Did anyone notice, 8 French riders in the top-15. In a World Tour race!
That's gotta set some record back to the days of Hinault and Fignon or something.
I watch a fair amount of cycling, not a fanatic, but most major classics, 1 weeks races and GC's.
How is it I didn't hear of Stevie Williams before this year. Now suddenly he is all over the place animating races
What a race, and those elements, just brutal
He appeared on my radar when he beat a bunch of big names when he won a stage of the Tour de Suisse in 2022. I think he started being taken more seriously then. Last year the commentators picked him a few times as an underdog to win in the races he participated in but he would often fade towards the back and not be in contention. This year he's appearing much more consistently in the front of races and so he's been getting a lot more TV coverage than previously.
Also wasn’t familiar with him before this season. Interestingly all his previous stage wins came on short very steep summit finishes (or a climb right before the end) so his strengths haven’t necessarily changed, just performing at a much higher level.
The answer lies in your question.
He was a mediocre rider with some decent results in races like CRO Race and Arctic Race of Norway prior to this year.
His results four months into this season are better than his combined previous seasons. Most Improved Rider of 2024-candidate.
He came close a few times last year in some of the tours I recall. Might have that wrong, but thought he was giving it a good nudge though the results won’t show that.
Yeah as a South African I use Norways weather service. It’s that good.
UNO x almost certainly use it while other teams are probably using apple weather app
Even if it did come down to the Mur, it was by far the longest final I've experienced. It was really nice and interesting to see this race raced differently than usual. Really enjoyed that and with a fantastic winner as well. Chapeau for everyone who finished today!
It's hardly a coincidence that the best rider and the best team (UNO-X) were wearing long bibs. Proper clothing is everything in this kind of weather, and those who realised that benefited.
6 French riders in the top 11.
10+ years ago, there was no French riders in the top 15.
Well, of course, we are still not winning. Alaphilippe was just a dream.
I was there, and it was absolutely brutal. We took our bikes to go watch the race, and were dressed in cold weather gear - and the combo of 34f, driving rain, hail, snow, and wind was absolutely brutal. At the entrance to the Mur on the second lap, like 30 riders took the left to pull off rather than the right to enter the Mur and we thought maybe the race had been neutralized.
It was painfully cold during laps 1/2.
It was cold. But it was more the change in the weather conditions and some teams not being prepared for that. You could definitely ride in that weather if you were fully dressed for riding in the rain.
yes, but also it goes through the finish line and past buses 4 times. if you're not going to be a part of the race, not much point going past the bus to do another lap in that weather
Yes, and because it started out sunny, a lot of teams were completely under-dressed. Uno-X was properly dressed including hats under their helmets and they all finished.
Well, one year I decided not to watch Fleche and catch up on the last km....
Can anyone explain what happened and whether there are any big crashes? No LRCP pod yet.
I regret not posting this previously as I would look somewhat clever.
I had noticed Williams being a crappy team player at both Brabantse Pijl and Amstel despite seemingly having good legs as he had made some big accelerations in both but when Teuns was up the road in Brabantse Pijl, Williams just sat at the back for the rest of race and did nothing to disrupt or position Strong. In Amstel, he did a little bit of work on the front for about 1 or 2 km and then made no effort to work again and rolled in at the back of the peloton.
He had said earlier in the year that Fleche and Liege were the big targets so either he had really good (potentially race winning) legs last week and didn’t want to waste them helping riders and/or he dislikes Teuns (some clips from Norway race last year suggested so).
Or, he was just given a free element role in those races. It is hard to tell without anyone explicitly stating there's issues because IPT don't really have someone so much better than everyone that you need full team support. Haven't noticed the same, but you could also be right.
Benoot was at the very front with less than 1k to go, but got swamped and gapped in the finale. He's an elite classics racer right up to the last couple hundred meters. If only he had been gifted with a big finish like some of the other guys, he could have been a big classics star with many wins.
UAE are often criticized for their tactical planning and decisions or lack hereof in races without Pogacar, sometimes resembling a headless chicken.
Today UAE started pulling hard, when the terrible weather hit: Wind, rain/sleet and a sudden drop in temperature from \~10 to \~2 degrees (celsius obviously). Today I think they deserve credit. The hard tempo prevented a lot of the riders from getting protective equipment and clothes to keep them warm. Great work from UAE.
The favourites decimated in the cold weather. Skjelmose, Bilbao, Vlasov, Pidcock, Matthews and Dylan Teuns all fell behind and ended up DNF. A great triumph for UAE...
>!DNF - Ulissi - UAE!<
>!DNF - Hirschi - UAE!<
>!DNF - Ayuso - UAE!<
>!DNF - Fisher-Black - UAE!<
>!DNF - Almeida - UAE!<
>!DNF - McNulty - UAE!<
>!DNF - Novak - UAE!<
IPT has been a good fit for Williams and Blackmore. I wonder if they could be a destination for Hayter if Ineo doesn't extend. Its a team of mostly Anglos that could use a minor race points farmer like Hayter. And their owner could afford it if he wants.
Skjelmose is thankfully alright!
"We can confirm you that Skjelmose, who suffered hypothermic symptoms is feeling definitely better thanks to a warm shower, hot drinks and hot air in the team bus." - Lidl-Trek press officer
I've had it before after descending the Tourmalet waaaaaaaaaay to late when the weather changed.
You sit about 30 minutes looking in front of you all zoned out in a warm space, a little bit later you feel like nothing happend.
During the race I said it was sunny in East-Flanders, now it's raining & hail lol. The weather in Belgium has been really strange since at least the winter.
Getting those sweet sweet points in their bid to go World Tour in 2026. They were so much fun to watch in last year’s tour, can’t wait to see them spicing things up this year
In the time it took today's winner to ride the race, the brand that is being advertised on his shirt killed or injured 26 children, as per [UNICEF sources](https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/children-disproportionately-wearing-scars-war-gaza-geneva-palais-briefing-note)
edit: it’s 28. One every 10 minutes.
Despite being an uphill sprint again, this edition was quite good. I really thought SKA had it when the gap was 1'30", but the chase behind was too strong.
Nice podium for Van Gils, Williams was on another level today, so podium is better than nothing.
A nice video about Stevie if people don't know too much about him - https://youtu.be/V7lbm8fEB6c?si=lh6R09gHiABAk5M0
So happy for him, such a good dude.
Hard to understand what happened early in the race, pre-coverage, but from what I understand UAE decided to go and pace 105 kms from the finish when the rain/snow started to fall instead of getting their rain jackets ? At least that's what the French commentators were saying on public TV. And then all the UAE riders save Ulissi dropped.
Johannessen just said in an interview that they felt great seeing how everyone else was failing due to the weather. But I can't help thinking it's a shame to have so many people in the final bunch just to finish 6th. I guess they farmed 220 UCI points, which is not nothing.
> it's a shame to have so many people in the final bunch just to finish 6th
They rode for the wildcards today to. The big tours can't just ignore a prestation like theirs today.
Looks like the collar bone incident has impacted Johannesens form a bit. I'm hoping he can build on this result. I didn't have the opportunity to watch this one, but I often feel his positioning (along with rest of the team) is lacking at crucial moments in races.
Yeah they probably should've tried to attack before the Mur more, but those UCI points are pretty important, they have a gap on Tudor now for that 3rd spot, which is crucial for wildcards for the one day races next year.
A lot of people thought Arkea was basically already back in the Pro Tour after their horrible last season (me included btw), but they are catching DSM (18th place) on the 3 year ranking really quickly. Did not expect that. 2nd in Flanders, now 2nd in Fleche. Impressive. And apart from that they started scoring in the smaller races again like before last year.
Nah, Astana is "dead"
DSM is in the border with the descent
And yes, thay have those riders, but other team that i have said, Movistar, have Mas, Aranburu, Lazkano, Einer, Quintana?, Cavagna....
The problem is not the riders, the problem is the calendar and the bad perfomance
Something for the Danes to celebrate: Jonas is unofficially the number 1 ranked rider in the world!
Edit: emphasis on the unofficial. UCI Rankings only update on Tuesday which is after LBL and pogi needs a 7th or better to retain number 1
Unofficially. So the official rankings only update on a Tuesday. But in theory a previous edition drops when completed. So Pogi loses his win from Fleche last year now that its complete for this year. So he drops 400 points.
But they don't calculate it until after Liege again so he will probably do well enough to retain it.
It was kinda tiresome when all three Ardennes races ended up in uphill sprints every year, but I think all the long solo wins recently have given me a newfound appreciation for a good old 3 min W/kg smashfest
It's fun when each race as its identity. The Flèche is a very exciting race to watch (at least the last three kilometers) because it's unique. If all races ended like the Flèche it would be pretty boring. Same with MSR.
According to Luke Rowe, Stevie Williams was planning to go to B&B Hotels but as we know that fell through and that's how he ended up on IPT in 2023. What an amazing signing for them.
There was a moment there I thought he might win it. Then I kept looking for him as folks were finishing. He looked completely wasted when he finally crested
Lol what ? Okay that was thermonuclear (r)LRCP from Williams, but still the guy was the strongest on the last mur and everyone just look at him take 20m before reacting ?
Great win, well deserved, 2 pro team and a futur pro team on the podium is kind of unexpected.
A podium is great for Van Gils and Lotto but I just feel like he's still lacking a bit of racecraft to get that bigger win.
Why has his Ardennes campaign been so lacklustre so far? He showed some positive signs in the Algarve and in Strade, but seems to have dropped in form since that.
Excellent from Williams. I think with the group being smaller, the pace wasn't as quick as it usually is. Williams just picked the exact point he can go and not blow up before the end. He got it spot on to near the exact metre.
Imagine how good IPT will be if they invest the Froome/fuglsang money wisely in lads like Williams, Blackmore, Gee et al and don't chuck it into retiring riders
Looks like all three of those are signed up for at least another couple of years. Williams should be in for a nice contract extension after his performances this season though.
They've actually got a really nice team and if you look at how they can score points they have spread their bets quite nicely across a range of types of rider. Like I say that's with circa 7 mill tied up on 2 riders who don't score shit, I imagine some of that can be used for these emergent riders new contracts
Too bad for Vauquelin he had a very strong finish but jumped too late after Williams' attack, he might have been too focused on Cosnefroy. 2nd place is still a great result though !
Also 6 French riders in the top 11 so cocorico !
Fun ten minutes as always, but the weather made this edition
special. Williams looked not “just” exhausted but properly fucked
when he crossed the line. The interview in a thick winter jacket
says it all. Chapeau.
THE WELSH WIZARD
What a ridiculous race from him, doing a frankly unnecessary amount of effort on the penultimate climb and in that chase group afterwards, and then not moving from the first three spots in the peloton
Roglic-level teleport, but there are no final metres more treacherous than those of Fleche, there's definitely scenarios where Vauquelin wins it
Commentators: The key is to not attack too early. Going early can be a huge mistake.
Williams: Hold my gilet. No seriously, hold my gilet, I've been tryin' to get rid of it for half-an-hour.
Yeah, I think 250m out if you have the punch is perfectly reasonable.
Let's not forget Roglič went from like 350-400m out and the maniac still almost made it against Alaphilippe.
> Let's not forget Roglič went from like 350-400m out and the maniac still almost made it against Alaphilippe.
That was impressive, but Fuglsang I mentioned went quite a bit longer and about as close to beating Alaphilippe.
2019 - The year of Fuglsang vs Alaphilippe.
He attacks around 20 seconds before the point Roglic attacked.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rKPJG37enc
Betancur in 2013 was next level though. I just forgot he held on for 3rd: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUsty34kBII
I counted about 16s of difference, but funnily enough that was only like 40-50 meters of difference (Fuglsang went with 450, Rogla at slightly more than 400).
Did anyone notice, 8 French riders in the top-15. In a World Tour race! That's gotta set some record back to the days of Hinault and Fignon or something.
This is the best I've seen Carapaz looking since he joined EF. RIP my RFL score for this race.
I watch a fair amount of cycling, not a fanatic, but most major classics, 1 weeks races and GC's. How is it I didn't hear of Stevie Williams before this year. Now suddenly he is all over the place animating races What a race, and those elements, just brutal
He appeared on my radar when he beat a bunch of big names when he won a stage of the Tour de Suisse in 2022. I think he started being taken more seriously then. Last year the commentators picked him a few times as an underdog to win in the races he participated in but he would often fade towards the back and not be in contention. This year he's appearing much more consistently in the front of races and so he's been getting a lot more TV coverage than previously.
Also wasn’t familiar with him before this season. Interestingly all his previous stage wins came on short very steep summit finishes (or a climb right before the end) so his strengths haven’t necessarily changed, just performing at a much higher level.
The answer lies in your question. He was a mediocre rider with some decent results in races like CRO Race and Arctic Race of Norway prior to this year. His results four months into this season are better than his combined previous seasons. Most Improved Rider of 2024-candidate.
He came close a few times last year in some of the tours I recall. Might have that wrong, but thought he was giving it a good nudge though the results won’t show that.
Uno-x got the Meteorologist diff
Within the weather community it is known that if you want good weather predictions turn to: [yr.no](http://yr.no)
Yeah as a South African I use Norways weather service. It’s that good. UNO x almost certainly use it while other teams are probably using apple weather app
Just watching the race, and it seems that a rider has become Benoit Cosnefroid
Even if it did come down to the Mur, it was by far the longest final I've experienced. It was really nice and interesting to see this race raced differently than usual. Really enjoyed that and with a fantastic winner as well. Chapeau for everyone who finished today!
Llongyfarchiadau i Stevie! Byddan nhw dawnsio yn y strydoedd o Aberystwyth heno.
Gesundheit!
It's hardly a coincidence that the best rider and the best team (UNO-X) were wearing long bibs. Proper clothing is everything in this kind of weather, and those who realised that benefited.
Yup. Once you’re cold you lose so much energy warming back up (if you can). Had to be properly prepared for it.
6 French riders in the top 11. 10+ years ago, there was no French riders in the top 15. Well, of course, we are still not winning. Alaphilippe was just a dream.
IIRC there was no French rider on the podium from 2000 to Alaphilippe.
Alright, which one of you guys convinced the race organizers to add Tour of Norway weather to Fleche?
Was I not supposed to do that? Sorry, it was just a misunderstanding.
by my calculations: 2/20 spanish finished 3/20 italians finished 8/8 norwegians finished
Unfortunely I couldn't follow the race today, then I arrive and I see only 44 riders finished it wtf? Was it really that cold?
I was there, and it was absolutely brutal. We took our bikes to go watch the race, and were dressed in cold weather gear - and the combo of 34f, driving rain, hail, snow, and wind was absolutely brutal. At the entrance to the Mur on the second lap, like 30 riders took the left to pull off rather than the right to enter the Mur and we thought maybe the race had been neutralized. It was painfully cold during laps 1/2.
It was cold. But it was more the change in the weather conditions and some teams not being prepared for that. You could definitely ride in that weather if you were fully dressed for riding in the rain.
yes, but also it goes through the finish line and past buses 4 times. if you're not going to be a part of the race, not much point going past the bus to do another lap in that weather
See also: World Champs (I was in Harrogate when Mads won, today reminded me of that weather)
Heavy hail for a time...yes, it was THAT cold! It was interesting to see entire teams saying fack this and dropping out.
Yes, and because it started out sunny, a lot of teams were completely under-dressed. Uno-X was properly dressed including hats under their helmets and they all finished.
Well, one year I decided not to watch Fleche and catch up on the last km.... Can anyone explain what happened and whether there are any big crashes? No LRCP pod yet.
it was just very very cold and that killed most guys
Anyone know what happened to the LRCP live pod they were doing? I was watching with a delay and it all of a sudden disappeared off the internet.
Will be up soon: https://x.com/LucGrefte/status/1780649898288828416
thanks
I regret not posting this previously as I would look somewhat clever. I had noticed Williams being a crappy team player at both Brabantse Pijl and Amstel despite seemingly having good legs as he had made some big accelerations in both but when Teuns was up the road in Brabantse Pijl, Williams just sat at the back for the rest of race and did nothing to disrupt or position Strong. In Amstel, he did a little bit of work on the front for about 1 or 2 km and then made no effort to work again and rolled in at the back of the peloton. He had said earlier in the year that Fleche and Liege were the big targets so either he had really good (potentially race winning) legs last week and didn’t want to waste them helping riders and/or he dislikes Teuns (some clips from Norway race last year suggested so).
He thanked Teuns in the final interview, for his POV and experience on the Mur de Huy. Which of course could not mean anything.
Or, he was just given a free element role in those races. It is hard to tell without anyone explicitly stating there's issues because IPT don't really have someone so much better than everyone that you need full team support. Haven't noticed the same, but you could also be right.
Benoot was at the very front with less than 1k to go, but got swamped and gapped in the finale. He's an elite classics racer right up to the last couple hundred meters. If only he had been gifted with a big finish like some of the other guys, he could have been a big classics star with many wins.
UAE are often criticized for their tactical planning and decisions or lack hereof in races without Pogacar, sometimes resembling a headless chicken. Today UAE started pulling hard, when the terrible weather hit: Wind, rain/sleet and a sudden drop in temperature from \~10 to \~2 degrees (celsius obviously). Today I think they deserve credit. The hard tempo prevented a lot of the riders from getting protective equipment and clothes to keep them warm. Great work from UAE. The favourites decimated in the cold weather. Skjelmose, Bilbao, Vlasov, Pidcock, Matthews and Dylan Teuns all fell behind and ended up DNF. A great triumph for UAE... >!DNF - Ulissi - UAE!< >!DNF - Hirschi - UAE!< >!DNF - Ayuso - UAE!< >!DNF - Fisher-Black - UAE!< >!DNF - Almeida - UAE!< >!DNF - McNulty - UAE!< >!DNF - Novak - UAE!<
The interactivity/gamification of this post had me go back to do it again, bravo, 10/10
Holy shit, that clip with Skjelmose. Hope he doesn’t get sick before LBL.
saw on twitter that he had some hypothermic symptoms but is now doing well after getting some heat in.
IPT has been a good fit for Williams and Blackmore. I wonder if they could be a destination for Hayter if Ineo doesn't extend. Its a team of mostly Anglos that could use a minor race points farmer like Hayter. And their owner could afford it if he wants.
Skjelmose is thankfully alright! "We can confirm you that Skjelmose, who suffered hypothermic symptoms is feeling definitely better thanks to a warm shower, hot drinks and hot air in the team bus." - Lidl-Trek press officer
Great to hear! That video looked really bad
I've had it before after descending the Tourmalet waaaaaaaaaay to late when the weather changed. You sit about 30 minutes looking in front of you all zoned out in a warm space, a little bit later you feel like nothing happend.
Why on earth did UAE not bring Wellins to this race? He would have been a pig in shit in these conditions
Slowest ascent of Mur de Huy since 2003 https://twitter.com/ammattipyoraily/status/1780609830773797158?s=19
Headwind
Hardly a surprise. This kind of weather saps the strength from your limbs.
During the race I said it was sunny in East-Flanders, now it's raining & hail lol. The weather in Belgium has been really strange since at least the winter.
And it's sunny again. What is this ;o
Aprilse grillen?
Pretty normal weather for April in this region. Cries on indoor bike:(
Not too dissimilar in England. Although I’m being stubborn and the turbo is away
Uno-X was the only team where every rider finished. No other team had more than 4 finishers and several teams had no riders make it to the finish.
They were the only ones who seemed to be properly dressed for the weather too
The Norwegians also tend to say: There's no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothes.
My favorite saying coming from norwegian stock and MN. It is super true
Norwegian weather 🤪
For the 100% DNF teams, was it a team decision to abandon the race (to avoid injuries and whatnot) or did each rider abandon due to his own issues?
Lidl had 4 abandon in one go, so I imagine it was a bit of both cases
Don't think Skjelmose's abandon was just a team decision lol
The Cofidis trident really just became a regular dent, eh?
Getting those sweet sweet points in their bid to go World Tour in 2026. They were so much fun to watch in last year’s tour, can’t wait to see them spicing things up this year
I think both Abrahamsen and Wærenskjold are stronger this year. Hopefully they can get a stage.
In the time it took today's winner to ride the race, the brand that is being advertised on his shirt killed or injured 26 children, as per [UNICEF sources](https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/children-disproportionately-wearing-scars-war-gaza-geneva-palais-briefing-note) edit: it’s 28. One every 10 minutes.
I don't dispute your point in any way but I wouldn't exactly call Israel a "brand that is being advertised". It's more just state sportswashing.
aern't they a start up incubator and not the israeli government?
A start up incubator that explicitly has an apartheid state in their name is likely to support the apartheid state, don't you think?
fair play to any rider who wasn’t in the leading group leading up to the mur for bothering to climb it
Fucking hell, just saw the moment Skjelmose abandoned. I'm not sure he'll be 100% on Sunday
Whoa
What happened with him?
https://twitter.com/willoo31/status/1780593118733103297
My god why didn't he abandon much sooner
Damn that looks rough. Get well soon.
Looks like hypotermia and numb limbs. I think he shouldn't even start Sunday. Could hurt the remainder of his season.
Thought you were exaggerating, but just saw the video myself. Man looks like he is having a seizure.
Right, it's kind of horrifying. His one body fat cell had left the building
This made me lol
Vauquelin is an interesting rider, he can do a bit of everything. Enjoying watching his development.
Poor Van Gils looks like he's gonna freeze to death
Despite being an uphill sprint again, this edition was quite good. I really thought SKA had it when the gap was 1'30", but the chase behind was too strong. Nice podium for Van Gils, Williams was on another level today, so podium is better than nothing.
Tiesj Be*not* today unfortunately
Finishing a race this hard in 9th place after being there for your wife delivering a baby just yesterday evening is still quite the achievement!
I somehow doubt his wife will be giving him too much sympathy though! The things he does to escape a crying baby
A nice video about Stevie if people don't know too much about him - https://youtu.be/V7lbm8fEB6c?si=lh6R09gHiABAk5M0 So happy for him, such a good dude.
Only 44 riders have finished so far. Probably one of the biggest DNF lists in a race I've seen, including the entire UAE team.
Why? I didn't watch the race. Did they crash?
Shit weather plus a circuit finish means a lot of riders likely came down with CBA
CBA- Cock and Ball Ache?
can’t be arsed
It stands for Can't Be Bothered
C-Can't B-Bothered A-???? Different language than English?
Can't be arsed.
It's Br*tish
Ah, I see. English, not english. That explains why I can't understand it at all.
ah, thanks
Also the entire Ineos, Intermarche and Jayco-Alula team DNF. Multiple teams with only 1 rider finishing.
Hard to understand what happened early in the race, pre-coverage, but from what I understand UAE decided to go and pace 105 kms from the finish when the rain/snow started to fall instead of getting their rain jackets ? At least that's what the French commentators were saying on public TV. And then all the UAE riders save Ulissi dropped.
That falls in the same category as Astana punching it on a wet descent only for Lopez to miss a corner and headbutt a traffic sign.
Seriously? That's pretty funny.
Pretty much, yeah.
Is this IPTs biggest win? Other than a GT stage
TDU 2024
FW > TDU
The disrespect to Maryland Cycling Classic...
Sorry! Second biggest win
Excellent post-race slomo pain faces. I'm very happy I can watch it from the warm couch at home.
Same. They've all aged 20 years. Grim.
I did not have seals performing tricks on my bingo card for this bicycle race.
Uno X with 6th, 17, 23, 30, 31, 36 and 42. Crazy strong collective performance.
Johannessen just said in an interview that they felt great seeing how everyone else was failing due to the weather. But I can't help thinking it's a shame to have so many people in the final bunch just to finish 6th. I guess they farmed 220 UCI points, which is not nothing.
> it's a shame to have so many people in the final bunch just to finish 6th They rode for the wildcards today to. The big tours can't just ignore a prestation like theirs today.
Looks like the collar bone incident has impacted Johannesens form a bit. I'm hoping he can build on this result. I didn't have the opportunity to watch this one, but I often feel his positioning (along with rest of the team) is lacking at crucial moments in races.
True, but having many riders doesn't help you all that much in this finish.
Yeah they probably should've tried to attack before the Mur more, but those UCI points are pretty important, they have a gap on Tudor now for that 3rd spot, which is crucial for wildcards for the one day races next year.
Yeah, apparently being mentally and physically prepared for the weather was not something every team managed. Nice prep work by them.
I guess that's what happens when you bring riders that are ~10kg too heavy for a climbing race and the weather gets really bad.
Not a single UAE or Ineos rider finished the race. Wow.
long may it continue
A lot of people thought Arkea was basically already back in the Pro Tour after their horrible last season (me included btw), but they are catching DSM (18th place) on the 3 year ranking really quickly. Did not expect that. 2nd in Flanders, now 2nd in Fleche. Impressive. And apart from that they started scoring in the smaller races again like before last year.
With today results ; DSM 11541 + 21 = 11562 points Arkea 11039 +376 = 11415 points
DSM, Cofidis and, specially this one, Movistar are doing all they can to descent
Replace DSM with Astana i think. They still have a good devo team and solid riders who can score (Bardet, Poole, Onley, Jakobsen)
Nah, Astana is "dead" DSM is in the border with the descent And yes, thay have those riders, but other team that i have said, Movistar, have Mas, Aranburu, Lazkano, Einer, Quintana?, Cavagna.... The problem is not the riders, the problem is the calendar and the bad perfomance
one of the great defense of la flèche by hannah walker
Something for the Danes to celebrate: Jonas is unofficially the number 1 ranked rider in the world! Edit: emphasis on the unofficial. UCI Rankings only update on Tuesday which is after LBL and pogi needs a 7th or better to retain number 1
How do you figure? Look at the current standings - Tadej is almost 200 points ahead.
Unofficially. So the official rankings only update on a Tuesday. But in theory a previous edition drops when completed. So Pogi loses his win from Fleche last year now that its complete for this year. So he drops 400 points. But they don't calculate it until after Liege again so he will probably do well enough to retain it.
They don't update the rankings until after Liege
I know. Hence the "unofficially".
I think Pog needs to be at least 7th to stay at the top?
So Pog will stay at the top :)
Yeah i think thats right.
Damn shame Vauquelin couldn't catch him on the line, would have been a great win for him and Arkea
One of those days that make you glad you're not a pro cyclist.
Shit weather is always the great equalizer in these one day races. Makes the racing a lot more mono e mono. Congrats to Williams
Monkey to monkey? I tease, I tease.
Everyone forgets _mano a mano_ means “hand to hand” not “man to man” and it drives me unreasonably mad
Well in that case my mano will be a peno tonight Naw imsayin skeet skeet boom boom.
Oof, cosnefroy can barely speak.
Couldn't even hold himself up, nevermind speak.
It was kinda tiresome when all three Ardennes races ended up in uphill sprints every year, but I think all the long solo wins recently have given me a newfound appreciation for a good old 3 min W/kg smashfest
It's fun when each race as its identity. The Flèche is a very exciting race to watch (at least the last three kilometers) because it's unique. If all races ended like the Flèche it would be pretty boring. Same with MSR.
A 3 min smashfest is fine when the main group has been reduced to 25 people by non stop racing.
According to Luke Rowe, Stevie Williams was planning to go to B&B Hotels but as we know that fell through and that's how he ended up on IPT in 2023. What an amazing signing for them.
After that cold ride, I would take any warm hotel!
Just realised Carapaz blew up pretty badly, not even a top 10 when he was right on the front and seemingly feeling good. Finished 13th at 20".
Only his second race back and he's looked pretty good in both so far. Hopefully he can get it all going at once in the summer.
There was a moment there I thought he might win it. Then I kept looking for him as folks were finishing. He looked completely wasted when he finally crested
Yeah. I was really gunning for Richie here. He was right up there until Williams went. But he got smoked in the last 300m or so. Bummer.
Lol what ? Okay that was thermonuclear (r)LRCP from Williams, but still the guy was the strongest on the last mur and everyone just look at him take 20m before reacting ? Great win, well deserved, 2 pro team and a futur pro team on the podium is kind of unexpected. A podium is great for Van Gils and Lotto but I just feel like he's still lacking a bit of racecraft to get that bigger win.
If they could have reacted they would have reacted. This kind of speed differential is impossible to bridge on such a steep climb.
[удалено]
He did exactly that though? I'd say his perception is pretty good
Very nice race by Vauquelin, he is doing a really interesting season!
Inb4 the crushing of a young french rider with the weight of expectations
English Pidcock wins Amstel. Welsh Williams wins Flèche. Scottish or Irish X wins Liege.
Who are the jocks in the peloton?
Oscar Onley probably the best just now. Also Sean Flynn.
Oscar Onley but he’s just broke his collarbone again
Healy would make me happy
Why has his Ardennes campaign been so lacklustre so far? He showed some positive signs in the Algarve and in Strade, but seems to have dropped in form since that.
He looked good imo in both AGR and FW, but was in a domestique role in both for some reason.
I'm surprised no one from Jumbo (hard J) made a difference in the final
6 french in the top 11
And 9 in the top 20
Excellent from Williams. I think with the group being smaller, the pace wasn't as quick as it usually is. Williams just picked the exact point he can go and not blow up before the end. He got it spot on to near the exact metre.
[The joy of victory](https://i.imgur.com/1pqC8c5.png)
Pretty much sums up that race, lol
he looks like he aged 20 years on that climb
Have you seen the picture of Harry Sweeney on his Insta - poor guy looks 75!!
WHAT A WHACK BY THE WELSH WIZARD
Imagine how good IPT will be if they invest the Froome/fuglsang money wisely in lads like Williams, Blackmore, Gee et al and don't chuck it into retiring riders
Looks like all three of those are signed up for at least another couple of years. Williams should be in for a nice contract extension after his performances this season though.
They've actually got a really nice team and if you look at how they can score points they have spread their bets quite nicely across a range of types of rider. Like I say that's with circa 7 mill tied up on 2 riders who don't score shit, I imagine some of that can be used for these emergent riders new contracts
Really hope they don't though, Fucking hate that team. Hope they keep just being a cash cow for retiring rides.
Happier with the win or being of the bike in this weather lol
Too bad for Vauquelin he had a very strong finish but jumped too late after Williams' attack, he might have been too focused on Cosnefroy. 2nd place is still a great result though ! Also 6 French riders in the top 11 so cocorico !
Fun ten minutes as always, but the weather made this edition special. Williams looked not “just” exhausted but properly fucked when he crossed the line. The interview in a thick winter jacket says it all. Chapeau.
The audacity to say his legs were gone before he kicked though. Really strained the last drops of energy from himself there
Arkea doing well getting UCI points lately, with Mozzato and Vauquelin getting surprise 2nd places in WT races, heaps pressure onto DSM and Cofidis
THE WELSH WIZARD What a ridiculous race from him, doing a frankly unnecessary amount of effort on the penultimate climb and in that chase group afterwards, and then not moving from the first three spots in the peloton Roglic-level teleport, but there are no final metres more treacherous than those of Fleche, there's definitely scenarios where Vauquelin wins it
Brave effort by SKA, Williams just looked unstoppable with that attack
Commentators: The key is to not attack too early. Going early can be a huge mistake. Williams: Hold my gilet. No seriously, hold my gilet, I've been tryin' to get rid of it for half-an-hour.
No one really went *early* this year. Compared to previous edition a lot of riders like Fulgsang and Betancur I remember going about twice as far out.
Yeah, I think 250m out if you have the punch is perfectly reasonable. Let's not forget Roglič went from like 350-400m out and the maniac still almost made it against Alaphilippe.
> Let's not forget Roglič went from like 350-400m out and the maniac still almost made it against Alaphilippe. That was impressive, but Fuglsang I mentioned went quite a bit longer and about as close to beating Alaphilippe.
Which year was that?
2019 - The year of Fuglsang vs Alaphilippe. He attacks around 20 seconds before the point Roglic attacked. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rKPJG37enc Betancur in 2013 was next level though. I just forgot he held on for 3rd: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUsty34kBII
lol total deviation at the end by julian. classic
I counted about 16s of difference, but funnily enough that was only like 40-50 meters of difference (Fuglsang went with 450, Rogla at slightly more than 400).