baseballlover312 wrote:
Not the best cobbles season so far, but still some solid results. Stuyven's performance in Dwars Door should be a good sign for the monuments.
Thanks. Stuyven's been solid, but I've been hoping for more from MVDP. He hasnt hit his peak yet, but he's not even been our 2nd strongest rider really. If it wasnt for his sprint he'd probably have been used more as a teammate than co-leader.
The top favorite for the race is unquestionably Peter Sagan. He has been in amazing form this spring, and was probably considered the best all-round rider in the peloton regardless of his results this season. His ability on the hills, cobbles and as one of the fastest sprinters in the peloton will be a huge advantage over the rest. Jasper Stuyven is the 2nd favourite and he is weaker than Sagan on all 3 of the aforementioned areas. Still, Stuyven is an extremely strong rider and his team is the strongest as well, with Lampaert, Van der Poel, Jungels, Asgreen, Senechal and Stybar.
Pedersen, Van Avermaet and Benoot will also be hoping to win, as top classics riders, but also have weaker teams than Deceuninck. However, BORA only have one solid cobbles rider to support Sagan, which could be vital if he ever needs to chase or needs to get a spare wheel at a crucial time, he is less likely to have a teammate with him.
As always, the race is expected to be ridden under variable weather. This may play an advantage to a rider like Valgren, who is also in solid form coming into the race, as he may be more used to colder weather being from Denmark.
The race hasnt been won by the #1 favourite in recent years, so expect some surprises tomorrow.
Ronde van Vlaanderen - Tour des Flandres (1.UWT) 2021
The first action of the day is a major crash with just over 100km to ride still. Van der Poel, Van Aert, Lampaert, Asgreen and Pedersen are all caught up in it. They eventually make it back to the leaders group, but the effort to get back may hurt their chances later on.
More bad luck, as just as Van der Poel reaches the front group he gets a puncture. It takes a long time to change his tire so he's almost 2 minutes back of the leaders again. However they arent riding at an insane tempo so he may get back, but his chances of winning are likely gone now.
With the help of Stybar, Van der Poel is almost back to the leaders, with 95km to go now. If he can get back on and recover for a bit he may still have a shot. All because of the great work by Stybar.
MvDP makes it back, and needs some time to rest. Now with 75km to go, the pack slows significantly, so Lampaert tries an attack to see if he can get clear. He's looking good today, so if he's allowed time he could stay away the rest of the day. Unsurprisingly he is brought back, but as this happens there is a huge crash taking out half the peloton. There are no cameras on it, so we will need to wait and see who is losing out.
The directors have found us the timegaps, and we can see lots of big names way behind now. Sagan and Politt are two of the names, but Benoot, Van Aert, Vanmarcke, Gilbert are other huge names. The lead group is now a very small select group, but by placing their riders at the front Deceuninck have 4 riders in the lead still, and 4 very strong riders at that.
The chase is on, and Sagans group with WVA and Benoot is closing in now with 40km to go. The gap is definitely not a minute anymore so it could easily come back together.
One of these riders pictured will win. The Sagan group is so close to the others they can almost taste it, but we are just about to climb the Kwaremont again and Deceuninck are riding fast to try and stop the group behind from getting back on.
And just like that the gap is growing. It looks like the Sagan group is losing its fight. What a crazy race its been.
Now with less than 15km to go, and no more cobble sections, the leaders have turned into a group of 3. Pedersen, Jungels and Lampaert. Valgren was with them, but couldnt stay with them on the last cobble sector. Deceuninck have the numbers which could really help them here, but Pedersen has looked strong and not made a move yet, so could be waiting for the opportune moment to strike.
Were getting close to the finishing town now, and Valgren is closing in on the lead 3. Jungels ignores the stop sign on the road and makes an attack. Pedersen will have to chase now, which should play into Lampaerts hand, the strongest option for Deceuninck on paper you would have to say.
But Pedersen completely cracks. Jungels has a minute gap already, and will be a new winner of the race. It was such a hard day and what a perfect way to win it, with a solo attack from the leaders group. Lampaert quickly rides away from Pedersen and will also take 2nd.
Jungels celebrates as he crosses the line to take the biggest win of his career! What a ride, from someone that was not a favourite entering the day!
Wow, talk about it all coming good at this biggest moment - what a stunning Ronde for you guys, putting that insane depth to good use - when Stybar (even if he's a bit declined) is your fifth man and can drop back to tow a crashed leader, that's pretty nuts
What a rider Jungels is - though he is capable of it in real life, in the last few pages of story he's got Top 5 in the Vuelta and WC ITT, and now won De Ronde Super versatile with that power!
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
I think you mentioned something about finding the new Boonen. I think you found the new Boogerd. Can't think of anyone else who can do this well on both climbs and cobbles. And unlike Boogerd, Jungels actually wins stuff
jandal7 wrote:
Wow, talk about it all coming good at this biggest moment - what a stunning Ronde for you guys, putting that insane depth to good use - when Stybar (even if he's a bit declined) is your fifth man and can drop back to tow a crashed leader, that's pretty nuts
What a rider Jungels is - though he is capable of it in real life, in the last few pages of story he's got Top 5 in the Vuelta and WC ITT, and now won De Ronde Super versatile with that power!
Yeah, Stybi's declined. Think he's only got 77 COB now. Senechal has 78 but is a bit weaker everywhere else. Jungels is indeed great. I've thought about lowering his climbing stats to fit real life a bit better, since I did up his COB to 75 after his performances last year but as he's one of my favourite riders I find it hard to do so. He also was the only rider on the team to get a +3. He has definitely benefited the most from peaking at the right time in this save, apart from maybe Alaphs TDF.
cunego59 wrote:
Really great result! Especially nice after the struggles on cobbles earlier. Very cool to see that you were able to put the team strength to good use!
Thanks. I seem to do well at RVV for whatever reason. This year I definitely got lucky though, as the crash and split with most of the favourites chasing from 70km to go really helped.
alexkr00 wrote:
I think you mentioned something about finding the new Boonen. I think you found the new Boogerd. Can't think of anyone else who can do this well on both climbs and cobbles. And unlike Boogerd, Jungels actually wins stuff
Haha, very true. In my save, Kwiatkowski for example is much better on cobbles and slightly better hills rider, with a better sprint, but I guess he doesn't benefit from being under my control
At the base of the last climb of the day, Mollema makes an attack. After a bit of chasing the group with all the favourites sits up. Mollema joins the breakaway but quickly rides away from them too. Going over the top of the final climb he has a gap of 3:30 to the leaders group. Are they just handing the race to Mollema?
Mollema unsurprisingly takes the win! But where is the leader group? They have been slowly reducing the gap, but Alaphlippe (7th) brings them in, 1:39 down on Mollema. But shockingly, thanks to the breakaway finishing just ahead, they are given the time all the way up to 2nd place on the day.
Thomas takes the win ahead of Pinot and Kwiatkowski. Mollema finishes in a group 39 seconds down. But oddly enough, today is the only stage with time bonuses at the finish so Thomas who was 49 seconds down, is now 10 seconds ahead of Mollema who finished 1:30 ahead of the favourites group yesterday, but was mysteriously given a gap of only 49 seconds.
It seems like from weird time gaps to bonuses only on one stage, the organisers were just determined to not let Mollema win Great riding from him anyway for two great stage wins and a podium finish
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
alexkr00 wrote:
A shame for the time gaps in the fourth stage, but the time - trial would have always been a hard stone to turn for Mollema.
And Kruijswijk riding for the KoM jersey. Well... that's just embarrassing
Thanks! I think if time gaps had gone the right way, and if there were 20 bonus seconds on the two stages Mollema won, he would have won by 5 seconds. So it would have been very close. Yeah, Kruijskwijk hasnt been too strong for NTT so far. I would have thought he'd do much better with more leadership opportunities.
jandal7 wrote:
It seems like from weird time gaps to bonuses only on one stage, the organisers were just determined to not let Mollema win Great riding from him anyway for two great stage wins and a podium finish
Thanks! It was still a very good race, and Evenepoel really surprised me in the ITT.
There's two riders which are considered a step above the rest heading into the Hell of the North this season. The first one is Peter Sagan, who cannot be at all disappointed with his season so far, winning several classics already. However, he will be unhappy with his bad luck last weekend in Flanders, and will want to redeem himself somewhat this weekend, by being near the front to avoid the same mistakes again. Mads Pedersen on the other hand could but no foot wrong last weekend, but still lacked the strength to win, as Deceuninck had the numbers to whittle down the opposition until underdog Bob Jungels took the win.
As a new Monument winner, the pressure to complete the Double for Bob Jungels will be on. He was scheduled to ride Itzulia Basque country but pulled out to avoid injury in the lead up to Paris Roubaix, but he is not even the strongest rider on his team. Stuyven, Lampaert and Van der Poel are all betting favourites over the Luxembourger.
As a race that has come down to a sprint in the last few years, stronger sprinters will be favourited, which could harm Niki Terpstra's chances of a 2nd Paris Roubaix title.
With great weather expected for tomorrow, it will be interesting to see how that affects the riders. The fans always hope for rain and winds to help liven up the race, but a drier day can sometimes make for a more uncomfortable day for the riders as the cobbles are slightly more rigid.
The breakaway reaches the first cobble sector Troisvilles. Rojas, Tratnik and Le Gac are the 3 most dangerous riders of the group, and have a gap of 5 minutes currently, which is slightly worrying, as the peloton does not seem to want to ride at all.
Now with 136km to go, a few riders start to attack from the peloton. Sutterlin, Gaviria, Demare, Kirsch, Kristoff, Van Hooydonck, Laporte, Modolo, Bol and Warlop. These are dangerous names to let free, as if they can make it in the lead group into the velodrome, could very well be favourites due to their acceleration.
With 66km to go, the gap is still over 5 minutes to the lead breakaway group. Deceuninck feel this lack of pace has gone on too long and send their riders to the front to start bringing down the gap. The peloton is now down to 50 odd riders, so most teams dont have more than 3 or 4 riders left in the group. This must be why Deceuninck felt pressure to start chasing.
With 40km to go, the breakway still has 2 minutes advantage, and some strong riders are still clear. Kristoff is a very dangerous rider to let away with a 2 minute advantage.
Deceuninck are still on the front, slowly bringing the gaps down. Van der Poel, Stuyven, Lampaert, and Stybar are all at the front, but Jungels, last weeks Tour of Flanders winner is starting to drop back, so it looks like he wont be winning today.
With all the work being done by Deceuninck, they try an attack with Mathieu Van der Poel to try and force the hand of some of the other teams. He quickly reaches the 3rd group on the road, with Van Hooydonck and Maes, with a gap of 1 minute to the peloton, however still just under 2 minutes down on Kristoff. This implies that the front Quartet of Kristoff, Modolo, Laporte and Van Kiersbulck are still going strong.
The MVDP move really ignites the other favourites in the peloton to start their moves. Politt makes an attack, with most of the favourites like Naesen, Sagan, Pedersen, Van Aert, Van Avermaet and Benoot to attack. MVDP is very quickly brought back, and now plays the support role to try and help close the gap for his two captains, Lampaert and Stuyven who have not reacted to the favourites move very quickly.
Now, nearing the last cobble sector, the favourites group catches most of the breakaway and surpasses them, but they sit up which helps Stuyven and Lampaert get back. Just Van Keirsbulck is ahead now. Benoot decides he's had enough waiting, and tries a move.
Stuyven is looking strong today, and after his teammates brought him up to the leaders he attacks on the Willems a Hem section. He quickly moves past Benoot who looks like he has cracked himself. Stuyven starts to create a gap to Sagan who is the only one strong enough to follow, and reaches Van Keirsbulck, who has been in the breakaway all day. What a smart move by him, as he will probably be fighting for atleast a Top 5 thanks to his early morning move now.
With lots of riding from the last real cobble sector to the velodrome, Stuyven was soon caught by Van Aert, Sagan and Naesen. Once this happened he stopped riding on the front. The lead 4 head into the velodrome as the leaders, but the group behind is getting closer and closer, and we could see a mass sprint.
Its all together. The leading 4 played too many games, and this could really cost them now. Stuyven is in a decent position, but Van Aert and Sagan look the best placed for the sprint, as it opens up....
And the underdog, Jens Debusschere takes the win, ahead of Van Aert and Stuyven. He probably wasn't in many experts Top 20 predictions today, but he proved them all wrong.
The race is about to get under way in Maastricht. Last year we saw Alaphilippe dominate the Ardennes classics, and he is the bookies favourite again this year. Will we see him take another Triple? Its unlikely, but he has been in decent form again this year with a stage win in Paris Nice, and 11th at Milan San Remo.
The three teams doing much of the work, are INEOS, Total and EF Education, for their respective leaders, Kwiatkowski, Michael Woods and Julian Alaphilippe, who we mentioned earlier as the pre race favourite.
With the weather deteriorating, and the risk of crashes increasing, Alaphilippe puts in a move, still 40km out from the finish. He reaches the breakaway who have a minute gap, and FDJ do most of the chasing, for their leader, Jelle Vanendert. There is probably a French rivalry there as well.
We fastforward to 10km to go now, as a group of 20 or so have finally caught the Alaphilippe group. Now on the Bemelerberg, Remco Evenepoel tries an attack. He has two leaders in Lambrecht and Van der Poel who can follow any moves, so it takes the pressure off them, or he can go clear.
The move doesnt work out though, and he must now work for his leaders to set them up for the final few kms. It looks like it will be a sprint at the end. Colbrelli took the win two years ago, so a punchy sprinter type could be the favourite again now, given the situation.
We start the sprint now, and Alaphilippe is in the lead and looking good again. Kwiatkowski is coming on his right side, but the line is closing in. Lambrecht also looks fast, but looks too far back now.
But Kwiatkowski takes it. He outsprints Alaphilippe and takes a great win. Alaph holds on for 2nd place still, and Lambrecht takes 3rd a great result for him.
With one third of the Ardennes classics already done, we head to maybe the most suited to punchy riders, as both AGR and LBL finish climbs level off towards the line, whereas here its a climb right to the finish. That wasn't a problem for Michal Kwiatkowski anyway who is now the favourite to take the win here, with great support riders to help him.
No real action today, so we pick up the action with 10 kilometers to go already. 3 teams are at the front and its the three teams you would expect to be there. Total Direct Energie, INEOS and Deceuninck.
The riders are flying up the finishing climb now, the Muur de Huy. Remco Evenepoel is one of the youngest riders in the race, and he's leading the sprint for the line. His teammates actually look like they cant follow his speed, but Dan Martin, Kwiatkowski, Alaphilippe and Woods are coming up quickly to the young Belgian.
Unfortunately the broadcast signal has some interference as the riders reach the 300m to go line, but we can see that Kwiatkowski has just narrowly edged it in the sprint over The Irishman, Dan Martin. Evenepoel held on to 3rd place, so the fans will atleast be happy to see a Belgian rider on the podium, and one of the more popular ones as well. Deceuninck had 4 riders in great position, but none were strong or quick enough for the win. However they will still feel they could have had a better result, maybe trying to attack instead of save 4 riders for the sprint at the end?
Despite podiums in the others as well, it looks like Ronde was the peak of your classics.
I'm guessing it will be harder to finish things on a high note since the more mountainous terrain of LBL is only going to suite Lambrecht and Mollema.
Yeah. Winning one monument cant be a bad thing though atleast
Evenepoel is developing into more of a MO rider too, so he could be a strong helper, but he lacks the ACC to win imo. It will be interesting to see if Kwait can do the Triple. Would be quite something to see it happen two years in a row. Perhaps it shows a flaw in the PCM fitness peak system.
Its strange to see Alaphilippes name at the top of the favourites list given how the last two races have gone, with Kwiakowski winning two thirds of the ardennes triple already. All he needs to do is win again today, to repeat what the World Champion Frenchman did last year. It will not be an easy task though.
The race sees its first real action with 36km to go. A large group of 36 riders, including, MVDP, Lambrecht, Alaphilippe, Martin, Kwiatkowski, Fuglsang, Woods and Vanendert get clear of whats left of the peloton. A chasing group of 40 riders, including Matthews, Hirschi and Uran are already 1 minute down, on the lead group.
Next we see a big attack by Alaphilippe on the Cote de la Roche aux Faucons with about 20kms to go. He is followed by Valverde and Dan Marting with Simon Yates trying to follow just behind.
But surprisingly its brought back, with help from Sebastian Henao, teammate of Dan Martin on UAE with help from Astana and Jumbo Visma.
Now on the descent of the Cote de Saint Nicholas tragedy strikes. The race remained mostly neutralized until this point and with 5km to go the teams were setting up for the sprint to the final climb in Ans, when Jakob Fuglsang who was in 5th position in the group crashes. Deceuninck had their 4 riders in front pushing the pace so no one could rejoin back into the lead group from behind, but every rider behind Fuglsang either crashes or is held up, giving Deceuninck 4 riders clear heading into the finish.
The 4 Deceuninck riders are now coasting into the finish. One of them will have to win. Simon Yates is still chasing, so they cant slow down too much, but they have the win secured already. It really is an anti-climactic end to the race.
Van der Poel wins the sprint. No one should really be surprised! Evenepoel takes 2nd, Lambrecht 3rd and Mollema 4th. Yates is the first non Deceuninck rider, as he didnt get taken down in the Fuglsang crash.
Kwiatkowski is the first rider to cross the line of everyone else, part of the group from the Fuglsang crash, and will be thinking about what could have been if not for the crash. He may well have had an Ardennes Triple to his name.
Great riding from him anyway for two great stage wins and a podium finish 
