Ronde van Vlaanderen: April 7th, 2019

[RedheadDane]

By the way... There's a Dane in the top 5. Wasn't there a bet?

Shhh... Don't worry. I'm gonna do it! I'm a man of my words, even though I am - in fact - a woman.

I think you should do Ringvejen from south to north if a Dane podiums next Sunday.

Ringgaden isn't even a punishment, that's just a standard commute route for people who study at the university!

My reason for picking Ringaden is that it's something I can actually do. Both in terms of physique - remember, I don't really ride for exercising, just to get around (and not on a racer) - and in terms of sense-of-direction.

But, you know what? I'm in! If a Dane Podiums in P-R I'll do the Ringvejen Ride too.
Are we talking all the way? So, including Ringvej Syd?

 

[tobydawq]

Re:

Some watts:

And after the race...

Only 243 on average?!? That seems odd, though, the first part of the race was very easy.

 

[tobydawq]

Re:

By the way... There's a Dane in the top 5. Wasn't there a bet?

Shhh... Don't worry. I'm gonna do it! I'm a man of my words, even though I am - in fact - a woman.

I think you should do Ringvejen from south to north if a Dane podiums next Sunday.

Ringgaden isn't even a punishment, that's just a standard commute route for people who study at the university!

My reason for picking Ringaden is that it's something I can actually do. Both in terms of physique - remember, I don't really ride for exercising, just to get around (and not on a racer) - and in terms of sense-of-direction.

But, you know what? I'm in! If a Dane Podiums in P-R I'll do the Ringvejen Ride too.
Are we talking all the way? So, including Ringvej Syd?

I should certainly think so! I promise I'll do it if no Dane finishes on the podium.

 

[Jungle Cycle]

Re: Re:

Where is the Cykel Cille (Uttrup) interview please? - It is probably crazy

Here you go!

i have no idea what she said but sounded awesome !!!
top 10 all time...

There's an English-language interview too - on the RvV Twitter account - unfortunately I don't know how to link from Twitter...

Here, an interview in English:
https://twitter.com/RondeVlaanderen/status/1114898860869074945

I`m a fan!!

 

[RedheadDane]

Re: Re:

By the way... There's a Dane in the top 5. Wasn't there a bet?

Shhh... Don't worry. I'm gonna do it! I'm a man of my words, even though I am - in fact - a woman.

I think you should do Ringvejen from south to north if a Dane podiums next Sunday.

Ringgaden isn't even a punishment, that's just a standard commute route for people who study at the university!

My reason for picking Ringaden is that it's something I can actually do. Both in terms of physique - remember, I don't really ride for exercising, just to get around (and not on a racer) - and in terms of sense-of-direction.

But, you know what? I'm in! If a Dane Podiums in P-R I'll do the Ringvejen Ride too.
Are we talking all the way? So, including Ringvej Syd?

I should certainly think so! I promise I'll do it if no Dane finishes on the podium.

Actually, just realised that would make it easier for me, logistically. Because my biggest issue would probably being actually getting to the south-end.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Re: Re:

Some watts:

And after the race...

Only 243 on average?!? That seems odd, though, the first part of the race was very easy.

VdP said that Gent Wevelgem was a much harder race than this one...

 

[Norbea]

In Norwegian media, Kristoff and his team have talked about how he is no longer forced to starve in order to loose those last 2-3kg after Katusha. They say he looses too much power and that it’s not worth it. He’s a very powerful and stocky guy, almost looks a little bloated on tv, but in real life, lean, ripped, muscle and veins bulging and no abdominal fat. Looks like they were right regarding weight.

Let that beast eat!

 

[Lequack]

Re: Re:

Some watts:

And after the race...

Only 243 on average?!? That seems odd, though, the first part of the race was very easy.

VdP said that Gent Wevelgem was a much harder race than this one...

Kristoff when he won the Gent, 100W more average:

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Well, biggest surprise of the day for me was Vanmarcke. I didn't give two shits for him riding a decent race. Next week they may be the team to keep an eye out for. Bettiol, Vanmarcke, Langeveld. They could all go far in Roubaix.

 

[Kwibus]

Re: Re:

Yes, but the others refuse to work. Would you ride 13 km with Kristoff and co. in your wheel?

It goes for everyone, in those situations.

The group was too big and full with leaders. It never works and it has never worked.

 

[tobydawq]

Re:

Well, biggest surprise of the day for me was Vanmarcke. I didn't give two shits for him riding a decent race. Next week they may be the team to keep an eye out for. Bettiol, Vanmarcke, Langeveld. They could all go far in Roubaix.

Bettiol will skip Paris-Roubaix and return for De Brabantse Pijl, Amstel and Liège.

 

[Cance > TheRest]

In my honest opinion, Asgreen's ride was probably the ride of the day. How often do you see a rider on domestique duties (as in leading a 150 rider peloton with 140k to go, fetching bottles and responding to attacks) early in the race who despite this huge workload still finishes 2nd???! I have never seen anything like it.

MVDP was also very impressive, but some of his problems were self-inflicted and detracts a bit from my evaluation of his race.

Shout out to the winner, Bettiol, who launched one of the strongest attacks I have seen since Cancellara pulvarized the field there in 2013 E3.

And ofcourse Valverde whose class, you suspect, could net him him a top position in just about any one day race on the calendar

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Re: Re:

Agreed, Asgreen was really strong. One of the best today. Very impressive.

Well, biggest surprise of the day for me was Vanmarcke. I didn't give two shits for him riding a decent race. Next week they may be the team to keep an eye out for. Bettiol, Vanmarcke, Langeveld. They could all go far in Roubaix.

Bettiol will skip Paris-Roubaix and return for De Brabantse Pijl, Amstel and Liège.

Oh... That's a shame.

 

[Blanco]

Re: Re:

Great job, Bettiol!
To say the chasers are stupid is assuming you wouldn't do that if you're in the situation, well...what would you do?

Working together can result in a win, why not give it a try? Worst that can happen is you help someone else win! If you don't win, at least you contributed to a race!

That's the precise reason, pro riders really don't like, and don't want, to do that. We've seen that time and time again...

 

[Mavic]

Re:

In my honest opinion, Asgreen's ride was probably the ride of the day. How often do you see a rider on domestique duties (as in leading a 150 rider peloton with 140k to go, fetching bottles and responding to attacks) early in the race who despite this huge workload still finishes 2nd???! I have never seen anything like it.

MVDP was also very impressive, but some of his problems were self-inflicted and detracts a bit from my evaluation of his race.

Shout out to the winner, Bettiol, who launched one of the strongest attacks I have seen since Cancellara pulvarized the field there in 2013 E3.

And ofcourse Valverde whose class, you suspect, could net him him a top position in just about any one day race on the calendar

To be fair, I think it was great team tactics by DQC to "at the least" get someone of their team in the top 3. Jungels (or was it someone else from DQC) was at the front when Asgreen accelerated and did some "impeding" work. Of course it doesn't help that in that phase of the race no one from the group wanted to give one pedal too much chasing anyone down.

As far as Mathieu goes, I agree it was poor judgement. However, it doesn't take away from the fact that it had an effect on his performance whether it detracts from your evaluation of his race or not. I think most people thought his race was over when he took a tumble at a very bad time in the race and was holding his shoulder. He fought his way back to the group and basically dropped everyone not named Bettiol on the Paterberg, had a gap, but no one was able to ride with him. Shame really when you think about it.

 

[jaylew]

Re: Re:

In my honest opinion, Asgreen's ride was probably the ride of the day. How often do you see a rider on domestique duties (as in leading a 150 rider peloton with 140k to go, fetching bottles and responding to attacks) early in the race who despite this huge workload still finishes 2nd???! I have never seen anything like it.

MVDP was also very impressive, but some of his problems were self-inflicted and detracts a bit from my evaluation of his race.

Shout out to the winner, Bettiol, who launched one of the strongest attacks I have seen since Cancellara pulvarized the field there in 2013 E3.

And ofcourse Valverde whose class, you suspect, could net him him a top position in just about any one day race on the calendar

To be fair, I think it was great team tactics by DQC to "at the least" get someone of their team in the top 3. Jungels (or was it someone else from DQC) was at the front when Asgreen accelerated and did some "impeding" work. Of course it doesn't help that in that phase of the race no one from the group wanted to give one pedal too much chasing anyone down.

As far as Mathieu goes, I agree it was poor judgement. However, it doesn't take away from the fact that it had an effect on his performance whether it detracts from your evaluation of his race or not. I think most people thought his race was over when he took a tumble at a very bad time in the race and was holding his shoulder. He fought his way back to the group and basically dropped everyone not named Bettiol on the Paterberg, had a gap, but no one was able to ride with him. Shame really when you think about it.

Apparently he didn't even know Bettiol was up the road. He says he didn't realize it until about 5k to go:

"Probably at about five kilometres from the finish. Kristoff was constantly shouting seconds in my ear but I thought that was the gap we had on the chasers. It's only at that moment that I saw one rider ahead of us in the distance.

Even with the crash, I think that I would've been able to go with Bettiol if I would've been more to the front of the group on the Oude Kwaremont. I just didn't see him go. The race would've been different so it doesn't make sense to keep thinking about what would've happened."

 

[Mavic]

Re: Re:

In my honest opinion, Asgreen's ride was probably the ride of the day. How often do you see a rider on domestique duties (as in leading a 150 rider peloton with 140k to go, fetching bottles and responding to attacks) early in the race who despite this huge workload still finishes 2nd???! I have never seen anything like it.

MVDP was also very impressive, but some of his problems were self-inflicted and detracts a bit from my evaluation of his race.

Shout out to the winner, Bettiol, who launched one of the strongest attacks I have seen since Cancellara pulvarized the field there in 2013 E3.

And ofcourse Valverde whose class, you suspect, could net him him a top position in just about any one day race on the calendar

To be fair, I think it was great team tactics by DQC to "at the least" get someone of their team in the top 3. Jungels (or was it someone else from DQC) was at the front when Asgreen accelerated and did some "impeding" work. Of course it doesn't help that in that phase of the race no one from the group wanted to give one pedal too much chasing anyone down.

As far as Mathieu goes, I agree it was poor judgement. However, it doesn't take away from the fact that it had an effect on his performance whether it detracts from your evaluation of his race or not. I think most people thought his race was over when he took a tumble at a very bad time in the race and was holding his shoulder. He fought his way back to the group and basically dropped everyone not named Bettiol on the Paterberg, had a gap, but no one was able to ride with him. Shame really when you think about it.

Apparently he didn't even know Bettiol was up the road. He says he didn't realize it until about 5k to go:

"Probably at about five kilometres from the finish. Kristoff was constantly shouting seconds in my ear but I thought that was the gap we had on the chasers. It's only at that moment that I saw one rider ahead of us in the distance.

Even with the crash, I think that I would've been able to go with Bettiol if I would've been more to the front of the group on the Oude Kwaremont. I just didn't see him go. The race would've been different so it doesn't make sense to keep thinking about what would've happened."

I read about that as well. He honestly should have just been better positioned. However, I suppose he can be forgiven due to the heroics of even being in that front group in the final, but with such form it was a golden opportunity for Mathieu to win Flanders on his debut. Shame.

 

[Eli]

Re: Re:

Some watts:

And after the race...

Only 243 on average?!? That seems odd, though, the first part of the race was very easy.

VdP said that Gent Wevelgem was a much harder race than this one...

Kristoff when he won the Gent, 100W more average:

Harder race plus Kristoff weighs a good 10+kg more.

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

The 2014 Cannondale team, in its last year of existence, signed four neopros: Villela, Formolo, Mohoric and Bettiol. That’s a pretty good intake.

 

[Broccolidwarf]

Re: Re:

Where is the Cykel Cille (Uttrup) interview please? - It is probably crazy

Here you go!

i have no idea what she said but sounded awesome !!!
top 10 all time...

There's an English-language interview too - on the RvV Twitter account - unfortunately I don't know how to link from Twitter...

Here, an interview in English:
https://twitter.com/RondeVlaanderen/status/1114898860869074945

I dare anyone to watch that interview, and not become an instant fan

She is completely bonkers - but in the best possible way

 

[Libertine Seguros]

I watched that interview and didn't become a Cille fan.

But that's only because I've been a Cille fan for years (yes I'm cycling hipstering people, I liked her before it was cool - I started following her from her gutsy riding in the hills of the Tour de Féminin Krasná Lipá in 2016, before I learnt that she was just as, if not more, crazy and entertaining off the bike than she was on it). She is just about the best thing in cycling right now, a character that's simply natural and likable - but not bland, quite the opposite! - at a time when that's at a premium in the sport (it's not necessarily that we lack characters, but that several of those characters are people like Sagan and Moscon, whose characters make me want to cheer against them, not for them), and if that draws a bigger audience to women's cycling then that's fantastic. She's the kind of person that's ideal for the sport for that reason - hard not to like her, enthusiastic, positive, entertaining even when things are going wrong, rides in a never-say-die manner, and a loose cannon in interviews. I just fear that live broadcasts may be reluctant to place a live microphone in front of her face because while Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig interviews are one of the best things about the sport, her tendency to drop profanities into her excitable monologues may worry network executives and other tiresome people with clipboards and spreadsheets who understand marketing-speak but don't understand why unpredictable, off-the-cuff loose cannons like that are so beneficial (for the same reason as interviewers and press execs took years to figure out why Kimi Räikkönen was the most popular interview with fans, not despite but in fact because of his monosyllabic, disinterested responses and refusal to engage).

But if she does, I will still reserve the right to get my cycling hipster "I liked her before it was cool" on

 

[Valv.Piti]

I know Im definitely in the minority, but I have a bit of a hard time watching her interviews. I like her and I understand the reaction after such a great performance in such a big race (La Course last year also springs to mind), but for some reason I don't really know I switched to Eurosport hallway through the interview on Danish TV. Guess Im not used to it. Its hard to explain tho - it just seems a bit over the top to me, altho I know for a fact that she's being 100% authentic and I should love that because she's also such a great character and me being a Dane and all.

 

[Red Rick]

Re: Re:

Some watts:

And after the race...

Only 243 on average?!? That seems odd, though, the first part of the race was very easy.

VdP said that Gent Wevelgem was a much harder race than this one...

Kristoff when he won the Gent, 100W more average:

It's just a really big difference in parcours. Vlaanderen has much more hills, which makes for far more short high intensity bursts, but because the hardest part of the race is so late, nobody is attacking until the essential part of the race. So because GW has less hills, the flats are raced much harder.

Imagine if De Ronde had a flat final 30km

 

[Danskebjerge]

Re: Re:

Disappointing race by Van Aert and Van Avermaet. Very disappointing by Stybar.

And after today's race. Who are the favorites for PR? Most open PR in many years?

Too bad van der Poel is skipping it.

Assuming no injuries, he should definitely reconsider.

His team is not invited

LOL, that's almost exactly how the dialogue among the experts sounded in my TV when they talked about van der Poel after the race.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Re: Re:

His team is not invited

His team was invited, they (he) chose not to go. I think they said Paris Roubaix is beneath them.

Kidding, but they chose to wait at least a year to ride PR. He wants to ride Amstel and LBL i think.