2020 World Championships - now confirmed for Imola, Italy.

[Koronin]

At 40 years and 5 months his form is unlikely to ever return. That said, he absolutely should go to the Ardennes. They suit his diminished skillset better than any other race.

If he doesn't have the form to win LBL he's not going. He basically said this before the season restarted. His comment was after the Tour his schedule was Worlds maybe LBL then Vuelta. He flat out said he would have to have the form to win LBL or he wasn't going to the Ardennes. He's not missing la Vuelta. He doesn't have close to the form needed to win LBL, so there's no way he'll go to it and instead go home and get ready for la Vuelta.

 

[perico]

Hirschi is definitely the real deal. Amid the Pogacar, Remco, Bernal craze, a TDF stage and WC medal is mighty impressive at 22.

Yeah well if Remco was here blah blah blah. If MVDP were here blah blah blah...

 

[Bolder]

Calm down, fanboy. It just seems a bit pointless saving all that power, only to sprint for second.

I wondered about that too, but Alaf is a really punchy uphill rider, and WvA probably assumed that they could pull him back fairly easily -- there was a lot of hp in that chasing group. I suspect if Wout could do the last 12 km again he'd have tried a solo move. On the other hand he might have (finally) run out of gas after the ITT.

Disorganized chase + having moto 30m in front of you > being most explosive rider in peloton makes it really the easiest decision ever.

Yeah, but it wasn't a French moto...

The other interesting thing -- and I might be wrong about this -- but Alaf made a gesture that indicated his radio wasn't working so he didn't know the gaps -- would explain why he kept looking back every 100 meters...and he never even had to tighten his shoes for a sprint...

 

[Arked]

Didn't see Roglic at the front once.

Roglic made it somehow to the second group but he was half dead. Wouldn't do any hard pull even if he wanted to.

If Van Aert would have put in that sprint 5km earlier, he would have caught Alaphilippe and probably won the race. Still had loads of power left.

He did few very hard, sprint-like accelerations but it had zero effect. I think the moment Alaphilippe got 10s seconds it was over. Simply too fast to be caught on this type of the course.

 

[Koronin]

You don't like attacking riders? All hail for guys like Alaphilippe. Without them, races like today would be an absolute snoozefest!

It's called I can't stand his personality. He's very much like Voeckler, whom I hated. Annoying as heck.

 

[BlueRoads]

The other interesting thing -- and I might be wrong about this -- but Alaf made a gesture that indicated his radio wasn't working so he didn't know the gaps -- would explain why he kept looking back every 100 meters...and he never even had to tighten his shoes for a sprint...

He clearly asked for the times... I don't know why though, what else could he do but push and push?

Thank god he finally did leave his shoes alone! I think that's what made him win!

 

[cellardoor]

The other interesting thing -- and I might be wrong about this -- but Alaf made a gesture that indicated his radio wasn't working so he didn't know the gaps -- would explain why he kept looking back every 100 meters...and he never even had to tighten his shoes for a sprint...

Pretty sure there were no radios.

 

[johnymax]

Didn't see Roglic at the front once.

Because he wasn't. But also no attack despite he can't sprint and not even helping WvA in the end, when it was clear that he will not take anything himself.

Are you kidding me? How can you say something like that if you watched the race. Sometimes people really see what they want to see even if it's not reality. Watch again and you will see Roglič many times at the front. I'm actually surprised he did as much work as he did, because he looked cooked already on the penultimate climb and at the top of the final climb he was dropped by Van Aert, Alaphilippe, Fuglsang and Kwiatkowski. He lost the sprint to Fuglsang in the end. That tells you anything you need to know, how much energy he had left.

Anyway. A fantastic and deserving winner. I was talking about Ala with a friend during the Tour and he said that Ala is an idiot and doesn't know what he is doing. I told him that he knows very well what he is doing and that he'll be strong in the WC. A worthy champion.

Happy for Hirschi's bronze medal also. The strongest riders were at the front. There was no hidding.

On a side note:
Fuglsang was the only one of the front group not doing the Tour. And Roglič was the only one who was riding the Tour for GC.

 

[Volderke]

I wondered about that too, but Alaf is a really punchy uphill rider, and WvA probably assumed that they could pull him back fairly easily -- there was a lot of hp in that chasing group. I suspect if Wout could do the last 12 km again he'd have tried a solo move. On the other hand he might have (finally) run out of gas after the ITT.



Yeah, but it wasn't a French moto...

The other interesting thing -- and I might be wrong about this -- but Alaf made a gesture that indicated his radio wasn't working so he didn't know the gaps -- would explain why he kept looking back every 100 meters...and he never even had to tighten his shoes for a sprint...

Radio was forbidden.

Some misconceptions: Roglic should have helped ; WvA didin't try enough
truth: Roglic was dead. WvA was on the limit.

Alaphilippe is no slouch going downhill and doing a solo effort. He was simply the best, and maybe the only truly worthy winner. Not even WvA deserved to win e.g. by controlling the lead group and winning the sprint. Alaphilippe was, together with Pogacar, the only true attacker.

 

[Bolder]

UGH!!!!! I am not looking forward to seeing him in that jersey at all. Sorry, not a fan of his. I tried to be, but I just do not like him. So not happy about him winning. Would have been happier with anyone in that second group winning it.

Valverde's form is still way off. I can't see him going to the Ardennes this year.

Just curious -- what don't you like about Alaphilippe? His skill set is not that different from Valverde's to my untrained eye.

You can count on him attacking in every race he enters, even if it's pointless it will shake things up -- for example he animated the last stage of the DL then just rode off the back.

 

[cellardoor]

I haven't been happier about a Worlds winner since Bettini won

 

[Netserk]

Pogi wanting to support Roglic was probably the wrong call, but what can you do?

Obviously attack when Tom did. A solo move at that point was always doomed.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Might be biased here as a Belgian. But shouldn't Roglic have pulled for WVA after everything WVA has done for him during the tour? WVA could have won 1 or 2 more stages if he wasn't super domestique and Roglic had nothing left to win.

I personally hate it when brand team connections decide the outcome of a WCC. However in the past this has happened a lot, and many times not in Belgium's favor. But if there ever was one case where it would have made sense (considering what van Aert did for Roglic, considering Roglic was never going to podium against van Aert, Hirschi & Kwiat anyway... etc) it was this. But i'm not going to lose any sleep over it.

 

[Volderke]

It's called I can't stand his personality. He's very much like Voeckler, whom I hated. Annoying as heck.

A good personality is a bonus, but honestly, my priority (what I like about a bike racer) is how exciting they race.
Alaphilippe is a sponsor's dream on top of that, becasue it seems like the general audience likes his personality as well.

 

[Valv.Piti]

I haven't been happier about a Worlds winner since Bettini won

I have (how about 2018), but also really happy for Alaf. I feel like he has been close on numerous occasions in these big championship races and finally he got one. Not surprised if he sweeps the Ardennes..

 

[Koronin]

Just curious -- what don't you like about Alaphilippe? His skill set is not that different from Valverde's to my untrained eye.

You can count on him attacking in every race he enters, even if it's pointless it will shake things up -- for example he animated the last stage of the DL then just rode off the back.

I can't stand his personality. He's way too much like Voeckler whom I hated. Has nothing to do with skill set and skill set doesn't come into my picking whom I like and don't. Personality on the hand plays a huge part in it.

 

[cellardoor]

I personally hate it when brand team connections decide the outcome of a WCC. However in the past this has happened a lot, and many times not in Belgium's favor. But if there ever was one case where it would have made sense (considering what van Aert did for Roglic, considering Roglic was never going to podium against van Aert, Hirschi & Kwiat anyway... etc) it was this. But i'm not going to lose any sleep over it.

This is a bit easier to do for freelancers that don't have much of a team at the Worlds. But the Slovenian team worked hard for Roglic and it was his responsibility to at least try and reward them with bronze, which wasn't totally out of the question if he did less work than the others.

As it happens, it did look like Roglic put in a turn for Wout late on, but it was too late and he just didn't have the strength to make an impact.

 

[Red Rick]

I personally hate it when brand team connections decide the outcome of a WCC. However in the past this has happened a lot, and many times not in Belgium's favor. But if there ever was one case where it would have made sense (considering what van Aert did for Roglic, considering Roglic was never going to podium against van Aert, Hirschi & Kwiat anyway... etc) it was this. But i'm not going to lose any sleep over it.

It's also not really as if that made the big difference in the end.

If Dumoulin had been there as well maybe it happens, but it's also uncool to your national teammates, and they're no Valverde.

 

[Gigs_98]

One thing I don't really get is why teams like Italy, Spain or Colombia didn't make the race harder early on. That move with Nibali, Uran and Landa has a very real chance to stay away if the peloton is more decimated while the final climb was never gonna be the spot where riders from those countries were gonna take the win.

In a way this was kinda similar to the old LBL course where the point to attack for the climbers wasn't RaF, but the false flat right afterwards. When a small group of the better climbers emerges, everyone is looking at each other and you can immediately get a decent gap if you attack in the right moment. The Nibali/Landa/Uran move was a bit like that, but as the peloton wasn't thinned out enough you didn't have the looking at each other part, and that's exactly what they would have needed.

 

[RedheadDane]

I have (how about 2018), but also really happy for Alaf. I feel like he has been close on numerous occasions in these big championship races and finally he got one. Not surprised if he sweeps the Ardennes..

What about last year? Or should you have your citizenship taken away?

I can't stand his personality. He's way too much like Voeckler whom I hated. Has nothing to do with skill set and skill set doesn't come into my picking whom I like and don't. Personality on the hand plays a huge part in it.

I think cycling needs both the showy types, like Alaphilippe and Voeckler, and the guys who prefer to just do their work, and not attract too much attention to themselves (of course I can't think of an example, perhaps because of the not attract too much attention to themselves part.)

 

[Koronin]

A good personality is a bonus, but honestly, my priority (what I like about a bike racer) is how exciting they race.
Alaphilippe is a sponsor's dream on top of that, becasue it seems like the general audience likes his personality as well.

Sorry, but personality is a HUGE factor in whom I like and don't like and whom I will or won't cheer for. I do not like Alaphilippe's personality at all. Next year is going to be horrible having to see him in that jersey. On the other hand, being in the US it's not like many races are even televised to begin with and as it's highly unlikely Valverde will race the Tour next year, I won't have to see him race hardly at all.

From the time I was young I always picked favorite player based on personality over skills.

 

[Red Rick]

One thing I don't really get is why teams like Italy, Spain or Colombia didn't make the race harder early on. That move with Nibali, Uran and Landa has a very real chance to stay away if the peloton is more decimated while the final climb was never gonna be the spot where riders from those countries were gonna take the win.

In a way this was kinda similar to the old LBL course where the point to attack for the climbers wasn't RaF, but the false flat right afterwards. When a small group of the better climbers emerges, everyone is looking at each other and you can immediately get a decent gap if you attack in the right moment. The Nibali/Landa/Uran move was a bit like that, but as the peloton wasn't thinned out enough you didn't have the looking at each other part, and that's exactly what they would have needed.

"must have teammates all the way to the end"

 

[Blanco]

What surprised me was that Hirschi didn't lead the chase in the descent.


So, best not to ride and fight for bronze, than to ride and fight for silver (assuming van Aert wins easily).

No, the best is force Van Aert to do long turns, then catch Alaphilippe, and out sprint both of them. But that obviously didn't happen...

 

[Netserk]

One thing I don't really get is why teams like Italy, Spain or Colombia didn't make the race harder early on. That move with Nibali, Uran and Landa has a very real chance to stay away if the peloton is more decimated while the final climb was never gonna be the spot where riders from those countries were gonna take the win.

In a way this was kinda similar to the old LBL course where the point to attack for the climbers wasn't RaF, but the false flat right afterwards. When a small group of the better climbers emerges, everyone is looking at each other and you can immediately get a decent gap if you attack in the right moment. The Nibali/Landa/Uran move was a bit like that, but as the peloton wasn't thinned out enough you didn't have the looking at each other part, and that's exactly what they would have needed.

Agreed. But I only see Spain with the strength needed after France blew the legs of many.

 

[Bonimenier]

Yeah well if Remco was here blah blah blah. If MVDP were here blah blah blah...

Did you even understand what he said?