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Gent - Wevelgem: March 28th, 2021

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Who are really the best cobblestone riders now behind the two Vans? Can't really remember the last time we've had two riders of so high quality while almost no-one stands out in the rest of the peloton. In the prime years of Boonen and Cancellara we had guys like Ballan, Terpstra, Stybar, Van Avermaet and later Sagan. Who are the equivalent to these guys today, and the closest in quality to Van Aert and VdP? Lampaert, Senechal, Naesen, Pedersen, Asgreen, Bettiol or someone else? Without the two supermen, the races would've been more wide open than in many years.
 
Who are really the best cobblestone riders now behind the two Vans? Can't really remember the last time we've had two riders of so high quality while almost no-one stands out in the rest of the peloton. In the prime years of Boonen and Cancellara we had guys like Ballan, Terpstra, Stybar, Van Avermaet and later Sagan. Who are the equivalent to these guys today, and the closest in quality to Van Aert and VdP? Lampaert, Senechal, Naesen, Pedersen, Asgreen, Bettiol or someone else? Without the two supermen, the races would've been more wide open than in many years.

Asgreen and Alaphilippe (not Roubaix-type cobbles for him of course).
 
Asgreen and Alaphilippe (not Roubaix-type cobbles for him of course).
Ala is potentially good, but so far he doesn't have one single top cobblestone result. He would have had one if it wasn't for his crash in RVV last year, but he doesn't have any other result either.

Partially agree on Asgreen, but I would like to see him a bit more stable. My vote right now would be on Senechal. He is pretty consistent in top 5-6, and I think it's just a matter of time before we see some victories from him. And both of these (and Lampaert) benifits from Quickstep's immense team strength.
 
"I'm okay. It's my own fault. I wanted to take in so much fuel that I just ate too much. I went so deep on the last climb of Kemmelberg that i couldn't stomach my food. I couldn't keep it inside any longer. "

"When I survived the Kemmelberg, I thought: I'll make it to the finish! But when all my food came out again, I knew it was only a matter of time before I had to let go. I had no energy left and was about to explode. . "
Lol is this what he said? One of the most honest interviewees in cycling...
 
Who are really the best cobblestone riders now behind the two Vans? Can't really remember the last time we've had two riders of so high quality while almost no-one stands out in the rest of the peloton. In the prime years of Boonen and Cancellara we had guys like Ballan, Terpstra, Stybar, Van Avermaet and later Sagan. Who are the equivalent to these guys today, and the closest in quality to Van Aert and VdP? Lampaert, Senechal, Naesen, Pedersen, Asgreen, Bettiol or someone else? Without the two supermen, the races would've been more wide open than in many years.
The same Stybar, van Avermaet and Sagan maybe? They are still riding strong and the first two looked alright both in E3 and today. Sagan is not in top form yet, but I'm sure he is up there when in shape. Plus those names you've mentioned later in your post.
 
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Not much question for me and I’m half Flemish. Strade all the way. G/W is a great race but let’s face it, it’s a warmup for the Ronde, and too similar. Strade is unique, and arguably up there with the monuments at this point. The list of winners is incredible.

Fully agree - RVV is the jewel in the crown but the other Flanders classics, whilst all well worth watching, can start to merge together as they do often feature several of the same climbs just in different orders and with varying distances to the finish from the final group of key obstacles.

Strade is a unique race in the calendar and has a staggeringly elite winners roll already.
 
The same Stybar, van Avermaet and Sagan maybe? They are still riding strong and the first two looked alright both in E3 and today. Sagan is not in top form yet, but I'm sure he is up there when in shape. Plus those names you've mentioned later in your post.
Perhaps, but at least Van Avermaet and Stybar are seemingly in the declining years of their careers. Their result in E3 was the first top result either of them have had since 2019. Sagan is more interesting. Perhaps we'll see him better than in a long time in RVV.
 
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Fully agree - RVV is the jewel in the crown but the other Flanders classics, whilst all well worth watching, can start to merge together as they do often feature several of the same climbs just in different orders and with varying distances to the finish from the final group of key obstacles.

Strade is a unique race in the calendar and has a staggeringly elite winners roll already.

While I generally agree, I think Gent-Wevelgem climbs are not regularly used in other races so that makes it stand out somewhat.
 
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While I generally agree, I think Gent-Wevelgem climbs are not regularly used in other races so that makes it stand out somewhat.

GW have a couple of obvious plus points. It is, together with MSR, the one-day classic with a largest amount of possible winner. But in MSR, the racing are pretty much the same in each version. Attack on Poggio and then 10 mins of action where the excitement is centered on if the remaining peloton are able to catch the attackers. Other races like Strade Bianche and RVV are tougher and often have better racing, but rather few potential winners. In GW you could end up with a more typical sprinter, the strongest cobblestone rider or a aggressive breakway rider as the victor. That makes it one of the top races on the calendar IMO.
 
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In the zone, in control (like was said above, Van Aert raced smart by not going berserk on the climb(s)):

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A very odd performance from Quickstep. Everyone misses the echelon sometimes but it's a long time since they've been so on the back foot with only one guy in there. Obviously Sam is flying and they had confidence in him but it was a bit puzzling how passive they were in the final 50km.
 
I would say Gent-Wevelgem is among the top 5 races just because of the tactics and exciting racing.
It isn't close to anything else with the echelons and the location of the hill zone in the race. The last 30K are flat but those make, especially with some wind, for some of the most exciting and unpredictable racing that we have seen the last 10 years.

I would say it's often a better race (tactically) than Flanders, and while Strade is aesthetically beautfiful, it's getting more and more predictable as well. Both Strade and Flanders are just a bit too hard so they predictably filter out the weaker riders, and only the strongest few (less than 5) fight for the win. While many spectators like that, I find it often too predictable and thus boring. After a Flanders race, the conclusion is too often that the strongest rider won, after he duly attacked on one of the last 2 hills, while at Ghent-Wevelgem, because of the fast run to the finish, many more things can happen than the best guy winning. There is just much more food for thought. Maybe not necessarily this year, but just look at the edition Paolini won, or the one with Sagan and Terpstra freewheeling letting GvA go, or last year with Mads Pedersen winning while WvA and MvdP cancelled eachother. Even this year, with a logical outcome (WvA winning), nothing was too sure until the finish, and the way Bennett got dropped is one of those moments you won't forget. And if they had broadcast the whole thing, I am sure I would have sat out the whole 6 hours watching the race.
 
A very odd performance from Quickstep. Everyone misses the echelon sometimes but it's a long time since they've been so on the back foot with only one guy in there. Obviously Sam is flying and they had confidence in him but it was a bit puzzling how passive they were in the final 50km.
They where totally spent, they had 2 men in the group behind that where trying to pull back the front group and it hovered around 30-40 seconds, but they got almost no help and after awhile they resignated and the front group rolled around really well, taking turns on a lot more people, the whole team looked super tired yesterday, but they sure did try.
 
When it comes to prestige, G–W is at the level just below the monuments together with Amstel. Afaik, it (unlike E3) doesn’t have a single meter of road in common with RvV, so you could just as well say that Amstel is Liège-light, or bundle all hilly races together. Strade is obviously on the rise, but it is still a new, short race in the pre-season. A more spectacular Omloop. It’d need a more prominent spot in the calendar to have a higher status.
 
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When it comes to prestige, G–W is at the level just below the monuments together with Amstel. Afaik, it doesn’t have a single meter of road in common with RvV, so you could just as well say that Amstel is Liège-light, or bundle all hilly races together. Strade is obviously on the rise, but it is still a new, short race in the pre-season. A more spectacular Omloop. It’d need a more prominent spot in the calendar to have a higher status.

I don't agree about Strade. For example, why would Van der Poel and Alaphilippe not do GW if it was as prestigious as Strade?

For me, Strade is number six now, then Amstel, then GW as number 7 and 8 (the WCRR is excluded here as it would obviously be higher). But I agree that GW is a good race, and I really don't get how a poster can say that it was the first time he saw it and probbaly the last... Two watts less from Van Hooydonck on the Kemmelberg, and it could have been very chaotic on the run-in.
 
Who are really the best cobblestone riders now behind the two Vans? Can't really remember the last time we've had two riders of so high quality while almost no-one stands out in the rest of the peloton. In the prime years of Boonen and Cancellara we had guys like Ballan, Terpstra, Stybar, Van Avermaet and later Sagan. Who are the equivalent to these guys today, and the closest in quality to Van Aert and VdP? Lampaert, Senechal, Naesen, Pedersen, Asgreen, Bettiol or someone else? Without the two supermen, the races would've been more wide open than in many years.

I'd say it's Trentin this year in terms of consistency. 8th at Omloop, 4th at Kuurne, 3rd yesterday and would almost certainly have finished with the top group at E3 if it wasn't for a puncture. Probably his best year yet on the cobbles? Hopefully it will lead to a strong performance at Ronde
 
They where totally spent, they had 2 men in the group behind that where trying to pull back the front group and it hovered around 30-40 seconds, but they got almost no help and after awhile they resignated and the front group rolled around really well, taking turns on a lot more people, the whole team looked super tired yesterday, but they sure did try.
They had the chance to close down the first echelon early when there were only 20-30 seconds between the 2 groups, but they probably gambled (since Bennett was in front) and let other teams do the work. When they tried it was too late.
 
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They had the chance to close down the first echelon early when there were only 20-30 seconds between the 2 groups, but they probably gambled (since Bennett was in front) and let other teams do the work. When they tried it was too late.
They chased like crazy, for awhile but didnt come any closer as they where only 2 chasing at the time while the front group rolled on everyone, they didnt have any more to give, they couldn't do it, its not that they thought, it will be fine Bennet got this, they really tried, when they didnt get anywhere they kind of gave up.
 
I wouldn't draw too many conclusion about DQS after yesterday. Three of their strongest riders for next week, Alaphilippe, Sénéchal and Asgreen, weren't present. Neither was the best domestique in the world. This was the first Flemish WT race this year that they didn't win.
 

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