that's hilarious.............when i go, i go BIG..................poor Travis, he's such a good racer and when the US guys go to these races you see just how good the Euros are and how rough these races are

I am going to throw my hat in for PR

Pedersen, Sep, GVA

Van Aert, O Naeson

It is QS's race to lose, which they will, trying to keep the other favorites out of a winning move.

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I am going all in for Stybar. He has been amazing teammate, workhouse and top 3 twice. He deserves a win!

Torn between Stybar and Phil...

Stybar, Sagan, Demare.
Gilbert, Vanmarke

Stybar, Stuyven, Vanmarcke
Sagan and Gilbert

I should probably put Degenkolb in there...

edit Apr 7

Stybar, Vanmarcke, Terpstra
Sagan and GvA

He's due and deserving. He works for the other guys, can really ride the cobbles. He can't get into the velodrome with a Kristoff or Sagan type. He needs to get away with a steady big power group- Terpstra, Stannard, van Aert type that he maybe punch past.

GvA- perfectly suited for this and going well.

Degenkolb- I'm not a big fan but if he follows he right wheels/group, yep.

So many contenders......

I have absolutely no idea.....

Sep should be in the drome with the front group but then again, he's been having trouble staying on his bike. Kind of like Cav, this may get in your head and you become prone. That said, he's been strong and resilient.

Demare, Kristoff, Sagan? Who wins this? The guy who plays the track game the best. I'd grudgingly say Demare.

QS doesn't want Degenkolb, Demare, Kristoff...maybe Groenewagan there as they don't have anyone, maybe Gilbert who can go with them...he's so cagey. So they pound it with Keisse and Lampaert and Declercq trying hard to shatter the race, with Terpstra, Stybar, and Gilbert waiting to go too.

That's nuts. You've got all that power, then the winner of Flanders, the previous winner of Flanders, and last year's second place PR finisher all in the mix. Yikes. The other teams need a big crash to mess with QS but they'd probably only deplete their ranks to a normal team capacity.

BMC, Bora, and Trek should be pow wowing......

last year.......

1.VAN AVERMAET Greg5:41:07
2.STYBAR Zdenek,,
3.LANGEVELD Sebastian,,
4.STUYVEN Jasper,,
5.MOSCON Gianni,,
6.DÉMARE Arnaud0:12
7.GREIPEL André,,
8.THEUNS Edward,,
9.PETIT Adrien,,
10.DEGENKOLB John

crap shoot and lastly, Trek has a helluva team this year

Degenkolb, Gilbert, Van Aert

Theuns, Stuyven

Langeveld has a good track record at Roubaix; def an outsider

http://www.cyclingnews.com/...eration-from-rivals/

Anyone pulling for a miracle out of Phinney?

That would be fun, but realistically not going to happen.

OK here is one nobody else has picked. Oss. Everyone follows Sagan around and waits for his move. Bora takes a page from Quick Step's old playbook and sends Oss up the road. Nobody wants to pull Oss back because you know Sagan is just going to rip your legs off with his counter attack.

This seemed to be the recipe for success back when Boonen was at his peak. Devolder won back-to-back Flanders because Boonen was clearly on form and nobody wanted to kill themselves pulling Devolder back only to get dropped on the next climb. Worked for Pizatto at Milan San Remo. Thor Hushov neutralized .Cancellara while Vansummeren rode to victory.

I was on fence with Stuyven or Vanmarke. I’d be happy if either gets on podium.

QS coming across kind of cocky. Hope they get a course correction Sunday.

Oss was a monster last year.

My picks : Keukeleire, Moscon, Terpstra

Thomas, Degenkolb

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The cool thing about PR is that an Oss or Hayman or Burkhardt can win it. Or Gaudin, a steam engine of a man. Or Magnus Backstedt. You just keep riding. I think Hayman wasn’t even sure he was first when he came in.
The politics that follow in the chase are always fascinating.
I’m always rooting for the bigger, role playing, workhorse rider who has no chance in the hills. I mean, these guys have to have their day too, once in a while. Right?
Would love to see Phinney do well. He will be the top American fiinisher.

He only has to finish to achieve that. :)

For me:

Gilbert
Stuyven
Vanmarcke

Oss
Groenewegen

I know.....kind of sad, really.

Going with
Phil Gil, Van Avrmont, Stybar.
Sagen, Styvan.

As far as Dekonkolb and Phinny, funny, I know you guys are rooting for Americans or American team interests, but Phinny?
If this was 2015 maybe...
And Dekonkilb just hasn't been anywhere near the front with the big boys when the S---T hit the fan so far in single race yet this year.
As an outside bet I can see Demare on the podium, he seems to be riding how Dekonkolb was riding before his crash, a good sprinter with a huge engine.

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Anyone have an idea why people are piling on Sagan right now? QS has been pretty arrogant (perhaps deservedly so), but they (along with others) are really taking digs at Sagan. Even Boonen jumped on him from the booth. I know in the past Sagan has been frustrated by being a marked man, however I didn't interpret his comments post Flanders as complaining that others should work for him. He said QS was racing really well and that if the other teams want to have a chance to stop them they have to come up with a better plan. While no one wants to pull him to the line for a reduced bunch sprint, the alternative is to not chase and not even have the chance to gamble in the sprint. I guess I just didn't see his comments as complaining - especially since he was noting that QS is strong and racing really smart. I thought he was just noting that if tactics by all the other teams don't change, QS is going to keep dominating.

I have to admit though, Terpstra's comment was my favorite back handed compliment, "Of course, we look at Peter Sagan, he's world champion. He's a pretty good rider". Ha.

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"It's good enough for who it's for" - Grandpa Wayne

Well with Boonen he never shirked doing the work to establish a move, I seem to remember often thinking he was over working. Sagan does seem to often contribute very little and like to start the hand waving and such as soon as he is on the front for a bit.

A couple of comments, I don't see QS being arrogant, they are just that good.
I think they have already won 23 races this year.
For example last week, if Sagen or Van averment really dedicated themselves to pulling Terpstara back, you just know that as soon as they make contact, BOOM there goes Gilbert, pull him back, Boom there goes Stybar.
There was pretty much no scenario where a QS rider doesn't win Flanders.

As far as Boonen yeah definitely wasn't afraid to work, sometimes too much, for example I think the year that Hyman won Boonen did a ton of work in the last 10k even tough he was clearly the best sprinter in the group, and I am pretty sure he would have won his 5th PR had he been slightly more conservative in the final few k's.

If only Sunday’s conditions could be like yesterday’s.

I get that - I must have misinterpreted his comments. My thought was he wasn't referring to making a move, but rather bringing back the QS moves earlier in the race when each team has representation in the chase.

As for the hand waiving, I suppose Sagan might go to it a bit early but he has been burned a few times in the past by working too hard to bring the move to the line. (Kwiat or GvA care to comment?) It's part of racing I know, but I think he just calls it out early these days (perhaps too early) rather than pushing any further hoping it will improve.

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"It's good enough for who it's for" - Grandpa Wayne