LA fleche wallone thread

[roundabout]

Israel-Arkea-Lotto 1 day WT race podium makes up for it being yet another main group sprint finish

 

[AnotherArmChair]

Williams is one tough nut

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

what an edition lol. Williams clearly the strongest... although he made it exciting by going too early maybe.

Van Dijke 20th... let that sink in

 

[Krzysztof_O]

Congrats to Williams, what an attack! Long range by Mur standards, wow. Very small group on the foot of the last climb indicating a race more difficult than usually, in cold conditions.

BTW the Mur is pure suffering. Starting in Z5 and finishing in Z6. Both aerobic and anaerobic systems engaged strongly. Heart pounding, suffucation, burning legs.

 

[Tricycle Rider]

1			Williams Stephen	Israel-Premier Tech	400​	04:40:24​
2			Vauquelin Kévin	ARKEA-B&B HOTELS	320​	+ 00​
3			Van Gils Maxim	Lotto Dstny	260​	+ 03​
4			Cosnefroy Benoît	Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team	220​	+ 03​
5			Buitrago Santiago	Bahrain Victorious	180​	+ 03​
6			Johannessen Tobias Halland	Uno-X Mobility	140​	+ 10​
7			Grégoire Romain	Groupama-FDJ	120​	+ 10​
8			Godon Dorian	Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team	100​	+ 10​
9			Benoot Tiesj	Team Visma | Lease a Bike	80​	+ 10​
10			Martin Guillaume	Cofidis	68​	+ 10​
11			Champoussin Clément	ARKEA-B&B HOTELS	56​	+ 16​
12			Skujins Toms	Lidl-Trek	48​	+ 18​
13			Carapaz Richard	EF Education-EasyPost	40​	+ 20​
14			Jegat Jordan	TotalEnergies	32​	+ 23​
15			Madouas Valentin	Groupama-FDJ	28​	+ 24​
16			Van Wilder Ilan	Soudal Quick-Step	24​	+ 24​
17			Eiking Odd Christian	Uno-X Mobility	24​	+ 24​
18			Laurance Axel	Alpecin-Deceuninck	24​	+ 24​
19			Hermans Quinten	Alpecin-Deceuninck	24​	+ 30​
20			van Dijke Tim	Team Visma | Lease a Bike	24​	+ 32​
21			Leijnse Enzo	Team dsm-firmenich PostNL	16​	+ 32​
22			Armirail Bruno	Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team	16​	+ 32​
23			Skaarseth Anders	Uno-X Mobility	16​	+ 36​
24			Formolo Davide	Movistar Team	16​	+ 36​
25			Doubey Fabien	TotalEnergies	16​	+ 41​
26			Adrià Roger	BORA-hansgrohe	16​	+ 43​
27			Staune-Mittet Johannes	Team Visma | Lease a Bike	16​	+ 52​
28			Van Boven Luca	Bingoal WB	16​	+ 59​
29			Howson Damien	Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team	16​	+ 01:08​
30			Hoelgaard Markus	Uno-X Mobility	16​	+ 01:21​

Yes! Two Uno-Xmen in the top 20!

 

[Squire]

Just curious why it didn’t worked out in Brabantse and Amstel with this legs. Was nowhere near the front.
Better chances for Liege maybe.

He's also been extremely inconsistent even when not injury-plagued. So him suddenly being nowhere in a race shouldn't surprise anybody. It's also starting to not be surprising when he actually shows up and is awesome.

 

[proffate]

I think if all races were held in this weather it might help cure some of the body dysmorphia afflicting pro cycling.

 

[RedheadDane]

So, to nobody's surprise, these guys were faster riding around 40 Ks than I was riding around - actually, I think less-than - 10 Ks.
Because, big secret; I'm slooooooooooooow

 

[tobydawq]

This race was not done in record speed

 

[Winnen]

what an edition lol. Williams clearly the strongest... although he made it exciting by going too early maybe.

Van Dijke 20th... let that sink in

Every time I see the Van Dijke brothers this year, I think they should be the domestiques of the Dutch OS team.

 

[King Of The Wolds]

Just curious why it didn’t worked out in Brabantse and Amstel with this legs. Was nowhere near the front.
Better chances for Liege maybe.

Not sure any of those remaining in what was left of the peloton at the end will feature significantly in Liege. They'll be f****d after that today.

 

[AnotherArmChair]

Disnt Betencur attack from nearly the bottom but was passed by 2 riders ?

 

[tobydawq]

I think if all races were held in this weather it might help cure some of the body dysmorphia afflicting pro cycling.

Would be a bit tough for the organisers.

 

[Rob5091]

Been a bit of a week for Israel PT, what with Mrs Froome going ballistic on the social media, Blackmore re-signing for the team and now Williams notching up Fleche - chapeau! 2 pro teams on the podium as well, bit of a odd race, but guys look really pooped at the finish. My outsider pick Skjuins was there at the finish but blew up and the guy I said to keep an eye on, Jeget came in 14th 20 seconds back. At least he got to the finish - chapeau!

 

[tobydawq]

So, to nobody's surprise, these guys were faster riding around 40 Ks than I was riding around - actually, I think less-than - 10 Ks.
Because, big secret; I'm slooooooooooooow

You ride less than 10 kph?

 

[movingtarget]

First British winner.

 

[roundabout]

56 people finished the 99 Fleche in shittier weather, 44 finishers so far.

 

[Squire]

Van Dijke 20th... let that sink in

Kinda wish Visma would have switched the roles of JSM and Van Dijke. JSM looked really good, and it would have been interesting to see what he could've done on the Muur if they had let TVD do the donkey work instead.

 

[tobydawq]

56 people finished the 99 Fleche in shittier weather, 44 finishers so far.

How was the weather shittier then?

There was horizontal sleeting at times today...

 

[Top Climber]

Skjelmose was totally frozen

https://twitter.com/x/status/1780593118733103297

View: https://twitter.com/willoo31/status/1780593118733103297

 

[AnotherArmChair]

They'll be dancing on the pool tables of Aberystwyth tonight !!

 

[RedheadDane]

You ride less than 10 kph?

Well... yeah... including stopping for red lights and... walking a bit of the way because someone put a hill on my way home from work...

 

[roundabout]

How was the weather shittier then?

There was horizontal sleeting at times today...

View: https://youtu.be/7iUGVK7BNtY?t=162


look at the weather graph in the video at that timestamp

I think it was snowing then at some point

 

[Blanco]

No Valverde leading the peloton from 500 m to go with a controlled and even pace until the sprint after it flattens.

Yeah, total control baby

 

[search]

Just curious why it didn’t worked out in Brabantse and Amstel with this legs. Was nowhere near the front.
Better chances for Liege maybe.

if you're talking about Williams: he crashed in GP Indurain. So may have just taken him a couple of race days to get back in shape.