Le Samyn 2014, 5 March, 195.9km, 1.1

[Popchu]

Ciolek must be the favourite? That's a grim looking drag of a finish

The finish is fantastic. Let's hope we see a real battle. But yeah, Ciolek is the favorite I think.

 

[saneguy]

All back together

 

[Hugo Koblet]

Wow what an impressive sprint by Vantomme to take the win. Real power sprint!

 

[De Snelle Duif]

Ciolek a bit boxed in. I already knew Vantomme was way too good to be in a CT team but today he proves it again; what a great sprint by him.

 

[postmanhat]

Well done. Whoever you are

 

[gooner]

Ciolek was a bit boxed in but did have a chance to go on his right hand side late on. When you look at the overhead shot, I'm not so sure he had the legs either at the same time.

 

[saneguy]

Maxime Vantomme wins it for ROUBAIX LILLE METROPOLE. Well done. Anti climax of sorts.

1. Maxime Vantomme (RLM)
2. Alexe Tsatevitch (Katusha)
3. Nacer Bouhani (FDJ)

Somewhere the little bit of a steep part at the finish did it in for the pure sprinters.

 

[De Snelle Duif]

Somewhere the little bit of a steep part at the finish did it in for the pure sprinters.

Yes, it was a real chaotic race as well, so it seemed as if the sprinters didn't even have team mates left to lead them out.

This was a great race to watch anyway. De Gendt appears to be in good form again, and so does Devolder. I was also amazed by Delfosse, he should be able to win something with this form.

 

[postmanhat]

First time I've watched this race and loved it. Really well-thought out route!

 

[search]

Ciolek was a bit boxed in but did have a chance to go on his right hand side late on. When you look at the overhead shot, I'm not so sure he had the legs either at the same time.

on german Eurosport they got a phone call from the MTN DS who said Ciolek wasn't feeling well today

they also said that wasn't necessarily a reason for him not to win, it had been the case several times - but that's propably why Sbaragli was allowed to sprint himself instead of doing a lead out

 

[VeloHuman]

Tsatevich is knocking at the door. I wonder if Katusha lets him ride a few WT stage races as top sprinter sometime soon.

 

[Hugo Koblet]

Tsatevich is knocking at the door. I wonder if Katusha lets him ride a few WT stage races as top sprinter sometime soon.

Meh, I don't really know about that. I don't think he's ever shown anything really impressive in a sprint.

 

[search]

yeh, he is nothing special, I even think in a pure sprint both Haller and Selig are quicker, let alone Kristoff.

Will Galimzyanov return to Katusha by the way?

Edit: forgot about MPCC rules, and even Rusvelo and Itera-Katusha are members by the look of it, so that's no option for him at the moment. Lokosphinx maybe, in case there are any monetary connection as well.

 

[Christian]

Fun race, as always! Impossible to control, attacks constantly flying left and right. OPQS scary strong again, attempting a 70km TTT against the rest of the field

 

[Christian]

Just tuned in, but it was Vandewalle I think.

Classic Devolder dropped.

Lol, next time tune in earlier. Devolder was very active and strong in the race and got dropped because of a mechanical

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

yeh, he is nothing special, I even think in a pure sprint both Haller and Selig are quicker, let alone Kristoff.

Will Galimzyanov return to Katusha by the way?

Edit: forgot about MPCC rules, and even Rusvelo and Itera-Katusha are members by the look of it, so that's no option for him at the moment. Lokosphinx maybe, in case there are any monetary connection as well.

lokosphinx is no option I think considering he doesn't come from the kuznetsov school

 

[manafana]

a very good race and glad it got tv coverage, belgium makes for good racing top stuff.

 

[search]

lokosphinx is no option I think considering he doesn't come from the kuznetsov school

okay, thanks

I did have a look in russian media but only found one article saying that he will not return to Katusha because of the MPCC rules, but not if there are any other options

http://translate.google.com/transla...&ie=UTF-8&u=http://itar-tass.com/sport/928993

everything else I found is from 2012