Greg Van Avermaet

[GenericBoonenFan]

I seem to have a different taste than anyone else on this forum, I wonder if it's because I'm still a teenager and most of the contributors are adults.

 

[RedheadDane]

Gotta give it to Greg; takes a very brave person to pull off the 'dark shirt, light suit' combo.
Or maybe I'm just extremely old fashioned with my view that the shirt should always be lighter than the suit...

 

[SHAD0W93]

Hopefully he gets Flanders next year.

 

[Emotional Cobble Guy]

Re:

Hopefully he gets Flanders next year.

It'd be so epic and so well deserved

 

[Netserk]

Congratulations for winning the 2017 CQranking!

 

[Velolover2]

Pretty strong today. The only non-climber who survived the mountain. I think he will have a great 2018.

 

[yaco]

Genuine surprise that GVA got through the stage - Augurs well for 2018.

 

[Nirvana]

For him isn't surpring, if he wants he can stay with a top 15/20 GC riders gruop.
Many tends to underrate his climbing, maybe because he is considered primarily a cobbles rider.

 

[Velolover2]

Re:

For him isn't surpring, if he wants he can stay with a top 15/20 GC riders gruop.
Many tends to underrate his climbing, maybe because he is considered primarily a cobbles rider.

True. I've always seen him as the bridge between Sagan and Kwiatkowski.

 

[Blanco]

He looks scary strong...

 

[Lexman]

not after Strade Bianche

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re:

not after Strade Bianche

At this point, he isn't in as good shape as in 2017. Maybe that was his peak, but he wasn't that bad in Omloop either really. He was actually pretty good.

I will wait until E-3 to really gauge his shape since the stages in T-A really aren't suited to him and MSR is too much of an explosive race in the end for GVA. My bet is he will be slightly weaker than in 2017 which is still enough to win Flanders and Roubaix

 

[Velolover2]

He proved last year that he is not a nearly man. I think he is focusing more on winning Ronde, Roubaix and Amstel instead of the smaller races.

Regrading T-A, the Trevi mur is too hard but Stage 5 suits him well.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Right, I thought that stage was a little harder. I will still wait until E-3 Prijs tho.

 

[Emotional Cobble Guy]

Yeah its too soon to tell. The circumstances in Omloop and Strade were too different. Yet i notice a dissapointment in his post-race statements (Omloop, Strade and KBK). I think he might have some doubts about his team or his shape (in Oman both shape and team were terrific though)

 

[SHAD0W93]

Maybe he wants to down play it so people think be isn't in good shape by the time April rolls around.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

There are many riders currently not in their 2017 shape at this period. A lot has to do with the riders preparing in Oman/Dubai/Abu Dhabi coming to cold europe. A big portion of them have failed to adept. It takes time. A lot of riders are ill now as well.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re:

There are many riders currently not in their 2017 shape at this period. A lot has to do with the riders preparing in Oman/Dubai/Abu Dhabi coming to cold europe. A big portion of them have failed to adept. It takes time. A lot of riders are ill now as well.

I think 2017 was exceptional in terms of how great 4-5 of the classic riders where: Greg, Gilbert, Kwito, Valverde and then of course Sagan who didnt have his best year, yet still was strong. I don't think that is happening again in the near future: we witnessed some truly special performances and the ceiling of those guys were super high. I think you can be a little lesser this year and still win, at least I don't see Greg and Gil getting better or staying at the exactly same and high level.

 

[Emotional Cobble Guy]

Re: Re:

There are many riders currently not in their 2017 shape at this period. A lot has to do with the riders preparing in Oman/Dubai/Abu Dhabi coming to cold europe. A big portion of them have failed to adept. It takes time. A lot of riders are ill now as well.

I think 2017 was exceptional in terms of how great 4-5 of the classic riders where: Greg, Gilbert, Kwito, Valverde and then of course Sagan who didnt have his best year, yet still was strong. I don't think that is happening again in the near future: we witnessed some truly special performances and the ceiling of those guys were super high. I think you can be a little lesser this year and still win, at least I don't see Greg and Gil getting better or staying at the exactly same and high level.

Although i think its still a wee bit early to make these predictions i must admit you can feel its gonna be a quite different classics campaign.
2017 was exceptional, one of the most crazy first halves of a season i've experienced.
GVA didnt look too bad today in Tirreno imo being up there with alot of GC guys. Most riders of his "class" got dropped

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re: Re:

There are many riders currently not in their 2017 shape at this period. A lot has to do with the riders preparing in Oman/Dubai/Abu Dhabi coming to cold europe. A big portion of them have failed to adept. It takes time. A lot of riders are ill now as well.

I think 2017 was exceptional in terms of how great 4-5 of the classic riders where: Greg, Gilbert, Kwito, Valverde and then of course Sagan who didnt have his best year, yet still was strong. I don't think that is happening again in the near future: we witnessed some truly special performances and the ceiling of those guys were super high. I think you can be a little lesser this year and still win, at least I don't see Greg and Gil getting better or staying at the exactly same and high level.

Although i think its still a wee bit early to make these predictions i must admit you can feel its gonna be a quite different classics campaign.
2017 was exceptional, one of the most crazy first halves of a season i've experienced.
GVA didnt look too bad today in Tirreno imo being up there with alot of GC guys. Most riders of his "class" got dropped

Yup, the racing was for the most part exceptional and the riders had an exceptional high level, too. Overall without a doubt the best classics campaign I have followed, primarily talking about the cobbles, but I haven't followed too many that closely either.

Yeah, GVA looked very good. He is my favourite for stage 5.

 

[Netserk]

2012 was the best

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Hmm. While he was there again this day. He never seemed super. He's in decent form, but nothing like last year. I wonder if he just peaked right at RVV/PR this year, or undercooked it a little...

 

[portugal11]

Hmm. While he was there again this day. He never seemed super. He's in decent form, but nothing like last year. I wonder if he just peaked right at RVV/PR this year, or undercooked it a little...

this isn't his race at all. he was good enough on harelbeke.

 

[Red Rick]

Hmm. While he was there again this day. He never seemed super. He's in decent form, but nothing like last year. I wonder if he just peaked right at RVV/PR this year, or undercooked it a little...

It seems like it. He doesn't really have the tools to force much if he's not 100%.

 

[Bardamu]

His only chance to save the spring season is if other riders have bad luck again in Roubaix. Don't think he's strong enough to win Flanders this year.