2017 Worlds BERGEN, NORWAY, RR ELITE, SUN 24th 277KM!

[GuyIncognito]

Re:

P.S.: What was Kwiatkowski's plan to win this race?

Whatever deity created him seems to have decided "1 day out of every 10 you shall have the talent of Michele Bartoli and the other 9 you shall be Benjamin Noval"

 

[Escarabajo]

Re: Re:

it always depends on which wheelsucker wins of course. Moral indignation seems to be quite mild at the moment.

In my case it's because I know Sagan has some very staunch defenders here and I don't want to pick a fight. This was a Gerrans win, as most of his are, but I'm letting it go because I don't have 4 hours.

You have to cool down!
He had no team. There was no other way to do it.

 

[jsem94]

Sagan has been ill. What do you want him to do? Go long like Wellens and risk it? Nah. Much better to stay invisible and wait for the sprint. Hate the game, not the player. Calling him a wheelsucker is just ridiculous. He's not Leipheimer or Gerrans FFS.

 

[DFA123]

Re: Re:

I think it's time the WC was valued less than the other monuments. Certainly lower than PR , RVV or LBL. It's basically been an easy version of Milan Sanremo these last few years. Kudos to Sagan for winning, but the fact that he can still put out such a strong sprint compared with the other monuments, shows how relatively easy it has become.

So you suggest a grand collective change in values or what?

Not a grand change - just a recognition that WC wins are far from equal. And the last few years, more often than not, have been little more than a soft MSR.

 

[movingtarget]

Re:

I really enjoyed the race, the course, the city and the crowd were fantastic. And major attacks starting from 70 km out were good as well. None the less, it feels a bit underwhelming, that the attackers didn't succeed but rather the riders who sat in the bunch all day. I would have been really happy with Alaphilippe as new world champion, also too bad Phil doesn't have the speed anymore.
All in all, congrats Peter but please let someone else win next year

P.S.: What was Kwiatkowski's plan to win this race?

Follow Sagan who followed Matthews who followed Trentin..............

 

[Echoes]

Re: Re:

Uh...it's cycling. Virtually the entire sport is shaped around "wheelsucking" if this was an example of it. This was just normal racing - a sprint finish. This wasn't like a Gerrans-Cancellara at MSR situation.

Indeed it wasn't. Gerrans took turns with Cancellara. But a guy who considers Sagan a marvel does not deserve to be talked to anyway.

 

[Brullnux]

Re:

It just comes down to bad routes. Ponferrada was meh, Richmond was bad, Doha was Doha and Bergen was also meh. The harder the race (Mendrisio and Firenze lately), the better the race. Thats why Innsbruck will be great.

In all honesty I have pretty low expectations for Innsbruck. This was a pretty good race, action of some sort for the last 60km, a mediocre penultimate lap and a very good final lap (despite the atrocious coverage). I'm fairly sure most teams will be waiting for the final murito next year, depending on who turns up. At least there'll be a different winner, I guess.

 

[Jagartrott]

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Teams like Belgium, Netherlands and France did barely anything to break up the race early on without a tier 1 sprinter. This outcome is completely their fault, not the podium finishers.

I don't know. I think they pretty much raced 100%, but the parcours was such that big groups could always come back. Sagan was right to 'gamble' and not spend too much energy on the last climb.

 

[Blanco]

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Bala junior is doing what the bala senior never did

Bala senior wins medals, bala junior not yet.

 

[portugal11]

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I just don't want a sprinter to win

Sagan is the real deal guys. He is such a beast!! Another year with the rainbow jersey

I'm confused are you happy with a sprinter winning or not? Your second post reads like celebrating a sprinter winning a bunch sprint.

Sagan is not a sprinter to me. He is a classicomano (for me), he has potential to win milan san remo and harder races like liege or roubaix

Then neither is Kristoff, Matthews, EBH etc.

You are trying to save yourself from something there is no saving from

Please, don't compare a attacker like sagan with wheelsuckers like kristoff or matthews.

 

[alspacka]

Re: Re:

Reducing Sagan to the label of sprinter is ridiculous, especially when used in a obviously pejorative sense. You see his interview? The guy looks deathly pale, he just won a third consecutive worlds whilst genuinely ill.

He clearly meant that he doesn't want it to end in a sprint with someone winning from a bunch.
He is now trying to manipulate his phraseology more than Bill Clinton... Now that is saying something!

Fair enough. I just read "no one left to lie to" so this claim carries serious weight :lol:

 

[Finn84]

Loooking at the route, Sandviken loop should have been ditched - at least for the finale.

 

[Cance > TheRest]

Re: Re:

Uh...it's cycling. Virtually the entire sport is shaped around "wheelsucking" if this was an example of it. This was just normal racing - a sprint finish. This wasn't like a Gerrans-Cancellara at MSR situation.

Indeed it wasn't. Gerrans took a turn with Cancellara. But a guy who considers Sagan a marvel does not deserve to be talked to anyway.

Fixed that for you

 

[Arredondo]

Boring edition. I like Sagan as a rider, but i would have preffered Ala to be the new WC. Great rider and he was by far the best puncheur today.

Really strong showing by Kristoff. EBH shows again he can't compete in races above + 220 km. Gaviria on the other hand shows his potential, but he was totally spend at the end.

And Ben Swift 5th! I really hope he will have better 2018, because the guy is such a complete bike rider!

 

[RedheadDane]

Cort... Cort... Cort... what were you doing?
He probably wouldn't have won if he'd waited for the sprint, he might not even have gotten a medal, but a top-10?

 

[d-s3]

Expecting Sagan to show on the front / saying he did not deserve the win is just stupid.
Should he attack and go alone, he would not have a chance, it was too long from the last climb.
Should he attack and be in a small group, nobody would work with him, as we've seen many times before.
And Slovakia does not have the team to make the race.
So this was the best strategy he could use.

 

[Brullnux]

Re: Re:

The race itself wasn't bad at all I don't think, much better than the previous two years. But the podium is pretty terrible, a vidication of wheelsucking. At least Norway did something I guess.

Uh...it's cycling. Virtually the entire sport is shaped around "wheelsucking" if this was an example of it. This was just normal racing - a sprint finish. This wasn't like a Gerrans-Cancellara at MSR situation.

Well, at least we witnessed history. Credit where credit is due - love him or hate him, Sagan is a marvel

Sure, but I'm allowed to say that I'd rather have had anybody else on the podium. This might lead to more teams in the future to just sit back and do this, which would just kill every single race. I'd rather riders who actually did something in the race to win. Sagan wasn't one of them.

Blame the parcours, not Sagan, if you're not already.

I'll blame Belgium and how they raced. It isn't Sagan's fault but I don't like the fact he won. I don't consider it a particularly impressive win.

 

[Richeypen]

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Sagan has been ill. What do you want him to do? Go long like Wellens and risk it? Nah. Much better to stay invisible and wait for the sprint. Hate the game, not the player. Calling him a wheelsucker is just ridiculous. He's not Leipheimer or Gerrans FFS.

Boom, and there is the point. Its good tactics if you like a rider and wheelsucking if you dont.

 

[movingtarget]

Re: Re:

it always depends on which wheelsucker wins of course. Moral indignation seems to be quite mild at the moment.

In my case it's because I know Sagan has some very staunch defenders here and I don't want to pick a fight. This was a Gerrans win, as most of his are, but I'm letting it go because I don't have 4 hours.

You have to cool down!
He had no team. There was no other way to do it.

Actually that's a good point. So he did have a tactic after all. But plenty of others had the same tactic so.......

 

[ihosama]

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It's also what you get when the WC are designed for sprinters who can climb a bit for three years in a row. ...

Doha had no hills. But otherwise yeah, the WCRR last few years was "classic" style race.

But Belgians, et all doing all of nothing today had something to do with it. Sagan won of luck today, he had one card and played that card well. But that Ala will be caught was anything but certain.

 

[portugal11]

Re: Re:

Reducing Sagan to the label of sprinter is ridiculous, especially when used in a obviously pejorative sense. You see his interview? The guy looks deathly pale, he just won a third consecutive worlds whilst genuinely ill.

He clearly meant that he doesn't want it to end in a sprint with someone winning from a bunch.
He is now trying to manipulate his phraseology more than Bill Clinton... Now that is saying something!

I said that i didn't want to see a sprinter winning this race. Tell me how many times you saw matthews, kristoff, gaviria,etc winning races alone

 

[hrotha]

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Cort... Cort... Cort... what were you doing?
He probably wouldn't have won if he'd waited for the sprint, he might not even have gotten a medal, but a top-10?

So he was 100% right to sacrifice that potential top-10 and take his chances to hit the jackpot.

 

[DFA123]

Re: Re:

It just comes down to bad routes. Ponferrada was meh, Richmond was bad, Doha was Doha and Bergen was also meh. The harder the race (Mendrisio and Firenze lately), the better the race. Thats why Innsbruck will be great.

In all honesty I have pretty low expectations for Innsbruck. This was a pretty good race, action of some sort for the last 60km, a mediocre penultimate lap and a very good final lap (despite the atrocious coverage). I'm fairly sure most teams will be waiting for the final murito next year, depending on who turns up. At least there'll be a different winner, I guess.

Yep, Innsbruck looks as bad as the last three editions, but just at the other extreme of the spectrum. What's wrong with a WC course that offers both Ardennes puncheurs and cobbled specialists an equally decent chance of winning? They are the two sets of elite one day racers after all. Something like a 250km long Strade Bianche would do nicely.

 

[GraftPunk]

The Sagan hate is hilarious... He's one of the most attacking, exciting riders all year, but by all means keep complaining that he doesn't deserve it.

 

[Blanco]

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Objectively, this was a wheelsucker's win.

This was a race for wheelsucker to win. Sagan is becoming smarter these days...