2018 Strade Bianche, 1.UWT, 03.03.18

[Netserk]

Strade Bianche: Monument Edition

*Distance is a bit unreliable when the roads are so twisty, so it's longer than its 248km.

The finale is almost identical to how it is now, with a short gravel sector with a steep climb added and some flatter part removed. It is only the section from km 33 to km 41 that is different from the current finale.

Just before that though, a gravel sector has been added in the middle of the four main sectors as of now, meaning that instead of 12.5 km of asphalt, there's now 5.6km and 1.5km with a 9.2km long sector in between. Together with the Montalcino section from the Giro, the Radi sector before that has been extended to its pre-2015 length, meaning that of the middle 122.4 km, 80.5 are on gravel.

 

[Robert5091]

Chapeau Benoot! Deserved win - who had money on Bardet to be on the podium? Good news for Bardet with the TdF's first week in mind.

 

[El Pistolero]

Re: Re:

Valverde once again gets destroyed in a real classic where they don't wait for the final hill.

What a ludicrous statement. If he had won I'm fairly certain there would've been some ridiculous way to find fault.

Ludicrous yet always true. The guy's a wheelsucker that waits for the final uphill sprint in big races. That's a fact.

 

[Escarabajo]

Re:

Valverde once again gets destroyed in a real classic where they don't wait for the final hill.

This post doesn't even make sense!

 

[spiritualride]

Feels like Benoot's name has been ringing out for so long, that he's a lot older than his actual age. 4 of the top 10 are 23 or younger.

I enjoy Sagan but it doesn't seem like he will ever learn. He shows no signs of improving significantly in tactical decision making. Interesting way a poster put it in this thread... to look at it as a positive, because it makes the race more interesting if he has a flaw. And yea, one of the great things about cycling is how much each rider varies in their particular strengths and weaknesses. It adds to Sagan's character to have his amazing physical ability combine with tactical lacking.


Forum tip for avoiding trolls/jerks: Click on a user's profile, then 'add foe' , and you won't have to see any more posts from that person again.

 

[Koronin]

Re:

Feels like Benoot's name has been ringing out for so long, that he's a lot older than his actual age. 4 of the top 10 are 23 or younger.

I enjoy Sagan but it doesn't seem like he will ever learn. He shows no signs of improving significantly in tactical decision making. Interesting way a poster put it in this thread... to look at it as a positive, because it makes the race more interesting if he has a flaw. And yea, one of the great things about cycling is how much each rider varies in their particular strengths and weaknesses. It adds to Sagan's character to have his amazing physical ability combine with tactical lacking.


Forum tip for avoiding trolls/jerks: Click on a user's profile, then 'add foe' , and you won't have to see any more posts from that person again.

I happen to agree with you that Sagan is never going to learn.

TY for the tip.

 

[SKSemtex]

Btw Sagan looked today quite desperate. He overestimated Kwiatko, waiting for his move although he had plenty of teammates around. He is not used to this situation.
Kwiatko and Sagan reminded me the time when Cance and Sagan were controlling each other so much that they had lost the races they would probably have won easily.

 

[tobydawq]

Re: Re:

Valverde once again gets destroyed in a real classic where they don't wait for the final hill.

What a ludicrous statement. If he had won I'm fairly certain there would've been some ridiculous way to find fault.

Ludicrous yet always true. The guy's a wheelsucker that waits for the final uphill sprint in big races. That's a fact.

What's always true is that you will manipulate up some ridiculous story in the event of Valverde riding an offensive and entertaining race. And that is what makes you the single biggest troll with the absolute least amount of credibility on this forum. Of all members.

 

[huge]

Re:

I enjoy Sagan but it doesn't seem like he will ever learn. He shows no signs of improving significantly in tactical decision making. Interesting way a poster put it in this thread... to look at it as a positive, because it makes the race more interesting if he has a flaw. And yea, one of the great things about cycling is how much each rider varies in their particular strengths and weaknesses. It adds to Sagan's character to have his amazing physical ability combine with tactical lacking.

Today Sagan just didn't have the legs. Nothing to do with tactics in this case.

 

[42x16ss]

Re: Re:

Considering his travel debacle yesterday/last night which according to Natalia was even worse than reported by the media, and his lack of rest and sleep, that's actually not a bad result for him at all.

Indeed, he did best of the favourites. Kudos to him.

Nope, Van Aert did better than Valverde in his very first WT race. And before you say he wasn't one of the favorites, he was invited for the press conference alongside Sagan and Kwiatkowski. They didn't invite Valverde (he has no market value outside of Spain anyway).

Ah El Pickle, you’re still as funny as ever.

They couldn’t invite Valverde even if they wanted to - he was still travelling.

 

[jaylew]

So, who's poor performance was the most surprising? Gilbert's, GVA's, or Kwia's? All finished 10+ minutes back.

 

[jaylew]

Re:

This is how tired Van Aert was at the end:
https://twitter.com/kingstonwheeler/status/969968381028896768

Amazing. Almost looks drunk and on the verge of collapse.

Here's an even better view. Good shot of Bardet pulling away on the final climb too

http://www.steephill.tv/players/720/twitter/?title=Another+angle+of+the+battle+for+2nd+-+includes+crash+footage&dashboard=strade-bianche&id=LamiraudF/status/970001357242621953&yr=2018

 

[Jspear]

Re: Re:

This is how tired Van Aert was at the end:
https://twitter.com/kingstonwheeler/status/969968381028896768

Amazing. Almost looks drunk and on the verge of collapse.

Here's an even better view. Good shot of Bardet pulling away on the final climb too

http://www.steephill.tv/players/720/twitter/?title=Another+angle+of+the+battle+for+2nd+-+includes+crash+footage&dashboard=strade-bianche&id=LamiraudF/status/970001357242621953&yr=2018

Beast! What a ride!

 

[Jspear]

Re:

So, who's poor performance was the most surprising? Gilbert's, GVA's, or Kwia's? All finished 10+ minutes back.

Most surprising? Kwiatkowski's I guess since he was my favorite for the win. He was in the same position as Valverde, but was unable to get a top 10...the worst performance was GVA I guess. I watched the last 35 K and I don't think I ever saw him on the TV....

 

[Koronin]

Re: Re:

So, who's poor performance was the most surprising? Gilbert's, GVA's, or Kwia's? All finished 10+ minutes back.

Most surprising? Kwiatkowski's I guess since he was my favorite for the win. He was in the same position as Valverde, but was unable to get a top 10...the worst performance was GVA I guess. I watched the last 35 K and I don't think I ever saw him on the TV....

Gilbert's should be the least if he was working for Stybar who did finish top 10. I suspect that Gilbert was working for Stybar. Otherwise I'll agree that Kwiatkowski's is the most surprising and GVA's was the worst.
One other note of a non favorite: Nibali posted on his twitter account that he had a flat in a section that he had to ride on it for 10km before he could get to a car to get his wheel changed.

 

[rick james]

Re:

Sagan is fine IMHO.
Had this been a different race it would have been different. The day that this one becomes a classic the dynamic of the race would change.
I understand this race is great and I love it, but it is not the same as when teams bring their best teammates and leaders in peak conditions.

that's a given

 

[Kwibus]

Re: Re:

This is how tired Van Aert was at the end:
https://twitter.com/kingstonwheeler/status/969968381028896768

Amazing. Almost looks drunk and on the verge of collapse.

Here's an even better view. Good shot of Bardet pulling away on the final climb too

http://www.steephill.tv/players/720/twitter/?title=Another+angle+of+the+battle+for+2nd+-+includes+crash+footage&dashboard=strade-bianche&id=LamiraudF/status/970001357242621953&yr=2018

Vai Woet! Vai vai vai Woet!

I love this clip. You can feel some kind of heartbreak by the filmer.

 

[SKSemtex]

Re: Re:

This is how tired Van Aert was at the end:
https://twitter.com/kingstonwheeler/status/969968381028896768

Amazing. Almost looks drunk and on the verge of collapse.

Here's an even better view. Good shot of Bardet pulling away on the final climb too

http://www.steephill.tv/players/720/twitter/?title=Another+angle+of+the+battle+for+2nd+-+includes+crash+footage&dashboard=strade-bianche&id=LamiraudF/status/970001357242621953&yr=2018

Vai Woet! Vai vai vai Woet!

I love this clip. You can feel some kind of heartbreak by the filmer.

Everybody loved it. New rock star of road cycling. Mr. Brave Heart. Co winner of Strade.

 

[Põhja Konn]

Re:

Sagan is fine IMHO.
Had this been a different race it would have been different. The day that this one becomes a classic the dynamic of the race would change.
I understand this race is great and I love it, but it is not the same as when teams bring their best teammates and leaders in peak conditions.

We probably will never see that in Strade, simply because it is race that is not catering towards any particular speciality unlike most of the other big one day races. Because of its unique universiality it will remain a stand-alone ficture with any big rider unlikely to build their calender and team solely around winning this race, but every single one wanting to win it as much as anything else.

Even if it was to be moved to a later date when most riders are near or at their peak form, the dynamic of this race would likely resemble that of Ronde rather than LBL. Though one can't rule out the possibility of LBL turning out to be different race with 7-men teams.

 

[Bushman]

Valverde was amazing yesterday, anyone knocking him must be out of their mind. Was in the lead group with Kwiatek and WVA with 75 to go (possibly even earlier) until Sagan closed the gap with 45 k’s to go. Then he got caught in a tactical game where his team wasnt represented very well and the teams that were (Bora and Sky) chose to send riders up the road and not chase. Later he dropped everyone except Stybar and wasnt too far behind Bardet and Van Aert in the end.

Benoot was in another league though.

 

[Jagartrott]

Re: Re:

This is how tired Van Aert was at the end:
https://twitter.com/kingstonwheeler/status/969968381028896768

Amazing. Almost looks drunk and on the verge of collapse.

Here's an even better view. Good shot of Bardet pulling away on the final climb too

http://www.steephill.tv/players/720/twitter/?title=Another+angle+of+the+battle+for+2nd+-+includes+crash+footage&dashboard=strade-bianche&id=LamiraudF/status/970001357242621953&yr=2018

Vai Woet! Vai vai vai Woet!

I love this clip. You can feel some kind of heartbreak by the filmer.

Apparently he cramped up in both legs at the same time.
Perhaps not enough feeding and drinking - something he doesn't have to do during the race in cross.

 

[RedheadDane]

Re: Re:

Sagan is fine IMHO.
Had this been a different race it would have been different. The day that this one becomes a classic the dynamic of the race would change.
I understand this race is great and I love it, but it is not the same as when teams bring their best teammates and leaders in peak conditions.

that's a given

:lol: You don't say!

 

[El Pistolero]

Re: Re:

Valverde once again gets destroyed in a real classic where they don't wait for the final hill.

What a ludicrous statement. If he had won I'm fairly certain there would've been some ridiculous way to find fault.

Ludicrous yet always true. The guy's a wheelsucker that waits for the final uphill sprint in big races. That's a fact.

What's always true is that you will manipulate up some ridiculous story in the event of Valverde riding an offensive and entertaining race. And that is what makes you the single biggest troll with the absolute least amount of credibility on this forum. Of all members.

Name me one big race he won where he didn't wait for the final uphill sprint.

The guy's a wheelsucker in big races, stop defending this boring ass cyclist.

 

[rick james]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8R1ggboCAOg&t=161s

 

[tobydawq]

Re: Re:

Valverde once again gets destroyed in a real classic where they don't wait for the final hill.

What a ludicrous statement. If he had won I'm fairly certain there would've been some ridiculous way to find fault.

Ludicrous yet always true. The guy's a wheelsucker that waits for the final uphill sprint in big races. That's a fact.

What's always true is that you will manipulate up some ridiculous story in the event of Valverde riding an offensive and entertaining race. And that is what makes you the single biggest troll with the absolute least amount of credibility on this forum. Of all members.

Name me one big race he won where he didn't wait for the final uphill sprint.

The guy's a wheelsucker in big races, stop defending this boring *** cyclist.

He wasn't sucking many wheels yesterday and the fact that he didn't win doesn't make him a wheelsucker. And comparing him directly with Cavendish is just provoking and you know it.

What about the Vuelta stage in 2015? Or San Sebastián 2014? Or LBL 2008?