Fleche-Wallonne 19th April---**Contains Spoilers**

cunavalos

I know the midweek races do not always attract a large following here but anyway.
Today is the turn of the semi classic finishing on the Mur de Huy with gradients close to 20% which the riders will have to tackle 3 times in total




Valverde will start as favourite having domiated the race recently but will face competition from Dan Martin and the Sky duo of Henao and Kwiatowski.

Outside of these i will put my ass on the line and predict an appearance of a Cannondale rider on the final podium in the form of Uran or Woods as well as an AquaBlue Rider to get in the breakaway
Pre-race odds shown below

Coverage due to get underway on Eurosport shortly with an expected finish time of 15.30

Thud

Tracker is up for this:
http://racecenter.flechewallonne.fr/#/stageprofile


Daniel Pearson of Aquablue in the 5 man break 3mins up the road with 67kms to go

dastardly00

Thanks Cunavalos for setting up the thread

I can't see anybody beating Valverde. His form is great, and he hasn't won the previous three editions for no reason.

Maybe, just maybe Kwiatkowski could beat him.

I think Dan is riding for second place. He should make the podium anyway (and that would be a decent result).

pelevin

Betancur alive & well & gone to keep lone ranger specialist De Marchi company off the front.

dastardly00

Carlos Betancur! Jaysus! :eek:

dastardly00

The second ascent of the Mur de Huy is next up

Good to see Quick-Step trying something. Martin looks good.

dastardly00

Less than 10km to go for anyone thinking of tuning into Eurosport.

dastardly00

Jungels is seriously motoring

pelevin

Just come back to this & Jungels looks like he's putting in a great ride.

pelevin

Seemed to lose about 20 seconds in about 20 seconds there though!

dastardly00

pelevin wrote: »

Seemed to lose about 20 seconds in about 20 seconds there though!

If he had hopped off the bike and stood still, he would've probably just lost the same amount of time

dastardly00

Hopefully Dan is in a good position at the bottom of the climb.
I think he has one team mate with him

dastardly00

Dan is well up near the front

pelevin

The Luxemburger looks cooked.

robyntmorton

2nd for Dan. Left it a little late to get a move on.

pelevin

Ah Dan, looked great but too far back. Very positive looking towards Liege though.

cunavalos

Dan surely has to position himself better than that

mcgratheoin

dastardly00 wrote: »

Thanks Cunavalos for setting up the thread

I can't see anybody beating Valverde. His form is great, and he hasn't won the previous three editions for no reason.

Maybe, just maybe Kwiatkowski could beat him.

I think Dan is riding for second place. He should make the podium anyway (and that would be a decent result).

Good prediction....

dastardly00

robyntmorton wrote: »

2nd for Dan. Left it a little late to get a move on.

deja vu!!!!!

Bambaata

This Valverde stuff this year is just getting ridiculous!

Macy0161

Poor position from the bottom by Dan. Again.

robyntmorton

Valverde went, and nobody knew who wanted to go after him. By the time anyone did it was all over. Everyone needs to be a bit more proactive in the attack.

pelevin

Looking at that, wonder was it an error for Sky & Kwiatkowski not to even ride Flanders in favour of the Ardennes races. He wasn't really in the mix meaningfully there at all.

On the Valverde side of things, he didn't do any more than expected. Looked like Dan could genuinely have been able to beat him if placed better.

dastardly00

Bambaata wrote: »

This Valverde stuff this year is just getting ridiculous!

What's getting ridiculous is Dan's positioning.

I know, I know, I said second place would be a decent result for Dan...

but Jesus H. Christ he really should be stuck to Valverde's back wheel at the bottom of the climb, rather than 10-15 riders back and then having to pass so many in the last few hundred metres.

irishrover99

Valverde wasn't even out of breath at the end.Too easy for him

dastardly00

mcgratheoin wrote: »

Good prediction....

In fairness, it's probably the easiest first and second position to call in a race on the whole calendar

pelevin

I'd imagine unlike with Garmin/Cannondale, QSF management wouldn't be saying "Well done, unlucky," to Dan. Wins for them are in the DNA.

Macy0161

pelevin wrote: »

I'd imagine unlike with Garmin/Cannondale, QSF management wouldn't be saying "Well done, unlucky," to Dan. Wins for them are in the DNA.

Well they positioned him just as well as slipstream always did!

pelevin

Macy0161 wrote: »

Well they positioned him just as well as slipstream always did!

It's not like they lower him from a helicopter!

dermabrasion

Valverde encore ......pas normal.

pelevin

dermabrasion wrote: »

Valverde encore ......pas normal.

Au contraire. C'est tres normal.

Decuc500

Please just retire Valverde and give the younger, untainted generation a chance.

Boscoirl

I hope Movistar give valverde a chance in one of the GTs, better than the snorefest that Quintana brings

dastardly00

Boscoirl wrote: »

I hope Movistar give valverde a chance in one of the GTs, better than the snorefest that Quintana brings

A three-week long Grand Tour is *just* out of reach for Valverde. He's good enough to make the podium but he always ends up having a bad day that stops him from winning.

Somedude9

All those doped up years paying off nicely.

Funny how the Spanish don't feature at all in the other classics but have won the last six of these.

Kaisr Sose

Lots of speculation here directed at the origin of Valverde's form, and less so Spainish riders. Apart from the fact that he is flying at the moment (not unusual in itself) what is the basis for the comments?

Macy0161

Kaisr Sose wrote: »

Lots of speculation here directed at the origin of Valverde's form, and less so Spainish riders. Apart from the fact that he is flying at the moment (not unusual in itself) what is the basis for the comments?

We're not allowed to speculate. However i would guess people's skeptism is based on his age, him having served a doping ban, and him being unrepentant about that. Nothing more at this stage.

Personally, my eyebrow is only slightly raised at this stage - if he holds this form all year though....

irishrover99

I really don't see anything different in Valverde's form at the beginning of this season compared to the last few. He's beaten Contador a couple of times but has yet to come up against a fit Froome and Quintana or Nibali. Joaquim Rodriguez has retired and Dan Martin messed up the finish yesterday. He was soundly beaten in Amstel at the weekend when up against his hardest competition of the season yet.

Macy0161

irishrover99 wrote: »

He was soundly beaten in Amstel at the weekend when up against his hardest competition of the season yet.

Well he's never done great in Amstel. Like yourself, not seeing anything extraordinary from him compared to other years. Bar the added years!

Somedude9

Kaisr Sose wrote: »

Lots of speculation here directed at the origin of Valverde's form, and less so Spainish riders. Apart from the fact that he is flying at the moment (not unusual in itself) what is the basis for the comments?

Valverde has been flying for years & I'd have made the same glib remark in reference to him before. It's based on an argument that present day cycling performance still benefits from former use of bloody doping ( of which he was implicated in )/ PED's.

I'm not implying that Spanish riders were/are doping for Flèche, just highlighting a curious stat.

dastardly00

Macy0161 wrote: »

Well they positioned him just as well as slipstream always did!

I think Quick-Step set things up for Dan as well as they possibly could.

Bob Jungels being out in front on his own until the he was caught on the Mur was perfect, it meant QS didn't have to lead the chasing peloton.

Then with 1.7km to go, just before the final climb, Dan's one remaining team mate delivers him right up near to the front of the peloton. Pretty perfect.



But when they got down to business on the Mur, Dan has slipped a good bit back. He's in 16th place in the screen grab below.



As I said, I'm not sure if QS could have done a better job for Dan.

MPFGLB

Poor positioning on the climb for Dan Martin...could maybe have won it

As for Valverde and his continued performance at his age.....just look at Dan Martins face after the race ...I know he is disappointed but there is more than disappointment in that face

gordongekko

Macy0161 wrote: »

Personally, my eyebrow is only slightly raised at this stage

Botox??