Ronde van Vlaanderen: October 18th, 2020

[Jagartrott]

Maybe their parents were cycling fans and liked Bugno?
It's not a very common name, but also not unheard of.

 

[Eddy Evenepoel]

Kristoff have like 6 top 5s in a row. Would be a bit of a surprise if he can get a podium, his form seems not to be fantastic.

 

[richwallone]

Greg is out

No Tour of Flanders for injured Greg Van Avermaet

CCC Team backs Trentin in De Ronde as Olympic champion misses it for the first time

www.cyclingnews.com

 

[Red Rick]

Cavendish is riding, replaces Iván García Cortina

Pure domestique for first hours or breakaway? Would be a nicer final race than Scheldeprijs to finish, but it'd be hard I guess?

 

[Breezy1985]

DQS will be Elegant Quickstep for the Ronde.

Crazy fact: "Elegant Quickstep" is also a 1871 soneg by a composer named Pierre LaTour

https://www.loc.gov/item/sm1871.07170/

 

[Red Rick]

I wonder if this temporary sponsor per race is gonna be a big thing in the future

 

[Pantani_lives]

The weather forecast has changed a little. Some light rain is possible.

 

[roundabout]

A quick unscientific search for riders named Gianni on CQ brings up 9 riders from Italy and 9 from Belgium. Which is a bit unexpected.

 

[Pantani_lives]

It's now 100% certain that the race will take place. A shout-out to the organizers (Tomas Van Den Spiegel etc.) for taking all the necessary precautions to keep this event on the calender!

 

[Volderke]

I guess the Gianni 'thing' came indeed with Bugno. I know some guys with a son named Fabian (born between 2010-2020). There were a lot of Eddy's in the early 70s.

Regarding the one-off sponsors: they want to squeeze out everything possible in this shortened season, look at Ineos Grenadier, EF education, now Elegance,... And rightly so. Teams have one chance/year to change design etc., no?

 

[RedheadDane]

Regarding the one-off sponsors: they want to squeeze out everything possible in this shortened season, look at Ineos Grenadier, EF education, now Elegance,... And rightly so.

It's not a new thing; look at Lotto-Soudal riding as Lotto Fix ALL. Though, after Poland last year... it got a bitter taste.

 

[Pantani_lives]

I guess the Gianni 'thing' came indeed with Bugno. I know some guys with a son named Fabian (born between 2010-2020). There were a lot of Eddy's in the early 70s.

Johan Museeuw named his sons Gianni and Stefano (after Bugno and Zanini). That's what riding for an Italian team can do to you.

 

[Yingge]

Cavendish is riding, replaces Iván García Cortina

Pure domestique for first hours or breakaway? Would be a nicer final race than Scheldeprijs to finish, but it'd be hard I guess?

Cav to retire in a blaze of glory after winning RVV!!!! I am sure that the Bookies would happily give odds over 100 to 1.

 

[SafeBet]

I guess the Gianni 'thing' came indeed with Bugno. I know some guys with a son named Fabian (born between 2010-2020). There were a lot of Eddy's in the early 70s.

I doubt Gianni Meersman was named after Bugno though.

 

[Faserr]

What do you think about Schachmann? He had a terrible day at LBL, but in shape, he could be really good. He is flying under the radar a bit.

 

[tobydawq]

What do you think about Schachmann? He had a terrible day at LBL, but in shape, he could be really good. He is flying under the radar a bit.

I'm afraid the Lombardia car crash kind of wrecked his seasob. Yes, he may not have lost racing days but he may have overreached a bit in the Tour which resulted in him being subpar in the subsequent races (he was close to following the lead group in Imola, though). I don't have high expectations for him here.

 

[Faserr]

Yes. I think that, too. Hopefully he is more lucky next year.

 

[Volderke]

I doubt Gianni Meersman was named after Bugno though.

maybe Gianni Motta?

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

People of Italian extraction are the biggest immigrant group in Belgium and have been for decades. Lots of Belgians have an Italian parent or grandparent. Common migrant names also get normalised and adopted by the general population. You don’t have to link every cycling Gianni in Belgium to a particular ex pro!

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Van Aert's team just went from bad to sh!t. Teunissen out due to illness.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1317423767971352578

View: https://twitter.com/MikeTeunissen/status/1317423767971352578

People of Italian extraction are the biggest immigrant group in Belgium and have been for decades. Lots of Belgians have an Italian parent or grandparent. Common migrant names also get normalised and adopted by the general population. You don’t have to link every cycling Gianni in Belgium to a particular ex pro!

Post WWII, a lot of immigrants came from Italy to work in coalmines. This was mainly in the 50's and 60's iirc, the country was recovering and there was a shortage of workers still wanting to go mining. But the initial immigration was limited to those regions in Belgium (the mines were not scattered around the country). This is how i remember it being told in school.

 

[Pantani_lives]

In the women's race Bastianelli and Vos will be missing. B's team is still not starting because of a corona case last week. Vos isn't feeling fit.

Van Aert's team just went from bad to sh!t. Teunissen out due to illness.

Van Aert and MvdP are individually the strongest, but now they might both be isolated in the final. The lack of a teammate can be a problem in the tactical part 35-20 km before the finish, especially when EQSt riders start attacking in turns.

 

[zenoiz]

People of Italian extraction are the biggest immigrant group in Belgium and have been for decades. Lots of Belgians have an Italian parent or grandparent. Common migrant names also get normalised and adopted by the general population. You don’t have to link every cycling Gianni in Belgium to a particular ex pro!

Or his parent(s) may have been fashionistas and into Versace...
More on topic, in a world where Kelderman can win the Giro, Sep Vanmarcke will win RvV. But in both cases, I expect something will conspire to prevent that from happening...

 

[Anderis]

More on topic, in a world where Kelderman can win the Giro, Sep Vanmarcke will win RvV. But in both cases, I expect something will conspire to prevent that from happening...

If Porte finished TdF on the podium, everything is possible this year.

Also Kwiatkowski won a GT stage.

Kelderman winning the Giro and Vanmarcke RvV would fit in the pattern ideally.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

In the women's race Bastianelli and Vos will be missing. B's team is still not starting because of a corona case last week. Vos isn't feeling fit.


Van Aert and MvdP are individually the strongest, but now they might both be isolated in the final. The lack of a teammate can be a problem in the tactical part 35-20 km before the finish, especially when EQSt riders start attacking in turns.

I'm convinced Alpecin Fenix is now stronger than Jumbo. Vermeersch can stay with Mathieu far longer than anyone at Jumbo Visma can support Wout.

 

[Lequack]