BMC in disarray?

[hrotha]

I don't understand why you guys doubt him for the ardennes. He has improved already he was one of the front finishers in the second group and just got caught out on the kemmel descent. He still has time for AGR IMO.

How can you not doubt him? I understand not ruling him out, since it's Gilbert we're talking about, but you have to be a totally blind fanboy not to doubt him at this point.

 

[dlwssonic]

How can you not doubt him? I understand not ruling him out, since it's Gilbert we're talking about, but you have to be a totally blind fanboy not to doubt him at this point.

Maybe I should have said how can you guys rule Gilbert out. But I believe his tooth infection situation is improving and he should be better by brabanste pijl or watever its called. Its still 3 weeks.

 

[Angliru]

I agree. I sadly think that Valverde will come back and dominate the classics. Evans says he is not coming with great form to the classics so in my opinion he will not feature like he has before. In saying that, he has said that he has never really gone to the Ardennes with top form before so you never know.

I don't think he (Valverde) will dominate. He seems to have lost a bit of the snap in his sprint and that is what set him apart from the rest. Add to that the missed racing days due to his recent crash makes for a less than ideal buildup to Ardennes week. I think he'll be competitive but I'm not picking him to win although I would love for it to happen. Before his suspension he wasn't exactly dominant but of course was part of the elite. I'm hoping Purito can finally pull off that big win in one of the 3 events.

What I'm curious about is if and when Gilbert shows he's a shadow of last year's self during the course of the races will they give Evans the green light to pursue his own interests? It would be shame to have him babysitting Gilbert when he could have a valid chance to be a factor.

 

[BillytheKid]

A little bit of the beaten path here, but I saw the final of CI last night. Evans and Co. impressed in keeping it together despite a volley of attacks on the final climb.

I hope the best for Gilbert in the coming weeks.

 

[movingtarget]

I agree. I sadly think that Valverde will come back and dominate the classics. Evans says he is not coming with great form to the classics so in my opinion he will not feature like he has before. In saying that, he has said that he has never really gone to the Ardennes with top form before so you never know.

I was mainly thinking of the Fleche. A race Evans has won before and a shorter race than the other classics with a finish that suits Evans down to the ground.

 

[movingtarget]

I don't think he (Valverde) will dominate. He seems to have lost a bit of the snap in his sprint and that is what set him apart from the rest. Add to that the missed racing days due to his recent crash makes for a less than ideal buildup to Ardennes week. I think he'll be competitive but I'm not picking him to win although I would love for it to happen. Before his suspension he wasn't exactly dominant but of course was part of the elite. I'm hoping Purito can finally pull off that big win in one of the 3 events.

What I'm curious about is if and when Gilbert shows he's a shadow of last year's self during the course of the races will they give Evans the green light to pursue his own interests? It would be shame to have him babysitting Gilbert when he could have a valid chance to be a factor.

I think Rodriguez has a good chance at Fleche and Amstel. I think Valverde will be better suited to Liege. BMC will have to consider Evans especially if Gilbert continues to struggle. Don't discount Sagan or Gerrans.

 

[greenedge]

Yeah Gerrans will go great this year at the Ardennes ( he is peaking for it and he has newfound confidence/ a chance for Revenge on Valverde/ will want to lay a marker down for the WC where he will want to be co-leader along with Evans ).
I think JROD, Valverde and Gilbert will be the 3 main favourites though. The Shlecks could win a race between them but will have to commit to making the races hard.

I also think Samu has a great chance. At F-W last year he was hugely impressive but was so far back.

 

[movingtarget]

Yeah Gerrans will go great this year at the Ardennes ( he is peaking for it and he has newfound confidence/ a chance for Revenge on Valverde/ will want to lay a marker down for the WC where he will want to be co-leader along with Evans ).
I think JROD, Valverde and Gilbert will be the 3 main favourites though. The Shlecks could win a race between them but will have to commit to making the races hard.

I also think Samu has a great chance. At F-W last year he was hugely impressive but was so far back.

Sanchez always has to be considered in these races because for a climber he has a pretty good sprint as well. I just think he may struggle to hold out the other riders you mentioned and Evans. I would only give the Schlecks a chance at Liege but of course they have to finish without a sprinter to have any hope of winning.

 

[El Pistolero]

Sanchez has never done much at Liège-Bastogne-Liège or Amstel Gold Race. Yeah, top 10, but never really in a position to win the race.

 

[greenedge]

But if he could win F-W that would be a successful Classics campaign for EE. Also this year he might play more of a fact a AGR ( because it is the WC course ).

 

[thehog]

From the Pozzato interview....

CN: You’ll be surrounded by fairly inexperienced riders in the Classics. Wouldn’t you rather be riding for Sky or BMC?

FP: I’m happy where I am. I wouldn’t want to be riding for BMC in the Classics. We’ll see. They definitely have the strongest team – but we’ll see how they race. It’s difficult, being the favourite. But I think Omega Pharma is a fine team too. I actually think Omega Pharma are stronger at the moment [in early March]. It’s a team built around an individual, Boonen. At BMC, on the other hand, they all want to win. No one knows what they’re supposed to do there, whereas at Omega Pharma they maybe have three of the best domestiques in the world. At BMC, if one moves, all of a sudden, the others all have their hands tied and they have to do jobs they’re not used to. I wouldn’t like to be them.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/filippo-pozzato-i-wasted-my-talent-for-too-long

 

[auscyclefan94]

From the Pozzato interview....

CN: You’ll be surrounded by fairly inexperienced riders in the Classics. Wouldn’t you rather be riding for Sky or BMC?

FP: I’m happy where I am. I wouldn’t want to be riding for BMC in the Classics. We’ll see. They definitely have the strongest team – but we’ll see how they race. It’s difficult, being the favourite. But I think Omega Pharma is a fine team too. I actually think Omega Pharma are stronger at the moment [in early March]. It’s a team built around an individual, Boonen. At BMC, on the other hand, they all want to win. No one knows what they’re supposed to do there, whereas at Omega Pharma they maybe have three of the best domestiques in the world. At BMC, if one moves, all of a sudden, the others all have their hands tied and they have to do jobs they’re not used to. I wouldn’t like to be them.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/filippo-pozzato-i-wasted-my-talent-for-too-long

Well at least BMC will have a chance of winning if we go by Pozzato's interpretation of BMC's tatics. Pozzato will be too busy sucking wheel the whole time.

 

[Caruut]

Well at least BMC will have a chance of winning if we go by Pozzato's interpretation of BMC's tatics. Pozzato will be too busy sucking wheel the whole time.

No, that's your interpretation of BMC's tactics. Pozzato was suggesting that they aren't going to work for each other, but won't really be able to work for themselves either. Also - but rich to be hatin' on Pippo for drafting while BMC's main guy for the next week is gonna be Hushovd.

 

[DominicDecoco]

Pozzato just hits the nail on the head here.

 

[movingtarget]

From the Pozzato interview....

CN: You’ll be surrounded by fairly inexperienced riders in the Classics. Wouldn’t you rather be riding for Sky or BMC?

FP: I’m happy where I am. I wouldn’t want to be riding for BMC in the Classics. We’ll see. They definitely have the strongest team – but we’ll see how they race. It’s difficult, being the favourite. But I think Omega Pharma is a fine team too. I actually think Omega Pharma are stronger at the moment [in early March]. It’s a team built around an individual, Boonen. At BMC, on the other hand, they all want to win. No one knows what they’re supposed to do there, whereas at Omega Pharma they maybe have three of the best domestiques in the world. At BMC, if one moves, all of a sudden, the others all have their hands tied and they have to do jobs they’re not used to. I wouldn’t like to be them.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/filippo-pozzato-i-wasted-my-talent-for-too-long

The problem for BMC is that the only rider they have that could win Flanders is out of form. I really can't see any of the others winning no matter how well they ride as a team. At the same time maybe Pozzato is underestimating BMC who usually support each other well. Their problem is the same as last year, having results to show for all of their hard work. With Gilbert and Hushovd out of sorts and Evans looking for results in later races, they have no one else for the win. As good as Ballan and GVA have been in support roles this year they are not the type of riders that could win Flanders but then again hardly anyone picked the winner last year.

 

[dlwssonic]

From the Pozzato interview....

CN: You’ll be surrounded by fairly inexperienced riders in the Classics. Wouldn’t you rather be riding for Sky or BMC?

FP: I’m happy where I am. I wouldn’t want to be riding for BMC in the Classics. We’ll see. They definitely have the strongest team – but we’ll see how they race. It’s difficult, being the favourite. But I think Omega Pharma is a fine team too. I actually think Omega Pharma are stronger at the moment [in early March]. It’s a team built around an individual, Boonen. At BMC, on the other hand, they all want to win. No one knows what they’re supposed to do there, whereas at Omega Pharma they maybe have three of the best domestiques in the world. At BMC, if one moves, all of a sudden, the others all have their hands tied and they have to do jobs they’re not used to. I wouldn’t like to be them.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/filippo-pozzato-i-wasted-my-talent-for-too-long

Obviously all of the riders in BMC want to win, but I have seen them working quite well in the classics as a team. In MSR Ballan and GVA were ready to work for Gilbert before he got involved in the crash. For today i think their leaders would be Ballan, GVA or Gilbert. Or it might just be Ballan and Gilbert. They will work well together they have good domestiques too like Hincapie, Burghardt, Schar and Quinziato. GVA or Hushovd might work for the team today.

 

[movingtarget]

Obviously all of the riders in BMC want to win, but I have seen them working quite well in the classics as a team. In MSR Ballan and GVA were ready to work for Gilbert before he got involved in the crash. For today i think their leaders would be Ballan, GVA or Gilbert. Or it might just be Ballan and Gilbert. They will work well together they have good domestiques too like Hincapie, Burghardt, Schar and Quinziato. GVA or Hushovd might work for the team today.

Good rides today by Ballan and GVA. Gilbert looked ordinary again but he can only improve. Third and fourth today but what a pity Ballan and Pozzato could not get more of a gap on the final climb. There is no doubt that Boonen was in trouble but rode a smart race to go on and win. BMC showed enough today to go into the Paris Roubaix with confidence.

 

[cineteq]

Gilbert looked ordinary again but he can only improve.

I beg to differ, he looked great. This is/was not he's race.

 

[Lanark]

I beg to differ, he looked great. This is/was not he's race.

Lolwhat? Great? This was his worst Ronde van Vlaanderen in four years (when he had his breakthrough). He dropped everyone on the Bosberg last year, this time he was in the seventh group or something at that stage in the race. It's looking more and more unlikely that he will be ready for the Amstel.

 

[movingtarget]

I beg to differ, he looked great. This is/was not he's race.

I didn't think he looked very comfortable but i suppose most riders felt the same towards the end. I know it's not his race but the Amstel Gold should be very interesting just to see what he can do.

 

[DominicDecoco]

So, Flanders has been the race we've all waited for to see how he's form was. Now that he wasn't exactly impressive it's all of sudden not his race. Funny.

 

[dlwssonic]

Gilbert looked good in the early parts of the race always on the front. His attack on the kruisberg was good but after that he kind of faded. At least he has improved from last week. He will gradually improve for the two weeks. I expect him to be competitve for AGR. A race that really suits him.

 

[Gloin22]

Gilbert looked good in the early parts of the race always on the front. His attack on the kruisberg was good but after that he kind of faded. At least he has improved from last week. He will gradually improve for the two weeks. I expect him to be competitve for AGR. A race that really suits him.

So you mean RvV didnt suit him ? Because it did.

 

[classicomano]

Gilbert looked good in the early parts of the race always on the front. His attack on the kruisberg was good but after that he kind of faded. At least he has improved from last week. He will gradually improve for the two weeks. I expect him to be competitve for AGR. A race that really suits him.

Sorry but his attack looked pathetic, did you see his face? He was completely in the red while a bunch of guys were freewheeling behind him.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Man oh man...some fanboys really don't want to see it.

This RVV fitted Gilbert much more than the previous one (where he finished 3rd and had several top 10 finishes before), yet he totally sucked today.

His attack was half-hearted and after the serious guys started attacking Gilbert was nowhere. There were literally tons of riders better than him today...