2018 Strade Bianche, 1.UWT, 03.03.18

[Jagartrott]

Re: Re:

Sagan to ride Strade.

Sagan to win Strade.

This would be quite surprising, without having raced for a month.
Kwiatkowski is favourite in my book, and I wouldn't underestimate Vanmarcke here.

 

[Netserk]

Re: Re:

Sagan to ride Strade.

Sagan to win Strade.

This would be quite surprising, without having raced for a month.
Kwiatkowski is favourite in my book, and I wouldn't underestimate Vanmarcke here.

If he is as strong as when he returned to racing in February last year after a month off, I think he'll be quite fine.

 

[Krokro]

Very hard to see past Kwiatkowski and Stybar, especially if the weather remains muddy. I really hope that Van Aert competes as good as he showed on KBK. That guy might be a gem for this race! What about Lutsenko? I'm still in da hypetrain.

 

[Koronin]

Re:

Very hard to see past Kwiatkowski and Stybar, especially if the weather remains muddy. I really hope that Van Aert competes as good as he showed on KBK. That guy might be a gem for this race! What about Lutsenko? I'm still in da hypetrain.

Agreed. Those two have the be the favorites regardless of anyone else going including a Sagan that hasn't raced much. Movistar said they'll make a decision tomorrow on their lineup, however they did say Valverde has never been on their list of riders to go even though he's said he wants to go. (He's also sick at the moment so that actually may give them the excuse to not send him to ensure he gets healthy.)

 

[AQETUYIOI]

Re:

https://scontent-amt2-1.xx.fbcdn.ne...=52a7dcf2135a1bf3066cea578a3f5e7e&oe=5B08E2DB

https://www.strava.com/activities/1428419493

 

[The Hegelian]

I'm really interested to see how the tt'ers will go. Along with PR, seems to be a course they can do well on. Last year Dumoulin and Durbridge came 5th and 6th respectively. Maybe you need just a little more punch though??

Kwia looks in very good nick - my money is on him.

 

[Kwibus]

Re:

I'm really interested to see how the tt'ers will go. Along with PR, seems to be a course they can do well on. Last year Dumoulin and Durbridge came 5th and 6th respectively. Maybe you need just a little more punch though??

Kwia looks in very good nick - my money is on him.

Definately more punch is needed, besides the mud there are also steep climbs.

 

[SafeBet]

Weather forecast is changing. Could be still raining on Saturday.

 

[torcia_86]

https://twitter.com/kwiato/status/968812005552480256
kwiat on the route

 

[winkybiker]

Re: Re:

Che bello

Yes, great photo. Sadly, the snow will be gone before the race.

 

[Lexman]

no Michael Mattews at the start, he hurt his shoulder at a crash in Omloop, not sure if he can participate in Tirreno either..

 

[Son of Amsterhammer]

Re: Re:

Sagan to ride Strade.

Sagan to win Strade.

This would be quite surprising, without having raced for a month.
Kwiatkowski is favourite in my book, and I wouldn't underestimate Vanmarcke here.

Prohibitive favorite I think.

 

[Jns]

I'm expecting Stybar, Kwiatkowski and Vanmarcke to be the strongest riders.

I'd love to see Van Aert play a role in the finale, but I'd be surprised if he would.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Re:

I'm expecting Stybar, Kwiatkowski and Vanmarcke to be the strongest riders.

I'd love to see Van Aert play a role in the finale, but I'd be surprised if he would.

I wouldn't be surprised if Van Aert actually finishes top 10 or top 5

 

[Laplaz]

I see Moscon is very underrated here for Saturday, but actually i can see him winning this. Other dark horses are Bardet, Benoot and Bettiol.

 

[RedheadDane]

Re: Re:

Che bello

Yes, great photo. Sadly, the snow will be gone before the race.

Why's that sad? When snow melts it becomes water, which - together with dirt and gravel - becomes mud!

 

[tobydawq]

I don't really get the tendency in this thread to not see Sagan as a clear favorite for this race. Did you see how he bossed Omloop (except the sprint) last year in his first race after Sierra Nevada?

He is going to be very difficult to keep up with this Saturday, I think.

 

[myrideissteelerthanyours]

Bicycling.com says it wont turn into a mud pit because of the sterrati being covered in stones. I expect this meme race will be even worse than usual if weather is bad. As far as I can tell the appeal of this event is nobody is on form or cares so there's always always an extra early selection and you see above average TV time for famous riders. I know that everyone is trying to convince me that riders want to win this event. I guess I just don't get it and that's fine but to me this is like watching an out of season hammer series competition except nobody compares hammer series to the classics.

 

[tobydawq]

Bicycling.com says it wont turn into a mud pit because of the sterrati being covered in stones. I expect this meme race will be even worse than usual if weather is bad. As far as I can tell the appeal of this event is nobody is on form or cares so there's always always an extra early selection and you see above average TV time for famous riders. I know that everyone is trying to convince me that riders want to win this event. I guess I just don't get it and that's fine but to me this is like watching an out of season hammer series competition except nobody compares hammer series to the classics.

Lol.

 

[Krokro]

Wtf did I just read?

 

[rick james]

:surprised:

 

[Son of Amsterhammer]

Re:

I don't really get the tendency in this thread to not see Sagan as a clear favorite for this race. Did you see how he bossed Omloop (except the sprint) last year in his first race after Sierra Nevada?

He is going to be very difficult to keep up with this Saturday, I think.

I don’t think anyone expects Sagan to not be in the mix. But I think that Kwia’s Form so far this season and pedigree in this race, has him as the definite favorite.

 

[pastronef]

Bicycling.com says it wont turn into a mud pit because of the sterrati being covered in stones. I expect this meme race will be even worse than usual if weather is bad. As far as I can tell the appeal of this event is nobody is on form or cares so there's always always an extra early selection and you see above average TV time for famous riders. I know that everyone is trying to convince me that riders want to win this event. I guess I just don't get it and that's fine but to me this is like watching an out of season hammer series competition except nobody compares hammer series to the classics.

this overshadows by a mile the dislike of that other poster (I forgot the name) for the TDU

 

[RedheadDane]

I just don't get the point in actively disliking a race. Just... don't watch it. It's one helluva lot easier to not watch a broadcast race you don't want to watch, than it is to watch a non-broadcast race you do want to watch.

 

[GuyIncognito]

Re:

I just don't get the point in actively disliking a race. Just... don't watch it. It's one helluva lot easier to not watch a broadcast race you don't want to watch, than it is to watch a non-broadcast race you do want to watch.

But then no one will know how cool I am for not liking something popular.

Seriously though, I can see the logic of disliking a race if you feel it's somehow harming a better race, or if you think it could be a much better race if they changed the course/whatever.