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52nd Amstel Gold Race - April 16 - 261km

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Re: Re:

WheelofGear said:
WheelofGear said:
Would have been better with the steeper, shorter climbs such as Kruisberg and Eyserbosweg just before the finish followed by 5k of flat. It's easier for the Alaphilippe-types to jump away on those.

The longer, false-flat climbs in this final are perfect for the trains, so don't expect any action.

Kruisberg and Eyserbosweg are perfect ramps for attacks compared to the rest of the climbs. Unlike Liege, Amstel Gold Race doesn't have many really steep climbs.

They listened to this. These ramps are much better for attacks since they are steeper and shorter than Cauberg.

Turned out to be a great route. I hope they keep it from now on.
 
Re: Re:

jaylew said:
Dekker_Tifosi said:
agr 2001-2004 was great as well, the boogerd years, because Boogerd or Bettini always broke the race open from Eyserbosweg or Kruisberg.

However ,after that only coward favorites who wait until Cauberg
Didn't Schleck go from far out as well in 2006?

Yes, and Schumacher too in 2007. Cunego also won a sprint from a small group in 2008 and Ivanov did the same in 2009 (but it should be stated that "far" in this case doesn't mean 40 kilometres out like today). The race was only really deadlocked from 2010 onwards.
 
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Re: Re:

tobydawq said:
jaylew said:
Dekker_Tifosi said:
agr 2001-2004 was great as well, the boogerd years, because Boogerd or Bettini always broke the race open from Eyserbosweg or Kruisberg.

However ,after that only coward favorites who wait until Cauberg
Didn't Schleck go from far out as well in 2006?

Yes, and Schumacher too in 2007. Cunego also won a sprint from a small group in 2008 and Ivanov did the same in 2009 (but it should be stated that "far" in this case doesn't mean 40 kilometres out like today). The race was only really deadlocked from 2010 onwards.

Gilbert actually was in an attack in 2010, so it's not like he did nothing until the Cauberg. He also did a lot of chase work before the Cauberg in 2011.
 
Re: Re:

El Pistolero said:
tobydawq said:
jaylew said:
Dekker_Tifosi said:
agr 2001-2004 was great as well, the boogerd years, because Boogerd or Bettini always broke the race open from Eyserbosweg or Kruisberg.

However ,after that only coward favorites who wait until Cauberg
Didn't Schleck go from far out as well in 2006?

Yes, and Schumacher too in 2007. Cunego also won a sprint from a small group in 2008 and Ivanov did the same in 2009 (but it should be stated that "far" in this case doesn't mean 40 kilometres out like today). The race was only really deadlocked from 2010 onwards.

Gilbert actually was in an attack in 2010, so it's not like he did nothing until the Cauberg. He also did a lot of chase work before the Cauberg in 2011.

I'll admit I don't remember the exact circumstances of Amstel editions that far back, so I'm not going to argue with that.

Freire was also close to winning in 2012 from a pre-Cauberg attack, and Kreuziger soloed to victory in 2013, so it's not like it has been a Mur de Huy-like bunch sprint for seven years, but we haven't had significant action as far from the finish as we did today in a long time. At least, I don't think we have ;)
 
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Re:

WheelofGear said:
Michael Matthews disappointing again. Doing absolutely nothing.

He just can't win editions as hard as today's. He's a sprinter who can climb decently, and he can win only easy editions of this race which ends up in a reduced bunch sprint. He's not a true classic racer, nor I believe he'll ever be
 
Re: Re:

tobydawq said:
El Pistolero said:
tobydawq said:
jaylew said:
Dekker_Tifosi said:
agr 2001-2004 was great as well, the boogerd years, because Boogerd or Bettini always broke the race open from Eyserbosweg or Kruisberg.

However ,after that only coward favorites who wait until Cauberg
Didn't Schleck go from far out as well in 2006?

Yes, and Schumacher too in 2007. Cunego also won a sprint from a small group in 2008 and Ivanov did the same in 2009 (but it should be stated that "far" in this case doesn't mean 40 kilometres out like today). The race was only really deadlocked from 2010 onwards.

Gilbert actually was in an attack in 2010, so it's not like he did nothing until the Cauberg. He also did a lot of chase work before the Cauberg in 2011.

I'll admit I don't remember the exact circumstances of Amstel editions that far back, so I'm not going to argue with that.

Freire was also close to winning in 2012 from a pre-Cauberg attack, and Kreuziger soloed to victory in 2013, so it's not like it has been a Mur de Huy-like bunch sprint for seven years, but we haven't had significant action as far from the finish as we did today in a long time. At least, I don't think we have ;)
As far as I remember the races 2012 and 2013 were still pretty boring although there were attacks before the Cauberg. I mean, last year Wellens was only caught on the last few meters of the climb so an attack which was successful or was close to be so isn't really an indicator for a good race.
 
Re: Re:

Mr.White said:
WheelofGear said:
Michael Matthews disappointing again. Doing absolutely nothing.

He just can't win editions as hard as today's. He's a sprinter who can climb decently, and he can win only easy editions of this race which ends up in a reduced bunch sprint. He's not a true classic racer, nor I believe he'll ever be
The funny thing is that last year Matthews complained that the race wasn't hard enough :lol:
 
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Re: Re:

Gigs_98 said:
Mr.White said:
WheelofGear said:
Michael Matthews disappointing again. Doing absolutely nothing.

He just can't win editions as hard as today's. He's a sprinter who can climb decently, and he can win only easy editions of this race which ends up in a reduced bunch sprint. He's not a true classic racer, nor I believe he'll ever be
The funny thing is that last year Matthews complained that the race wasn't hard enough :lol:

The guy talks a lot of rubbish. Last year it wasn't a hard race, yet he didn't go with the attacks, and this year he wants to be attacking rider, but keeps following wheels and doing nothing. As some poster said, he talks the talk, but doesn't walks the walk
 
Yeah actually I think the finish moving until 2km after the Cauberg made it even worse for attackers. However, one early move winning from 2010 to 2016 AND a WC with the same outcome isn't good.

What really made it worse I think is that most of the usual agressors just stopped racing it and it became a self fulphilling profecy. The Schlecks being out of the picture. The Dutch climbers being *** in the AGR post 2009. Then with the new parcours sprinters teams tried to make it a sprint.
 
Re:

WheelofGear said:
Rojas should have helped Valverde/GVA to bridge to the Gilbert group. He took no pulls and only managed to get 5th.

I find it hard to approve of anything about the guy, but I can't agree with that. Him leeching up front gave Movistar a chance to win, albeit not a big one. Him dropping back to work doesn't get Valverde much closer and anyway, Valverde for all that he's fast in general and great in an uphill finish isn't an obvious winner in a flat sprint versus all of GVA, Kwiatkowski, Gilbert, Albasini, Haas etc.
 
Phenomenal race. Finally an exciting edition of AGR. I had high hopes for the new parcours and it indeed delivered. Well, the riders delivered. Thankfully they made the race.

PhilGil is in monster form wow. And Kwiatek isn't far behind. Both have been a pleasure to watch this season. I have a feeling LBL is going to be great with those two in the thick of the action.
 
Re: Re:

Zinoviev Letter said:
WheelofGear said:
Rojas should have helped Valverde/GVA to bridge to the Gilbert group. He took no pulls and only managed to get 5th.

I find it hard to approve of anything about the guy, but I can't agree with that. Him leeching up front gave Movistar a chance to win, albeit not a big one. Him dropping back to work doesn't get Valverde much closer and anyway, Valverde for all that he's fast in general and great in an uphill finish isn't an obvious winner in a flat sprint versus all of GVA, Kwiatkowski, Gilbert, Albasini, Haas etc.
And, on papaer Rojas should have been able to contest the sprint if the lead group came in together. Obviously the 250km was too long for Rojas because he got a free ride right to the winning move and could do nothing. That was rather an embarrassing display by the Movistar rider..
 

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