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Amstel Gold Race: April 21st, 2019

Page 14 - Get up to date with the latest news, scores & standings from the Cycling News Community.

Who will win the Amstel Gold Race 2019?

  • Alejandro Valverde

    Votes: 4 4.4%
  • Julian Alaphilippe

    Votes: 12 13.3%
  • Mathieu van der Poel

    Votes: 48 53.3%
  • Michael Matthews

    Votes: 2 2.2%
  • Michael Valgren

    Votes: 1 1.1%
  • Michal Kwiatkowski

    Votes: 4 4.4%
  • Peter Sagan

    Votes: 7 7.8%
  • Philippe Gilbert

    Votes: 1 1.1%
  • Tim Wellens

    Votes: 1 1.1%
  • Other

    Votes: 10 11.1%

  • Total voters
    90
Apr 10, 2019
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I understand Fuglsang, he already got beaten by him durning strade bianche, when he looked stronger than Ala on the climbs.
He couldn't do anything to Ala on the climbs, so he gambled, raced to win and still finished 3rd.
 
May 14, 2011
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Mayomaniac said:
I understand Fuglsang, he already got beaten by him durning strade bianche, when he looked stronger than Ala on the climbs.
He couldn't do anything to Ala on the climbs, so he gambled, raced to win and still finished 3rd.

Totally agreed, Fulgsang did what he had to do.
The blame is all on Ala, he simply had to keep pushing before the last km, they lost half a minute between 2km and 1.2km to go and there wasn't enough space for such a gamble.
 
Dec 6, 2012
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Wtf was that?!:D My what a monster that kid has become! I thought the tv director was stupid for keeping on cutting back to his group minutes earlier then suddenly the white short dragged the group into the same shot with Kwiat's joining the duo. Sick power.
And I don't really think Ala would lose the sprint against Fuglsang one on one, the sight of the group only seemed to crush and stop him
 
May 29, 2013
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Whoever considers Fulgsang had to keep working in the last 5km, should spend some time this afternoon checking both the stats and videos of both riders winning
 
Nov 16, 2013
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Rollthedice said:
Walked away from the TV with 8 km to go. Now I find out this. WT actual F?

Yeah, maybe don't do that...

I don't know whose mistake this was.

Fuglsang had to not work with Alaphilippe because of previous experiences and you could even argue that he should have stopped before he did. It's nonsense (for two reasons) to say that now he actually beat Alaphilippe, he should have worked with him. First, he could not have known he would beat him, and second, he may not have beat him if he had helped him, which is the entire point of not helping - it's hard for Alaphilippe to lead alone and that little bit more effort may have been the deciding factor in the Fuglsang-Alaphilippe duel.

Alaphilippe is a little more at fault but he was probably told that he had a minute to the followers (behind Kwiatkowski), and therefore thought he was allowed to play cat and mouse. And it was necessary to do that because he was obviously feeling a little tired and he probably knew that he could lose that sprint if he just buried himself - Fuglsang's attack with 4 to go was a pretty stinging one.

So I choose not to focus on any of those two and point fingers and instead just sit back in absolute awe and wonder of one of the most insane finishes I have ever had the pleasure to witness. What a FREAK he is, Mathieu.
 
Apr 17, 2013
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Vroome.exe said:
And that's why Fuglsang should have worked with Alaphilippe. Ala is not a sprinter everyone thinks he is, and looked to be suffering. Fuglsang beat him in a finish, just not for a win. Amateur.
Not a comparable situation. Fuglsang did what he had to.
 
Sep 2, 2011
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Fuglsang and Alaphilippe shouldn't be blamed.
They couldn't know there was a motorbike chasing them and not just a group of cyclists.

I've been following cycling for a long time but what MvdP did in the last 10km, and especially in the final 3, is unprecedented.
 
May 1, 2009
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Did anyone else in that pack of riders even take a pull in the last few KM? It seemed every time the camera pointed at them MVDP was leading.
 
Nov 16, 2013
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Juan Pelota said:
Did anyone else in that pack of riders even take a pull in the last few KM? It seemed every time the camera pointed at them MVDP was leading.

He was not leading after the final bend. Schachmann had the front just there. His ability to recover quickly from efforts is the best in the world.
 
Jun 3, 2012
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Flamin said:
Bushman said:
Vroome.exe said:
And that's why Fuglsang should have worked with Alaphilippe. Ala is not a sprinter everyone thinks he is, and looked to be suffering. Fuglsang beat him in a finish, just not for a win. Amateur.

This is so reactionary. Alaphillippe comfortably beat Fuglsang in a tougher finish after a similar race in Strade and he won Milano San Remo ffs. Of course Fuglsang wouldn’t bet on beating Alaphillippe 1v1 and he probably wouldnt id Ala hadn’t been forced to open up a long sprint

That wasn't a long sprint at all from Ala. 200-225m and with a tailwind. His legs were empty.

Yeah, well he had ro react to kwiatkowski earlier so it was a became a longer effort than just going 200 metres out.

He might not have had the legs, though. Agree with that.
 
Dec 6, 2012
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[quote="tobydawq"

Yeah, maybe don't do that...

I don't know whose mistake this was.

Fuglsang had to not work with Alaphilippe because of previous experiences and you could even argue that he should have stopped before he did. It's nonsense (for two reasons) to say that now he actually beat Alaphilippe, he should have worked with him. First, he could not have known he would beat him, and second, he may not have beat him if he had helped him, which is the entire point of not helping - it's hard for Alaphilippe to lead alone and that little bit more effort may have been the deciding factor in the Fuglsang-Alaphilippe duel.

Alaphilippe is a little more at fault but he was probably told that he had a minute to the followers (behind Kwiatkowski), and therefore thought he was allowed to play cat and mouse. And it was necessary to do that because he was obviously feeling a little tired and he probably knew that he could lose that sprint if he just buried himself - Fuglsang's attack with 4 to go was a pretty stinging one.

So I choose not to focus on any of those two and point fingers and instead just sit back in absolute awe and wonder of one of the most insane finishes I have ever had the pleasure to witness. What a FREAK he is, Mathieu.[/quote]

Yes I think it's vain to fault anyone when someone is just too strong above any calculation. It would be different had it ended with Kwiat winning though.
 
Mar 13, 2009
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I've never seen anything like this. Never. 5km 1 minute. Doing the most work. Leading the entire last km and sprinting from 400m out.

Yes Alaph *** up. But holy *** Mathieu van der Poel is insanely good
 
Mar 29, 2016
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Crazy finish - shows what a motor MvdP has. Did Ala & Fuglsang throw it away? Kwia caught them first so they were slowing regardless. Young Madouas did better then expected. Sagan, GvA?
 
Apr 16, 2009
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Re: Re:

Flamin said:
Bushman said:
Vroome.exe said:
And that's why Fuglsang should have worked with Alaphilippe. Ala is not a sprinter everyone thinks he is, and looked to be suffering. Fuglsang beat him in a finish, just not for a win. Amateur.

This is so reactionary. Alaphillippe comfortably beat Fuglsang in a tougher finish after a similar race in Strade and he won Milano San Remo ffs. Of course Fuglsang wouldn’t bet on beating Alaphillippe 1v1 and he probably wouldnt id Ala hadn’t been forced to open up a long sprint

That wasn't a long sprint at all from Ala. 200-225m and with a tailwind. His legs were empty.
Fuglsang wished he had that information before.

After the race is easy to make conclusions. But at that moment, not a single soul, not his fans, not his coach, not him, could have bet on beating Ala on the line. And looking silly for the second time during the year against the same rider. So that was the card that he played.

The point is that neither of them thought that the group was going to come back with that gap so close to the finish. It was unreal!
 
May 5, 2010
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The fact of the matter is that 11/10 times Alaphilippe would have beaten Fuglsang with one toe up the nose.
 
Feb 10, 2015
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Fuglsang and Alaphilippe should have waited for Trentin and Kwiatkowski on the Cauberg.

That was the first nail hammered on the coffin.
 
Mar 19, 2009
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This is becoming really annoying. What has happened to this forum? It doesn't work about 30% of the time, no matter what machine or browser I use. So frustrating during big moments like this.
 
Mar 26, 2017
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jaylew said:
This is becoming really annoying. What has happened to this forum? It doesn't work about 30% of the time, no matter what machine or browser I use. So frustrating during big moments like this.
It seems to crash when there's too much traffic.