Itzulia Basque Country 2022 April 4-9

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Dec 6, 2012
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Amazing, Ion, that's how you win races!

Brave defense by Remco, but honestly, unless he makes big improvent or back to whatever level he was, I'm not sure what big race he can be favorite for, grinding short climbs can't be the way with so many explosives around, and I don't remember any with enough false flat to motor up on. I still like him though.
 
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Jul 16, 2015
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Vingregaard to win the tour with only 10 finishers !!

but seriously maybe he should be Jumbo leader ??

I think Roglic is on a slow program building form for the summer. I know it's a bit unusual for him, but after today I'm more convinced of that than I was yesterday.

He did his work for Jonas & then rode a tempo all the way until the end.
 
Sep 20, 2017
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Let's not pretend like Cofidis has been better the last 3 years (this year they are better tho). This is like their 2nd WT win in 3 years time. LTS has like 17. And that "can't support Ewan" narrative can stop too. They might not have the best leadout in the world, but it's still a good one and more importantly, Ewan himself fucks up his sprint a lot of the time. He also is one of the prime reasons LTS doesn't score enough points because he keeps going after those 2 big goals in a year and has had some bad luck then. LTS letting Ewan do what he wants is literally supporting him, and it costs the team.

Both teams are not WT Worthy, just like DSM or Astana right now but they have enough points already.
Cofidis are hardly great but they do have riders who can make the race more entertaining. Lotto rarely feature in selective races at a decent level, and when they do, half the time it's Campenaerts who makes me want to pull my hair out.

Agree that Ewan is part of the problem too but of all the sprinters who could be considered the best in the world, he has the weakest leadout. In fact, Lotto arguably have the worst train of the big four Belgian teams right now and don't make up for it anywhere else. Of course Intermarché are on the up right now but the idea that Lotto would fall behind both Wanty and a Roodhooft-backed road team to be Belgium's fourth-best side would have been laughable even five years ago.
 
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Jul 7, 2013
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I think Roglic is on a slow program building form for the summer. I know it's a bit unusual for him, but after today I'm more convinced of that than I was yesterday.

He did his work for Jonas & then rode a tempo all the way until the end.

It's kinda weird explanation though. He won Paris-Nice against good rivals and had a strong uphill performance on Turini so his form has been in decline in recent weeks. Was it planned, do you think?
 
Oct 21, 2012
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Amazing, Ion, that's how you win races!

Brave defense by Remco, but honestly, unless he makes big improvent or back to whatever level he was, I'm not sure what big race he can be favorite for, grinding short climbs can't be the way with so many explosives around, and I don't remember any with enough false flat to motor up on. I still like him though.

Well this was a big improvement on T-A?

And any race with a decent length TT would surely give him a chance. Double the distance of this race's to a whopping 15K and he probably would have won?
 
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Feb 20, 2012
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It's kinda weird explanation though. He won Paris-Nice against good rivals and had a strong uphill performance on Turini so his form has been in decline in recent weeks. Was it planned, do you think?
Pog did the same last year.

I wonder if he's trying to time his peak better for the Ardennes.
 
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Jul 7, 2013
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Pog did the same last year.

I wonder if he's trying to time his peak better for the Ardennes.

There's little time until Ardennes - just 11 days until Fleche to build a peak from a mediocre form.
And when was Pog weak last spring? Or maybe you are refering to the autumn?
 
Jul 16, 2015
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There's little time until Ardennes - just 11 days until Fleche to build a peak from a mediocre form.
And when was Pog weak last spring? Maybe he wasn't at his peak in april but still strong.

I suppose we could look at Alaphilippe as an example, i.e. nowhere today (when Remco might have needed him), but I expect him to once more light-up the Mur de Huy as always.

Being nowhere & then suddenly in form seems doable for the others so I won't write off Rog until he looks toast on one of his real, big objectives.
 
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Bonimenier

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Apr 1, 2019
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I suppose we could look at Alaphilippe as an example, i.e. nowhere today (when Remco might have needed him), but I expect him to once more light-up the Mur de Huy as always.

Being nowhere & then suddenly in form seems doable for the others so I won't write off Rog until he looks toast on one of his real, big objectives.
That's not a good comparison. Alaphilippe is not a GC rider.
 
May 29, 2019
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This was not a sprint. How can you ever pass a rider riding in front of you if you are not allowed to deviate from your line?

You are absolutely correct. I just had to make that remark. Once the opportunity presented itself. As otherwise i would lose sleep over it.
 
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Sep 14, 2020
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What happened to the Ineos bots? First there was seven at the front and six disappeared. I suppose they still came away with overall victory but a helper would have been handy.