|
Fleche Wallonne Discussion
|
| jt1109 |
Posted on 14-01-2025 16:01
|
Classics Specialist
Posts: 3487
Joined: 23-07-2008
PCM$: 600.00
|
 La Fleche Wallonne
Amstel Gold Race Result
All riders back up today in Belgian after Attila Valter hugely impressive win earlier in the week.
| 1 | Attila Valter | Aker - MOT | 6h10'59 | | 2 | Alexey Lutsenko | Gazelle | s.t. | | 3 | Joseph Areruya | Xero Racing | s.t. | | 4 | Miguel Angel Lopez | Evonik - ELKO | s.t. | | 5 | Yevgeniy Gidich | King Power | s.t. | | 6 | Mauro Schmid | Jura GIANTS | s.t. | | 7 | Elie Gesbert | Assa Abloy | s.t. | | 8 | Davide Formolo | Rabobank | s.t. | | 9 | Matej Mohoric | EA Vesuvio | s.t. | | 10 | Sergio Higuita | Oxxo - Frisby | s.t. |
Welcome to Belgium for the second of the big 3 Ardennes classics. If there was one classic this season that  Lopez is built for it's today. The stinging final 1km wall of the Mur De Huy is perfect for him and he will start today the outright favourite.  Valter has to be fared after his performance earlier in the week he was 5th here last year and another strong performance would not be a surprise.  Areruya is the new head of the table at this level and he will be hoping to continue his strong year at the PT level. Onto the old guard  Mohoric and  Lutsenko neither has won here before though Lutsenko has top 5 placings in the last 4 editions of the race while Mohoric has top 10 placings in the last 5 editions of the race. Previous winners  Kinoshita and  De Bie have to be mentioned along with  Gidich having a slower start to the season he did mange a top 5 in Amstel and could be coming into form at the right time.
| Rider | HI | MT | ST | RS | SP | AC | | Lopez | 84 | 80 | 76 | 74 | 66 | 78 | | Mohoric | 83 | 71 | 78 | 72 | 67 | 77 | | Lutsenko | 83 | 73 | 76 | 73 | 72 | 81 | | Gidich | 83 | 76 | 78 | 77 | 63 | 75 | | De Bie | 83 | 70 | 76 | 75 | 71 | 74 | | Kinoshita | 82 | 71 | 79 | 76 | 67 | 76 |  Skujins | 82 | 69 | 79 | 76 | 67 | 75 |  Yates | 81 | 70 | 77 | 70 | 77 | 80 |  Vakoc | 81 | 71 | 75 | 71 | 71 | 74 | | Areruya | 81 | 81 | 76 | 78 | 68 | 76 | | Valter | 80 | 78 | 76 | 75 | 69 | 78 |  Gesbert | 80 | 74 | 80 | 78 | 68 | 73 |  Aranburu | 80 | 77 | 70 | 79 | 68 | 71 | | Romo | 80 | 72 | 78 | 76 | 67 | 71 |  Vansevenant | 80 | 74 | 79 | 78 | 70 | 80 |  Ardila | 80 | 81 | 69 | 70 | 62 | 75 |  Higuita | 80 | 79 | 76 | 78 | 66 | 75 |  Formolo | 80 | 79 | 76 | 76 | 69 | 71 | | Kanerva | 79 | 64 | 75 | 69 | 64 | 76 | | Bobridge | 79 | 65 | 68 | 68 | 65 | 74 |  Gebrezgabihier | 79 | 70 | 74 | 74 | 67 | 69 |  Schmid | 79 | 76 | 71 | 78 | 70 | 79 | | Kron | 79 | 71 | 75 | 75 | 66 | 73 | | Trakhov | 79 | 69 | 78 | 74 | 69 | 75 | | Geniets | 78 | 70 | 75 | 77 | 62 | 69 | | Gaudu | 78 | 71 | 78 | 75 | 68 | 70 | | Errazkin | 78 | 74 | 76 | 75 | 63 | 73 | | Champoussin | 78 | 78 | 76 | 76 | 59 | 76 | | Gerts | 78 | 66 | 76 | 80 | 72 | 70 | | Strakhov | 78 | 70 | 77 | 76 | 61 | 70 |  Storer | 78 | 75 | 72 | 73 | 64 | 74 |
Startlist
Spoiler
 Valter
Bagioli
Bravo
Lastra
Kamp
Swift
Berwick
Silva
Gesbert
Chaves
Hänninen
Mosca
Kvist
Kolev
Matsumoto
Kaloniatis
Aranburu
Olesen
Sulvaran
Meiler
Ikibe
Krigbaum
Van Tricht
Finkst
Hoelgaard
Duyvesteyn
Redy
Sheehan
Fedorov
Duric
Selimovic
Currie
Yates
Romo
Kanerva
Holmes
Lazkano
Bonnamour
Stedman
Albanese
Mohoric
Geniets
Wirtgen
Firdaus
Vermaerke
Banzer
Ries
John
Lopez
Blums
Konrad
Baroncini
Gavars
Polanc
Ansons
Kurianov
Vansevenant
Bobridge
Bax
Denz
De Kleijn
Lipowitz
Havik
Van der Hoorn
Lutsenko
Malecki
Peters
Godon
Bongiorno
Balmer
Karnulin
Nsengimana
Gebrezgabihier
Gaudu
Ssabagwanya
Abrahamsen
Brkic
Adria
Van Gestel
Jansen
Schmid
Errazkin
Rohendi
Setiawa
Delco
Theuns
Stehli
Colombo
Gidich
Quita
Chiu
Phodingam
Menten
Salzmann
Salazar
Vanthourenhout
De Bie
Bettiol
Van der Poel
Vincent
Schultz
Pons
Vine
Mansouri
Vakoc
Drizners
Marzuki
Quintana
Zana
Van Aert
Changsheng
Christen
Kinoshita
Dall'Oste
De Witte
Dressler
Casillas
Gomez
Paleni
Guavita
Ardila
Amezawa
Filutas
Dina
Morales Ortega
Carretero Millan
Kennaugh
Kenyeres
Stocek
Cerny
Neuman
Kolar
Toupalik
Boros
Hosek
Vacek
Higuita
Beltran
Parashchak
Galvan Ramirez
Pira
Eaton
Merchan
Abolaji
Mas
Barthe
Eyob
Antonelli
Zambanini
Brockhoff
Ferreira
Nych
Formolo
Kron
Champoussin
Gerts
Evenepoel
Sossa
Van den Broek
Dima
Madouas
Zwiehoff
Schinnagel
Cemazar
Zegklis
Van Wilder
Stork
Wibisono
Skujins
Trakhov
Strakhov
Tikhonin
Sulimov
Syritsa
Bereznyak
Gonov
Areruya
Khodayari
Tesfaye Heyi
Martin
Pomoshnikov
Strong
Bester
Horvat
Storer
Dieteren
Finkler
Stuyven
De La Cruz Chapulin
Miquel
Blanca Pareja
Gilmore
|
| |
|
|
| Marcovdw |
Posted on 14-01-2025 20:07
|
Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 7773
Joined: 04-07-2012
PCM$: 20845.00
|
A PT wildcard so nothing to gain or lose for us here. Maybe just get some good vibes from Kinoshita.
|
| |
|
|
| knockout |
Posted on 14-01-2025 20:19
|
Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 8236
Joined: 21-12-2010
PCM$: 500.00
|
Big expectation race. Lets go Lopez!
A Big Thank You To All MG Reporters! |
| |
|
|
| alexkr00 |
Posted on 14-01-2025 20:26
|
World Champion
Posts: 13561
Joined: 05-08-2008
PCM$: 400.00
|
Hopefully Formolo can improve on his Amstel result. Four riders in the extended favorites list also makes me hopeful of a a good depth result.
|
| |
|
|
| Ad Bot |
Posted on 06-12-2025 22:28
|
Bot Agent
Posts: Countless
Joined: 23.11.09
|
|
| IP: None |
|
|
| Fabianski |
Posted on 14-01-2025 20:41
|
Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 5234
Joined: 29-09-2018
PCM$: 185.00
|
Schmid pretty far down in the favourites list again, he just lacks that little Hi boost to be higher up - and to be sure he'll be treated as a favourite.
The course should suit him; it looks a bit like Grand-Duché where climbing was important, and Mauro definitely is one of the better hybrids here. Another Top 10 would be amazing, although I obviously can't expect him to deliver top consistency yet.
Expecting another MAL vs. Areruya battle for the win, but given that Herklotz isn't here, at least there should be one podium spot up for grabs - Valter, Formolo and Gidich would be my top candidates.
Thanks for the preview, good luck to all!
|
| |
|
|
| Bikex |
Posted on 14-01-2025 21:27
|
Team Leader
Posts: 7385
Joined: 25-08-2012
PCM$: 600.00
|
Time for Gidich to step up |
| |
|
|
| jandal7 |
Posted on 14-01-2025 22:12
|
World Champion
Posts: 11621
Joined: 17-12-2014
PCM$: 1120.00
|
Big expectation race. Lets go Areruya!
Lopez will take some beating here to stop the threepeat, probably the most I'd favour him over Joseph all season.
Spoiler Funnily enough I did check just now to see where untrained Areruya finished in 2021 - 13th, right behind a certain Colombian. Have they been entwined for even longer than we thought?
24/02/21 - kandesbunzler said “I don't drink famous people."
15/08/22 - SotD said "Your [jandal's] humour is overrated"
11/06/24 - knockout said "Winning is fine I guess. Truth be told this felt completely unimportant."
[PT]  Xero Racing
5x  x5
1x  x1
2x  x2
2x  x2 |
| |
|
|
| baseballlover312 |
Posted on 15-01-2025 06:00
|
Tour de France Champion
Posts: 16554
Joined: 27-07-2011
PCM$: 13638.70
|
Fleche really doesn't suit Aranburu given his low acceleration. We'll see if it can be ridden hard enough for him to outlast some of the others.
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy |
| |
|
|
| ember |
Posted on 15-01-2025 06:37
|
Team Leader
Posts: 7058
Joined: 27-03-2008
PCM$: 900.00
|
On paper, this should suit Valter better than Amstel, meaning a win is the only logical result? 
Nah, will be hoping and kind of expecting a top 10 again, where more is possible on a good day where he gets the needed luck for positioning and such right.
If the racing gets hard early on, this surely is a duel between MAL and Areruya, if not, positioning the final time up the Muur will be key, which is easy to miss out on for any of them, probably giving a better chance for others. Having said that, I’m also very curious to see Vansevenant here, with him super aggressive racing. If he continues that, this will get difficult early. If he doesn’t, maybe he has enough for the sprint to challenge the top two guys? |
| |
|
|
| Nemolito |
Posted on 15-01-2025 08:35
|
Classics Specialist
Posts: 3837
Joined: 20-04-2020
PCM$: 425.00
|
Let's go Higuita! Hopefully the same deliverance from the team to bring him near the front like in AGR, but this time maybe with the better suiting finish it could lead to even better than a tenth place. It will definitely depend on daily form as well with this startlist.
Thanks for the great preview, jt!
|
| |
|
|
| redordead |
Posted on 15-01-2025 12:39
|
Team Leader
Posts: 5511
Joined: 18-10-2017
PCM$: 200.00
|
All the Ardennes races are basically just xp gains for us. Good luck to those competing for the top spots.
Thanks for the preview.
"I am a cyclist, I may not be the best, but that is what I strive to be. I may never get there, but I will never quit trying." - Tadej Pogačar
|
| |
|
|
| jt1109 |
Posted on 16-01-2025 11:05
|
Classics Specialist
Posts: 3487
Joined: 23-07-2008
PCM$: 600.00
|
Not a lot happens in this race till the last 20km pretty realistic to the real life event
Arreuya really want hard on both Berg before the final Mur surely cost his chance of the win
Not being involved in the game for a few years this race really hammered home that this is the era of the MO/HILL rider of the 5 in the field with 79+ in both they finished 1st,2nd,3rd,6th and 8th with Ardilla hardly having the ideal backup stats for the course the MO is clearly kicking in way more then expected with Ardilla, Lopez and Arreuya the top 3 MO guys and interestingly all having good ACC as well.
Ardilla is catching Lopez quickly until about 0.2km (in game) to go as his red bar most have emptied but looked the winner for a good portion of the last drag!
Congrats to Knockout after yesterdays Puncture gate I don't know if I could have dealt with reporting Lopez being caught on the line!! |
| |
|
|
| redordead |
Posted on 16-01-2025 11:20
|
Team Leader
Posts: 5511
Joined: 18-10-2017
PCM$: 200.00
|
Cool to see Ardila all the way up to 2nd. He already showed last year that he likes this race 
"I am a cyclist, I may not be the best, but that is what I strive to be. I may never get there, but I will never quit trying." - Tadej Pogačar
|
| |
|
|
| knockout |
Posted on 16-01-2025 11:32
|
Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 8236
Joined: 21-12-2010
PCM$: 500.00
|
Spoiler I checked every pic and it seems like there were no crashes. I think i'm allowed to celebrate?
Can this replace LBL as the fifth monument? 
A Big Thank You To All MG Reporters! |
| |
|
|
| Bikex |
Posted on 16-01-2025 12:29
|
Team Leader
Posts: 7385
Joined: 25-08-2012
PCM$: 600.00
|
Congrats knockout. There's no beating MAL in this race.
4th from Gidich is acceptable, but unfortunately we don't get any depth points after the team seems to have tired themselves from working a lot on the front.
I now hope for at least a podium in Liege to make this Ardennes campaign a success.Thanks for the report, jt! |
| |
|
|
| Nemolito |
Posted on 16-01-2025 12:37
|
Classics Specialist
Posts: 3837
Joined: 20-04-2020
PCM$: 425.00
|
Thanks for a superb report, jt! And congratulations to knockout on a beautiful win with some great team work as well.
Higuita from tenth in AGR to eighth here, certainly happy with this result. Perhaps not trying to follow that first attack by Vansevenant would have been a bit smarter, as he could really do well on that last climb at full stamina, but in the end eighth is nothing to be ashamed about. Lack of anybody else for depth scoring is perhaps a bit more shameful, but that's to be expected with the lack of domestique puncheurs we have.
|
| |
|
|
| alexkr00 |
Posted on 16-01-2025 12:39
|
World Champion
Posts: 13561
Joined: 05-08-2008
PCM$: 400.00
|
Good depth scoring. Wasn't expecting Champoussin to be our 5th best rider today. A very nice surprise to see Kron in the top 20 and Formolo delivering as always.
|
| |
|
|
| Fabianski |
Posted on 16-01-2025 12:53
|
Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 5234
Joined: 29-09-2018
PCM$: 185.00
|
Hmmm... Cannot be entirely happy with 12th place by Schmid here, although it's obviously still not an awful result.
The attack was nice to see, that's the kind of racing I expect from Mauro. It could very well have sticked, given the other names up front.
However, the biggest mistake in the whole race was to drop back at the end of the group when being caught - so he was even outside the Top 20 when tackling the final climb.
Given that he climbed all the way up to 12th from there, he must have had a really great day, and I'd have loved to find out what would've been possible had he started the Mur in about 10th position. He'd have taken another Top 10 for sure, maybe even Top 5...
But well, I won't complain, it's just a lesson learnt for him. On the positive side, he was very strong on the Mur, which bodes well for future years (and for the hills yet to come this year). Thanks to Errazkin and Delcò making the Top 50, we still got our expected points, despite subpar race tactics.
Big congrats to Evonik, nice to see MAL win again here after the Polanc disaster in Cheshire! A bit surprised to see Ardila in 2nd given his subpar energy stats (as noted by jt), whereas Areruya in 3rd is even one spot below expectations 
Thanks for the report
|
| |
|
|
| baseballlover312 |
Posted on 16-01-2025 13:51
|
Tour de France Champion
Posts: 16554
Joined: 27-07-2011
PCM$: 13638.70
|
Unfortunately, Aranburu looks still too far down the positioning battle to have an impact in this type of race. He lingered around all day, which is better than not being considered by the AI at all, but unfortunately he always have 15-20 guys in front of him, and he does not have the punch to make up positions against those guys in such a short ramp. 14th is below where I want, but not by much I guess, given the strong competition.
Depth was unfortunate, but we don't really have a team for hilly depth. There were three Carlsberg jerseys still kind of near the front in the closing kilometers, but unfortunately they plummeted to the bottom on the Mur. Was nice to see Skjelmose in the break, even if it amounted to nothing and he probably lost a few depth points for it.
Thanks for the report and congrats to knockout!
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy |
| |
|
|
| ember |
Posted on 16-01-2025 20:26
|
Team Leader
Posts: 7058
Joined: 27-03-2008
PCM$: 900.00
|
Thank you for the report, jt!
That looked very promising over the top of the penultimate climb. Had high hopes there. Though, when getting caught, I can only second what Fabianski wrote for Schmid, not great to see him drop to the very back of the group when caught, making it super difficult to sprint to a great position. Looking at his bad positioning, climbing all the way up to 9th on the Muur is good, but it felt like a missed opportunity for slightly more, maybe challenging Lutsenko/Formolo for 5th/6th place.
Big congratulations on the win, knockout! Cool to see MAL really prove that this is his race. Quite remarkable to see him win it three times in a row! |
| |
|
