It's the one I look forward to the most actually, absolutely stunning views and if we get another one in conditions like 2018, oh my..

I forgot to put up my picks for the opening weekend, so here goes for Strade:
Pidcock, LFF, MvdP
WvA, Mohoric

Bold picks. I like it.

MvdP- My take is that he went full Prefontaine mode as this was not a monument, he wanted a hard day, and even going balls out, he still was there at the end. I don't see him hauling around any ragtag off brand early breaks at the Ronde or PR. If he's in a break (and he will be at some point) it will be exclusive, carefully curated for sure. Mads had a former winner ready to ride for him.

MvdP is Saganesque, whose early race craft was questioned mightily by many early on but often, he had no one to play with so he just went. Boonen too threw a few away just by believing he could ride the whole field away. As Peto said, "it is always better to drop everyone".

Asgreen has a Roubaix in him. Can one imagine and Roubaix break with MvdP, Asgreen, Mads, the Tractor, King Kung, etc? Maybe Ganna at some point? Smashville.

Strade is rapidly becoming a favorite with me, The Piedmont landscape is very similar to where I live and ride except that my gravel is blue and the local wine and architecture are newer and less sophisticated. (hey, we're a new country). The mixed surface is the new cobbled classic. Should be a war.

That was all so good until the last paragraph. Siena is in Tuscany. Were i in charge of the pick’em, I would dock points from your tally :p

Strada should be a monument and is cherished by the riders as one, but I doubt it ever is classed as one because of its young age. It is one of my top 3 races of the year these days.

One thing I've noticed about Ganna (as much as I love him as a rider) is that he is garbage in crosswinds. He routinely seems to dangle off of the back after every pull. I don't really know what its about. The power is clearly there so I wonder if its just lack of familiarity with that race craft or his size itself.

I'll be curious to see MvdP at Strada. I think the big guns will mark everything he does and will gang up on him. Also curious to see where Wout is right now with his form after his coach publicly shit on his weight.

I am not sure I would pick Woods for Strade, but Aliphilippe is a great choice. The final climb is so hard after all those miles, either the bigger guys solo or the punchier climbers leave them for dead. I seem to remember that happening to Sagan before and van Aert had to walk part of the climb while Bardet motored away for second place.

I am going to go out on a limb and pick someone like Benoot or Bettiol. My theory is that the depth of the field will neutralize the favorites and the winning move will come as a counter attack to Aliphilippe in the last 10 miles. Someone like VdP will chase down an Aliphilippe attack and nobody will be willing to close the gap on the counter attack.

Well the finale of Strade certainly suits Woods but he's got to get there in the lead group, and that's probably not going to happen. Who knows though, he pulled out of the two French races on the weekend. Either he and the team liked what they saw in the Var and are all in for Strade, or he was wiped out after that valiant attempt at retaining the leaders jersey and needed the break. Still no idea who he's got with him for help in Italy.

Agreed on Stade as the 6th Monument. Definitely one of my favourite races of the year. So many hitters out for this one too. The "Big Three" together again yields the possibility of a Ronde do-over. Wellens, Mollema, Fuglsang, Bardet, Pidcock, and UAE coming with Pog, McNulty, and Formolo. And of course will be pulling for local boy Rusty Woods.

Le Samyn also seems like a deeper field this year. Let's go Rally!

[quote echappist)That was all so good until the last paragraph. Siena is in Tuscany. Were i in charge of the pick’em, I would dock points from your tally :p[/quote]


Just making sure you're paying attention. Again.

I should not have capitalized Piedmont. I live in the piedmont region of Va, (foothills) and the terrain looks a lot like TUSCANY.
:)

Don't you dare spell Colombia wrong either or he will catch you! I think I've been nailed for that a few times, but on the plus side I won't mis-spell it again.

On a negative note, I was run off of the road my a drunken motorist yesterday. I'm fairly bruised and battered, but I think the adrenaline masked something more serious. Currently I'm at hospital waiting for an x-ray on my hip. I'm having an awful time bearing weight on it today. :/

Arg, I hate hearing this. Hope you’re ok and it’s nothing serious.

Sorry to hear this. Speedy recoveries!

Sorry to hear about this. Hopefully it's not serious and you'll be back riding soon.

My n=1 experience. I got hit at low speed and knocked down by a pickup truck while riding through a roundabout. Landed on my hip and it hurt, but not so bad that I couldn't ride home and take a shower to get cleaned up. However, when it came time to get out of the shower, it really hurt and I couldn't put any weight on that leg. My wife drove me to the ER and they took X-rays that showed nothing broken. Just a massive bruise. I had to use a cane for the next two weeks to get around the house and I limped for a few weeks after that, but once I was able to walk without the cane I was able to ride again.

Random thought. Drunk drivers are bad enough. But drunk driving on a Sunday seems extra despicable.

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"Human existence is based upon two pillars: Compassion and knowledge. Compassion without knowledge is ineffective; Knowledge without compassion is inhuman." Victor Weisskopf.

Dang hope you're OK - good luck on those X-rays.

I hate that this happened to you. I love that your first call after your wife was to here.

Hope all is minor/nothing. Sending energy and prayers.

Welcome to Ireland, where this is a tradition...

Thanks for all of the well wishes. X-Ray shows no femoral break which is wonderful. Still need an MRI to check on other things.

;)

Pauline was of course the first to know though friends and family knew as well. I really didn't hardly notice it yesterday afterward and thought nothing of it.

That said, there isn't much to do in the waiting room today, hence the posting here!

Uh oh. Fingers crossed.

Haha, guilty as charged

i’ll fess up. I’m the resident pedant of the thread.

I appreciate it. I hate misspelling and I would have kept on doing it if it wasn't pointed out.

Hope everything turns out alright. I am coming up on summer 5 since having my knee rebuilt by someone that couldn't pay attention to stop lights. Calling my wife was the worst part of the whole ordeal.

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Pactimo brand ambassador, ask me about promo codes

Agreed on that being the toughest part. I think it did more damage to her emotionally than it did me physically.

Glad you are mending well!

Back on track. Who wins Le Samyn?

Cav.
Diggincobbles
Hugo Hoffstetter

Damien "the massive steam engine of a man" Gaudin
Joey Rosskopf

No idea, really.

Hoping nothing is serious and you recover quickly. I guess one bright spot will be some great bike racing to watch while you recover. Oh, and try this line while while can still play the sympathy card "Honey can you please grab me a (or another) beer?".

Senechal, Vanmarcke, MvdP
Terpstra and Degenkolb

But really, MvdP will probably win

Sucks to hear, have a speedy recovery!