Paris - Roubaix 2021 (03.10)

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Apr 13, 2021
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he didn't work like the rest. Common. He was glued to MvdP's wheel once MvdP catched on, until they catched Moscon. The only serious effort he did was chasing MvdP who was tired that Colbrelli was wheelsucking.
I called that smart here on this forum during the race, so I acknowledge that he did the right thing. But it wasn't beautiful to watch.
It's racing. You can't complain. Each rider does his calculations and decides how to work, when to attack etc

We are talking 260km of hard racing over brutal wet cobbles where handling is critical. Anyone who wins is worthy.
 
May 10, 2013
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  1. Van der Poel
  2. Colbrelli
  3. Valgren
  4. Simmons
  5. Stewart
  6. Campenaerts
  7. Kwiatkowski
  8. G. Vermeersch
  9. Van Gestel
  10. Rutsch
I've made a semi- realistic top10 out of debutants only.
This turned out to be more accurate than I intended to. If I only exchanged Valgren for F. Vermeersch. I did consider putting him there but somewhere in the lower top10, not in top3.
 
May 3, 2010
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Colla is Italian for glue. He should change his name to Colla-brelli. He's won two major races now by staying glued to the rear wheel of the strongest for dozens of kilometers. It's the most painful thing in cycling, when the wheelsucker wins.
 
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Mar 19, 2009
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It's racing. You can't complain. Each rider does his calculations and decides how to work, when to attack etc

We are talking 260km of hard racing over brutal wet cobbles where handling is critical. Anyone who wins is worthy.
True. And it's not like VDP did much to force him to help. He just rode on the front for km after km. When a strong guy is willing to sit on the front like that, you're always happy to let him do it.
 
Mar 13, 2009
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Sprint of 3 dead people. Colbrelli had the most left I guess.
VDP as always did too much, but also Vermeersch did a lot of work and was the longest in the lead groups...

Also I don't feel sorry for Moscon. Karma.
 
Aug 5, 2009
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True. And it's not like VDP did much to force him to help. He just rode on the front for km after km. When a strong guy is willing to sit on the front like that, you're always happy to let him do it.
I thought it was a fine win. No one was holding a gun to VDP's head but he was obviously worried about WVA's whereabouts............when he should have been worried about a few more riders..........
 
Feb 20, 2010
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There were a lot of moves that had to be made, and followed, in order to result in a group of only 3 at the end there, and picking the right moves, having the strength to follow them and make them, and so on, is a major skill. Lots of elite classics specialists and rouleurs were long since dropped. When you get to a group that is no longer at risk of being caught and you trust your sprint, you can argue that the onus is on the others to drop you and by making and answering moves to get to that stage you've done enough to deserve the chance to use your sprint. At its most basic, Sonny made and followed moves until he was in a group which wouldn't be caught and in which he trusted his sprint, and the other two couldn't drop Sonny, so Sonny won.
 
Sep 14, 2009
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Colbrelli is far from a stranger in the peloton, he's very talented and has always proven to be quite a complete rider (fast, powerful, can climb short climbs, can sprint very well in small/medium groups).
Clinical territory :D
 
Jan 8, 2020
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Yes the bike change came at exactly the wrong time. But he had a few near misses as well sliding around as many of them did I'm sure. He seemed to be bouncing around more than some of the others. Maybe tire pressure ?
He went in with extremely low tire pressure, 3.2 atmospheres, but he had ridden masterfully until his crash. But if you look at the incident, his rear wheel just slipped-out. Not sure he could have done anything about it.
 
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Sep 14, 2009
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There were a lot of moves that had to be made, and followed, in order to result in a group of only 3 at the end there, and picking the right moves, having the strength to follow them and make them, and so on, is a major skill. Lots of elite classics specialists and rouleurs were long since dropped. When you get to a group that is no longer at risk of being caught and you trust your sprint, you can argue that the onus is on the others to drop you and by making and answering moves to get to that stage you've done enough to deserve the chance to use your sprint. At its most basic, Sonny made and followed moves until he was in a group which wouldn't be caught and in which he trusted his sprint, and the other two couldn't drop Sonny, so Sonny won.
He also still pulled back an attack by Vermeersch
 
Jun 4, 2009
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Super year for SC but he is not coming out of nowhere. He's done solid results almost throughout the years after 2014, except last year (covid) and lotsa racing k's racing days.

Pity for Moscon that flat..and obvious too high tyre pressure on a spare bike. I guess he was just getting blackout before that tyre got empty but man what a grit he had to keep that 4th!