13th BinckBank Tour (2.UWT) 7.8 - 13.8

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Re:

Boom will fail on the Ardennes stage. Guy has been riding off his talent, which he has a lot, for years now.

hm, has the occasional strong performance even in the ardennes though, like in some earlier Eneco tours and Tour of Belgium. Would not count him out.

 

[Geraint Too Fast]

I hope Boom doesn't win. It would mess up his linear progression.

Boom is really becoming the example of a rider with 'linear progression'

2012 Rabobank PRT 30 769
2011 Rabobank PRT 70 609
2010 Rabobank PRT 104 463
2009 Rabobank PRT 154 371
2008 Rabobank CT CONT 254 265
2007 Rabobank CT CONT 220 292
2006 Rabobank CT CONT 372 177
2005 Rabobank CT CONT 464 142
2004 Rabobank TT3 TT3 1221 16

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Just saw the replay of Van Emden's miss and how he easily rode to the finish. Man, he would've won with a landslide difference here. So stupid

 

[Ruby United]

Re:

Just saw the replay of Van Emden's miss and how he easily rode to the finish. Man, he would've won with a landslide difference here. So stupid

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLSok8M7fjQ
Poor guy

 

[Anderis]

Re:

So who are the relevant GC guys here?
Dumoulin
Boom +5
Lampaert +7
Sagan +10
Wellens +12
Terpstra +20
Gilbert +21
GVA +23
Keukeleire +27
Stuyven +28
Sep +28
Bakelants +34
Naessen +37

Am I missing somebody?

The Ardennes-like stage is usually more selective than any cobbled stages in this race so I think it might prove to be too hard for some of the mentioned guys as you mentioned plenty of riders who are strong on cobbles but not really on tarmac hills.

 

[rghysens]

Re: Re:

The Ardennes-like stage is usually more selective than any cobbled stages in this race so I think it might prove to be too hard for some of the mentioned guys as you mentioned plenty of riders who are strong on cobbles but not really on tarmac hills.

But not so this year.

 

[IndianCyclist]

Customary Lotto crash with Gijs van Hoecke in a wet TT

 

[Anderis]

I thought that I've read that the hilly stage from 2014/2015 was back, perhaps I've been mislead if the stage is easier this year.

 

[Dr. Watson]

Great sprint from Sagan, well done

 

[Sestriere]

Great leadout from Bauhaus.

 

[saganist]

Doumulin got gapped by 11 sec

 

[DNP-Old]

Re:

Doumulin got gapped by 11 sec

Because of a crash, so there won't be any gaps.

 

[Echoes]

Re: Re:

But not so this year.

Côte de Saint-Roch is as steep as can be...

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Meh

Looks like Sagan will easily win this race. The ardennes stages are not hard enough to drop him and he will most likely win the sprint as well. And the cobbled stage is ofcourse perfect for him.

They should have made the ardennes harder or the time trial longer to make it exciting. Now it'll be an easy win for Sagan

 

[Screecher]

Re:

Meh

Looks like Sagan will easily win this race. The ardennes stages are not hard enough to drop him and he will most likely win the sprint as well. And the cobbled stage is ofcourse perfect for him.

They should have made the ardennes harder or the time trial longer to make it exciting. Now it'll be an easy win for Sagan

It´s not the race´s fault that Sagan is too good. And anything could still happen. Sagan can also have a bad day.

 

[Red Rick]

The Ardennes and cobbled stages are always too easy to get diversity in the GC. Same with the ITT length. And they should do this race with 6 man teams max.

 

[El Pistolero]

Re:

The Ardennes and cobbled stages are always too easy to get diversity in the GC. Same with the ITT length. And they should do this race with 6 man teams max.

The Ardennes stage has often decided the GC of this race, so I don't know what you're talking about. Sagan won't get this race on a silver platter. His climbing is worse now than a couple of years ago.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Yeah Pisti but this years Ardennes stage looks worse. My only hope is a lot of rain and Wellens.

 

[del1962]

what do we expect from tomorrows stage?

 

[rghysens]

Re: Re:

But not so this year.

Côte de Saint-Roch is as steep as can be...

Yes, the côte de Saint-Roch is steep, but look at this year's Ardennes stage and compare it with that of 2014:

or that of 2015:

Slight difference, don't you think?

 

[Echoes]

Compared to 2 years ago, this year's stage misses Spitzberg. It's comparable.
The three main climbs remain: Ferme-Libert, Bois des Moines and Saint-Roch. So yeah I agree. The difference is slight. I don't understand the bashing about the route.

 

[Netserk]

Compared to 2 years ago, this year's stage misses Spitzberg. It's comparable.
The three main climbs remain: Ferme-Libert, Bois des Moines and Saint-Roch. So yeah I agree. The difference is slight. I don't understand the bashing about the route.

Are you dense?!

Take a look at the number of times the climbs are tackled...

 

[Keram]

What exactly top sprinters doing here? I am really disappointed with top sprinters here. There should be way better sprint field here than Poland and yet we did not see a proper big names battle. Especially Greipel is really atrocious. Hoping for proper sprint tommorow and proper gc battle at weekend. No need of bonus sec for Sags tommorow. He has enough already.

 

[jaylew]

Re:

What exactly top sprinters doing here? I am really disappointed with top sprinters here. There should be way better sprint field here than Poland and yet we did not see a proper big names battle. Especially Greipel is really atrocious. Hoping for proper sprint tommorow and proper gc battle at weekend. No need of bonus sec for Sags tommorow. He has enough already.

Yeah, there's a top sprint field here - Kittel, Greipel, Sagan, Viviani, Groenewegen, Démare...and only Sagan has even made the podium in the 2 sprints so far. What has happened to the Gorilla? He just seems to be off his game these days.

 

[Jagartrott]

Re: Re:

Yeah, there's a top sprint field here - Kittel, Greipel, Sagan, Viviani, Groenewegen, Démare...and only Sagan has even made the podium in the 2 sprints so far. What has happened to the Gorilla? He just seems to be off his game these days.

Just like Kittel here, his positioning has been terrible. Difference being that Greipel actually has a team to help him out, but he continues to lose their wheels and ends up starting the sprint way back. He lost his mojo.