Étoile de Bessèges 2023 (February 1-5)

[Samamba]

This was harder than I thought.

 

[Tim Cahill]

I really hope De Lie stays at Lotto, unreal rider, so much cooler when the big riders aren't on the best teams, the Harry Kane/Alan Shearer of cycling.

 

[Samamba]

I really hope De Lie stays at Lotto, unreal rider, so much cooler when the big riders aren't on the best teams, the Harry Kane/Alan Shearer of cycling.

If his whole team didn't crash out he might've actually had a shot at today. Insane.

 

[Samamba]

WTF are those cars doing driving in the opposite direction???

 

[DNP-Old]

No *** way De Lie is pulling this off.

 

[Berniece]

Lol De Lie, he is extremely strong, or a bit dumb

 

[Devil's Elbow]

Every other team helps De Lie in letting things come together for a sprint, then he attacks. Really questionable tactics today.

 

[Tim Cahill]

De Lie now attacking the bunch with a stylish move

 

[Berniece]

Easy win for De Lie, so strong in that sprint

 

[DNP-Old]

Incredible.

 

[Devil's Elbow]

Every other team helps De Lie in letting things come together for a sprint, then he attacks. Really questionable tactics today.

Of course, if you're as good as De Lie, you don't need tactics in a smaller race. Even more impressive than Wednesday's win.

 

[GenericBoonenFan]

What a *** Beast...Holy (taureau)***

 

[Samamba]

Not normal... All on his own in the end...

Well De Buyst did sacrifice himself completely to bring him back but still. And Van Moer did crash out before the last climb.

 

[TourOfSardinia]

Arnaud de Lie-rious

GC

 

[Didinho]

El torooo!!

 

[Devil's Elbow]

Ferron going from hanging off a bridge to winning a stage in 24 hours would have been quite the story, by the way...

 

[Samamba]

Every other team helps De Lie in letting things come together for a sprint, then he attacks. Really questionable tactics today.

They probably rode for GC in the background no? Obviously De Lie got quite lucky there as he didn't have teammates anymore

 

[Devil's Elbow]

They probably rode for GC in the background no? Obviously De Lie got quite lucky there as he didn't have teammates anymore

Perhaps, but at the same time, certainly from a GC perspective that front group should have cooperated way better than it did. Wasn't just the teams pulling in the peloton that helped him.

 

[Samamba]

Perhaps, but at the same time, certainly from a GC perspective that front group should have cooperated way better than it did. Wasn't just the teams pulling in the peloton that helped him.

Absolutely. First group was a little bit too big I think. Basically all the favorites were there.

 

[RedheadDane]

1	DE LIE Arnaud	Lotto Dstny	14	20		4:03:47
2	FERRON Valentin	TotalEnergies	5	12		,,
3	WATSON Samuel	Groupama - FDJ	3	7		,,

Looks like hanging out yesterday didn't slow down Ferron much.

 

[DNP-Old]

Il faut que je me prépare psychologiquement à souffrir. Je vais le faire à bloc pour me tester, et si je ne perds pas plus de 1'30, je serai content. C’était déjà dur aujourd’hui, mais demain ça va être encore plus dur. Ça ne me dérangerait pas que ce soit très dur directement. Car plus c'est dur, plus c'est à la résistance. Et quand on me parle de résistance... j'aime bien (sourire)!

De Lie is going all in tomorrow to ''defend'' the jersey.

 

[Salvarani]

De Lie is going all in tomorrow to ''defend'' the jersey.

He is young and still developing. May be a good opportunity to test himself. Why not when he is in the position that he is. Looking forward to see how he does.

 

[DNP-Old]

He's done some crazy stuff for his weight before. As a junior he was going toe to toe with Romain Gregoire on La Redoute, twice. But those days are long gone, he's even heavier than he was back then. Mont Bouquet is also twice as long as La Redoute. He'll have no chance, but his mentally can only be applauded.

 

[Samamba]

Absolutely impossible tomorrow, he will lose minutes (Mont Bouquet is no joke), but it's always great to see when a race leader doesn't just give up when the parcours doesn't suit him.

 

[Red Rick]

Shades of 2010 Sagan?

Actually I guess Sagan was a better climber.