Great to have both Valter and Romo in the front group. I'd definitely have given a lot for them to change positions approaching the sprint, as Valter looked really, really fast when he started from the worst position possible.
We played it well during the race with the two cards, I feel. Not completely convinced it is the way to go moving forward, having both in the same classics, but we shall see how our thoughts evolve during the season and especially going into the transfer season, as we at some point must make a decision if we want to have this much money invested in the hilly races.
Congratulations on a spectacular win, jandal! Areruya beating MAL, commiserations on a disastrous race, knockout, is one thing. Beating Herklotz in the same race says it all. Massive, massive win!
Another instance of Aleotti trying! The classics suit him better than hilly tours it seems. 14th is a respectable result for him in a monument. Congrats jandal!
What a moment! A third monument in nine races of this Pro Tour run, very incredible stuff, and Areruya already having both Liege and Lombardia in his palmarès now - big race rider Seems like bringing the big climbing squad didn't work out for depth points but really did for team strength - unusual to see Areruya getting to sit back and rely on the team chasing so well like here, but couldn't have picked a bigger race to do it. A pretty good Ardennes for us then with 2nd and 1st from Areruya in his races probably making up for the slight Pidcock disappointment in Amstel. Next year back to normal with Areruya not having the GT schedule
Beating Herklotz head to head is a cool way to do it (even if I still dislike the hilly races in this PCM, we just happen to be on the right side of it), but a real shame Lopez wasn't there too. I want to say it's revenge for the WC, but this was far more braindead than that race which was reasonable attacking and not so long range and then completely terrible positioning like Lopez here. Hate to see it for anyone and especially for MAL and Evonik
Thanks for the report Imladrik and for the congrats everyone
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
MVD clearly is not ready for the Ardennes. Maybe with training, we'll see in the future. Which year will he get to ride these races again is the question.
Back from vacation I obviously missed the triple classic.
Going to make a combined post here:
Obviously with Vansevenant hopes were high for a win/podiums or at least consistent top performances.
In the end can`t be too unhappy but neither very happy really scoring wise.
AGR started well. 4th is decent, not top class but good. Valter was on a level of his own here and being 3rd in the group sprint is okay even though he usually is able to beat those two without having spent energy before.
FW then a bit of a desaster. 11th is definitely below expectations, the depth here with 26th, 30th, 34th, 55th at least compensates a bit. Though it was definiltey less than expected.
LBL goal succeeded at least within top10 even though 8th was on the lower end.
So 4/11/8 is a bit less than expectations around 5/7/5 I had with a hope for a win or podium at least.
What must be said though, Vansevenant was usually on the stronger side initiating a lot of attacks, unfortunately different to e.g. Valter in AGR was not able to gain at any point. So it might have been smarter to just follow attacks instead and save energy for the finish, which likely had resulted in a better scoring. Though aggressive riding is within his DNA and is appreciated, so can`t really be annoyed. Next time hopefully the better scoring will come again.
Thanks for the Ardennes reports and congrats to all winners.
Areruya beating MAL, commiserations on a disastrous race, knockout, is one thing. Beating Herklotz in the same race says it all. Massive, massive win!
