- Mar 20, 2022
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- Oct 4, 2024
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Msr is a nightmare for the big favourites. Mvdp gotta mark pog, chase every attack from secondary riders, and no-ones ever letting him go unnoticed. In comparison Ganna can either do a stuyven or have a fair chance to beat the top guys in a small group sprint. But he's never beating the real sprinters if they come back.
- Jul 15, 2021
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I actually agree with everything you're saying there. But I also believe MvdP can win even when he's having to counter a lot himself and is being marked by the rest.
When it's Pog, MvdP and Ganna at the finish, Ganna certainly has a chance though.
- Feb 21, 2019
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He already finished 6th in Roubaix back in 2023 so he has the endurance for these races.
RvV seems too hard though, at least against Pogačar and Van der Poel. But let's see how he fares in Gent-Wevelgem this year, I think he will be there to test the waters for Flanders.
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Endurance wise I think he's fine, came a strong 6th in 2023 in Paris-Roubaix. To prove your point, though, I remember in that race he would go so much slower round corners he probably needed to expend about 10% more energy per cobble sector than everyone else. I can imagine him going backwards quite fast on the Koppenberg
- Apr 10, 2019
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While being in the drops vs the faster aero hoods position, no marginal gains there.
- Jan 8, 2020
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I don't think you can criticise Ganna today, the kid faught like a lion. He spit out his soul several times on the Cipressa and Poggia to get back on terms or nearly (with his big frame that is almost a miracle in itself), then rode a super decent down the back side to come back on Via Roma. The only thing to take issue with is perhaps moving off MVDP's wheel to the other side of the road before the sprint. Evidently he was trying to keep an eye on both MVDP and Pogi, but he should only have been concerned about the former and so glued to his wheel. But this is looking for il pelo nell'uova (nitpicking).
- Feb 20, 2012
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Doing the same amount of pulling after getting dropped a climb before is suicidal. Also letting Pogacar be on your wheel going into the Poggio was just silly IMO.
- Mar 22, 2024
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I think it's tough to nitpick his actions today. He rode an incredible race and hung with the world's two best.
- Sep 2, 2011
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Pretty stunning to focus on irrelevant details after probably the best performance of his career. Pippo is a freaking monster. He rode like a champion. He is just unlucky he's competing against two of the very best classic riders in history.
- May 6, 2021
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He can be there in Roubaix, iirc with that 6th place he had all sorts of things go wrong for him and 0 teammates for most of the race. Being there is the easy part for him, it's how he gets away because he wont beat the very top guys in the sprint. Maybe Tarling can be of help, looks good this year, unproven as of yet though, broke his knee in a bunch crash last year and the fool held onto that car for too long getting back.
- Feb 20, 2012
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- Sep 2, 2011
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There is no scenario where Ganna beats VdP today unless VdP crashes. And I think you know it.
- Feb 20, 2012
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Milano Sanremo is many things, but it is not a race of absolute certainties. Just because events unfold a certain way doesn't mean they were always inevitable.
I can absolutely admire the effort he put in today, but I can also question some of the tactical decisions that get were made.
- Feb 24, 2015
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Ganna was superb today. Hopefully he'll take away a big victory this season! It will be well deserved and Pog/MVDP will not always be there. Impressive with his frame to be with these two.
Honestly, don't think the turns he was taking on the flat took it out of him too much. He was going to get dropped on the Poggio regardless, and would've at best caught the other two with 2.5km rather than 1km to go.
- Jan 8, 2020
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Silly, they were three up before the Poggio, so each pulls though in that rat race. And what could he have saved, being droped a bit later?
- Aug 13, 2011
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Great ride by Ganna, I wonder how he would have done if he tried attacking once he caught back up. Could be a big threat at PR but hard to see past the Alpecin duo at this point.
- Jul 17, 2022
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Great race, just made the same small mistake as many others, letting mvdp dictate the sprint. Take the lead and let mvdp overtake you, with tailwind and ganna the highest top speed of those 3 , he sure could have won.
- Aug 24, 2010
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Very impressed with Ganna. Rode with a lot of grinta. Was really rooting for him in the sprint, but MVDP knows how to win those small group sprints.
- Jan 8, 2020
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Yea, in hindsight, Ganna should have opened up the sprint and just gave it his all. Likely MVDP comes around him and maybe Pogacar too, but that was his only shot at winning. At any rate, second or third makes no difference, so there are times when you just have to throw caution to the wind and maybe get the big prize. Audentes Fortuna iuvat.
Ganna gains are great. His development becoming a better overall rider is obvious. Also obvious ( so far) his noticeable improvement in climbing has not appeared to compromise his stellar TT power and speed.
His race tactics have improved and he certainly has intelligence, speed and stamina to attempt some pretty long range solo efforts.
Ineos suddenly has some bright spots, immediately have flipped the script ..with Ganna and a couple of others giving media something positive to focus on instead of team imploding on itself. If Ganna brings nothing else to the bunch he has respect from others, not sure any pure sprinters or pure climbers , but one day events are looking promising. I wonder about his season start and end body weight for last 2 years..
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