Teams & Riders Julian Alaphilippe Discussion Thread

[Koronin]

Re:

He says he won't focus on the Ardennes classics for his entire career and also wants to ride the Flemish classics in the future (not Roubaix though, as he thinks he's too light for that).

The Flemish classics continue to attract a better field than the Ardennes classics (not counting AGR). I wonder why the Ardennes classics have fallen into disrepute lately... So many good riders are skipping these races... Why is Roglic not riding them for example? Those races should suit his characteristics rather well as evidenced from his performance in Pais Vasco. Is Bardet even riding them? I noticed he was racing Tour de Finistere today, that's not a good prep for the coming classics. Pinot is absent as well...

Because Alaphilippe is one of the few riders who believes he has a shot at beating Valverde in those races. Many in the peloton for Fleche Wallone especially and to a degree LBL are defeated before the race ever starts. Bardet will race LBL as he typically does.

 

[tobydawq]

Re:

He says he won't focus on the Ardennes classics for his entire career and also wants to ride the Flemish classics in the future (not Roubaix though, as he thinks he's too light for that).

The Flemish classics continue to attract a better field than the Ardennes classics (not counting AGR). I wonder why the Ardennes classics have fallen into disrepute lately... So many good riders are skipping these races... Why is Roglic not riding them for example? Those races should suit his characteristics rather well as evidenced by his performance in Pais Vasco. Is Bardet even riding them? I noticed he was racing the Tour de Finistère today, that's not a good preperation for the coming classics. Pinot is absent as well...

Yeah, it's such a piss poor field for Amstel tomorrow. Too bad no-one cares.

Oops, I forgot, Valverde has not won that race, so that one hasn't fallen into disrepute yet.

 

[Blanco]

What a field for tomorrow's race: Valverde, Sagan, Gilbert, Van Avermaet, Kwiatkowski, Wellens, Benoot, Nibali, Matthews, Terpstra, Alaphilippe... It tops everything Flemish races has to offer. Other two races also gathers very strong field. Ardennes races have stronger field then Flemish ones this year, as is the case for almost every year.

 

[Red Rick]

It's very simple why the Ardennes have fallen in disrespute compared to the Flemish classics. For cobbled riders, the Flemish classics are the pinnacle of the season. For participants in the Ardennes, those races are not, and even if they have a chance at winning, they consider their edge too small to be worth the investment.

 

[El Pistolero]

Re: Re:

He says he won't focus on the Ardennes classics for his entire career and also wants to ride the Flemish classics in the future (not Roubaix though, as he thinks he's too light for that).

The Flemish classics continue to attract a better field than the Ardennes classics (not counting AGR). I wonder why the Ardennes classics have fallen into disrepute lately... So many good riders are skipping these races... Why is Roglic not riding them for example? Those races should suit his characteristics rather well as evidenced by his performance in Pais Vasco. Is Bardet even riding them? I noticed he was racing the Tour de Finistère today, that's not a good preperation for the coming classics. Pinot is absent as well...

Yeah, it's such a piss poor field for Amstel tomorrow. Too bad no-one cares.

Oops, I forgot, Valverde has not won that race, so that one hasn't fallen into disrepute yet.

AGR is not part of the Ardennes geographically and it's more similar to the Ronde van Vlaanderen than LBL. AGR attracts both cobbled classics specialists and hilly classics specialists, which is why it has a better field than the Ardennes classics.

 

[El Pistolero]

Re:

What a field for tomorrow's race: Valverde, Sagan, Gilbert, Van Avermaet, Kwiatkowski, Wellens, Benoot, Nibali, Matthews, Terpstra, Alaphilippe... It tops everything Flemish races has to offer. Other two races also gathers very strong field. Ardennes races have stronger field then Flemish ones this year, as is the case for almost every year.

7 of those you mentioned also started in the Ronde van Vlaanderen lol. What a way to destroy your own weak argument. Matthews raced E3 Harelbeke this year and finished almost 3 minutes down. Valverde rode Dwars door Vlaanderen and finished just outside of the top ten and Wellens and Benoot rode the Omloop het Nieuwsblad.

That just leaves Alaphilippe who didn't ride any Flemish classics and he just said he wants to race them in the future.

Future for Flemish classics is looking bright.

 

[El Pistolero]

Re: Re:

He says he won't focus on the Ardennes classics for his entire career and also wants to ride the Flemish classics in the future (not Roubaix though, as he thinks he's too light for that).

The Flemish classics continue to attract a better field than the Ardennes classics (not counting AGR). I wonder why the Ardennes classics have fallen into disrepute lately... So many good riders are skipping these races... Why is Roglic not riding them for example? Those races should suit his characteristics rather well as evidenced from his performance in Pais Vasco. Is Bardet even riding them? I noticed he was racing Tour de Finistere today, that's not a good prep for the coming classics. Pinot is absent as well...

Because Alaphilippe is one of the few riders who believes he has a shot at beating Valverde in those races. Many in the peloton for Fleche Wallone especially and to a degree LBL are defeated before the race ever starts. Bardet will race LBL as he typically does.

Did you even read my post? Alaphilippe just said he wants to focus on the Flemish classics in the future, what the *** does Valverde have to do with any of that?

 

[Koronin]

Re: Re:

He says he won't focus on the Ardennes classics for his entire career and also wants to ride the Flemish classics in the future (not Roubaix though, as he thinks he's too light for that).

The Flemish classics continue to attract a better field than the Ardennes classics (not counting AGR). I wonder why the Ardennes classics have fallen into disrepute lately... So many good riders are skipping these races... Why is Roglic not riding them for example? Those races should suit his characteristics rather well as evidenced from his performance in Pais Vasco. Is Bardet even riding them? I noticed he was racing Tour de Finistere today, that's not a good prep for the coming classics. Pinot is absent as well...

Because Alaphilippe is one of the few riders who believes he has a shot at beating Valverde in those races. Many in the peloton for Fleche Wallone especially and to a degree LBL are defeated before the race ever starts. Bardet will race LBL as he typically does.

Did you even read my post? Alaphilippe just said he wants to focus on the Flemish classics in the future, what the **** does Valverde have to do with any of that?

You were asking why the Ardennes don't have many top riders going to them lately. That answer would be Valverde's dominance and the rest of what I said. During the off season Alaphilippe also said he really hoped Valverde would recover from his injury and be as good as before because he wants more shots at him in the Ardennes. However, Alaphilippe also sees himself as a classics rider not a GC rider so it would sense that he would want to race more of the classics.

 

[El Pistolero]

Re:

It's very simple why the Ardennes have fallen in disrespute compared to the Flemish classics. For cobbled riders, the Flemish classics are the pinnacle of the season. For participants in the Ardennes, those races are not, and even if they have a chance at winning, they consider their edge too small to be worth the investment.

That's probably one of the reasons, but not the only one.

 

[Sestriere]

Re: Re:

He says he won't focus on the Ardennes classics for his entire career and also wants to ride the Flemish classics in the future (not Roubaix though, as he thinks he's too light for that).

The Flemish classics continue to attract a better field than the Ardennes classics (not counting AGR). I wonder why the Ardennes classics have fallen into disrepute lately... So many good riders are skipping these races... Why is Roglic not riding them for example? Those races should suit his characteristics rather well as evidenced from his performance in Pais Vasco. Is Bardet even riding them? I noticed he was racing Tour de Finistere today, that's not a good prep for the coming classics. Pinot is absent as well...

Because Alaphilippe is one of the few riders who believes he has a shot at beating Valverde in those races. Many in the peloton for Fleche Wallone especially and to a degree LBL are defeated before the race ever starts. Bardet will race LBL as he typically does.

Did you even read my post? Alaphilippe just said he wants to focus on the Flemish classics in the future, what the **** does Valverde have to do with any of that?

You were asking why the Ardennes don't have many top riders going to them lately. That answer would be Valverde's dominance and the rest of what I said. During the off season Alaphilippe also said he really hoped Valverde would recover from his injury and be as good as before because he wants more shots at him in the Ardennes. However, Alaphilippe also sees himself as a classics rider not a GC rider so it would sense that he would want to race more of the classics.

Valverde's dominance is a result of the worse field and not the other way around.
Worse in the way that still most of the great names are on the startlist but many don't peak for the Ardennes anymore (as explained by Red Rick). Not so long ago many GC riders would focus their entire spring around being good in FW and LBL, notably the Schlecks, Evans, Purito etc... However, in the last years with success in GrandTours being even more important to the sponsors there hardly any space for huge classics aspirations. The GC riders like Nibali, Bardet, Majka, Landa and others still come to Liège every year, but their form has been mostly mediocre. This led to the Ardennes being solely contested by classics specialists who have a good sprint like Valverde, Alaphilippe, Martin with the known effects on the races itself.

 

[Blanco]

Re: Re:

What a field for tomorrow's race: Valverde, Sagan, Gilbert, Van Avermaet, Kwiatkowski, Wellens, Benoot, Nibali, Matthews, Terpstra, Alaphilippe... It tops everything Flemish races has to offer. Other two races also gathers very strong field. Ardennes races have stronger field then Flemish ones this year, as is the case for almost every year.

7 of those you mentioned also started in the Ronde van Vlaanderen lol. What a way to destroy your own weak argument. Matthews raced E3 Harelbeke this year and finished almost 3 minutes down. Valverde rode Dwars door Vlaanderen and finished just outside of the top ten and Wellens and Benoot rode the Omloop het Nieuwsblad.

That just leaves Alaphilippe who didn't ride any Flemish classics and he just said he wants to race them in the future.

Future for Flemish classics is looking bright.

And when I add Bardet, Uran , Dan Martin, Dumoulin... Sorry, I know you really like Flemish classics, but Ardennes field is so much better.

 

[Bardamu]

Re: Re:

What a field for tomorrow's race: Valverde, Sagan, Gilbert, Van Avermaet, Kwiatkowski, Wellens, Benoot, Nibali, Matthews, Terpstra, Alaphilippe... It tops everything Flemish races has to offer. Other two races also gathers very strong field. Ardennes races have stronger field then Flemish ones this year, as is the case for almost every year.

7 of those you mentioned also started in the Ronde van Vlaanderen lol. What a way to destroy your own weak argument. Matthews raced E3 Harelbeke this year and finished almost 3 minutes down. Valverde rode Dwars door Vlaanderen and finished just outside of the top ten and Wellens and Benoot rode the Omloop het Nieuwsblad.

That just leaves Alaphilippe who didn't ride any Flemish classics and he just said he wants to race them in the future.

Future for Flemish classics is looking bright.

And when I add Bardet, Uran , Dan Martin, Dumoulin... Sorry, I know you really like Flemish classics, but Ardennes field is so much better.

Didn't you know? Cobbled riders like Naesen, Stuyven and Vanmarcke are way better than Uran, Bardet and Dumoulin. Victories in BC, KBK and Omloop are not to be underestimated!

 

[Bushman]

Re: Re:

What a field for tomorrow's race: Valverde, Sagan, Gilbert, Van Avermaet, Kwiatkowski, Wellens, Benoot, Nibali, Matthews, Terpstra, Alaphilippe... It tops everything Flemish races has to offer. Other two races also gathers very strong field. Ardennes races have stronger field then Flemish ones this year, as is the case for almost every year.

7 of those you mentioned also started in the Ronde van Vlaanderen lol. What a way to destroy your own weak argument. Matthews raced E3 Harelbeke this year and finished almost 3 minutes down. Valverde rode Dwars door Vlaanderen and finished just outside of the top ten and Wellens and Benoot rode the Omloop het Nieuwsblad.

That just leaves Alaphilippe who didn't ride any Flemish classics and he just said he wants to race them in the future.

Future for Flemish classics is looking bright.

Looking forward to what Valgren can do, if he doesnt win her (like in Omloop) and places top 5 next Sunday (like RVV) surely the field must be too strong here, right?

 

[Brullnux]

Re:

What a field for tomorrow's race: Valverde, Sagan, Gilbert, Van Avermaet, Kwiatkowski, Wellens, Benoot, Nibali, Matthews, Terpstra, Alaphilippe... It tops everything Flemish races has to offer. Other two races also gathers very strong field. Ardennes races have stronger field then Flemish ones this year, as is the case for almost every year.

Apart from the fact that five of the eleven names you mentioned targeted the flemish races not these ones, you've missed stybar, naesen, stuyven, vanmarcke, lampeart, demare, van aert, kristoff etc. It's a pointless issue anyway. Cobbled races have cobbled specialists, these races have puncheurs and a few gc guys. The level of the field is equal, and not comparable.

 

[El Pistolero]

Re: Re:

What a field for tomorrow's race: Valverde, Sagan, Gilbert, Van Avermaet, Kwiatkowski, Wellens, Benoot, Nibali, Matthews, Terpstra, Alaphilippe... It tops everything Flemish races has to offer. Other two races also gathers very strong field. Ardennes races have stronger field then Flemish ones this year, as is the case for almost every year.

7 of those you mentioned also started in the Ronde van Vlaanderen lol. What a way to destroy your own weak argument. Matthews raced E3 Harelbeke this year and finished almost 3 minutes down. Valverde rode Dwars door Vlaanderen and finished just outside of the top ten and Wellens and Benoot rode the Omloop het Nieuwsblad.

That just leaves Alaphilippe who didn't ride any Flemish classics and he just said he wants to race them in the future.

Future for Flemish classics is looking bright.

And when I add Bardet, Uran , Dan Martin, Dumoulin... Sorry, I know you really like Flemish classics, but Ardennes field is so much better.

Bardet rode Dwars door Vlaanderen and finished way down and he also got destroyed by Benoot in Strade Bianche. Dumoulin is not even riding the Ardennes classics. And LOL at Uran, what's he going to do, sell another bike race? You'te not really doing a good job showing that the Ardennes classics have a good field.

 

[El Pistolero]

Re: Re:

What a field for tomorrow's race: Valverde, Sagan, Gilbert, Van Avermaet, Kwiatkowski, Wellens, Benoot, Nibali, Matthews, Terpstra, Alaphilippe... It tops everything Flemish races has to offer. Other two races also gathers very strong field. Ardennes races have stronger field then Flemish ones this year, as is the case for almost every year.

7 of those you mentioned also started in the Ronde van Vlaanderen lol. What a way to destroy your own weak argument. Matthews raced E3 Harelbeke this year and finished almost 3 minutes down. Valverde rode Dwars door Vlaanderen and finished just outside of the top ten and Wellens and Benoot rode the Omloop het Nieuwsblad.

That just leaves Alaphilippe who didn't ride any Flemish classics and he just said he wants to race them in the future.

Future for Flemish classics is looking bright.

Looking forward to what Valgren can do, if he doesnt win her (like in Omloop) and places top 5 next Sunday (like RVV) surely the field must be too strong here, right?

he was already second in the AGR in 2016.

 

[Blanco]

Re: Re:

What a field for tomorrow's race: Valverde, Sagan, Gilbert, Van Avermaet, Kwiatkowski, Wellens, Benoot, Nibali, Matthews, Terpstra, Alaphilippe... It tops everything Flemish races has to offer. Other two races also gathers very strong field. Ardennes races have stronger field then Flemish ones this year, as is the case for almost every year.

Apart from the fact that five of the eleven names you mentioned targeted the flemish races not these ones, you've missed stybar, naesen, stuyven, vanmarcke, lampeart, demare, van aert, kristoff etc. It's a pointless issue anyway. Cobbled races have cobbled specialists, these races have puncheurs and a few gc guys. The level of the field is equal, and not comparable.

It was a bait post, aimed specifically to one poster, and he hooked for it

I agrre with you, btw.

 

[tobydawq]

Re: Re:

What a field for tomorrow's race: Valverde, Sagan, Gilbert, Van Avermaet, Kwiatkowski, Wellens, Benoot, Nibali, Matthews, Terpstra, Alaphilippe... It tops everything Flemish races has to offer. Other two races also gathers very strong field. Ardennes races have stronger field then Flemish ones this year, as is the case for almost every year.

7 of those you mentioned also started in the Ronde van Vlaanderen lol. What a way to destroy your own weak argument. Matthews raced E3 Harelbeke this year and finished almost 3 minutes down. Valverde rode Dwars door Vlaanderen and finished just outside of the top ten and Wellens and Benoot rode the Omloop het Nieuwsblad.

That just leaves Alaphilippe who didn't ride any Flemish classics and he just said he wants to race them in the future.

Future for Flemish classics is looking bright.

Looking forward to what Valgren can do, if he doesnt win her (like in Omloop) and places top 5 next Sunday (like RVV) surely the field must be too strong here, right?

he was already second in the AGR in 2016.

The first of many losers, right?

 

[Koronin]

Re: Re:

What a field for tomorrow's race: Valverde, Sagan, Gilbert, Van Avermaet, Kwiatkowski, Wellens, Benoot, Nibali, Matthews, Terpstra, Alaphilippe... It tops everything Flemish races has to offer. Other two races also gathers very strong field. Ardennes races have stronger field then Flemish ones this year, as is the case for almost every year.

7 of those you mentioned also started in the Ronde van Vlaanderen lol. What a way to destroy your own weak argument. Matthews raced E3 Harelbeke this year and finished almost 3 minutes down. Valverde rode Dwars door Vlaanderen and finished just outside of the top ten and Wellens and Benoot rode the Omloop het Nieuwsblad.

That just leaves Alaphilippe who didn't ride any Flemish classics and he just said he wants to race them in the future.

Future for Flemish classics is looking bright.

And when I add Bardet, Uran , Dan Martin, Dumoulin... Sorry, I know you really like Flemish classics, but Ardennes field is so much better.

Bardet rode Dwars door Vlaanderen and finished way down and he also got destroyed by Benoot in Strade Bianche. Dumoulin is not even riding the Ardennes classics. And LOL at Uran, what's he going to do, sell another bike race? You'te not really doing a good job showing that the Ardennes classics have a good field.

Yet you also won't reconize Valverde being with the favorites at Dwars and finishing 11th OR finishing 4th at Strade this year, let alone having podiums there in the past.

 

[Bardamu]

Not sure what Ala's gameplan in the last 10km, but I guess he was just completely dead at the end.

 

[Irondan]

The baiting and trolling in this thread is becoming a problem.

I've removed some posts and will start removing posters if it continues.

Have a great day!

Cheers

 

[loge1884]

Re:

Not sure what Ala's gameplan in the last 10km, but I guess he was just completely dead at the end.

perhaps wasted too much energy waving, gesticulating and thumping his bars ...

 

[IndianCyclist]

Finally talent leads to classic win

 

[Climbing]

Did cut gesticulating to minimum today, didn’t even celebrate!
Chapeau Ala!

 

[El Pistolero]

Re:

Did cut gesticulating to minimum today, didn’t even celebrate!
Chapeau Ala!

He thought Nibali was still ahead lol.