Ronde van Vlaanderen - Tour des Flandres 2023, one day monument, April 2 (men's)

[Krzysztof_O]

Pog with his Belgian fanclub, Pogiboys

PS: They were also there last week at E3

So the FIFA president is also a Pogi boy? Not cool!

 

[dobrien]

obligatory Movistar rider is 23 yo Matteo. This may be beyond him but he's a quick learner. If he gets with Pog and maybe one other guy not WvA or MvP this could be a different race. Long shot but that can happen.

Matteo is my pick for big dark horse ride of the day. There is always that one rider who wakes up on the morning of a big race and looks in the mirror and sees a monster; I think Matteo is going to be that guy. Going out on a limb and saying he is top 5 today.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Climate change doesn't explain why it always rains on Saturday but never on Sunday. Polytheism does. It proves that rain god Pluvius rests on the seventh day to watch the Ronde.

Yeah, thats why you have to lol when DNP claims we should move all the cobbled classics to the autumn. There's plenty of bad weather, apparantly just not on Sundays!

 

[staubsauger]

Hilaire van der Schueren directeur sportif of Wanty today. I thought he retired at the end of last year?

 

[gregrowlerson]

Is Magnus Sheffield definitely racing? Haven't heard much about him in the lead up. Could be an Ineos back up plan if Pidcock isn't feeling good.

 

[tobydawq]

Is Magnus Sheffield definitely racing? Haven't heard much about him in the lead up. Could be an Ineos back up plan if Pidcock isn't feeling good.

What do you mean definitely? Race start is in an hour, I think the start list is definitive...

 

[Salvarani]

Is Magnus Sheffield definitely racing? Haven't heard much about him in the lead up. Could be an Ineos back up plan if Pidcock isn't feeling good.

He is in the confirmed startlist.

I think it is too early for him to be able to challenge here. Maybe top 40-30 if he has a good day, which would be very good.

 

[tobydawq]

He is in the confirmed startlist.

I think it is too early for him to be able to challenge here. Maybe top 40-30 if he has a good day, which would be very good.

40-30=10

 

[DNP-Old]

The Pater is more slippery than an eel currently. We might see runners.

 

[SHAD0W93]

Climate change doesn't explain why it always rains on Saturday but never on Sunday. Polytheism does. It proves that rain god Pluvius rests on the seventh day to watch the Ronde.

All I know is every Spartan race I’ve done, the suns out on Sat and it rains Sun.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Cycling should learn from football and start watering the courses.

 

[Netserk]

Cycling should learn from football and start watering the courses.

I didn't like that in the 2019 Vuelta TTT.

 

[Netserk]

So how big will the morning break be today? My guess is 9 riders.

 

[Aimar16]

Some of the guys were dressed up like it was a race in Antarctica

 

[Red Rick]

Cycling should learn from football and start watering the courses.

Cycling: "Learn from football? They got these shitty Qatari events from us"

 

[Samu Cuenca]

So how big will the morning break be today? My guess is 9 riders.

I think I'm going for 9 as well:

A Movistar rider (Norsgaard, Lazkano, Jacobs or Hollmann)
An EF rider
A Sport Vlaanderen rider
A Bingoal rider
An Uno-X rider
A Lotto rider
An AG2R rider
Taco van der Hoorn
Mathis Le Berre

 

[Netserk]

The wind is at its strongest now, it will steadily decrease during the race. They will have crosswinds from the start, but not for extended periods.

 

[DNP-Old]

13 minutes in and Vannieuwkerke is already insufferable.

 

[Netserk]

Cycling: "Learn from football? They got these shitty Qatari events from us"

I would rather have Tour of Qatar back than Saudi Tour. But they got their WC, and then that race was done.

 

[Netserk]

I think I'm going for 9 as well:

A Movistar rider (Norsgaard, Lazkano, Jacobs or Hollmann)
An EF rider
A Sport Vlaanderen rider
A Bingoal rider
An Uno-X rider
A Lotto rider
An AG2R rider
Taco van der Hoorn
Mathis Le Berre

Astana must be present there.

 

[Red Rick]

I would rather have Tour of Qatar back than Saudi Tour. But they got their WC, and then that race was done.

Never really followed either race tbh. The one good thing about them is they're not on an intrusive part of the calendar. I honestly think I'd rather have Saudi or Oman being WT than UAE, but it is what it is.

Qatar did bring something unique as basically a pure echelon race.

 

[Salvarani]

Gilbert lol

 

[Netserk]

No Jumbo in the first 50 riders. Who is on police duty today?

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Astana must be present there.

They might be there, too, but I'm not sure the team is even good enough for that. They haven't even brought Cees Bol, who, according to a TV2 article, won the race back in 1974.

 

[Red Rick]

No Jumbo in the first 50 riders. Who is on police duty today?

I don't even get the point of policing duty, I'd rather put Affini in the break than making sure the random breakaway isn't too big. Also gives reason to not contribute to chase and preserve manpower while having potentially Affini to do some work deeper in the race.