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2014 4th Tour of Beijing, October 10 to 14 (WT)

Page 6 - Get up to date with the latest news, scores & standings from the Cycling News Community.
May 28, 2012
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trevim said:
Hopefully Gilbert targets Flanders instead of Liege next season, this new Oude Kwaremont course should suit him way better than the old one where he got 3rd.

TBH I don't think Gilbert likes the Kwaremont that much, as it suits the rouleurs better than puncheurs. But I'd love to see him give it a try again, just like a couple of years ago when he was a factor in MSR too. Pre-2012 Gilbert is best Gilbert.
 
Pentacycle said:
TBH I don't think Gilbert likes the Kwaremont that much, as it suits the rouleurs better than puncheurs. But I'd love to see him give it a try again, just like a couple of years ago when he was a factor in MSR too. Pre-2012 Gilbert is best Gilbert.
Yeah maybe you're right regarding Kwaremont but the course on a whole is harder now and that definitely plays into his hands I believe.
 
May 28, 2012
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trevim said:
Yeah maybe you're right regarding Kwaremont but the course on a whole is harder now and that definitely plays into his hands I believe.

That's true. And he also stated that he'll target Paris-Roubaix as well, so he might shift his focus in training somewhat to longer efforts.
 
Hugo Koblet said:
Yeah, that's why I'm asking what great work he was doing?

Hesjedal said at the summit. “I could do an effort and force the other guys to work and not just give them a free ride. From the looks of it, that really helped Dan. He could be relaxed and put the race on everyone else. He was able to finish off, so, happy with that
 
pastronef said:
Hesjedal said at the summit. “I could do an effort and force the other guys to work and not just give them a free ride. From the looks of it, that really helped Dan. He could be relaxed and put the race on everyone else. He was able to finish off, so, happy with that

If by "the other guys" he means Lopez and Weening, then I agree :D
 
Pentacycle said:
TBH I don't think Gilbert likes the Kwaremont that much, as it suits the rouleurs better than puncheurs. But I'd love to see him give it a try again, just like a couple of years ago when he was a factor in MSR too. Pre-2012 Gilbert is best Gilbert.

I'm not so sure about Oude Kwaremont but I think Paterbarg is tailor made for him.
 
Maybe it would have been a better tactic for Garmin to let Hesjedal ride on the front for Martin. But it was clearly the planned strategy to let Hesjedal attack from far out so that Martin could follow wheels and he did a magnificient job, Hesjedal, no matter if it was the right tactic or not.
 
Jun 9, 2014
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Bushman said:
Maybe it would have been a better tactic for Garmin to let Hesjedal ride on the front for Martin. But it was clearly the planned strategy to let Hesjedal attack from far out so that Martin could follow wheels and he did a magnificient job, Hesjedal, no matter if it was the right tactic or not.

Garmin may have been more worried about Costa than Gilbert. I think Martin will feel that for the second year in a row he's needlessly left a GC win in China behind him because riding a more aggressive tempo would surely have seen off Gilbert (though perhaps it was really just a great performance from him) and Costa doesn't appear to be on his best form.

You're right that following wheels was important because the climb was really a succession of short ramps with flatter intervals in between.
 
That was a fun last five or six km, and a great last km. Martin, Costa, Gilbert, Hesjedal, Sanchez is quite the cast to be at the sharp end of a small race.

Very nice ride Chaves. Not many can hold Martin's wheel when he goes nuts in the last km. I know it's the end of the season, but very encouraging for him to be splitting that trio on a finish like that.
 
Jun 3, 2009
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It is great the air quality has got better but pollution aside China shouldn't really have a WT race due to not allowing spectators. They wouldn't allow anyone with a bike on to the final climb of the course yesterday over 2.5hrs before the race got there. In fact they wouldn't even let you walk to a decent spot to watch.
 
Danish Eurosport commentator just called Valgren and Craven two of the profiles in the peloton, Valgren because of his results, Craven because of his looks.
I'm inclined to agree about Craven. Valgren though, probably mostly from a Danish perspective.
On the other hand; they were sitting in the back talking... and all of a sudden Valgren was at the front. So maybe he's a profile due to his amazing ability to get to the front in next to no time.

Back to the race:

Wouldn't it be something if the breakaway stayed away?