2015, Ronde van Vlaanderen 264.9 Km

[vladimir]

Very entertaining race and a very deserving winner. Nuff said.!!! I have watched almost 30 editions of RVV and this was certainly one of the best. So the new course cannot be that bad afterall

 

[DirtyWorks]

As for Thomas, he needs support. Maybe Sky can sign a worthy lieutenant to help him in races such as this.

Amazing win by Kristoff, he senses that no one is going to do the work for him so he took matters into his own hands. He is strong, confident and calm.

As for BMC, they are simply not good enough. Oss is a disappointment.

Sky's first problem is whomever thought it was a good idea to control the peloton for countless KMs 70+ Kms out.

BMC did okay today. They are missing something though. They are getting multiple riders into the lead group. Bike racing is hard in this way.

 

[jaylew]

I've never been a Kristoff fan but I might have to change my tune. Much respect for the way he raced today. The guy has definitely become a superstar.

It's hilarious listening to some people criticize Terpstra. He was in a tough spot and he was never going to win this race no matter how it played out. The race had been too easy and everywhere there were guys with much more speed. He did the best he could and wound up with 2nd. Terrific racing and a great result.

Vanmarcke just didn't have the legs as I suspected might be the case. Stybar was also disappointing.

Not sure what to say about GVA. BMC's tactics probably could have been better. Still, good to see his crash seems to have left no residual effects.

Despite finishing 4th I think Sagan got the most he could out of his Flanders. I think he raced just about as well as he could have with the legs he had.

 

[The Hitch]

Re:

Lol at people in this forum telling Terpstra to ride like a coward and not pull. I can't believe how reactionary and shortsighted some people are.

If he stopped riding with Kristoff he still wouldn't have won.

But the difference is he would lose his podium place no one will ever trust him in a breakaway again.

Any race he ever attacks in, every other rider working with him would identify him immediately as the guy who will sell them down the river with cowardly cheapo tactics if the breakaway gets a sniff at a win.

An extremely dumb thing for a rider who's best chance to win is from a mid race break, to do.

He has more chance to win in a 4 man group than alone with kristoff. You're dumb to deny that.

If he wants to win, then the only way was to no ride at all.

Or kristoff keeps pulling and maybe he can try something in the last few km (better than what it was right now)

or they're with 4 and kristoff prob can't react to everything.

That was the optimal strategy for him to win the race.

There's a risk he won't get podium but that's worth the risk for winning the race.

This. Can't believe I see Hitch advocating riding for 2nd place. In a group of 4 he might have won

Terpstra is racing with one of the fastest guys in this peloton. Anyone considering him a coward for not riding with him is a genius.

Well then maybe I am a genius.
But

Neither of you has actually addressed the point that resorting to such disgraceful behaviour would do long term damage to Terpstra's ability to win in breakaways from ANY race in the future.

Imagine next week or next year in PR he finds himself in a group with 2 riders with 20k to go, who he has a good chance to drop on the remaining cobbles sectors, but both, having seen what he did in RVV refuse to work with him, because they realize that they have no chance to win being in a group with him, as he will abandon them if he isn't able to drop them. They don't work, and all 3 riders lose their chance to win the race (since neither are the strongest)
Who would feel like a genius then?

You may say - oh well its worth it if he won RVV, but then his chances of winning RVV were still extremely low. Best best case scenario, he still would have had to somehow drop, 3 riders that were stronger than him. I can't actually work out how he would have won unless what you have in mind is all 3 of them taking eachother in a crash out in which case he STILL has to keep up a 10 second gap to the peloton.

Its not like Sagan GVA and Kristoff will ignore him for the next 5km and voluntarily tow him to the last 3k, where he drops them all, solos to the line, gets a kiss from the queen, cures cancer and lives happily ever after. Please

Even if you are operating from a pure game theory P.O.V and choose to ignore all morality (which both of you quite clearly seem to be doing), then you have to ask yourself what % chance would he actually have gained by betraying Kristoff like that, and what % chance would he have lost to win any race in the future from everyone else identifying him as a snake.

Its not worth it. The Hail mary pray that Kristoff might tow him to the line and let him win is not worth sacrificing your chances at every race in the future.

 

[cellardoor]

What a monster Kristoff. Best rider in the world right there guys. Really really impressive and a well deserved win. Terpstra didn't do anything wrong imo. He took his chance and got a nice 2nd place.

What was wrong tactic I think was when Thomas attacked from the chasing group and Stybar followed I think Zdenek should have helped him chase down the duo at the front and try to make a four man lead group with 2 Etixx riders in there. They would have had a little better chance of winning this although I'm not sure anybody could beat Kristoff in this kind of form. Again hats off to this incredible cyclist.

I think that is the right move ny Stybar. He must not allow Degenkolb into the mix. More so, we do not know the tactics of BMC guys at that point.

Lessons learned, they would need VBD next week if they want to inflict damage. No way will Trepstra be allowed to attack in similar fashion as today. Expect BMC and Sky to make the cover.

Even aside from from the Dekenkolb issue it's easy to forget how strong Thomas was looking prior to the race. I don't think that dragging the pre-race favourite to your team mate was the right thing to do.

 

[Gigs_98]

I think that was a great race. Kristoff really deserved the win because its a great move to attack so wide away from the finish although you are a sprinter. I also think that terpstra did everything right. If stybar had been the best on the paterberg i had told stybar to stop helping kristoff. But why the hell should he stop riding? In that case van avermaat and sagan had caught them and Terpstra would have become 4th.

 

[dlwssonic]

Deserved win from Kristoff.

I think Terpstra was in a bad situation specially because Stybar couldn't go with Sagan. I still think he worked way too much with such a good sprinter but he held the responsibility of leadership quite well.

This. When Stybar couldn't react on Pater, Quick Step was riding for max 2nd place. A good Stybar would've changed things but he didn't really have it today.

Sky also rode a poor race tactically. You can't Tour de France this race. Trains have no effect

You have to give it to Stybar. He covered almost all attacks. He could have brought GVA and Sagan as the gap is less than 5 seconds after the last cobble but he does not want to drag Degenkolb with him. Expect the same tactic from Etixx come PR but VDB will be more involved to shed out some of the favorites early on.

As for Thomas, he needs support. Maybe Sky can sign a worthy lieutenant to help him in races such as this.

Amazing win by Kristoff, he senses that no one is going to do the work for him so he took matters into his own hands. He is strong, confident and calm.

As for BMC, they are simply not good enough. Oss is a disappointment.

How is oss disappointing. He is never a favourite and has been up there at every major classic for a long time now.
He is more or less a super domestique who is sometimes given the freedom to attack.

and I was really impressed by GVA considering he was crashing left right and centre at Gent wevelgem and e3 just last week.
And hasnt been able to hang with the leaders at gent, omloop or e3. he only really looked strong at MSR.
However seems like he has recovered well and stepped up towards the big occasion.

 

[cellardoor]

Re:

Ride of the Day Gorilla

Got to agree with this...what a, well, gorilla!

 

[Miburo]

What damage to terpstra are you talking about?

He's riding with one of the fastest guys in the peloton, who the hell would consider him a wheelsucker for not riding with him at the end? Terpstra is usually who always rides but being punished for wanting to win? LOL

Give me an example in the past where someone was treated that way for refusing to ride with one of the fastest guys in the last few km?

It's not that he wheelsucked for 30km lol

Once again i'm not blaming terpstra, it was a very hard situation but if he wanted to truly win he should have gambled and not ride in the last 10km.

Any rider who wouldn't understand why he does it...

 

[SeriousSam]

Re: Re:

Lol at people in this forum telling Terpstra to ride like a coward and not pull. I can't believe how reactionary and shortsighted some people are.

If he stopped riding with Kristoff he still wouldn't have won.

But the difference is he would lose his podium place no one will ever trust him in a breakaway again.

Any race he ever attacks in, every other rider working with him would identify him immediately as the guy who will sell them down the river with cowardly cheapo tactics if the breakaway gets a sniff at a win.

An extremely dumb thing for a rider who's best chance to win is from a mid race break, to do.

He has more chance to win in a 4 man group than alone with kristoff. You're dumb to deny that.

If he wants to win, then the only way was to no ride at all.

Or kristoff keeps pulling and maybe he can try something in the last few km (better than what it was right now)

or they're with 4 and kristoff prob can't react to everything.

That was the optimal strategy for him to win the race.

There's a risk he won't get podium but that's worth the risk for winning the race.

This. Can't believe I see Hitch advocating riding for 2nd place. In a group of 4 he might have won

Terpstra is racing with one of the fastest guys in this peloton. Anyone considering him a coward for not riding with him is a genius.

Well then maybe I am a genius.
But

Neither of you has actually addressed the point that resorting to such disgraceful behaviour would do long term damage to Terpstra's ability to win in breakaways from ANY race in the future.

Imagine next week or next year in PR he finds himself in a group with 2 riders with 20k to go, who he has a good chance to drop on the remaining cobbles sectors, but both, having seen what he did in RVV refuse to work with him, because they realize that they have no chance to win being in a group with him, as he will abandon them if he isn't able to drop them. They don't work, and all 3 riders lose their chance to win the race (since neither are the strongest)
Who would feel like a genius then?

You may say - oh well its worth it if he won RVV, but then his chances of winning RVV were still extremely low. Best best case scenario, he still would have had to somehow drop, 3 riders that were stronger than him. I can't actually work out how he would have won unless what you have in mind is all 3 of them taking eachother in a crash out in which case he STILL has to keep up a 10 second gap to the peloton.

Its not like Sagan GVA and Kristoff will ignore him for the next 5km and voluntarily tow him to the last 3k, where he drops them all, solos to the line, gets a kiss from the queen, cures cancer and lives happily ever after. Please

Even if you are operating from a pure game theory P.O.V and choose to ignore all morality (which both of you quite clearly seem to be doing), then you have to ask yourself what % chance would he actually have gained by betraying Kristoff like that, and what % chance would he have lost to win any race in the future from everyone else identifying him as a snake.

Its not worth it. The Hail mary pray that Kristoff might tow him to the line and let him win is not worth sacrificing your chances at every race in the future.

you seem to assume not cooperating with kristoff in a break of two would cause other s to shun and punish terpstra in future breaks he is in. but unless riders subscribe to some very odd code of ethics, that would never happen.

one would hope game theoretic reasoning dominates the decisions.

 

[Mr.White]

[quote="

Vanmarcke? We need him for Roubaix, can't stand another Kristoff or Sky win.

Nelson Oliveira surprisingly good and Benoot the revelation of the day of course. Greipel was just spectacular making up for an underwhelming race from Roelandts.

Tinkoff is probably on the Koppenberg. Really, where the f*** was Breschel? Sagan looks weak whenever he has to make a real effort....

Regarding Thomas,I thought he would be stronger with all the hype surrounding him. Still he has learned the hard way what is like to be a favourite for a classic.

This. When Stybar couldn't react on Pater, Quick Step was riding for max 2nd place. A good Stybar would've changed things but he didn't really have it today.

Sky also rode a poor race tactically. You can't Tour de France this race. Trains have no effect

And better to get 2nd than letting Sagan and Van Avermaet back and getting 4th.

He would have had more chance of a win if he had let them get back on with around 5-6km to go. Then he could have at least tried to get away before the sprint and none of the others would want to be the one wasting energy chasing him down.

Let's assume he didn't work and Sagan and Van Avermaet got back to them and they all attacked Kristoff, he would have followed each attack and still would have won due to how strong he is at the moment. The only way they could have beaten Kristoff was dropping him on the Paterburg, and no one could do that.

No-one could drop him on the Paterberg because he had a 25 second lead, which Terpstra had gifted to him by initiating and then doing most of the work in the break. If the big group had all started the Paterberg together, it's certainly possible that 4-5 riders (including one from Etixx) could have distanced him slightly - and then no-body would have worked with Kristoff to pull them back in (a bit like what happened with the Thomas group).

Kristoff may have been too strong anyway - and certainly was a worthy winner - but the tactics by Terpstra were still idiotic. They went from having a small chance of winning to virtually no chance.[/quote]

The only idiotic thing is your comment. Terpstra rode perfectly fine race. He got second which is pretty big result. The only way he could win is to drop Kristoff on the Paterberg or Kwaremont which he wasn't able to do. To stop riding from a leading break of two.., well that would be idiotic, he would end up 4th or maybe even 10th-15th. The only way he could stop riding is when his teammate Stybar is in the chasing group, which was not the case, cause he was not able to ride with Sagan and GVA

 

[TheQuick]

But Terpstra is still riding for Etixx Quickstep last time I checked, he's not riding for himself, therefore he should do what their is best for the team and that was not gambling on that he could beat Kristoff

 

[Gigs_98]

The Schlecks towing Gilbert to the line comes to mind

That was about 100 times more dump

 

[Asero831]

Deserved win from Kristoff.

I think Terpstra was in a bad situation specially because Stybar couldn't go with Sagan. I still think he worked way too much with such a good sprinter but he held the responsibility of leadership quite well.

This. When Stybar couldn't react on Pater, Quick Step was riding for max 2nd place. A good Stybar would've changed things but he didn't really have it today.

Sky also rode a poor race tactically. You can't Tour de France this race. Trains have no effect

You have to give it to Stybar. He covered almost all attacks. He could have brought GVA and Sagan as the gap is less than 5 seconds after the last cobble but he does not want to drag Degenkolb with him. Expect the same tactic from Etixx come PR but VDB will be more involved to shed out some of the favorites early on.

As for Thomas, he needs support. Maybe Sky can sign a worthy lieutenant to help him in races such as this.

Amazing win by Kristoff, he senses that no one is going to do the work for him so he took matters into his own hands. He is strong, confident and calm.

As for BMC, they are simply not good enough. Oss is a disappointment.

How is oss disappointing. He is never a favourite and has been up there at every major classic for a long time now.
He is more or less a super domestique who is sometimes given the freedom to attack.

and I was really impressed by GVA considering he was crashing left right and centre at Gent wevelgem and e3 just last week.
And hasnt been able to hang with the leaders at gent, omloop or e3. he only really looked strong at MSR.
However seems like he has recovered well and stepped up towards the big occasion.

Oss was not able to trim down the lead of the leaders. He is expected to do that work given that there are three BMC riders. Even GVA gave up on having to use Oss to chase down Treps/Kristoff.

 

[cellardoor]

Re:

But Terpstra is still riding for Etixx Quickstep last time I checked, he's not riding for himself, therefore he should do what their is best for the team and that was not gambling on that he could beat Kristoff

Where was Trentin when he needed him?

 

[DFA123]

Re: Re:

you seem to assume not cooperating with kristoff in a break of two would cause other s to shun and punish terpstra in future breaks he is in. but unless riders subscribe to some very odd code of ethics, that would never happen.

one would hope game theoretic reasoning dominates the decisions.

Exactly, and anyone would love to have Terpstra in a break. Because he is a great, strong rider who can really help to maintain the gap to chasers behind, but he doesn't have many ways he can actually win. Perfect rider to have in a breakaway - no-one is going to castigate him just because he didn't drag one of the fastest guys in the world to the line one time.

 

[Red Rick]

Re: Re:

Lol at people in this forum telling Terpstra to ride like a coward and not pull. I can't believe how reactionary and shortsighted some people are.

If he stopped riding with Kristoff he still wouldn't have won.

But the difference is he would lose his podium place no one will ever trust him in a breakaway again.

Any race he ever attacks in, every other rider working with him would identify him immediately as the guy who will sell them down the river with cowardly cheapo tactics if the breakaway gets a sniff at a win.

An extremely dumb thing for a rider who's best chance to win is from a mid race break, to do.

He has more chance to win in a 4 man group than alone with kristoff. You're dumb to deny that.

If he wants to win, then the only way was to no ride at all.

Or kristoff keeps pulling and maybe he can try something in the last few km (better than what it was right now)

or they're with 4 and kristoff prob can't react to everything.

That was the optimal strategy for him to win the race.

There's a risk he won't get podium but that's worth the risk for winning the race.

This. Can't believe I see Hitch advocating riding for 2nd place. In a group of 4 he might have won

Terpstra is racing with one of the fastest guys in this peloton. Anyone considering him a coward for not riding with him is a genius.

Well then maybe I am a genius.
But

Neither of you has actually addressed the point that resorting to such disgraceful behaviour would do long term damage to Terpstra's ability to win in breakaways from ANY race in the future.

Imagine next week or next year in PR he finds himself in a group with 2 riders with 20k to go, who he has a good chance to drop on the remaining cobbles sectors, but both, having seen what he did in RVV refuse to work with him, because they realize that they have no chance to win being in a group with him, as he will abandon them if he isn't able to drop them. They don't work, and all 3 riders lose their chance to win the race (since neither are the strongest)
Who would feel like a genius then?

You may say - oh well its worth it if he won RVV, but then his chances of winning RVV were still extremely low. Best best case scenario, he still would have had to somehow drop, 3 riders that were stronger than him. I can't actually work out how he would have won unless what you have in mind is all 3 of them taking eachother in a crash out in which case he STILL has to keep up a 10 second gap to the peloton.

Its not like Sagan GVA and Kristoff will ignore him for the next 5km and voluntarily tow him to the last 3k, where he drops them all, solos to the line, gets a kiss from the queen, cures cancer and lives happily ever after. Please

Even if you are operating from a pure game theory P.O.V and choose to ignore all morality (which both of you quite clearly seem to be doing), then you have to ask yourself what % chance would he actually have gained by betraying Kristoff like that, and what % chance would he have lost to win any race in the future from everyone else identifying him as a snake.

Its not worth it. The Hail mary pray that Kristoff might tow him to the line and let him win is not worth sacrificing your chances at every race in the future.

Each situation is different, Terpstra had 0 chance to win in a 2 man group, so if he wanted to win he was better off in a 4man group for which he would've had to stop pulling at all. Nothing disgraceful about that in any way. It doesn't matter it's not the way the 'breakaway system' was built, you either try to win or you don't. Not cooperating should have no impact on how others ride with him in a group in PR.

 

[Asero831]

Re: Re:

But Terpstra is still riding for Etixx Quickstep last time I checked, he's not riding for himself, therefore he should do what their is best for the team and that was not gambling on that he could beat Kristoff

Where was Trentin when he needed him?

you do not expect Trentin to be in the selected group of 30

 

[Mr.White]

Re:

What damage to terpstra are you talking about?

He's riding with one of the fastest guys in the peloton, who the hell would consider him a wheelsucker for not riding with him at the end? Terpstra is usually who always rides but being punished for wanting to win? LOL

Give me an example in the past where someone was treated that way for refusing to ride with one of the fastest guys in the last few km?

It's not that he wheelsucked for 30km lol

Once again i'm not blaming terpstra, it was a very hard situation but if he wanted to truly win he should have gambled and not ride in the last 10km.



Any rider who wouldn't understand why he does it...

He wouldn't benefit from that. He would end up 4th or even worse, that's not good for him nor for his team, which is the main issue. His team, aka Lefevre, wouldn't allow him to stop riding, way to big risk, and I don't see how could he escape from three while couldn't escape from just one. Not to mention that he must felt Kristoff was stronger, otherwise he would attacked him 2-3 km's from the finish

 

[DFA123]

Re:

But Terpstra is still riding for Etixx Quickstep last time I checked, he's not riding for himself, therefore he should do what their is best for the team and that was not gambling on that he could beat Kristoff

This is the key point. Second may be a great result personally for Terpstra, but it is a poor result for Etixx, given their squad and their focus on the classics.

Etixx had a bigger chance of a chance if there was a bigger group coming into the finish, than they did in a head v head between Terpstra and Kristoff.

 

[Red Rick]

Re: Re:

Lol at people in this forum telling Terpstra to ride like a coward and not pull. I can't believe how reactionary and shortsighted some people are.

If he stopped riding with Kristoff he still wouldn't have won.

But the difference is he would lose his podium place no one will ever trust him in a breakaway again.

Any race he ever attacks in, every other rider working with him would identify him immediately as the guy who will sell them down the river with cowardly cheapo tactics if the breakaway gets a sniff at a win.

An extremely dumb thing for a rider who's best chance to win is from a mid race break, to do.

He has more chance to win in a 4 man group than alone with kristoff. You're dumb to deny that.

If he wants to win, then the only way was to no ride at all.

Or kristoff keeps pulling and maybe he can try something in the last few km (better than what it was right now)

or they're with 4 and kristoff prob can't react to everything.

That was the optimal strategy for him to win the race.

There's a risk he won't get podium but that's worth the risk for winning the race.

This. Can't believe I see Hitch advocating riding for 2nd place. In a group of 4 he might have won

Being inferior is not an excuse to wheelsuck. You win if you are the strongest. If you aren't you can make that up by attacking in places that are your strenght. If you aren't then you make that up through a better team. If you don't have that you can make that up with better tactics. If all that fails, you might get lucky and the better guys crash.

But if you fail on all those things, then you don't deserve to win. To just wheelsuck a guy in a 2 man group for 10km on the 1% chance he might tow you to the line is to abuse the breakaway system on which cycling has been built for the last century

If riders in a breakaway or in a group on the road can't trust eachother, then the entire pro cycling calendar is going to become like the first 60km of any Champs Elysee stage where everyone rides together because they can't trust eachother in breakaways.

And to allow to wheelsuck their breakaway companions, simply because you aren't good enough to beat them, that's just communism.
Why don't we just start letting sprinters hang onto cars on mountain stages, or let weak tter finish their time trials on the 1km to go line. Paris roubaix is also unfair. The strongest rider actually wins sometimes. Lets make it more fair and say that only the favourites have to do the whole 250km. The weaker riders should just be allowed to start in Arenberg, to give them a chance, cos it really sucks that they don't get to win these races.

Breakaways ways typically don't fight for the win and they have to ride together to get a chance to win. Breakaways often also have a different motive than winning the race. Riders should work together when it's mutually beneficial. If it's not, they shouldn't. No cheating in that, your argument about hanging on to cars is bs, and I'm not denying in any way that Kristoff wasn't the strongest or didn't deserve to win. Terpstra rode for 2nd place, and i'm disappointed in that.

 

[cellardoor]

Re: Re:

But Terpstra is still riding for Etixx Quickstep last time I checked, he's not riding for himself, therefore he should do what their is best for the team and that was not gambling on that he could beat Kristoff

Where was Trentin when he needed him?

you do not expect Trentin to be in the selected group of 30

I wasn't trying to have a cheap shot at Trentin, but commenting that team tactics are much easier when one of the fastest men in the peloton is on your team and in the thick of the action, which wasn't the case for Terpstra.

 

[the asian]

Re: Re:

Lol at people in this forum telling Terpstra to ride like a coward and not pull. I can't believe how reactionary and shortsighted some people are.

If he stopped riding with Kristoff he still wouldn't have won.

But the difference is he would lose his podium place no one will ever trust him in a breakaway again.

Any race he ever attacks in, every other rider working with him would identify him immediately as the guy who will sell them down the river with cowardly cheapo tactics if the breakaway gets a sniff at a win.

An extremely dumb thing for a rider who's best chance to win is from a mid race break, to do.

He has more chance to win in a 4 man group than alone with kristoff. You're dumb to deny that.

If he wants to win, then the only way was to no ride at all.

Or kristoff keeps pulling and maybe he can try something in the last few km (better than what it was right now)

or they're with 4 and kristoff prob can't react to everything.

That was the optimal strategy for him to win the race.

There's a risk he won't get podium but that's worth the risk for winning the race.

If he waited for Sagan and GVA he would have had even less of a chance and would have even lost his podium place.

There was no way he would have distanced the others in the flat, and sprinting vs 1 gives you a better chance of winning than sprinting vs 3. I

He did the right thing.

At least got him self and QS a podium place.

 

[dlwssonic]

Deserved win from Kristoff.

I think Terpstra was in a bad situation specially because Stybar couldn't go with Sagan. I still think he worked way too much with such a good sprinter but he held the responsibility of leadership quite well.

This. When Stybar couldn't react on Pater, Quick Step was riding for max 2nd place. A good Stybar would've changed things but he didn't really have it today.

Sky also rode a poor race tactically. You can't Tour de France this race. Trains have no effect

You have to give it to Stybar. He covered almost all attacks. He could have brought GVA and Sagan as the gap is less than 5 seconds after the last cobble but he does not want to drag Degenkolb with him. Expect the same tactic from Etixx come PR but VDB will be more involved to shed out some of the favorites early on.

As for Thomas, he needs support. Maybe Sky can sign a worthy lieutenant to help him in races such as this.

Amazing win by Kristoff, he senses that no one is going to do the work for him so he took matters into his own hands. He is strong, confident and calm.

As for BMC, they are simply not good enough. Oss is a disappointment.

How is oss disappointing. He is never a favourite and has been up there at every major classic for a long time now.
He is more or less a super domestique who is sometimes given the freedom to attack.

and I was really impressed by GVA considering he was crashing left right and centre at Gent wevelgem and e3 just last week.
And hasnt been able to hang with the leaders at gent, omloop or e3. he only really looked strong at MSR.
However seems like he has recovered well and stepped up towards the big occasion.

Oss was not able to trim down the lead of the leaders. He is expected to do that work given that there are three BMC riders. Even GVA gave up on having to use Oss to chase down Treps/Kristoff.

It was clearly BMC tactics to not help sky or astana out with the chase until the kwaaremont started.
GVA hasn't been able to follow the leaders in omloop, e3 or gent.
Plus he had many crashes last week so they weren't very confident in his ability and burning out sky who had the HUGE favourite thomas seemed the better option.

 

[the asian]

By the way, awesome ride by Benoot.

To finish 5th in the Ronde at age 21 is no mean feat