Shitty race. Truly a shitty race. Why haven't they changed the course a long time ago? This is so predictable.
Rodriguez is okay after his crash which is good. Kwiatkowski is as inconsistent as ever, the race that suits him the most of the Ardennes.
Valgren showed how strong he really is, but he showed he is a little inexperienced in scenario like that. But 2nd is still good. Danish pride!!
Excepted more from Etixx. Vakoc didnt have anything left at the Cauberg, a tastament to how hard a race it is, but still super uninteresting, unfortunately.
At least the Orica guys didnt win. Gerrans and Matthews racing together is always a blast
Valgren said he tried make is at hard for Gasparatto as possible by pulling over left and going full gas, but that he also rode for a second place since its a big result for him.
He coulda tried to play it more coo, but Gasparatto is a smart rider with a good finish, so I dont really see him winning that mano a mano either way..
Riis123 wrote:
Valgren showed how strong he really is, but he showed he is a little inexperienced in scenario like that. But 2nd is still good. Danish pride!!
Why do you say he showed inexperienced? He knew he didn't have a chance of a podium against Colbrelli, Matthews, Coquard, Alaphillipe, etc., and figured he'd be better off dragging Gasparotto to the line and sprinting him. In the end, it got him 2nd. Had he sat up, they get caught, sprint goes down, he finishes like 18th.
Riis123 wrote:
Valgren showed how strong he really is, but he showed he is a little inexperienced in scenario like that. But 2nd is still good. Danish pride!!
Why do you say he showed inexperienced? He knew he didn't have a chance of a podium against Colbrelli, Matthews, Coquard, Alaphillipe, etc., and figured he'd be better off dragging Gasparotto to the line and sprinting him. In the end, it got him 2nd. Had he sat up, they get caught, sprint goes down, he finishes like 18th.
Gasparotto played the game and won. If Michael had a little more cool, I am sure that Gasparotto woulda pulled as well, but as I also wrote in my post above, Valgren was very contend with 2nd as well which obviously is super big result for him.
Think I can get within 10-12 seconds of that, judging by a very similar climb near me...oh, that's without the headwind they had, the crazy sprint to the base before...and for that matter the 250km of top level racing in the legs beforehand too...maybe within an hour AND 10-12 seconds then Edited by ianrussell on 18-04-2016 13:53
Omloop wrote:
You simply can't have a finishing group of 47 in a Ardennes classic.
Unfortunately we can these days, expect the same in FW with the peloton arriving at the Mur for the final time.
AG I can accept being this kind of race, but I can't believe that the race organizers really can't devise a route that makes FW and LBL as exciting as the cobbled classics are.
Years ago the Ardennes classics were just as exciting as the cobbled ones, then came peloton control.
