Well bloody Ace that.
Good Lad 😀
Thomas knew that it was Stybar he had to drop. Going from first wheel so that Sagan would see it and try to cover, when Thomas knew he couldn't. Meant that Stybar tucked in rather than followed, hoping for Sagan's tow across. Which never came. And by then it was all over. Lovely by Thomas.
Did indeed read it perfectly, Sagan looked buggered.
Curious reluctance to chase by Katusha, Giant and the two Lotto teams. Probably happy to let them dangle out there and have BMC control it till the last few km. May have been different had Van Avermat not had his OTB.
Just watched the final 10km again, damn that was just text book by G.
Etixx QS are getting their races taken away from them.
Awsome that the entire BMC squad couldn't catch those 3 in the breakaway. Flanders is gonna rock next week.
Well it was only three BMC riders working. The one time Van Avermat came to the front on that climb they pulled back a good few seconds.
Difficult to know what Sagan has to do to win a classic these days. He'd likely have been better off not working with the break and taking his chances in the sprint, but then you had Degenklob, Kristoff and Trentin back there. Seems like he can't resist shows of strength that burn too many matches.
Just watched the final 10km again, damn that was just text book by G.
Indeed, he got his attack just right. I think he knew he wasn't going to win a short sprint but has previous in short TT efforts so opened a gap and went for it.
Classy rider, still think he has GC potential and would love to see hime ride a grand tour as the team leader.
Yeah kinda, but what's wrong with one day races?
Not aimed at you, but the general consensus is that GC I better and I disagree with that.
GC is formulaic and to a greater extent predictable, one day races, especially the northern classics are just the opposite.
Edit, unless you're referring to the Three days of de Panne, in which case, yeah cool
I agree, classics are probably the better measure of a rider for me - GCs are really climbing & TT with a load of fluff in-between
Good viewing, mind, and I do enjoy a climb-off between all those little skinny fellas
(Oh, and quality from Thomas, though there's no way he'll get away with the same trick in another big race this spring. They'll mark him very hard next time a break goes)
they can mark him but can they go with him? Thinking Cancellara from a couple of season's ago.
I'm hoping robioux is comenwealth games level of wetness, c'Mon G.
It's not as if Thomas has pulled this out from nowhere though. He's been pretty consistent so far this year. Very happy for him, but it's well deserved, and not a surprise at all.
Swiftly in the Cappo, Thomas in E3 and Richie in Catalunya...
Sky's having a crackin Spring so far..
😀
Don't forget Stannard in the Omloop against three Etixx boys. 🙂
As a spectator I like the classics but I often feel that sometimes they are lost not won, through bad luck as they are so unpredictable. They also don't get the recognition outside of cycling. Despite his talent and medal haul he isn't that well know outside of cycling fans.
Also I think he'd make an interesting GC rider. He'd have to pick up time away from the high mountains as he is not going to be able to match Quintana et al.
In some respects I'd like to see him more away from sky (like Eddie B-H who has gone AWOL since 2013) and go for more stage wins and move outside a Domestique role if he isn't going for overall GC.
Also, I quoted yesterday that G-W isn't on Eurosport, I AM WRONG.. 😆
When I looked the other day for sure it wasn't, then I've just looked again (to record ToC tomorrow) and it's there, right there on Eurosport 2 starting at 1330..
So thats tomorrow at 1330, just in case you missed it in the sentence above 😆
Bliss !!!!!!!!
8)
Yay for Geraint Thomas.
G-W could be carnage if the weather is anything like it's forecast to be here.
ToC , since you mentioned it, been good racing this year. Should be a good final stage round Barcelona today too
Indeed if Richie can stay upright in the "crit" then he'll take it. Bertie fell off yesterday so maybe not so strong today, who knows.
Only sticky is Valverde, if he can motivate the troops he can make a break for it, I reckon he'll try.
As for G-W I'm holding out on wet and blustery conditions, I think Sky will bury themselves today. I some respects I'd have hoped they would have put Kiri in the squad because if anyone can set a hard pace in shite conditions it's the astonishing Belarusian.. We'll see. Geraint in the top 10, not a win though.
Wasn't GT racing yesterday in the E3 Harelbeke which he won?
E3 was Friday
Ah - damn those Eurosport repeats 😀
Sky Go app has helped with the congestion, I'm not sure I'd be keeping up without it!
Eek, completely reevaluated my definition of "a little bit windy for a ride" 😯
True hard mans race today!
Another great result!
Utterly savage.
That was one of the hardest races I've seen in a very long time.
I reckon they're all winners..
But bloody hell, Thomas is a proper a Hero.
Utterly savage 😯
Etixx messed up again though. 2 riders in 6.
GT is totally epic.
Always thought he was a handy rider but what he did today was EPIC.
Not just because he won the E3 on Friday, or that today was a hard race in fowl conditions or because he went over the bars.
But the amount of work he did in that group was outstanding.
Thought I was recording it as had to go out and user error'ed!!
What's the summary of the last 50km?
Ta!
Summary of the last 50k
Everyone gets battered by the wind
Jurgen Rolandts goes off the front on some mega solo victory attempt with 100k to go. Gets a gap on the rest of the field.
Everyone gets battered by the wind
Second group goes off the front led by Daniel Oss including massive bloke from Quickstep, Thomas, Seb Van Marke and some Lotto sprinter who wheel sucks for the entire length (and is brother in law to Rolandts!).
Terpster makes the jump to second group.
Supa Luca bridges across to second group while Sagan sits in looking grumpy and rubbish
Everyone gets battered by the wind
Quickstep make a massive hash of everything, puncturing, getting dropped, dropping each other due to not having their ear pieces in
Rolandts gets caught with about 20k to go looking absolutely nailed (and fair play, headwind for the majority of the break)
Tractors!
5'ish K to go, supa Luca goes off the front and the rest second guess each other until Terpster and Thomas try to chase. Chase fails, Luca wins and Sagan is probably still riding around Belgium
Luca P is a class act. He wasn't the strongest and was pretty cooked getting dropped on the two final climbs but rode tactically - thoroughly deserved and one of the best races I've watched.
The fact G not only got back on his bike, but actually got back into the break was just mind blowing.
Made it look easy too...
I'm waiting for his tweet of the day 😆
I expect it'll contain something about the Belgian Road Champion... 😆
Brad pulled out within the first hour 😛
Nice to see Luca get a win seeing he's usually doing sterling domestique duties for others. Did he even really attack? Looked like he sort of just drifted off the front when there was a bit of a lull and just kept going. Chapeau!
Flange, great summary 😆
It was terrible over there. Some places the wind turned your walk into a run. And it was hard to breathe with it in your face. Great day for us punters riding it Saturday.
And G's tweet after the G-W ???
"I could smash a Sunday Roast now, Lamb & mint sauce obvs"
Hero 😆
http://inrng.tumblr.com/post/114961424428
I'll just leave this here because **** me that's nasty!!! Stoked* for Thomas, he's smashing it!
Bloody gutted I missed it on Eurosport, couldn't see it when I searched 🙁
* Are we allowed to use Stoked when discussing road races?! 😛
Really enjoyed the classics so far this season, not just for Thomas and Stanard winning, thought yesterdays race was fascinating
http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/mar/30/bradley-wiggins-history-paris-roubaix-classic
Just read this and getting all worked up for Paris-Roubaix, some good racing in-between now and then though. No Cancellara and Boonen will be a shame, but anyone who wins P-R is deserving. Thinking Stybar could be a sneaky shout if his team* doesn't scupper themselves again
*loose affiliation of riders gunning for themselves in Quiksteps case
Hmmmm don't forget Tour of Flanders this Sunday. It's on Eurosport from 1330..
I'm going for an Etixx Dutch/Czech 1-2 Terpstra/Stybar.. Outside bet will be Van Avermart.
Loving the Etixx lockout so far, hope it continues.
Got an odd feeling that Greg V A might pull it off, also find it odd that suddenly team Sky in G have a respected favourite going into a monument, let alone a cobbled one! Another top 5 for him.
Gonna miss Fabs V Tom though, gutted.
Wiggins on the wet cobbles... hmmm...
... still bloody excited about it all though 🙂
Loving the Etixx lockout so far, hope it continues.
Indeed. Starting to look like amateurs. Love to hear their briefing for this weekend.
Well they have won Strada Bianchi and KBK. A few stage wins and Qatar. Still I think the winningest team so far this season. And everything so far is just preparation for Flanders and Roubaix. Does highlight how important tactically Boonen was to Etixx though, even if he wasn't on top form.
Its not a total hatred of Etixx as I love the way Kwiatkowski has raced in the rainbow stripes with real pride, (and Cav clearly). Its more of a dislike of the entitlement that Patrick Lefevere seems to think his team has on all things cobbled, not unlike Sky at the Tour of Britain really.
Anyway for those really wanting to geek out its the Three Days of De Panne starting today, confusingly its four stages over three days. Sir Brad is on the team sheet for Sky.
http://www.veloclub-depanne.be/home_en.html
David Millar even won the overall in 2010.
Thought this was interesting:
[img] 
[/img]
Opening few km's of De Panne neutralised[url= http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/de-panne-opening-kilometres-of-stage-one-neutralised ] it seems[/url]. Too windy.
