108th Liège-Bastogne-Liège: 24 April, 2022

[TourOfSardinia]

The Best Remco™

 

[Netserk]

So none of the best ~8 climbers from the peloton even finished in the top-3. Incapable of riding to win, incapable of riding for second. At that point, you should question whether you're fit for purpose.

A mix of 'easy' pace on RaF, wrong group composition afterwards and headwind.

 

[Escarabajo]

They'll just move the finish line to the front of WVA's wheel.

I saw Martinez crossing that line first. Do they move the finish lines often in Belgium?

 

[movingtarget]

even the gerrans LBL was more exciting than this

And had a stronger reaction...........

 

[Põhja Konn]

The amount of time they managed to take from Remco on that smaller hill makes the passivity of Teuns, Vlasov et al. at RaF even more absurd than it initially looked. Maybe they would have paid for going too deep on RaF on that aforementioned hill, but at least they would have given themselves a realistic chance of closing the gap to Remco and fighting for the win. What they actually did was giving themselves an excuse to calm their conscience when the time comes to admitting to themselves that they just dropped the ball when push came to show.

I was a bit salty about a role a moto probably played in Remco getting rid of Powless during his initial attack (it was barely 10m in from of Remco at the moment the gap opened to Powless). But in the end Evenepoel was the only one who really deserved tho win this race - with the possible exception of Armirail of course.
All the other favourites simply weren't prepared to do enough to earn it. Fitting then that they even lost out on the podium*.

* For me WVA was for more of a wild-card for this race rather than an out-and-out favourite.

 

[RedheadDane]

Hope they can find some award for Romain Bardet. Maybe the least competitive rider prize, but in a positive way.

Fairplay award?

 

[OlavEH]

Great racing by Remco, and a deserved win. Congrats to him!

But this was a pretty poor version. 12 men sprinting for the second place in just too many. It's really noticeable that many of the presumably strongest classic riders is not in their best form.

 

[Devil's Elbow]

I think it was a 'good' edition. Which other one of this race was better in recent times?

Even better, I hope they keep Forges out of the race and that this will mean that Redoute will be raced properly in the coming years.

What they should actually do is bring back Forges ans throw out RaF instead. Then beef up the part before Redoute, with more hard climbs (Hézalles, Thier de Coo) in the Stavelot zone, and maybe abandon the current route via Spa as the wide, easy roads there would make any action in the Stavelot zone unviable. Basically the 2016 Lombardia blueprint applied to the Ardennes. This was still the worst monument of the year, like every Liège has been the worst monument of its year since at least 2017.

 

[StryderHells]

And had a stronger reaction...........

Hahaha! Must say I wasn’t terribly excited by Gerrans LBL win but did enjoy his commentary this year on the local Oz coverage, he know every corner and climb, also was good a spotting riders and moves.

 

[Panda Claws]

Most recent younger monument winners


Lance Armstrong in 1993 (WC)
Greg Lemond in 1983 (WC)
Eddy Merckx in 1967 (MSR)
Eddy Merckx in 1966 (MSR)
Carmine Preziosi 1965 (LBL)
Gianni Motta 1964 (Lombardia)

 

[Leinster]

The flat run in is too long. If they don't want to finish uphill, fine. But we shouldn't have a 10k+ run in for a hilly classic.

PR and RVV both have 10k+ run-ins. Liege has had more attacking riding every year since the finish moved away from Ans.

 

[noob]

Another question: Does anyone know who was the Ineos riders doing a Somersault in that mega crash?

 

[Riek s]

I don't know if the timer that gave 16 seconds was accurate.. i doubt it, timer was fluctuating quite a bit before. But even then, that was the time after a full uphill sprint... you can't keep sprinting, at some point you need to fallback to a normal tempo, and remco tempo was simply faster than everyone elses today.

 

[JosefK]

Another question: Does anyone know who was the Ineos riders doing a Somersault in that mega crash?

I think it was Pidcock, landing in the ditch (softer landing), and able to get back on the bike.

 

[ChewbaccaDefense]

And tip o the hat to Intermarche, great spring season from such a small team.

 

[Velolover2]

Congrats to Remco for solely stopping volcanic eruption in Mount Lefevere.

 

[Mosul]

That was a really satisfying win. Chapeau Remco, and a Belgian triple, or trippel, today.

First all Belgian podium in a monument this century. The last one was RVV 1999 I think.

 

[Alexandre B.]

Rejoice, it was the last LBL of the Valverde era.

 

[ppanther92]

I don't know if the timer that gave 16 seconds was accurate.. i doubt it, timer was fluctuating quite a bit before. But even then, that was the time after a full uphill sprint... you can't keep sprinting, at some point you need to fallback to a normal tempo, and remco tempo was simply faster than everyone elses today.

Even Mas and WvA came back though. That should never happen if they ride together. And I think the 16s was not too far off actually.

 

[Red Rick]

What they should actually do is bring back Forges ans throw out RaF instead. Then beef up the part before Redoute, with more hard climbs (Hézalles, Thier de Coo) in the Stavelot zone, and maybe abandon the current route via Spa as the wide, easy roads there would make any action in the Stavelot zone unviable. Basically the 2016 Lombardia blueprint applied to the Ardennes. This was still the worst monument of the year, like every Liège has been the worst monument of its year since at least 2017.

Targnon for life.

 

[StryderHells]

Congrats to Remco for solely stopping volcanic eruption in Mount Lefevere.

This is very funny

 

[Carrick-On-Seine]

Another question: Does anyone know who was the Ineos riders doing a Somersault in that mega crash?

Adam Blyth thought it was Pidcock but he says Pidcock so many times in race I wouldn't take his word for it.

 

[Amazinmets87]

PR and RVV both have 10k+ run-ins. Liege has had more attacking riding every year since the finish moved away from Ans.

PR and Flanders are contested by heavier riders who produce more power on the run-in. If the climbers don't dispatch the more powerful riders on the finishing climbs in Liege, they have no hope of victory.

 

[TomBonnen2005]

Lot of comment on the race scenario, no one looked at the wind? Going solo or in a small group was not an option today. This is why the race finished with a sprint with 10 riders. Teuns-Martinez-Vlasov would probably have been the podium without the wind. And what to say about external factors, without them podium was Pog - Rog - Alaf.

 

[noob]

I think it was Pidcock, landing in the ditch (softer landing), and able to get back on the bike.

Wow! Impressive and lucky (both) then!