Levefere must be furious, how Etixx' riders can not win this race. They made a mistake to attack Stannard, they would just waiting for the sprint and surely Boonen would win...
etix should attacked not in last 5km but in last 20km
stannard couldn't went after 4-5 attacks.they didn't harass stannard with attacks
and stop with boonen,boonen isn't the boonen from good days,not even at sprint
the team wanted boonen to win but they should focus on tepstra which is the strongest from their team since last year
sep was the strongest today.when race was live he had 2 punctures
Edited by superider2010 on 28-02-2015 16:20
Etixx shouldve attacked with Terpstra not Tommeke. When Terpstra attacked Vandenbergh tried to chase him which cancelled out his attack, that's the dumbest point of this.
Ollfardh wrote:
Vanmarcke is the reason Stannard won though, his constant pressure forced Quick Step to ride until the finish. He was the strongest in the race for me.
correct. Vanmarcke is in awsome. condition. at the moment he was almost there ...just 15 sec. short.
Yeah, indeed. Vanmarcke's pressure played well in Stannard's cards, it set up the stage perfect for a theatrical comedy of immense tactical failure of Quick Step. Quick Step were riding like they had already won; they basically sold the fur before they shot the bear. Vandenbergh staying on Terpstra's wheel when the dutch attacked, Boonen attack, Terpstra leading out Stannard...
Vanmarcke def was the strongest rider in the race, I just hope this race had all the bad luck for him in the coming weeks. No more crashes or punctures, especially not in key moments please. All too typical for this team unfortunately, but in this (continuing) form he'll be top game for monuments.
GVA slightly disappointing in the little I've seen. Maybe it has to do with Gilbert being in this race but I've come to know & appreciate GVA being way more aggressive. Did he make any moves earlier in the race? I've only watched the last 30-40k
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Say what you want about Etixx tactics but Stannard just played them perfectly, Etixx didn't lose that race, Standard won it
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Wilier wrote:
Not much wrong about the Etixx tactics, indeed. The only thing I didn't understand was that Vandenbergh closed a gap to Terpstra.
Agreed, just watched it and it didnt feel so outragerous to me. As you pointed out, that was a little weird. To have Boonen just sit on Stannards wheel and let Terpstra attack first would probably have been better as well, but Stannard just was the strongest imo.
Edited by Riis123 on 28-02-2015 20:58
Strydz wrote:
Say what you want about Etixx tactics but Stannard just played them perfectly, Etixx didn't lose that race, Standard won it
Yeah I agree, If Stannard wasn't this strong nobody would talk about bad tactics from Etixx and Boonen would be gone. He totally earned it, wondering whether he can maintain this but I doubt it since he's peaked for it last year too. Although when the move happened on Leberg and then acceleration on Molenberg, he was about to get dropped barely hanging in there so I guess the profile of this race really suits him because last 30 k's there's virtually no difficulties just flat so he recovered and on flat Stannard is best.
Well anyway other teams would love to have problems like Etixx-Quickstep. So many good riders, just a matter of getting the racecraft right.
Sep was arguably even stronger than Stannard today but some back luck with punctures and not good enough positioning cost him. Overall incredible race today, a bit weird really only 7 riders were really in it, Phil tried to make it 8 but missed the cut.
Wilier wrote:
Not much wrong about the Etixx tactics, indeed. The only thing I didn't understand was that Vandenbergh closed a gap to Terpstra.
Oh yes, that thing stood out to me as a mistake. Other than that Stannard just totally bossed attacks from Tom and Terpstra.
Edited by Kirchen_75 on 28-02-2015 21:03
Strydz wrote:
Say what you want about Etixx tactics but Stannard just played them perfectly, Etixx didn't lose that race, Standard won it
Yeah I agree, If Stannard wasn't this strong nobody would talk about bad tactics from Etixx and Boonen would be gone. He totally earned it, wondering whether he can maintain this but I doubt it since he's peaked for it last year too. Although when the move happened on Leberg and then acceleration on Molenberg, he was about to get dropped barely hanging in there so I guess the profile of this race really suits him because last 30 k's there's virtually no difficulties just flat so he recovered and on flat Stannard is best.
Well anyway other teams would love to have problems like Etixx-Quickstep. So many good riders, just a matter of getting the racecraft right.
Sep was arguably even stronger than Stannard today but some back luck with punctures and not good enough positioning cost him. Overall incredible race today, a bit weird really only 7 riders were really in it, Phil tried to make it 8 but missed the cut.
How can you know he peaked for it last year? Because he won it doesn't mean he peaked..and we know what happend in Gent last year. He was looking in prime condition until that crash.
Sep wasn't arguably stronger. He was the strongest rider in the race by far. He himself maintained 20sec gap and the 3 steppers. Not sure why you mention positioning, he was perfectly placed, it was he that made the selection and then punctured at the end of the berg which cost him the whole race. (he was in good position before Taaienberg as well where he got the first puncture and had to get back). Still Sep would probably have lost the race somehow if he made that group, as he said today and happens so often, the strongest doesn't always win.
Edited by Alakagom on 28-02-2015 21:10
How can you know he peaked for it last year? Because he won it doesn't mean he peaked..and we know what happend in Gent last year. He was looking in prime condition until that crash.
Not sure why you mention positioning, he was perfectly placed, it was he that made the selection and then punctured at the end of the berg which cost him the whole race. (he was in good position before Taaienberg as well where he got the first puncture and had to get back). Still Sep would probably have lost the race somehow if he made that group, as he said today and happens so often, the strongest doesn't always win.
Because Omloop Het Nieuwsblad suits him best. That's why I think he picks this race as the main one and plays 2nd fiddle to Thomas and Wiggins on the rest of the classics. He's not the best on the berg's you could see that today as strong as he was he struggled a bit.
Bad positioning I'm talking about earlier in the race. He had to play catch-up and used up some energy, obviously that didn't help him did it?
How can you know he peaked for it last year? Because he won it doesn't mean he peaked..and we know what happend in Gent last year. He was looking in prime condition until that crash.
Not sure why you mention positioning, he was perfectly placed, it was he that made the selection and then punctured at the end of the berg which cost him the whole race. (he was in good position before Taaienberg as well where he got the first puncture and had to get back). Still Sep would probably have lost the race somehow if he made that group, as he said today and happens so often, the strongest doesn't always win.
Because Omloop Het Nieuwsblad suits him best. That's why I think he picks this race as the main one and plays 2nd fiddle to Thomas and Wiggins on the rest of the classics. He's not the best on the berg's you could see that today as strong as he was he struggled a bit.
Bad positioning I'm talking about earlier in the race. He had to play catch-up and used up some energy, obviously that didn't help him did it?
Your statement adds to why it makes perfect sense for him to peak for Robuaix, no?
And no-one from Sky excels on these bergs, really it's limiting damage to the best, which usually Thomas does best, yes I definitely agree.
Well as I say he had two punctures, both at the worst time possible, you can't really fault him, it's just shit luck.
Edited by Alakagom on 28-02-2015 21:22
