theyoungest said:
You sure? This was his chance, he's not going to be able to follow the heads of state when he's in their wheel on the Kwaremont or whatever.
It was a performance like Roelandts last year: good, gutsy, but not indicative of future success in Monuments.
I do not agree. GvA is, on a good day, able to follow Vanmarcke / Cancellara.
He would have followed in PR2013 IF he didn't do a lot of stupid counters before Cancellara went clear on Camphin-en-Pevele, with only Stybar able to follow at that moment. He lost five meters on Cancellara there, but struggled a long time and just couldn't make it.
Just to prove he is not a Roelandts type of rider. He has a bigger and longer-going engine. The problem is, when he is good, he jumps on every wheel of attackers even if he doesn't need to... This has cost him so many wins and it makes me a little angry.
Anecdote: When he was in the studio of Sporza after RVV they asked him:
SPORZA: "why did you counter Vandenbergh in the last kilometer?
GvA: "Vandenbergh is a dangerous attacker and I couldn't let him go."
SPORZA: "But Cancellara and Vanmarcke were in your wheel, why didn't you let them go after Vandenbergh?"
GvA: (silence and looking annoyed)