Liège-Bastogne-Liège 2023, one day monument, April 23 (men's)

[Berniece]

Think only VDP and Remco are making a real goal out of it?

Is it a goal for Remco? The road race I mean, because I mostly understood that the TT is a goal for him

 

[Riek s]

Is it a goal for Remco? The road race I mean, because I mostly understood that the TT is a goal for him

I know he said he wanted to have the TT title, since he hasn't got that one yet, but afaik both are in the goal for him. (followed by Il lombardia which is his final goal of the season)

 

[search]

those guys coming from Trentino did pretty well today, with four of them in (or close to) the first chasing group:

3rd Buitrago
8th Konrad
14th Sivakov
18th Paret-Peintre

Vlasov looked alright as well until he crashed out, but leaving the race early probably wasn't necessary in the end.

 

[Pantani_lives]

Big duels like these are usually decided by a mechanical or a crash.

I wish this hadn't come true...

 

[Netserk]

Did you try sending your suggestion to the race organizers? (FYI: this is a serious question, not as a joke or as a laugh)

No, and if I ever muster the hubris (or self-confidence, you could say) needed to do so, it would have to be prepared and presented professionally. Tracing routes is more of a creative hobby, a different way to think about cycling, both past and present.

And that is thanks to @Libertine Seguros, of course.

 

[Leinster]

Bring back the old finishes at Cauberg and Ans so everything is decided at the end like FW.

Yeah nah. The Ans finish would have given Healy a better chance against Pidcock and Buitrago. That’s about the only difference it would have made.

The Liege finish gave us the 5-up sprints, seconds ahead of a chasing group, if the previous 2 editions. Definitely an improvement on what went before in the 2010s.

 

[Leinster]

What happened to the second tier riders climbers who used to do really well in this race? Seems like it’s just full of random names behind the big two

6 of the top 10 are aged 24 or younger, and all look destined to have that “2nd tier climber” type career, or better, ahead of them.

The remaining 4 (Madouas, Martin, Benoot, Konrad) are exactly the sort of names (guys with solid classics/GC results, couple KOM jerseys, some GT stage wins etc between them) that you expect to see in a Liege top 10. The weather probably giving a flahute like Benoot a better result than he might get on a dry day.

 

[Lequack]

 

[Tim Cahill]

When I had my scaphoid surgery I was out of the cast in 4 weeks, it was trying to regain proper range of motion in my wrist that was more troublesome, though you'd think he was being seen by the very best, probably having that stem cell s*it that your Cristiano Ronaldos get.

 

[dobrien]

Alright, give Evenepoel good weather and some motivation to further increase the gap and its easily 2.30-3 minutes today. Lets be honest now, this was more convincing. We knew the race was over the moment Pidcock was dropped.

I like the new route, the small climb after Redoute is worth shortening the real climb for, Borges into Roche aux Faucons + the drag is quite the final.

I really like that drag; it suits only the very strongest, as it should.

 

[Escarabajo]

He looks happy to go.... home.
It came a race too fast but well deserved. I am sure he will be ready for the Tour.

 

[Escarabajo]

What happened to the second tier riders climbers who used to do really well in this race? Seems like it’s just full of random names behind the big two

I rate Santiago Buitrago in that list, or am I missing something?
He is just too young and have not accumulated a lot of races yet.
As for the other ones. I heard there was a long list of sick people around the peloton. For Example Higuita went in and out of the starting list twice. Mas was sick, Gaudu was sick. I am not sure I heard that Vlasov was as well. After seeing Landa last Wednesday I question if he wasn't sick either. Why were they in the starting line up? don't know. Maybe they weren't sick enough but in high competition cycling even the slight cold is enough to slow you down.

 

[Escarabajo]

Good point. And even if we don't know the exact premises here, it's still bad for cycling. Cycling is essentially about groups having advantages that the lone rider doesn't have - that mechanism is no longer in effect when the riders "from another planet" are participating.

Relax, two Merckxs at the same time only happens every 150 years, so I am happy to be watching it. Gosh, the Halley's comet passes through the earth more often than these guys at the same time!

 

[Escarabajo]

Don’t want to put this in the Pog thread. Seems best here. But a little while ago, a heated discussion had poginators (or simply Remco haters) saying the two were not even close based off of Pog’s spring. I warned that things/perceptions could change as they did last year based off of the riders goals.

Pog has had an absolute stunningly super spring (even better than last spring!).

However, as I mentioned during that discussion, should Remco get a result at LBL and then at the Giro, he could potentially take over as #1. Should he actually WIN the giro, then he would be the holder of two GTs at the same time at age 23…

I agree that Pog is the best rider at the moment, but to say he is in a “completely different league” is utterly ridiculous.

What?
I think you have been a long time forum member but this is the most insane thing that I have heard here. And to make things worse you added "utterly" . I am sure I misunderstood your post. I hope.

 

[theyoungest]

Finally a race in which two of the world's best climbers are there... and then one crashes out. I feel like we've mostly been watching solo rides for the past few weeks.

Today Tratnik was the only one who tried to prevent this scenario, unfortunately he got hardly any help. In hindsight he may even have been one of the strongest riders in the race (behind Evenepoel, obv)

 

[Big Doopie]

I am sure I misunderstood your post.

Clearly. Lol.

 

[Danskebjerge]

Relax, two Merckxs at the same time only happens every 150 years, so I am happy to be watching it. Gosh, the Halley's comet passes through the earth more often than these guys at the same time!

This kind of dominance may be interesting in sports in which technical abilities are important (tennis, football etc.). It's not interesting in endurance sports.

 

[Danskebjerge]

I think this particular win was a dominant rider against weak competition, but it was still better to watch than average riders riding defensively. As long as there's multiple dominant-like riders (which there are) it's completely fine and good for the sport, as most of them happen to have some personality as well which is not a given.

Normally I would have agreed with you, but when the big races are decided in predictable manners time and time again - like in this season -, they are lacking what is rather essential in cycling: suspense. Yes, we have previously seen favourites winning, but a rider Valverde didn't win by going solo in the last hour. That's what Pogacar and Evenepoel are doing repeatedly. And they win all kinds of races while Valverde had weaknesses in certain of them.

And of course, Valverde wasn't the cleanest rider.

 

[hayneplane]

Absolutely gutted that we ended up with the biggest what if in cycling since 2014 TDF but maximum respect for Remco to deliver emphatically when having to switch mindset from the big duel to suddenly being an overwhelming favourite and do so on home roads as the nations darling.

 

[Panda Claws]

Did you try sending your suggestion to the race organizers? (FYI: this is a serious question, not as a joke or as a laugh)


but glassglow might not feature Pog & vingegaard. WVA rides the tour, so depending how vingegaard does, he might be out or burned as well. (unless he restricts his efforts).

Think only VDP and Remco are making a real goal out of it?

WVA would do himself such a disservice if he did not make sure he had something left for the WC.

 

[Gratemans]

Don’t want to put this in the Pog thread. Seems best here. But a little while ago, a heated discussion had poginators (or simply Remco haters) saying the two were not even close based off of Pog’s spring. I warned that things/perceptions could change as they did last year based off of the riders goals.

Pog has had an absolute stunningly super spring (even better than last spring!).

However, as I mentioned during that discussion, should Remco get a result at LBL and then at the Giro, he could potentially take over as #1. Should he actually WIN the giro, then he would be the holder of two GTs at the same time at age 23…

I agree that Pog is the best rider at the moment, but to say he is in a “completely different league” is utterly ridiculous.

I think trying to put a #1 badge on anyone is futile, if not slightly childish.
There definitely is a "different league" though. And it contains six riders.

 

[dazaau]

Finally a race in which two of the world's best climbers are there... and then one crashes out. I feel like we've mostly been watching solo rides for the past few weeks.

Today Tratnik was the only one who tried to prevent this scenario, unfortunately he got hardly any help. In hindsight he may even have been one of the strongest riders in the race (behind Evenepoel, obv)

RVV was amazing, roubaix was good and flech was flech - couldn't ask for more. This and amstel ended up being a procession, but all is not lost.

I would not have stayed up to watch if my mate wasn't coming over. Now I have to try be productive on sleep deprivation

 

[Big Doopie]

I think trying to put a #1 badge on anyone is futile, if not slightly childish.
There definitely is a "different league" though. And it contains six riders.

The number 1 simply referred to either one of the points systems, that’s all. Just another way of pointing out that the gap is not a chasm (if it is even a gap).

I agree that putting a label on them is complicated at best.

 

[Pirazziattacks]

Normally I would have agreed with you, but when the big races are decided in predictable manners time and time again - like in this season -, they are lacking what is rather essential in cycling: suspense. Yes, we have previously seen favourites winning, but a rider Valverde didn't win by going solo in the last hour. That's what Pogacar and Evenepoel are doing repeatedly. And they win all kinds of races while Valverde had weaknesses in certain of them.

And of course, Valverde wasn't the cleanest rider.

Absolutely. With Valverde you knew what you were going to get, he was always beatable by a stronger rider on the day or someone who got their sprint right. Obviously that isn't relevant to Fleche, but it's a special case.

 

[dazaau]

Don’t want to put this in the Pog thread. Seems best here. But a little while ago, a heated discussion had poginators (or simply Remco haters) saying the two were not even close based off of Pog’s spring. I warned that things/perceptions could change as they did last year based off of the riders goals.

Pog has had an absolute stunningly super spring (even better than last spring!).

However, as I mentioned during that discussion, should Remco get a result at LBL and then at the Giro, he could potentially take over as #1. Should he actually WIN the giro, then he would be the holder of two GTs at the same time at age 23…

I agree that Pog is the best rider at the moment, but to say he is in a “completely different league” is utterly ridiculous.

I'm sorry. But this is madness. They haven't even raced each other recently. And tour always, and forever, is bigger than the giro.

Remco is amazing, but do not tell me that winning liege and the giro puts him above Pog.

RvV>liege
Tour>giro

not to mention all the other races.

Remco is indeed freakishly good, and seems only to be getting better. That is indeed scary.