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

[SKSemtex]

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

The best fortnight of the year is here. I am so excited. I wish I am in Kwaremont today. Memories from there are so special. I wonder whether local people will be today so friendly as they used be towards Sagan fans few years ago. :razz: . They have their own strong favorite to win.
Let the strongest not the smartest win today.
GO PETER GO.

 

[bylbyl]

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

Sporza starting the RVV broadcast in 30 minutes. From 9:30 until 18:00. Now that's proper coverage

 

[Billie]

Keukeleire is sick and won't start

 

[bylbyl]

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

200.000 people expected in Antwerpen for the start of De Ronde

 

[Buffalo Soldier]

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

200.000 people expected in Antwerpen for the start of De Ronde

Which is almost 2% of the Belgian population.

Total expected crowd on the whole course is 1 million. Which is even more than I expected. (It's the organization's estimates, not sure how accurate they are)

 

[wheresmybrakes]

Its on Eurosport 1 from 09.15 til 11.00 then back on again at 12.30 till finish. They must fancy a break half way and show 3 days of De Panne for those who haven't seen it for the 14th time.

 

[DNP-Old]

Imanol Erviti-fans assemble.

 

[greenedge]

Re:

Keukeleire is sick and won't start

That really sucks, this race suits him better than P-R and if Durbridge rides well here he would most likely get leadership status there. Also I wonder if Keukeleire will ride the Giro or the TDF?

 

[Billie]

Heeren vertrekt!

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

Ag2R wearing black armbands?

 

[Andro]

Full stage coverage of Flanders, damn.

 

[tobydawq]

Re:

Imanol Erviti-fans assemble.

He isn't in the early break so he must be trying out some new tactics this year.

 

[RedheadDane]

Re:

Ag2R wearing black armbands?

Eisel too... haven't noticed any others.

 

[Kwibus]

Re: Re:

I will be watching the start, go on a long bike ride with my brother and head back for the last 3 hours. Will drink a couple of beers, maybe get semi dizzy Belgian style, and root for Gilbert to eat Sagan.

Viva Tour de Vlaanderen!

Sounds great! I'm going to wake up at 4:30 am to tune into the earliest coverage that I can do without destroying the rest of my Sunday...

I think Quickstep is going to mark Sagan out of the race to open it up for either Degankolb, Kristoff, Gilbert/Boonan and GVA.

Bora just doesn't have the firepower to race against BMC and Quickstep with Trek/Katusha possibly providing an upset.

Personally I'd like to see Sagan win but a Gilbert or better yet Boonan victory would be pretty cool too.

Similar early Sunday here.

You may not be too far from reality with your predictions. Seems like QS only goal is to make Sagan lose.

That's what happen when the senile old man Lefevere cant sleep at night because he is still regretting not signing up Sagan when he had the opportunity. Must the biggest mistake of his life and a nightmare that keeps haunting him at night.

I hope Sagan can rub it into his face tomorrow with another Ronde win. QS used to be one of my favorite teams, but now they are a bit desperate with this "Sagan must lose" obsession.

I always love it when people seem to know what other people are thinking about at night. Quality post.

 

[DFA123]

Really looking forward to this race, even though - for a monument - it seems to have a very small number of potential winners. Sagan the favourite for me, as long as he can avoid the Quickstep mind games. The route is so selective that very long range attacks can be ignored, and by the last 50km there is no-one stronger than Sagan on the remaining climbs.

I think he could even beat GVA in a sprint if the two come together to the line this time. He's had enough time to think of a new strategy, and I'm sure he won't ride it hard into the last km this time - he'll be a bit more clever. GVA is the only rider in the race with as much to lose as Sagan by playing games, after all. He won't just sit up and let a chasing group get back on, giving up his first potential monument.

 

[GenericBoonenFan]

Re: Re:

Ag2R wearing black armbands?

Eisel too... haven't noticed any others.

Hall?

 

[RedheadDane]

Re: Re:

Ag2R wearing black armbands?

Eisel too... haven't noticed any others.

Hall?

Suppose that's the most logical answer.

 

[SKSemtex]

Re:

Really looking forward to this race, even though - for a monument - it seems to have a very small number of potential winners. Sagan the favourite for me, as long as he can avoid the Quickstep mind games. The route is so selective that very long range attacks can be ignored, and by the last 50km there is no-one stronger than Sagan on the remaining climbs.

I think he could even beat GVA in a sprint if the two come together to the line this time. He's had enough time to think of a new strategy, and I'm sure he won't ride it hard into the last km this time - he'll be a bit more clever. GVA is the only rider in the race with as much to lose as Sagan by playing games, after all. He won't just sit up and let a chasing group get back on, giving up his first potential monument.

This. What I am sure of is that GVA chances are gone as long as Peter does not crash. It will be either Peter or somebody else but Greg

 

[rick james]

My morning cycle done, now settled down for this race

 

[HelloDolly]

Iljo Keisse and Alexander Kristoff suffering from the KIrby 'treatment' today
That's them scuppered then

 

[HelloDolly]

Carlos Betancur @Movistar_Team is abandon #rvv

 

[42x16ss]

Betancur has DNF'd

 

[WheelofGear]

Re:

Betancur has DNF'd

Damn. He was my favorite for overall victory.

 

[rick james]

what happened there?

 

[MikeTichondrius]

Why ES thinks I need to watch endless Watts skits instead of the business I'll never figure out. I used to love their coverage, but man...I'm starting to feel like begging for a paid, ad-less option.