Clasica San Sebastián 30/7 - 220.2 km

[Samamba]

Re: Re:

Well done Mollema.

I feel bad for Gallopin, chasing with two of the biggest dickheads in the peloton.

Valverde put in a few pulls. Pretty shameful from Purito; although I guess he's so weak on the flat it wouldn't have made much difference. Not sure why he went so early on the climb; he should have waited for the last 500m like usual and tried to gap everyone there.

The biggest looser is Gallopin, he actually outsprinted Valverde, he should have helped Valverde a bit more.

I hope you're not serious. Gallopin was doing almost all the work. The only thing he could've done better is react immediately after Mollema's attack, but he was a little bit boxed in at that moment.

 

[BigMac]

Re:

The Clasica San Sebastian just isn't all that prestigious, only 8 pages of discussion is proof of that. I even rate Strade Bianche higher and that's a 1.HC race.

The amount of discussion about a certain race dictates how prestigious it is? There's not many posts because the race was not exciting. Prestige is based on history. Strade Bianche may be a better race, does not make it a more important eace. It is not and won't be in the near future. The lack of attention and public response this race now gets is mainly due to route changes.

 

[El Pistolero]

Re: Re:

The Clasica San Sebastian just isn't all that prestigious, only 8 pages of discussion is proof of that. I even rate Strade Bianche higher and that's a 1.HC race.

The amount of discussion about a certain race dictates how prestigious it is? There's not many posts because the race was not exciting. Prestige is based on history. Strade Bianche may be a better race, does not make it a more important eace. It is not and won't be in the near future. The lack of attention and public response this race now gets is mainly due to route changes.

Ask a rider which race he would rather win and I'm sure most would say Strade Bianche. Especially since it will be WT next year.

Everything about Strade Bianche is better and it's not like CSS has much history to begin with. I dare say Strade Bianche has more history if you know how that race started.

 

[hrotha]

Pisti: spokesperson of the peloton.

 

[El Pistolero]

Re:

Pisti: spokesperson of the peloton.

It's rather obvious with the way riders talk about these races in their interviews.

If this race wasn't WT, how many top cyclists would line up? Strade Bianche has a better field and it's not even WT.

 

[Flamin]

Re: Re:

Pisti: spokesperson of the peloton.

It's rather obvious with the way riders talk about these races in their interviews.

If this race wasn't WT, how many top cyclists would line up? Strade Bianche has a better field and it's not even WT.

How many top cyclists would turn up if Strade was one week after the Tour?

 

[Mr.White]

Re: Re:

Pisti: spokesperson of the peloton.

It's rather obvious with the way riders talk about these races in their interviews.

If this race wasn't WT, how many top cyclists would line up? Strade Bianche has a better field and it's not even WT.

I don't think so...

 

[PremierAndrew]

Re: Re:

Pisti: spokesperson of the peloton.

It's rather obvious with the way riders talk about these races in their interviews.

If this race wasn't WT, how many top cyclists would line up? Strade Bianche has a better field and it's not even WT.

How many top cyclists would turn up if Strade was one week after the Tour?

Strade doesn't have much history obviously, but those gravel roads are already pretty iconic and unique, making it a very prestigious race. Now that it's becoming WT, I can see it quickly becoming the most important one day race behind the monuments (and WC and OG obvs)

 

[Anderis]

I'm glad Mollema won this. I'm not surprised the chase didn't work, though. Purito was cooked, he wasn't even able to follow wheels at the finish despite wheelsucking in the last kms, so he was kinda right not contributing. Valverde could have worked harder but Gallopin was stronger than him and maybe he knew this that the only way for him to win the race is to force Gallopin to do the most work. And Gallopin was the one who did the most chasing so he cannot be blamed for not chasing at all cost only to cook himself and lose the sprint.

Nice to see Slagter first time in the top10 of WT race this season and also good job by Devenyns, who didn't have this kind of results in WT races since 2011 IIRC.

 

[yaco]

Re: Re:

The Clasica San Sebastian just isn't all that prestigious, only 8 pages of discussion is proof of that. I even rate Strade Bianche higher and that's a 1.HC race.

The amount of discussion about a certain race dictates how prestigious it is? There's not many posts because the race was not exciting. Prestige is based on history. Strade Bianche may be a better race, does not make it a more important eace. It is not and won't be in the near future. The lack of attention and public response this race now gets is mainly due to route changes.

Ask a rider which race he would rather win and I'm sure most would say Strade Bianche. Especially since it will be WT next year.

Everything about Strade Bianche is better and it's not like CSS has much history to begin with. I dare say Strade Bianche has more history if you know how that race started.

Under the new guidelines new WT races must have a minimum of 10 WT teams,while existing WT races must have all WT teams. Stride Bianchi has a way to go.

 

[Kwibus]

After they caught Purito there was only Mollema I could hope for winning and he actually placed a perfectly timed attack. Once your gone then the chase usually messes up, specially with Valverde in it.

Purito tried it on the climb like he should've, after that he lost and he knew that. The only thing he could bet on was hoping Valverde and Gallopin pulled back Mollema and see if he could attack, anything else was futile so I really don't understand the hate he gets. If he would've pulled the that would've been incredibly stupid of him.

Mollema did the final pull up to Purito after Valverde seemed incapable of closing the final 50mtr so he must've been really strong. Nice win, a win he needed as well.


Shame this race has become a bit of a dissapointment, but it's like that with all hilly races.

 

[El Pistolero]

Re: Re:

The Clasica San Sebastian just isn't all that prestigious, only 8 pages of discussion is proof of that. I even rate Strade Bianche higher and that's a 1.HC race.

The amount of discussion about a certain race dictates how prestigious it is? There's not many posts because the race was not exciting. Prestige is based on history. Strade Bianche may be a better race, does not make it a more important eace. It is not and won't be in the near future. The lack of attention and public response this race now gets is mainly due to route changes.

Ask a rider which race he would rather win and I'm sure most would say Strade Bianche. Especially since it will be WT next year.

Everything about Strade Bianche is better and it's not like CSS has much history to begin with. I dare say Strade Bianche has more history if you know how that race started.

Under the new guidelines new WT races must have a minimum of 10 WT teams,while existing WT races must have all WT teams. Stride Bianchi has a way to go.

Look at youtube how many views the editions of Clasica San Sebastian gets compared to Strade Bianche. It's not even close which race is more prestigious. It's not the one in the Basque Country.

 

[BigMac]

More youtube views = more prestigious.

Okay.

 

[rick james]

Feel asleep for most of this race, and actually missed out on my afternoon cycle as well

 

[El Pistolero]

Re:

More youtube views = more prestigious. :Question:

Better TV ratings, more prominent on social media, better racing, unique race with beautiful scenery, better televised, better organized, better riders, etc.

Exactly what does CSS have that trumps the Strade Bianche? The fact it's older? I'm sorry, but that's a pretty shitty reason to call a race more prestigious.

 

[Mr.White]

Re: Re:

More youtube views = more prestigious. :Question:

Better TV ratings, more prominent on social media, better racing, unique race with beautiful scenery, better televised, better organized, better riders, etc.

Exactly what does CSS have that trumps the Strade Bianche? The fact it's older? I'm sorry, but that's a pretty shitty reason to call a race more prestigious.

No.

I admit Strade is much more interesting race lately, but that don't makes it more prestigious. Clasica is WT, Strade not, and that fact solely makes it more prestigious. Strade has very good field indeed, but Clasica has all WT teams with their best riders for this kind of race. So I think Clasica field tops Strade field. And liked it or not WorldTour is very important for all best teams and riders

 

[Thepirateisgood]

Great and deserved win by Mollema, nice way to strike back from the disappointment that was the 3rd week of TdF for him.

Some "elitist" persons naturally wants to belittle that, but a good win nevertheless.

Move him up for one of the favorites of Olympics RR after this, clearly the best form of the ones on display today don't you think? (If he's riding ORR?, surely he is, no?)

 

[Kwibus]

Wether it's more prestigious or not doesn't take away that there is always a solid line up in San Sebastian.

 

[El Pistolero]

Re: Re:

More youtube views = more prestigious. :Question:

Better TV ratings, more prominent on social media, better racing, unique race with beautiful scenery, better televised, better organized, better riders, etc.

Exactly what does CSS have that trumps the Strade Bianche? The fact it's older? I'm sorry, but that's a pretty shitty reason to call a race more prestigious.

No.

I admit Strade is much more interesting race lately, but that don't makes it more prestigious. Clasica is WT, Strade not, and that fact solely makes it more prestigious. Strade has very good field indeed, but Clasica has all WT teams with their best riders for this kind of race. So I think Clasica field tops Strade field. And liked it or not WorldTour is very important for all best teams and riders

GP Quest-Plouay and Vattenfall Cyclassics are also WT, but that doesn't make the races even remotely prestigious. And the WT discussion is moot anyway, as Strade Bianche will be WT as well from next year on. Strade Bianche had 12 WT teams at the start-line this year. A lot of WT teams are nothing more than pack fodder anyway.

And not all the best riders are present here by the way... Nibali wasn't at the start-line and he'd be one of the top favorites here if he was in top shape. Froome is also absent here.

Omloop het Nieuwsblad is another 1.HC race that is more prestigious than the Clasica San Sebastian. Thankfully it will also be WT next year.

 

[Valv.Piti]

I see both sides here, but its obvious that the quality of riders in San Sebastian is higher than in Strade. I don't know how you can argue otherwise.

 

[Thepirateisgood]

Re: Re:

More youtube views = more prestigious. :Question:

Better TV ratings, more prominent on social media, better racing, unique race with beautiful scenery, better televised, better organized, better riders, etc.

Exactly what does CSS have that trumps the Strade Bianche? The fact it's older? I'm sorry, but that's a pretty shitty reason to call a race more prestigious.

No.

I admit Strade is much more interesting race lately, but that don't makes it more prestigious. Clasica is WT, Strade not, and that fact solely makes it more prestigious. Strade has very good field indeed, but Clasica has all WT teams with their best riders for this kind of race. So I think Clasica field tops Strade field. And liked it or not WorldTour is very important for all best teams and riders

GP Quest-Plouay and Vattenval Cyclassics are also WT, but that doesn't make the races even remotely prestigious. And the WT discussion is moot anyway, as Strade Bianche will be WT as well from next year on. Strade Bianche had 12 WT teams at the start-line this year. A lot of WT teams are nothing more than pack fodder anyway.

And not all the best riders are present here by the way... Nibali wasn't at the start-line and he'd be one of the top favorites here if he was in top shape. Froome is also absent here.

Omloop het Nieuwsblad is another 1.HC race that is more prestigious than the Clasica San Sebastian. Thankfully it will also be WT next year.

You have high standards don't you?

You have a point of course, but why pick on this race like it shouldn't have a ways of life?

I like it, it's in prime cycling territory and normally a nice line-up. Tro-bro-leon is way better and more exciting than CSS, Strade and Omloop put together. Is it more prestigious? Well, for some it is for others not so much. wtf..

 

[Tank Engine]

Ninja sighting!

San Sebastian is always a reasonably good bet for a rare sighting of the ninja (unless the cameras are not working)

I'm very glad for Bauke, he deserved that win after a strong ride and his bad luck in the last week of the tour, while fighting to the end.

 

[PremierAndrew]

Re: Re:

More youtube views = more prestigious. :Question:

Better TV ratings, more prominent on social media, better racing, unique race with beautiful scenery, better televised, better organized, better riders, etc.

Exactly what does CSS have that trumps the Strade Bianche? The fact it's older? I'm sorry, but that's a pretty shitty reason to call a race more prestigious.

No.

I admit Strade is much more interesting race lately, but that don't makes it more prestigious. Clasica is WT, Strade not, and that fact solely makes it more prestigious. Strade has very good field indeed, but Clasica has all WT teams with their best riders for this kind of race. So I think Clasica field tops Strade field. And liked it or not WorldTour is very important for all best teams and riders

What's next, Hamburg being more prestigious than Paris-Tours and Scheldeprijs?

 

[El Pistolero]

Re:

I see both sides here, but its obvious that the quality of riders in San Sebastian is higher than in Strade. I don't know how you can argue otherwise.

It's the only race where there's a nice mix of cobbled classics specialists, Ardennes riders and climbers.

Cancellara, Sagan, Van Avermaet, Stybar, Valverde, Nibali, Kwiatkowski, Vanmarcke, Gilbert, Uran, etc. are all present there.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Re:

I see both sides here, but its obvious that the quality of riders in San Sebastian is higher than in Strade. I don't know how you can argue otherwise.

lol............