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Will Gilbert complete the "ardennes triple" by winning liege?

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Will Gilbert complete the "ardennes triple" by winning liege?

  • Not sure

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
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  • Poll closed .
Feb 15, 2011
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luckyboy said:
Nah, everyone will be marking him and forcing Lotto to work..

Probably should've voted 'not sure' seeing how strong Vanendert + VDB are.

Voting "not sure" is more gay than riding a pink poney anally, while holding one of it's hoofs to comfort it.
 
May 12, 2010
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El Pistolero said:
That favors Gilbert :p

Not really, maybe fysically (altough I would say it would still favor guys like Vinokourov and Schleck more, Gilbert's strenght is explosiveness, not endurance), but tactically it will be hard if you have a group consisting solely of team leaders early on, and they'll look at Gilbert to do the work. If a large group starts at the Roche-aux-Faucons, Gilbert can reduce it to 3 or 4 guys, they'll have to cooperate to stay in the front, giving him the opportunity to drop the rest on the Saint Nicolas.
 
Jul 16, 2010
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Lanark said:
Not really, maybe fysically (altough I would say it would still favor guys like Vinokourov and Schleck more, Gilbert's strenght is explosiveness, not endurance), but tactically it will be hard if you have a group consisting solely of team leaders early on, and they'll look at Gilbert to do the work. If a large group starts at the Roche-aux-Faucons, Gilbert can reduce it to 3 or 4 guys, they'll have to cooperate to stay in the front, giving him the opportunity to drop the rest on the Saint Nicolas.

No, just repeating what Phil says in his interviews after races. He likes races to be really hard and selective. That's why he prefers rain because weather like that makes the strongest come out in front naturally.

I think Phil knows his own capabilities better than us, so I'm going with what he says.

But yeah, if other teams can have someone in the breakaway and thus forcing Gilbert and his team to do all the work he'll be in big trouble. They're going to have to make the race hard, but more importantly, they're going to have to pull out some good tactics.

After what he did in AGR I wouldn't say he only has explosiveness. He pulled the whole group on his own for 2 km or something and still finished the sprint quite easily. He's no Cancellara, but his endurance level is no as bad as some suggest.
 
Mar 8, 2010
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boomcie said:
Voting "not sure" is more gay than riding a pink poney anally, while holding one of it's hoofs to comfort it.

You are now officially responsible for all that coffee on my keyboard.

But be careful with sexual comparisons. Rrrradio will watch this and will probably accuse you of supporting animal cruelty now.
 
Jun 9, 2010
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El Pistolero said:
But with Valverde and Tintin gone no one will be able to outsprint him in Ans

Vino can outsprint Gilbert any day...
And this race has the name of Vino again, also Astana looks to be in shape they could fancy some attacks from Grivko and Gasparotto today and Di Gregorio finished in the top 20 today...
LBL is not a bunch sprint... Here you have to time your attack very well...
Vino showed us in Pais Vasco and today that He is going very well... He has his breakaway and climbing legs well tuned :cool:

I voted No... ;)
 
Jul 16, 2010
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Ryaguas said:
Vino can outsprint Gilbert any day...
And this race has the name of Vino again, also Astana looks to be in shape they could fancy some attacks from Grivko and Gasparotto today and Di Gregorio finished in the top 20 today...
LBL is not a bunch sprint... Here you have to time your attack very well...
Vino showed us in Pais Vasco and today that He is going very well... He has his breakaway and climbing legs well tuned :cool:

I voted No... ;)

I don't see Vino outsprinting him anytime soon.

If he'll win it won't be a sprint between Phil.

You know Vino got blasted by Gilbert today.
 
El Pistolero said:
Voigt would be a cool winner, but he'll need someone like Vino with him to stay away at the end.

Then it would be 2005 all over again.

Hard question to answer but I'm going to say no. LBL isn't like the other two where it's almost certain an uphill sprint will decide it. Katusha, the Schlecks, the EE bros, Nibali, Vino, and others will be looking to attack. Gilbert is definitely the favorite but more like a golf favorite than a tennis favorite in this one, if you get my drift.
 
Dec 7, 2010
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The Hitch said:
Just like Spartacus was forced to on cobbles, Gilbert, having owned everyone in some style, should be made to (though he does actually have a team to help him) get the victory himself.

To the bold. He DOES have the team support, and they are going to be approaching this as a chance for historical dominance. He'll be heavily marked but he's on great form and the team must be brimming with confidence.

If need be, Gilbert will take matters into his own hands. I can't wait.

I vote yes!
 
Jun 1, 2010
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I think he'll be overpowered by Andy and/or Vino. Katusha and Leopard have the teams to make this very, very hard for Gilbert: Leopard could send Voight, Wegmann and Monfort up on the road early and still hold back the Schlecks and Fuglsang for if Gilbert catches that break; same for Katusha with all their riders.
Yes, Gilbert did already beat all those other favourites twice now, but LBL is completely different from AGR and LFW. It does not come down to a single mountain sprint, Gilbert will need to work to keep everything together, and I don't see him succeeding there.

My prediction: A break with at least 1 person from both Leopard and Katusha will escape, but will be caught partly thanks to the help Rabo gave Lotto in the chase. A attack by Kolobnev will seperate the strongest from their main domestiques (with the entire Rabo team obviously lagging behind, all their work again for nothing). Some attacks will follow, but not succeed, until Andy Schleck launches an attack. The others will sit on Gilbert's wheel for a while, until Vino launches his attack near the top of the hill. He'll catch Schleck on the flat and they'll work together until the end, where Vino will go clear and win his third.

Of course, if Gilbert would indeed win this he will be a very worthy winner, and I'll be cheering for him just as loudly as for Vino. I just hope this won't come down to a group sprint, I prefer it when a rider is clearly stronger than the rest on all levels, not just in the final 200 meters.
 
at this point - he might as well get it done- but also I foresee a conspiracy of all teams to mark him during the race-even while he's taking a leak-specially katusha with Purito getting really annoyed by being relegated to 2nd place

nevertheless it would be fantastic to make his dream of winning L-B-L come true
 
What about the Euskaltel duo? It was obvious today that Anton started too far back and the way he powered his way along the other guys to claim 5th was impressive. Probably LBL is a bit too flat for him, but last year he came in as 7th and now he has Sanchez on his side, who looked good too today (as good as in the AGR on the Keutenberg, but he was once again too far back when the peloton broke up).
 
Aug 28, 2010
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I didn't think much of his chances winning FW because of the gradient of the Mur de Huy, but now that he's over that one, I think he's got a chance to win LBL now. I voted yes.
 
Nov 30, 2010
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I voted, 'Yes'.

In order to stop Gilbert there probably needs to be a concerted anti-Gilbert tactic from all the big teams. I don't think we'll see it.

To compare with Cancellara again: I don't think there was a concerted tactic in the Ronde, it just so happened that BMC had the manpower and decided to chase. I didn't detect any will to chase from anyone else. And of course the only man down the road was Chavenel. But for Roubaix, the tactic was clear; every team kept sending men down the road until the break stuck, then sit on and let Cancellara bring them back on his own.

Lotto are too strong and the other teams too unconcerted to force a repeat of Roubaix. If Gilbert loses, it will be because an individual is stronger than him on the day. But that doesn't look likely at the moment.
 
Jul 2, 2009
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I voted no, not because he isn't good enough, but he's been marked out as an overwhelming favourite and there's many good teams out there trying to thwart him. I expect one of them to get their tactics right (see Garmin v Cancellara).

I'd like to see him win though.
 
Mar 12, 2009
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I voted "Yes". Both Gilbert and the team are riding like no one else. He'll also be reved up by the crowds in his home province. Short of a mechanical, puncture or crash, he will take it.
 
Jun 22, 2009
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LBL is the hardest to control tho.
More opportunities.

Think it is gonna be hard to win, because no one will want to be with gilbert at the end.

I hope he does it tho.
 

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