Forever The Best said:
Libertine Seguros said:
burning said:
Gigs_98 said:
La Redoute is over, we should attack now.
Seriously what do these riders think?
The new climb makes everything even worse for spectators, none of the favorites will move until that climb
Precisely. RAF ruined all the climbs before it because riders are scared of it, now they put another one in the run-in to neuter the action until then. They need to be putting more climbs in the middle portion of the race and fewer, or at least easier ones, in the immediate run-in. Apart from 2010 and 2012 nearly every recent edition has played out like this.
Didn't Andy Schleck attack in RAF in 2009 and win the race?
Also didn't Schlecks and Gilbert attacked on RAF on 2011 as well?
Yes, but it doesn't change that RAF killed off earlier moves, because people were afraid of it, and so everything was very tentative until we got to it. It was also quite new at that point, once riders become used to a new parcours the dynamic changes. Look at MSR and how each time a new climb is added the size of the bunch contesting the win reduced, then started to increase again, or how for a few years with the new run-in Paris-Tours saw groups defeat the sprinters, only for the sprinters to then fight their way back.
RAF saw pretty good action the first few times (although it means less action in the race until that point) but as riders are more accustomed to how to ride it now, it's becoming less decisive than it used to be. Here's hoping for a change to that this year.
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