MvdP: Career road win 52. 7 Monuments
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Wow!! What a race that was. Amazing to watch Ganna yo-yo repeatedly and still get 2nd. And MvdP with the afterburner lit ā¦
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That was the best MSR that I can remember, maybe Kwiato-Sagan-Nibali comes close. Huge respect for those three to go all in and work together, each using their super power in varying ways.
MvdP is nails, and his race craft top notch. No disrespect to Wout but he isnāt anywhere close to being in the same league when it comes to one-days. Though I am looking towards their cobbles showdowns, if MvdP holds his form it could be a mega spring for him.
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Race was middle of the night here, so Iāve just watched the last 50km after getting up - that was insane!!! And when MVDP dared attack!! So good.
He dresses left, itās clear.
Like others have said, this is an instant ALL TIME classic.
In my mind, when MvDP counter punched up the Cipressa, I knew he had it in the bag.
Massive kudos to Ganna for balling it out and never saying never, wow, hats off to all 3, that was just fantastic!
On the flip side, what happened to Trek? they didnāt seem anywhere near the front when it was go time.
And even after they had (at least) 4 guys in the chase group and not a single one pulling, yeah they werenāt going to catch the trio, but come on at least try.
Good dude Campy was giving it his all, he was pretty much the only one out 30 guys that even tried.
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Who was it (some ProTour DS) years ago who said āMvdP doesnāt have tactics?ā
That DS now works for a junior team in North Dakota.
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Although there is occasionally a future Giro winner to be found in North Dakota:
"when I was 13 I got my first ten speed with my lawn mowing money, and there were half a dozen good cyclists in Grand Forks, the town I grew up in. All older people, coached, and I was coached, and they would teach me how to draft, and weād ride every evening, these 15 mile rides, and weekends weād do longer rides. So theyād teach me how to draft, so they could get me home and not worry about me. "
I feel like Pogi going on the Cipressa was really likely to happen, and the other teams must have known this, but so many seemed to get caught out. Was it just bad positioning? Did they think it wasnāt going to happen? Or just assumed that theyād be able to pull it back before the Poggio? When the Gnar went to the front and blasted it, you knew the Pogi-smash was imminent in 3ā¦2ā¦1ā¦ and somehow only Gregoire and I think Van Gils? were in a position to respond (besides MvdP and Ganna). Pidcock? Pedersen? Nowhere to be found. And up the road went their chances.
Looking ahead to E3ā¦ oh baby! MvdP, Pog, Mads, plus a certain guy named Wout enters the chat. You gotta wonder what Wout is feeling after yesterday. MvdP looks absolutely imperious. Iād imagine Wout was quoting my namesake (āSheeeeeeeeeeeeeeiiiiiiiiiitā).
I feel like the crash at the bottom of the Cipressa (that wasnāt really shown on camera) really screwed a number of teams/riders over. I have a feeling that Pidcock and Trek all got caught behind it.
Yup, Pidcock hit the deck. I havenāt heard that Pederson got caught up (and Iām pretty sure I would have), seems more that he was just having a bad day. Peaked a week early.
It seems to have flown under the radar, but really impressive ride by Tulett. Chased back from a flat at the worst possible time, first chase group after the Cipressa. Have to wonder what might have been. Heās going to pop something big soon, another guy that will be in with a shot any time the other teams laser focus on Wout.
Yeah, I agree about Tulett. He got back so quickly - I wonder what would have happened without that puncture. As for Pidcock, I suspect he may have been able to go with them up the Cipressa had he been there. Not sure that would of changed the dynamics at all, but would have been interesting to see. Shame.
Iām really excited about next year now. Same game plan for UAE, but double barreled attack with the Baby Bull, one year older/stronger/better in the pack? Oooph.
Pidcock is on a B level team now. Heās been enjoying the advantages of that so far (primarily no one telling him what to do, I think) but heās going to have to get used to not having anywhere near enough horsepower to keep him at the front in situations like the lead in to the Cipressa. Even Pog had problems with that in the not so distant past, and Pidcock - great as he is - aināt Pog.
Even if he doesnāt go down in that crash, heās probably back in 20th wheel when Wellens starts drilling it, and no one was making any ground up in the single-file line behind him and then Narvaez leading out that attack.
And LaSporty and van Baller maybe wonāt be at 100%. But Matteo will be there, and he is only looking increasingly like a complete and very versatile bike racer.
Pogacar was out of position at the start of Cipressa and del Torro was lost in the back. Beyond that, the team was pretty solid. The way Monument Mathieu was going, itās hard to say if 1 or 5 more guys would have been enough this year.
I read some criticism of how Pogacar approached the sprint. It was clear he was loading up, and my guess is he thought Ganna would go long so that was the wheel to be on. Think vdP simply outplayed them and got the jump, just like he did to Wout at CX Worlds last year.
I donāt know that he was out of position so much as he was waiting for Del Toro, who was supposed to be his final leadout. When it became clear that he wasnāt going to be there, Pog had no trouble getting to where he needed to be (unlike everyone else).
I am definitely mystified how folks havenāt figured out that VdP wins sprints - when he wins sprints - with his jump, and that you canāt ever let him go first. Mads showed everybody what they needed to do back at Gent-Bubblegum, and Asgreen made sure he kicked first - by a fraction of a second - when he won Flanders off of VdPās wheel.
Hard to second guess Ganna after that race, but I wonder if he isnāt wishing he tried to roll them at the catch.
I agree with you. Going into De Ronde, most everyone is going to be thinking Pog vs. MvdP rematch, most especially Pog.
Wout is fortunate in that Matteo is probably the best #2 option on any team. And Campanearts really did look like a hero trying to drag a chase group back yesterday. I am exciting for them to make chaos. Mads still looks great, climby. Last year he took a valiant flyer. E3 will be a fun dry run.
Alright peeps!
First round of our March Madness is complete. We had some chalk, and a few early Cinderellas.
Look out, I know @trail has āEscapedā to āCollectā additional cycling knowledge elsewhere, and it looks like his forum doping is paying off.
As always, let me know if I missed a pick or calculation.
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thanks on the calcs. omloop was a wrecking crew for the picks.
why didnāt a more organized chase get more traction behind the nuclear Wellens to Narvaez to Pogi launch (than mvdp and top G)?
I wonder about this. The way I saw it - Tog G was slightly outgunned but showed that a steady chase could keep the big 2 close enough whenever the attacks subsided for a bit.
I donāt think anyone solo (other than the amazing top Gās work) closes that gap
but
I really do think a concerted chase gives a lot more riders a chance. Trek comes to mind with their big 3 - if 2 go all in maybe they get close enough that the 3rd rider (and the others drafting) have a shot. why donāt more teams throw in a team time trial like rotation between the climbs.
iām guessing race tactics just wonāt allow risking benefitting another team even if it means no chance at bringing the gap back.
the era of the big 2 (iād include remco) attack that really no one else can follow seems to require more cooperation behind - especially with so much flat on a course like MSR.
on the sprint - Pogi must know/believe that mvdp is unbeatable in that flat sprint w/o at least Ganna to throw a wrench in the works. I donāt see why he would take nearly as many turns as he did.