Who is left standing?

[TheGreenMonkey]

With Cancellara and Boonen out of Tour of Flanders who is left standing to compete for the victory

 

[LaFlorecita]

Stybar, Terpstra, Vanmarcke, Sagan, Chavanel amongst others

 

[Dazed and Confused]

I'm more than ready to see other riders coming onto the scene.....

 

[Carols]

It certainly has opened up for a new set of winners. Should make for some good racing at least

 

[Pricey_sky]

Thomas in this form has certainly thrown his name into the hat.

 

[aarononymous]

Quintana

 

[luckyboy]

Benoot, Vanmarcke, probably some others I guess?

 

[lemon cheese cake]

Stybar, Vanmarcke, Stannard, Thomas, Stybar, Van Avemaert, Terpstra, Degenkolb and Kristoff

With him dropping off in the final few Ks today, Sagan wont make the cut of the favourites and Wiggins just wont be good enough. Unfortunately with Sky focusing on Wiggins for the Paris Roubaix, I'm afraid that Stannard and Thomas will be set as early markers in breakaways like last year.

 

[MartinGT]

Just put a Gewiss rider oh I mean Sky rider down FTW the way they are going

 

[TMP402]

***
Stybar, Vanmarcke, Thomas, Van Avermaet (if he's not injured)
**
Kristoff, Degenkolb, Sagan, Langeveld (if he's not injured)
*
Stannard, Vandenberg, Terpstra, Benoot, Oss, Boom

 

[luckyboy]

I fear that Vanmarcke's lack of super-domestiques will screw him.

QuickStep has like 4 or 5 options, Sky has Thomas/Stannard/Wiggins, BMC has Oss and GVA. They all have options to send on attacks while Vanmarcke will be chasing them on his own because he just has some young guys and Tankink who won't be there in the finale...

 

[More Strides than Rides]

Re:

I fear that Vanmarcke's lack of super-domestiques will screw him.

QuickStep has like 4 or 5 options, Sky has Thomas/Stannard/Wiggins, BMC has Oss and GVA. They all have options to send on attacks while Vanmarcke will be chasing them on his own because he just has some young guys and Tankink who won't be there in the finale...

More than that, he has less assistance for any mechanicals. He's been hit hard by randomness already this year.

 

[IndianCyclist]

Vanmarcke if he knows how to sprint.
Stybar, Terpstra if they can play proper tactics
Stannard, Thomas if they dont choke
Degenkolb, Kristoff if they can get over the hills/cobbles in the front group
Sagan if he doesn't have the ""mysterious finale weakness"".
Others if the favorites don't chase

 

[Asero831]

Will you consider Stybar wheelsucker?

 

[TheGreenMonkey]

No

 

[TheGreenMonkey]

Vanmarcke has no team and it is pretty hard to hid in the group wearing bright yellow.

 

[stabbin31]

I wonder what Trek is going to do now. I am really disapointed in the performance of guys like Rast, Steegmans and Devo. I wonder if Devolder has anything left in the tank . I am guessing that either Boy Van Popple of Marco Coledan will fill in. However let us not forget about Jasper Stuyven. Anyone think he can be a player?

 

[Volderke]

****(*)
Vanmarcke
****
Stybar, Thomas, Terpstra, Kwiatkowski
***
Sagan, Van Avermaet (if he's not injured)
**
Kristoff, Degenkolb, Roelandts, Devolder ;-)
*
Stannard, Vandenberg, Benoot, Oss, Boom, Langeveld (if he's not injured)

 

[lemon cheese cake]

Re:

Will you consider Stybar wheelsucker?

No. He just thought Sagan would chase Thomas down as he was the defending champion.

 

[Hugo Koblet]

For Ronde van Vlaanderen, I think we have a nice crop of riders with almost equal chance of winning: GVA, Vanmarcke, Stybar, Sagan, Thomas and Kristoff. At the moment, I'd probably rate Kristoff and Sagan slightly below the others. I think the dynamics for a very good race is there. There's no clear favorite which bodes for an open race.

For Paris-Roubaix, again we have a few riders with almost equal chance of winning: Wiggins, Degenkolb, Kristoff, Stybar, Terpstra and Vanmarcke and then a lot of outsiders like Sagan, GVA, Thomas, Stannard etc.

I know that Cancellara (or Boonen) wasn't the big favorite he used to be, but the changed dynamics without these two might lead to some very interesting and entertaining races.

 

[Buffalo Soldier]

The thing with Boonen and (maybe not in the last couple of years) Cancellara: they just love to race. They don't care to attack 60k from the finish, they don't calculate or think too much, they just go for it.

I think GVA and Vanmarcke (Sagan?) might have the same idea, but others, like Stybar and Kristoff, they race smart, but not attractive.

 

[Hugo Koblet]

Re:

I wonder what Trek is going to do now. I am really disapointed in the performance of guys like Rast, Steegmans and Devo. I wonder if Devolder has anything left in the tank . I am guessing that either Boy Van Popple of Marco Coledan will fill in. However let us not forget about Jasper Stuyven. Anyone think he can be a player?

Well, Devolder had that crash in DDV which might have affected him. Not that he was gonna do anything anyway. Stuyven is very interesting but not for this year.

 

[Jonny7c]

any new news on GVA this morning?
is Boom definitely out?

 

[Vesica]

Theuns

 

[SafeBet]

Re:

For Ronde van Vlaanderen, I think we have a nice crop of riders with almost equal chance of winning: GVA, Vanmarcke, Stybar, Sagan, Thomas and Kristoff. At the moment, I'd probably rate Kristoff and Sagan slightly below the others. I think the dynamics for a very good race is there. There's no clear favorite which bodes for an open race.

For Paris-Roubaix, again we have a few riders with almost equal chance of winning: Wiggins, Degenkolb, Kristoff, Stybar, Terpstra and Vanmarcke and then a lot of outsiders like Sagan, GVA, Thomas, Stannard etc.

I know that Cancellara (or Boonen) wasn't the big favorite he used to be, but the changed dynamics without these two might lead to some very interesting and entertaining races.

It could be this way, but it could also be like Buffalo Solider said: Cance and Boonen tend to make for great racing. Without them, since the other riders will think they have a better shot at winning, they could end up racing more conservatively.

I still believe Sep has the best chance at winning it solo a la Cancellara. He tried it yesterday, was a bit unlucky. I put Stybar and G. Thomas in Tier 1 as well, at least for Ronde.

Etixx has all the cards to make both RVV and PR carnages. They're our best hope for great races.