Absolutely. I think he could have probably contributed a lot more on the flat, but at that stage the race was won and he was already working to lock in a high podium finish.
It’s a shame as he probably won’t get many more shots to go for his own results with Pidcock and Van Baarle. Though MSR being the Italian race might help in getting him opportunities
Van Baarle rides for Jumbo now.
He was never going to pull hard with van Aert and Pog on his wheel. Both have strong sprints so he probably didnt want to tow them up to vDP. The lead rider always has the upper hand as they can just go all in vs a group who all try to save a bit.
You’re right. Who’s the young (British maybe?) classic rider they have coming up?
And of course you’re right, but if he had great legs (and confidence) or the gap was smaller, I’d have expected him to do damage.
He was probably putting out an absurd amount of Watts to stay with Pog on the Pog though
Great race. As always the last 30km is a great watch
As expected everyone was watching Pog and one of the ‘off form’ stars was able to counter attack and get a gap because he wasn’t the top favorite. Just not the one I picked.
Maybe more impressed by Ganna than MVDP today - think he overperformed his prior monument races significantly
Most surprising thing for me was the almost complete lack of moto assistance that MVDP received - seemed the descent was filmed almost entirely from the air and there was a significant effort by the organizers to not have motos impacting the finale in any way
INEOS have a few, Ben Turner and Josh Tarling look to have bright futures. Magnus Sheffield (American) is possibly better.
Im crossing my fingers Ganna uploads the file to Strava, sometimes he leaves power up too. It’ll be high 400’s as a guess. Hes capable of over 500 for the duration, but it is a really long race!
LOL…
Super happy to see VdP back on form!
VdP has demonstrated that his raw power on terrain like this is just greater than like… 99% of the peloton for one-day events. He’s the quintessential “finesse” rider. Just like old muscle cars that got 10 miles to the gallon but had more horse power than today’s F350s.
Did anyone notice that Wout was more focused on blocking Pog than crossing the finish line? (For the record, I’m a huge Wout fan.)
Wait…you were actually betting money on the placings of MSR?
Yes, it has not been a completely ruinous endeavor…so far.
I wouldn’t call that “finesse”….that is just brute, raw power.
But like Strade Bianche 2 years ago, when MVP lays down the raw watts, w/kg and w/CdA go out the door……he can generate mor raw power over a ~a minute than anyone can match. It is amazing to watch.
Maybe I’m a cycling junkie and a gambling degenerate….but it’s hard to overstate how crazy the lineup of this race is, best of the year besides TdF.
Remco
Bernal
Primoz
Carapaz
Almeida
Yates
Rigo
Do you really think Bernal is a GC contender at any WT stage race this year? I’d love to see it but it feels too soon. If he can even make mountain domestique level this year I’d be happy
No, my rational side prevails when I bet. But with a guy this talented, I need to see the actual results before I discount him entirely.
Furthermore, I get the sense that Egan’s path will be closer to Remco’s after he literally broke his ass, than Froome’s. Happily, this speculation will be tested this week.
All prior form assessments from races have shown him at a dramatically reduced level from a GC podium. I think you’re right that it won’t be a ‘never again’ recovery like Froome’s, but I think we won’t see him in that form until the end of this season for single days and next season for stage races
Pencil him in as a Vuelta stage winner or stage podium from a break 
Literally one, this January in Argentina. And what we saw there was somewhat positive. 40s behind the best long/altitude climber in the world in peak shape.
Fair - and I love watching him race, so I hope I’m being overly pessimistic - but he was 40 seconds behind Lopez and 40 seconds ahead of Quinn Simmons - so its hard to say it was a ‘good’ climbing performance
Agree. In the PRO-Elite thread we have detailed info of his training in the past weeks. I’m very curious about his results given his approach, aside from the injury recovery elephant.
Results are in:
Primoz win, Remco right there, all the GC relevant guys are there. Bernal and Carapaz lose 10-12s 
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I don’t think Yates started.
