Lesser known races thread 2022

[lemon cheese cake]

Lol at the top 10 they published. Marchand, Van Lerberghe and Mørkøv as 8th, 9th and 10th. Were they just drawing random names from the start list to fill in those places?

Bike changes for Kristoff and maybe others I guess. Or issues with rain and the timing chips

 

[yaco]

Strange tactics by BEX and Alpecin - Bex had four riders in the peleton with live chances in Matthews and Groves, yet only rode at the front with 5kms to go, while Alpecin had multiple riders with Merlier in the peleton, yet relied on Bayer from the break who was not favored to win - Strange indeed!

 

[RedheadDane]

Lol at the top 10 they published. Marchand, Van Lerberghe and Mørkøv as 8th, 9th and 10th. Were they just drawing random names from the start list to fill in those places?

At least Marchand was actually in the break.

 

[tobydawq]

Bike changes for Kristoff and maybe others I guess. Or issues with rain and the timing chips

I think there were a couple of Quickstep riders who finished around number 20. But definitely not much earlier.

 

[Jagartrott]

Well, that was kinda exciting. Sprint of corpses on bikes - deader than dead.

 

[Devil's Elbow]

Strange tactics by BEX and Alpecin - Bex had four riders in the peleton with live chances in Matthews and Groves, yet only rode at the front with 5kms to go, while Alpecin had multiple riders with Merlier in the peleton, yet relied on Bayer from the break who was not favored to win - Strange indeed!

Alpecin at least got a third place out of the race with Bayer. BEX are racing like they don't want to stay in the WT.

 

[Samamba]

Alpecin at least got a third place out of the race with Bayer. BEX are racing like they don't want to stay in the WT.

They almost got so lucky that LTS tried to gift them big points by pulling the last 40k for their sprinter that was sitting at home.

Alpecin didn't do anything wrong. They gave Baier their chance, why not. It's not like they really really needed this win. BEX on the other hand, incredible.

 

[yaco]

They almost got so lucky that LTS tried to gift them big points by pulling the last 40k for their sprinter that was sitting at home.

Alpecin didn't do anything wrong. They gave Baier their chance, why not. It's not like they really really needed this win. BEX on the other hand, incredible.

Alpecin had the fastest sprinter in a reduced sprint field - Every win is needed.

 

[Jumbo Visma Fan :)]

Alpecin had the fastest sprinter in a reduced sprint field - Every win is needed.

Not in terms of relegation and just in general.

 

[yaco]

Not in terms of relegation and just in general.

Yes.

 

[tobydawq]

At least Marchand was actually in the break.

Ah, apparently I have lost my ability to count.

 

[RedheadDane]

Ah, apparently I have lost my ability to count.

So... you're gonna stop teasing me about my bad math now?

 

[Mayomaniac]

Apparently Fortunato crashed yesterday and was pretty banged up, that explains his rather poor result today.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Ah, apparently I have lost my ability to count.

At least that's not a useful skill in your line of work anyway.

So... you're gonna stop teasing me about my bad math now?

Well I guess a girl is allowed to dream.

 

[Ricco']

Alpecin had the fastest sprinter in a reduced sprint field - Every win is needed.

It was Merlier's first race in two months post injury. Adding to that, it was a hard day from the beginning with heavy conditions, I wouldn't think he would be the fastest sprinter from the beginning (it was the perfect kind of race for Kristoff).

Bayer otoh comes with a decent shape from the Giro and has shown there to be capable of being relatively fast in a sprint in a couple of occasions. Plus he has a somewhat decent engine (former ITT champion of his country in youth ranks), top-10 at Worlds last year in a similar kind of route), so I don't see it as a strange tactic.

The way the race was run, I wouldn't see Merlier able to reach the final podium today.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

And I thought the sprint in Bruxelles was dramatic, wow!
(Stop at 1:20, if you don't want to see the horrible pictures)

https://twitter.com/x/status/1533495502972637185

View: https://twitter.com/faustocoppi60/status/1533495502972637185

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

One of those Twitter replies says that Chia said in an interview that his wife was OK and that she had not lost consciousness: it was mainly shock.

But ooooohh

 

[tobydawq]

So... you're gonna stop teasing me about my bad math now?

No.

 

[Mayomaniac]

I know that the field in the Adriatica-Ionica race isn't exactly stacked, but for a 74kg guy like Zoccarato finishing 10th on Monte Grappa in his first race after crashing out of the Giro is still a good result.

 

[tobydawq]

Bike changes for Kristoff and maybe others I guess. Or issues with rain and the timing chips

Results are in and it turns out Van Lerbeghe was 43rd and Mørkøv 75th. I wonder what happened there...

They were the two first riders on the startlist (numbers 4 and 5) who finished the race, so I wonder if that is some sort of reason. It seems very weird, though.

 

[Escarabajo]

And I thought the sprint in Bruxelles was dramatic, wow!
(Stop at 1:20, if you don't want to see the horrible pictures)

https://twitter.com/x/status/1533495502972637185

View: https://twitter.com/faustocoppi60/status/1533495502972637185

Oh my dear!! I heard about it in the news, but only have seen it until now. There are so many things that can go wrong at a sprint finish like dangerous curves, stupid moto drivers, stupid fans, rain, bad roads, dangerous maneuvers. Well, we have all here in one finish. I guess they should have stopped the race before they went into the center of the city.

 

[Wvv]

Herregodts really disappointed with how he and his teammate handled the last kilometer. He still had power in the legs and felt like he had a good shot at winning. His sprint for fourth was quite strong in the end, easily overtook Welten. Looking forward to his Belgium Tour.

 

[hayneplane]

Never seen a flat sprint like that feel so much like it was the slow motion replay.

Taco time always delivers entertainment

 

[kingjr]

Never seen a flat sprint like that feel so much like it was the slow motion replay.

Taco time always delivers entertainment

Reminded me of Erviti's stage win at the Vuelta '08, which was a bit less extreme, but I thought it looked very funny at the time.

 

[Bonimenier]

Never seen a flat sprint like that feel so much like it was the slow motion replay.

Taco time always delivers entertainment

The final (and more) of KBK when Traksel won, felt like it was broadcasted at half speed.