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Fleche Wallonne Discussion
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| Aquarius97 |
Posted on 29-11-2018 13:13
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Thanks to Vien for making this great preview!
 Fleche Wallone
Bonjour to the 12th edition of Fleche Wallone! With the Amstel Gold Race only just behind us, one question will be the main focus of this race: Will we get more of the same, or a completely different result?
One thing that’s different for sure is the route, of course. It’s slightly shorter and the climbs are a little bit longer. But the main difference is in the final few kilometres: While the Amstel Gold Race has moved their finish to a few kilometres after the Cauberg climb, Fleche Wallone’s finish is still on the feared Mur de Huy. Its implications are unclear, however. One could say that only the best riders will be able to win a sprint on the Mur de Huy, so we might see some outsiders attacking much earlier than last weekend. But an argument can also be made that no riders would want to blow up before the final climb. Therefore, only time will tell how this race will unfold.
Despite not winning the Gold Race, Boasson Hagen is still the favourite to take this race home. 2013's winner is the only current 85HI rider in the MG, and should have both the punch and experience to be able to parry most of his opponent's attacks.
World champion Ponzi has already shown he's up to the task of beating him many times, including at the Amstel Gold Race. It will be interesting to see how the other favourites approach him now, will all eyes still be on Hagen or will Ponzi's attack be the one many riders will want to respond to?
Then it's up to the other favourites to tire them out and steal the victory away from one of them. Next in line is Jan Bakelants, who became second last year. Being slightly more in the shadows of the former two riders might do him well, as he certainly has the skillset to be stronger than them on a good day.
Skujins and De Bie as the next in line then. Both riders have been proven to be fairly unpredictable, and have a slightly weaker final punch than the main favourites. Therefore a long distance attack might be needed for them to step on the top of the podium Still, a top 3 result here is more than achievable.
The main outsiders include Van Garderen, Sagan, Gastauer, Ginanni and Kelderman. Ginanni has won this race twice already, including last year, but he's showing his first signs of decline and will need to outsmart his opponents with his experience to repeat that achievement. Kelderman is also a former winner (2016), though his weaker punch makes it hard to regard him as a major favourite. The others are all looking to upset the favourites and add themselves to this race's rich history.
And in case of a major upset, who would be able to do so? The first name that pops up in this case is Van Stayen. A slow-paced race may prove to be deadly for his rivals, as he is always ready to take first from a small bunch sprint. Though it's hard to se this happening with so many favourites willing to win this one. Lastly, this humble reporter's rider to watch is Porto's Borges, who might slip under the radar of the other teams with his insane acceleration.
And now let's go over to Aquarius97 for a live report of this exciting classic!
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| tastasol |
Posted on 29-11-2018 13:22
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Go Jan! Ponzi has been on fire this season, so I reckon he's the big favourite. Hopefully Bakelants can stay close to him and get a place on the podium.
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| dev4ever |
Posted on 29-11-2018 14:14
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Taking the treble in the WC-shirt for us would be a fitting finale in Ponzi's final season for us!  So big hopes here for us here!
Good luck to all!
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| Aquarius97 |
Posted on 29-11-2018 15:59
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dev4ever wrote:
Taking the treble in the WC-shirt for us would be a fitting finale in Ponzi's final season for us! So big hopes here for us here!
Good luck to all!
So you are selling him next year? 
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| DubbelDekker |
Posted on 29-11-2018 19:26
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Again we shoot for that 5th to 10th range. In AGR Ginanni delivered with 6th, so let's hope he can do it again. I'm afraid his relatively low acceleration will hurt him here though.
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| ember |
Posted on 30-11-2018 07:10
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The Beltran/Vakoc tandem is in play here, though, it doesn't give us much extra hope compared to Beltran alone, really. Would be amazing if Vakoc can play the early aggressor, as Beltran obviously doesn't feature as one of the AIs main favourites here.
A top 15 has to be expected from Beltran, and a top 10 could well be doable, but it all comes down to positioning, I guess, which doesn't make me too hopeful, seeing how he tends to position himself in big groups on selective climbs in one day races. |
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| Gustavovskiy |
Posted on 30-11-2018 08:05
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Looking forward to see what how magic duo can do here. Probably not much, but you never know. Thanks for the preview and for spotting Borges as the typical dark horse.
Ponzi to continue his reign this season here? We'll see. Good luck everyone!
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| tastasol |
Posted on 30-11-2018 17:15
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Good teamwork, but Bakelants just a bit behind the level of Ponzi it seems. Two times 4th is a bit behind our expectations so far, so fingers crossed for a podium in LBL.
Congrats again Dev! I can see the value of selling him after this season, cause renewals next season will be a tough one...
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| Croatia14 |
Posted on 30-11-2018 18:18
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Not good enough. I fear Mohoric needs something to become a podium contender...next offseason will be fun...
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| dev4ever |
Posted on 30-11-2018 18:44
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What a monster he is this season! Thanks for the thrilling report! First goal race and first goal of the season achieved aswell, as icing on the cake.
tastasol wrote:
Congrats again Dev! I can see theu vbalue of selling him after this season, cause renewals next season will be a tough one...
Thanks alot tasta Dont wanna spoil too much but Ponzi continuing in Hugo Boss' colours is very unlikely for next season indeed.
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 25-11-2024 13:01
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| SotD |
Posted on 30-11-2018 19:51
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Can't demand anything better than 11th being around the 15th strongest rider pre-race. Too bad He's so unattentive, though, as he seemed strong enough to steal a couple of extra points, which can be very important in the short term fight against Hugo Boss :-)
Also too bad to have 2 riders just outside that top 50 mark. I haven't been very lucky with those 50/50 points...
Congrats on the win! Also congrats to Moser for almost closing the gap by now.
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| jandal7 |
Posted on 30-11-2018 21:24
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That was awful from us, no breakaways in our first two PT races and 68th as our best result today. Xero are a long way from being competitive at the top level 
24/02/21 - kandesbunzler said “I don't drink famous people."
15/08/22 - SotD said "Your [jandal's] humour is overrated"
11/06/24 - knockout said "Winning is fine I guess. Truth be told this felt completely unimportant."
[ICL] Santos-Euskadi | [PT]  Xero Racing
5x  x5
2x  x2
2x  x2 |
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| Heine |
Posted on 01-12-2018 06:38
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Well fought by Battaglin. I always hope for betyer redultd from tvg in the end, but cant really complain.
Very nice report
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| Gustavovskiy |
Posted on 01-12-2018 10:36
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Our little duo just can't potentiate each other's chances. We're left with the sum of each others results.
Ponzi' stellar season continues and there's a monument just around the corner. Hugo Boss's bid for the title continues to grow. Congrats dev!
Thanks for the report Aqua!
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| ember |
Posted on 01-12-2018 12:54
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Decent by Beltran, I must be satisfied with that, really
Had hoped for slightly more from Vakoc and Guldhammer, but on the other hand Hagen was very impressive there, giving us some minor depth points.
Not much to say about Ponzi, really. Legend. Congratulations again, dev
And thank you for the report, Aquarius97! |
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| OlegTinkov |
Posted on 12-12-2018 00:23
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Four places better than the Amstel, maybe a top-20 for Chernetskiy at Liege!?
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| cio93 |
Posted on 15-12-2018 13:28
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Bad result for us, considering we had three riders in the first 20 positions when the Mur started, and Kelderman looked way better before that as well.
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