2017 'PRO' cycling discussion.

[tymon_tm]

it's definitely gonna be interesting, the Flandres. GVA's on a high roll, Sagan's starting to feel every gun is pointed at him, QS - despite a cock up - are probably one of the strongest teams with many options, including old dog Boonen, and will want to make up for the G-W.

it wouldn't be surprising at all to see a sort of replay from G-W - a strong but a bit crowded break containing some of the big names, but this time the "lesser" riders, knowing the tensions between the favourites, will definitely try their luck escaping and tearing the group apart.

[boots2000]

Go to exactly 16k to go and watch- Sagan swings over and opens the gap. He make a gesture with his hand. Terpsra won't come through- Sagan lets the gap open.
He then lets the others take turns for almost 1k- then jumps really hard on the right side of the road to the right of the traffic islands in the middle.
Doesn't work- that's the race.

boost2000, u didn't.

his tactic was to ride in a group of 5 with derpstra, but when he dropped the wheel confusingly, sagan attempted to bridge up to the winning move.

[nathanong87]

yea we are talking about the same moment. He wanted to drop derpstra because he already showed the colors he'd (terpstra) play (or not play). Sagan wanted to drop the dead weight.

[Rondje]

Poor performance from quickstep which have their specific focus in Belgian spring classics

Already forgot they where 1 and 2 in Dwars door Vlaanderen and had 2nd place in E3 Harelbeke?
Quickstep rides pretty strong this classis season.

[LeDuke]

BMC has a very strong team as well, in my opinion. They don't have the star power that QS has but I think they are a better team right now; they work with more unity of purpose. GvA is kept in the right position, well fed and watered, by his teammates. They come to the fore to chase down moves, then give him a ride to the front, drop him off at the base of the climbs. Then, they are present at the front of the field should any organized chase develop, doing what they can to interrupt it, jumping on any moves that start to come across, etc. Dilier, Oss, and Vliegen all did a great job for GvA yesterday.

Is BMC more of a one-man show in the cobbled races? Yeah. They don't have Gaviria, Boonen, Terpstra, Stybar, Trentin, or Keisse waiting to counter any failed move; all pretty established winners. It's GvA or bust. When Oss goes up the road solo, not too many people are freaking out. But he serves a purpose and you have to chase him down.

[Vermu]

Poor performance from quickstep which have their specific focus in Belgian spring classics

Already forgot they where 1 and 2 in Dwars door Vlaanderen and had 2nd place in E3 Harelbeke?
Quickstep rides pretty strong this classis season.

And they should since thats their main priority.

Still I think they havent been there where they should/could.
Last year on E3 even as they didnt win they dominated the race.


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[5 8 5]

Go to exactly 16k to go and watch- Sagan swings over and opens the gap. He make a gesture with his hand. Terpsra won't come through- Sagan lets the gap open.

That isn't what happened. Sagan did his turn and moved across, dropping down the line. He got to third man (Terpstra) who was freewheeling and letting the gap open. Sagan should have been going to fifth in line not third. That's what he was objecting to.

[Multebear]

Go to exactly 16k to go and watch- Sagan swings over and opens the gap. He make a gesture with his hand. Terpsra won't come through- Sagan lets the gap open.

That isn't what happened. Sagan did his turn and moved across, dropping down the line. He got to third man (Terpstra) who was freewheeling and letting the gap open. Sagan should have been going to fifth in line not third. That's what he was objecting to.

This. Sagan did his turns. Terpstra just wanted to sit on the wheel. Sagan just grew tired of pulling the deadweight along for the sprint.

Funny ting is, Andersen actually tries to get them to work together and close the gap with 15.4 km left, by doing a really hard pull, but Terpstra doesn't want to take over. He's just staying on Andersens wheel. And that's when Sagan tries to bridge alone. And suddenly Terpstra does a really hard effort to close Sagan down. What a douche Terpstra is.

[Kjetil]

Nah. It's just some good old negative racing. Or maybe there's been an envelope exchange between BMC and EQS.

[petepeterson]

He was likely just following orders which Boonen mentioned... I say that cause like Terpstra on IG...

Quickstep's problem is despite having an insanely strong team but they are going to lose most of the time from a group containing Sagan, GVA, and Degenkolb.

[wingguy]

John Degenkolb has the coolest sportive bike ever.

[jeffy]

interesting that it looks like he is going mechanical this year.

<notserious>

meh. more spacers and shorter stem that his Defy




edit:....oh its just Trek's P1 bike.

.

[TwiggyTN]

Back to the Sagan shoulder check, I want to know what dude said to Sagz before he got checked. You see a little contact, then dude turns to Sagz and looks to say something and then Sagz lowers the boom. I've seen Sagz apologize on more than one occasion for bumping guys on those bike cam feeds they put out in the early season. I'm inclined to give him a pass....

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[gravity]

Funny that Flanders and Roubaix races have already started in Milan-SanRemo.

[nathanong87]

the giant head tube is so tall. look at matthews bike this year.... he needs some -20 monstrosity stem