Had to be Sagan from that group...although Kustenov gave it a better run than I thought he could.

---

Chicago Cubs - 2016 WORLD SERIES Champions!!!!

"If ever the time should come, when vain and aspiring men shall possess the highest seats in government, our country will stand in need of its experienced patriots to prevent its ruin." - Samuel Adams

Indeed, it DID have to be Sagan and I'm glad for him ... though Spartacus is always my personal favorite.

---

Stay aero my friends.

Nice win by Sagan!
FC would have benefited from a tighter gap at the end... big gap allowed everyone to relax and take a breath before putting all their cards on the table.
But really happy to see Sagan overtake Kusnetzov, who clearly did the least work in the run up. Can't wait until Flanders!

I don't think Kuznetsov expected to win, he was just leading them out after not doing as much work in the last 30km. I didn't see much concern in the group that he wasn't pulling. Kuznetsov had been out on his own for some time before they caught up with him.

I don't know - perhaps I see it differently but his initial solo attack to me doesn't justify sitting in on the wheel of 3 extremely strong riders for 30k - but that's racing I suppose.
And he definitely was sprinting to win. He played coy at the back and found the best moment of surprise to head out and secure a podium spot.

He was on his own for 25 min while the others were sitting in. What would you expect him to do? drop out? He clearly didn't have much to contribute. They'd have been upset if he won but as it is he provided a decent leadout to sort out the best sprinter - excellent finish.

When he tightened his shoes with 3 to go I had a good feeling for him. That's something you do when you are ready to rip it.

---

Professional Athlete: http://jordancheyne.wordpress.com/ http://www.strava.com/athletes/145340

Coaching Services:http://www.peakformcoaching.com/

Nice win by Sagan!
FC would have benefited from a tighter gap at the end.



Yes - . . . finally for Sagan


Indeed - a faster run-in with the chase group breathing down their necks would have been more beneficial for Fab - turning the final 5K into a TT/pursuit race. Ounce they slowed, and started the cat-n-mouse game, the favour tipped away from Cancellera, and to the other three, Sagan in particular. Although, as I say that, he's not shown much kick recently when in finales like this.


So what will Lefevere's story/excuse be this time? :) Good grief - they had 5 - 6 riders in the final selection group!

---

---

Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

Yeah, well... I suppose I can't disagree. Fortune does favor the bold - Kuznetsov forced the action early on and deserved his podium spot. It's hard not to see this with spartacus-colored glasses after he got bumped to 4th.

 
ettix has got to spring someone into the break so they don't have to chase. but it doesn't seem they have someone that can do it.

i get the feeling they might be burning matches in the first 100k too.

I agree - they are just not tactically sound right now. Trentin went too soon, he definitely could have ridden in that final break if he saved his legs. But where was Stybar or Terpstra? Disastrous. Lefevere has to look at his DS's at some point...

Also, side note. Belgian rider Antoine Demoitie was struck by a moto during the race and it's pretty serious. Hoping he pulls through and it's not as bad as it sounds. Hate to hear these things.

Good call on Sagan. The first week in forever I didn't pick him. Maybe I'll stay away and watch him get the big ones.

Great race to watch and very happy to see Sep back in the front and back at the level he should be at for these races. I think he will be reaching his peak next week or the week after - hopefully he can finally take that big win.

Next week is for all the marbles and shaping up to be one hell of a duel between Sagan and FC. Sep also looked really good, the only person who could answer the call. I think Sagan wins next week too. He showed that he can go long--two 30k moves in 3 days--or wait for a sprint. He matched FC's surge today, and then was patient in the finale. Pretty good race all around.

One thing's for sure, it's going to be an uncomfortable week in the Etixx camp. 5 guys in the chase group? 5!!! Ok, so Boonen is not the same and Stybar clearly doesn't have great form or maybe is aiming for PR. Whatever the case, they look lost in the woods.

Kuznetsov didn't have to work in the lead group as he had numbers in the chase which justified his sit-in.

Etixx, what can one say? Their DS is going to rip them all the way home and for the next week straight. SOmething has got to change with their team and tactics, they can't have any more excuses for having those kind of numbers and coming up empty handed every weekend. Not saying they were going to win, stronger riders won, but they aren't even placing or winning the sprints for later placings. They are just a mess.

Amped for Sagan, this will likely ignite a huge fire, and since the monkey is off his back it should free him up a little bit to move around in the peloton slightly.

Demoitie is dead. I have a hard time getting upset here in the U.S. and CTE in NFL football. Because I fear that if we turn that same magnifying glass on professional cycling we'll find far more human carnage in death, chronic disability, eating disorders, drug dependence, etc.

to be fair, GvA was recovering from a stomach virus. but otherwise yeah. WOuld be interesting to see if Kwiatek is racing. He put in a helluva race back in 2013 (100km break? caught only on the last ascent of Oude Kwaremont, and it was so close to the top)

Oh man....there have been way too many incidents of motos and riders over the last few years...and now a rider has died.

The UCI needed to get a handle on this a long time ago....what a massive tragedy.

---

Chicago Cubs - 2016 WORLD SERIES Champions!!!!

"If ever the time should come, when vain and aspiring men shall possess the highest seats in government, our country will stand in need of its experienced patriots to prevent its ruin." - Samuel Adams

Some reports are that the moto could not avoid Demoitie after he was in a fall with other riders. Will be interesting to see what comes of this....either way, very sad news.

---

Chicago Cubs - 2016 WORLD SERIES Champions!!!!

"If ever the time should come, when vain and aspiring men shall possess the highest seats in government, our country will stand in need of its experienced patriots to prevent its ruin." - Samuel Adams

Uh yeah and Fabian didn´t have to pull because he had a sprinter in the chase group.

And on top of that, Etixx had five and possibly the fastest finisher. So the "numbers behind" idea doesn't really work then.

there's a big difference between Fabian and Kuznetsov, one guy is a favourite to win with a good kick in a sprint, the other hasn't exactly had memorable showings of late. So ya, Kuznetsov is going to sit in with his guys in the chase.


Etixx....we're already in agreement they played their cards wrong and again missed the break forcing them to then have to stick their guys on the front to try and real in the sagan/spartacus lead group.

Yesir! I relegated him to my WC pick and there he goes landing on top. I just finished watching it on cyclinghub as I was otherwise occupied (religious stuff) this morning and I left the race at 100K to go (why did Jesus have to die during Spring Classics season?).

Overall I did pretty well on my top5 picks but I guess so did everyone else picking the same 6-7 guys.

Heartbroken over the moto incident...

There was a helicopter shot of the Fabian / Sagan group and I couldn't even count the number of motos behind them. There must have been at least 10. I'm sure someone has thought about the setup but to an uneducated person like me it seemed odd as heck

loved how FC tried to jerk his shoulders and make others react inside the final K; too bad he got stuck on the front. barring any unforeseeable circumstances i'm going with the following for the weekend.

GvA, Sagan, FC
Vanmarcke and Kwiatek