Liège-Bastogne-Liège 26.4.15 (Spoilers)

[Apollonius]

To be fair to Degenkolb (who seems a really nice guy on TV) he didn't really compare himself to Kelly in a big-head kind of way. He said Kelly was his hero and was stunned to have equalled his feat of winning Milan Sanremo and Paris Roubaix in the same year. He was also jokey about needing a moustache to win. I liked him.

 

[User169]

Probably a bit early for Gerrans, although be interesting to see how he goes coming Sunday.

 

[themosquitoking]

To be fair to Degenkolb (who seems a really nice guy on TV) he didn't really compare himself to Kelly in a big-head kind of way. He said Kelly was his hero and was stunned to have equalled his feat of winning Milan Sanremo and Paris Roubaix in the same year. He was also jokey about needing a moustache to win. I liked him.

I liked him too, he seemed most personable.

 

[The Couch]

I liked him too, he seemed most personable.

I like him too, I put him down as winner of both MSR and PR and he delivered... that's a guy I gotta like

 

[heist]

Valverde or Kwiatkowski?
Who would you put your money on?

 

[oldroadman]

Outside bet, Gilbert. It's a real hard puncheurs finish. Pure sprinters need not apply! That said, Mr K is going very well, and Valverde is in very good shape, both would suit the finish and be able to get over the zillions of climbs. Only the classified one really show on the profile, but there's hardly a metre of flat in the whole area of the route.

 

[Pro Tour Punditry]

I cannae see anyone beating Valverde, with only Kwiatkowski as the real threat if it comes down to a small group finish.

However, in say that, there are a lot of potential contenders, some of whom had crashes at Amstel Gold and might still be feeling the effects, and it is the last chance for someone to get a "Classics" win against their name this year - so the likes of Bardet, Gallopin, Dumoulin, Alaphilippe, Mollema, Rolland, and Yates might give it a go.

I also like the look of Nocentini - he and Bardet might form the basis of an AG2R double act.

Anyway, I'm sticking my money on Valverde - and thanks to a 9/4 winner at Pimlico last night I have a wee bit more money to put on him

edit - and after all that wittering I stuck a small e/w bet on Nocentini as well at 125/1
edit - and Rui Costa was too good a price not to take him e/w as well, especially in the wet

 

[Flying_Monkey]

I cannae see anyone beating Valverde, with only Kwiatkowski as the real threat if it comes down to a small group finish.

However, in say that, there are a lot of potential contenders, some of whom had crashes at Amstel Gold and might still be feeling the effects, and it is the last chance for someone to get a "Classics" win against their name this year - so the likes of Bardet, Gallopin, Dumoulin, Alaphilippe, Mollema, Rolland, and Yates might give it a go.

I'd like to see Yates do it but he didn't look on the pace in the Fleche Wallone. Alaphilippe did, however, and Gallopin is still threatening. Other contenders might include Rolland, Albasini, Ulissi, Slagter, Gasparotto, Nordhaug and of course, Henao, who will win something sooner or later again, it just depends how quickly he is coming back to full fitness. And whatever happened to Majka? He seems to have diminished from his earlier promise.

But yeah, Valverde (and Kwiat) look very hard to beat right now.

 

[Pro Tour Punditry]

I'd like to see Yates do it but he didn't look on the pace in the Fleche Wallone. Alaphilippe did, however, and Gallopin is still threatening. Other contenders might include Rolland, Albasini, Ulissi, Slagter, Gasparotto, Nordhaug and of course, Henao, who will win something sooner or later again, it just depends how quickly he is coming back to full fitness. And whatever happened to Majka? He seems to have diminished from his earlier promise.

But yeah, Valverde (and Kwiat) look very hard to beat right now.

Irrespective of the fact that I have money on Valverde, I do hope some teams make attacks, and make a race of it - if they hang about and keep it all together then it is likely to be one result; if there are a few teams willing to mix it up a bit then Movistar don't look strong enough to do much about it.

 

[smutchin]

Albasini and Alaphilippe look like strong outsiders to me. I'd be happy to see either of them take it.

I went for Kelderman in the predictor but that's largely wishful thinking.

You'd think Tejay would fancy this one but he doesn't seem that interested in one day races.

 

[Flying_Monkey]

Astana doing a lot of things right at the moment - maybe Nibali has a chance... but Movistar are really holding fire.

 

[HF2300]

50 odd K to go, three man group with Scarponi, Kangert and Chaves leading @ 1 minute

 

[Flying_Monkey]

Huge, huge crash: Roche, Gerrans, Martin, Serpa, Impey, Arashiro - some injuries here.

Nibali, Alaphilippe and Yates all just avoided the actual crash but are delayed

 

[T.M.H.N.E.T]

That isn't good. Nico hasn't moved!

I'll call it collarbone

 

[Flying_Monkey]

Roche and Arashiro both seem to have collarbone injuries