Flandrien 2017

[Cance > TheRest]

Re:

If you count from before he dropped Leukemans, then where do you start from with Boonen and Phil?

I (like most others) count from where he attacked solo from the Boonen group with 49 km's to go. It's true that he was not at the front of the race with 49 km's to go, but he was nonetheless taking all the wind himself regardless of the temporary passengers, that he picked up. Boonen first attacked solo after he'd been launched by Terpstra which was, as you say, with 53 km's to go.

 

[Netserk]

He was not taking all the wind by himself. He was also on the wheels of those in front of him. Fact is that he was only away solo for good with 46km to go.

 

[Pennino]

GVA has the results, but no one in the world beats Gilbert this year when it comes to panache. Absolutely a true worthy Flandrien this year.

 

[SKSemtex]

Gilbert by margin to me.
I do not remember any of GVA´s wins this year. Really. Too much of negative racing and luck. But Gilbert´s ones were outstanding.

 

[Echoes]

Frustration power! :lol:

 

[Pennino]

It's strange really. The less panache GVA shows, the more wins he gets. With Phil it's just the other way around.

 

[Echoes]

When Greg lost he never broke away with 80km to go.

Quebec certainly confirmed that rule. Twice in a row.

 

[Lexman]

Gilbert no doubt Winning A cobbled classic and then the Amstel...

the way he won : as a real Flandrien

 

[Cance > TheRest]

Re:

He was not taking all the wind by himself. He was also on the wheels of those in front of him. Fact is that he was only away solo for good with 46km to go.

For 10 seconds after he caught the front trio. As I already said, it is true that he was not ahead solo for 49km's, but he was away solo for more than 46km's, since it took him 1km alone to close the gap to the front trio.
In any case, it's clearly a matter of semantics. The effort he had to put in was more or less the same as if he'd gone solo from 49km's to go with no one to catch up to.

 

[Emotional Cobble Guy]

No, it's for all Belgian riders. Though next to it, you have an international trophy (it was strictly international until 2007), a women's trophy (Belgian only) and a cyclocross trophy (international).

It used to be the "Cristal Bike Award" in the nineties if I'm not mistaken.

If i'm not mistaken the "Cristal Bike Award" still exists, its an award by a Belgian newspaper.

Cool fact about the Flandrien trophy is that since 2008 it is basically the Belgian peleton along with journalists who vote the winner. Gilbert won it in: 2009, 2010 and 2011. GVA won it in: 2008, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016.

My vote goes to GVA for this year; stunning performances in the spring (Omloop smart sprint win, PR epic win after bad luck, second at RVV after crashing out, E3 win, GW win, 2nd at Strade). And as every year one of the only riders who is combatitive throughout the whole season (riding until Amstel and LBL where he had class results, Tour of Luxemburg Win, top 10 at Lombardi, also came close in TDF and Canada, 6th at Bergen).

Hats of to Gilbert this season with his epic wins and in multiple races opening the race finale from early on + win at De Panne. But he is slightly overshadowed by GVA though imo.

 

[Shardi]

 

[Emotional Cobble Guy]

top 10 at Lombardi

* Top 10 at SS

 

[rghysens]

Re: Re:

Besides which, we're no closer to answering how long since anyone had a solo win in a monument for as far out as Phil. Do we have to go all the way back to Jacky Durand?

Ballerini in P-R 1998?

 

[red_flanders]

GVA.by a whisker for me. Only explanation is pro-Flemish bias.

 

[portugal11]

gilbert isn't flandrien... what a stupid award

 

[Bardamu]

Re:

GVA.by a whisker for me. Only explanation is pro-Flemish bias.

One can also say choosing Greg has cobbled race-bias, since all his victories were in cobbled races.