85th/24th La Flèche Wallonne, April 21st, 2021

[Vasilis]

The gap is 22s at 22.2 km remaining

 

[SafeBet]

Its too bad but still think they shouldnt be starting. Dont want to go "see tests dont matter anyway" especially when pro athletes are already getting to do way more stuff than ordinary folks

100% this.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

I suppose the barriers are still theirs.

I guess so, but the organizers could have chosen another rental company.

 

[KZD]

Bad news for the race although I don't think Hieschi or Pogačar would have won. Let's hope that they can be on the start line in Liege on sunday

 

[SafeBet]

AVV goes!

Vos in trouble.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Now I regret betting against van der Breggen in favour of Vos.

 

[Velolover2]

The UAE lineup is one of the best hilly teams I've seen. What a shame.

 

[Billie]

they're all starting the Mur with a bidon??

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Suspense...

 

[SafeBet]

You just can't beat her.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Sean Kelly says well done. Kasia gave van der Breggen a good run for her money, but in the end there was nothing to be done. She just is the queen.
Cille looked good before the Mur, but then faded badly. Longo Borghini did well to finish third, and Winder did an amazing job for Trek as well. Labuse and García with solid performances too.

 

[JosefK]

7 in a row.

 

[johnymax]

Just imagine if Gaviria ends up getting it again(again)!

Well... I guess Vingegaard will not be playing "Follow the Pog"...

He can choose from three games to play next. Follow the Rog, Leadout the Rog or Catch me Rog if you can.

Sucks for UAE!

 

[ppanther92]

Vaccines prevent the development of the most severe symptoms of the illness, but not the asymptomatic infection and spread of the virus.

Came here to say the same. Wikipedia gives a nice overview:
COVID-19 vaccine - Wikipedia
None of the vaccinations "prevents" COVID but all do actually a rather good job at keeping you from getting seriously ill.

 

[sir fly]

Unbeatable on Mur de Huy.
Hats off!
And she perfectly bluffed during the lead-up to the race.

Kasia rode excellent again.
And chose appropriate tactics, but... it's just Van der Breggen's hill.

The girls behind gave their best too. Just enough to form the second echelon behind the duo.

 

[Mayomaniac]

Decent breakaway in the men's race.

 

[The Hegelian]

He really looks sharp, and pretty mature in his approach. But how has he “shown he’s built for the Ardennes” when they haven’t been in the Ardennes yet and we haven’t seen him on the longer climbs he’ll see this week?

You don't think Amstel and De Brabantse are great markers of form for FW? I take your point about longer climbs though. I suspect he'll be a contender for LBL, but not a 5 star fave.

 

[tobydawq]

Came here to say the same. Wikipedia gives a nice overview:
COVID-19 vaccine - Wikipedia
None of the vaccinations "prevents" COVID but all do actually a rather good job at keeping you from getting seriously ill.

Look at the daily numbers in Israel and try telling me they have no effect on spreading the disease again...

 

[Strawberry_Jams]

You don't think Amstel and De Brabantse are great markers of form for FW? I take your point about longer climbs though. I suspect he'll be a contender for LBL, but not a 5 star fave.

at the minute Pidcock's not doing LBL, (could change considering his form) been racing most races since Omloop, so he's taking a few days rest before starting MTB on the 1st May.

 

[PeterB]

Look at the daily numbers in Israel and try telling me they have no effect on spreading the disease again...

Off-topic for this thread but just to note that the posters above you clearly did not mean to say vaccines have no effect on spreading. They just said that vaccine does not protect from covid to 100%, therefore it should not be surprising UAE team had a positive... and yes, a vaccinated person can still spread the virus, albeit the risk is not so high overall.

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

Unbeatable on Mur de Huy.
Hats off!
And she perfectly bluffed during the lead-up to the race.

Kasia rode excellent again.
And chose appropriate tactics, but... it's just Van der Breggen's hill.

The girls behind gave their best too. Just enough to form the second echelon behind the duo.

Niewiadoma must be counting the seconds until AVDB retires

 

[Lequack]

Off-topic for this thread but just to note that the posters above you clearly did not mean to say vaccines have no effect on spreading. They just said that vaccine does not protect from covid to 100%, therefore it should not be surprising UAE team had a positive... and yes, a vaccinated person can still spread the virus, albeit the risk is not so high overall.

It was a false positive though. They did three subsequent tests which were all negative.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1384791786418315264

View: https://twitter.com/laflammerouge16/status/1384791786418315264

https://twitter.com/x/status/1384787502507122688

View: https://twitter.com/TamauPogi/status/1384787502507122688

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Now I regret betting against van der Breggen in favour of Vos.

I told you! I've been picking from leftfield plenty this season, but there are certain by-laws of women's cycling that must be adhered to, and therefore voting against Anna van der Breggen in La Flèche Wallonne is just throwing away a selection as she is legally obliged to win here. It is simply not possible to be better than Anna on the Mur de Huy.

 

[Fantastico]

It was a false positive though. They did three subsequent tests which were all negative.

The fact they have been tested negative afterwards, does not necessarily prove that the test was false positive. It just makes it very likely, of course. Still, I can understand the organizers/authorities for not taking any risks.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

I told you! I've been picking from leftfield plenty this season, but there are certain by-laws of women's cycling that must be adhered to, and therefore voting against Anna van der Breggen in La Flèche Wallonne is just throwing away a selection as she is legally obliged to win here. It is simply not possible to be better than Anna on the Mur de Huy.

Yeah, I should have listened, but it's clearly her fault for making me doubt her, considering she was my pick for the individual WT ranking ahead of the season
At least I wont be able to make the same mistake next year.