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Alberto Bettiol is the new classics contender thread

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Anderis

May 10, 2013
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I'm not surprised that he has surprised yet again. :surprised: I think he's made a couple of small mistakes today and 4th wasn't the limit of what he could achieve. He didn't look "empty" at any point. I wonder what his limit is and if he can develop any further and in what direction. Will we see him also doing well in hilly classics? I think AGR should suit him well. He already has 6th in Classica San Sebastian.

Hopefully we'll see more of him in the following months as his enormous potential has been obvious at least since 2016.
 
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EroicaStradeBianche

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He was very good in 2016/2017. He did already a top 10 in Harelbeke 2 years ago but I didn't expect to see him at this level.
I've always thought he couldn't become a top classic contender capable to fight for the win in Flanders or at Sanremo. Today he was on par with the best. Let's see what he can do next sunday.
 
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Anderis

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He is very versatile. As I said earlier, he finished 6th in Classica San Sebastian, which is a race in which mostly climbers finish in the top10 and he was sometimes with the top30 best climbers during TdF2017 while helping Uran.

I think he has a pretty similar skillset to Moscon. He can be expected to do well in many types of races.
 
tobydawq

tobydawq

Nov 16, 2013
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The guy who saved the race in Bergen for Sagan and prevented the first Dane from becoming world champion.

He has had a massive couple of weeks with today as the pinnacle so far and he has also delivered one of the shocks of the season. I'm talking about his second place in the extremely elite field in the Tirreno TT - the guy has never shown himself in a TT before (except for Poland three years ago).

He should have been in the final selection in MSR and he was kicking himself because he had attacked first so he wasn't able to follow Alaphilippe et al. when they went. Strade was the first time he showed he was back but he got cramps and had to let go of his spot in the first group (after which he really went out the back door and ended among the last finishers).

He looks set for a break-out spring and I suppose he will be riding all the classics except Gent-Wevelgem, Roubaix and Flèche Wallonne. Vanmarcke's crash today certainly opens some doors for him in Dwars and Flanders (and also already today, obviously).
 
fauniera

fauniera

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Re:

tobydawq said:
He has had a massive couple of weeks with today as the pinnacle so far and he has also delivered one of the shocks of the season. I'm talking about his second place in the extremely elite field in the Tirreno TT - the guy has never shown himself in a TT before (except for Poland three years ago).
Click to expand...
As a Junior he was European time trial champion in Offida 2011, ahead of Gougeard.

gara_campionato_europeo_juniores_cronometro_4646_original.jpg
 
SafeBet

SafeBet

Sep 2, 2011
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He has stated that BMC wasn't the right environment for him. And there were multiple injuries too.

This is a rider I had huge expectations for since he turned pro. He's consistent, has good decision making, not afraid to attack and can ride an all terrains. I thought he could start winning big in 2017 after his breakthrough 2016 season but I won't complain if it happens now.
 
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Anderis

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I wonder what happened in GW. Tired after E3 or was there another reason for why he didn't perform? You don't lose form in 2 days in a way like this. And he made the elite selection in GW in 2017 (caught by the peloton late in the race) so it's not like he is not suited to this race at all.
 
Logic-is-your-friend

Logic-is-your-friend

Jun 7, 2011
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Anderis said:
I wonder what happened in GW. Tired after E3 or was there another reason for why he didn't perform? You don't lose form in 2 days in a way like this. And he made the elite selection in GW in 2017 (caught by the peloton late in the race) so it's not like he is not suited to this race at all.
Click to expand...

Delete the thread!

:D

I was also wondering what happened.
 
liamito

liamito

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Re:

tobydawq said:
He looks set for a break-out spring and I suppose he will be riding all the classics except Gent-Wevelgem, Roubaix and Flèche Wallonne. Vanmarcke's crash today certainly opens some doors for him in Dwars and Flanders (and also already today, obviously).
Click to expand...

According to todays Gazzetta he will also race Roubaix this year.
 
Akuryo

Akuryo

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Definitely a deserved winner, since he picked the perfect moment for an attack but probably not the strongest rider of the day. Sometimes you "just" have to be the smartest and not the strongest. Asgreen and Van der Poel were both stronger but Bettiol was smarter than them. Congrats!
 
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