Greg Van Avermaet

[Flamin]

I believe his focus is on de Ronde more than ever and that he's really looking for that one super day. Though even on the level he's shown so far, a bit below last year, he can still win since there's nobody who I see is clearly a level above the rest.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Even in this shape, GVA is my favourite for de Ronde ahead of Steppers/Gilbert. He crashed in the two years I consider to be his prime, so I would really like him to finally win this race

 

[Bardamu]

He didn't exactly crash out last year.

Don't think he would have won in 2016 anyway.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re:

He didn't exactly crash out last year.

Don't think he would have won in 2016 anyway.

Did I say he crashed out last year?

 

[Bardamu]

I assumed you didn't mean his debut.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re:

I assumed you didn't mean his debut.

You don't need to crash out to crash - he abandoned in 16, while he obviously didn't in 17. But despite not being severe, it still robbed him from contesting the win which obviously was what I meant.

 

[portugal11]

Re: Re:

I assumed you didn't mean his debut.

You don't need to crash out to crash - he abandoned in 16, while he obviously didn't in 17. But despite not being severe, it still robbed him from contesting the win which obviously was what I meant.

what?? tell me where is the evidence that GVA could have caught gilbert without that crash with sagan?

 

[Valv.Piti]

You guys are seriously the worst at reading and understanding.

I didn't say he crashed out in 2017 and I didn't say he would have caught Gilbert. Read it again......

 

[Netserk]

Given they had 33'' on Terpstra when they crashed (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wF0EYRZW-xQ) and that they would have gone faster in the end than a hurt Greg and van Baarle (who had just been dropped before the crash), it's quite likely that they would have caught him if not for silly games. Sure, nothing's certain abut a what if, but those three looked mightily strong.

 

[frisenfruitig]

Re: Re:

I assumed you didn't mean his debut.

You don't need to crash out to crash - he abandoned in 16, while he obviously didn't in 17. But despite not being severe, it still robbed him from contesting the win which obviously was what I meant.

what?? tell me where is the evidence that GVA could have caught gilbert without that crash with sagan?

He still came in 2nd at 29 seconds so it isn't outlandish at all to think they'd have caught Gilbert if they hadn't crashed.

 

[portugal11]

Re: Re:

I assumed you didn't mean his debut.

You don't need to crash out to crash - he abandoned in 16, while he obviously didn't in 17. But despite not being severe, it still robbed him from contesting the win which obviously was what I meant.

 

[portugal11]

Re: Re:

I assumed you didn't mean his debut.

You don't need to crash out to crash - he abandoned in 16, while he obviously didn't in 17. But despite not being severe, it still robbed him from contesting the win which obviously was what I meant.

what?? tell me where is the evidence that GVA could have caught gilbert without that crash with sagan?

He still came in 2nd at 29 seconds so it isn't outlandish at all to think they'd have caught Gilbert if they hadn't crashed.

gilbert was softpedalling in the last 300 m and he was still able to get out of the bike. GVA lost less than 10 seconds in that crash. they wouldn't have caught gilbert at all.

 

[frisenfruitig]

Re: Re:

I assumed you didn't mean his debut.

You don't need to crash out to crash - he abandoned in 16, while he obviously didn't in 17. But despite not being severe, it still robbed him from contesting the win which obviously was what I meant.

what?? tell me where is the evidence that GVA could have caught gilbert without that crash with sagan?

He still came in 2nd at 29 seconds so it isn't outlandish at all to think they'd have caught Gilbert if they hadn't crashed.

gilbert was softpedalling in the last 300 m and he was still able to get out of the bike. GVA lost less than 10 seconds in that crash. they wouldn't have caught gilbert at all.

He still lost a good chunk of time in the final 10k. Not saying they would have caught him for sure but it's at least debatable. They definitely could have come close. 10 seconds doesn't seem realistic to me tbh, it takes a while to get up again and your rythm is completely gone, definitely takes a while to get back on track (especially uphill) and it costs extra energy as well. "Less than 10 seconds" seems very conservative.

 

[Bardamu]

Re: Re:

I assumed you didn't mean his debut.

You don't need to crash out to crash - he abandoned in 16, while he obviously didn't in 17. But despite not being severe, it still robbed him from contesting the win which obviously was what I meant.

In that case I misunderstood. But he had enough luck in all the other spring races last year, so I don't consider his short delay as bad luck. It happens.

 

[Valanga]

Re: Re:

gilbert was softpedalling in the last 300 m and he was still able to get out of the bike. GVA lost less than 10 seconds in that crash. they wouldn't have caught gilbert at all.

He still lost a good chunk of time in the final 10k. Not saying they would have caught him for sure but it's at least debatable. They definitely could have come close. 10 seconds doesn't seem realistic to me tbh, it takes a while to get up again and your rythm is completely gone, definitely takes a while to get back on track (especially uphill) and it costs extra energy as well. "Less than 10 seconds" seems very conservative.

Well it was hardly still uphill where they crashed. Debatable, sure, but far from a certainty.

Anyway, kind of agreeing with Valv.Piti that Greg will still be one of the guys to beat, even though his shape is not the one of last year. But unlike last year I haven't seen Phil do anything amazing either yet, or Sagan, ... my bet is on Vanmarcke (and Vincenzo of course ).

 

[portugal11]

nibali doesn't have a chance in ronde. he can't deliver on short and steep climbs. Put sone rain in roubaix and I think he can win it

 

[SKSemtex]

That superhuman Gilbert spring 2017 and Gilbert 2010 would not be caught, but these days Gilbert easily.

 

[Jspear]

That superhuman Gilbert spring 2017 and Gilbert 2010 would not be caught, but these days Gilbert easily.

IGilbert has been playing the faithful teammate this year. When a teammate is upfront you don’t really attack super hard and go for the win. He’s ready for Flanders.

 

[Bardamu]

That superhuman Gilbert spring 2017 and Gilbert 2010 would not be caught, but these days Gilbert easily.

This year Gilbert will probably not attack with 80km to go. Doesn't mean he is not strong enough to win.

 

[Son of Amsterhammer]

What was Greg doing today in the last 20k? Just putting in monster digs to see if he could get gaps?? Sagan and Gilbert were loving watching that.

 

[Flamin]

Quite the training ride today, truly great to watch. It looked as if he had planned some big alternate interval sessions with Tiesj. He's definitely ready for Ronde-Roubaix. His team is a bit of a concern though.

 

[BalearicBeats]

Re:

Quite the training ride today, truly great to watch. It looked as if he had planned some big alternate interval sessions with Tiesj. He's definitely ready for Ronde-Roubaix. His team is a bit of a concern though.

Yes, his teammates were not there in the finale, while guys like Drucker should be there to help him. With a team like Quickstep, Greg could win races like these I think.

 

[Breh]

Re:

Quite the training ride today, truly great to watch. It looked as if he had planned some big alternate interval sessions with Tiesj. He's definitely ready for Ronde-Roubaix. His team is a bit of a concern though.

Roelandts and Kung were with him the finale of E3.

I do agree their teamwork is a concern

 

[Flamin]

Re: Re:

Quite the training ride today, truly great to watch. It looked as if he had planned some big alternate interval sessions with Tiesj. He's definitely ready for Ronde-Roubaix. His team is a bit of a concern though.

Roelandts and Kung were with him the finale of E3.

I do agree their teamwork is a concern

They have been decent but it remains to be seen if anyone can do what Oss did for Greg in Roubaix last year. Meanwhile Quick Step definitely hasn't got worse without Boonen.

 

[El Pistolero]

Bahrain-Merida has been in talk with Greg. They want to build a strong classic squad in the future. They are also interested in Dylan Teuns and Wout Van Aert.