This will be a war of attrition given the conditions. If Pog races hard I still give him a good chance.
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This will be a war of attrition given the conditions. If Pog races hard I still give him a good chance.
I'm interested to see which JV riders (apart from Wout) can follow the inevitable attacks from Pogacar on the cobbled climbs.
Aimar16
BANNED
He wants to be ingcognito!Is there any reason why Pog did not choose the lowest available number? Sounds like a silly conclusion but he might take the race easy and Wellens will be the UAE's leader.
I doubt Pog will take the race easy. This is his only warmup race for RvV since he dropped Dwars from his schedule. He'll want to gauge how he goes against MVDP and Wout ahead of the big dance next week. Maybe Wellens will be co-leader? But imo, it shouldn't mean much if Pogacar didn't take the number 1 for his team. We'll see from his pre-race interview as to what are his goals for the race.Is there any reason why Pog did not choose the lowest available number? Sounds like a silly conclusion but he might take the race easy and Wellens will be the UAE's leader.
Maybe they'll see another guy with number **1 and think "thanks God there's no Pog". And then, bum! Teddy drops a watt bomb.
There will be no taking the race easy. Pog races for victories and at some point it will be full gas. He's among the favourites but MVP is tough to beat, as always in classics from Strade to Flandres.
on paper, it obviously makes sense to DNF a preparation race in horrendous conditions as quickly as possible. Pedersen for example rarely finishes this even when the weather is good.
But yeah, in Pogacar's case it would be a surprise if he doesn't go for it.
But yeah, in Pogacar's case it would be a surprise if he doesn't go for it.
Aimar16
BANNED
OK, maybe he just hates the number 171, probably because 171m is the highest point in Denmark
So all the UAE riders - including Trentin - will be required to have a few strands of hairs poking out of their helmets?
Hmm, I hadn’t thought of that but it’s possibly a very good strategy!
This raises another question, however: will those riders’ hair products be strong enough to keep their helmet-protruding tufts of hair aloft during the expected downpour?
Is there any reason why Pog did not choose the lowest available number? Sounds like a silly conclusion but he might take the race easy and Wellens will be the UAE's leader.
Aimar16
BANNED
If some of the favourites don't fancy it with next weekend in mind, then this is obviously Wellen's weather. And SKA has been in great form to deputise for MVDP. Also Ben Turner started the season brilliantly before crashing in KBK. First race back, but he'll do better than most in these conditions.
I’m sure the tufts of hair will find some magical way to stay upright, the same magic Pogi uses on some of his solos.
Asgreen’s been a little off the radar lately, does anyone know what’s been up with him?
I was wondering when somebody would bring up that myth again. Wellens' latest win in bad weather was a stage in the Tour de Pologne seven years ago.
Going by bad weather results the favorites should be Mads Pedersen, Trentin and Küng. They sprinted for the world title in Yorkshire, with Wellens eight minutes behind them. Florian Vermeersch could also do well, because he finished second in a wet Roubaix.
Toby, where is the negative start list? I hear you ask.
No worries, it's coming here (reminder: all riders who could potentially have featured in the pointy end of the race but who are absent):
Jan Tratnik
Mick Van Dijke
Tim Van Dijke
Tim Merlier
Casper Pedersen
Mauro Schmid
Bert Van Lerberghe
Jonas Rickaert
Gianni Vermeersch
Taco van der Hoorn
Heinrich Haussler
Jonathan Milan
Andrea Pasqualon
Danny van Poppel
Magnus Cort
Mikkel Honoré
Hugo Hofstetter
Michael Matthews
Edward Theuns
Alexey Lutsenko
Gianni Moscon
Tom Pidcock
Magnus Sheffield
Geraint Thomas (well, he is a previous winner)
Marc Hirschi
Victor Campenaerts
Arnaud De Lie
Andreas Kron
Edvald Boasson Hagen
Dylan Teuns
Mads Würtz Schmidt
Stian Fredheim
No worries, it's coming here (reminder: all riders who could potentially have featured in the pointy end of the race but who are absent):
Jan Tratnik
Mick Van Dijke
Tim Van Dijke
Tim Merlier
Casper Pedersen
Mauro Schmid
Bert Van Lerberghe
Jonas Rickaert
Gianni Vermeersch
Taco van der Hoorn
Heinrich Haussler
Jonathan Milan
Andrea Pasqualon
Danny van Poppel
Magnus Cort
Mikkel Honoré
Hugo Hofstetter
Michael Matthews
Edward Theuns
Alexey Lutsenko
Gianni Moscon
Tom Pidcock
Magnus Sheffield
Geraint Thomas (well, he is a previous winner)
Marc Hirschi
Victor Campenaerts
Arnaud De Lie
Andreas Kron
Edvald Boasson Hagen
Dylan Teuns
Mads Würtz Schmidt
Stian Fredheim
Given that he has now removed Dwars from his schedule, I expect Pogačar to go all-in here. However against a stacked Jumbo team, I think that he will also need Van der Poel to go deep in order to break them enough to get a win and I am not sure that is going to happen.
After his second place last year, I will go with Laporte.
After his second place last year, I will go with Laporte.
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