Benelux Tour 2021 (August 30 - September 5)

[Samamba]

Euhm Bissegger got motorpaced right? He won like 12 seconds on that last part

 

[Devil's Elbow]

Well he didnt smash the race that's for sure, but as we had no images, we can't just conclude he had no legs. Let's see the other stages first.

Evenepoel apparently has stomach issues, that would explain a lot.

 

[Bonimenier]

Are you psychic?

Yes, wasn't that obvious yet?


Evenepoel apparently with stomach issues and will decide tomorrow morning if he will continue.

 

[Devil's Elbow]

Euhm Bissegger got motorpaced right? He won like 12 seconds on that last part

He did jump the ramp at the roundabout whereas Affini reportedly went around and lost speed, that would explain part of it.

 

[Hugo Koblet]

Wow. Boss!

 

[Ilmaestro99]

WTF

 

[Samamba]

Bad for the race if Remco doesn't start tmrw, no early attack on the weekend stages.

There's a lot of decent climbers who are gonna need to get time on the TT guys like Bissegger, Kung and Campenaerts tho.

 

[Jagartrott]

Guys, my friends just told me they're taking me to Belgium on the weekend for my bachelor party.

And I was like: "do you know there's going to be the Benelux Tour?"
"No, not really"
"We need to go!"
"Yeah but the plan is to hit breweries and pubs and nightclubs..."
"The plan has changed"

So, does anybody know if there will be restrictions to access the Muur and roughly at what time they'll start the first lap? Being there would be super cool but we have a plane to catch on Sunday afternoon.

I guess it's best to check the official website, but since football games have no restrictions anymore and other rules have also been relaxed, I would assume it'll be OK, though there's not a lot of room for spectators on most of the Muur.

 

[titan31]

Yes, wasn't that obvious yet?


Evenepoel apparently with stomach issues and will decide tomorrow morning if he will continue.

God, I hope he's ok. With the time he needs to make up, he'll go crazy if he's fit on the hilly stages. I also have him in my fantasy team so that too

 

[SafeBet]

This should be Evenepoel's worst ever result in an ITT as a pro.
Previous worst was 15th in the 2019 Tour de Suisse.

 

[Lequack]

Frog helmet wins again.

 

[Bolder]

Easy to li

Yes, wasn't that obvious yet?


Evenepoel apparently with stomach issues and will decide tomorrow morning if he will continue.

Maybe he gave himself indigestion after the wheel incident.

 

[Lequack]

All that bottled up anger was bad for his stomach.

 

[titan31]

Tbf, stress actually can cause stomach issues so it's actually possible.

 

[Devil's Elbow]

Lots of roads that were used in the Mathieu van der Poel-won 2018 Dutch nationals are repeated here. The narrow(ish) little climb that comes with 3.3k to go here is the same as the one that came 800 meters closer to the line back then...

...then the route continues on similar roads, partially the same as three years ago, through some twists and turns, before turning right onto the main road at the flamme rouge for the rise, curving to the left, atop wich they finished there...

...but this time, they pass through a roundabout, going straight ahead for the flat final stretch of 600 metres, Obviously it should still be a sprint, but positioning will be quite complicated on a finish like this.

However, it's a shame they don't use the cobbles of the Hogerwaardpolder, 2.2 kilometres in length, which featured mid-stage both days at the final edition of the World Ports Classic in 2015, in the first stage of the 2014 edition, and probably lots of other races I haven't checked - it's decently well-known in the area. It would have come at ~8 kilometres to go - instead, they take the parallel main road.

 

[RedheadDane]

Okay... what's up with this nonsense of riding so early in the day?

 

[search]

Obviously it should still be a sprint, but positioning will be quite complicated on a finish like this.

especially with the Golden Km right before, disrupting the sprint trains, and probably ending up with GC guys up the road. Should be a fun finish.

I like the fact that they start this early to avoid similar finishing times as the Vuelta, by the way.

 

[RedheadDane]

I like the fact that they start this early to avoid similar finishing times as the Vuelta, by the way.

Well, some of us have to work!

 

[hayneplane]

Well, some of us have to work!

yeah physically at work so have to record the races and watch once back home avoiding spoilers once race is in the decisive phases (I usually follow the early parts on the forum and live trackers).

 

[glassmoon]

Bad time puncture for Asgren... and Ewan

 

[Devil's Elbow]

Asgreen with a bike change at 15k to go.

 

[Samamba]

Doubt they'll catch the break. Pretty stupid from the sprinter teams to let a 6 man group with guys like Durbridge go.

LTS and QS won't ride anymore with Asgreen and Ewan behind.

 

[BlueRoads]

I'm not watching, but what is it with the DQS bikes? First Evenepoel on stage 1, now Devenyns and Asgreen?

 

[Samamba]

I'm not watching, but what is it with the DQS bikes? First Evenepoel on stage 1, now Devenyns and Asgreen?

Vermeersch trying to hit every single one of them

 

[Devil's Elbow]

Gap not coming down at all, unless the golden kilometre is really fast the break should take this. And it won't be with the break up front, so...