Lesser known races 2024 edition

[DNP-Old]

The day Rickaert retires will be a beautiful day for cycling. Then again, almost every rider on Alpecin is a complete moron, so they'll have no trouble finding the next knucklehead to tackle a few riders.

 

[GenericBoonenFan]

you mean Rickaert? (Alpecin)

The Israel dude bodychecking Merlier into him didn't help.

Edit: Looks like it was Van Asbroeck

 

[Billie]

What a disgusting final km lfmao

 

[Samamba]

Good old Nokere. You hope someone can finally stay away in this race, but in the end it's a sprint with a big crash and Merlier winning.

Every single year.

 

[GenericBoonenFan]

The day Rickaert retires will be a beautiful day for cycling. Then again, almost every rider on Alpecin is a complete moron, so they'll have no trouble finding the next knucklehead to tackle a few riders.

Fishing for anther ban are we?

 

[DNP-Old]

Fishing for anther ban are we?

You know I'm right.

 

[GenericBoonenFan]

If Merlier didn't get that push from Van Asbroeck, he wouldn't have hit Rickaert and Rickaert wouldn't have fallen. These things happen nearly every other sprint....

 

[Rob5091]

Easy peasy for Merlier's third in a row at the race - chapeau! Shame about the crash in the last km as that messed things up, but that's racing.

 

[DNP-Old]

If Merlier didn't get that push from Van Asbroeck, he wouldn't have hit Rickaert and Rickaert wouldn't have fallen. These things happen nearly every other sprint....

This ain't the argument you think it is.

 

[Volderke]

Fishing for anther ban are we?

Well, it wasn't smart what Rickaert did. Either you finish a pull and move out of the way, or you let yourself being swarmed but you keep speed.
Rickaert got swarmed without speed, in a 70K/hr downhill. A recipe for disaster.

 

[Salvarani]

Three in a row here for Merlier. Who does he think he is? Pog?

 

[Samamba]

Fishing for anther ban are we?

Can't be negative about a certain team that is the culprit for a lot of crashes in sprint anymore? It was a ridiculously dumb move. At least this time he wasn't doing it on purpose I guess.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Fishing for anther ban are we?

I see posters talk sht and call names regarding cyclists all the time, i never see them getting banned.

 

[GenericBoonenFan]

This ain't the argument you think it is.

Good luck reinventing sprints without lead-outs...

 

[Samamba]

Do other teams watch videos from other years back. Merlier does exactly the same thing here every single time. He goes early with speed from the descending part and always comes from behind.

 

[DNP-Old]

Good luck reinventing sprints without lead-outs...

Being a lead-out doesn't give you a pass of driving like a buffoon. Rickaert is a danger on wheels. He is out there to actively hinder other riders. He did the same thing in Tirreno, but on top of that tried to cut off Merlier who was trying to move up positions.

But hey, this happens all the time, so it's all good! Roflmao. It was only a matter of time before he made people crash, it happened today. It's going to happen again. And if it ain't him, it'll be another doodlehead on Alpecin like Vermeersch.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Good old Nokere. You hope someone can finally stay away in this race, but in the end it's a sprint with a big crash and Merlier winning.

Every single year.

Ludovic Robeet: Not gone, but forgotten.

 

[GenericBoonenFan]

Honestly, Am I the only one that saw that the actual cause of the crash was Van Asbroeck pushing Merlier? Which resulted in him hitting Rickaert?

 

[Volderke]

Do other teams watch videos from other years back. Merlier does exactly the same thing here every single time. He goes early with speed from the descending part and always comes from behind.

But this time, watching the replay, you see his lead-out (Van Lerberghe) blocking every single sprinter while looking left and right (to see if Merlier was still around). Unintentional by Van Lerberghe, but I've never seen a lead out so effectively slowing down all sprinters on his wheel except for Merlier!

 

[Wvv]

The Israel rider pushing Merlier into Rickaert was Ackermann. The Intermarché train for Thijssen were the biggest victims of the crash.

 

[Volderke]

Honestly, Am I the only one that saw that the actual cause of the crash was Van Asbroeck pushing Merlier? Which resulted in him hitting Rickaert?

You have to take the massive speed difference into account: Rickaert stopped pedalling while being squeezed left / right and center.

 

[Ricco']

Honestly, Am I the only one that saw that the actual cause of the crash was Van Asbroeck pushing Merlier? Which resulted in him hitting Rickaert?

Rickaert's move was reckless. Turning off from the race in the middle of the road is a recipe for disaster. If he was going at the same speed as Merlier and Van Asbroeck, he would be much more capable of sustain a shoulder charge, while getting hit in a much lower speed is a almost guaranteed crash.

 

[Samamba]

But this time, watching the replay, you see his lead-out (Van Lerberghe) blocking every single sprinter while looking left and right (to see if Merlier was still around). Unintentional by Van Lerberghe, but I've never seen a lead out so effectively slowing down all sprinters on his wheel except for Merlier!

Even without that, he always has so much more speed coming from behind cause everyone at the front it's too early to go.

It's funny. I was talking with Milan Menten about this yesterday evening. He knew exactly what was gonna happen, so he was prepared and was just gonna try to do the same. Sadly he touched his breaks when they crashed so he was on a 10m gap and out of it.

 

[Tim Cahill]

Alpecin

Van Lerberghe looking left then swerving right into the group as Merlier was kicking I mean, though he probably would've won anyway.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Honestly, Am I the only one that saw that the actual cause of the crash was Van Asbroeck pushing Merlier? Which resulted in him hitting Rickaert?

Easy to say from a helicopter view, but in theory you are right. However, right before he actually crashed, he already nearly caused a crash 5 seconds earlier.