PSA: Classics season starts this weekend

wiggo wantsneeds it solo

That was a strange time to make a trip to the local grocers shop!

i missed the last half an hour. What happened to Stannard / G?

Given that Degenkolb and Kristoff are still in that lead group, they’ll all be doing everything they can to go for long solo breaks now.
Sep Vanmarcke is a bit of a danger man too out of that lot.

G crashed, not sure if still riding. Stannard in second group.

If he’s still in the group when they hit Carrefour de l’abre I expect to see a huge dig from wiggins to try and drop everyone and go it alone..
Even if he doesn’t, someone has to or Kristoff has got this in the bag.. If they are going to drag him all the way to the velodrome then I can’t see anyone else beating him in his current form..

you can see how windy it it is with those flags

That second group is only 12″ down, they may still make it back up to Group 1, that’ll put Terpstra back in the mix too.

Luke Rowe is still up with Brad, he’s doing one hell of a ride!

Luke Rowe has really stepped up this year.. Frequently been the last Sky domestique standing when it gets to the final this season..

Any one of these would be a worthy winner, Lars Boom making a go of it there.

this is mental stuff

I can’t believe the group is just going to drag Sagan/Degenkolb/Kristof to the end..

The alternative being?

I can’t believe the group is just going to drag Sagan/Degenkolb/Kristof to the end..

Well Degenkolb has juts gone up the road with a bit of help from de Backer so the worry now is that the rest start sitting there looking for a sprint for 4th.

Can’t believe they let Greg van Avermaet go…

The alternative being what Degenkolb has just done and drop the rest of the group..

Oops. Going straight to the front and then expecting the others to work. Hmm, no chance.

Sagan is out of it now with that late bike change

Go Stybar!!

Stybar FTW

Wiggins now!

Wiggins goes again at 3k

Etixx get it wrong again! Great ride from Degenkolb, well deserved.

Brilliant finish and a valiant turn from Wiggins and Rowe. No luck again for Sagan.

Best man won that.. Took the race on and made it his to lose.
Not sure wtf Wiggins was playing at, if he had enough to attack like that at 3km to go then why did he sit in that long.. Beaten to the line comfortably by Luke Rowe who had already buried himself for the last 20km..

Oooof, Dek played a blinder 😆

Glad both Stybar and GVA were in the top 3 too…

Blooming ek.

I’m off out on the bike to find some rough roads, not hard here in Hampshires Lanes 😆

Yeah, very poor from Wiggins TBH. Enjoyable race, though.

H1ghland3r – Member
Not sure wtf Wiggins was playing at

“Well I better make it look like I tried something”

Yeah, very poor from Wiggins TBH

bit harsh IMO… he doesn’t really have the “riding style” for these kind of races. he has 2 winning plays solo off the front or get himself in a group where every other rider is a worse sprinter.

he doesn’t really have the “riding style” for these kind of races

Which make him declaring he wanted to win it a bit pointless. Two token attacks and that was it.

Two token attacks

One of if not the best time triallers goes off the front on his own. The pelton isn’t going to let him attack and get away, he’ll be a marked man. Give him any distance and they will not see him again until the end.

Which is why he needed to pull an arrow from Cancellara’s quiver, pick a hard and long section of cobbles about 15-25km from the end, and attack hard enough over the entire section that no-one can stay with you, then consolidate that on the Tarmac.. He only needed enough if a gap that the bunch behind starts looking at each other to work, throw a Stannard or a Rowe in there to disturb the chasers rhythm a bit and that is really a rider like Wiggins’ only chance in this race..

Attacking on a section of cobbles less than 1km long and then sitting in the bunch till he is inside the last 3km was never going to get him anywhere.. Obviously we are only armchair pundits and don’t have all the facts but assuming nothing else major was going on to hold him back then he definitely left it too little too late..

geez, the pace was manic and relentless from 50km out, he probably shot his bolt too early with his first attack and maybe waited till the remains of the peloton caught the break away. Though I didn’t see many other TDF winners in with a chance.
Also comparing Wiggins with Cancellara because they are both great time triallers is a bit spurious as Fabian is a much better sprinter so is not so concerned with passengers

Loved it !

geez, the pace was manic and relentless from 50km the start.

self edit 😉

If you get the chance again to watch the final lap and a half of the Velodrome, just look out for the final kick Dek does when Stybar pushes on then Dek comes over the top… then the last 50mtrs… He’s so powerful the rear of his bike flexes and the rear wheel skips off the ground, almost wheel spin like.. In fact thats probably it, wheelspin… 😯

Cracker of a race, always is. 😀

Sad to see Wiggo finish down the order, a man with such huge talent and character and well deserved TdF winner. A honourable end to his Sky contract, best of luck with Team Wiggo 😀

Bless Him.

Any one watch Pais Vasco ? that was a highlight..

Next L-B-L, wooooflipppinwhoooooooo !

8)

Brilliant race! Nail-biting to the end. Was clear at 35km to go that it was going to go to a sprinter, take them that far and they’re too difficult to lose if it stays together. Just wasn’t to be for Wiggo, unless he had the legs for a long one, which it looked like he didn’t.

Fancied Dek from MSR and he did not put a foot wrong. Great to see a sprinter go off the front of the bunch with 20k to go, and win the way he did.

Wiggo didn’t lose on tactics he just lacked peak form – finished well up the field and did his best to pull away so I thought he rode well.

Luke Rowe was awesome – got through quite a bit of work, hanging off the end of the bunch at times and still finished strongly.

quality race. worthy winner who made the win his, with a gutsy bridge across.

good show from Wiggins. Anyone who says he put in a ‘token’ attack and should have done better clearly has no **** idea what they are talking about.

We’ll never know if Wiggins had the legs but…

The way the race panned out didn’t suit him. He needed a hard race to thin the field early before going for a long one. As it was the tail wind meant that although it was fast it wasn’t that hard. With 30km to go the group was still huge so any attacks were closed down by teams with lots of cards left to play. Losing Eisel when he had to give a wheel to Thomas and then Thomas himself also didn’t help.

That was an entertaining finish. Will any of the couple of dozen who went past the level crossing with the barriers down get DQed?