Liège-Bastogne-Liège: April 28th, 2019

[Velolover2]

I really hope they keep this route. It feels more like they are racing a classics than a stage race. In a classics, it's supposed to be mano a mano.. not lead-out mano a lead-out mano before the last km.

The group of isolated GC favorites weren't used to collaborate in a race like this but they better get used to it.

Fuglsang was superior this year. But tactics will become important if the riders are somewhat equal.

 

[Max Rockatansky]

Re: Re:

Dan Martin says he’s still recovering from the illness that caused him to DNF Fleche, so he will be riding for Ulissi.

UAE have cards to play with. Ulissi seem to be in form. Henao and Costa too. They also have Pogacar.

Pogačar outclassed the overpaid rest clearly.

 

[Gigs_98]

Re: Re:

Well done Jakob. On the other note I did prefer the previous final with climbs.

Why though? The last esitions of this race were so much worse than todays race.

Disagree. At least in past years there was usually action from saint-nicholas to the end, this was literally the second half of roche aux faucons to the little rise after the false flat. Not saying it's tthe route's fault, the shite weather played its part, but it was definitely on par, if not worse, to previous years

I don't know. I admit the race was over the second Formolo couldn't hold Fuglsang's wheel but there was some action earlier (nothing huge but there was more going on prior to La Redoute than in previous years) and sadly I don't even think previous editions were always great from Saint Nicholas onwards. 2016, or whichever year it was when Poels won, riders didn't even attack there but waited for that added ramp 2 kilometers from the finish or so. Of course that was again a different route but even in the years with the classic Ans finish I can remember cases where you would just watch mediocre attack after mediocre attack knowing that the only ones who could possibly blow up the race were waiting for the uphill drag to Ans. In some of those post 2010 editions won by Valverde or Gerrans the race didn't really start until the 1 km marker and I think that was way worse than what we witnessed today.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Yeah, UAE are such a horrible team. They cant seem to get anything right, how are you going to Liege with that roster and dont deliver anything and leaving your neo pro to do the best result?

 

[Gigs_98]

Re:

But, but, but... I thought it was meant to be a sprinters race now?

Hahaha, this exactly
Actually quite sad that so many people who should know something about the sport suddenly wrote previews for this race declaring Michael Matthews the pre race favorite because this was now supposed to be another Milano Sanremo. Remember the outcry by some why every race has to be turned into a sprinters classic? :lol:

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re: Re:

But, but, but... I thought it was meant to be a sprinters race now?

Hahaha, this exactly
Actually quite sad that so many people who should know something about the sport suddenly wrote previews for this race declaring Michael Matthews the pre race favorite because this was now supposed to be another Milano Sanremo. Remember the outcry by some why every race has to be turned into a sprinters classic? :lol:

People who thought guys like GVA, Sagan and Matthews could win this race absolutely know nothing about cycling tbh. Well, ill modify that, a super peak shape Matthews would have very, very little chances and would have to depend either the favorites being shite or playing waiting games. Wont happen.

 

[Red Rick]

Re:

But, but, but... I thought it was meant to be a sprinters race now?

Dig up who said it

Laugh at them for a few minutes

Disagree with them and be right by default in future

If they predict sun comes up tomorrow, live like it's your last night on earth

 

[Red Rick]

Re: Re:

Awful race, a whole 3k of suspense. Fuglsang was quite a bit better than everyone else, who clearly were extremely tired which was probably the reason why nobody attacked.

Obviously this route is here to stay.

Ideally they'd make the middle of the race much harder, ditch the first few hills, ditch Redoute, and ditch RaF too.

? are you suggesting replacing those last climbs or just have a chunk of climbs in the middle and then 40k flat at the end? It would become a gent-wevelgem without the cobbles and with some harder climbs

Aslong as there is a hard final climb then everyone waits for the hard final climb.

If you make a final 20-50km with a lot of climbs in succession, but nothing (maybe an easy climb like AGR) in the final 20km it forces riders to make an earlier selection, unless they want a sprint.

I dont mind the climbs before the final 50km.

Cote de Forges or Cote do Colonster are good enough. No flat 40km but nothing as hard as La Redoute or RaF.

Especially the RaF. I really like that climb but it simply needs to go

 

[Bardamu]

Grande Jakob, he had it coming. How did Danish television react to his near crash?

 

[Laplaz]

What about the time on RaF? Should be near the record I think.

 

[Sestriere]

Apperently, when Alaphilippe was riding next to Fuglsang ahead of La Redoute he said to him: "I hope you win today.", as he felt he didn't have it today.

 

[Red Rick]

By the way.

What the hell were Nibali and Theuns doing, getting 7th and 8th in a 6 man group

 

[Son of Amsterhammer]

Happy with the winner, but the race wasn't the best. I suspect the conditions had a lot to do with that.

 

[Krokro]

I now remember why I did not watch LBL for a while. What a borefest it is.
Eventhough it's the oldest and one of the most prestigious, it's not enough to make it an interesting race to watch at all..

But congrats to Fuglsang, that one is well deserved. Obviously the strongest rider of this spring alongside Balaphilippe and MVDP. What a ride!

 

[armchairclimber]

I sometimes wonder if some people have just watched the last 20km and then come on to denounce a bore fest. There were several breaks and attempted escapes beforehand ... they just didn't succeed. I used to like the finale in Ans but I thought today was a better race to watch.

 

[Salvarani]

Yeah, it wasnt bad at all.

And a group did attack early. Strong riders was in that group. Then Wellens also tried. Peloton managed the gap pretty good though and favorites could still catch up and go fast in RaF.

Fuglsang was just too strong today. Then everyone arriving in small groups behind. Sure, weather during the race made everyone maybe a little bit more tired... but it was a good race anyway with the route change.

 

[Robert5091]

So Fuglsang and Astana finally get their big win this Spring. One little dicey moment near the end but he seemed just to ride away from everyone else - powerfull stuff.

Chapeau to Bora sans Sagan but 2nd and 3rd. No big finale for Team Sky - now history - adieu!

 

[Bolder]

The decisive point for Fuglsang was having 4 teammates with him before launching the final attack. That's something you'd normally see in a GT mountain stage. He was the strongest when he needed to be but he was able to conserve a lot of energy when others were wasting it. I was disappointed that no one else count mount a real challenge but what could they have done? We've seen in Armstrong and Sky's TdF wins that the combination of strongest team and strong rider is nearly impossible to beat.

 

[tobydawq]

Re:

The decisive point for Fuglsang was having 4 teammates with him before launching the final attack. That's something you'd normally see in a GT mountain stage. He was the strongest when he needed to be but he was able to conserve a lot of energy when others were wasting it. I was disappointed that no one else count mount a real challenge but what could they have done? We've seen in Armstrong and Sky's TdF wins that the combination of strongest team and strong rider is nearly impossible to beat.

That was really not the reason he won, no.

 

[Bolder]

Re: Re:

The decisive point for Fuglsang was having 4 teammates with him before launching the final attack. That's something you'd normally see in a GT mountain stage. He was the strongest when he needed to be but he was able to conserve a lot of energy when others were wasting it. I was disappointed that no one else count mount a real challenge but what could they have done? We've seen in Armstrong and Sky's TdF wins that the combination of strongest team and strong rider is nearly impossible to beat.

That was really not the reason he won, no.

No? Would he have still won if he had to mix it up solo? Maybe, but you can't tell me having your own train isn't an advantage on a windy, rainy day. I did 120 km in the morning from Evreux to Paris, then watched the race, and I'm still pretty knackered.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Apart from the last 10 km before Roche, the team didnt really help him all that much. Gorka set a nice pace, but not for long. Obviously positioning before that climb matters, but yeah, not really the reason he won.

 

[Climbing]

If he had to go solo he would have gone earlier and won by 3 minutes, that is how strong it felt he was.

 

[tobydawq]

Re: Re:

The decisive point for Fuglsang was having 4 teammates with him before launching the final attack. That's something you'd normally see in a GT mountain stage. He was the strongest when he needed to be but he was able to conserve a lot of energy when others were wasting it. I was disappointed that no one else count mount a real challenge but what could they have done? We've seen in Armstrong and Sky's TdF wins that the combination of strongest team and strong rider is nearly impossible to beat.

That was really not the reason he won, no.

No? Would he have still won if he had to mix it up solo? Maybe, but you can't tell me having your own train isn't an advantage on a windy, rainy day. I did 120 km in the morning from Evreux to Paris, then watched the race, and I'm still pretty knackered.

Valv.Piti already said that the team had been very disorganised throughout the race. Then they helped him in the final part but he had been largely alone for some reason.

And it's not like the riders from the other teams don't screen him from the wind either, so I can't really see the relevance of your little story at the end.

He was massively stronger than the rest. I had the feeling this week that Fuglsang was the second-biggest favourite (in my mind) for a monument I have watched. Only Nibali in Lombardia 2017 was more difficult to imagine going wrong.

And he really proved me right.

 

[Lequack]

Gesink sustains broken collarbone and pelvis in Liege-Bastogne-Liege crash
Jumbo-Visma rider forced out of upcoming Giro d'Italia
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/gesink-sustains-broken-collarbone-and-pelvis-in-liege-bastogne-liege-crash/

 

[Bolder]

Re: Re:

The decisive point for Fuglsang was having 4 teammates with him before launching the final attack. That's something you'd normally see in a GT mountain stage. He was the strongest when he needed to be but he was able to conserve a lot of energy when others were wasting it. I was disappointed that no one else count mount a real challenge but what could they have done? We've seen in Armstrong and Sky's TdF wins that the combination of strongest team and strong rider is nearly impossible to beat.

That was really not the reason he won, no.

No? Would he have still won if he had to mix it up solo? Maybe, but you can't tell me having your own train isn't an advantage on a windy, rainy day. I did 120 km in the morning from Evreux to Paris, then watched the race, and I'm still pretty knackered.

Valv.Piti already said that the team had been very disorganised throughout the race. Then they helped him in the final part but he had been largely alone for some reason.

And it's not like the riders from the other teams don't screen him from the wind either, so I can't really see the relevance of your little story at the end.

He was massively stronger than the rest. I had the feeling this week that Fuglsang was the second-biggest favourite (in my mind) for a monument I have watched. Only Nibali in Lombardia 2017 was more difficult to imagine going wrong.

And he really proved me right.

Dawg, I think we mostly agree. As for the relevance of "my little story," Fuglsang himself said having the team come together to launch the attack was key:

"On the last climb, I had the team leaving me in the perfect position," he added. "Before the climb, they were a little bit everywhere most of the day but in the important moment they were there and they did an amazing job.

"Gorka [Izagirre] led me into Roche-aux-Faucons in a perfect way and when Woods launched his attack it was a perfect way for me to jump with him. I knew it from Friday when we saw the parcours that I could not wait, so I said 'on the first part of the Roche-aux-Faucons I have to do a selection if I cannot go alone.'