Étoile de Bessèges 2025 February 5th - 9th

[Rob5091]

Chapeau Magnier - strong finish. Meeus hung on for second.

 

[Tim Cahill]

Impressive from Meeus too, did a lot there

 

[Squire]

Great stuff from the kid! Only one who didn't look like he was dying near the end. Along with Van den Berg who also looked strong.

The Quickstep jerseys are a bit less distinct from the helicopter shots this year. Was wondering where Magnier was and who that Israel rider was, until I realised it was actually a Quickstep jersey. AG2R and FDJ also not that dissimilar.

 

[Samamba]

De Lie looks good

Edit: looked like he unclipped there?

He did unclip but he did not look good... Good positioning I didn't expect tho, but he was already struggling on his teammates wheel and was getting gapped already when he unclipped.

You can't just undo almost 3 weeks without serious training in a few days.

 

[Ilmaestro99]

Thought races like this were too small for de lie?

 

[Rob5091]

He did unclip but he did not look good... Good positioning I didn't expect tho, but he was already struggling on his teammates wheel and was getting gapped already when he unclipped.

You can't just undo almost 3 weeks without serious training in a few days.

Yeah, I wondered if the knee problem might slow him down.

 

[Berniece]

The Quickstep jerseys are a bit less distinct from the helicopter shots this year. Was wondering where Magnier was and who that Israel rider was, until I realised it was actually a Quickstep jersey. AG2R and FDJ also not that dissimilar.

Had the same issue, quality of the stream didn't help though. Hope it'll be better on TV

 

[Squire]

Thought races like this were too small for de lie?

Huh? You're talking about the king of .1 races.

 

[E_F_]

Let's not hope so!

Well if that's not explanation for his poor "showing" today, then...

 

[RedheadDane]

Well if that's not explanation for his poor "showing" today, then...

Would have been better if he had teleported to the front, and won.







(I'm not sure teleporting is allowed, though...)

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Perhaps they weighed Magnier with his bike, meaning he was actually 1.8 kg lighter than before.

 

[Rob5091]

Big Mads came in 1min 43 seconds down on the winner so a warm up race for him.

 

[Ilmaestro99]

Huh? You're talking about the king of .1 races.

Was a reference to his behaviour in le samyn last year

 

[yaco]

Was a reference to his behaviour in le samyn last year

That behaviour was perfectly understandable. The team pulled him out of KBK to ride Le Samyn. It was a shocking decision by the team.

 

[Netserk]

Huh? You're talking about the king of .1 races.

"wat moet ik doen in deze kutkoers"

De Lie au sol et hors de lui : la chute du favori

Arnaud De Lie est tombé ce mardi lors du Samyn, dont il était le favori. Le jeune sprinter belge de la Lotto Dstny (21 ans) a chuté à une trentaine de bornes de l'arrivée, à Dour. Passablement énervé, le récent 10e du Het Nieuwsblad a glissé dans un virage, alors qu'il tentait de réintégrer le...

www.eurosport.fr

 

[KZD]

Powerful sprint from Magnier, expect quite a few wins from him this season.

 

[tobydawq]

Let's not hope so!

Uh, so we should hope that his level now is to only barely manage to follow a peloton on a flot stage without wind? Okay...

 

[hayneplane]

I know it’s been said that De Lie unclipped but I though that he looked laboured LBC before that. Much better positioning from him so that is a big plus.

Hopefully it’s a sign that he further away from good form because the team have got him peaking for the classics instead of early season points farming this year.

 

[Samamba]

That behaviour was perfectly understandable. The team pulled him out of KBK to ride Le Samyn. It was a shocking decision by the team.

When are you going to understand that this is just false? This NEVER happened. Just ask De Lie himself, he has said it multiple times in interviews. De Lie wanted to ride Samyn, hence why he's doing it AGAIN this year. He does not hate that race, more he likes it, it's Walloon opener of the season. Nobody in Wallonia cares about Kuurne, they do about Samyn. De Lie literally said 3 years ago already it's a race he really wants to have on his record. Lotto never took De Lie out of Kuurne to ride Samyn, but they do think the combination of Omloop, Kuurne and Samyn is too much so they let him make a choice. I don't necessarily agree with that last thing, definitely this year as he isn't riding Paris Nice, but it's not Lotto making him ride Samyn.

 

[Rob5091]

Stage 2 Thursday - nothing too hard so another sprint seems on the cards.

 

[yaco]

When are you going to understand that this is just false? This NEVER happened. Just ask De Lie himself, he has said it multiple times in interviews. De Lie wanted to ride Samyn, hence why he's doing it AGAIN this year. He does not hate that race, more he likes it, it's Walloon opener of the season. Nobody in Wallonia cares about Kuurne, they do about Samyn. De Lie literally said 3 years ago already it's a race he really wants to have on his record. Lotto never took De Lie out of Kuurne to ride Samyn, but they do think the combination of Omloop, Kuurne and Samyn is too much so they let him make a choice. I don't necessarily agree with that last thing, definitely this year as he isn't riding Paris Nice, but it's not Lotto making him ride Samyn.

Well the team should convince him to ride the more important race, especially after he came 10th in Het Newsblaad.

 

[Rob5091]

Thursday's stage starts on the telly at 14.00 CET. Stage starts at 12.15 CET.

 

[Rob5091]

5 guys up the road with 3 minutes on the peloton at the moment. 100 km still to go.

 

[RedheadDane]

Worre just being snarky regarding the finale:

"Sam Bennett thinks it's a climb"

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Riders are wearing long sleeves so it's likely a bit chilly, but judging by the sunshine I'd think it was a sunny spring day. Lovely foliage and scenery!

(Mandatory scenery comment.)