La Flèche Wallonne, April 23rd, 199K

[LaFlorecita]

. Seriously, Cunego should have hit the barbed wire by the road side.

That's disgusting man.

 

[trevim]

Truly amazing. Not only Lampre refuses to work for Costa (whom they promised was going to lead this) they also have Cunego **** up his race. It's so frustrating, Lampre is not a team. More like a group of mercenaries. Seriously, Cunego should have hit the barbed wire by the road side.

Happy for my boy Valverde.

I think they were riding for Ulissi. Liege is Rui's goal anyway, we'll see how that works out but his peformances have been off since Paris-Nice...

 

[trevim]

I'm quite certain he was kidding.

Yes I was

Lucky? On a climb like Huy, cooperation never happens anyway. To me, Valverde looked like a guy on a training ride, when he passed the others

Just a joke considering how Valverde has been riding in the classics this last few years.

 

[murali]

Let's be honest here.

There's no reasonable explanation as to why this race still exists.

to give after race taste of previous Sunday
... and as an appetizer for the Sunday.

still this is a damn good race.

 

[Der Effe]

Let's be honest here.

There's no reasonable explanation as to why this race still exists.

Not my favourite race either, but for a Wednesday race in between to races on Sunday it's fine imo. Amstel, on the other hand...

 

[DominicDecoco]

to give after race taste of previous Sunday
... and as an appetizer for the Sunday.

still this is a damn good race.

No. No it's not.

 

[Flamin]

Weird race from Gilbert. Didn't have it at all, despite the poor positioning.

And lol at Nibali completely parking at 200m from the finish.

 

[LaFlorecita]

No. No it's not.

In your opinion.

 

[BigMac]

That's disgusting man.

Nasty stuff there

Just because it has seriously writen in it, it doesn't mean I'm serious. Don't be so dramatic.

I think they were riding for Ulissi. Liege is Rui's goal anyway, we'll see how that works out but his peformances have been off since Paris-Nice...

More like Uliissi and Cunego riding for themselves. Costa had Oliveira protecting him until the latter bonked. I predicted the three of them ending up riding for themselves, that's what happened. Just wait for Liége, it'll be the same.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Weird race from Gilbert. Didn't have it at all, despite the poor positioning.

And lol at Nibali completely parking at 200m from the finish.

Not weird. It confirms what I initially thought after Brabantse Pijl. Good enough to win on his perfect hill (Cauberg). But didn't look nearly strong enough in Br Pijl to do anything in FW and LBL...
More or less confirmed today. If they go on roche aux faucons or Saint Nicolas, Gilbert will be dropped. If however he manages to return before Ans, he might still have a chance.

 

[Netserk]

Just because it has seriously writen in it, it doesn't mean I'm serious. Don't be so dramatic.

Several users have been banned for similar or even less.

 

[jaylew]

Valverde The Green Bullet fires again!!! Love it

Yes, happy to see him finally get another Ardennes win. Can he do the double again?

 

[jens_attacks]

bravo balaaaa!

after cauberg, mur de huy record falls too!

hautacam,next!

http://www.climbing-records.com/2014/04/valverde-destroys-mur-de-huy-record.html

 

[Shardi]

Didn't really see what happened at the crash, only heard Gilbert lost alot of positions. Still, he was around 10-12th spot a bit into the mur and could not hold the wheels of the ones in front. Looked quite different to the showing last sunday.

Not a positive indicator ahead of Liège. One can hope that the crash had a large impact but the showing on the mur as well as the lack of positioning in the last 15km is probably a better indication ahead of Liège than the amstel one, where all conditions were optimal.

 

[Afrank]

Just because it has seriously writen in it, it doesn't mean I'm serious. Don't be so dramatic.



More like Uliissi and Cunego riding for themselves. Costa had Oliveira protecting him until the latter bonked. I predicted the three of them ending up riding for themselves, that's what happened. Just wait for Liége, it'll be the same.

Wishing a rider to crash is a comment that isn't very appropriate even when said in a unserious or joking manner.

 

[Arnout]

bravo balaaaa!

after cauberg, mur de huy record falls too!

hautacam,next!

http://www.climbing-records.com/2014/04/valverde-destroys-mur-de-huy-record.html

Much clean. So wow.

 

[Afrank]

Didn't really see what happened at the crash, only heard Gilbert lost alot of positions. Still, he was around 10-12th spot a bit into the mur and could not hold the wheels of the ones in front. Looked quite different to the showing last sunday.

Not a positive indicator ahead of Liège. One can hope that the crash had a large impact but the showing on the mur as well as the lack of positioning in the last 15km is probably a better indication ahead of Liège than the amstel one, where all conditions were optimal.

I didn't see it either. but perhaps losing positions due to the crash made him have to use a little extra energy to try to move back into a good position heading into the climb, and that cost him on the Huy.

Will be interesting to hear what he has to say on it.

 

[The Hitch]

Ah, Arredondo just outside the top 10. Still a good performance though.

BTW, anyone know which Schleck was it that was involved in the crash?

Andy had probably abandoned by then.

 

[Flamin]

Not weird. It confirms what I initially thought after Brabantse Pijl. Good enough to win on his perfect hill (Cauberg). But didn't look nearly strong enough in Br Pijl to do anything in FW and LBL...
More or less confirmed today. If they go on roche aux faucons or Saint Nicolas, Gilbert will be dropped. If however he manages to return before Ans, he might still have a chance.

After he destroyed the Cauberg again, it is kind of weird. I didn't expect him to win here or anything, but better than this at least.

Liège is still possible, since many contenders are off their game for various reasons and he has a stronger team than in the past years.

 

[theyoungest]

Let's be honest here.

There's no reasonable explanation as to why this race still exists.

You want to ban all bunch sprints? This is the puncheurs equivalent of a bunch sprint, there isn't another race like this, so it deserves its place on the calendar.

After he destroyed the Cauberg again, it is kind of weird. I didn't expect him to win here or anything, but better than this at least.

Gilbert destroys the Cauberg pretty much every time, even when he's 70 and in a wheelchair he'll still be the favourite for any race finishing on the Cauberg. But that doesn't indicate anything about his chances in other races.

 

[alspacka]

Let's be honest here.

There's no reasonable explanation as to why this race still exists.

Hey I had a fun 2 minutes.

 

[Afrank]

You want to ban all bunch sprints? This is the puncheurs equivalent of a bunch sprint, there isn't another race like this, so it deserves its place on the calendar.

Yes there is, it's held in Spain every August.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

After he destroyed the Cauberg again, it is kind of weird. I didn't expect him to win here or anything, but better than this at least.

Liège is still possible, since many contenders are off their game for various reasons and he has a stronger team than in the past years.

He destroys the Cauberg even in ****ty shape. It's just the ideal hill for Gilbert.
I'm not surprised. Not after what I saw in Brabantse Pijl. 2011 Gilbert would've closed that gap without even closing his eyes. Now it took him kilometers of chasing.

Like I said, this is 2009/2010 Gilbert again. He'll be up there, but I doubt he can win

 

[Pentacycle]

You can't draw any conclusions from Gilbert's result today. Since he's become a top rider he's always been better in longer races, and today his final went far from perfect. He tried to get back to the leaders on the Mur, but it looked like he gave up. Liege is his real goal.

 

[trevim]

Sky put in a hell of a show

126 LOPEZ GARCIA David [www.procyclingstats.com] Team Sky 5 6:18
135 PATE Danny Team Sky 5 9:21
DNF EDMONDSON Joshua Team Sky -
DNF EARLE Nathan Team Sky -
DNF SWIFT Ben [www.procyclingstats.com] Team Sky -
DNF KENNAUGH Peter Team Sky -