The Classics ( spoilers !)

[Andrew Br]

Astonishing.

 

[User169]

Well that’s it for MvdP since ASO chose not to invite Corendon Circus to FW and LBL.

 

[MasterDabber]

That was just amazing... truly impressive.I still can't quite believe what I saw.

 

[andrew_s]

Well that’s it for MvdP since ASO chose not to invite Corendon Circus to FW and LBL.

Corendon didn't get invites because MvdP had said he wasn't riding.
He's now going to switch to MTB, and have another go at trying to beat Nino Schurter.

 

[User169]

Corendon didn't get invites because MvdP had said he wasn't riding.
He's now going to switch to MTB, and have another go at trying to beat Nino Schurter.

Nino seems to be the only person that’s got the wood on MvdP at the moment.

 

[Smokin Joe]

But what the hell were Fuglsang and Alaphilippe playing at? They had it in the bag. And then Kwiatkowski thought he had it for sure. But no-one can seem to deal with MvdP

It's all a game of bluff for the breakaway when chasers are gaining on them. Rein in your effort and hope the other guy cracks first and tows you to the line. Sometimes they get it wrong, like Roche and Criquielion also did in the 1985 Liege-Bastogne-Liege. Holding a winning lead they started to fanny about like track sprinters in the final kilo and got caught and passed by Argentin.

As Roche said afterwards, "You have to be prepared to lose to win".

 

[andrew_s]

I think that in this case, the front two may have been misled by any time gaps they were receiving, as there were half a dozen riders scattered between them and MvdP when he started his come back, and the gaps to them wouldn't have been changing until MvdP swept them up.

 

[Adam4868]

I don't think they were misled,couple of things...mvdp was unbelievable,after pulling everyone along he still had legs for a Sprint.
Allaphillipe I think made a costly mistake by waiting and making Fulsgang work.He knew he was going to beat him in the sprint.But he chose to play the game.Cost him this time.

 

[Foghat]

Very pleasing race, that. Proper hard-racing terrain, good field, nice weather, exhilarating finish.

Van der Poel is quite reminiscent of his father Adri, who was very prominent when I first started paying attention to professional cycling, and who was not averse to handing out occasional beatings to the mighty Sean Kelly et al. Possibly with something extra, though - today VDP junior demonstrated a similar ability to Gianni Bugno for sprinting from the front (with plenty of pulling already in his legs) and still riding away from them at the end of a tough 250+km race. Impressive stuff; he looks on course for some serious domination in the big races, but hopefully Wout van Aert will continue his similar rise and pose an ongoing major threat.

And of course we saw Carl Sagan getting his arrse handed to him, again......bonus!

 

[Flying_Monkey]

And of course we saw Carl Sagan getting his arrse handed to him, again......bonus!

To fair though, cycling was never Carl Sagan's strongest area, but he would probably beat all of them in astronomy... (if he wasn't dead).

 

[Foghat]

Hmmm - Cosmos or Tour of Flanders. Difficult to call.....

 

[mjr]

I don't think they were misled,couple of things...mvdp was unbelievable,after pulling everyone along he still had legs for a Sprint.

And I think he was out on a break just reeled in at the start of the highlights I watched. Stunning race, great win!

 

[Adam4868]

So in addition to having to tell the Yates brothers apart we now have to remember which of the two cyclocross "vans" is which. Life's tough.

You'll be fine,one wears white shorts !

 

[BalkanExpress]

So in addition to having to tell the Yates brothers apart we now have to remember which of the two cyclocross "vans" is which. Life's tough.

Wait for the post ride interview: one sounds Dutch, the other Flemish

 

[andrew_s]

You'll be fine,one wears white shorts !

That's why MvdP wears them - so he's easy to spot in the bunch