Ronde van Vlaanderen: October 18th, 2020

[RedheadDane]

Good thing Kwiatkowski wasn't up there then

What if he'd hit a Poel.

Naesen had been incredibly strong today, he would have had a chance, if he had not worked so much for Bardet.

Pretty sure it was Bardet, who worked for Naesen.

 

[BlueRoads]

Bardet worked for Naesen!

 

[richwallone]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1317816961087275008

View: https://twitter.com/faustocoppi60/status/1317816961087275008

 

[ngent41]

Dutchman rooting for Van der Poel here.
Feel really gutted for Alaphilippe and wish he'd still be with the other two.

I also feel gutted, was looking forward to Alaf getting pipped at the line while celebrating early....either that or relegated for sprinting at a 45 degree angle across the road

 

[Broccolidwarf]

Pretty sure it was Bardet, who worked for Naesen.

No, he closed down 2 breaks with Bardet on 2nd or 3rd wheel earlier.

 

[Devil's Elbow]

My god, this is a woeful edition. Roughly 10k of racing.

 

[richwallone]

It's WVA race to lose in the sprint.

 

[damian13ster]

I think Van Aert is the stronger of the two

 

[Mayomaniac]

Degenkolb is looking strong, no Roubaix really sucks for him.

 

[Gigs_98]

Boooooo, at least Cancellara and Boonen were attacking each other.

 

[KZD]

Kristoff always so strong in this race

 

[BlueRoads]

Oh this would have been a perfect race had Alaphilippe been with them. They would probably have outsprinted him in the end, but just seeing those three riders together in the final would have been great.

Now it's the perfect duo rivalry of course.

 

[RedheadDane]

No, he closed down 2 breaks with Bardet on 2nd or 3rd wheel earlier.

Definitely looked like Bardet closed a gap for Naesen earlier.

 

[rghysens]

Van Aert to take it.

 

[TomLPC]

57 seconds, don't look at each other too much lads

 

[saganftw]

commentators doing hard pulls on the front to sell this one, the crash really cost the race

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Who historically has the edge in the sprint given their cyclo-cross rivalry?

Too close to call, in a sprint they have beaten each other multiple times. At the moment (after started winning TDF sprints), i would assume van Aert to have the edge, but it could easily be the other way as well.

 

[richwallone]

It's a disc vs. rim brakes race

 

[Broccolidwarf]

Definitely looked like Bardet closed a gap for Naesen earlier.

Later in the race, yes..... Bardet probably told Naesen he didn’t have it today, but earlier Naesen was doing the work.

 

[damian13ster]

Bet 365 has 1.44 on WVA, 2.62 on VdP

 

[luckyboy]

Van der Poel is going to lose a flat sprint if he goes all the way to the line.

 

[titan31]

Oh this would have been a perfect race had Alaphilippe been with them. They would probably have outsprinted him in the end, but just seeing those three riders together in the final would have been great.

Now it's the perfect duo rivalry of course.

It is a shame. Ala would have attacked on both Kwaremont and Paterberg most likely.

Van Aert looked the weakest of the 3 uphill so it would have made it a more interesting race alright

 

[Broccolidwarf]

WvA has beaten the best sprinters in the world on the line, so under normal circumstances he would take it.... but with this race distance, nobody really knows.

 

[T-Nielsen]

It's a disc vs. rim brakes race

Good God.

If that's what we are down to we are in a lot of trouble.

 

[titan31]

Vdp should slack a bit on his turns. Make them shorter.