2016 Liège Bastogne Liège, April 24th, WT 253 km

[jaylew]

Can a mod (or Lexman) add a startlist to the OP?

 

[Laplaz]

***** Wellens
**** Gasparotto, Valgren, Martin
*** Nibali, Valverde, Alaphilippe, Kwiatkowski
** Gerrans, Kreuziger, Bardet, Gallopin
* Ulissi, Rosa, Rodriguez, Sanchez

A little bit weird but i have this feeling

 

[Brullnux]

19 km/h wind from NW is predicted. In other words, a headwind for the last 30k.

 

[jens_attacks]

My bet is valverse won't podium this
Etixx main favourites and gaspa

 

[Bushman]

Gasparotto might be really dangerous. 5th is his best ever result in FW and he has done well in Liege before. The new climb should suit him really well also.

 

[Domulec]

Gasparotto did a recon of the new climb (Naniot) together with Purito. It seems really tough, might shake the final up a bit.

https://twitter.com/katushacycling/status/723550578521993217

 

[jens_attacks]

Yes they will al wait for this climb

Purito says it too. This changes everything

 

[Jungle Cycle]

"esto cambia todo"... "mama mia".. lol... it doesnt look(!?) that cold, or windy...

 

[Gigs_98]

Hahaha, and I thought this would only be a little bump near the end which will give the riders a chance to leave there one or two rivals which they still have after Saint Nicolas. But now I rather think that this time the same boring bs that usually happened on Saint Nicolas in the last few years will simply happen 3 kilometers later

But hope isnt lost yet. If the weather really is as bad as they say the race should be spectacular anyway.

 

[Orbit501]

Gasparotto did a recon of the new climb (Naniot) together with Purito. It seems really tough, might shake the final up a bit.

https://twitter.com/katushacycling/status/723550578521993217

Thanks for this. Looks a bit of a brute of a climb.

Mama Mia! Gasparotto looks to be in good shape!... filming and riding one handed up the climb like a boss

 

[sir fly]

Gasparotto did a recon of the new climb (Naniot) together with Purito. It seems really tough, might shake the final up a bit.

https://twitter.com/katushacycling/status/723550578521993217

It's tougher than I thought.
Good inclusion. Now we just need a rider in the mood.

 

[vedrafjord]

Surely they should be making the middle of the race harder, to burn off domestiques earlier and split up the bunch. Harder finish -> favourites more cautious, break less likely to survive.

 

[Akuryo]

Re:

Surely they should be making the middle of the race harder, to burn off domestiques earlier and split up the bunch. Harder finish -> favourites more cautious, break less likely to survive.

Do you really think that a difficult climb in the middle of the race would make any team force a huge split? They would just ride it in a slow tempo and nothing would change. If you want to change things up it has to be in the last 50 to 30 kilometers. Thats when you animate some riders to take their chances. Not in the beginning or middle of the race.

 

[IndianCyclist]

Re:

Surely they should be making the middle of the race harder, to burn off domestiques earlier and split up the bunch. Harder finish -> favourites more cautious, break less likely to survive.

Agree. Isolation of the leader from the domestiques is critical for unpredictable racing. But all depend on the teams that are racing. Even the hard middle can be raced conservatively and everyone ends up sprinting

 

[BigMac]

Re: Re:

Surely they should be making the middle of the race harder, to burn off domestiques earlier and split up the bunch. Harder finish -> favourites more cautious, break less likely to survive.

Do you really think that a difficult climb in the middle of the race would make any team force a huge split? They would just ride it in a slow tempo and nothing would change. If you want to change things up it has to be in the last 50 to 30 kilometers. Thats when you animate some riders to take their chances. Not in the beginning or middle of the race.

A single climb cannot make the difference, of course. By a harder middle of the race they mean a series of difficulties that can ''burn off domestiques'' making the race more prone to attacks in those final 50km's as it becomes harder for the Movistars, Katushas and Oricas of this world to bring them back.

 

[Pantani_lives]

I watched this race almost every year since 1987. These editions have stuck in the memory:
1987: Argentin from between the cars
1992: Dirk Dewolf sweating like a fat guy in the Sahara
1998: Bartoli with a huge solo
1999: VDB1 with a demonstration of explosive climbing after a battle between egos with Bartoli
2009: Baby Schleck's best race

Rebellin, Valverde and Gilbert had deserved wins, but those weren't memorable finals. Nowadays they usually wait until the final 10K and even later.

 

[doperhopper]

Re: Re:

Surely they should be making the middle of the race harder, to burn off domestiques earlier and split up the bunch. Harder finish -> favourites more cautious, break less likely to survive.

Do you really think that a difficult climb in the middle of the race would make any team force a huge split? They would just ride it in a slow tempo and nothing would change. If you want to change things up it has to be in the last 50 to 30 kilometers. Thats when you animate some riders to take their chances. Not in the beginning or middle of the race.

A single climb cannot make the difference, of course. By a harder middle of the race they mean a series of difficulties that can ''burn off domestiques'' making the race more prone to attacks in those final 50km's as it becomes harder for the Movistars, Katushas and Oricas of this world to bring them back.

In nowadays peloton full of strong doms the only way to get rid of the team support is using narrow roads (crashes and blocked roads on cobbles/mud) - that's why the cobbled classics rock. Or one could add real climbs, but that would change the character of a race towards another Lombardia (maybe worth a shot). Team collaboration could help, though (sending two doms each into an ewrly break, then launching Nibali/Dan/Kwiato etc on along range attack against Movi/Orica)

 

[Kwibus]

Here on the dutch coast it's rather cold. About 4°C right now, but it's still early.
Got some heavy showers, but it's more dry then it's raining so far. The shower did have wet snow and in the Ardennes that could be real snow. I'd rather don't have snow, but I do hope for lots of rain.

I think it will be mostly dry though.

 

[Tank Engine]

With a strong headwind in the last 30km, it may turn into a war of attrition with the strongest winning (Alex). I'm still hoping for/expecting Astana and Lotto Soudal to attack (particularly Wellens). If it does come down to the final climb, I'll probably be shouting for the Danny Boy/Alaphillipe combo.

 

[Jagartrott]

Gallopin does not seem in top form, but he has demonstrated being able to perform in wet & cold conditions - so he might be seen in the finale. It's around 1 °C now in Liège, and freezing higher up (coldest part of the day).

 

[Kwibus]

Re:

Gallopin does not seem in top form, but he has demonstrated being able to perform in wet & cold conditions - so he might be seen in the finale. It's around 1 °C now in Liège, and freezing higher up (coldest part of the day).

Apparently the temperature in Liege won't go beyond 3°C today. I hope the climbs won't freeze up or get snow else this race might become the biggest let down of the year.

 

[CheckMyPecs]

Re: Re:

Gallopin does not seem in top form, but he has demonstrated being able to perform in wet & cold conditions - so he might be seen in the finale. It's around 1 °C now in Liège, and freezing higher up (coldest part of the day).

Apparently the temperature in Liege won't go beyond 3°C today. I hope the climbs won't freeze up or get snow else this race might become the biggest let down of the year.

Weather.com says 4 °C right now and up to 7 °C at the time the race will unfold.

 

[MagnusMagnussen]

Re: Re:

Gallopin does not seem in top form, but he has demonstrated being able to perform in wet & cold conditions - so he might be seen in the finale. It's around 1 °C now in Liège, and freezing higher up (coldest part of the day).

Apparently the temperature in Liege won't go beyond 3°C today. I hope the climbs won't freeze up or get snow else this race might become the biggest let down of the year.

Weather forecast

 

[jflemaire]

It starts raining in Liège. Not much but the roads are already wet.

 

[TourOfSardinia]

Kwiatkowski gets the worlds most pointless superdom
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/froome-to-support-kwiatkowski-at-liege-bastogne-liege/
Fr Froo Froome