2017 Tour of Flanders / Ronde Van Vlaanderen - April 2, 260k

[pink_jersey]

Re:

Nice race. Great win for Gilbert.

With Sagan in there it would have been close. It was a headwind so one more body pulling could have made the difference. But it was his own wrongdoing anyway.

There will be no one more body. If Sagan didn't crash he/GVA/Naesen would have rode till the finish but in this case Van Baarle and Terpstra wouldn't be with them. And also, in this case, there will be no one to lunch them on Paterberg like that idiot did.
Looking at the final gap I still think Phil would've won.

 

[trucido]

Re: Re:

stop with this crashing BS, vanmarcke is down every other day and took rowe with him today as well...stuff happens, if its karma then poor Sep must have been an absolutely horrible human being in his previous life

Tell that to half of the Bahrain team today.

that one taiwanese guy who crashed like twice...really suspicious :lol:

One of them was also into the back of his stationary teamate. :lol:

 

[bigcog]

Re: Re:

I genuinely don't think the crash would have changed anything, Gilbert was insanely strong today.

Agreed, was an incredible win. One of the greatest of all time. A bit sad that some fanboys are trying to diminish that with unlikely hypotheticals.

Bang on, part of winning is staying on your bike.

 

[42x16ss]

Re: Re:

That's simply not true at all.

Yes it is. I don't know how you can't see that.

So Gilbert was this strong in the past 5 years? Please. I've seen races where Greg led out Gilbert in a sprint and still finished in front of him.

Gilbert wasn't allowed by his team to ride these races in the last five years, but before he went to BMC Gilbert podiumed this race twice, and has now won it. There's more results but I don't have time to do any research at the moment but will gladly revisit this conversation at a later time.

Gilbert rode races like Omloop and E3 multiple times with BMC. He just sucked. Yes, let's continue this in the Gilbert thread...

Because Gilbert was aiming for the Ardennes, GVA was leader for BMC at the cobbled races.

 

[DFA123]

Re: Re:

Nice race. Great win for Gilbert.

With Sagan in there it would have been close. It was a headwind so one more body pulling could have made the difference. But it was his own wrongdoing anyway.

There will be no one more body. If Sagan didn't crash he/GVA/Naesen would have rode till the finish but in this case Van Baarle and Terpstra wouldn't be with them. And also, in this case, there will be no one to lunch them on Paterberg like that idiot did.
Looking at the final gap I still think Phil would've won.

Exactly. The dynamics change completely. With Sagan there, Terpstra doesn't pull at all (even if he somehow manages to bridge across), Van Baarle doesn't get back on, and GVA and Naesen also save something back for the sprint.

Also, Gilbert probably digs slightly deeper and doesn't give up 10 seconds celebrating in the final km.

 

[TromleTromle]

Also remember. The MAGIC of the MUUR is back.

Epic win for a legend!

 

[DNP-Old]

 

[benzwire]

Re: Re:

double post

 

[benzwire]

Re: Re:

What a way to celebrate!

#justbelgianthings

#RosaDidItFirst

Nah....Grewal 1st

 

[Jancouver]

Not to take it away from Phil, but the million dollar question is:

Would Phil have won without the "support" of the motorbikes and his team car that was sheltering him from the win on multiple occasions?

Just a few pictures for you to decide

So how close are these TV cameras in front of him?

 

[noviceaussie]

Re: Re:

Nice race. Great win for Gilbert.

With Sagan in there it would have been close. It was a headwind so one more body pulling could have made the difference. But it was his own wrongdoing anyway.

There will be no one more body. If Sagan didn't crash he/GVA/Naesen would have rode till the finish but in this case Van Baarle and Terpstra wouldn't be with them. And also, in this case, there will be no one to lunch them on Paterberg like that idiot did.
Looking at the final gap I still think Phil would've won.

Exactly. The dynamics change completely. With Sagan there, Terpstra doesn't pull at all (even if he somehow manages to bridge across), Van Baarle doesn't get back on, and GVA and Naesen also save something back for the sprint.

Also, Gilbert probably digs slightly deeper and doesn't give up 10 seconds celebrating in the final km.

Not sure about the last point. The second group clearly stopped riding as well, I mean, Terpstra even ended up on the front! (Like an idiot)

 

[ice&fire]

Re:

Also remember. The MAGIC of the MUUR is back.

Epic win for a legend!

The steppers must have read this before the race
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/van-avermaet-the-muur-doesnt-fit-in-the-new-tour-of-flanders-parcours/

 

[SKSemtex]

Re: 2017 Tour of Flanders / Ronde Van Vlaanderen - April 2,

Gilbert was mediocre rider last five year. Cobbles or asphalt.
He is back. Let's enjoy.

 

[DFA123]

Re: 2017 Tour of Flanders / Ronde Van Vlaanderen - April 2,

Gilbert was mediocre rider last five year. Cobbles or asphalt.
He is back. Let's enjoy.

Absolutely! I tipped Sagan as well, but it's quite sad if you can't enjoy and celebrate an incredible win like that as a cycling fan, even if you mostly support another rider.

 

[Rollthedice]

Re: Re:

Philippe Gilbert, by far the best classics specialist of his generation: Ronde van Vlaanderen, Liège-Bastogne-Liège, Giro di Lombardia (twice) and the World Championships.

Ronde van Vlaanderen when the favourite crashes out, Liege-Bastogne-Liege in the absence of the best ardennes specialist of his era, Valverde

Someone had to do a pistolero :lol:

Can't crash if no one is in front of you.

Tell that to Sagan and Vanmarcke

And the hundreds of other riders who have crashed on descents or in corners in the history of cycling ...

Uphill too! Menchov, the legend.

 

[DFA123]

Re: Re:

Also remember. The MAGIC of the MUUR is back.

Epic win for a legend!

The steppers must have read this before the race
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/van-avermaet-the-muur-doesnt-fit-in-the-new-tour-of-flanders-parcours/

They get a lot of criticism at times, but they played that really well today. That ambush on the Muur was very nice and very well executed - I don't think anyone thought that Gilbert would go so early.

And even though they got a bit unlucky with Boonen - who was probably in position to just mark Sagan and GVA - they still finished 1st and 3rd. Great tactics and, on this form, Boonen may still have his dream finale next weekend.

 

[GreasyChain]

Re: Re:

Sagan went too close to the barriers... Sad that it had to end like this but take nothing away from Gilberts ride

Yep. They keep trying to avoid the cobbles by riding on guttrs and whatnot. Eventually they (Sagan in particular) hit a barrier. Unfortunate but only himself to blame

The barrier was being pushed over by spectators. Plenty of room otherwise. No fault to The Sag.

 

[loge1884]

now to the most pivotal question:
did Phil ride more km's on his own than Carlos Betancur in the group before he did throw in the sponge?

 

[Vroome.exe]

Lol Jancouver no way he is being motorpaced, too much distance between him and motos. And in the only photo where moto is quite close to him it was there for a second before accelerating.

 

[Forever The Best]

Re: Re:

Also remember. The MAGIC of the MUUR is back.

Epic win for a legend!

The steppers must have read this before the race
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/van-avermaet-the-muur-doesnt-fit-in-the-new-tour-of-flanders-parcours/

They get a lot of criticism at times, but they played that really well today. That ambush on the Muur was very nice and very well executed - I don't think anyone thought that Gilbert would go so early.

And even though they got a bit unlucky with Boonen - who was probably in position to just mark Sagan and GVA - they still finished 1st and 3rd. Great tactics and, on this form, Boonen may still have his dream finale next weekend.

QuickStep is much more different when there are bosses like Phil or Tom.
When those two are not there, QS manages to mess it up and fail absimally.

 

[Netserk]

Re: Re:

Also remember. The MAGIC of the MUUR is back.

Epic win for a legend!

The steppers must have read this before the race
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/van-avermaet-the-muur-doesnt-fit-in-the-new-tour-of-flanders-parcours/

They get a lot of criticism at times, but they played that really well today. That ambush on the Muur was very nice and very well executed - I don't think anyone thought that Gilbert would go so early.

And even though they got a bit unlucky with Boonen - who was probably in position to just mark Sagan and GVA - they still finished 1st and 3rd. Great tactics and, on this form, Boonen may still have his dream finale next weekend.

QuickStep is much more different when there are bosses like Phil or Tom.
When those two are not there, QS manages to mess it up and fail absimally.

It's the difference between shots being called from the car or from the road :lol:

 

[sQiD]

Congrats to Phil, awoseme ride ! and hard luck to Peter, just hope he's OK.

 

[SKSemtex]

Re: 2017 Tour of Flanders / Ronde Van Vlaanderen - April 2,

Does anybody hava the ascent times for Paterberg?

 

[Flamin]

Re: Re:

Yes it is. I don't know how you can't see that.

So Gilbert was this strong in the past 5 years? Please. I've seen races where Greg led out Gilbert in a sprint and still finished in front of him.

Gilbert wasn't allowed by his team to ride these races in the last five years, but before he went to BMC Gilbert podiumed this race twice, and has now won it. There's more results but I don't have time to do any research at the moment but will gladly revisit this conversation at a later time.

Gilbert rode races like Omloop and E3 multiple times with BMC. He just sucked. Yes, let's continue this in the Gilbert thread...

Because Gilbert was aiming for the Ardennes, GVA was leader for BMC at the cobbled races.

Yeah, and he was hardly very impressive there. If Gilbert was always this good, why didn't Quick Step sign him earlier?

 

[diego721]

Thanks Gilbert for coming back! What a ride!