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News in January
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| Strydz |
Posted on 30-01-2016 01:54
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Ollfardh wrote:
Oh, he can definitely win. If he's still there at the last Paterberg, I don't think anyone can take it faster than him, maybe GVA.
Unless other riders are injured or something goes very wrong on the day then Valverde will get his arse handed to him in this race.
Hells 500 Crew and 6 x Everester
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Melbourne Hill Rd Warrandyte
Colby Drive Belgrave South
William Rd The Patch
David Hill Rd Monbulk
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| Shonak |
Posted on 30-01-2016 06:45
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He has shown he can handle cobblez well enough, is a beast on long distance and will easily be the best man on the hills there. The reason why GT riders don't do northern classis is risk of injury, not because they couldn't ride their bike well.
"It’s a little bit scary when Contador attacks." - Tommy V
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| Strydz |
Posted on 30-01-2016 06:59
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Shonak wrote:
He has shown he can handle cobblez well enough, is a beast on long distance and will easily be the best man on the hills there. The reason why GT riders don't do northern classis is risk of injury, not because they couldn't ride their bike well.
I know he can ride a bike well but I think there are stronger riders for that race, i'd be very surprised if he finished top 10
Hells 500 Crew and 6 x Everester
Don Rd Launching Place
Melbourne Hill Rd Warrandyte
Colby Drive Belgrave South
William Rd The Patch
David Hill Rd Monbulk
Lakeside Drive Emerald
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| Tafiolmo |
Posted on 30-01-2016 12:13
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Jeez guys I'm shocked that some of you believe that Valverde can win Flanders. I think the best that he'll do is possibly match what Wiggins achieved at Paris-Roubaix.
If this was the 1990's then I'd agree that riders like Valverde and Nibali could win a race like Flanders, because back then the old route suited riders that rode well in the Ardennes and quite often a rider would win both Flanders and an Ardennes classic.
Cycling since the 00's has become so specialized that it would be very hard for Valverde to win and on top of that his team is hardly suited to cobbles.
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| Ollfardh |
Posted on 30-01-2016 12:22
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World Champion
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Well, just about the Patersberg, it's such a steep hill that the gradient will do more damage than the cobbles. If Valverde would train for it and make it a season goal, I'd give him a chance if all goes well in the race.
Changed my sig, this was getting absurd.
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 24-11-2024 20:36
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| Thatguyeveryonehates |
Posted on 30-01-2016 18:22
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Belgian cyclocrosser Femke van den driessche is the first pro rider to be caught with an engine in a bike.
At the world cup, no less. |
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| Avin Wargunnson |
Posted on 30-01-2016 18:25
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World Champion
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Thatguyeveryonehates wrote:
Belgian cyclocrosser Femke van den driessche is the first pro rider to be caught with an engine in a bike.
At the world cup, no less.
World Champs, to be precise. 
So fairy tale finally coming into real world.
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| FroomeDog99 |
Posted on 30-01-2016 18:46
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Thatguyeveryonehates wrote:
Belgian cyclocrosser Femke van den driessche is the first pro rider to be caught with an engine in a bike.
At the world cup, no less.
May not be the last as well, as this is the first event with a 'new UCI method to detect motors'.
https://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/l...ips-209465 |
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| TheManxMissile |
Posted on 30-01-2016 20:15
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Tour de France Champion
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*looks at Spartacus* Good thing you're too old for anyone to care now.
It's pretty embarassing to 1) be caught, and 2) still lose whilst cheating. She had a crap race as well so i bet she is feeling proper sh*tty right now. If confirmed she deserves it as well.
I loved the U23-Womens Top10 though, so many different nations! Great big breath of fresh air from the more standard dominations seen at Elite levels
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| Wilier |
Posted on 30-01-2016 22:07
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| Spilak23 |
Posted on 30-01-2016 22:46
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Lol. 2nd lap something goes wrong and she loses all her speed (right before the 12min mark)
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| Strydz |
Posted on 31-01-2016 03:17
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Team Leader
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Pretty sad for the family as her brother has already been popped for EPO
Hells 500 Crew and 6 x Everester
Don Rd Launching Place
Melbourne Hill Rd Warrandyte
Colby Drive Belgrave South
William Rd The Patch
David Hill Rd Monbulk
Lakeside Drive Emerald
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| Shonak |
Posted on 31-01-2016 04:38
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Tour de France Champion
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Tafiolmo wrote:
Jeez guys I'm shocked that some of you believe that Valverde can win Flanders. I think the best that he'll do is possibly match what Wiggins achieved at Paris-Roubaix.
If this was the 1990's then I'd agree that riders like Valverde and Nibali could win a race like Flanders, because back then the old route suited riders that rode well in the Ardennes and quite often a rider would win both Flanders and an Ardennes classic.
Cycling since the 00's has become so specialized that it would be very hard for Valverde to win and on top of that his team is hardly suited to cobbles.
And me, I'm just shocked there are people who actually still underestimate Valv after his comeback from the ban.
You are talking about specialization like it's some fixed PCM attribute. Last season, two guys formerly known as sprinters have won the two northern monuments. Now you can list them as classic hunters, much like Valv himself. Ardennes, Flanders, Italians.. who cares. A winner remains a winner, anywhere, and the best puncheur of our generation has a shot on any terrain. What puncheur would he be anyway, it's his primary objective to finish first the coming weeks.
Let's count it down alright: Cancellara is in its final contract year and about to retire - he's that old actually. Tommeke is a shadow of himself and good for the slow shows. Most of other Etixx team are side-shows anyway, even when they end up winning like Terpstra. Maybe they finally unleash the Stybar on the peloton though but who knows what kind of etixx-hick up they have in store for us.
Vanmarcke is famous for having punctures and bad luck at the wrong time, 2agan is famous for finishing second, GVA is famous for not finishing first. DegenStache is injured, Kristoff won't have easy prey anyway. This leaves us with some outside shots like Benoot, Gilbert and whoever, and of course Valv.
Also, Wiggins was surprisingly close to actually winning Paris-Roubaix. Seeing as Valv is way more versatile and experienced in classics, go figure and beware of the danger.
Might as wel go in for an avatar bet although that's risky business of course.
"It’s a little bit scary when Contador attacks." - Tommy V
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| Strydz |
Posted on 31-01-2016 06:54
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@Shonak
Wiggins was not close to winning Roubaix at all, he was at the back of the chasing group when the sprinted for 2nd and he would of never outsprinted those guys if the win was up for grabs nor was he ever going to escape that group. Don't get me wrong, it was a great ride but he wasn't close to winning.
Also the two "sprinters" who won monuments already had form in those type of races from the previous seasons so they really couldn't just be classed as sprinters.
Edited by Strydz on 31-01-2016 06:59
Hells 500 Crew and 6 x Everester
Don Rd Launching Place
Melbourne Hill Rd Warrandyte
Colby Drive Belgrave South
William Rd The Patch
David Hill Rd Monbulk
Lakeside Drive Emerald
https://www.everesting.cc/hall-of-fame/ |
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| Avin Wargunnson |
Posted on 31-01-2016 07:33
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I am 100% with Tafiolmo here, Valverde has like 0 chance to ever win RvV, i would be schocked to see him near top10 actually.
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| Smowz |
Posted on 31-01-2016 09:05
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I am with shonak, riders like Valverde, Nibali are good enough to win almost any classic and GT, de ronde the cobbles are very different to Roubaix and I always feel there is better chances for the medeterrainian classics rider at Deronde.
De ronde is possibly a better fit for lighter guys in the right conditions for me. Valverde has done decently enough.
The fact that Wiggins was round at the end, shows that a guy like Valverde could be too. Valverde has a much stronger finish than Wiggo and should not be discounted at the pointy end of a classic ever.
That said I do think Valverde will struggle to win he will very likely top ten though unless he punctures, he ain't quite as quick at the finish for me these days as he used to be.
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| Spilak23 |
Posted on 31-01-2016 09:05
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Wiggins was much closer to winning Roubaix in 2014 than he was last year.
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| Tafiolmo |
Posted on 31-01-2016 10:35
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Sprinter
Posts: 1962
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Shonak wrote:[quote]
ou are talking about specialization like it's some fixed PCM attribute. Last season, two guys formerly known as sprinters have won the two northern monuments. Now you can list them as classic hunters, much like Valv himself. Ardennes, Flanders, Italians.. who cares. A winner remains a winner, anywhere, and the best puncheur of our generation has a shot on any terrain. What puncheur would he be anyway, it's his primary objective to finish first the coming weeks.
Well to be fair specialization is something that is pretty fixed and it's something the riders themselves abide by. Sure there are some that have numerous attributes and can do more things or are noted as being all rounders like Kwiatkowski etc. There are others like Dumoulin who seek to shift what they're known for to do something else. But apart from this kind of thing the sport is pretty specialized when you look at a rider's program each year and how he prepares. It's not so much the limitations of the riders themselves but the constraints put above them by their teams as well as success s everything.
As said above, Kristoff and Degenkolb are not ex-sprinters at all but what you call sprinters that can ride cobbled and long races anyway and their victories were no real surprise given their growing track record in these monuments and similar types of races.
Let's count it down alright: Cancellara is in its final contract year and about to retire - he's that old actually. Tommeke is a shadow of himself and good for the slow shows. Most of other Etixx team are side-shows anyway, even when they end up winning like Terpstra. Maybe they finally unleash the Stybar on the peloton though but who knows what kind of etixx-hick up they have in store for us.
Vanmarcke is famous for having punctures and bad luck at the wrong time, 2agan is famous for finishing second, GVA is famous for not finishing first. DegenStache is injured, Kristoff won't have easy prey anyway. This leaves us with some outside shots like Benoot, Gilbert and whoever, and of course Valv.
The only thing that changes here is that Degenkolb won't be riding, but all the above mentioned riders and teams will be too strong for Valverde and Movistar over Cobbles. Valverde has no track record at Flanders and Movistar are quite poor over cobbles. Wiggins did well st Roubaix because he pretty much dedicated a huge part of his training program to winning the race and had no other real targets at the same time either. Whereas Valverde is primarily an Ardennes rider at this time of the season.
Also Valverde has a bad habit of taking on more than he can do just look ho tired he arrive at the Vuelta each year. Also in 2016 if he aims to try and win Flanders, Ardennes and the Giro...... I'll take my hat off to him if he does.
Also, Wiggins was surprisingly close to actually winning Paris-Roubaix. Seeing as Valv is way more versatile and experienced in classics, go figure and beware of the danger.
If Valverde does pull it off and win, you can say you told me so and I'll retract everything.
Edited by Tafiolmo on 31-01-2016 10:44
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| Ollfardh |
Posted on 31-01-2016 11:30
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World Champion
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I'm horribly embarrased at Femke Van den Driessche's interview today, featuring the classics "I would never cheat", "It wasn't my bike", "The bike belonged to a friend" and "The mechanics accidently placed it in the box".
Changed my sig, this was getting absurd.
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| Shonak |
Posted on 31-01-2016 11:35
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Tour de France Champion
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He doesn't need to win - winning a monument is an immense task. If he's doing well and riding with panache, is in contention for the win for a while and grabs a solid Top 10 I'd already feel confirmed in my estimation of his abilities. De Ronde isn't so selective with its cobblez, it's not Roubaix. Also, it's Valv after all: as great as he may be, guy has a problem of sealing the deal.
I do agree with the team aspect, it's probably the problem for Valverde, maybe guys like Rojas can stay up long enough though to support him with some protection. Movistar won't have any chasing duties but having a guy up there in the last 60k is of course a helpful thing for all sorts of things.
We'll see how Valverde does in the opening flanders classics to begin with. He was pretty good two years ago in Omloop but not really commited to racing the classics for the win presumably then.
"It’s a little bit scary when Contador attacks." - Tommy V
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![imgur.com/KlJUqDx.jpg[/img[img]]https://imgur.com/yUygrQ.jpg](https://imgur.com/KlJUqDx.jpg[/img[img]]https://imgur.com/yUygrQ.jpg)
