Eneco Tour 2014 (2.WT), 11.08 - 17/08

[Bernie's eyesore]

GVA will find a way to be 2nd. I'm hoping Gilbert does well. I'd like to see Cancellara do well also but I don't know how his form is right now.

Indeed. he obviously won't win but whoever does beat him probably will. Of course, all that depends on BMC tactics and if he is working for Gilbert. I fully expect GVA to finish between 2nd and 9th on just about every stage though.

 

[Jagartrott]

Shouldn't guys like Sagan and GVA rest a bit?
I don't really understand how some riders are seemingly being made to do too many races, considering that there are races (e.g. Canada) they could shine this season (not to mention the Worlds).

 

[Shardi]

We are approachign the time of the year when "who is beginning to tire from lots of racing" and "whos form is building up for the autumn" etc.

The race is difficult to assess.. Is sagan tired from the tour? Gilbert is certainly fresh but should be in the earlier stages of autumn form build-up..

Hoping for some good co-op between Gilbert/GVA (perhaps time for Greg to win(!!))

 

[Geraint Too Fast]

Sagan isn't doing this.

 

[Jerkovin]

Interesting race with a bunch of interesting names.

I thought Sagan was going to rest until Vuelta though.

 

[Jspear]

Sagan is IN.

Lets see how he likes the yellow.

I allways wanted him to ride this one. Unfortuantelyhe did not train a lot after the Tour.

Sagan is NOT in - which is good. He shouldn't wear himself out to much before the Vuelta...he already has the Tour in his legs.

 

[Jerkovin]

Sagan is NOT in - which is good. He shouldn't wear himself out to much before the Vuelta...he already has the Tour in his legs.

Good to hear.

 

[barmaher]

There's a Polish kid who'd love this course. Those bast@rds at OPQS are wrapping him in cotton wool, though. Michal, where art thou?

In his absence, I go with Stybar.

 

[Geraint Too Fast]

There's a Polish kid who'd love this course. Those bast@rds at OPQS are wrapping him in cotton wool, though. Michal, where art thou?

In his absence, I go with Stybar.

If only.

.......

 

[Jerkovin]

There's a Polish kid who'd love this course. Those bast@rds at OPQS are wrapping him in cotton wool, though. Michal, where art thou?

In his absence, I go with Stybar.

He looked completely knackered and over-raced at the Tour. Playing here would've been a total joke.

 

[manafana]

agree few riders been over raced now, all about finding guys who are starting to reach a peak, stybar is one, thomas another.

 

[barmaher]

I was joking. Great to see him rested.

 

[SKSemtex]

Sagan is NOT in - which is good. He shouldn't wear himself out to much before the Vuelta...he already has the Tour in his legs.

Sorry for wrong info. It was info from main slovak cycling web site that he had been signed on last moment to this race.

However on the official Cannondale web site info from 10.08. he is not on the roster list.

 

[Maaaaaaaarten]

So today will be the Zeeland stage. Zeeland is notorious for echelon racing, so races here always get hyped for echelons which means they almost always disappoint.

Here's a map:

Echelons are possible. I think this type of circuits aren't ideal for echelons, but the wind is from the south-west so there will be some sections with cross-winds.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Too bad that tropical storm just passed. Now it will be a mass sprint

 

[Echoes]

Too many turns for echelons, I think!


By the way, good that they took the Mont-St-Laurent/Côte du Beau site in the Flemish Ardennes stage. Perhaps the second hardest climb in the area. Used to be the hardest climb of "Dwars door Vlaanderen" in the good ol' days when it was still "Dwars door België" and now the main climb of the Tryptique Monts & Chateaux and of Two Days of Gaverstreek.

The hardness of this climb is that you don't have any gutter on either side, so you can't cheat. Beside, once on top of it, you don't immediately have a descent. The descent only comes up a few hundred meters afterwards, so if a strong man recovered from the climb better than the others that is the place to attack.

 

[fauniera]

By the way, good that they took the Mont-St-Laurent/Côte du Beau site in the Flemish Ardennes stage.

They didn't, unfortunately.

 

[Maaaaaaaarten]

I agree the route isn't great for echelons because of all the turns. It will probably just be a nervous course because of the wind with a lot of crashes but still a bunch sprint.

Leukemans DNS cause he's sick

 

[Echoes]

They didn't, unfortunately.

Damn for some reasons I thought it was the 2nd climb of the stage in Gerardsbergen. Mont de l'Enclus?

It's unbelievable, both Low Countries and Wallonia passed sort of 5km away.

 

[Jordynelson]

Hi guys i'm new to this forum, I think that Bouhanni and EBH has a chance for the sprints and that Thomas and gilbert seems like a likely GC contender

 

[ILovecycling]

Hi guys i'm new to this forum, I think that Bouhanni and EBH has a chance for the sprints and that Thomas and gilbert seems like a likely GC contender

Bouhanni probably yeah,if he recovered well during early summer.EBH not so much,only in reduce sprint.He probably wont finish in TOP5 in a classic bunch sprint.
Thomas seems really good,even better than Phil imo.He needs to stay on his bike and then maybe he can score his big win
I backed him btw

I expect big things from Dumulain,Boom (maybe even VM) and Styby (Niki)

 

[maltiv]

Hi guys i'm new to this forum, I think that Bouhanni and EBH has a chance for the sprints and that Thomas and gilbert seems like a likely GC contender

2 years ago, sure, but now EBH can't sprint anymore (or anything else, really).

 

[Maaaaaaaarten]

So the winds been picking up apparently according to KNMI in the western part of the area where they are cycling now, winds are up to 14.7 m/s which is 53 km/h. Should be less where they are cycling because it's more inland, but still, even though the route is not ideal, the wind might cause some selection. Oh and there's also some rain.

 

[theyoungest]

2 years ago, sure, but now EBH can't sprint anymore (or anything else, really).

Forum-wise it's hilarious that TGAK has surpassed EBH in every possible way. Maybe EBH should move to Katusha as well?

 

[Jordynelson]

The last time I saw EBH sprint was Omloop lol. Sky doesn't really have any good sprinters lol. And I forgot Greipel is in the pack as well