If Valverde gets a good finish at Amstel along with another Ardennes double the WT points rankings will be very tight.tobydawq said:He skipped the opening weekend and now extends the spring season one week, so compared to last year he has been racing for the same amount of weeks (six).Durden93 said:My point was that I found it weird that Sagan wasn’t at all interested in the race last year but now he could win it. I think he’s a significant favourite at this point. Also, GTs are not remotely similiar to classics. GT routes change significantly from year to year whereas the classics routes stay largely the same.tobydawq said:What kind of weird logic is this?Durden93 said:I don’t know if you’re right about the peloton marking Sagan but they absolutely should. Repeated short climbs are where Sagan thrives. On another note, how did Sagan go from a non-starter last year to this year’s pre-race favourite?Tonton said:[mod hat on]
Stay on topic please.
[mod hat off]
Sagan: can win anything unless the field rides against him. Add Valverde to the mix, and Sagan can somewhat fly under the radar. Danger.
Nibali, yes, is the best all-around rider, he's aggressive and will go for broke. Watch out. QS may find a way to screw it up and not podium. Alaf, Bardet, Martin? They can win.
But to me, in this mess and so many pretenders like in PR, Sagan won't be the focus, therefore he can win.
I'm not watching the start list, just got back from a 16 hour work day. After three of those. But if all participate, this will be a dog fight.
The same way Froome will be the favourite for the Giro this year, I presume. Or the same way Valverde will be the favourite for a number of races in the autumn. Or the same way Nibali will be an outsider next Sunday in Liège.
Riders change their calendars from year to year and good riders will obviously be favourites in the new races they choose to target as long as they suit them...
He wants his downtime before California which is why he usually stops after Roubaix. Last year he very unsuccessfully participated in the Rund um den Finanzplatz or whatever its name is, which proved that he didn't like racing between Roubaix and California (perhaps he had a hangover from a party thrown by Boonen the day before, though).
Another reason explaining his participation could be that he has an eye on the WorldTour ranking which he leads comfortably at the moment.