Groenewegen was rightfully suspended, but he was, IMO, unfairly vilified for what happened.
He was clearly in the wrong and deserved to be suspended, but the horrific outcome of that crash was due to the organizers, not Groenewegen.
He didn’t do it maliciously, he was just sprinting aggressively….we have seen similar moves from dozens of other sprinters.
Great edition of Omloop….J-V just dominant.
Classics are just so much more interesting to watch…full-on racing from 60-80k out.
Kurne-Brussels-Kurne tomorrow…flatter parcours than Omloop, so sprint finishes are more likely but not guaranteed.
Surprised to see Pidcock in top 5
As expected a good climbing performance to take the stage win and podium the whole thing.
The golden boy still not performing up to par on steep climbs, relative speaking. Kudos to him and his team for winning the race in the windy flats. Seems like that was his only chance vs the pure climber.
J-V dominates again in KBK….they are firing on all cylinders right now.
As soon as Benoot went, I immediately said “that is the winning move”….he had a tailwind to help him and everyone was tired from the attacks and counters in the last 4km.
Seems like you and I are the only ones watching 
Why? Bookies had him as joint favourite last time I looked.
Although he won De Brabantse in 21, I don’t foresee him winning these type of races. Just like XC, he is too small and easily overpowered by big riders.
The team is letting him float in all types of events but he has GC potential. However Idk if he wants that smoke.
It’s weird that a guy this talented can’t find a winning path yet.
You don’t see him doing well in XC either? Where he’s the reigning Olympic gold medalist and European champion? 
Team Jumbo Visma is looking so strong this year, - again. They win, or/and finish on top places in all races, seemingly every rider in that team has a very high lowest form.
Something changed in that team prior to last season, they must have struck pure gold when it comes to training and nutrition. Perhaps it’s Z2 riding and ketones. 
Jonas Vingegaard looks invincible already at this early stage of the season. Interesting to see how different he and Tadej is building up to the Tour, with Jonas having HALF the amount of races Pogačar has. The rivalry between them two will be fascinating to enjoy this season, as will the battle between Van Aert, Evenepoel and van der Poel.
Not at all.
I’m actually quite surprised to see so little interest in pro racing on here.
Caugh up today… couldn’t watch live.
Nobody looks invincible in February…and Pog has been on a more impressive winning streak, regardless.
I’m not taking anything away from results now…there is a LONG way to go before July.
Happy to be caught up on this weekend’s races
de Lie was a world beater on Saturday - seemed the strongest in the race. Was kind of nice for him to look human on Sunday. I’m a fan of his, but I like my stars to be vulnerable every once in a while
TJV looks strong - but no MVDP, Pog, Quickstep a-team, or WVA - things will change over the coming weeks and I can’t wait. Early season one-day races are better predictors than early season stage races, but still can’t draw any conclusions
Do you actually mean XC where he’s the reigning Olympic and European champion? Or CX where he’s “only” the 2022 World Champion? Not sure it’s a great argument either way!
Agree he hasn’t won that much on the road yet. But then he really hasn’t focused on the road much yet. 2021 was the year he joined Ineos and first focused on the road. Good classics season (1 win, 2 podiums, 2 top tens), then switched his focus to Olympic MTB which he won. 2022 classics season was disrupted with a stomach issue which apparently took quite a while to sort. Seems he wasn’t fully healthy again until the Tour where he won the Alpe d’Huez stage and finished 16th overall which is a decent return for his first ride there. So 2023 might be the first year where is fully focused on road and (hopefully!) fully fit. We’ll see what that brings. The fact that he decided not to defend his CX title is a good indicator he’s focused on road this year, I’d be surprised if he doesn’t add to that win tally.
I meant Cyclo-cross……my mistake
I really hope so. Looking at the different winning paths tho, I don’t clearly see where he fits. My only contention is that it’s not this one day big flat races. Then, Grand Tour GC?, One week races?.
I believe his exact skillset doesn’t translate directly and he will have to adapt and become a big fondo climber guy. What GT is he schedule to ride?
Don’t think his schedule is confirmed beyond Tour of Flanders, but my assumption is he’s planning to go to the Tour and will take a break from racing after the classics season to prepare for that. Ineos have always had a strong focus on the Tour, they don’t have a serious contender for winning it this year, so would have thought they’ll try and do something similar to last year of taking a team with multiple options for stage wins and high GC placings and seeing what sticks. Pidcock would fit that plan.
From Ineos perspective, seems like anything below a spot in the podium is a failure. Their options are extremely limited:
Ideally, (miraculously) Egan Bernal is healthy and can do a good preparation. This proposition is already in doubt given the reports of knee pain after the optimistic signs in Argentina. He is riding long again but there’s too much uncertainty there.
Next in the pecking order is Martinez, who has won stage races and had a good Giro as super-domestique. However, he’s been inconsistent…Covid, positioning, descending skills. But he has the right mix for GC, a very decent TT and climbing power. Good signs from him this year.
Beyond this it is all wildcards and unproven guys, including Mr. Pidcock.
Ineos said recently that Martinez will be their GC leader for the Tour…
My guess is that it will be with low expectations and reliant on stage wins across the team to make the race a “success”.