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

[tobydawq]

I just rewatched Flanders 2016 and it was so weird to watch the race. Cancellara is literally just sitting up when Sagan, Kwito and Sep attack and relies solely on Stijn Devolder to keep it close before Kwaremont. Had he been stronger, no problem, but he needed a more extra percent and therefore couldn't catch Sagan. He definitely would have had a better chance if he acted differently instead of only thinking about last time up Kwaremont.

Greg's two best seasons were 2016 and especially 2017. I think he would've won the ladder, but he got unlucky both years where he was the biggest favorite along with Sagan. He was soooooo good in 2017, was undropable for peak Sagan and was a complete menace in the sprint in small group sprint. I definitely consider peak Greg a better cobbled classics rider than Sagan, but his true peak was only 1-2 seasons, and he really wasnt the same before or after, although quite consistent.

Sagan would have murdered him and Naesen on the Paterberg.

Okay, maybe not, but damn that 2017 Ronde was a frustrating experience.

 

[Peyroteo94]

I just rewatched Flanders 2016 and it was so weird to watch the race. Cancellara is literally just sitting up when Sagan, Kwito and Sep attack and relies solely on Stijn Devolder to keep it close before Kwaremont. Had he been stronger, no problem, but he needed a more extra percent and therefore couldn't catch Sagan. He definitely would have had a better chance if he acted differently instead of only thinking about last time up Kwaremont.

Greg's two best seasons were 2016 and especially 2017. I think he would've won the ladder, but he got unlucky both years where he was the biggest favorite along with Sagan. He was soooooo good in 2017, was undropable for peak Sagan and was a complete menace in the sprint in small group sprint. I definitely consider peak Greg a better cobbled classics rider than Sagan, but his true peak was only 1-2 seasons, and he really wasnt the same before or after, although quite consistent.

This is just pure trolling. It can't be the other way. GVA, even in 2017, never was a marked man in a cobbled race. All eyes were in Sagan. There were teams/riders who didn't race to win just to tire Sagan and consequently he had less chances to win. 2017 GW is the perfect example of that. Had Greg half of the pressure and enemies Sagan had. He would win 0 monuments in his entire career.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Very few riders in the world could drop Greg in 2017 shape and very few riders could win a sprint against him. He was the perfect Tour of Flanders rider, but unfortunately only did hit that level for probably only 1 season.

Lets not diminish Greg's ability in those years - Olympic road race in 2016 and he literally sweeped every cobbled classic in 2017 apart from Flanders where him and Sagan got unlucky. Who knows who would have won, but mu money was definitely on Golden Greg.

 

[Peyroteo94]

Very few riders in the world could drop Greg in 2017 shape and very few riders could win a sprint against him. He was the perfect Tour of Flanders rider, but unfortunately only did hit that level for probably only 1 season.

Lets not diminish Greg's ability in those years - Olympic road race in 2016 and he literally sweeped every cobbled classic in 2017 apart from Flanders where him and Sagan got unlucky. Who knows who would have won, but mu money was definitely on Golden Greg.

He was far from being the strongest in Rio. He benefited a lot from Nibali and Henao crashing.

 

[tobydawq]

Very few riders in the world could drop Greg in 2017 shape and very few riders could win a sprint against him. He was the perfect Tour of Flanders rider, but unfortunately only did hit that level for probably only 1 season.

Lets not diminish Greg's ability in those years - Olympic road race in 2016 and he literally sweeped every cobbled classic in 2017 apart from Flanders where him and Sagan got unlucky. Who knows who would have won, but mu money was definitely on Golden Greg.

Let's also not diminish Sagan who was an absolute beast back then.

 

[yaco]

He was far from being the strongest in Rio. He benefited a lot from Nibali and Henao crashing.

It was a lucky win - You then add that GVA would not have made the final unless Fulgsang attacked from the peleton.