the year for Ineos? They have lots of strong guys, but no one you would really say is on the level of a Roglic/Pogacar. Plenty of numbers today but when the pinch came they had no one strong enough to follow. You feel in the GTs they could easily have 3 or 4 guys in the top 10, but do they have anyone to crack the top spot?

Bernal should win the giro if his back holds up and he avoids accidents. Assuming it does and he goes to the tour next year at 100%, would he challenge for the win?

Depends on whether the rehabilitation of the other invalid Remco is on track or not. If Remco is back to his old self, I don't see the Giro being a cake walk for Bernal.

The giro is a fickle beast the last few years

andyp

m.r.m. said:

gsk82 said:

phreak said:

I wonder if this race is foretelling the rest of the year for Ineos? They have lots of strong guys, but no one you would really say is on the level of a Roglic/Pogacar. Plenty of numbers today but when the pinch came they had no one strong enough to follow. You feel in the GTs they could easily have 3 or 4 guys in the top 10, but do they have anyone to crack the top spot?

Bernal should win the giro if his back holds up and he avoids accidents. Assuming it does and he goes to the tour next year at 100%, would he challenge for the win?

Depends on whether the rehabilitation of the other invalid Remco is on track or not. If Remco is back to his old self, I don't see the Giro being a cake walk for Bernal.

He hasn't raced yet this season. Even if he does make the start, he's not going to have the condition to win. Almeida is the DSQ leader for the Giro for a reason.

rick_chasey

phreak said:

I wonder if this race is foretelling the rest of the year for Ineos? They have lots of strong guys, but no one you would really say is on the level of a Roglic/Pogacar. Plenty of numbers today but when the pinch came they had no one strong enough to follow. You feel in the GTs they could easily have 3 or 4 guys in the top 10, but do they have anyone to crack the top spot?

It was a team performance you have often seen from sky in the classics.

There at all the important points on paper but not there in the critical final selection.

phreak

rick_chasey said:

phreak said:

I wonder if this race is foretelling the rest of the year for Ineos? They have lots of strong guys, but no one you would really say is on the level of a Roglic/Pogacar. Plenty of numbers today but when the pinch came they had no one strong enough to follow. You feel in the GTs they could easily have 3 or 4 guys in the top 10, but do they have anyone to crack the top spot?

It was a team performance you have often seen from sky in the classics.

There at all the important points on paper but not there in the critical final selection.

They've always had very strong domestiques who would be top 10 level in most teams, but they've also (in GTs at least) had someone very good to finish things off. I'm not sure they've got that at the moment, and the greater numbers doesn't seem to be helping when faced with top riders like a JA, Pogacar or Roglic.

As you say, it's something that has often been the case in the classics, with Pidcock being a sign that it might change somewhat this year. You suspect Bernal should have been that person in GTs but whether he'll ever get back to that level must be in doubt.

ddraver

Cosmo

https://cyclingtips.com/2021/04/video-how-the-race-was-won-liege-bastogne-liege-2021/

bobmcstuff

ddraver said:

Cosmo

https://cyclingtips.com/2021/04/video-how-the-race-was-won-liege-bastogne-liege-2021/

Not any more - content claim from ASO, no longer available...

ddraver

Oh FFS....

Cycling eats itself again