2024 Classics thread - Not a spoiler thread
Let's kick this season off with the usual tweaks to the Flanders route.
Prior to the Oude Kwaremont at km 136, there are no early hills, though two cobbles sectors, the Lippenhovestraat and Paddestraat of previous Ronde lore, are returning after having been left out last year.
As for the first half of the climbs, returning are the Kappelleberg and Nieuwe Kruisberg, while the Korte Ast, Korte keer, Eikenberg and Kanarieberg are all left out this time. Ronse gets two downtown passages, with the parallel Nieuwe and Oude Kruisbergs each getting a turn. But it’s not unusual for the race to shuffle the deck a bit prior to climb 10, the second appearance of the Oude Kwaremont with 55km to go, and the hardest work of the Wolvenberg-Molenberg-Marlboroughstraat-Berendries-Valkenberg string of climbs is still there.
The last notable change is that after the Oude Kwaremont-Paterberg sequence, the race heads for the Koppenberg, as usual, but not via the tiny farm roads that they usually stick to, twisting and turning at sharp angles until suddenly they are headed up the climb. Rather, the race drifts northward on Neerhofstraat and the Hevelweg until it hits the N8 route to Melden, giving the riders a chance to get their thoughts together just prior to the fearsome Koppenberg.
From there, de Ronde will play out as it always does, taking the N60 to Mariaborrestraat for the Steenbekdries/Stationsberg/Taaienberg sequence, then back to Ronse for the Oude Kruisberg/Hotond sequence leading to the final Kwaremont/Paterberg ascents and the finish
Comments
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With Stannard in the Ineos car Big Ben Turner will be aiming to press home a 1 v 3 advantage against them
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I'm sure I read here that MVdP was going to win every race this side of Easter. Maybe there's a ULEZ in Ghent that's preventing him from parking his Lambo close to the start line.
Have to agree, Visma could win it on a lease-a-bike with that line up. Pray for Edoardo: that's a lot of bottles he going to have to fetch.
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Local intel ahead of Omloop:
Route is largely the same as last year with the Molenberg with 40km to go as the real set piece beginning of the finale.
A southwesterly wind is forecast which means mainly tail/cross tail for the finale, including that long flat 10km post Bosberg where it will be tail-cross.
other news- No Mads for Lidl Trek, so they’re led by Stuyven, and no MvdP, so Alpecin will be riding for Philipsen. Shame.
Alaphilippe leads quick step.
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I still think the adoption of the old Flanders finish is to the detriment of the Omloop. It is very formulaic, as all the favourites wait for the Muur, just like they used to for Flanders.
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Can't wait for this one.
Season proper starting this weekend (with apologies to all the other races)
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Google translate of Marion Rouse's response:
Whatever Mr. Lefevere's feelings towards me, it is unacceptable to attack our private lives as he is doing. So no, I don't drink alcohol, ever. Missed for the holidays too because with a 3 year old we prefer to be in shape in the morning ;) You will not succeed either, as you have already mentioned to me, in stopping me from working to keep myself busy and stay close of Julian during his career. The missions I carry out fascinate me and know that I have lots of projects. But I tell you, under no circumstances will I allow you to talk about my private life. Please now stop talking indiscriminately and show more respect and... class.
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It would explain the drop off in JA’s performance.
He’s been really badly hit by injuries over and over. Must be hard for anyone, plus he’s in a celebrity marriage with young children. Tough gig.
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She isnt holding back !
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Will JA do a flyer in Strade Bianche again? 🤓
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Is she saying that Alaphillippe is a prick and Rousse is a bitch?
"Unfortunately these days a lot of people don’t understand the real quality of a bike" Ernesto Colnago0 -
Why is anyone remotely interested in this shit?
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Is cycling attempting a Rooney v Vardy style publicity hoo ha?
The above may be fact, or fiction, I may be serious, I may be jesting.
I am not sure. You have no chance.Veronese68 wrote:PB is the most sensible person on here.0 -
I suspect it's more JA's escapades are fairly well known and numerous (go sniffing around some Flemish cycling forums and he gets drunk and rowdy quite a lot it seems) and the defence was a bit punchy considering JA's behaviour.
There's a certain flavour of cycle journalist that seems to take everything Lefevre says as some assault on feminism or mental health and they seem a bit bamboozled by the counter by Pesce. I suspect it's more basic. JA is a bit of a d!ck and in a celebrity couple.
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Yeah, it was the wives squabble I was referring to.
The above may be fact, or fiction, I may be serious, I may be jesting.
I am not sure. You have no chance.Veronese68 wrote:PB is the most sensible person on here.0 -
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seems an odd one to get involved in out of the blue for sure... clearly more to it. Think they could sell tickets for a Pythonesque reenactment of Pearl Harbour type battle
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Racing isnt on until Saturday...
I will have lost interest then.
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Well re that breed of cycling journalist, it's worth pointing out that Lefevre is bullying his riders in public, as he's done before, which certainly isn't good. Any other industry and he'd have a constructive dismissal case or similar on his hands. That he pulls the "he's under her spell" card out is clearly misogynistic, so they're not wrong. Anyone surprised by the lack of womanly solidarity in the face of misogyny must have been living under a rock, it's an ideal that's rarely seen out there in the wild. And yes, for all I know, all of them might be dicks.
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Lefevre or Madiot, Madiot or Lefevre 🤔 Faites vos jeux, mesdames et messieurs.
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Not a moment too soon to get the season started if this is the chat
“New York has the haircuts, London has the trousers, but Belfast has the reason!0 -
In
vinocrura veritas. 😉PTP Champion 2019, 2022 & 20230 -
I am obviously a less sympathetic person than you as my first thought was not bullying but “if you don’t want your boss saying you’re drinking too much in public, you should probably not drink too much”.
And I don’t buy the argument that “in any other industry” - I wouldn’t say cycling or professional sport is like any other industry.
My industry certainly doesn’t have journalists interview company bosses about individual performances of individuals, nor is my performance so vital to the success or failure of the firm.
If your boozing affects your work performance I can assure you people will be talking about it - there’s usually just not a journalist to write it up.
Now it could be nonsense and JA isn’t getting wrecked and starting fights in bars on the reg, but I think the bullying claim is a bit rich. We all have to lie in our own bed. If you don’t like people discussing what you’re up to in public, you really ought to ask yourself, should you be doing it and is the problem really other people talking about it?
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Lefevre already has can we call it, a reputation.
We would need to know more on JA to criticise but I'm only interested in his performances. There are many athletes round the world in all sports who have not maximised their potential for a variety of reasons. Alcohol may well be JA's reason.
The above may be fact, or fiction, I may be serious, I may be jesting.
I am not sure. You have no chance.Veronese68 wrote:PB is the most sensible person on here.0 -
Give one of your top players the 'hair dryer' treatment in private.....
However, that is usually done by the coach/manager - not the chairman/ team owner. Cycling's team owners should take a leaf out of Brian Clough's advice......"shut up and sign the cheques".
All Road/ Gravel: tbcWinter: tbcMTB: tbcRoad: tbc"Look at the time...." "he's fallen like an old lady on a cruise ship..."1 -
Quite possibly, if you don't want your employees drinking too much in public, you probably shouldn't drive them to drink... 😉
Whatever the industry, I'd expect this to be dealt with behind closed doors. Public shaming has never been acceptable for an employer - whether that's in sport to the media or in other industries to e.g. colleagues. Just this week Pep Guardiola apologised for publicly weight-shaming Kalvin Phillips.
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Meh, I disagree. He's in the business of sports and he's a leader on the team - a lot of people's livelihoods depend on him doing well. And cycling is all about the viewers - a man riding his bike fast without anyone watching isn't procycling!
With that responsibility comes the rewards, the adulation, and having a lot of people busting their chops to give you the best shot to perform. Either you can handle that, or you can't. If you can't, that's fine, but you need to them recognise that and step down.
Not everyone is built for highly leveraged jobs - that's not a problem, but he is in one, and if he is making decisions that impact his performance, and thus the performance of the people around him, he needs to lie in that bed.
I am more sympathetic to the argument that flagging this in public doesn't necessarily help solve the situation, but I can understand Lefevre, in all his boorishness, wanting to explain publicly why his investment for the team is not working out as it should.
I worked with a colleague/middle manager who was an alcoholic, and as much as his father and the bosses had words internally, in between him shouting at juniors like me, it was only when clients started discussing openly that they noticed how hungover he was in meetings, and it was clear the market was talking about how unprofessional he had become, that he did something about it. Some people are motivated like that.
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