Paris-Nice Stage 1….dominating performance by JV, but I’d be lying if I said it didn’t bring other images to mind.
1994 Flèche Wallone
1996 Paris-Roubaix
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Unrelated side note - always loved those images of the 94 Fleche. All 3 on the first-Gen Shamals, gleaming in the sunlight…I still have a pair of those.
And Berzin was simply made to ride a bike…his position (similar to Lemond and Fignon) was always gorgeous with a back as flat as a table.
Holy smokes that was impressive.
Lantern Rouge has a good breakdown of this situation if anyone’s interested. I watched it without sound but can’t skip forwards or backwards on GCN so had to jump over to YT. Impressive control and great way to capitalise on the disorganised situation in the Peloton.
No shocker that Ganna takes the ITT in the opening stage of T-A…but Pog losing 7" to Evenepoel is a bit interesting. But then again, Pog had a pretty hard day on Saturday, so…
Evenepoel looks soooo good on a TT bike.
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There was a shock; it was only 11secs
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Surprised not to see an update here.
Great win for McNulty.
That stage must have been tougher than it looked. I really thought WvA would hang around a bit longer. He looked to be genuinely struggling rather than sitting up and taking it easy. As we said earlier, bigger fish to fry of course.
Tireno had a pretty interesting stage (at least the highlights today) Pog is looking outstanding.
I think Wout is carefully gauging his efforts and there is no need to try and win P-N when Rog is there…so it made sense for him to sit up and soft pedal the last 37k. he’ll probably sit up even earlier tomorrow.
Good day across the board for US cycling…McNulty wins, Jorgensen second and (unfortunately) Simmons took the Mountains jersey in T-A.
Pog is simply untouchable…the only thing that is going to prevent him from winning in July is a) injury, b) burning out, or c) a failed test (semi-facetious). He is just on another level than anyone else…if he pins on a number, he is racing. He has zero interest in just making up the numbers and zero interest in just sitting in and waiting for “traditional” points to attack.
J-V have been on a stormer in P-N…utter dominance.
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So… what just happened today at Volta a Catalunya 
amazing
How good does MVdP look!?! Especially given where he was expected to be.
Pidcock has bounced back from Covid quickly. He looked awful last time I saw him.
Makes you wonder what is more costly to him, missed training due to injury recovery before the season or a full cross schedule. So far it sure looks like he is faster by having done “nothing” for a little while.
The lesson here is even MVdP needs time off just like we do. 3 weeks off every 5 years should be plenty.
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If you aren’t watching De Brabantse Pijl, highly recommend turning it on. 50k out and lots of aggressive racing from the likes of Remco, Ben Turner, Pidcock and others. And the weather is perfect Belgian Classics weather…
Any idea where it can be watched in the US?
I’m using a VPN with GCN…my guess is that in the US it is officially on FLO.
ETA - yes, it is on FLO. It is Flanders Classics race and FLO has those rights.
QS car causes a crash coming through the Finish line, trying to get up to the break. Causes Alaphillipe to go down and looked like he was holding his arm in a way that indicated a shoulder injury, but he is back on his bike and riding, but clearly out of the race now.
Masterclass by Ineos.
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What a great race…Sheffield is quite the talent, but that was also a masterclass in team tactics, as noted by @jac2689 . Ineos played it perfectly.
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Should be 20 degrees colder
Great team racing from Ineos!
Have to agree with Blithe about Remco - spoilt/entitled brat vibes.
Is Ben Turner racing Paris-Roubaix? He looks strong! Strongest in the lead group and has been doing great work at the front of some of the recent weekend races too.
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Wow…did not have Teuns winning La Fleche today. Thought for sure Valverde was gonna take it, but he just seemed to blow up with the finish line literally in sight. Almost looked as if he sat up, it was so dramatic (I know he didn’t…just saying that was what it looked like visually).
And Pog blowing up with 200m to go was a bit of a shock as well…thought this would have been a lay-up for him.
Yeah, I certainly wouldn’t have put him as a favorite pre-race, but looking back it’s probably not a huge surprise. He’s been 3rd before at Fleche, and he did win the Super Planche stage at the tour in 2019, so he is good on steep bits. I’m with you though, when Valverde pulled alongside, I was sure it was his.
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Oh jeez…double face palm here. First, you incorrectly celebrate a win and then your saddle comes off during the celebration, causing you to crash. 
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