What a race, these guys are throwing haymakers from way out.

It is fooking fantastic. MvdP swings and Wout returns the favor. Wout looks mighty strong.

They need to attack on a hill and get separation from the main group and just ignore Opqs boat anchors for now.

Don Levefre got the cat out of the bag, and it’s causing all sort of havoc behind

Really surprised to see Pederson blown out the back so early.
But wow this race is being ridden at a furious pace

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http://www.instagram.com/cyclewise

I think he needs really foul weather to climb decently.

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In other news, Vanmarcke just got back on

Little something I'm working on with press this am in between attacks:

Awesome race. 60km of straight drama.

ah - the new Enve custom bike ?

I thought my GvA pick might have been just sentimental, but he's having himself a day so far.

Edit: And tons of pressure on QuickStep now.

van baarle may be fresh

this looks like a lead out train for Senechal?...I bet he's the chosen one for the pack today....and Asgreen isn't cooked by any means

~3.5 km to go, when they turn, is where finale kicks off

I hope he outwits everybody. He's been going really well.

looks like Asgren is staying away

what a ride by him

these guys are starting to bug me.....:)

I was surprised, he never did a thing. Must have been totally cooked.

Hell of a sprint by Senechal. And hell of a 2nd wind by Asgreen.

MvdP should be the one who bugs. He does not seemed to have learned the nuances of bike racing and has to rely on selective terrain and his own prodigious strength to make a selection. In that final group, he was always going to be outgunned, and it's not going to be a sprint, b/c three of the seven won't let it end in a sprint.

Have a go from the back, attack. Catch people off guard. B/c as soon as either Stybar or Asgreen attacks, we basically get the same dynamics. Don Lefevre must be laughing himself silly that the nearlly spent Asgreen did the job on his first attack (as opposed to needing to rely on Stybar to close out the deal)

Asgreen is a watt monster. DQS owned everyone today. Hard to beat those boys on home turf.

There was nothing he could really do. Isolated and surrounded by 2 smart and talented DQS riders with a third up the road. They owned that race. For company he had the AG2R pair who had done and continued to do nothing - looks like more of GVA and a teammate not really having any real coordination.

MvdP was doomed. I wonder if this keeps up (which it will - ask Sagan) if we'll see the unthinkable - a WvA and MvdP alliance regarding when they both go to get away from everyone before duking it out for the wins.


I always thought Sagan should have found a really strong teammate or alliance with another isolated talent to work together knowing they won't win them all, but likely could win more together than apart.


DQS is just a tactical monster when all their guys are firing.

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

Yeah, and those DQS guys had him on radar lock. Weren't going to give him an inch.

But speaking of tactical mistakes, kind of odd for WvA to get dropped by his own attack. We've all had days like that, but shows he may need to work on his self-awareness a bit and not just assume he can always ride everyone off his wheel except MdVP.

He may not win in the end, but he should have shot first, preferably from the back. If that doesn't work, so be it. There was a brief detente after Agreen was reeled in. A bit after that was the time to attack. By the time DQS fired the first shot, it had already won.

The other "good news" for MvdP is that this is on the less selective side of selective races. De Ronde is a lot more selective, and it's doubtful as many DQS riders could punch with him and WvA.

Also, Sagan did find another isolated talent to work with for a while: GvA. Except GvA stole Sagan's lunch money a few times (not helped by the fact that Sagan was just a bit too eager and seemed to have contributed more)




Good point about WvA. The chase back may have cost him a bit.

"He may not win in the end, but he should have shot first, preferably from the back. If that doesn't work, so be it. There was a brief detente after Agreen was reeled in. A bit after that was the time to attack. By the time DQS fired the first shot, it had already won."

Maybe, but there were very few times he was able to go to the back. He might as well have had a DQS kit on. Also, they made the bridge to Asgreen in large part on MvdP's legs - so it may have been a good time to attack, but he may simply have not had the legs or even if he did, he had 2 DQS guys who had been sitting in the wheels ready to follow. Again, he could have given it a go I suppose, but I don't think he made any critical errors that cost him the race. He was in a very, very tough spot that was not likely ever going to work out for him. The other guys are pretty good at bikes too.

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

Public relations is shite and racers always lie, but he has done an insane block at altitude, cut weight, raced hard, cut more weight and this happened during a "C" race for him. Based on his interviews and chats with some guys in the peloton, these efforts are openers to gauge his condition toward his targets. PR might be off, but if it has a chance or Flanders occurs with a better selection, the peloton is in danger.

That said, cobbles will clobber you. There is no predictability here even in the peak times for given riders. That is what makes them so special. We can predict WvA and MvdP will animate; who wins is a whole different story.

One last thing. If MvdP or WvA had the DQS train...lol...Game over for everyone on damn near every race.

Bizkarra ended up 3rd today from the break and still did ~20 min at 400 W / (6.15 w / kg) from the break on Monsterrat. Great form for these guys early in the season. Expect him to be hoovered this year from the big teams.

He is currently 819 places down from what Lionel Sanders would do. Proper strong... ;)