LA fleche wallone thread

[Ilmaestro99]

Nowadays we have guys spending their whole winters at 5stars hotels in Costa de sol or canaries, or special facilities at Sierra Nevada, and also doing heat training. Perfect conditions for nice training blocks, but these guys then come up north for Ardennes, Paris nice, and can't cope with the cold.

It's nice to see a hardman rider win in such conditions. These days they get less opportunities, because organisers are neutralising giro stages when they have a little rain and less than 10 degrees on the climbs.

 

[Nick2413]

They just need to dress right. A guy in full tights and long sleeves won today and aero isn’t going to cost anyone the win on a stage like this or the mountain stages known for the worst conditions, but guys still dress like it’s a 35C sunny day.

 

[Tim Cahill]

Similar to how we asterisk races that were won in infamy or robbed like the 2023 Vuelta* or 2016 MSR*, races that were won in infernal conditions or with an memorable all-time attack, where the mere race name itself doesn't tell the story, will be denoted with a (!) like LBL 1980(!), KBK 2010(!) Tour 2006(!) or today.

The streets will never forget Steven Williams' crazy ride in 2024 Fleche Wallone(!)

 

[Zoetemelk-fan]

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...

I was right.

Spoiler

They did move the Kobbenberg.

 

[tobydawq]

It was introduced in 2015 (because of the Tour).

Right, okay, then it's that Tour stage I remember where Sagan missed his shot because of Cherave.

 

[pastronef]

They just need to dress right. A guy in full tights and long sleeves won today and aero isn’t going to cost anyone the win on a stage like this or the mountain stages known for the worst conditions, but guys still dress like it’s a 35C sunny day.

I've seen so many riders in recent years not even wearing a light base layer under the jerseys, even in spring in races with changing weather. obvs you'll freezy if you don't cover fast when things get colder

 

[Zoetemelk-fan]

Yeah Skjelmose is ****ed, for LBL too, get him to the hospital

30 mins with a bunsen burner and he's hot favourite again.

 

[search]

They just need to dress right. A guy in full tights and long sleeves won today and aero isn’t going to cost anyone the win on a stage like this or the mountain stages known for the worst conditions, but guys still dress like it’s a 35C sunny day.

THJ more or less said the same after the race. According to him, Uno-X was best prepared for the conditions, and that's why everyone of them finished the race. When it started to snow, he knew most others would be done in half an hour.

 

[Tim Cahill]

30 mins with a bunsen burner and he's hot favourite again.

Yeah looks like he will be alright for it, even after they had to peel him off the bike.

These GC rake thin guys were dying out there today, tempted to get some big money on the fattest f**k going for Liege!

 

[Zoetemelk-fan]

Admit - dropped in by 9.7K togo, and have no time for recatch
But still havent sunk in why so many riders could not cope with the cold and wind!?

Until a few years ago, I participated in a harbinger of spring for casuals in my country, most typically ridden in +1°C, mud, rain and hail for 4-5-6 hours with the gift arrive at the finish line, a quick shower and main event of the day: a hot bowl of soup and a beer in bottle.

And by far best experience riding without gloves in white knuckles, the toughness was the absolute main part of the race, a race unfortunately deceased now but heard of a revival of the fall edition (at least until recreational races disappeared into soulless sponsor names, this cycling club had two cornerstones on the recreational road bike race calendar: the first- and last race on each season, ensuring hard weather conditions)

But obviously, body fat percentages have rattled down over the past decade in order to hunt marginal gains.
But marginal gains are also just stopping to put on clothing for the occasion - this was seen much more frequently in the past.

Just trying to find an explanation.

 

[Valv.Piti]

What is this? A bunch of 2nd and 3rd tier riders duking it out. Don't even wanna watch the replay.. Makes me long for the good old days of superstar puncheurs

On to Sunday

 

[pastronef]

What is this? A bunch of 2nd and 3rd tier riders duking it out. Don't even wanna watch the replay.. Makes me long for the good old days of superstar puncheurs

On to Sunday

it was the best Fleche I've seen. my first was 30 years ago

 

[Valv.Piti]

it was the best Fleche I've seen. my first was 30 years ago

Well maybe Im gonna watch it then, thanks. Im just a bit put off by the top-10

 

[Krzysztof_O]

Nowadays we have guys spending their whole winters at 5stars hotels in Costa de sol or canaries, or special facilities at Sierra Nevada, and also doing heat training. Perfect conditions for nice training blocks, but these guys then come up north for Ardennes, Paris nice, and can't cope with the cold.

It's nice to see a hardman rider win in such conditions. These days they get less opportunities, because organisers are neutralising giro stages when they have a little rain and less than 10 degrees on the climbs.

From a secret source I know the Giro organizers promised Teddy not to call off any stage, no matter weather conditions. That's the only reason why he decided to ride the race.

 

[QueenStagiaire]

Well maybe Im gonna watch it then, thanks. Im just a bit put off by the top-10

It‘s a great watch if you like an attritional race.

 

[Escarabajo]

5-7 degrees and rain/sleet is pretty normal everywhere. But I think a big problem for the riders today was that it didn't start out like that, and that some were a bit more prepared or quicker to get themselves properly clothed than others.

The low body fat in some of them doesn't help either.

 

[Andre]

It looked to me Williams caught everyone by surprise...nobody could even up the pace..perhaps they were all in wrong gear...or just worn out. I thought maybe Carapaz or Van Gils was going to take the race.

 

[Jagartrott]

The low body fat in some of them doesn't help either.

I can think of a certain Colombian ex-rider who would've smashed it today then!

 

[Escarabajo]

From a secret source I know the Giro organizers promised Teddy not to call off any stage, no matter weather conditions. That's the only reason why he decided to ride the race.

It sounds easy, but if the riders do not want to race it will Teddy alone by himself.

And it is not like he needs some extra help, come on.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

It looked to me Williams caught everyone by surprise...nobody could even up the pace..perhaps they were all in wrong gear...or just worn out. I thought maybe Carapaz or Van Gils was going to take the race.

Nah, he was the strongest out there but lacked a bit at the end. It resembled Roglic's attack in 2021.

 

[tobydawq]

What is this? A bunch of 2nd and 3rd tier riders duking it out. Don't even wanna watch the replay.. Makes me long for the good old days of superstar puncheurs

On to Sunday

Lol

 

[Max Rockatansky]

it was the best Fleche I've seen. my first was 30 years ago

2003 was good, too. 15 rider strong group going on first Mur with 130k to go. They never came back and Astarloa attacked with Osa at 10 to go. And then they battled mano a mano. That was great to watch.

 

[Blanco]

What is this? A bunch of 2nd and 3rd tier riders duking it out. Don't even wanna watch the replay.. Makes me long for the good old days of superstar puncheurs

On to Sunday

The race was good, action from a far, atypical for Fleche. This Stevie Williams is a promissing guy, he could win again I think.
As for the puncheurs field, it's rather poor these days. Valverde, Purito, Dan Martin all retired, Alaphilipe not a shade of himself, Roglic constantly skipping this race. I remeber the times when Pogacar was an outsider, and hell even he wasn't there.

 

[King Of The Wolds]

What is this? A bunch of 2nd and 3rd tier riders duking it out. Don't even wanna watch the replay.. Makes me long for the good old days of superstar puncheurs

On to Sunday

This was a hard man's race. Top tier hard men.

 

[Andre]

The race was good, action from a far, atypical for Fleche. This Stevie Williams is a promissing guy, he could win again I think.
As for the puncheurs field, it's rather poor these days. Valverde, Purito, Dan Martin all retired, Alaphilipe not a shade of himself, Roglic constantly skipping this race. I remeber the times when Pogacar was an outsider, and hell even he wasn't there.

Gilbert was good at it too