Would have loved to see what a Vansevenant/Areruya attack could do in Amstel or Liege (given their temperaments, don't think it would be surprising to still see them try it later in the week...) but not sure it was ever the move in Fleche when the parcours all comes down to the final climb. Areruya hanging onto 3rd seems crazy here really after all that effort, great work to salvage only 'losing' one spot from what would have been an almost definite 2nd if he just stayed in the peloton. As we see time and time again he is never one to accept a situation where he can only be 2nd, particularly if it's to Miguel Angel Lopez, so I wasn't too surprised by the tactics
Hard to know what to feel now. Areruya is paid like a rider who wants to win wherever he goes so two 3rd places is always going to be slightly bitter, even though they're solid results in a crowded field. If he made it three non-win podiums in a row in Liege I can probably be okay, with the real value of his season coming in the PTHC races and Lombardia in Autumn. If he drowns a bit in Liege as MAL often can then I think it's a poor campaign. If he joins Pidcock in winning a monument... forgot I ever wrote anything negative
Congrats knockout on the win - Areruya may disagree with me but obviously there's nobody I would rather lose to And thanks jt for an exciting report
24/02/21 - kandesbunzler said “I don't drink famous people."
15/08/22 - SotD said "Your [jandal's] humour is overrated"
11/06/24 - knockout said "Winning is fine I guess. Truth be told this felt completely unimportant." [PT] Xero Racing
