2014 Liege-Bastogne-Liege, 1.UWT (262 Km's)

[Hugo Koblet]

He's under the radar because he's not even starting . Four top 10's in five starts not good enough for Vino?

Vino could have made made four top 10's in one start.

 

[peloton]

Froome.

(I hope the forum won't meltdown again)

 

[Rollthedice]

Froome.

(I hope the forum won't meltdown again)

Just checked Froome's background on LBL (yes, he was here before):

2008 with Barlo 84
2009 with Barlo 45 (when one Andy Schleck won...)
2010 with Sky 137 (Vino won after dealing with Kolobnev)
2011 was busy trying to win Vuelta
2012 was busy with Wiggo and Le Tour
2013, between winning Criterium and Romandie he finished 36th.

Coming straight from Tenerife with his pal Richie, you never know. All GC contenders in GTs usually perform well in LBL so he can definitely be in the mix until the last stages of the race. Winning is a different thing.

I will cheer for Nibali but it will be hard. Valverde gets my vote.

 

[Siriuscat]

Cracking bit of insight on the Inner Ring....see below

http://inrng.com/2014/04/the-hidden-climbs-of-liege-bastogne-liege/#comment-105835

Dan Martin for the win tomorrow

 

[manafana]

Rod and Dan look strong for a repeat for me but also like the chances of Rodriguez this is the race that should suit him best.

 

[greenedge]

I think Porte would be better suited to this race over Froome (Wilunga this year,Talansky's stage win in PN, but then again Froome has rode well in the slugfest that was TOR, which Spilak won (the stage))

 

[BigMac]

Costa is already spreading his charm among the girls of Liège.

 

[Jspear]

Costa is already spreading his charm among the girls of Liège.

Look at the dude with glasses in the left corner of the pic - looks like he has a "that's not fair" kinda face on.

 

[Jelantik]

valverde seems to be the strongest. My vote is for him. Gilbert, I'm not sure. I was hoping Kwiat wouldn't running out of gas, he is one of the breath young fresh air. So I'm secretly rooting for him. Nibali? I don't know. I still think he is still chasing off his form. But he might surprise me by pulling another 2013 TA.

 

[Afrank]

this.

I just upped his vote to 9, still Nibali / Kwiatkowski and some other riders who never podiumed in Liege get more votes
And one of the Schlecks (which one?) gets even 6...?

It's whichever Schleck you want it to be. I originally had selected Andy, Ferryman suggested Frank instead, so I said meet in the middle and go with Schleck.

And those 6, actually 9 now, people are IMHO very wise posters.

 

[VeloHuman]

Look at the dude with glasses in the left corner of the pic - looks like he has a "that's not fair" kinda face on.

Merida lets him pursue his passion... according to the ads I keep seeing.

 

[Tournesol]

Merida lets him pursue his passion... according to the ads I keep seeing.

"My bike was built to win this fight"

 

[hfer07]

I was a bit hesitant to make a prediction for this LBL since there are already a pre set group of favorites, but at this point I'm going to say that ASTANA is thirsty for glory & will make race hard for everyone, and therefore profit from tactics being played by the main contenders. There will be the Nibali attack, the Fulgsan attack, the Gasparoto attack, and then is the " I " blow, which nobody was expecting....

 

[alspacka]

It's whichever Schleck you want it to be. I originally had selected Andy, Ferryman suggested Frank instead, so I said meet in the middle and go with Schleck.

And those 6, actually 9 now, people are IMHO very wise posters.

Yes, oh ye of little faith, the phoenix will rise.

maybe

 

[Roude Leiw]

I was a bit hesitant to make a prediction for this LBL since there are already a pre set group of favorites, but at this point I'm going to say that ASTANA is thirsty for glory & will make race hard for everyone, and therefore profit from tactics being played by the main contenders. There will be the Nibali attack, the Fulgsan attack, the Gasparoto attack, and then is the " I " blow, which nobody was expecting....

So let's hope birdsong will then actually pull in the break and not look at them and say "got gasparotto in the main bunch"

 

[Roude Leiw]

Yes, oh ye of little faith, the phoenix will rise.

maybe

Well Andy might start and pull out. Schleck to watch is Franky who is feeling really confident in our local newspaper.

 

[Jspear]

Well Andy might start and pull out. Schleck to watch is Franky who is feeling really confident in our local newspaper.

I'm pretty confident neither Shleck will be top 10.
Here's what I wish would happen.

1. Nibali, 2. Martin, 3. Valverde, Rodriguez, Gilbert, Mollema, Kreuziger, Kwiatkowski, Moreno, Bentacur, and 200th - Froome.

 

[gunara]

Valverde will be absolutely fine for me, he deserves at least one more monument, but I vote for Mollema, he will be fun too, hope he will at least make a strong presence and not just roll along for good placement.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

The "African" watch:

vs

vs

Going with Meintjes, but I think the Dawg will be up for the fight today.

 

[meat puppet]

according to the Wunderground the weather's nice in liege, overcast in bastogne, and moderate wind from the south is in the menu it seems.

since there are many takers for this, let's just hope that not all of the teams play it safe. if they do, valverde or martin probably wins. a long range cooperation from second to third tiers would be nice.

as for the first tiers, here's hoping that mollema snatches the race.

 

[Matdum94]

Froome has pulled out because of a mild chest infection, probably out of TD romandie too

 

[wirral]

Froome has pulled out because of a mild chest infection, probably out of TD romandie too

Sky strike again!

 

[jens_attacks]

damn sky fishy as a river in alaska for fucc sake

contador has the tour in the bag.

 

[Aapjes]

Gasparotto will be up there, I think. Last year 9th place in AGR and then 6th in LBL. This year he was 8th in AGR, so he is in good shape again.

 

[manafana]

Froome pulled out before it starts with chest infection, really starting to think contador and Nibali will push him this year.