Il Lombardia, 241KM, 13th October (WT)

[Koronin]

Re: Re:

Sounds like GdL wasn’t in his plans originally.

“Despite a show of form on the climb to Superga, Lopez will not ride Saturday's Il Lombardia, sticking to his plans to end his season with Milano-Torino.

"This podium ends my season, it's been a great season," he said without regret.

"I'm not riding Lombardia because while I trained for the World Championships, I didn’t train for the Classic and didn’t train for the long distances. I have good legs and was happy to ride Milano-Torino, but Lombardia is something else."”

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/gaudu-laughs-off-late-crash-at-milano-torino-to-celebrate-pinots-victory/

[x] trained for the Worlds
[ ] trained for the classics

I can't remember the last time I heard a dumber quote

What in the world? I'm fairly sure the Worlds is a one day race just like the classics are.

 

[jaylew]

Re:

Not that strange. How many times has Lopez set the world alight in 250km+ classics?

Asides from MT today, he has either DNF-ed or finished far off in the other one day races

To be fair, he has won M-T.

 

[Leinster]

I was posting from my phone at the time, but yeah, "I trained for the 259 km Worlds, but 240km Lombardia is too long" did stand out as a slightly odd quote.

 

[Pantani_lives]

He probably already bought a plane ticket and is homesick for Colombia.

 

[SafeBet]

Milano Torino is basically a long Vuelta stage and it is raced as such. It's no surprise it's the only classic where Superman has performed well.
Lombardia is a Monument, where descending, positioning, endurance and tactics can play a major role.

I have seen nothing suggesting Superman can win Lombardia so far in his career. Even in 2016, when he won Milano Torino, he did not finish Lombardia.

 

[DanielSong39]

Valverde to win the bike race and Velo d'Or!

I wouldn't be surprised if he retired on the spot, why not go out on top.

 

[DanielSong39]

Re:

Btw, MAL is not starting on Saturday, strange decision

He's out of form, and we know what out of form cyclists do - DNF while failing to make a significant impact on the race.

 

[Lexman]

Re:

Valverde to win the bike race and Velo d'Or!

I wouldn't be surprised if he retired on the spot, why not go out on top.

didn't he want to do the Olympics or so?

 

[Escarabajo]

Re:

Milano Torino is basically a long Vuelta stage and it is raced as such. It's no surprise it's the only classic where Superman has performed well.
Lombardia is a Monument, where descending, positioning, endurance and tactics can play a major role.

I have seen nothing suggesting Superman can win Lombardia so far in his career. Even in 2016, when he won Milano Torino, he did not finish Lombardia.

This.

He did bad at the worlds. Why would we expect a different result from Lombardia?

But I admit it, I am puzzled by the results at those longer races. He probably will get better at it with time.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Superman crashed at the worlds (or was implicated in a crash). So I wouldnt use that as an argument. But I definitely understand where you are coming from, BUT it still seems totally stupid not to ride are in the area and is in pretty good shape.

Will be a nice and sunny day in Lombardia Saturday btw, no rain.

 

[Carols]

Re:

Valverde to win the bike race and Velo d'Or!

I wouldn't be surprised if he retired on the spot, why not go out on top.

And skip a Year of riding in the Rainbow? No Chance!

 

[Koronin]

Re:

Valverde to win the bike race and Velo d'Or!

I wouldn't be surprised if he retired on the spot, why not go out on top.

No way. He's way too excited to be racing for a full year in the rainbow stripes. Plus he wants another shot at the Olympics. The other thing you're forgetting is how much he truly loves racing. When he's been forced away from the sport for any reason it reminds him how much he really loves it. When he was injured last year he fought so hard to get back because he just couldn't imagine life without racing.

 

[DanielSong39]

Valverde already has sewn up the UCI championship, that's 5 now. What would he need to do to win the Velo d'Or? (Obviously he's a cinch if he wins Il Lombardia)

 

[Koronin]

Re:

Valverde already has sewn up the UCI championship, that's 5 now. What would he need to do to win the Velo d'Or? (Obviously he's a cinch if he wins Il Lombardia)

Yes it's 5. He won two under the old system and two since his return. Somewhere in between his 2nd and 3rd they changed the system.

 

[Tonton]

Re: Re:

Valverde already has sewn up the UCI championship, that's 5 now. What would he need to do to win the Velo d'Or? (Obviously he's a cinch if he wins Il Lombardia)

Yes it's 5. He won two under the old system and two since his return. Somewhere in between his 2nd and 3rd they changed the system.

Velo d'Or who gives a cr@p? We'll sort it out soon enough. The GDL is the topic. There will be a time, and Simon catch-me-if-you-can has merit.

Back on topic (I feel like a mod again ), a win would give Valverde a big boost. And rainbow plus win equals greatness on Saturday. A big case to be made for the award. Closing the deal.

GDL it is. Valverde is the man to beat. There are many sharks in this tank. We will learn a lot about who are the wheelsuckers, who has b@lls, if we don't know it already.

Pinot will put it all on the line. For the win. Who else?

 

[Koronin]

Re: Re:

Valverde already has sewn up the UCI championship, that's 5 now. What would he need to do to win the Velo d'Or? (Obviously he's a cinch if he wins Il Lombardia)

Yes it's 5. He won two under the old system and two since his return. Somewhere in between his 2nd and 3rd they changed the system.

Velo d'Or who gives a cr@p? We'll sort it out soon enough. The GDL is the topic. There will be a time, and Simon catch-me-if-you-can has merit.

Back on topic (I feel like a mod again ), a win would give Valverde a big boost. And rainbow plus win equals greatness on Saturday. A big case to be made for the award. Closing the deal.

GDL it is. Valverde is the man to beat. There are many sharks in this tank. We will learn a lot about who are the wheelsuckers, who has b@lls, if we don't know it already.

Pinot will put it all on the line. For the win. Who else?

Add Nibali, even if he's not at 100% he'll try something at some point. Maybe Woods will try something if he's feeling good?

 

[Tonton]

Nibali may be playing one of his tricks again. Like attacking SK getting food, crash and Giro win, or last year's GDL, Pinot gets a drink and he attacks. Asymmetric warfare. Guerrilla tactics. He has made a living being under-estimated. He's prepared, can't be discounted. Nibali can punk anyone, like Vino .

 

[Koronin]

Nibali may be playing one of his tricks again. Like attacking SK getting food, crash and Giro win, or last year's GDL, Pinot gets a drink and he attacks. Asymmetric warfare. Guerrilla tactics. He has made a living being under-estimated. He's prepared, can't be discounted. Nibali can punk anyone, like Vino .

Beyond those two I really don't see anyone else really trying much. Obviously Valverde is the favorite, but he'd also prefer a small group finish where he can rely on his sprint. Of course the others can hope Valverde isn't on the form he was on at the Worlds or that he did too much celebrating.

 

[Velolover2]

I wouldn't rule out the Yates brothers completely. They should thrive on this kind of route.

I see no outlets or persons mentioning them even as jokers for the win.

 

[tobydawq]

Roglic should also deserve a mention. And Bardet, of course.

 

[search]

Re:

I wouldn't rule out the Yates brothers completely. They should thrive on this kind of route.

I see no outlets or persons mentioning them even as jokers for the win.

Simon doesn't even take part. Adam looked about as bad as it can get on Wednesday

 

[Eyeballs Out]

Re:

I wouldn't rule out the Yates brothers completely. They should thrive on this kind of route.

I see no outlets or persons mentioning them even as jokers for the win.

Even if they had the form, which didn't appear to the be case in Innsbruck, neither has really proven that they are strong enough for monument distances yet. Best result so far is 8th for Adam in last year's LBL

 

[Climbing]

Pinot, Valverde, Uran
Bardet, Nibali, Roglic, Woods
Outsiders.

 

[Laplaz]

A l e s s a n d r o - D e - M a r c h i

 

[Rollthedice]

Re: Re:

Valverde already has sewn up the UCI championship, that's 5 now. What would he need to do to win the Velo d'Or? (Obviously he's a cinch if he wins Il Lombardia)

Yes it's 5. He won two under the old system and two since his return. Somewhere in between his 2nd and 3rd they changed the system.

Velo d'Or who gives a cr@p? We'll sort it out soon enough. The GDL is the topic. There will be a time, and Simon catch-me-if-you-can has merit.

Back on topic (I feel like a mod again ), a win would give Valverde a big boost. And rainbow plus win equals greatness on Saturday. A big case to be made for the award. Closing the deal.

GDL it is. Valverde is the man to beat. There are many sharks in this tank. We will learn a lot about who are the wheelsuckers, who has b@lls, if we don't know it already.

Pinot will put it all on the line. For the win. Who else?

It will be very hard for Pinot to reach the line solo regardless of the fact that he looks the strongest climber at the moment, it's impossible to have more than 10-15 sec. on top of Civiglio and Tibo is not a daredevil descender. His chance is if the chasers will take some time to figure out if they will bring Valverde to the line or not.