2015 Strade Bianche, 7th March, 200 km, 1.HC

[ray j willings]

And look.
First of all, I love Styby (just like 95% of the Belgian CX fans).
Second: he won this race fair and square. As someone mentioned: there's no possible way someone would have beaten him today.

But why does he NEVER attack? He takes hiss pulls, he's always quick to react to an attacker. But he always seem to count on his sprint...

Do you really love him? I admire him in a manly way.

You got say " Styby" got it spot on and destroyed all the other riders with his cycling ability. He could have stopped at that garage before the last climb for a bag of munster munch and can of coke and still won.

 

[Pentacycle]

It's true in some way. He waited a little bit too long. That last hill is quite short, like 400-500m meters if steep climb. Valverde should try to attack first and ride whole hill with the best possible tempo. But he waited so it was all about incredibile strong attack for 150-200m, like an uphill sprint, little bit compared to what Degenkolb did in Dubai. And Valverde couldn't match watts that GVA and Stybar produced.

Yes. It happens so often that Valverde is favourite for an uphill sprint, like in Amstel Gold. But when it's pretty steep and shorter than one km, you see he gets outclassed by more powerful sprinters/puncheurs, most of the times. Only on somewhat longer hill finishes he has the edge.(like Mur de Huy) And I don't think that if he were to set the pace early he'll have more chance in these types of races.

 

[Wallenquist]

Chapeau to you, and Stybar of course

Thanks mate! Lovely race today.

 

[DFA123]

What a race! Amazing efforts from the first four - Valverde and Stybar in particular, how many times did they attack today!

I was surprised by how much power Stybar still had at the end - he looks a real contender for the spring monuments on this form.

 

[Buffalo Soldier]

Stybar never attacks? This is news to me.

In CX he did, on the road he doesn't. I only remember 1 example, in the 2013 eneco tour. Please prove me wrong (and I mean that, since I absolutely love the guy)

 

[DFA123]

Yes. It happens so often that Valverde is favourite for an uphill sprint, like in Amstel Gold. But when it's pretty steep and shorter than one km, you see he gets outclassed by more powerful sprinters/puncheurs, most of the times. Only on somewhat longer hill finishes he has the edge.(like Mur de Huy) And I don't think that if he were to set the pace early he'll have more chance in these types of races.

Agree with this. There is no way Valverde can attack 10km out into a strong headwind and hold off chasers like Vanmarcke, Cancellara and Van Avermaet. I think he deserves a lot of credit though; incredible that he can even challenge sprinters and cobbled specialists in a race like this, while also challenging the best climbers on a high mountain.

 

[Moose McKnuckles]

And look.
First of all, I love Styby (just like 95% of the Belgian CX fans).
Second: he won this race fair and square. As someone mentioned: there's no possible way someone would have beaten him today.

But why does he NEVER attack? He takes hiss pulls, he's always quick to react to an attacker. But he always seem to count on his sprint...

Wait, what?

 

[bala v]

I remember how some doubted Stybar before the race.

I remember how some were laughing at the comment that Stannard would might drop Boonen.

Congrats to Stybar, great ride and great rider indeed. I was wrong

 

[Roude Leiw]

What happened to Cancellara there at the end?

I am a bit surprised too at the results as shown. The OGE doing a lot was Chaves and Sagan seemed tohave won a sprint in the background when Styby rolled back on camera to the podium, so very shortly after him crossing the line. Both disappeared from top 20

 

[Geraint Too Fast]

In CX he did, on the road he doesn't. I only remember 1 example, in the 2013 eneco tour. Please prove me wrong (and I mean that, since I absolutely love the guy)

Well, in the Malhao stage in Algarve he attacked left, right and centre, but thinking about it your right. In races where he has a chance to win he follows attacks, but he doesn't initiate them.

 

[skidmark]

I am a bit surprised too at the results as shown. The OGE doing a lot was Chaves and Sagan seemed tohave won a sprint in the background when Styby rolled back on camera to the podium, so very shortly after him crossing the line. Both disappeared from top 20

What I saw was an Androni rider (Gatto) winning the small sprint - jersey looks like similar colouring to Sagan's. Canc and Oss must have gotten overtaken on the last climb, I saw them finish somewhere around 20th. Chaves - well if he was doing the work on the front, he probably got dropped.

 

[DFA123]

I am a bit surprised too at the results as shown. The OGE doing a lot was Chaves and Sagan seemed tohave won a sprint in the background when Styby rolled back on camera to the podium, so very shortly after him crossing the line. Both disappeared from top 20

Cancellara absolutely blew up on the last climb and got overtaken by most of a big following group - I thought he finished around 11th-12th though not out of the top 20.

Sagan was about 5 minutes back.

 

[SafeBet]

Where was Cort in the end? He was impressive for a good portion of the race.

 

[proffz]

Been in decline in terms of good results and performances since 2012 (a few semi classics and one horse race green jersey comps excepted) but that can/will be explained away by being marked, being young, changing his style / weight, poor support from team, poor tactically, Cancellara had won nothing major by his age etc...

He just, to me anyway, seems to be a shadow of the rider he was a few years back, whatever the excuses offered.

is sagan doing a beppe saronni?
pick at a very young age, declining very fast.
but the monuments are there to make all of we look stupid.
maybe he wins sanremo and RVV... better to wait at least a couple of month..

 

[Tournesol]

Worrying performance from Sagan unless he was ill in some way.No chance in the monuments based on today's form.Needs to turn things around quickly.

 

[Bushman]

Wow, well that was unexpected. Valverde used too much energy working in the break. Perhaps he should just have sucked wheel. Usually he'd crush GVA and Stybar on a climb like this.

No, he wouldn't. How can you still say that when Stybar just crushed him? Styler is really good on these kind of finishes, he is a cyclo crosser you know.

 

[Bushman]

Great race. Stybar incredibly strong, what a finish. I think GvA did the right thing, he knew Stybar would beat him on the line so he tried to take him by surprise. Stybar was cool as ice, though, and clearly the strongest.

Maybe Valverde worked a bit too much but he wouldn't have beaten Stybar anyway.

 

[Hugo Koblet]

No, he wouldn't. How can you still say that when Stybar just crushed him? Styler is really good on these kind of finishes, he is a cyclo crosser you know.

You know what the word usually means? If Chelsea just lost against Leicester that doesn't mean that Chelsea wouldn't usually win.

 

[bala v]

No, he wouldn't. How can you still say that when Stybar just crushed him? Styler is really good on these kind of finishes, he is a cyclo crosser you know.

The guy cracked. Both GVA and Stybar crushed him

 

[sir fly]

Stybar rode a perfect race today.
Valverde should have passed some turns in the finale. I think the effort at the front of group caught him at the end.

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

Say what?

I guess you never saw valverde in agr

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

Lol

10 chars

laughing at yourself? you didn't see today's finish?

 

[Hugo Koblet]

I guess you never saw valverde in agr

You mean the race he finished 4th and 2nd in the last two years?

 

[bala v]

I guess you never saw valverde in agr

But I saw him plenty of times in Fleche Wallonne...

Btw what a great race from Chaves, we saw him once at 30km from the finish, leading the peloton. Or...maybe it wasn't him

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

You mean the race he finished 4th and 2nd in the last two years?

the race he never won and will never win for that very reason. he's not good enough on very short and technical climbs