2018 Paris - Roubaix

[RedheadDane]

Well, if there wasn't enough hot water for everyone, I still think those who actually finished should go first.

Of course that would present the issue of a bunch of stinky guys walking around the area for quite a while...

 

[loge1884]

again: having enough hot water for say 200 cyclists should be part of the organisation of the race ...

 

[Leinster]

Re:

again: having enough hot water for say 200 cyclists should be part of the organisation of the race ...

Lets be absolutely clear here; it was the 1980s. Imposing the standards of the 2010s and World Tours and team buses on a time when the race marshall’s car drove over Jesper Skibby on the Koppenberg is not a reasonable comparison. The riders were probably happy for the cold showers at the velodrome because they didn’t know if the Ibis they were staying in that night had running water.

I presume the plumbing is in better shape nowadays, but by the sounds of things it isn’t under quite as heavy a load either.

 

[the delgados]

Hey everyone.
I just watched the last 40 k of Roubaix and am a little confused.
Sincere apologies if this has already been discussed, but why in the hell did the runner up take the lead with 1 km to go?
The leaders were not going to be caught, yet Dillier (sp?) laid out the red carpet for Sagan to win.

He took charge from 1 km to go and never thought to play cat and mouse on the velodrome, when it was obvious one of the two were going to win.
Again, apologies if I'm being redundant, but I can't wrap my melon around why the runner up would basically chaperone Sagan to the finish line.

 

[tobydawq]

I think he was a little nervous about being caught. I wouldn't imagine he was capable of thinking completely coherently so he probably found himself on the front and when he realised Sagan wouldn't pass him, I think he was worried that the pace would slow too much down if he began playing early. But he wasn't riding very fast anyway and on the last lap, they went very slowly, so it wasn't like he was leading out Sagan.

But yeah, he wasn't riding too smartly. Someone has to have the front in a two-man finish, though, and he lost the battle of nerves.

 

[Leinster]

Dillier's an experienced track rider with a decent finishing kick himself, and sometimes they prefer to come from the front. There's not a lot of road to pass someone if the sprint hasn't started before the final bend (witness Tom Boonen trying to get past Matt Hayman in 2016).

From the moment they got into the velodrome, Dillier led in and went high up on the bank. If Sagan had started the sprint any earlier, he would have been leading Dillier out, with Dillier having the advantage of coming from higher up the bank, so gaining more speed.

They both started sprinting at pretty much the same time as each other, so I don't think Sagan got any benefit of being in Dillier's slipstream for that last 1km. I think he just had more speed.

 

[Valanga]

Might it also be because riding up the velodrome first must be an incredible feeling, and Dillier was thinking they at least can't take that away from him?
And like Leinster said, he didn't give that big of an advantage to Sagan anyway.

 

[GraftPunk]

I thought it was odd that Dillier didn't take a tighter/steeper line off the bank as a block maneuver. Then again, I hadn't ridden hundred of k's and been on the verge of that sort of greatness, so I think Dillier did a great job in any event.

 

[Durden93]

I wonder what is going through the DS’s head in that situation. Do you stay silent to let your rider focus on the sprint or update him with time checks back to the chasers?

 

[Leinster]

Re:

I wonder what is going through the DS’s head in that situation. Do you stay silent to let your rider focus on the sprint or update him with time checks back to the chasers?

I think once they get to the 1km with a 40s lead or whatever, you just let the guy go try and win the bike race. They were never getting caught at that stage, and even if they were Terpstra finishes 3rd in that 3-up sprint.