Dwars door Vlaanderen - coming soon (March 31)

[tobydawq]

he destroyed Schurter in some really hot weather in MTB. Multiple times btw.

I don't think he is really effected by weather unless it's really really cold and rainy in fact...

May be true (I don't follow MTB) but some people apparently struggle on the first day of hot weather even if they later will be able to acclimatise to it.

 

[MartinGT]

I think too much is being read into MVDP not performing today.

 

[tobydawq]

I think too much is being read into MVDP not performing today.

Why? Should we just ignore it completely?

 

[ppanther92]

Lampaert's reaction on the offday of DQS:

I didn't feel good today. I only found my legs after the Trieu. The heat was a shock for my body after last sunday. A lot of riders suffered from it.

I was too far down at the Stationsberg and was blocked two times behind a crash. Asgreen crashed as well, Ballerini seems to be over his top form (so I guess no Ballerini in the team for the Ronde) and Alaphilippe had a bad day.

Wait, Lampaert said Ballerini is over his top form?

 

[MartinGT]

Why? Should we just ignore it completely?

Why isn't anything made out of the pull he did to get Merlier 3rd? Why isn't anything made of Alaphillipe having an off day too?

I think a lot now expect the likes of him WVA etc to turn up to races and be like robots and smash it.

 

[Ricco']

May be true (I don't follow MTB) but some people apparently struggle on the first day of hot weather even if they later will be able to acclimatise to it.

Yup, that's true. I'm from Portugal and we are used to +30ºC multiple times a year, but in the first days of hot weather every year I struggle a lot with the heat. When I trained it was horrible.

Can't imagine what it's like to someone in upper parts of Europe who aren't so used to that.

 

[tobydawq]

Why isn't anything made out of the pull he did to get Merlier 3rd? Why isn't anything made of Alaphillipe having an off day too?

I think a lot now expect the likes of him WVA etc to turn up to races and be like robots and smash it.

Maybe it's because Mathieu is usually Superman but ever since his self-emptying victory on the Castelfidardo stage in Tirreno he has seemed to regress just a little, race by race. Of course he could pull a good kilometre near the end, but he was just dropped on a climb (can't remember which) as the first one in his group.

Alaphilippe never really got into the race so it's not evident that he really tried to go for a result here.

I'm not saying he is without chance for Flanders now but I definitely don't think it can be shrugged off as something that usually happens.

 

[Velolover2]

Wait, Lampaert said Ballerini is over his top form?

Odd that Ballerini is on the startlist for De Ronde rather than an in-form Sénéchal.

 

[tobydawq]

Odd that Ballerini is on the startlist for De Ronde rather than an in-form Sénéchal.

That will obviously be changed.

 

[Berflamand]

Wait, Lampaert said Ballerini is over his top form?

Yeah, at least according to Sporza. I didn't actually hear the interview myself.

 

[johnymax]

Great solo win for van Baarle. He is the real Dutch hero (at least for the day).

I've heard WvA also had a bad day during his training ride yesterday.

 

[BlueRoads]

I thought there was something wrong with Alaphilippe among the Big Three... of course van Baarle is a way better fit. Basically, it's the Big Five: van Aert, van der Breggen, van Vleuten, van der Poel, van Baarle.
Van Hooydonck tried his best to break into this group. Van Avermaet's struggling. Vanmarcke tried to apply for a different spelling: van Marcke. And Taco just can't understand what more he can do.

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

I thought there was something wrong with Alaphilippe among the Big Three... of course van Baarle is a way better fit. Basically, it's the Big Five: van Aert, van der Breggen, van Vleuten, van der Poel, van Baarle.
Van Hooydonck tried his best to break into this group. Van Avermaet's struggling. Vanmarcke tried to apply for a different spelling: van Marcke. And Taco just can't understand what more he can do.

And Van Morrison misses echelons because he'll only ride on the Bright Side of the Road.

 

[tobydawq]

I thought there was something wrong with Alaphilippe among the Big Three... of course van Baarle is a way better fit. Basically, it's the Big Five: van Aert, van der Breggen, van Vleuten, van der Poel, van Baarle.
Van Hooydonck tried his best to break into this group. Van Avermaet's struggling. Vanmarcke tried to apply for a different spelling: van Marcke. And Taco just can't understand what more he can do.

Maybe it would increase your chances if you aren't a taco carved out of a horn.

 

[Ricco']

Maybe it's because Mathieu is usually Superman but ever since his self-emptying victory on the Castelfidardo stage in Tirreno he has seemed to regress just a little, race by race. Of course he could pull a good kilometre near the end, but he was just dropped on a climb (can't remember which) as the first one in his group.

Alaphilippe never really got into the race so it's not evident that he really tried to go for a result here.

I'm not saying he is without chance for Flanders now but I definitely don't think it can be shrugged off as something that usually happens.

I don't think he regressed from Sanremo to E3, tbh. He did way too much for a guy with no teammates around in a short group with 3 QuickSteps, but his showing in Taaienberg (starting from very far down), Stationberg and Tiegemberg and overall during the last 2 hours (minus the last 10 kms) was very good.

If you're talking about tactics, then I might agree with you.

 

[tobydawq]

I don't think he regressed from Sanremo to E3, tbh. He did way too much for a guy with no teammates around in a short group with 3 QuickSteps, but his showing in Taaienberg (starting from very far down), Stationberg and Tiegemberg and overall during the last 2 hours (minus the last 10 kms) was very good.

If you're talking about tactics, then I might agree with you.

Nah, you're probably right, I may have used a little artistic freedom to present my point.