79pmooney
Posts:3189
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| 03/29/2019 11:53 AM |
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Jugels! Wow! What a teammate to have. You would say "what a teammate" for either the long break he went on that did so much damage to the field or the superb leadout he gave Stybar but to do both?
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Cosmic Kid
Posts:4209
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| 03/29/2019 03:49 PM |
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I thought Deceunick ha blown it when Stybar started attacking so far out....Jungels was all but toast and there was still 3+KM to go. Figured the only thing Stybar was doing was haning the race to GvA.
But Jungels battled back everytime and just went back to the front to set the pace. the man was in agony that last KM.
Impressive. |
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| Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!
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79pmooney
Posts:3189
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| 04/01/2019 11:58 AM |
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And Gent-Wevelgem! Not a good day for DQS but what a race! The wind! Sagan in a 200 km break. Hard, hard racing. (If Gent-Wevelgem goes down as the hardest race this spring, monuments included, I wont be surprised.)
Ben |
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Orange Crush
Posts:4499
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| 04/01/2019 01:18 PM |
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78 finishers and a long list of DNFs
Kristoff, just when you don't expect him anymore.
Degenkolb, I guess it helps if you ditch that experimental 1x11 that left you stranded on Poggio.
Perhaps Deceuninck banked too much on Viviani this time around.
And now I am curious what Van Der Poel can bring over coming weekends. Van Aert we already know.
Another good training ride for Sagan but he'll need to follow through with a result over next three weeks. |
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Dale
Posts:1767
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| 04/01/2019 02:42 PM |
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| Those young cx guys are proving themselves. It'll be interesting to see how their careers on the road go |
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Cosmic Kid
Posts:4209
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| 04/01/2019 05:20 PM |
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Watching WvA an MVP go up the road together (however briefly) was pretty cool.
GW was an awesome race....for Kristoff to pull off that win after also trying to bridge up to the leaders was pretty impressive. As OC noted, just when you thought he was done....BOOM.
Sagan is clearly in panic mode, trying to jam in one last really hard ride in the hopes of knocking something loose in his fitness.
The final stage in Cataluyna was also pretty damn good. |
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| Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!
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79pmooney
Posts:3189
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| 04/01/2019 05:29 PM |
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| CK, I think Sagan gets to come away from this knowing he is in form, that a ride like his P-R win is possible. Of course, everyone else also knows that now. Yesterday's ride wasn't to Sagan's real strengths but he still did a massive amount of work and completely wrecked the race (esp for DQS!). Yesterday might have been panic mode for Sagan but he gets to come away knowing he's ready. |
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Orange Crush
Posts:4499
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| 04/03/2019 02:56 PM |
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Posted By Cosmic Kid on 04/01/2019 05:20 PM
Sagan is clearly in panic mode, trying to jam in one last really hard ride in the hopes of knocking something loose in his fitness.
VDP who rode with Sagan in break in Gent said he looked very good and strong; considers him the favorite for Flanders, I think Sagan is just playing with everyone's mind and used Gent for some extra training. Perhaps his only disappointment of season has been MSR where he knows he messed up by being at front for sprint. His next 3-4 races are main target of early season. |
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Cosmic Kid
Posts:4209
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| 04/03/2019 03:22 PM |
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Oh, no doubt he was using Gent primarily for training....but I still think it was caused by panic, not confidence.
Another example was his "mechanical" at E3....utter nonsense that a competitors errant WB caused his Di2 to "reset". That wasn't even believable.....he didn't have the legs to contest the finale and went back to the team car so the mechanic could lean out of the car and make it look like something was wrong.
I'm not saying he won't come good for Sunday, but the evidence indicates that he is quite nervous about his form. |
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| Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!
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Dale
Posts:1767
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| 04/03/2019 04:52 PM |
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Posted By Cosmic Kid on 04/03/2019 03:22 PM
Another example was his "mechanical" at E3....utter nonsense that a competitors errant WB caused his Di2 to "reset". That wasn't even believable.....he didn't have the legs to contest the finale and went back to the team car so the mechanic could lean out of the car and make it look like something was wrong.
Didn't LeMond do a similar thing? Stopped and let the air out of one of the tires then dropped out of the race due to a "flat"? |
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Cosmic Kid
Posts:4209
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| 04/03/2019 08:16 PM |
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| I seem to recall stories / legends about that, but I don’t know if it was ever documented. Wouldn’t surprise me if it was true, though |
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| Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!
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79pmooney
Posts:3189
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| 04/03/2019 08:39 PM |
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Posted By Cosmic Kid on 04/03/2019 08:16 PM
I seem to recall stories / legends about that, but I don’t know if it was ever documented. Wouldn’t surprise me if it was true, though
An early TDF was won by a rider who did almost the opposite. This was back when you flipped your wheel to climb the mountains. He knew the mass stop to flip was coming up so he "got a flat" and stopped. Flipped his wheel then rode like a maniac to get back on in time for the big stop. Poured on the gas, crested the mountain with 2 minutes gained and held it to the finish. That move won him the Tour and lost him some friends.
Ben
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Orange Crush
Posts:4499
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| 04/03/2019 08:40 PM |
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| Oh boy we're about to enter tinfoil hat territory lol. |
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