The Classics

[emme]

Dwars door Vlaanderen live on DSTV 201 and 206 from 14h10.Enjoy!

[Frosty]

Today's slopes

 

and the bumpy stuff (cobbles). Maybe WvA's neighbour will give back the Garmin at Holleweg (where it was "lost").

Edited March 27 by Frosty

[emme]

Live coverage only from 15h10.Newspaper info wrong..

[Frosty]

31 minutes ago, emme said:

Live coverage only from 15h10.Newspaper info wrong..

They are 1 hour behind SA (until Sunday morning), then daylight savings kicks in, and we're on the same time zone.

[Rowl]

On 3/26/2024 at 7:39 AM, Vetplant said:

Literally all I want to see from this Classics season is WvA taking Paris Roubaix... It is time.

MvdP and Pogacar can share the balance of races between them, but let Wout take this one please. It is similar to those years where Sagan in his prime kept missing out, until he properly smashed them. 

Eina, seems like WvA's chances just took a massive knock😟

[Vetplant]

On 3/26/2024 at 8:30 AM, lechatnoir said:

or fall off like he did last week (c'mon, we were all thinking that)

 

9 minutes ago, Rowl said:

Eina, seems like WvA's chances just took a massive knock😟

FFS! Seems his Classics season is over.

[lechatnoir]

30 minutes ago, Vetplant said:

 

FFS! Seems his Classics season is over.

never nice to see. awful for everyone involved.

[gerriemtb]

Eina

[Jewbacca]

The American giant, Paris-Niece winner, seems to have made the right move at the right time 7km from the finish!

Take a bow Matteo Jorgensen and Visma

Edited March 27 by Jewbacca

[W@nted]

[Vetplant]

7 minutes ago, W@nted said:

I'm really sorry for the guy. He was crying in agony sitting on the floor for everyone to hear. It must be massively painful, both physically and mentally, especially after all the preparations and focus on the classics this season. 

Mark this post for future reference: he is going to come back a Man Possessed. 

Wish him a speedy recovery. 

['Dale]

About 250 professional wins now for Marianne The Mighty, winning for the first time at Omloop’ a few weeks ago and now celebrating her first win at DDV. Both her and Tadej are colouring in all the blocks on the racing calendar.

Geez, if I see tough athletes like Jasper Stuyven, WvA and Bini (his 2nd high speed crash in as many seasons) in so much pain, I know that the crash was very eina. I’m hoping all of them will get back to the office (throwing their leg over the saddle for a WT race) with full recovery.

On another note, the American is having a magnificent March. What mixed fortune for the team in yellow. 4 sleeps to the Tour of Flanders!

Pic: @jeredgruber

Edited March 28 by 'Dale

[Frosty]

A brutal day for some of the Flanders favourites

Wout van Aert, Mads Pedersen, Biniam Girmay and Jasper Stuyven were all involved in a serious crash at Dwars door Vlaanderen, with varying degrees of injury ahead of the Tour of Flanders on Sunday.

Pedersen will be monitored by Lidl-Trek but it remains the plan for him to race the Tour of Flanders. Stuyven, however, will require surgery.

It has been confirmed Van Aert will miss the Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix and Amstel Gold Race.

O Getty Images

['Dale]

While we count the slapies / skapies until Sunday’s 2nd Monument of 2024, I saw this interesting graph (by full gaz cycling) as posted by @lucasaganronald on TweetieBird. 

Interestingly, Alpecin-Deceunick operating at an estimated 15-25 million kudos - classic example of overachievement.

Budget caps from 2025? It’s complicated.

[betaboy]

…so I guess the Yank goes in as main team Bee for Flanders🤓? Can he do it among the other stars? I expect T.P. To feature.😎 Enjoy the race guys!

[Frosty]

Barring a mechanical or crash, I can’t see anyone capable of beating MvdP, not even Lidl-Trek. It would’ve been a  different discussion had the crash on Wednesday not happened.