Cosmic Kid
Posts:4209
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| 08/08/2020 05:35 PM |
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Love this race....It is one of my favorites…or at least the last 30k are. Honestly, it is the best finish in cycling…you have the climb up the Cipressa, the descent, the group flying along the coast and then hitting the Poggio…
The race overall doesn’t touch Flanders, but it is pretty hard to find a more exciting finish, IMO.
This year didn’t disappoint…WVA is clearly on song and Alliphilippe redeemed himself well. Won’t is every bit the descender as JA, so I wasn’t surprised he caught him…the gap wasn’t that big. And I think JA might have gotten a little rattled on one of those earlier hairpins where he cut it close.
Was really hoping to see Gilbert pull it off and briefly thought he might do it inside the last K, but he seemed to lack just that little bit of a spark to either go on the Poggio or jump across to WVA and JA w/o taking everyone with him. |
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| Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!
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Orange Crush
Posts:4499
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| 08/08/2020 06:26 PM |
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A few guys were close but not quite, MVDP, Sagan, Matthews plus about 10 more. Would have been hard for Gilbert to win one way or another.
Only negative I have to offer on Van Aert is that bottle he discarded at 2.6 to go. It bounced off wall back into middle of road on descent in a turn. If someone from chasing group hits it and goes flying against the wall or over it we’re possibly looking at an outrage situation like Poland sprint. These guys really need to take more care. |
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Orange Crush
Posts:4499
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| 08/08/2020 06:28 PM |
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| Oh and JA needs to feather those disc brakes better. Almost missed a few turns. WvA was far smoother on his rim brakes lol. |
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longslowdistance
Posts:2886
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| 08/09/2020 12:57 PM |
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| May not have mattered, but JA’s puncture and chase had to cost some energy for the finale. |
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Orange Crush
Posts:4499
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| 08/09/2020 02:58 PM |
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One puncture isn’t the end of world. His return in group was pretty quick. Much better than the six flats HD had in Strada. No return from that.
For JA a bigger factor probably was that his bike was all over the place in that sprint whereas Wout took a straight line to victory. That’s JAs riding style though. |
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Cosmic Kid
Posts:4209
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| 08/09/2020 09:04 PM |
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| Great point on the water bottle, OC...I had the same “WTF” reaction when he just lazily tossed it to the side and it bounced back into the road. |
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| Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!
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longslowdistance
Posts:2886
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| 08/09/2020 09:43 PM |
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| "not the end of the world" is not the same as one half wheel after a frankly perfectly run race. That said by no means did mean I to imply any illegitimacy to the win, a simply spectacular win. If I may, my favorite moment of the coverage was the winner cruising on the back of the group before the Cipressa, serenely saving his energy barely 10 bike lengths from the front in that residual small group while the flobike commentators fretted. I laughed out loud, no doubts here this was a smart rider under no duress. For this less than expert fan, I see both JA and the winner having Jedi level understanding the force, joining Sagan and if you wish a few others in our current era.
Add better horsepower and a worthy winner emerged.
Tangent: Froome blasters, stuff the snark. Given his injures, IMO the goal line should be can he crack the top three. If he does, you read it here first, in a few years or sooner his TDF record will be elevated to the 5 time winners. If you like irony with a capital I, if he wins again, comparisons with Lance will be in order. |
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Cosmic Kid
Posts:4209
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| 08/10/2020 11:41 AM |
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and the winner having Jedi level understanding the force, joining Sagan and if you wish a few others in our current era.
Hmmmm....I would argue that Sagan's career indicates that he has little understanding of the Force...he relied way too often on brute force rather than *THE* Force and it cost him wins.
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| Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!
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longslowdistance
Posts:2886
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| 08/10/2020 01:26 PM |
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| Sorry, got carried away there. |
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Orange Crush
Posts:4499
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| 08/10/2020 02:59 PM |
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| I would not characterize JA's descent of Poggio as a perfectly run race. Whatever the puncture may or may not have cost him, the inefficiency of that descent cost him more, much closer to finish. He's also not riding particularly smart, daring and not afraid to give it a go, yes. |
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Cosmic Kid
Posts:4209
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| 08/11/2020 10:53 AM |
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I would not characterize JA's descent of Poggio as a perfectly run race. Whatever the puncture may or may not have cost him, the inefficiency of that descent cost him more
he almost blew one of the early turns....I wonder if that shook some of his usual confidence / rhythm he has on descents.
Regardless, I think WvA would have brought him back on the descent....always easier to chase than it is to lead. WvA ia great descender and having that carrot in front of him almost guarantees he catches back on. |
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| Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!
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Orange Crush
Posts:4499
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| 08/11/2020 07:32 PM |
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I like how cyclingnews says 12k is cut from Lombardia but Velonews says 15k is cut.
Reminds me of when in MSR they crossed 15k to go banner on road but counter on screen said 19k to go. |
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