Liège - Bastogne - Liège 2026, one-day monument, 26th April

[KoopaCycling]

Pidcock was having a better chance against Pogacar than against a full peloton, but you were defending a theory that he shouldn't work.
Following this narrative all the teams should leave Red Bull (and UAE/Decathlon) to destroy themselves in relentless chase and attack later ?

No, cause i assumed that Pogacar would ride and NEVER allow the peloton back

 

[YavorD]

if you only care about first you should also ride at this point

getting caught by the peloton doesnt make you more likely to win

I never said the opposite.
I repeat myself, EVERY TEAM should work to get the best possible result. The thing is people would be saying that teams shouldn't work if Pogacar is in front.

 

[Heston]

The race should be downgraded to 1.1 if it isn't broadcast on TV from the 0 km mark.

Well to be fair the first 150 km of Liege are usually incredibly dull. The whole race has been boring for many years now.

Its just today legendary stuff is happening and we need pictures

 

[AmRacer]

Nah, as i said, it's better to face up against Remco alone, than against 3 supernova's.
Especially since G1 is big meaning someone like Hermans would only need to soft pull whilst his teammate actually pulls.

RBH should pull G1, the rest just suck wheel.

 

[YavorD]

No, cause i assumed that Pogacar would ride and NEVER allow the peloton back

So you assume Red Bull would stop?

 

[RealKwaremonster]

This has the potential to develop into a legendary LBL with a surprise winner. But groups have to start attacking from group one before la Redoute.

 

[Netserk]

Pidcock was having a better chance against Pogacar than against a full peloton, but you were defending a theory that he shouldn't work.
Following this narrative all the teams should leave Red Bull (and UAE/Decathlon) to destroy themselves in relentless chase and attack later ?

its a good gamble for pidders in the finale of sanremo to bet that pogi would still be the favourite even if he didnt help him , so hed be more likely to win if he sat on

at some point in this race , it will also be a good bet for everyone else up front to stop working and wait for a time to fuga the fuga . but not yet

 

[Low is rhe new high]

Yes it needs to balloon further to 5 minutes, but it seems to be coming down. they'll slowly reel them back.
And Pogacar and Seixas will be fresher than a riding Remco.
As i would prefer a Remco win, i hope G2 fails to organise and let UAE ride alone. But they are organising as we speak with Decathlon helping.

Why would Pogacar and Sexias be fresher Remco will not work in G1? When they catch up ( I believe they will) the Red Bull and Ineos domestics will have had a free ride. This will make the race much more difficult from la redout onwards. Pogacar is still the favorite buy margins but not as much

 

[Salvarani]

its a good gamble for pidders in the finale of sanremo to bet that pogi would still be the favourite even if he didnt help him , so hed be more likely to win if he sat on

at some point in this race , it will also be a good bet for everyone else up front to stop working and wait for a time to fuga the fuga . but not yet

And potentially squander his one and only chance to win it? Right.

 

[Netserk]

I never said the opposite.
I repeat myself, EVERY TEAM should work to get the best possible result. The thing is people would be saying that teams shouldn't work if Pogacar is in front.

you made it about riding for second , not about what is optimal for first

 

[KoopaCycling]

So you assume Red Bull would stop?

red Bull only has Denz. That's not enough at this point.
You need your domestiques in G1 to work still whilst soft pulling yourself.
That way you eliminate the two biggest favourites whilst saving your own legs. Once the gap is big enough, then you make Remco work. We have not reached that point yet. And we probably won't. as G2 will come back i think.

Meanwhile the peloton was never getting Pogacar back, and therefore Pidcock should have start sucking wheel.

 

[Tim Cahill]

I would be surprised if this gap holds, at some point the likes of Visma and Bahrain won't be able to realistically play the 'we've got Menno Huising and Pau Miquel up front in a group of 50' cards. The question is at what point does it come back and will it be long enough into the race for Evenepoel to have attacked either solo or with a small group.

 

[peterfin]

The race should be downgraded to 1.1 if it isn't broadcast on TV from the 0 km mark.

Yes. It's a total disaster. We are 2026. Any sports that takes itself serious has a TV broadcast during its biggest races.

 

[AmRacer]

red Bull only has Denz. That's not enough at this point.
You need your domestiques in G1 to work still whilst soft pulling yourself.
That way you eliminate the two biggest favourites whilst saving your own legs. Once the gap is big enough, then you make Remco work. We have not reached that point yet. And we probably won't. as G2 will come back i think.

Meanwhile the peloton was never getting Pogacar back, and therefore Pidcock should have start sucking wheel.

Then RBH should drop back to G2

 

[dobrien]

I say this race is far from over

I have this feeling too; the dynamic is going to change completely once we get to the serious hills. We could actually be in for some real drama...

 

[KoopaCycling]

Many people here have been complaining about some cyclists pull. The fact that you've changed your argument today because Remco is leading is obvious...

It seems you don't even bother reading my post. i did not change my argument.
You just try and make it sound like that. When Roubaix proved me right about San remo.

 

[Red Rick]

Liege hasn't been interesting before La Redoute for like 20 years now. Now something happens and people be crying about no broadcast from the start.

 

[Strawberry_Jams]

The irony of this whole tv debate is that this would never have happened if there was cameras. The confusion comes when it takes ages to work out who is where...

That front group still doesn't seem right to me when bernal is pulling but only has one teammate. Remco only has one. and the whole of decathlon and UAE behind. something doesn't add up

 

[YavorD]

its a good gamble for pidders in the finale of sanremo to bet that pogi would still be the favourite even if he didnt help him , so hed be more likely to win if he sat on

at some point in this race , it will also be a good bet for everyone else up front to stop working and wait for a time to fuga the fuga . but not yet

But Pidcock/Pogacar were never really in a big gambling position either.
At this point, the other teams are in a very decent gambling position . They could stop and see Red Bull's reaction. If Red Bull continue working, they won. If they stop, you start working again and you probably drop 20-30 seconds.
I think that's a gamble you can take.


But then again, either action by the other teams won't be wrong in this situation. Unless they stop totally, regardless of what Red Bull does. That would be stupid.

 

[KoopaCycling]

I never said the opposite.
I repeat myself, EVERY TEAM should work to get the best possible result. The thing is people would be saying that teams shouldn't work if Pogacar is in front.

This is true. You don't ride with the strongest rider. Pogacar >>> Remco. this is currently no debate.
You do ride with Remco as remco is tactically not always sound and will waste energy.
You can win against remco, not against pogacar.

 

[Salvarani]

Liege hasn't been interesting before La Redoute for like 20 years now. Now something happens and people be crying about no broadcast from the start.

That you would have an entirely different view with different dynamics is the hilarious part.

 

[peterfin]

Have we any view on what Remco is doing? Is he just freewheeling? Is Denz helping out.

 

[memyselfandI]

185k to go...it sooooo far from over, just needs one small crash in big front group and everything we've seen up to this far is nullified in a blink of an eye.

 

[Coppi-Bartali]

The hilarity of pretending it all works the same in Sanremo vs Liege.

If the names of the protagonists were reversed, those who are liking your message would clearly have said it the other way around in both races

 

[YavorD]

you made it about riding for second , not about what is optimal for first

But against Evenepoel you don't have a real shot at first in this race.
You have a slightly better chance than against Pogacar, but none of the riders in group one has a real shot at winning the race.
Let's be serious for a moment.