- Jun 7, 2011
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Re:
The thing is with these climbs in RVV, is that they also strike fear into most riders (or at least those who feel they have more to lose than to win). "Don't go too soon, or you'll risk getting parked on a vital climb". That kind of attitude usually isn't as prevelant in Roubaix i feel. Going hard on a pavé isn't such a risk as it is on a climb.
Boonen and Cancellara quit a while ago.Red Rick said:
The thing is with these climbs in RVV, is that they also strike fear into most riders (or at least those who feel they have more to lose than to win). "Don't go too soon, or you'll risk getting parked on a vital climb". That kind of attitude usually isn't as prevelant in Roubaix i feel. Going hard on a pavé isn't such a risk as it is on a climb.
Gigs_98 said:
Well, I think that's actually a good thing. A situation with only one or two of the favorites in absolute peak form (and especially if those were Sagan and/or Van Avermaet), we could have had a race with a winner with a big margin like we saw sometimes with Cancellara or Boonen. That isn't the most interesting race scenario.
- Apr 16, 2009
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Gigs_98 said:
Why “fear”? That was the situation in 2015 and that ended up a great race. I’ll be disappointed (though slightly awe-struck) if the top 3 is already decided by then.
Watch out for Gaudin defiantly. He rode a much better tour of flanders than expected. Kristoff. Also think riders like Stuyven and EBH might hit form by next week. And watch out for Griepel.
And of course there is gonna be a random breakway rider to make it far into the race, and with no clear fave, i think the break will make it extremely far.
And of course there is gonna be a random breakway rider to make it far into the race, and with no clear fave, i think the break will make it extremely far.
- May 23, 2009
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Worst is quite harsh. There will be the last two winners as well as several other multiple podium finishers. The issue is so many favourites having bad luck with sickness and crashes.OlavEH said:
The slogfest that was Gent-Wevelgem will have taken its toll on everyone who rode it too. I'm really looking forward to it.
Such a open race this year.
Sagan could easily do what he did last year and smash everyone despite a disappointing Flanders but outside of him everyone is much of a muchness. I like Luke Rowe, for whom this was always the bigger target than Flanders, and Oliver Naesen, who should be fully recovered from his illness. Naesen seems to have developed a decent finishing kick too, which is much more important in this race than Flanders, even if he shouldn't in theory be able to outkick Sagan, Kristoff, Degenkolb of GVA.
I don't get the Kristoff love. He's always said the cobbles in this race don't suit him like Flanders, and his record supports that.
Sagan could easily do what he did last year and smash everyone despite a disappointing Flanders but outside of him everyone is much of a muchness. I like Luke Rowe, for whom this was always the bigger target than Flanders, and Oliver Naesen, who should be fully recovered from his illness. Naesen seems to have developed a decent finishing kick too, which is much more important in this race than Flanders, even if he shouldn't in theory be able to outkick Sagan, Kristoff, Degenkolb of GVA.
I don't get the Kristoff love. He's always said the cobbles in this race don't suit him like Flanders, and his record supports that.
He’s a big lump who has won both the other non-climber monuments and has a good record in all the other cobbled races. What’s not to get? I think his lack of good results in PR is just seen as an anomaly. Especially with his finishing kick, if he gets through Carrefour with the leaders, they’ll have a tough job getting rid of him.The Barb said:
Leinster said:
I think if he gets through Carrefour with the leaders (and that's a big if) he'll have a hard job keeping it together as no one (maybe not even Sagan and Degenkolb) will work with him. On that scenario it's highly likely a late attack wins it.
Gigs_98 said:
Yep, that's the other "extreme" scenario, but I think it's more likely we'll have a smaller group that will attack each other the last kms. And the lack of clear favorites also makes it more likely with a breakaway going the whole way like in 2016. Typically a breakaway formed to mainly by the outsiders like Keukeleire, Langeveld, Teunissen, Gaudin, etc.
I'm struggling to make a strong case for anyone.
The 2 strongest from RvV, Van der Poel and Bettiol, aren't here. The guy who came 2nd is riding his first P-R.
A bunch of others from last week's front group - Valverde, Matthews, Jungels - aren't here either.
Of the previous winners still around, Terpstra's in hospital, Greg seems to have lost the ability to win again and his team are second rate, Sagan has been dog s*** all spring, Degenkolb is not the same rider as back then.
Two of the likely Flandrian hardmen you'd expect to do well - Vanmarcke and Naesen - have been injured or ill. Gilbert too.
And for 3 of the in-form riders this spring, Kristoff has absolutely no record to speak of at P-R, despite multiple attempts, Stybar was well off the pace last week, and Politt has only ever won 1 race, and that a .1
Given all of that, I'll go with van Aert, but I think there's a good chance we could get a similar race to last week, where a biggish bunch of even matched favorites look at each other in the final, whilst an outsider gets away.
The 2 strongest from RvV, Van der Poel and Bettiol, aren't here. The guy who came 2nd is riding his first P-R.
A bunch of others from last week's front group - Valverde, Matthews, Jungels - aren't here either.
Of the previous winners still around, Terpstra's in hospital, Greg seems to have lost the ability to win again and his team are second rate, Sagan has been dog s*** all spring, Degenkolb is not the same rider as back then.
Two of the likely Flandrian hardmen you'd expect to do well - Vanmarcke and Naesen - have been injured or ill. Gilbert too.
And for 3 of the in-form riders this spring, Kristoff has absolutely no record to speak of at P-R, despite multiple attempts, Stybar was well off the pace last week, and Politt has only ever won 1 race, and that a .1
Given all of that, I'll go with van Aert, but I think there's a good chance we could get a similar race to last week, where a biggish bunch of even matched favorites look at each other in the final, whilst an outsider gets away.
Re:
Agree on Politt. He has been in good form in Flanders, and as you say, PR suits him even better. In addition, if there is a smaller group of 5-8 riders (or something like that) after Carrefour, I think Politt will be less watched than for example Sagan, Kristoff, Van Avermaet. He will have a bigger chance escaping a group of that size.
SafeBet said:
Agree on Politt. He has been in good form in Flanders, and as you say, PR suits him even better. In addition, if there is a smaller group of 5-8 riders (or something like that) after Carrefour, I think Politt will be less watched than for example Sagan, Kristoff, Van Avermaet. He will have a bigger chance escaping a group of that size.
King Of The Wolds said:
Are all these guys, in addition to Bettiol, aiming for the Ardennes instead?
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