Smoked it! lets go MvDP
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That was most definitely one for the ages, epic.
Hats off to all 3.
In the words of the immortal Russel Crow “ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED”!
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I just watched the replay from Cipressa onwards a number of times. I did not realize that it was the first time since 1996 that an attack from Cipressa held all the way to the finish.
Ganna looked like the bungee chord was done so many times but he kept coming back. Would have been awesome from Italy had he pulled it back. Maybe the pace was “too low” just before the final attack from VdP and had it started from a higher starting speed, maybe the other two have a better chance given VdP’s huge sprint power.
That was how jasper stuyven got the better of MvDP at Flanders a few years ago, Ganna and Tadej played right into matthieu’s hand and the guy shot the moon.
A Ganna win would have been good too. I was standing inches from the TV on the balls of my feet for the last 25min - I threw my jacket on the floor when it was all done…why did I throw a jacket you ask - I was supposed to take something out for a quick minute, that’s how captivating this game was.
Pogi next year - what if we go on the Turchino?
More seriously, if Pogacar wants to win this thing, he’s going to need to race as hard as possible to blunt MVDP’s advantage in short sharp accelerations. Maybe having the team push hard on the Turchino isn’t a bad idea.
A Pogacar win, I think, will depend both on the competition present for the given year and bringing a team that will also blunt competition through VEILED tactics (UAD certainly telegraphed their intentions well in advance of the race start). Maybe treat the race as it has been and have a lead-out train that does some blocking and tackling in the final 2k.
He kinda stole that move from Gene Hackman
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The trouble is that Pogi doesn’t quite have the punch he needs to shed the top puncheurs (notably MvdP) so he needs a longer slog or a higher gradient in order to use his w/kg advantage to its fullest.
He’s basically reprising Alaphilipe’s role from prior to the pandemic - the guy who sets the tone for how the race is going to go, but unlikely to win.
Maybe the team just needs to catch MvdP napping and see if he can split the group on the Turchino.
That would be Herculean considering the flat, 60% of a race to go.
How to beat a cohort of guys that are fully capable of hanging with you on climbs and have stronger finishes - you really need to see how to exhaust and distract that cohort before the race even starts - get the competition interested in other objectives, or tax them on the objectives they are focused on going into MSR. Really 3D chess kinda shit.
I suppose that the flip side to this is that if anyone is wondering if Pogacar can win Roubaix, outside of a lottery/crash/split the answers is a firm no.
If he can’t drop MvdP on the Cipressa, he won’t be able to do so on Mons en Pevele. He’s gonna need to put on weight like Gilbert did and then employ the team tactics to do so. (And his team aren’t about team tactics)
I’m not sure I agree with this. Pog needs a hard race and Roubaix is hard. His problem on the Cipressa is the race isn’t hard enough prior to that. Not saying he’s a lock to win Roubaix but you also can’t make a direct comparison.
It’s not the right kind of hard though. The factors that make roubaux hard weigh against him, not in his favor, like hard races with lots of elevation do.
He did pretty well on the cobbled stage at TdF, but also everyone had more fatigue in their legs from previous race days. The great part is we get to find out in a few more weeks how he’ll do.
I tend to concur. Roubaix is about brute power overcoming the sections of cobbles so being a heavier high power riders with top line watts like Van Der Poel has to be favourable. And I would prefer that anyone but Tadej wins Roubaix. For most other riders having that win in their palmares may be the top highlight in their career.
Both Steve Bauer and George Hincapie come to mind for me. Top placing at the velodrome in Roubaix was 2nd for both guys. Had they won it would have been the top win of each one’s career. Tadej does not need another one, but I get he wants to have won all the monuments, all grand tours and rainbow. Merckx won all those multiple times, but it was a different era (I think the only event that Merckx did not win multiple times was the Vuelta which he won ONCE, however in Merckx’s era the Vuelta and Giro were literally on top of each other both in May and he would go to the Giro which he won 5x)