Rate the Amstel Fold Race 2016

[Kwibus]

This race should not occupy the glorious Sunday after Roubaix.

IMO the Sunday-Wednesday-Sunday-Wednesday-Sunday scheme should be:


Roubaix
Fleche Brabançonne
Liege
Fleche Wallonne
Amstel


We could at least see 1 great Liege with all the flandriens carrying on their peak, instead of the 3 mediocre Ardennes classics we have now.

Flandriens have no chance in Liege. It's way too much climbing for them.

 

[Red Rick]

This race should not occupy the glorious Sunday after Roubaix.

IMO the Sunday-Wednesday-Sunday-Wednesday-Sunday scheme should be:


Roubaix
Fleche Brabançonne
Liege
Fleche Wallonne
Amstel


We could at least see 1 great Liege with all the flandriens carrying on their peak, instead of the 3 mediocre Ardennes classics we have now.

Flandriens have no chance in Liege. It's way too much climbing for them.

Pretty much. And AGR isn't big enough to bother.

I think it has more to do with the recovery time after Roubaix. You're not back training very quickly after that one.

 

[Jancouver]

3. for me.

for me the rating is:
1. Gerrans
2. TDU
3. Amstel

so yeah, Amstel is just a step above the most overrated race on the calendar Tour Down Under and another step above the most disgraceful racer in recent history.

 

[KyoGrey]

This race should not occupy the glorious Sunday after Roubaix.

IMO the Sunday-Wednesday-Sunday-Wednesday-Sunday scheme should be:


Roubaix
Fleche Brabançonne
Liege
Fleche Wallonne
Amstel


We could at least see 1 great Liege with all the flandriens carrying on their peak, instead of the 3 mediocre Ardennes classics we have now.

Flandriens have no chance in Liege. It's way too much climbing for them.

Dunno, I just think that we have to shake things up, because the Ardennes triple right now is only getting worse and worse.

I mean, what its the point of Amstel Gold Race right now?

- It's parcours is a complete failure as the race never breaks and is predictable 100%, even though in paper it shouldn't happen due to the 250 km of hills.

- It was changed to this Sunday between Roubaix and Liege to try and attract cobbled specialists that stretch their peak form 1 week as well as an introduction for Ardennes specialists. Result: The cobbled specialists don't bother with this race, the Ardennes top top boys don't take it seriously as they are thinking in Liege.

P.D: You are right that it is uncommon, but there are some riders such as Van Avermaet, Kwiatkowski, Benoot or even Sagan that could afford competing in both Flanders and Liege if they were closer in the calendar.

 

[Red Rick]

Yeah, I don't really understand the big difference between efforts in Vlaanderen and in AGR. Plenty of them have similar length and gradient. Do the cobbles make that big a difference to give the bigger guys the advantage, or do these 20 extra hills that barely classify as hills matter that much?

 

[luckyboy]

This race should not occupy the glorious Sunday after Roubaix.

IMO the Sunday-Wednesday-Sunday-Wednesday-Sunday scheme should be:


Roubaix
Fleche Brabançonne
Liege
Fleche Wallonne
Amstel


We could at least see 1 great Liege with all the flandriens carrying on their peak, instead of the 3 mediocre Ardennes classics we have now.

And move Tro-Bro Léon to Saturday so the weekend is at least half entertaining.

Just watch TBL and turn over for the final 4km of AGR. Worked today

 

[kingjr]

6,5 for me. The racing actually wasn't bad, the problem was the quality of the field, and the failure of Gilbert and Kwiatkowski. Hardly ever saw a race where I cared so little about who wins, although I was quite happy with Gasparotto taking it.

 

[IndianCyclist]

3
Tim Wellens, Valgren, Gaspa = 3 points

 

[movingtarget]

Quite often a disappointing race. Maybe the route needs an overhaul but obviously riders preferred to lose than drag the pack up to Gasparotto. Great attack won the race and the indecision in others made it easier. Compared to MSR Flanders and PR I would give this a 3.

 

[zigmeister]

Hilarious, people complain about races not being exciting, this was a wide open chaotic race compared to your typical race. Thank goodness for no team leadout/sprint finish. They put enough climbing in to annihilate the typical riders...and even favorites got jettisoned at times.

Nearly every "leader" of their team had to pull the pin on the grenade as they exploded on the later climbs.

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

Re:

Yeah, I don't really understand the big difference between efforts in Vlaanderen and in AGR. Plenty of them have similar length and gradient. Do the cobbles make that big a difference to give the bigger guys the advantage, or do these 20 extra hills that barely classify as hills matter that much?

The 20 extra hills matter that much. There are riders who can in theory do well at AGR and RVV, but they are strictly the climbiest of the RVV men. Anyone who is serious about both PR and RVV is overwhelmingly likely to be too big for a modern AGR.