14th Binck Banck Tour , 13-19 August (2.UWT)

[El Pistolero]

Re: Re:

Why such a boring route? This race usually has some good stages but this year is just meh.

Dutch sponsors that don't care for Belgium.

As usual, Dutch organizers ruin most races they get their grubby hands on. How many boring Grand Tour starts have we had because they just had to start in this boring country (when it comes to cycling terrain).

Once the contract with Geraardsbergen runs out you'll see nothing but flat stages and probably a TTT to ruin things even more.

I want a real Tour of the Benelux with 4 stages in Belgium, two stages in Luxembourg and one stage in the Netherlands (a prologue or something).

Even you have to admit that the Amstel has been a very good race the last two years.

Yes, but they never put a stage like that in the Eneco Tour (or whatever it's called these days), so that doesn't really matter sadly. It's also the only interesting terrain in The Netherlands, unless we take the weather into account.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

It's funny seeing El Pisti going full anti-Dutch again when the race organizer (head of organisation) is in fact not Dutch. It's a Belgian
Rob Discart

 

[Lequack]

Re:

It's funny seeing El Pisti going full anti-Dutch again when the race organizer (head of organisation) is in fact not Dutch. It's a Belgian
Rob Discart

So it's the Belgians who want to make the Dutch look bad.

 

[El Pistolero]

Re:

It's funny seeing El Pisti going full anti-Dutch again when the race organizer (head of organisation) is in fact not Dutch. It's a Belgian
Rob Discart

Sponsor is Dutch.

 

[RedheadDane]

Fun fact! Following riders participated in the European Championships Road Race today:

Zdenek Stybar

Dylan Van Baarle

Owain Doull
Christopher Lawless
Kristoffer Halvorsen

Greg Van Avermaet

Victor De La Parte

Magnus Cort

Borus Bozic
Luka Pibernik
Matej Mohoric
Ramunas Navardauskas

Gediminas Bagdonas
Nico Denz

Ben Swift

Jasper Stuyven
Mads Pedersen

Davide Cimolai
Tobias Ludvigsson

Rick Zabel
Viacheslav Kuznetsov

Scott Thwaites

Dries Van Gestel

Xandro Meurisse

Lukas Spengler

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Re: Re:

It's funny seeing El Pisti going full anti-Dutch again when the race organizer (head of organisation) is in fact not Dutch. It's a Belgian
Rob Discart

Sponsor is Dutch.

The sponsor just funds the race, they have 0 to say about where the races finish. That's all Discart's organisation (Golazo) decision

No talking out of this one Pisti

 

[GuyIncognito]

Re: Re:

No talking out of this one Pisti

As if.
You know he's going to insist black is white, white is black, and get himself run over at the next crosswalk

 

[Ricco']

Why is Van Aert not starting this race?

 

[tobydawq]

Re:

Why is Van Aert not starting this race?

Perhaps he doesn't want to ride too much before the cross season. He did just ride and win the Tour of Denmark and before that he rode the Tour of Austria. And today's race was a big goal.

I would also have liked to see him, though.

 

[Derry]

Re:

Why is Van Aert not starting this race?

He will only do Schaals Sels (1.1) and a altitude camp and then back to cyclo cross.

 

[El Pistolero]

Re: Re:

It's funny seeing El Pisti going full anti-Dutch again when the race organizer (head of organisation) is in fact not Dutch. It's a Belgian
Rob Discart

Sponsor is Dutch.

The sponsor just funds the race, they have 0 to say about where the races finish. That's all Discart's organisation (Golazo) decision

No talking out of this one Pisti

I hope you don't actually believe that. People are much more loyal to money than they are to their nation. Money decides everything. That's why a country like Saudi Arabia can fund terrorism, attack neighboring countries and violate human rights on a daily basis with the full backing of the Western World (besides Canada I guess, all the other Western countries are pathetic slaves to money). Iran, on the other hand, just needs to let out a fart and the entire Western World is calling for a Holy Crusade.

Companies don't spend millions of euro's to then not care what their money is spent on.

 

[GenericBoonenFan]

Re: Re:

It's funny seeing El Pisti going full anti-Dutch again when the race organizer (head of organisation) is in fact not Dutch. It's a Belgian
Rob Discart

Sponsor is Dutch.

The sponsor just funds the race, they have 0 to say about where the races finish. That's all Discart's organisation (Golazo) decision

No talking out of this one Pisti

I hope you don't actually believe that. People are much more loyal to money than they are to their nation. Money decides everything. That's why a country like Saudi Arabia can fund terrorism, attack neighboring countries and violate human rights on a daily basis with the full backing of the Western World (besides Canada I guess, all the other Western countries are pathetic slaves to money). Iran, on the other hand, just needs to let out a fart and the entire Western World is calling for a Holy Crusade.

Companies don't spend millions of euro's to then not care what their money is spent on.

Uh oh, Moving back to the subject.
The cities pay for a finish and have some say in the route and other things.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Re: Re:

Why such a boring route? This race usually has some good stages but this year is just meh.

Dutch sponsors that don't care for Belgium.

As usual, Dutch organizers ruin most races they get their grubby hands on. How many boring Grand Tour starts have we had because they just had to start in this boring country (when it comes to cycling terrain).

Once the contract with Geraardsbergen runs out you'll see nothing but flat stages and probably a TTT to ruin things even more.

I want a real Tour of the Benelux with 4 stages in Belgium, two stages in Luxembourg and one stage in the Netherlands (a prologue or something).

Well, going by area, a real Tour of the Benelux would spend a lot more time in the Netherlands than Belgium, and I can't see how a race that would be there to pay token acknowledgment to the existence of the Netherlands would really be a Tour of the Benelux.

I do, however, think they need to use Luxembourg a bit, and take more advantage of the more interesting available terrain, most of which is in Belgium. They could at least start by making the Limburg stages half-interesting rather than ruining everything by going Sittard way.

1x Luxembourg hilly-intermediate stage
1x Ardennes stage (preferably using climbs that aren't the same ones used in the Ardennes week classics)
1x Vlaamse Ardennen stage (obviously needing to use climbs we all know about but preferably using less well-trodden ones as the focal climbs)
1x Zeeland echelon-baiting stage
1x Limburg Dutch stage, preferably with no Bemelerberg and finishing somewhere like Kerkrade, Heerlen or Vaals
1x transitional flat stage
1x ITT

The last two can alternate between which one is in Belgium and which one is in the Netherlands.

 

[gerundium]

Could be a decent race tomorrow, weather is unstable. possible wind and thunderstorms. On the flip side if no storms pass through the race area it will be a sunny and probably boring stage.

Terpstra was reconning the stage today in the car to see where the exposed sections are.

 

[Robert5091]

Team presentations ... on boats?

https://www.facebook.com/binckbanktour/videos/2135253113390712/

 

[Robert5091]

So today's stage profile is -

______________________________________________________________________

 

[el chava]

Re:

What's the point of having a GC in a race that's totally flat. Everyone know that the TT winner will also be a GC winner unless he gets bored and goes home.

Honestly most 1-week stage races are decided on the TT (if there is one) and one additional stage (MTF/classic type stage), which make them incredibly dull. There are exceptions though, and this race was one of them. Was.

 

[RedheadDane]

Re:

Team presentations ... on boats?

https://www.facebook.com/binckbanktour/videos/2135253113390712/

The boat part has happened before in the Netherlands.
It's that really low bridge (used as stage*?) I'm amused by.




*That is, stage for the presentation. Not a stage in the race...

 

[Bardamu]

Re: Re:

Why such a boring route? This race usually has some good stages but this year is just meh.

Dutch sponsors that don't care for Belgium.

As usual, Dutch organizers ruin most races they get their grubby hands on. How many boring Grand Tour starts have we had because they just had to start in this boring country (when it comes to cycling terrain).

Once the contract with Geraardsbergen runs out you'll see nothing but flat stages and probably a TTT to ruin things even more.

I want a real Tour of the Benelux with 4 stages in Belgium, two stages in Luxembourg and one stage in the Netherlands (a prologue or something).

Well, going by area, a real Tour of the Benelux would spend a lot more time in the Netherlands than Belgium, and I can't see how a race that would be there to pay token acknowledgment to the existence of the Netherlands would really be a Tour of the Benelux.

I do, however, think they need to use Luxembourg a bit, and take more advantage of the more interesting available terrain, most of which is in Belgium. They could at least start by making the Limburg stages half-interesting rather than ruining everything by going Sittard way.

1x Luxembourg hilly-intermediate stage
1x Ardennes stage (preferably using climbs that aren't the same ones used in the Ardennes week classics)
1x Vlaamse Ardennen stage (obviously needing to use climbs we all know about but preferably using less well-trodden ones as the focal climbs)
1x Zeeland echelon-baiting stage
1x Limburg Dutch stage, preferably with no Bemelerberg and finishing somewhere like Kerkrade, Heerlen or Vaals
1x transitional flat stage
1x ITT

The last two can alternate between which one is in Belgium and which one is in the Netherlands.

This should be the blueprint for every Benelux-tour.

 

[yaco]

Will be interesting to see if Ewan is focused - If so there are stages to win.

 

[RedheadDane]

Nice weather…

 

[Scarponi]

Jakobson 1st ,
Kittel 2nd Ewan third. Ewan and Kittel
Came
From well back

 

[tobydawq]

Number 13 won without putting one of the numbers upside down.

 

[glowder]

Is there a live feed for this in the USA?

 

[Lequack]

QS doesn't even need Viviani or Gaviria to win sprint stages anymore.