2018 Innsbruck World Championship Men's Road Race - 259km

[benzwire]

Re:

Peter seems like a total ***, cant stay out of the spotlight

I'm sure they asked him to do it. Lighten up dude

 

[Bolder]

Re:

Race was over as soon as they couldn’t drop Valverde over the climb.

I thought so, too. Dumoulin and Woods were pretty cooked, even I could outsprint Bardet. French had the riders but Pinot may have spent more time at the front than he should have.

Overall it was a great race. I was on the edge of my seat the final 20 kms. I would have liked the murito to be a bit less "mur"-like -- we would have had 10 riders in the final km otherwise.

 

[42x16ss]

Re:

Was anyone else listening to the uci commentary? I found it somewhat annoying that they kept talking about Dumoulin. Why would Valverde have been afraid of letting Tom, who was riding full gas and doesn’t have a great sprint, into the finale?

If Dumoulin was fresh (and smart) enough to attack on the opposite barrier full gas, Valverde would have had to respond. Even if the attack didn't stick it could have been enough of a launchpad for Woods or Bardet to get around and beat him.

 

[TourOfSardinia]

Re: Re:

Is Porte hated?

Pitied more like

 

[hfer07]

Re:

Race was over as soon as they couldn’t drop Valverde over the climb.

Exactly

 

[El Pistolero]

Re: Re:

Bit disappointed Bardet and Woods were happy to ride to the finish with Valverde

They always ride for second or third place, so why are you surprised? 99% of cyclists are afraid to ride for victory.

Such bollo**s

They were tired ....the course was too much for most riders

Sitting on your arses and saying that :lol:

If they were tired then why did they take over from Valverde? Could've just sitten in his wheel.

 

[Broth3r]

Re: Re:

LOL. Once Don crossed the line, I instantly caught myself thinking that El Pistilero is about to come into the thread and start bi***ing about Valverde and how unfair this outcome is.

I'll also laugh at you when criminals hurt you. You must like criminals after all.

Your logic is... not like other people's.

 

[OlavEH]

Re: Re:

Is Porte hated?

Pitied more like

Well, that I can agree on!

 

[franic]

Re: Re:

stunning

'do nothing till sprint'

Obviously
Absolute bs. He was part of the most dangerous move on the climb. Worked hard on the descent and the flat to make sure Alaphilippe had no chance of getting back on. Allowing him to lead the final 2km, confident that he could lead the sprint out and still win.

It was tactically perfect.

99.9% agree. Maybe Bardet could have gone harder if he knew Alaphilippe wasn’t in shape

So heroic to do 2 half arsed pulls to keep back a rider you recked so badly he wouldn't win a sprint in a million years.

Woods and Bardet didn't ride to win. They rode to medal.

The were never going to win a sprint against Valverde or drop him after the climb so what more could they do ?

Attack over the top of him and force a response, even if you don't get away, you take something out of your opponent for a sprint, or reduce the number of riders in the sprint.

See the Roubaix 2016 finale - that was a masterclass from Hayman and Boonen.

As for Valverde, he only did what his opponents let him, and the minimum he needed to. Not his fault.

There Hayman won because of the bike frame and wheels

 

[BlackWhiteEagle]

Woods somehow reminds me of Santi Cazorla.

 

[LaFlorecita]

So tired of the El Pisti show

 

[damian13ster]

Re: Re:

Bit disappointed Bardet and Woods were happy to ride to the finish with Valverde

They always ride for second or third place, so why are you surprised? 99% of cyclists are afraid to ride for victory.

Such bollo**s

They were tired ....the course was too much for most riders

Sitting on your arses and saying that :lol:

If they were tired then why did they take over from Valverde? Could've just sitten in his wheel.

Because it is World Championships. 3 medals to be given out. That means you don't let the 4th guy come back easily as all 3 come out with something. They weren't going to beat Valverde in the sprint anyway so might as well assure they get a piece of hardware for themselves

 

[KyoGrey]

Re: 2018 Innsbruck World Championship Men's Road Race - 259k

 

[Stella0596]

Omg Dutch tv just described Valverde as 'a crying old man'

 

[El Pistolero]

Re: Re:

Bit disappointed Bardet and Woods were happy to ride to the finish with Valverde

They always ride for second or third place, so why are you surprised? 99% of cyclists are afraid to ride for victory.

Such bollo**s

They were tired ....the course was too much for most riders

Sitting on your arses and saying that :lol:

If they were tired then why did they take over from Valverde? Could've just sitten in his wheel.

Because it is World Championships. 3 medals to be given out. That means you don't let the 4th guy come back easily as all 3 come out with something. They weren't going to beat Valverde in the sprint anyway so might as well assure they get a piece of hardware for themselves

So they were riding for second and third place, like I said.

 

[42x16ss]

Re: Re:

99.9% agree. Maybe Bardet could have gone harder if he knew Alaphilippe wasn’t in shape

So heroic to do 2 half arsed pulls to keep back a rider you recked so badly he wouldn't win a sprint in a million years.

Woods and Bardet didn't ride to win. They rode to medal.

The were never going to win a sprint against Valverde or drop him after the climb so what more could they do ?

Attack over the top of him and force a response, even if you don't get away, you take something out of your opponent for a sprint, or reduce the number of riders in the sprint.

See the Roubaix 2016 finale - that was a masterclass from Hayman and Boonen.

As for Valverde, he only did what his opponents let him, and the minimum he needed to. Not his fault.

There Hayman won because of the bike frame and wheels

They also made EBH and to a lesser extent Stannard, a non factor in the sprint by forcing them to respond so many times.

 

[Red Rick]

Re:

Omg Dutch tv just described Valverde as 'a crying old man'

So?

Dutch commentators were rooting for him so hard it wasn't even funny. Calling it justice and all.

 

[franic]

Re:

Omg Dutch tv just described Valverde as 'a crying old man'

Which was technically true at that point.

 

[Amazinmets87]

When will Bala make his debut the coveted rainbow jersey? Giro di Lombardia?

 

[gregrowlerson]

Re:

I am Dutch and a Sky fan, so I rooted for Moscon and Dumoulin in the finale, but I must say that Valverde's victory feels right to me. You can see how much it means to him.

Post of the day.

 

[DFA123]

Re: Re:

Bit disappointed Bardet and Woods were happy to ride to the finish with Valverde

They always ride for second or third place, so why are you surprised? 99% of cyclists are afraid to ride for victory.

Such bollo**s

They were tired ....the course was too much for most riders

Sitting on your arses and saying that :lol:

If they were tired then why did they take over from Valverde? Could've just sitten in his wheel.

Because it is World Championships. 3 medals to be given out. That means you don't let the 4th guy come back easily as all 3 come out with something. They weren't going to beat Valverde in the sprint anyway so might as well assure they get a piece of hardware for themselves

Agreed, except for that they could have beaten Valverde in the sprint. He could have been on his limit, made a tactical blunder, had a mechanical, gone too early or lots of other things. And neither Woods nor Bardet are terrible sprinters; in fact, both are pretty good for climbers, and certainly good enough to take advantage of a tactical error by Valverde (which, lets face it, happen quite often in WCs).

 

[Durden93]

Re: Re:

Was anyone else listening to the uci commentary? I found it somewhat annoying that they kept talking about Dumoulin. Why would Valverde have been afraid of letting Tom, who was riding full gas and doesn’t have a great sprint, into the finale?

If Dumoulin was fresh (and smart) enough to attack on the opposite barrier full gas, Valverde would have had to respond. Even if the attack didn't stick it could have been enough of a launchpad for Woods or Bardet to get around and beat him.

That’s fair. My thinking was that it would have been unwise for Valverde to ride hard at the front to prevent Dumoulin from joining. His best move imo was to slow down somewhat and rest for the sprint. Even if a bunch of other riders came back he’d still have the best sprint.

 

[Stella0596]

Re: Re:

Omg Dutch tv just described Valverde as 'a crying old man'

So?

Dutch commentators were rooting for him so hard it wasn't even funny. Calling it justice and all.

Yeah, that why I thought it was weird... because they were so happy and it's such a strange choice of words at that time

 

[IndianCyclist]

Re: Re:

They wanted to win and they tried to drop Valverde on the climb. Once they couldn't it was clear that Valverde would win from 10 man group or 3 man group but they wouldn't. Hence the ride after the climb

 

[GuyIncognito]

Re:

When will Bala make his debut the coveted rainbow jersey? Giro di Lombardia?

You mean the coveted "Movistar blue jersey with a tiny rainbow stripe on the shoulder"