Fair play to him. It was good to see him being so honest and up front, and taking responsibility.
I just watched the last 100k (after watching just the last few km live). What a race.
Powless - heads up racing from 100km out. He totally deserved the win even if JV kindaâ blew it.
And a shout out to the JV and EF domestiques who were doing fantastic work blocking when the gap was touch and go for maybe 20-30 km. Van Den Berg, Honore, and Van Baarle made a real difference today.
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Yay Julieâs neighborâs kid!
(Julie is a coworker of FLA Husband and lives down the street from the Powlesses)
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So based on the season so far, is Wout now eligible for the long shot pick category?
We no longer have a long-shot; more of a 5-person podium.
But the gist of your post stands.
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I like parity and root against Pogi a lot just because I want interesting races, but he is easy to like as a person. He seems to be a high character dude.
My kids love Tadej and as far as âcelebritiesâ to look up to, I canât have any complaints about that.
I know some fans and fellow racers resent his dominance, but he gets paid to win bike races and itâs not his fault no one can keep up with him. This spring against MvdP is great though because of that lack of inevitability.
I stand by his membership in the GDC.
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I read that as âI like partyâ
Sorry
Itâs hard to not be a fan. Down-to-earth superstar, works hard to get most out of talent, and really seems to have his priorities in order. Have to wonder what degree of his personality and mentality lends to that level of success.
Time to chug an East Flanders Brown and get to business:
Pogacar, MvP, Mads
MJ, Powless
I think the mentality and the success can for sure be linked. Besides the âsocial media is a cancerâ thing that came out of that press conference, I thought it was interesting when one of the journos (I think it was the Flobikes guy) asked him if he was looking at Flanders as an opportunity for revenge for MSR and he was like âWhy would I want revenge? Nobody did anything bad to me.â And I think it goes back to him just having fun out there and probably as much as anything appreciating the competition - itâs more fun when you have guys to really race against. Having a positive attitude and minimizing stress do seem conducive to success.
As for picks for this weekend, unless one is going the contrarian route, it seems like weâre all going to pick Pog and MvdP for the top 2 (the specific order a toss-up) and probably Mads to round out the podium since heâs clearly a step below those two but a step above everybody else. And then youâve got a handful of likely candidates for the wildcards (Jorgenson, Wout, Powless) and then maybe tier 4 being guys like Kung and Ganna.
I liked how Sheffield looked at DDV (and he got 6th here last year). Ineos have a few cards to play. Girmay looked good too - he hasnât done much at De Ronde before but I can see him being more in the mix this year.
I have to agree.
Pog, MvP, Wout
Powless, Ganna
Dang it, these are almost identical to the picks I was thinking.
Pog, MvdP, Wout
MattyJo, Mads
Looks like will be lovely weather. Tried to look over start list to see where can pluck a few true WC just to be different. But I canât see this being anything other than best form.
Looking at teams, Colby Simmons jumped out at me for EF. Saw him win Junior Nats back in 2021. Nielsen earned his way onto my list. Will be rooting for team pink.
Just canât see Visma righting the ship in a few days. Would love to be wrong, and spend Sunday afternoon having long exchange about how Wout or MattyJ saved their spring.
Pog, MvdP, Mads
Powless, Bling
Gotta figure this is Ali Frazier.
Iâm thinking Ferris gets him this time bc Flanders makes you burn more matches getting to the late rounds and the MvDP raging bull will be at least a bit depleted, giving Pogi an edge at the end.
A USA top 5 for Chef Magnus has me running to Wegmans for a Genny Cream.
Or Matty Jo? A Hammâs? Idaho thing.
Fresh Powless? Shiner Bock? Lone Star?
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My picks.
MvDP, Pogi, Jorgenson
Wout, Pederson
Pogi
MvDP
Mads
Wout
Jorgo
Contrarian Special now that Iâve slid out and tumbled down the mountain by missing the last two races.
Mads, Jorgo, Kung
Pithie, Eetvelt
ELB, Kopecky, Wiebes
Reusser, Pieterse
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Wow, epic pic, not picking either VdP or Pogi, guessing you think they will mark each other out, would be a fun race if it does indeed go down like that.
@trail - respect. Iâm thinking you could have/would have picked Powless in 1 v 3 Lisa Dwars finale!
As much as Iâd like to see a best of the rest bar fight - Pogi and MVdp have teams completely committed to getting them to detonate the race.
womenâs race:
Ferrand Prevot / Van der Breggen / Kopecky // ELB / Roegg (I think Puck animates (duh?) but gets caught out by the super strong selections she creates).
menâs: (sorry - all favorites - but Iâm aiming for exact order?!)
MVdp /Pogi / Mads // Ganna / Wout
If anything happens to Wellens that could really change things. I think Wellens is the one who can force the 2 man race.