Ronde van Vlaanderen 2025, one day monument, April 6 (men's)

[Unchained]

Question about bike changes, thinking about Mathieu today. Is a rider's "spare bike" really that much worse than the one they started the race on that it is worth doing a second switch to get back on the original? And if so, isn't that a major indictment of a team's equipment/mechanics?

Or did he have a second mechanical?

Visma had 2 dropped chains in final @30k that were shown on TV..didn't see flat tires..

 

[ChewbaccaDefense]

Beat you by 2 hours!! Don't have automatic coffee maker so my first cup was 430am!! Great race! Worth waking up early!
Some really impressive rides.. Another strange surprise, Visma w numbers, end up with nothing!! Kung rode great, Trentin, excellent!! Pogacar really sticks to the script, avoid a sprint, give monster pulses that create gap which nobody can exploit as effectively as he can currently!! For me some worse weather was my hope!!

I'm racing and riding at Sea Otter next week, then hoofing it home Saturday, so I can get up at 1am to start watching. Follow me for more recipes in stupidity.

 

[pelotonIQ]

My guess is hunger knock, he followed everything easily the whole time. And now barely able to follow WVA

I told you Pedersen is a better sprinter than MvDP.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Luca Mozzato has graduated from one 2 in front of his name on the result sheet to three 1s.

He's on the path to becoming the new Mads Pedersen then.

 

[kn0s]

Very entertaining race, VdP crash was both a blessing and a curse. Think the racing was closer because of it, but the battle for first place got lost right there.

 

[red_flanders]

I'm racing and riding at Sea Otter next week, then hoofing it home Saturday, so I can get up at 1am to start watching. Follow me for more recipes in stupidity.

What races / rides are you doing?

 

[RedheadDane]

Luca Mozzato has graduated from one 2 in front of his name on the result sheet to three 1s.

Next year, he might get two 3s.

 

[ChewbaccaDefense]

What races / rides are you doing?

Friday gravel and saturday pacifico (I may not do the Friday race. I'm thinking I might to ride Wilder Ranch and Flow Trail in Santa Cruz on Friday, because I've wanted to do both those for awhile. Still debating that one.

Are you racing/riding?

 

[Netserk]

Was he doing that much of an excessive work today? I don't think so. You can't demand him not to do a single pull on the front and only hide behind Pogacar. If not Kwaremont, it just would've been Paterberg he'd be dropped by Pogacar.
The crash has a bigger impact imo.

Yes, he was doing too much, especially given that he knew he was on the limit. I demand no more than what Pozzato would do.

He needed to arrive to the last Kwaremont as fresh as possible, survive that, and then he could take responsibility from Paterberg to the finish.

 

[QueenStagiaire]

He's on the path to becoming the new Mads Pedersen then.

Because he‘s also not Danish?

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Because he‘s also not Danish?

No, because he also had a horrible RVV the year after he had surprisingly finished second.

 

[Leinster]

Beat you by 2 hours!! Don't have automatic coffee maker so my first cup was 430am!! Great race! Worth waking up early!

I have 3 kids, so waking up at 4 isn’t an option! I had earphones in listening to the commentary in my sleep, and rolled out to the tv when Backstedt started getting excited. Switched on the kettle and got the aeropress out.

 

[red_flanders]

Friday gravel and saturday pacifico

Are you racing/riding?

Nah. Me and MTB racing usually equals crash. Too stupid and too old to feel my limits. Best to watch my friends race and drink beer.

Also it clears the hordes of e-bikers out of UCSC so it’s a great weekend to ride some steeps.

 

[Gigs_98]

It's weird with VdP. Even if he was on the limit from far out, he never seemed to struggle to follow Pogacar before the Kwaremont and easily distanced Van Aert and Pedersen multiple times. I was sure him being so much weaker at the end must have been a bonk, cramps or something along those lines. If he was simply spent that was an absolute disasterclass in race management.

 

[topcat]

Pog will lose the tour this year, skip ronde next year so he can win the tour next year and mvp can win ronde, and in 2027 mvp will have forgotten that Pog is better than him and go mano a mano and lose. The never ending cycle will continue

 

[memyselfandI]

Great race, clearly the five strongest in the top5.

My wild guess is that Pogi wins RBX too, I don't see too much trouble for him, just a bit wider tyres and making attack after attack in the end will make others soft. Stamina of multiple GC winner.

VDP top shape might just start to be going downwards, van Aert on upward trajectory but doesn't have a chance with Pogi, Pedersen so and so with his form. Stuyven actually not that bad, but probably no.

Wouldn't be surprised at all if same top5 in RBX, maybe Ganna mixing it up just a notch.

 

[E_F_]

It's weird with VdP. Even if he was on the limit from far out, he never seemed to struggle to follow Pogacar before the Kwaremont and easily distanced Van Aert and Pedersen multiple times. I was sure him being so much weaker at the end must have been a bonk, cramps or something along those lines. If he was simply spent that was an absolute disasterclass in race management.

I'm pretty sure he bonked at least a little.

 

[Red Rick]

It's weird with VdP. Even if he was on the limit from far out, he never seemed to struggle to follow Pogacar before the Kwaremont and easily distanced Van Aert and Pedersen multiple times. I was sure him being so much weaker at the end must have been a bonk, cramps or something along those lines. If he was simply spent that was an absolute disasterclass in race management.

He just has that capacity to go extremely deep for a short period of time. Getting over the steep part of the Kwaremont on the wheel or not probably is the difference between going to the line with Pogacar or finishing a full minute down.

It's the work in between the hills where Pog wins, where even if they do the same amount of work Pogacar is simply recovering more because he is further under his threshold.

 

[Zoetemelk-fan]

Hats off to Pogi.
Most impressed by him the last 9K alone in the headwind,
When the margin for a couple of kilometers after Paterberg was steady around 20-25 secs, the chaser must've smelled a chance for victory. Though, they were all clearly on their limit, consequently it doesn't take much before the collaboration is inconsistent. Impressed by Stuyven too, and nice surprise to witness Van Aert back.
But even though a predictable result: what a race!

 

[Moose McKnuckles]

I think it's absolutely wild that the defending Giro and Tour champion just dominated Flanders and is tabbed as the Paris-Roubaix favorite now. We live in crazy times. And some of you all still deny climate change.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

My wild guess is that Pogi wins RBX too, I don't see too much trouble for him, just a bit wider tyres and making attack after attack in the end will make others soft. Stamina of multiple GC winner.

PR is a different race, without hills. Actually today's win didn't change my opinion on PR at all (as I regarded Pogi #1 favourite here anyway). He will have a much harder time getting rid of the big boys and some of them are likely to beat him in the final sprint.

 

[gavia88]

2012 wasn´t very interesting too. As was 2019.

2012 was the worse, no action at all before last kwaremont.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Amazing last 55 km as usual. Very happy with Wouts performance, my favorite on Sunday!

 

[TrekCyclist]

At the end, for MvP it came down to probably 10s on the last Kwaremont. If he arrives within a few secs at the top of the steepest section, he has a good chance to hang on to Pogi and has decent odds at a sprint.
Dont think he would have been dropped at the final Paterberg.
But yeah, in a race like this 10s at a crucial moment can be a whole world.

 

[RedheadDane]

Amazing last 55 km as usual. Very happy with Wouts performance, my favorite on Sunday!

I was wondering what that word you'd initially written was supposed to be.