Omloop Het Nieuwsblad 1.UWT (24/2/2018)

[Eli]

Decent race methinks

 

[SafeBet]

Not the best edition, I too like the old route better.
GVA must have felt like Sagan has for the past couple of years.

 

[SKSemtex]

For me the best part of the race was Sep kicking GVA ass on Murr, his podium and Oss in the final selection.
Bora will decrown QS this year in spring classics.

 

[postmanhat]

Stuyven wins the sprint. He could have a monster year

 

[MartinGT]

Re:

Impressed Wout van Aert stuck with that group.

Aye he looked very comfortable at the end.

 

[Breh]

For me the best part of the race was Sep kicking GVA *** on Murr, his podium and Oss in the final selection.
Bora will decrown QS this year in spring classics.

Based on OHN? Last time they won here was in 2005.
They usually screw this race up. Perfectly illustrated by this being one of the few races Boonen has never won.


Anyway, exciting finale. The headwind probably played an important role. I'll give this parcours the benefit of the doubt.

 

[Sestriere]

Re: Re:

I don't know why everyone is complaining. Lot's of attacks counterattacks, regrouping, tactical racing. Many riders in contention makes for exciting racing. Races with more selection will come. Next saturday. Don't worry.

Cause you know with this route that it's gonna come all together before the Muur and that it is going to be all about where you start the Muur. Just like a bunch sprint. The first 11 at the beginning of the Muur were the first 11 at the top (more or less).

Well, i certainly didn't know it was gonna come back together when everything was in pieces after the group with Wellens, GvA, Naesen and others went clear. But props to you, I guess.
And the spring classics are always about positioning, that's the reason why there are so many crashes.

 

[Geraint Too Fast]

Here's a sentence that's never been written before;

Stybar attacked too much.

 

[Vroome.exe]

Re:

Here's a sentence that's never been written before;

Stybar attacked too much.

He's one of the most aggressive riders.

 

[myrideissteelerthanyours]

It wasn't great but it isn't always great every year. I enjoyed it overall. Maybe now some people can go back and look at how Gilbert won his races last year and stop overrating him?

 

[myrideissteelerthanyours]

Re:

Here's a sentence that's never been written before;

Stybar attacked too much.

He was in moves where he had teammates but didn't work for them but they didnt work for him I don't understand what happend for QS today.

 

[King Boonen]

Re: Re:

Impressed Wout van Aert stuck with that group.

Aye he looked very comfortable at the end.

Yeah, he let Valgren go and then didn’t try anything at the end but still a very decent showing.

 

[cellardoor]

Re:

Think Trentin made a mistake when he got close to Valgren's attack and then stopped riding - He gets up to Valgren and then the lead group settles down and they sprint it out for the finish - The top 10 was not a true reflection of the race seeing most of the leading 12 sat up in the last km - Next time I'll try watching the last 8km of a classics race so i can give a precise opinion - I like the new course better than the old course - Astana put numbers in the final selection which often leads to success.

But Trentin had an Astana rider on his wheel who likely would have attacked as soon as Valgren was caught.

 

[Scarponi]

Has the "real racing " started yet ? No better or worse then little caravan Ritchie's 4 minute effort up wilunga

 

[Kwibus]

Re: Re:

Here's a sentence that's never been written before;

Stybar attacked too much.

He's one of the most aggressive riders.

Certainly not. He follows attacks. He rarely initiates attacks.
Actually did he atack today? He followed attacks again if im not mistaken.

 

[SKSemtex]

For me the best part of the race was Sep kicking GVA *** on Murr, his podium and Oss in the final selection.
Bora will decrown QS this year in spring classics.

Based on OHN? Last time they won here was in 2005.
They usually screw this race up. Perfectly illustrated by this being one of the few races Boonen has never won.


Anyway, exciting finale. The headwind probably played an important role. I'll give this parcours the benefit of the doubt.

Nope. Because off Oss.
Unless Sagan completely fcked up the winter preparation he will have the team he can rely on not only in the begining of race but also in the end. For a first time.
I was not sure about Oss , he was very good last year , but I was curious if he make the final selection on Murr. He did. It looks he is ready to be Sagan best dom ever.
I am not looking on QS's strength . I am looking on Bora's one

 

[Blanco]

Vanmarcke was a beast up the Muur, he smoked Van Avermaet and others. To me he was the strongest, but the race wasn't selective enough (headwind ) for him to escape. Bodes well for him in the future races, he could finally snatch a big one!
Wellens showed he can ride this races, but lack of experience is evident.
GVA not there just yet, despite his Oman exhibition.
Gilbert level below.
Stybar very good already, he'll be a force in Strade Bianche.
Naesen also strong, but worked way too much.
Astana used their numbers perfectly. They're going to be serious contenders this spring.

 

[DFA123]

Thought that was pretty poor. Except for Vanmarcke on Kapelmuur almost no one looked especially strong or weak. And Vanmarcke never fails to surprise by being such a poor rouleur - Gilbert held on for 90km after a similar attack last year; Vanmarcke couldn't even hold on for 500m.

 

[portugal11]

sep vanmarcke doesn't have the engine to win on solo. in a good day, sep has the power to drop anyone on cobbles but he can't stay away for more than 3 km

 

[SKSemtex]

Re:

Vanmarcke was a beast up the Muur, he smoked Van Avermaet and others. To me he was the strongest, but the race wasn't selective enough (headwind ) for him to escape. Bodes well for him in the future races, he could finally snatch a big one!
Wellens showed he can ride this races, but lack of experience is evident.
GVA not there just yet, despite his Oman exhibition.
Gilbert level below.
Stybar very good already, he'll be a force in Strade Bianche.
Naesen also strong, but worked way too much.
Astana used their numbers perfectly. They're going to be serious contenders this spring.

Unfortunately for VanMarcke, the only race he can probably win is PR. He will never outsprint GVA, Sagan.
The guy really deserve his big win. Always attacking , always cooperating in attack to keep the selection. If Sagan have to loose his next PR, I hope Sep will win the solo. Doing it old way making the the brutal continuos selection on each section.

 

[RedheadDane]

For me the best part of the race was Sep kicking GVA *** on Murr, his podium and Oss in the final selection.
Bora will decrown QS this year in spring classics.

Based on OHN? Last time they won here was in 2005.
They usually screw this race up. Perfectly illustrated by this being one of the few races Boonen has never won.


Anyway, exciting finale. The headwind probably played an important role. I'll give this parcours the benefit of the doubt.

Perfectly illustrated by the complete and utter fail that was the 2015 edition.

Vanmarcke was a beast up the Muur, he smoked Van Avermaet and others. To me he was the strongest, but the race wasn't selective enough (headwind ) for him to escape. Bodes well for him in the future races, he could finally snatch a big one!
Wellens showed he can ride this races, but lack of experience is evident.
GVA not there just yet, despite his Oman exhibition.
Gilbert level below.
Stybar very good already, he'll be a force in Strade Bianche.
Naesen also strong, but worked way too much.
Astana used their numbers perfectly. They're going to be serious contenders this spring.

Unfortunately for VanMarcke, the only race he can probably win is PR. He will never outsprint GVA, Sagan.
The guy really deserve his big win. Always attacking , always cooperating in attack to keep the selection. If Sagan have to loose his next PR, I hope Sep will win the solo. Doing it old way making the the brutal continuos selection on each section.

He already won Omloop, outsprinting Boonen.
However, even so I'd say PR is a rather good race to have as your "only" win.

 

[Cance > TheRest]

Re:

sep vanmarcke doesn't have the engine to win on solo. in a good day, sep has the power to drop anyone on cobbles but he can't stay away for more than 3 km

Correct observation. It was also very evident in Paris-Roubaix 2016, where he was reeled in by the Boonen group after each time he had made a sizeable gap on the pavés. He doesn't have an engine that matches his technique on the cobbles

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re: Re:

sep vanmarcke doesn't have the engine to win on solo. in a good day, sep has the power to drop anyone on cobbles but he can't stay away for more than 3 km

Correct observation. It was also very evident in Paris-Roubaix 2016, where he was reeled in by the Boonen group after each time he had made a sizeable gap on the pavés. He doesn't have an engine that matches his technique on the cobbles

Nope, its a huge problem. Styby ate him after Vanmarcke looked incredible on Kapelmuur, 500 metres and he was basically caught. Its not too often that Sep looks this strong IMO, so I guess it bodes well for him, but he will still have a very hard time actually winning.

 

[Pantani_lives]

Re: Re:

sep vanmarcke doesn't have the engine to win on solo. in a good day, sep has the power to drop anyone on cobbles but he can't stay away for more than 3 km

Correct observation. It was also very evident in Paris-Roubaix 2016, where he was reeled in by the Boonen group after each time he had made a sizeable gap on the pavés. He doesn't have an engine that matches his technique on the cobbles

Vanmarcke could win P-R... if the finish were within 500 m of Carrefour de l'Arbre.

In the final today there were three Astana riders. The best tactic is always to react to attcks of the numerically strongest team, which was Astana. So what did they do? They didn't react to an Astana attack. Race over.

 

[tobydawq]

Re: Re:

sep vanmarcke doesn't have the engine to win on solo. in a good day, sep has the power to drop anyone on cobbles but he can't stay away for more than 3 km

Correct observation. It was also very evident in Paris-Roubaix 2016, where he was reeled in by the Boonen group after each time he had made a sizeable gap on the pavés. He doesn't have an engine that matches his technique on the cobbles

Nope, its a huge problem. Styby ate him after Vanmarcke looked incredible on Kapelmuur, 500 metres and he was basically caught. Its not too often that Sep looks this strong IMO, so I guess it bodes well for him, but he will still have a very hard time actually winning.

In OHN 2015, he was riding extremely fast on the flat and he was the stressing factor that made Etixx screw up the finale because they didn't want him to get back up so they had to ride flat out with all riders while Stannard could sit in.

I know GvA was with him but as I recall it, Sep was the major force in that race.

But otherwise, I also agree that he hasn't been good when going alone.