Agr will just have an obvious winner. Gilbert is gonna attack on the cauberg -> no one will manage to follow him -> he will win.
The other 2 will be more difficult to predict though. With huy you never know: it mainly depends on how purito/valverde feel, and they're both in shape so it's gonna be a close finish. But beware, cause Daniel Martin proved that he can win it as well. Let's not forget Henao that appeared in a tremendous shape.
LBL will be the least predictable of 3 as always but I feel like Kwiatkowski can finally end his World Champion jersey curse. Otherwise it's really impossible to predict as everything can happen as we've seen last year, wouldn't mind if Martin takes his revenge as that was an obvious victory.
AGR I'll bet for Kwiat or a surprise like Tom Dumoulin.
The other day listening to Angel Edo (Purito's agent) he says that Purito's dream is to win the LBL so I don't think he will be in the contest for FW, Moreno will be Katusha man. I'll pick Martin then.
Finally, for LBL, I would really like to see Rodriguez win this one.
Edited by ggDonovan on 16-04-2015 12:26
After the Brabantse Pijl, it's time for the biggest Dutch cycling classic and the start of the Ardennes' Triple. The Amstel Gold Race (AGR) is a hilly race, known for lots and lots of short, steep climbs. Most famous climbs are those in the final of course, with the 22% steep Keutenberg and, of course, the Cauberg where the race will be decided. Being a WT-classic, all the big teams will be participating with a strong team.
Profile:
There's no less than 7 ex-winners of this race participating: Philippe Gilbert (2014, 2011, 2010), Davide Rebellin (2004), Fränk Schleck (2006), Enrico Gasparotto (2012), Damiano Cunego (2008), Roman Kreuziger (2013) and Stefan Schumacher (2007). The list of winners shows this race can be won by outsiders. Of course last year's winner, Philippe Gilbert, is there to defend his title. With his three wins he is only the second rider to have won it more than 2 times. Though Jan Raas' record of 5 wins is still out of reach.
Favourites:
***
Philippe Gilbert, Alejandro Valverde, Michal Kwiatkowski
**
Rui Costa, Tony Gallopin, Tom Dumoulin, Jelle Vanendert, Michael Matthews
*
Sergio Henao, Bauke Mollema, Simon Gerrans, Tim Wellens, Daniel Martin, JoaquÃm RodrÃguez, Greg Van Avermaet, Ben Hermans, Roman Kreuziger
cio93 wrote:
I'm wondering...does all this Gallopin hype stem from his one (admittedly really) good Paris-Nice stage and from San Sebastian nearly two years ago?.
I think he's just a rider that is consistently getting better and as a result having better results too. As you said he won Clasica San Sebastian 2 years ago and had a very good Paris-Nice until the TT, but he also won a stage on the Tour last year and had the yellow jersey for a couple of stages.
He's becoming a very good puncher, great on the hills but he also has a decent sprint so he has a very good chance in the Ardennes.
We'll just have to see if he suffers from the typical French problem of "crumbling under the pressure".
I'm stupid... I got him confused with Majka.
