baseballlover312 wrote:
How come this always seems to happen to who I root for?
Did Valverde have any bad luck this Ardennes? Nope
Gilbert? nope.
Kwiatek? Nope.
Of course it was Dan. Of course. (And I guess Purito as well.
Piti and Kwiatek have been the most consistent riders this spring, so it's almost like an award for it. While Martin... well Martin before Fleche had done nothing.
Yeah the race was average but wheelsucking? That is absoute rubbish, he let his team mates do the work and he played to his strengths. I get really tired about this wheelsucking bullshit that gets thrown around by people watching races. ITS CALLED TACTICS!!!
You're Aussie, so obviously you are never going to agree, but Gerrans won because he never did a thing. Even when Martin attacked, Gerrans didn't respond, just waited in Valverde's wheel.
That is literally the definition of wheelsucking.
It's good tactics, but not entertaining racing.
I am not a patriotic person whatsoever, other forum members know I love cycling and am not fazed what country a cyclist is from. Don't throw the "you're and aussie" line at me. What did Kwiatek do? Martin only did something on the final hill, it is what a team leader is meant to do, so Gerrans should of attacked and go against what he had in his favour which is his sprint at the end of a tough race and lose it? Weening was on the front at the end pulling to set Gerrans up, GreenEdge played it perfectly and good on them.
Guess by that logic every sprinter out there is just a wheelsucker aswell because they let there team set it up for them
Edited by Strydz on 27-04-2014 16:16
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/
Well the Ardennes sucked balls this year. Cyclist are not taking any initiative if the teams only care about WT points. Something must change about the points system. No team radios would help as well I think.
Another dull Ardennes classic, they really should be trying to position some of the bigger climbs like La Redoute etc nearer the end of the race, these races really need to just come down to about 6 to 10 guys on the final climbs, instead of the remains of the peloton.
Not a fan of Dan Martin, but disappointing to see him fall like that though.
Is the race over yet??? Was that really the finish?
How boring this was. All the favorites waiting as long as possible, and when someone finally attacks, he stops his attacks after 3 meters, simply because a rival has jumped his wheel. Why noy cooperate then, and do as Caruso and Pozzovivo did???
Man, Gilbert, Gerrans, Valverde, Kwiatkowski and eve Martin are nothing more than a bunch of egos and spoiled childrenthat are too afraid to do a little of work for a rival, thinking "oh no, then HE might win, and I become 2nd or 3rd, so I'll just wait and try to become 7th...."
Lame.
Gerrans was the smartes wheelsucker, doing absolutely nothing all day. Man, racing in doping-years was more exciting than this, with attacks at 30km before the finish.
But still I'll watch next time, hoping that it'll be better then,..
Yeah the race was average but wheelsucking? That is absoute rubbish, he let his team mates do the work and he played to his strengths. I get really tired about this wheelsucking bullshit that gets thrown around by people watching races. ITS CALLED TACTICS!!!
You're Aussie, so obviously you are never going to agree, but Gerrans won because he never did a thing. Even when Martin attacked, Gerrans didn't respond, just waited in Valverde's wheel.
That is literally the definition of wheelsucking.
It's good tactics, but not entertaining racing.
I'll let Simon know that next year he should follow any and all attacks no matter how pointless and stupid they are, completely depleting his energy reserves for your viewing pleasure. There's no way he'll disagree to such a terrific strategy!
baseballlover312 wrote:
How come this always seems to happen to who I root for?
Did Valverde have any bad luck this Ardennes? Nope
Gilbert? nope.
Kwiatek? Nope.
Of course it was Dan. Of course. (And I guess Purito as well.
Piti and Kwiatek have been the most consistent riders this spring, so it's almost like an award for it. While Martin... well Martin before Fleche had done nothing.
There was only one other Ardennes classic before Fleche you know. And Martin crashed out.
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy
And abou the WT points: don't give them at the finish, but at a point before, like 5km after the summit of the Radoute or Roche-aux-Faucons. I know it sounds silly, but this way real racing starts earlier.
dienblad wrote:
Is the race over yet??? Was that really the finish?
How boring this was. All the favorites waiting as long as possible, and when someone finally attacks, he stops his attacks after 3 meters, simply because a rival has jumped his wheel. Why noy cooperate then, and do as Caruso and Pozzovivo did???
Man, Gilbert, Gerrans, Valverde, Kwiatkowski and eve Martin are nothing more than a bunch of egos and spoiled childrenthat are too afraid to do a little of work for a rival, thinking "oh no, then HE might win, and I become 2nd or 3rd, so I'll just wait and try to become 7th...."
Lame.
Gerrans was the smartes wheelsucker, doing absolutely nothing all day. Man, racing in doping-years was more exciting than this, with attacks at 30km before the finish.
But still I'll watch next time, hoping that it'll be better then,..
Last exciting edition of this race was 2012 when Nibali attacked a long way from the finish and it was exciting to see Iglinskiy the only rider able to go across to him.
Wilier wrote:
Well the Ardennes sucked balls this year. Cyclist are not taking any initiative if the teams only care about WT points. Something must change about the points system. No team radios would help as well I think.
Agree with you there Wilier, I think no race radios would really spice these one day races back up
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/
baseballlover312 wrote:
How come this always seems to happen to who I root for?
Did Valverde have any bad luck this Ardennes? Nope
Gilbert? nope.
Kwiatek? Nope.
Of course it was Dan. Of course. (And I guess Purito as well.
Piti and Kwiatek have been the most consistent riders this spring, so it's almost like an award for it. While Martin... well Martin before Fleche had done nothing.
There was only one other Ardennes classic before Fleche you know. And Martin crashed out.
Just my theory. But performing well only in the biggest classics for a rider whose still young isn't for my taste.
Yeah the race was average but wheelsucking? That is absoute rubbish, he let his team mates do the work and he played to his strengths. I get really tired about this wheelsucking bullshit that gets thrown around by people watching races. ITS CALLED TACTICS!!!
You're Aussie, so obviously you are never going to agree, but Gerrans won because he never did a thing. Even when Martin attacked, Gerrans didn't respond, just waited in Valverde's wheel.
That is literally the definition of wheelsucking.
It's good tactics, but not entertaining racing.
I am not a patriotic person whatsoever, other forum members know I love cycling and am not fazed what country a cyclist is from. Don't throw the "you're and aussie" line at me. What did Kwiatek do? Martin only did something on the final hill, it is what a team leader is meant to do, so Gerrans should of attacked and go against what he had in his favour which is his sprint at the end of a tough race and lose it? Weening was on the front at the end pulling to set Gerrans up, GreenEdge played it perfectly and good on them.
Guess by that logic every sprinter out there is just a wheelsucker aswell because they let there team set it up for them
Yes, every sprinter is a wheelsucker. That's what the word means. But I don't spend 2 hours watching them waiting for Cavendish to throw in an attack.
Every one of the leaders were shit today. But Gerrans did even less than any of the others, and that directly lead to him winning.
Hence my line:
Gerrans did the best wheelsucking to win
Spoiler
As for the Aussie thing, your an Australian who got angry because I was negative about Gerrans, apologies if your motivations were not for nationalistic reasons.
[url=www.pcmdaily.com/forum/viewthread.php?thread_id=33182]Team Santander Media Thread[/url]
Why do people keep complaining about wheelsucking? It was a freaking huge group going into Ans, everybody happily wheelsucked each other. Except for Kreuziger who put in a solid effort earlier on and is the only one allowed to cast a stone. Plus, OGE did some good pacing along the way. Like strydz said, it's tactics. And even if, wheelsucking is something different than what Gerrans did today.
I would have loved to see some thrilling riding starting from far, far out but Gerrans is exactly the kind of winner for a boring edition like this. I hope it's a lesson for all those guys that they have to take more initiative next time around. Jeez, not even Nibali tried a real attack, just a little wishy-washy effort by him because Fuglsang left a gap open. He lacks form but still...
Except for that Dan Martin's crash, there's nothing I'll remember about this year's race. A shame for the 100th edition of La Doyenne. Edited by Shonak on 27-04-2014 16:27
"It’s a little bit scary when Contador attacks." - Tommy V
Nothing ventured, nothing gained really. There were a few chances where perhaps the right group could have made it stick, but at those crucial times several riders weren't fully committed to working together anyway.
Plus, OGE did some good pacing along the way. Like strydz said, it's tactics. And even if, wheelsucking is something different than what Gerrans did today.
