Il Lombardia 2019, one day classic, October 12

[wheresmybrakes]

Some people on here would rather see Valverde get dragged to the line to win in a sprint than see Mollema win with attacking and holding on for the win. He took his chance and seized it, great win and well deserved.

 

[Singularitarian]

Valverde: "I had good enough legs to win the race".

Yes, we know that Alejandro.

come on, he had, but his objective today was to grab more points than Rogla... and he managed to trick him into chasing and attacking to lose as much energy as possible - mission accomplished

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Didn't see the race, but when i was looking at the startlist yesterday, i was getting a feeling Mollema would be one to watch.

 

[RedheadDane]

come on, he had, but his objective today was to grab more points than Rogla... and he managed to trick him into chasing and attacking to lose as much energy as possible - mission accomplished

Winning would have worked as well.

 

[wheresmybrakes]

come on, he had, but his objective today was to grab more points than Rogla... and he managed to trick him into chasing and attacking to lose as much energy as possible - mission accomplished

Winning would have worked as well.

But he needed the other riders to do the chasing so he could win in a sprint. Not gonna happen. He only decided to chase when it was too late so it looks like he tried.

 

[Red Rick]

Faster than Nibs/Pinot 17/19

Who said Mollema "got" the win?

Hmm. Thought I saw 12.50 noted earlier. I think the differences in pacing matter lots, as well as the way in which Muro di Sormano is ridden.

And to think Mollema wasn't there when Roglic caught Valverde and there was like a 7 man group. They did a reaaaally positive split.

 

[This Charming Man]

Shocking, Roglics comments today. Eddy Merckx would have pulled the peloton to Mollema. Roglics complains that he was beaten by people who wanted him to lose. King Eddy would have cried, to take second. Looks like Roglic has a large ego. You never go far in cycling that way, unless you are the champions Anquentiel and Rik Van Looy were.

 

[Lequack]

Shocking, Roglics comments today. Eddy Merckx would have pulled the peloton to Mollema. Roglics complains that he was beaten by people who wanted him to lose. King Eddy would have cried, to take second. Looks like Roglic has a large ego. You never go far in cycling that way, unless you are the champions Anquentiel and Rik Van Looy were.

Roglic had the Sagan problem it seems.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Everyone who is top favorite has the 'Sagan' problem.

Merckx in his time
In more modern times Valverde had the problem first, then Sagan, this year Roglic. It will keep happening as long as somebody becomes very strong. Which is why a lot of big races get won by an outsider, more then you think

 

[SafeBet]

Everyone who is top favorite has the 'Sagan' problem.

Merckx in his time
In more modern times Valverde had the problem first, then Sagan, this year Roglic. It will keep happening as long as somebody becomes very strong. Which is why a lot of big races get won by an outsider, more then you think

I don't think it really makes that much of a difference on this parcours though.
Nibali and Pinot were the strongest riders when they won.

I think Roglic was simply not good enough today, otherwise he would have dropped all of the others on Civiglio.

 

[rick james]

Roglic being very petty

 

[topcat]

Roglic doesn't know he's not good enough to win this race and Valverde doesn't really believe he's good enough to win it.

 

[Red Rick]

Roglic doesn't know he's not good enough to win this race and Valverde doesn't really believe he's good enough to win it.

Valverde thinks there is only 1 single way to win a bike race and if that doesnt work you try to get 2nd that way

 

[Escarabajo]

I just read Roglic comments. Not good. That's not his style. He lost. Period.
Try to win it next time on your own like Pinot did last year.

 

[Pantani_lives]

If Roglic or someone else really had good legs he should have reacted to Mollema immediately. 2 km before the top of the Civiglio is hardly a surprise moment to attack. Anyone who gets away there is a danger. It's the last real chance to drop the others for the best climbers.

 

[Andy262]

OK, been out all day and just caught up. Couldn't be more delighted for Bauke Mollema. Great win.

 

[Anderis]

come on, he had, but his objective today was to grab more points than Rogla... and he managed to trick him into chasing and attacking to lose as much energy as possible - mission accomplished

I agree. I don't know anyone in the peloton who would have traded an additional team-mate for the Olympics road race for winning a monument. It's just not worth it to go for the latter.

 

[Blanco]

Valverde thinks there is only 1 single way to win a bike race and if that doesnt work you try to get 2nd that way

He snatched couple of wins that way though.. Hard to blame him.

 

[tobydawq]

Valverde thinks there is only 1 single way to win a bike race and if that doesnt work you try to get 2nd that way

Oh, will you just stop already. Why would he attack on Civiglio if he only thought he could win in a sprint? Why don't his many attacks in the Vuelta count?

No matter what he does, it's wrong in your opinion.

At least he is professional enough to be in shape for his races as opposed to, say, Nibali.

 

[Red Rick]

He snatched couple of wins that way though.. Hard to blame him.

Very easy to blame somebody for always making the same decision when it's clear it's not always the right decision.

 

[Blanco]

Very easy to blame somebody for always making the same decision when it's clear it's not always the right decision.

But it was very often a right decision, that's what I'm telling you...

 

[CyclistAbi]

Congratulations to Bauke Mollema.

I feel that from all the favorites, listed before the race, only Roglič truly wanted to win. The rest of them just wanted to finish ahead of Roglič today. In such races a lot of times somebody else will win, not being considered a favorite before the race, as the favorites are more or less racing for the second place. Roglič at least tried in the last kilometers, and by doing that, making a tactical mistake, not securing the podium position. Hard to blame him for that, as usually that is what it is expected from race favorites to do, and not to race for the second place.

 

[tobydawq]

Congratulations to Bauke Mollema.

I feel that from all the favorites, listed before the race, only Roglič truly wanted to win. The rest of them just wanted to finish ahead of Roglič today. In such races a lot of times somebody else will win, not being considered a favorite before the race, as the favorites are more or less racing for the second place. Roglič at least tried in the last kilometers, and by doing that, making a tactical mistake, not securing the podium position. Hard to blame him for that, as usually that is what it is expected from race favorites to do, and not to race for the second place.

If that were true, they would probably not have let him get away solo before the San Fermo climb...

 

[CyclistAbi]

As all the favorites came together to the last 10 kilometers. If they would be after the overall win, they should contribute more, trying to catch Mollema. Doing that, they would likely have substantially increase the chance of Roglič winning. By not doing that, for sure Roglič won't win, but nor will any other favorite. Now there is a chance Mollema was just too strong today. But i got the impression, other favorites just wanted to finish ahead of Roglič, not caring all that much, if that comes down to being second or first overall.

That likely comes down to a lack of respect, something similar happened on Giro 2019. This will in my opinion change in the future. As Roglič has proven his qualities this season and therefore other favorites, whenever finishing second, will prefer to admit defeat to Roglič, compared to someone else, not even being considered a favorite, before the race started.

 

[Danskebjerge]

As all the favorites came together to the last 10 kilometers. If they would be after the overall win, they should contribute more, trying to catch Mollema. Doing that, they would likely have substantially increase the chance of Roglič winning. By not doing that, for sure Roglič won't win, but nor will any other favorite. Now there is a chance Mollema was just too strong today. But i got the impression, other favorites just wanted to finish ahead of Roglič, not caring all that much, if that comes down to being second or first overall.

That likely comes down to a lack of respect, something similar happened on Giro 2019. This will in my opinion change in the future. As Roglič has proven his qualities this season and therefore other favorites, whenever finishing second, will prefer to admit defeat to Roglič, compared to someone else, not even being considered a favorite, before the race started.

Fuglsang confirmed after the race that he and the other favourites did underestimate the attack of Mollema. But that's what often happens if a single rider attacks a group of riders in which there are no or few domestiques - they sit there and wait for the others to start the pursuit. Often you then see individual attacks from the group - today from Latour, Roglic and to a certain extent Fuglsang, Valverde and Bernal - but none of them succeeded. In many other races, they could have caught Mollema despite their internal conflicts, but the complex route made it difficult to initiate an effective chase in a group.