The official Great Bauke Mollema thread

[Parrulo]

It's hard to tell what Mollema did at the collapsed arch in the replay, so after having seen that I thought Mollema was talking BS when he said he almost caught the two up front. The TdW photograph however gives us a better insight.

He was as far back as he was with 3k to go. Easy to see from the video i posted.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Who cares, Mollema still won the only MTF of this Tour. Solo. That's what counts

 

[Pentacycle]

Who cares, Mollema still won the only MTF of this Tour. Solo. That's what counts

In two weeks time nobody will care about this race anyway. I wouldn't be surprised if someone who currently sits at roughly 40th in GC gets the best results in the Tour.

 

[jens_attacks]

In two weeks time nobody will care about this race anyway. I wouldn't be surprised if someone who currently sits at roughly 40th in GC gets the best results in the Tour.

had to check

yes indeed
tour de suisse results won't matter then

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Bump.

TGBM totally delivered. Smart ride.. own pace, and then catching and dropping everyone ahead of him bar Valverde and ofcourse the Sky borgs.

 

[classicomano]

What a hero!

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

He also did a miracolous final 3km. From 1'19 down to Froome to 1'10 at the finish. Only guy who actually gained time on Froome somewhere on the climb lol

 

[Pentacycle]

He also did a miracolous final 3km. From 1'19 down to Froome to 1'10 at the finish. Only guy who actually gained time on Froome somewhere on the climb lol

He rode very good. He'll no doubt be talked up as a podium contender, and finish 4th or lower in the end. (2011 Vuelta) No shame in that though. I kinda hoped Poels would too contribute to the revival of that great race, but his lack of shape is what you can expect when your expectations are up.

 

[Maaaaaaaarten]

TGBM was great today

He looked pretty fresh in an interview pretty quickly after he'd finished with some guy from Sporza.

 

[Red Rick]

Great ride by Mollema, but let's nog forget LTD, he should get some credit too

 

[theyoungest]

He said he's already read three books in 7 days, so we should be happy he also found some time to ride his bike

 

[ElChingon]

Hope the Rabo Curse doesn't rear its ugly well curse.

 

[Taxus4a]

I was worried at the begining of Ax 3 Domaines, but his final was amazing.

 

[maltiv]

Loved his Sastre-impression today: ride the entire climb at the back of the field before he suddenly appeared at the front

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Loved his Sastre-impression today: ride the entire climb at the back of the field before he suddenly appeared at the front

And ride the last 3km 9 seconds faster than Froome.
He has this weird capability to ride his own pace and then suddenly accelerate greatly at the end.

 

[DenisMenchov]

And ride the last 3km 9 seconds faster than Froome.
He has this weird capability to ride his own pace and then suddenly accelerate greatly at the end.

I always knew Mollema was that good, but today he was excellent had it been 2kms more he might catch Porte as well and finish within a minute of Froome.

 

[Bushman]

I always knew Mollema was that good, but today he was excellent had it been 2kms more he might catch Porte as well and finish within a minute of Froome.

Had it been 2 km longer he would most likely have lost more time than he did.

 

[DenisMenchov]

Had it been 2 km longer he would most likely have lost more time than he did.

He was by far the best in the last 3kms, what makes you think that?

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

The question will be if he holds this for 3 weeks. I predicted a lower end top 10 finish between 7-10...

But now it looks like Rodriguez doesn't have it and Pinot is gone. Rolland doesn't look that great either (even though he attacked). BMC also gone.. So there is some competition gone. But I do think Contador will bounce back and if Quintana starts to race smart he'll do much better (even maybe battle Froome in some stages).
Valverde however might be beatable

 

[DenisMenchov]

The question will be if he holds this for 3 weeks. I predicted a lower end top 10 finish between 7-10...

But now it looks like Rodriguez doesn't have it and Pinot is gone. Rolland doesn't look that great either (even though he attacked). BMC also gone.. So there is some competition gone. But I do think Contador will bounce back and if Quintana starts to race smart he'll do much better (even maybe battle Froome in some stages).
Valverde however might be beatable

My thoughts exactly, only I think that Porte is beatable too, but that Roman is a threat.

 

[Bushman]

He was by far the best in the last 3kms, what makes you think that?

Because I don't think he could have kept that speed for 2 kms more. If the last mountain had been 2 km longer he would also likely have accelerated later.

 

[theyoungest]

Because I don't think he could have kept that speed for 2 kms more. If the last mountain had been 2 km longer he would also likely have accelerated later.

No one would have gone as fast, so it's a bit of a useless statement.

BTW he's been riding every stage on an aero road bike ever since the Tour de Suisse, which might explain why he did so well when the climb flattened out

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Mollema just continues to impress.

Competitive in quite a few races all season. Chapeau.

It would appear Mollema goes well on mountain stages where the pace has be high all day. Perhaps something that Belkin can explore later.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Mollema just continues to impress.

Competitive in quite a few races all season. Chapeau.

It would appear Mollema goes well on mountain stages where the pace has be high all day. Perhaps something that Belkin can explore later.

Actually, in the Tirreno he got dropped pretty early on Tivo when Sky upped the pace. He said then he realised he has problems when the pace is near/over the limit all the time. Then made that a focus in training, long high speed intervals on mountains to get used to the crushing speed of the Sky train.

 

[movingtarget]

Impressive by Mollema. He looked good in the TDS. Ten Dam too was very good.