March 27-29: 36th KBC Driedaagse van De Panne - Koksijde (2.HC)

[JRanton]

Which Omega rider was set up for the sprint?

 

[FF'Wilco]

Durbridge in perfect position for overall win.

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

Durbridge in perfect position for overall win.

tuft will eat him

anyway. today was one of the best stages I've seen in quite some time

 

[Eyeballs Out]

Sergent finished in the lead group as well

 

[maltiv]

1 Peter Sagan (Svk) Liquigas-Cannondale 4:33:41
2 Jacopo Guarnieri (Ita) Astana
3 Fabio Sabatini (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale
4 Maciej Bodnar (Pol) Liquigas-Cannondale
5 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Katusha Team
6 Elia Favilli (Ita) Farense Vini-Selle Italia
7 Marcel Sieberg (Ger) Lotto-Belisol
8 Baptiste Planckaert (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Euphony
9 Tom Van Asbroeck (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen-Mercator
10 Yauheni Hutarovich (Blr) FDJ-Big Mat

Guardini nowhere, who said Guardini was 2nd ?

Actually Kristoff was 4th, that's the GC you got there (CN also mixed them up in their report).

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

tuft will eat him

anyway. today was one of the best stages I've seen in quite some time

westra will devour them both. Without Wiggins here there is no one who can come close to him

 

[Mellow Velo]

Westra for me, too. This is his race.
Disappointing stage overall though, for the GC selection.
Several times it looked like we might get some small time gaps,
but in the end that was quite a big bunch that came in together.

I wish they'd swap day one and two around................
..........it'll never happen, though.

 

[Lance Armstrong]

Don't forget bonus seconds. Sagan is already +10 and may be +20 on Thursday. That could be comfortable lead especially if TT is technical.

 

[theyoungest]

Don't forget bonus seconds. Sagan is already +10 and may be +20 on Thursday. That could be comfortable lead especially if TT is technical.

It's not technical at all. Long straights, completely flat. Sure, Sagan might defend a 20 second lead, but only just.

I'm not so sure about Westra's chances, I'm afraid his weight loss has hurt his qualities as a rouleur a little bit. He's the best climber in the race, but unfortunately the weather and the course doesn't help.

 

[Flamin]

Don't forget bonus seconds. Sagan is already +10 and may be +20 on Thursday. That could be comfortable lead especially if TT is technical.

I doubt Sagan couldn't care less about the overall. This is the last bit of training for him for Flanders. He's been going full gas and riding finales since Tirreno, so he doesn't look like he desperately needs the extra kilometers anyway.

 

[Mellow Velo]

Jesse Sergent to be this year's Shack's Seb Rosseler?

 

[maltiv]

I doubt Sagan couldn't care less about the overall. This is the last bit of training for him for Flanders. He's been going full gas and riding finales since Tirreno, so he doesn't look like he desperately needs the extra kilometers anyway.

He's been going full gas since Qatar. Could be a little too much for him, particularly if he goes for the GC here. I remember in 2010 Liquigas over-raced him in the beginning, resulting in him suddenly starting to ride very poorly before they gave him a longer break.

 

[Flamin]

He's been going full gas since Qatar. Could be a little too much for him, particularly if he goes for the GC here. I remember in 2010 Liquigas over-raced him in the beginning, resulting in him suddenly starting to ride very poorly before they gave him a longer break.

Well yeah, he contested in bunch sprints in Qatar and Oman, but these were still preparation races nonetheless. Everyone who wants to perform in (early) spring digs deep in February, in order to build up resistance. But by full gas I mean really full gas. What he has been doing since Tirreno, in other words. Lighting up finales in really hard races.

Yeah, Liquigas hasn't really been giving him the take-it-slow-treatment, though he looks fine to me atm. Although I don't really expect him on Sunday anyway, no matter if he's in super shape or he has been overdoing things. De Ronde is just another story and I think his lack of experience will be a too big of a factor.

 

[UselessToo]

Sagan said after first stage that in further two days Liquigas will help Sabatini and Bodnar...

 

[Lexman]

westra will devour them both. Without Wiggins here there is no one who can come close to him

you forget Chavanel

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

you forget Chavanel

a guy who can come within 2 seconds of wiggins >>> chavanel

 

[Froome19]

Dont want to hit him with a curse or anything but watch out for Keukeleire

 

[El Pistolero]

a guy who can come within 2 seconds of wiggins >>> chavanel

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Vuelta_a_España,_Stage_1_to_Stage_11

 

[Gloin22]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Vuelta_a_España,_Stage_1_to_Stage_11

Times changed, did Chava produce any good performance last year in TT's that would suggest he would beat Westra who's in top form as seen in PN ?

 

[El Pistolero]

Chava has always been good in time trials. Are you implying he isn't in top form lol?

 

[Gloin22]

Chava has always been good in time trials. Are you implying he isn't in top form lol?

Where did he produce good TT last year ? Because you gave us 2008 results, no quite relevant in 2011/2012 imo

Yea, 6th in the Nats was his best TT last year So I think his TT worsend

 

[El Pistolero]

And a mountain time trial is relevant to this time trial? OK...

 

[Gloin22]

And a mountain time trial is relevant to this time trial? OK...

No. But if not the rain on prologue he would have come Top 5 imo. Chava produced no good TT's last year and with Westra's good results I just think Westra will beat him. Although I am not sure if Westra is the top favoruite for TT as you said, it was a mountain TT. There are other good contenders here. I just think Chava won't do as well as you think.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

And a mountain time trial is relevant to this time trial? OK...

as if westra can't do well in pan flat time trial

unless he gets sick again like last year (where even with illness he finished 2nd), he will have no competition from chavanel

expect much more competition from those young guns like sergent and durbridge though

 

[El Pistolero]

No. But if not the rain on prologue he would have come Top 5 imo. Chava produced no good TT's last year so I just Westra will beat him. Although I am not sure if Westra is the top favoruite for TT as you said, it was a mountain TT. There are other good contenders here. I just think Chava won't do as well as you think.

I'm not claiming Chava will win, I'm saying that Westra isn't guaranteed to win here

Wiggins was also riding in the rain during the prologue, no excuses. He lost 19 seconds there to Wiggins.