Official thread: Amstel/Fleche/Leige

[Pimich]

I think, the biggest surprise will be Fuente and Scarponi

 

[Pimich]

1.Valverde
2.Cunego
3.S.Sanchez
4.Cad.Evans
5.F.Schleck
6.A.Schleck
7.Rebellin
8.Gesink
9.Scarponi
10.Joaq.Rodriguez
11.Pfannberger
12.Fuente

My 12 Cycling

 

[stefrees]

My bet = Ben Swift (Neo Pro) will finish top 20.

You heard it here first

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

I say

1. Cunego
2. Evans
3. Valverde
4. F. Schleck
5. Dekker
6. Gesink
7. Rebellin
8. S. Sanchez
9. Pfannberger
10. J. Rodriguez

 

[53x11 in DC]

Ouch - that doesn't look good for Frank or Matty. Best of luck to both. And to think I was going to complain about Frank essentially getting a full tow up a climb by his mechanic.

 

[Jasper]

Schleck looks quite badly injured, I really hope he's allright

 

[53x11 in DC]

Looks like Andy is inspired to win one for his brother. Be interesting to see what he has left on the Cauberg. Needs to be patient on it.

 

[53x11 in DC]

Oh, and Valverde's bike is obnoxious.

 

[Jasper]

Wow, Valverde and Rebellin already dropped on the Keutenberg

 

[jaylew]

This is going to be some finish

 

[53x11 in DC]

GOOD ON IVANOV!!! He was definitely the biggest animator today. Strong all the way through. Great race for him. Disappointing for Saxo.

 

[Bala Verde]

oh no, how painful for the dutch... Gesink and Kroon in the final, no other explosive riders like Valverde or Cunego near, and then Ivanov takes it all. Granted, he rode a great race, but still, I am heartbroken

 

[Jasper]

And Gilbert beats Cunego in the sprint for 4th place. I bet he'll have a big "what if" feeling tonight. Too bad Silence was the only team that wanted to work in the chase on Ivanov and co.

Valverde and Rebellin were very disappointing today, I wonder if they can turn their form up a notch the next days, they'll need it.

 

[Zoncolan]

Well done to Ivanov, clearly the strongest today.
A bit dissapointed by lack of help for Silence boys.
Like I said, Scarponi did better than Rebellin

 

[jaylew]

Wanted to see one of the Dutch boys take it, but Ivanov deserved the win as he was clearly the strongest rider today. Nice season for Katusha so far.

 

[Mellow Velo]

Mattie Lloyd: Broken pelvis, out for months.
Incredibly, Frank Schleck appears to have suffered no major trauma.

 

[Jasper]

Only a minor concussion. He must have a guardian angel when you come to think of it: his fall in the 2007 Amstel and still finishing 10th with only a broken rib, plunging into a gorge in the Tour without any damage or injury, and now this...

 

[Buffalo Soldier]

I knew (/hoped) gilbert would be good. Seems he was even good enough to win today.

 

[jonjungel]

Only a minor concussion. He must have a guardian angel when you come to think of it: his fall in the 2007 Amstel and still finishing 10th with only a broken rib, plunging into a gorge in the Tour without any damage or injury, and now this...

Schleck was very lucky.

However, he seems to crash more often than most. Maybe it's his bike handling, maybe he just a "high-risk" kind of guy. But if I were Bjarne, I would try to do something about it.

And poor Matt Lloyd.... Whole season gone. Crashes like these are the worst part of cycling IMO.

 

[oxlabs]

L-b-l

L-B-L is a great race. it's amazing that certain riders have the specific strengths to win a race like this

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

An unexpected lead role for the Dutch today. We hoped for maybe a good result by Kroon, Gesink or hell even out-of-shape Dekker.

And the result is? 2 Dutch riders in a 3 man lead group, with behind them... Dekker chasing for Gilbert

Too bad it wasn't an happy ending for all 3 of them. Kroon and Gesink were not strong enough to beat Ivanov, and Dekker's work was for a 4th place from Gilbert. Heh, well though luck.

I give Gesink a big big chance for Fleche Wallone though, the way he went up and over Gilbert at the Keutenberg was a good preminition.

 

[il_fiammingo]

Why do they need to put 76 hills in this race if you only get the big guns to race after 230km?? Glad i could fast forward the tape.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

So you rather see a race where the big guns fire at 80km, and the last 35km are boring? (Tour of Flandres, Paris Roubaix)?

Well, personal opinion. I enjoyed this Amstel Gold Race. Always attacks from 70km on, the peloton never too far away, people falling off, 'big guns' who turned out to be too tired. Valverde cramping up, Rebellin losing. Sanchez dead. Love it.
Like Valverde said after the race "This is the hardest classic".

 

[il_fiammingo]

So you rather see a race where the big guns fire at 80km, and the last 35km are boring? (Tour of Flandres, Paris Roubaix)?

Well, personal opinion. I enjoyed this Amstel Gold Race. Always attacks from 70km on, the peloton never too far away, people falling off, 'big guns' who turned out to be too tired. Valverde cramping up, Rebellin losing. Sanchez dead. Love it.
Like Valverde said after the race "This is the hardest classic".

What's the definition of "hard"?? What does Valverde know? He never did P-R or Flanders.
I did enjoy Flanders & PR much more. Boring? not at all: attacks of Pozzato on the Berendries (40k to go), Devolder on the Eykenmolen (20k) and the Muur (15k). In PR the drama can happen on every cobbled sector. But yesterday the most exciting moment until the finale was the crash of Schleck. That says it all.

I don't understand; all the ingredients are there: beautifull hills, a high quality peloton and lots of people. But the result is an artificial parcours of 3 loops, a ridiculous number of climbs of which some are done multiple times, a festival of traffic objects and dangerously parked cars and most of the time images shot from a motorcycle behind the riders.
I'm not saying they should go back to the parcours of the 90's, but please simplify because it robs the riders from any initiative.

 

[Bala Verde]

What's the definition of "hard"?? What does Valverde know? He never did P-R or Flanders.
I did enjoy Flanders & PR much more. Boring? not at all: attacks of Pozzato on the Berendries (40k to go), Devolder on the Eykenmolen (20k) and the Muur (15k). In PR the drama can happen on every cobbled sector. But yesterday the most exciting moment until the finale was the crash of Schleck. That says it all.

I don't understand; all the ingredients are there: beautifull hills, a high quality peloton and lots of people. But the result is an artificial parcours of 3 loops, a ridiculous number of climbs of which some are done multiple times, a festival of traffic objects and dangerously parked cars and most of the time images shot from a motorcycle behind the riders.
I'm not saying they should go back to the parcours of the 90's, but please simplify because it robs the riders from any initiative.

I disagree here. I think the Walloon classics (including the AGR) are slightly harder then PR and Vlaanderen, mostly because the competition is more diverse, and possibly tougher.

A field with potential winners from many different teams, such as, Valverde, Cunego, Gesink, Kroon, Kreuziger, Sanchez, Rebelin, Rodriguez, Schleck (2), Freire, Dekker, Evans, Gilbert, Nibali, Monfort, Chavanel ... , to me, outweighs any field with 'only' competitors like Boonen, Cancelara, Devolder, Chavanel, Flecha, Hushovd, Hoste and Haussler and of which three are on the same team...

On the other hand, you seem to be inconsistent. When it comes to PR and RvV, you say you love the 'dangerous' elements, namely the kasseien. They are as artificial as anything, mainly because some of these paves are 'protected' for the purpose of racing. Local gvmt isn't even allowed to improve their conditions, because some are afraid that PR and RvV becomes too 'easy' if the kasseien are straightened! Organizers could also have chosen to leave them out (but hey then the race would have been reduced to San Remo without the Poggio, long and further nothing)

When it come to th AGR, you find the narrow winding roads too artificial, or too dangerous? So the question becomes what is too dangerous.

(And as I remember from this year, not the parked cars were an obstacle at PR, but cycling hooligans who blocked cyclists way and ruined cars of certain teams they didn't like...