46th Amstel Gold Race (The maze) - Sunday April 17, 2011

[sublimit]

Sublimit - P. Velits is pretty expensive, but then, so is Albasasini.

Ben Hermans is the cheap option really... solid on the flat, can climb pretty well, but is he explosive enough?

Hermans is a decent enough rider and the Shack are on form so possibly for Fleche and Amstel.

You could do worse for a cheap option.

 

[Pantani_lives]

I can't do worse than last week, so here is my list:
*****Gilbert, Cunego, A Schleck, Vinokourov
****Evans, Di Luca, S Sanchez, Rodriguez
***Kolobnev, Gesink, Hesjedal, F Schleck
**Sagan, Chavanel, Cancellara, Visconti
*LL Sanchez, Nuyens, Leukemans, Devolder

 

[dlwssonic]

Im damn ****ed according to the tv guide why is fleche wallonne getting shown but not amstel gold in eurosport SEA

 

[jobiwan]

i can't do worse than last week, so here is my list:
*****gilbert, cunego, a schleck, vinokourov
****evans, di luca, s sanchez, rodriguez
***kolobnev, gesink, hesjedal, f schleck
**sagan, chavanel, cancellara, visconti
*ll sanchez, nuyens, leukemans, devolder

where is van avermaet??

 

[luckyboy]

And isn't Evans out?

I'm gonna go Gilbert, Cunego, then Andy/Visconti

 

[mulletCobra]

Van Avermaet, Chavanel, or Gasparotto? who will place higher?

 

[luckyboy]

I'm hoping Chavanel

 

[jens_attacks]

oh it's very difficult to pick one because almost every team has at least 2 options.van avermaet can be there no doubt,i like him,very attacking rider.
but just look at the katusha team,they will kill the field way before the cauberg and if all is coming together,il killer di spoltore is so fast on the cauberg.i hope it will be a great race.

 

[meandmygitane]

Henderson is a great sprinter, he would never got that victory without Thomas. He won once, that was it, he didnt do too much after. Sutton won once too, I didn't see anything impressive from him except that victory, could you ?

EBH 2nd on the mountain was great, but still that was the only result he got this year, he didn't win any of the sprint stages or the tt. Flecha too, second in Omloop and then only 10 and 9 in the monuments. Certailny not most improved from last year. Uran got great ride in catalyuna but in pais vasco he was 20 minutes + behind the leader when nordhaug wasnt and finished better tahn Uran.

This is me personal opinion though, he improved a lot and from last year performace i wouldnt expect him to be 7th on mountain stage in Crit or finish very well in Pais vasco, best rider from Sky.

Winning is always impressive, Nordhaug hasn't won anything, he hasn't gotten on any podiums or gotten any special headlines - he has got 54 CQ-points this year, 312th in the world! SKY riders who got more CQ-points: Henderson, Hayman, Flecha, Gerrans, Boasson Hagen, Löfkvist, Possoni, Rogers, Sutton, Uran, Swift, Geraint Thomas, Wiggins...

You are entitled to your opinion, however. Me, I think reading "Nordhaug is the best SKY rider" rings pretty much false.

If I was to express your sentiments it would have been "he's one of the most promising in SKY" or "greatly improved" or something in that vein.

Not THE best. That, is the expression my sensibilities revolted against.

Say, you aren't a compatriot of said rider? All aboard the hype train.

 

[peterst6906]

Im damn ****ed according to the tv guide why is fleche wallonne getting shown but not amstel gold in eurosport SEA

Amstel Gold will be live from the official website from 13:00. Just have to bare through the dutch commentary (and I live here, but the language is difficult to listen to):

http://www.amstelgoldrace.nl

 

[Eyeballs Out]

Should be a great race tomorrow. I think Gilbert is a level above the rest but is going to have his work cut out to go with all the dangerous moves - even more so than last year. It will all come together again on the Cauberg with Rabobank working furiously for Freire who will finish 14th.

This time however Gilbert is going to find a fresh rider on his wheel with 200m to go. Swooping late for the win will be none other than Danilo Di Luca.

Just like in LBL last year David Harmon will barely be able to conceal his disgust

Seriously I think The Killer could have been hiding his form to some extent (which is always a useful tactic in the lead up to these big races). He did a good first stage in the tour of the Basque country and then faded (or soft-pedalled ?) but I doubt he's far away from being a contender

1. Di Luca
2. Gilbert
3. Nuyens

 

[jobiwan]

1. Gilbert
2. Hesjedal
3. Cunego

 

[greenedge]

Gerrans as well, if he doesnt do well, he sure is going out of Sky this season.

To Greenedge??????? Pls.
Gilbert undisputed favourite but all teams will mark him. Therefore the race might not be as hard from km1 as everyone will want to have men near the end. GVA will challenge in the sprint and if the above scenario plays out will win it.Dominating teams to be BMC and SKY, controlling the race.

Notice that Roche is in here, hopefully he can go ok, have not seen him around because of his injury. Think he can go well with his team, Kadri is a great young french talent.
Sanchez could win for euskatel.
Degenkolb might win if sizeable bunch sprints however he might be dropped.
Every single Katusha favourite, has a chance.
Cunego is along with Hesjedal the main challenger, to Gilbert.
Leopard will be looking to get any of their riders a win, they shall probably try get a rider in the break too as they exhausted themselves in RVV and P-R. Don't think either Luxemberger will have the legs.
Sagan should get a top 10.
Kiryienka would be their leader. Did not see him in Leon so was probably finetuning his performance for this type of race.
Have Vino, Inglinskly, Di Gregorio. might be the dark horse to back.
Chavanel. Hope he can win.
Gesink, L.Sanchez and maybe Barredo?
Cooke if it's a sprint.
Knees, Gerrans or Hayman. Dont think Nordhaug will be so good.
Hesjedal with the help of P-R winner and Vande Velde, could win. Main goal for him too.
Hermans i hope can win. They just have such a strong team.
Poels or Leukemans.
Out of the rest ( Docker, Goolen, Favilli, Visconti, Dumoulin and Taaramae )

 

[mewmewmew13]

ACF...I am sorry that Evans is out. ..wish him a speedy recovery.
BUT...Gilbert will win IF he can escape the pranks from the others. Maybe should leave a hole open for Fabs to shoot through.

It should be an EXcellent race!

 

[mewmewmew13]

...forgot to add that I don't think either Schleck will have it for tomorrow...

 

[auscyclefan94]

IF Martens waits, and it comes to a uphill sprint. He will podium.

Other than at one stage at pais vasco, martens has been quiet this year. Will be interesting to see what he can do in the ardennes classics. Hopefully he can continue the late season form he had with his strong ride at the worlds and GP Wallone.

 

[beer_thirty]

1. Gilbert
2. Hesjedal
3. Cunego

Somehow I think Cunego is going to take this; of course I was catastrophically wrong about Brabantse Pijl so why should this be any different...

1. Cunego
2. Gilbert
3. Hesjdal to podium again.

And with 3K to go, you can be assured someone from Katusha will be pulling all sorts of faces off the front...

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Other than at one stage at pais vasco, martens has been quiet this year. Will be interesting to see what he can do in the ardennes classics. Hopefully he can continue the late season form he had with his strong ride at the worlds and GP Wallone.

Martens was recovering from an injury, which is why he started his wseason later.

He seemed to be coming into shape just at the right time if you ask me

 

[dlwssonic]

Amstel Gold will be live from the official website from 13:00. Just have to bare through the dutch commentary (and I live here, but the language is difficult to listen to):

http://www.amstelgoldrace.nl

Thanks is it restricted in other countries and does it lag?

 

[dlwssonic]

Oh my am I getting excited its the afternoon here in Singapore. Anybody know where is that or is from there. Im going mad about GVA thanks to acf. Might be a good thing that kroon is out otherwise GVA wouldnt have a chance to be the leader

 

[auscyclefan94]

Thanks is it restricted in other countries and does it lag?

Nope, supposedly it is totally unrestricted.

 

[auscyclefan94]

Oh my am I getting excited its the afternoon here in Singapore. Anybody know where is that or is from there. Im going mad about GVA thanks to acf. Might be a good thing that kroon is out otherwise GVA wouldnt have a chance to be the leader

Sorry! Greg was always going to be a leader in this race irrelevant if Kroon was injured or not. Kroon would of been protected but so would of Greg

Jeff Louder had a dream about Amstel last night...

"Dreamt I was racing Amstel; rode through a front door, up the stairs, down a hallway & then descended off the roof. Not far from reality..."

 

[dlwssonic]

Sorry! Greg was always going to be a leader in this race irrelevant if Kroon was injured or not. Kroon would of been protected but so would of Greg

Jeff Louder had a dream about Amstel last night...

"Dreamt I was racing Amstel; rode through a front door, up the stairs, down a hallway & then descended off the roof. Not far from reality..."

Bmc Domestiques really need to step up but I remember jeff louder getting a win in the tour of utah. What do you think of BMC's team in this race is it strong enough, it has been quite damaged from the injuries of kroon and evans. do you know when kroon is coming back

 

[canyonball]

Sad I won't be able to catch this. Hoping for an upset. Stronger teams won't be foolish enough to let it go on group sprint up the cauberg. Also a "no, no" to Gilbert. Let him be hungry for liége.

 

[auscyclefan94]

Bmc Domestiques really need to step up but I remember jeff louder getting a win in the tour of utah. What do you think of BMC's team in this race is it strong enough, it has been quite damaged from the injuries of kroon and evans. do you know when kroon is coming back

Kroon might be back for Liege. It is a shame as he looked very strong in MSR. Santaromita and Santambrogio will really need to step it up so they can provide adequate help to Greg. He sometimes has trouble getting to the gront and being near the front is quite important in Amstel.