i think they have a more than decent chance. too many sprinters not contributing

better hope for crosswind to shred it up

Someone better counter attack. Still too many sprinters

I think attack will commence once they get through Ypres

Got to go with Mathews now. He is in there but I haven't seen him on the front at all. Total wheel-sucker

Sagan is such a beast although I felt bad for Viviani. I'm not sure I've ever seen someone break down and cry like he did. Quick Step rode a killer race. Van Aert rode well too. I wonder what team he ends up on next year.

Oh man, Viviani sobbing like Purito did in WC 2013. Talk about wearing emotions on your sleeves; his sleeves must be soaked with tears

Tallies for this round

This is great, it's getting very close at the top; three people avg 3, two at 2.75, and one at 2.5



So close, just picked the wrong race. 1 point



Nicely done!

4 points



2 points



First correctly picked winner of this year!

4 points


4 points as well; nice done!

2 points

3 points


Good call; so close for your cousin

0 point


0 point

0 point. And yes, Sagan can be a wild card :)

4 points

Sagan is a heartbreaker.

That was awesome. Nice mix of riders and teams at the end, very cool seeing the Dutch team still in there and going balls out. Cracked up when the Dutch rider flicked the elbow at Gilbert the pull through.

Phil Gil made the race by driving the split. Looked like Sep checked on Modolo and then said, eff it, I gotta go. Great ride.
Inadvertently blocked Demare just a little at the sprint which may have sealed it for Sagan.

Sagan barely turned a peddle the last 10k. Tough to overcome that and Burkhardt was beastly all day.

as soon as Sagan saw open road he HIT the gas hard, and Sep pretty much screwed Viviani when he stop pedaling lol

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The entire event (IM) is like "death by 1000 cuts" and the best race is minimizing all those cuts and losing less blood than the other guy. - Dev

Yeah it's certainly not uncommon to see a sprinter slamming their fist down into their bars in frustration like he did, but you don't often see a dude curled up sobbing uncontrollably. He was totally crestfallen... must have really wanted it and thought he should have won, which is interesting considering he wasn't even slated to do these races until Gaviria went down.

*smashes keyboard*


When Sep took that flyer I thought I had it.

ETA: I meant that I thought HE had it.

It must be immense pressure on him too. The day after a 1-2, the team assigns you, the Italian on the team, the team leadership on a Belgium Classic, with Gilbert and co. working for you. You're the closer. You have to close.

He needs more coffee. It’ll help him become a closer

That said, his positioning is a bit subpar. In that one day De Panne race, he was so far back with 700m to go, that he was only able to win due to weaker competition. Gent is different though. I’d have expected better tactics, given his track racing acumen. I’m sure he’ll learn and improve


You and me both. Dwars should be interesting. Sagan mot racing, for one. I think the big guns will probably soft pedal it...

I'm just sooooo impressed that Valverde is perpetually on form.......he obviously has lots of coffee.

Sagan showed up big time— that’s the guy everyone’s terrified of.

Shot across the bow from Bora with Burhardt up there to control last attacks and Oss in chase group.

Gilbert is wicked strong; he’ll be one to watch the next two outings.

The really good guys rarely miss keep moves—GvA, Sep, Sagan, Gilbert, and so on. Add Van Aert to list; another hugely impressive ride.

That's interesting... I actually thought that Sagan was not looking too strong, but has a good sprint. He does not seem to be trying to ride away now (might be tactics) but waiting to try in the sprint.

Well so far my choices have been horrible.

I do think the last couple weeks of racing indicate that there will be three individuals who will almost certainly be dictating Flanders, with these being Van Marke, GVM, and Sagan. Against these individuals you will have the tactics and combined strength of Quick Step. I can see QS putting someone up the road and the other rider neutralizing GVM and Sagan. Sep VM will likely initiate the break but lack the punch for anything more than 3rd. If a small group comes to the line, nobody beats Sagan.

He’s not going to ride away from a pack that big, especially when QS has 3-4 guys, on a course that’s not selective. Were it really windy and a small group maybe he tries but with a teammate present and QS happy to drive pace, best bet is to sprint. He’s not the fastest GC sprinter but in long classic he’s tough to beat to the line.

Gilbert is wicked strong; he’ll be one to watch the next two outings


fan-boy speaking, PG does look strong and his tactics seem on. that doesn't mean he's gonna win but it does mean he's gonna blow *$#! up.

I know he wanted MSR as part of his resume. It will be interesting to see if "adding" PR competes with his defense of the Ronde.

for the rest, I think GVA has to be all-in on the Ronde. ditto Sep. Peto sticks with his "win them all" approach.

the true wild cards will be Kwi, Stybar, and Terps. I would look for them to instigate.

Well back in the good ol' days of doping it was the wide swings in form that seemed to be the tip off, now it's the consistency...just saying.

That's interesting... I actually thought that Sagan was not looking too strong, but has a good sprint. He does not seem to be trying to ride away now (might be tactics) but waiting to try in the sprint.


In that final selection, over the last 15 - 20 km, Sagan, could let it go either way - wait it out until the final sprint, wait until some on the non-sprinters like Vanmarcke attacked (which came REALLY late and too late for him) and split the group even further, and then go solo from that smaller group, or maybe use Burghardt as a bit of a foil. Consequently, for most of that final 15km, Sagan just bided his time at the back, waiting for others to make moves. In the end it came down to the first option - small field sprint.

It was an interesting make up that final group of about 20 - pure sprinters like Demarre and Viviani and the more "opportunists" such as Gilbert, Vanmarcke and GVA. Although, as it unfolded, it was clear that Quick-Step was trying to set it up for Viviani, and thus Gilbert was being used more as a tempo driver and potential lead-out man.

I loved the way, all the real sprinters set up on the right side of the road, and then Sagan, said "OK, I'm going left, Thank you and I have the whole of the road to myself

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

Good point Fleck.

The speed of that group was also super high as they did not want anyone else to come back on.

PG was working hard for the team for sure. I wonder if that means he will be the designated leader for the next 2 weekends.

PG was working hard for the team for sure. I wonder if that means he will be the designated leader for the next 2 weekends.


Yes. I'm guessing that as the defending Champion for Flanders, unless he's off-form (which he does not appear to be), Gilbert will be Plan-A for Quick-Step. Of course they have a couple of other options as well, and a very strong team right on through.

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

What I love about PG is his smart aggression. He's always thinking, always racing and can ride for others. I said it before, he made that race, drilling the front group to make it stick. Without his will, they may well have been caught. It wasn't a done deal for a while. There were some guys pretty shattered and on the fence about going all in on it.
He's like the Contador of the classics, always racing, sometimes just on instinct.

What I love about Sagan now is his patience. A couple of years ago he might have tried to bust up that group. He knew he had the winning hand yesterday whereas he wasn't so sure 2 years ago. They were done if he went to the line "fresh"....relative term, of course.

And how about the crazy Dutch bastards on Roompot? Love seeing those guys in that group.

Sagan to win Roubaix- may be his toughest win. He won't have the climbing to select out the bigger boys and a few tough sprinters. And luck is huge.

Good comparison on PG, he hauls the lumber to every race. Drove the break like crazy and if all for not, got one helluva training day out of it. Those Dutch guys, and Van Aert too.

100% on Sagan, though he could afford to be patient because of support. Oss last week, Burkhardt yesterday, who lurked until closing down a dangerous move. Take him out of the equation and Pete has to gamble on whether to close it or not, potentially burning a match. But dang, he blew everyone away in that sprint, first picking right line and then blasting it.

Excited to see how Van Aert does in the true cobbled classics. It would seem on paper that Flanders has a few too many lumps and that Roubaix is just a little bit too long, but he's been able to get in every victory-maximizing break in the races I've seen him in.