Il Lombardia 2015, Oct 4th

[Gigs_98]

Re:

What the monuments need isn't a big change in the parcours, it's a change in the team size. 5 man should be enough. They're one day races dammit

Unfortunately the discussion about the team size is getting old. Even the race organizers have to see that smaller teams would make the races more interesting but probably the teams would protest so they don't even try to change the rules

 

[Valv.Piti]

But how much will it really matter if they went from 8 to say more realistically, 6? The captain would still have their superdoms at their disposal at the end of races (I think Ardennes, but also RVV and P-R) and maybe even ride it even more conservatively in order to preserve them for the final? At least thats just my thoughts about it in the big classics, its obviously a world of difference between them and some lesser races (thus, lesser riders) which have tried it out.

But Imagine how many riders would be out of jobs... it wouldnt be pretty. Maybe cutting the GT's down to 8 and every other races down to 7 should be the first step as 5 is way too drastic

 

[Gigs_98]

Re:

But how much will it really matter if they went from 8 to say more realistically, 6? The captain would still have their superdoms at their disposal at the end of races (I think Ardennes, but also RVV and P-R) and maybe even ride it even more conservatively in order to preserve them for the final? At least thats just my thoughts about it in the big classics, its obviously a world of difference between them and some lesser races (thus, lesser riders) which have tried it out.

But Imagine how many riders would be out of jobs... it wouldnt be pretty. Maybe cutting the GT's down to 8 and every other races down to 7 should be the first step as 5 is way too drastic

The difference would be that the race can't be controlled so easy. Maybe the pace would be slower at the beginning, but that also means that the break would become much more important and probably also stronger, because the teams can't work hard as hard as they do now and it would be way harder to catch it. That means the leaders have to spend their doms early and at the end everyone would be on his own (probably )

 

[Valv.Piti]

Well, that's at least the theory about it, but I doubt that any early break in the monuments really would have any chance of sticking either way since the big teams just could devote 1-2 to keep the break at bay... but yes, it would probably and hopefully result in better and more interesting racing.

 

[Escarabajo]

I love this year's course. No need to change it next year. Only few riders can win it. Perfect!

 

[markjohnconley]

A pity his personality doesn't match his bike-handling skills

 

[Flamin]

Rewatching the finale, Moreno only gained 1 or 2" on Nibali in the last 700m of San Fermo. That tells me Nibali measured his efforts very well on the climb, leaving something in the tank for the final kilometers, unlike in Liège 2012.

Moreno was on par uphill, not stronger as some suggested. While Nibali was going full gas, he was recovering in the downhill/flat after Civiglio for one all-or-nothing uphill attack which was a superb 1km effort but then barely made up any ground to Nibali after that.

 

[Benotti69]

Re:

It's a monument. The route should be as hard as it can possibly be made. These are real races, not ones full of sitting in the pack days and hoping you don't fall off and only putting in effort for a few final climbs. That kind of boring rubbish can be left for the GTs. If it's easy all you get is a big bunch of riders afraid to attack.

This^^^^

Monuments should be for the elites to win or for a rider to win and prove themselves an elite.

 

[Echoes]

I haven't seen the race (only until the Ghisallo) but what Lombardy needs is first Sormano out and then some stability in the route. Basically always in Como, which has been the traditional setting for the route since 1960 when there was no way it could come back to the Vigorelli. Como, San Fermo and the Ghisallo should be the key elements of the race (even if the editions I remember from my youth are rather with the Bergamo finale and some others too). You cannot change a classic route every two years... Holds true for the return to Meerbeke (Flanders) and the return of the Via Roma (Milan-Sanremo, at last it did).


Otherwise, Vinnie is such a champion. At last, a classic win! He really honours this sport. Only problem is the team ...

 

[Red Rick]

Only issue I have with this route is with the flat between the Muro di Sormano and the Civiglio. No moves before that are gonna hold

 

[barmaher]

The geography of the area is such that they can't really do any better for a route. I would think that they should keep this as close to the template for a while. Tinker it a little bit from time to time like switching the last two climbs round....having the Muro dropped every now and then.....having Valcava in every now and then earlier on.

For me, the race finale should revolve around Ghisallo, Sormano and the area near Como given it gives the best potential for a good finale.

 

[Mr.White]

Re:

Only issue I have with this route is with the flat between the Muro di Sormano and the Civiglio. No moves before that are gonna hold

If there were couple of strong guys with Kwiatkowski and Wellens, that group could of stayed clear

 

[Gigs_98]

Re:

The geography of the area is such that they can't really do any better for a route. I would think that they should keep this as close to the template for a while. Tinker it a little bit from time to time like switching the last two climbs round....having the Muro dropped every now and then.....having Valcava in every now and then earlier on.

For me, the race finale should revolve around Ghisallo, Sormano and the area near Como given it gives the best potential for a good finale.

Ghisallo - Civiglio - S.F.d.B. works too, and there are many more great combinations (why not using sormano from the north side, that one is very difficult too). And only because Bergamo was extremely bad last year, I'm sure there are good potential routes with the finish there too. It's like Libertine said, the route was great but it mustn't stay this way forever.

 

[huge]

Rosa interviewed by La Gazzetta said: "Vincenzo told me that there was no point to pull all the way up the climb and, after his failed attempts, he asked me to try and attack". "If I had succeeded, he would have played the domestique role. I didn't and then he attacked on the descent, so I just tried to control the guys behind".

Last, but not least "People are saying that I was looking really strong on the Civiglio, that's because they couldn't hear my legs screaming!"

 

[huge]

Re: Re:

They are coming from the Worlds, where they were 2nd tier favorites. The reason the 1st tier favorites don't show up is because they wouldn't stand a chance in hell in this race.

You're talking about Lombardia? Which 1st tier favorites are not here? Purito and ....... ?

Talking about Worlds. 1st tier favorites were Kristoff, Sagan, Matthews etc.

Sagan, Matthews or Kristoff wouldn't stand a single chance on a course like the one we saw on Sun.
Since when they are able to climb with the likes of Nibali, Valverde, Chaves... those climbs where way too long for them to be competitive on such a course.
The same reason why Nibali didn't have a chance in Richmond!