It really is a pain and its a shame because the women's peloton has been so damn exciting.

Another Magnus win today. The name is off to a great start.

Next year I'll be picking "Magnus" for each spring classic podium.

Btw, do you think Crazy Pat was referring to this when he said everyone should fear the Wolfpack?

Nice pull. What a ride by Stannard.

I think Pat Without Fear lets that Het Nieuwsblad reporter buy him one too many.
But love the smack talk.
It will be interesting racing and JV's strength especially in the Mons may put QS in more of a counter punching, move following mode instead of making the race happen through attacks and group dominance.

Apologies, lads; won't be able to do the first virtual ride-and-chat this weekend. Looking forward to getting it set up for next weekend, in time for Strade Bianchi.

Where is there a virtual ride and chat?

I don't think Pat needs coaxed. He's a proper drunk so far as I can tell.

Chat on Discord server

Optional ride on Zwift (as group meet-up)

See below, per prior years. AM going to again do away with long-shots. I'm not looking up odds. So pick Podium and Wild Cards.

Pow!

(that was the gun firing)


Rules per echappy:

Before the start of the race, pick five riders: three podium positions, two wild cards. Each of the five entries have to be unique. You can make as many changes to your picks as you want, but this has to be before the start of the race. The points scored will be as such: base point, podium bonus, and winner bonus.

For base point, if any of your podiums and wild cards finish anywhere in the top five, you get one point. For podium bonus, if any of your three podium picks finish on the podium (exact position is not relevant), you get an additional point. For winner bonus, 2 additional points on top of the base point and podium bonus. The most one can score per round will be 5 base points + 3 podium bonuses + 2 winner bonus.

The races for the prediction game are as follows: Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, KBK, Strade Bianche, Milano San Remo, Dwars Door Vlaanderen, E3, Gent Wevelgem, De Ronde, Paris Roubaix, Brabantse Pijl, Amstel Gold, Fleche Wallonne, and Liege Bastogne Liege. Points from all races will contribute this year; so make sure to submit 13 picks in total.

Should there be a tie, tie breakers goes as follows:
-Number of points picked from the four Monument races (Milano San Remo, De Ronde, Paris Roubaix, and Liege Bastogne Liege),
-Number of winners picked from all events,
-Number of winners picked from the four Monuments,
-Number of podiums picked from all events,
-Number of podiums picked from the four Monuments.

Points from all races are otherwise weighed equally.

who are you guys using to see start list ? I used to use Steephill.tv but they don't seem to be updating; also used them for looking at routes and profile

heyMartin wrote:

who are you guys using to see start list ? I used to use Steephill.tv but they don't seem to be updating; also used them for looking at routes and profile

https://www.procyclingstats.com/

Thanks

Some good racing today. The peloton screws up their spreadsheet calculations and lets the break go in Dubai. And in Spain good to see Woods put down 'Verde. Those two have a bit of history, so glad to see Woods get the upper hand again.

'Loop:

WvA
Crockatelli
Deep Wellens

Turgis
Lampaert

Edit:

KBK:

Merlier
Fabio
Ewan

Stuyven
Trentin

Thanks for taking the time to organize this!

Omloop:

Mains
WvA
Piddles
Sagan

Wild Cards
Phil Gil?
Ben Swift

---

Pactimo brand ambassador, ask me about promo codes

Yeah that UAE stage had all the makings of a boring predictable snoozefest... always fun when the break gets one over on the peloton.

Woods looked great (albeit on a stage that couldn't really have been better suited to him) and Valverde showing his age (finally).

I've been so focused on the Omloop I didn't even realize how much racing is going on this weekend. I'm going to OD on cycling between the cobbled classics, watching Rusty Woods attempt to win the overall in Spain, UAE, and the Faun-Ardeche and Drome Classics have good startlists as well. Hell, there's even e-sports stuff going on too.

Stuyven
Colbrelli
GvA

WC
Sagan
Pidcock

 
WvA
GvA
Valgren

Heinrich Takin it to the Haussler
Peto

Will watch with interest how Sheff Magnus rolls. And Al Covi showed both swagger and punch lately. Maybe not enough of a mass banger for these races.

WvA
Stuyven
Colbrelli


Jake Stewart
Michael Valgren

WvA, Crockatelli, Pidcock
Kickasgreen, Kragh Anderson

WvA, Senechal, Pidcock,

Lampaert and Stuyven

So tough!... Lots of names I wanted to put on this list.


WvA, Stuyven, Lampaert
Wellens, Lutsenko

Made tougher by the fact that the course makes for a very open race, and it could end up in a ~20 rider sprint or a small break. Looks are deceiving, as the last 50 km of the parcours mimics the old De Ronde parcours, but the under-appreciated factor (and what makes the old De Ronde parcours harder) is that extra 60 km of racing.

As is often said about the classics, going from 200 - 220 km to 260 km makes for a big difference in difficulty.

Seems too early for Wout. But then, I could also see him just flexing his form and team.

WvA, Lampaert,Wellens
Mohoric, De Bondt (longshot WC)

Its definitely not peak Wout time and he has said that, but the guy still can not resist a proper race and that is why he was on my seletion. He can still win races missing that top few percent, especially with an improved squad around him.