The Classics

[peepeekaitjie]

28 minutes ago, edgarblount said:

With Jumbo reevaluating their sponsorship post 2024 they can maybe rename the team to Bananen-Visma. No need to change the colours of the team as well.

also can change their motto to bananen winnen

['Dale]

Are they saying Magnus Cort for Paris-Roubaix? 
Hope the Italian (previous winner) or the American can bring some magic. 

[Vetplant]

Managing a squad for something as significant as a monument must be tough.

Alpecin: MvdP already won it, but he would surely love to Triple up. So, you can send  Søren Kragh ANDERSEN up the road, for the others to chase, but you actually want him to be caught eventually to allow MvdP to the launch his own final attack.

PS. Sam Gaze! Haven't heard that name in a while. Could be an interesting dark horse.

 

Same at JV: WvA dearly wants this one, I would think. So you have Tiesj and Laporte to play up front, who can then actually run away and win it. So setting it up in such a way that Wout has a good shot could be tricky. A 2-up or 3-up attack seems like a very good way to go away and stay away. Can they make it work?

UAE: Tadej is going to have to try something mental to beat the two 'crossers, he has been unable to drop them on the key attacks this Classics season. I don't know what rabbit he needs to pull from the hat to win, but we know for sure he is a racer and will try anything.

INEOS: Pidcock has been somewhat flying below the radar the past couple of weeks, even though he won Strade Bianchi. I'm backing him as an alternative to the BIG 3.

Then for the 'Mortals' that could sneak a win if the big guns look at each other:

Alberto BETTIOL, Matej  MOHORIC, even Biniam GIRMAY has a shot if he can have guys in the group chasing down a small lead group for it to to end in a sprint.

Going to be great fun to watch!

 

Edited March 31, 2023 by Vetplant
Fixed error that was pointed out by Die Swart Kat

[lechatnoir]

26 minutes ago, Vetplant said:

Managing a squad for something as significant as a monument must be tough.

Alpecin: MvdP already won it, but he would surely love to Double up. So, you can send  Søren Kragh ANDERSEN up the road, for the others to chase, but you actually want him to be caught eventually to allow MvdP to the launch his own final attack.

PS. Sam Gaze! Haven't heard that name in a while. Could be an interesting dark horse.

 

<snip>

 

by double, you mean triple....?

[Vetplant]

1 minute ago, lechatnoir said:

by double, you mean triple....?

Well, yes....

[lechatnoir]

11 minutes ago, Vetplant said:

Well, yes....

oddly, Merckx 'only' won Flanders 2x... I'd have guessed it was far more than that. Cancellara 3x... 

By scanning the names of past winners it shows that history is NOT on Pog's side. Sunday will be interesting to be sure

[Vetplant]

3 minutes ago, lechatnoir said:

oddly, Merckx 'only' won Flanders 2x... I'd have guessed it was far more than that. Cancellara 3x... 

By scanning the names of past winners it shows that history is NOT on Pog's side. Sunday will be interesting to be sure

Worth noting, we have 5 former winners on the start list (6, if I count MvdP twice  )

[Frosty]

Only 4 riders have won MSR and cobbled monument in the same year.

MSR and PR
Cyrille van Hauwaert (1908), Sean Kelly (1986) and John Degenkolb (2015)

MSR and RVV
Eddie Merckx (twice, 1969 and 1975). He also won LBL in both these two years.
MvdP can be the second to achieve the MSR/RVV double.

MSR and LBL/GdL
Fred de Bruyne 
Constante Girardengo
Michele Mara
Alfredo Binda
Gino Bartali
Fausto Coppi
Louison Binet

EM has also done 3 in a year on another two occasions, MSR, LBL and GdL being the other. So that 4 times a triple monument winner.

That’s it for the winners of the first monument plus another.

All the other riders (an additional 20) that won 2 monuments in a season were mostly a mix of the last 4, with RVV and PR being the biggest (12).

Edited March 31, 2023 by Frosty
MSR and a Cobbled monument

[Frosty]

 

['Dale]

Yoh, hard to call this race, hey. We have so many contenders. Even the diminutive Tadej and Tom. It is going to be a tactical battle of note.

Weather forecast: min 2 max 10, rain the previous day so there may be greasy cobbles, sunny with some cloud cover. I have a 4 hour ride in the morning, then it is logging in to RvV. Yum!

 

[Frosty]

Off we go.

 

[Frosty]

Some big names caught napping? 
43” off the back, or 525m

[Morph]

Happy B'day Biniam Girmay. 

['Dale]

After much toiling into mostly headwind conditions, an early split and splits after a crash, we finally have a breakaway group. 
It’s a game of chess until the cobbled climbing comes.

[babse]

4 minutes ago, &#x27;Dale said:

After much toiling into mostly headwind conditions, an early split and splits after a crash, we finally have a breakaway group. 
It’s a game of chess until the cobbled climbing comes.

Filippo Colombo 🤨

['Dale]

20 minutes ago, babse said:

Filippo Colombo 🤨

Bra is gedis. That DQ will really hurt out of personal embarrassment and denting the team’s brand. 
We can only imagine if the mechanical and medical damage invoicing was sent to his home address.

 Not lekka to see Sagan and many others limping around. 
Massive pressure on the Steppers to deliver.