What do give you a billionaire for his birthday? Katusha team owner Igor Makarov has private jets, two luxury yachts and all the trappings you’d expect of a Russian oligarch. Fortunately there are things money can’t buy no matter how many Roubles you might have. Niki Terpstra tried to spoil things up the Paterberg, forcing the pace on the vicious 20% slope but there’s no cracking Kristoff and the sprint finish in Oudenaarde was a formality for Kristoff.
Clear skies and only a light breeze greeted the race, pleasant conditions after last Sunday had riders fighting their front wheels like crocodile wrestlers. The early break had some strong riders again in Matthew Brammeier (MTN – Qhubeka), Jesse Sergent (Trek Factory Racing), Lars Ytting Bak (Lotto Soudal) and Damien Gaudin (AG2R La Mondiale). Brammeier won a special prime at km34, his weight in beer and publicity coup for the brewery and sadly MTN-Qhubeka’s biggest prize in the spring classics so far. He was lucky though, Sergent got wiped out by the “neutral” service car which later crashed into the FDJ team car proving that even drivers struggle for position in these races. All race convoy drivers have to be approved and this one’s probably going to be providing neutral service in a village kermesse for the rest of the year.
It took a while for the racing to provide more drama than the motoring. Once past the second feed station things got going up the Kanarieberg with Etixx-Quickstep and Lotto-Soudal sending riders up the road which forced Team Sky to chase.
The first showdown on the Oude Kwaremont and Paterberg combo provided a selection largely by the bank door, helped by FDJ’s Mathieu Ladagnous crashing on the entry bend to prompt a traffic jam. The Koppenberg came and went, less decisive on TV this time but doing its damage to the legs and blood sugar. A similar story on the Taaienberg which, thanks to the crowds, was lined with barriers and forced riders to ride the pavé instead of using the smooth gutter. Niki Terpstra accelerated but it wasn’t a big attack. Over the top Greg Van Avermaet tried a move ad was joined by Zdeněk Štybar and some others in a move which was quickly shut down but it showed the big riders were trying. Among the chasers was André Greipel who was on team duties today, an effective role he’s assumed in the past but was even stronger today.
Over Hotond and Niki Terpstra accelerated just when everyone else seemed to be at breaking point. It was the perfect move for Terpstra who needed to pre-empt the sprinters with a longer range move. Only seconds later he discovered Alexander Kristoff on his wheel, a frying pan to fire scenario. What to do? Continue with the best sprinter in the race on his wheel or sit up and try again? It was best to carry on and see what could be salvaged, especially as Štybar was sitting tight behind. Terpstra set about working but the further they went on the more the Dutchman cut his contributions.
Behind the chase group wasn’t looking to serious. There were four BMC riders but they weren’t chasing. Theory says they should have led the pursuit but who knows what world of pain Jempy Drucker and Daniel Oss were in just to be there after 235km?
The Oude Kwaremont and Paterberg could have been ruinous for Kristoff but Terpstra couldn’t unseat him. Terpstra led but was labouring, pedalling squares and then cubes. Behind the gap had been cut to 17 seconds and Greg van Avermaet was the daddy of the Paterberg, his fierce acceleration ditched everyone except Peter Sagan whose late surge helped him slip the others, the pair bought themselves an option on the podium and shared the work to the finish.
On the long run to the finish Terpstra was doing everything right. Everyone knew beating Kristoff in a sprint was a big ask, the Norwegian has been unbeatable this week with three stage wins in De Panne and here he was looking strong after 260km. It might be Easter Sunday but as tales of resurrection go nobody could see Terpstra outsprinting Kristoff. Terpstra’s a wily ex-track rider and put some of his craft to work, taking short terms and looking very smooth while Kristoff was straining to turn a huge gear to help keep the two away. The only reproach for Terpstra would have been to see him refuse to do a single turn in the last 3km to the point where he and Kristoff would risk being swamped by the others only for Terpstra to take flight at the last minute. However this is theoretical and high risk too as Terpstra and his team risked losing the certainty of a second place. Hindsight would prove this right given Štybar finished ninth instead of cleaning up the sprint.
The Verdict
A good race with a worthy winner. Kristoff was the top pick before and seeing him set about it was good, at least he didn’t lurk all day until the final 200 metres. Yet this wasn’t as exciting as other races this spring, it took some time to come alive. Once Terpstra and Kristoff got 30 seconds on a chase group that couldn’t chase you could almost hear the Norwegian national anthem.
Another close result for Greg Van Avermaet, he didn’t need to go with the earlier move but his acceleration up the Paterberg was strong. Lars Boom was visible in the finish, I thought the distance would be too much but he’s suddenly a strong contender for Paris-Roubaix, especially if – big if – it rains.
Tiesj Benoot has been impressive already this spring and the 21 year old first year pro has had such a good start that he fought his way into the Lotto-Soudal team, proving he could go the distance when he attacked late in the E3 Harelbeke. This time last year he was third in the U23 Ronde van Vlaanderen (pictured). He’s a student at Gent University and gets flexibility from his faculty with his economics degree, he can skip class and sit exams at times to suit his race calendar. Benoot’s profile had already soared before the race – he was on Sporza last weekend, did a special photoshoot this week – and now that Sep Vanmarcke’s stuggling he risks being fried in the limelight. He’s a versatile rider though and could strike again in the Amstel, media pressure permitting.
Maybe not a vintage edition, but a worthy winner who took the race to the others.
New found respect for Greipel, not just his legs, but his willingness to turn himself inside out for his teammates. Lotto proving this spring that their not the bridesmaid to QuickStep any longer.
With the top two on aero bikes, helmet and skin suit for Terpstra it looks like a permanent shift in bike tech.
I haven’t checked but I’m sure he was doing this last year too, could be 2013 or maybe another classic but Greipel’s done team duties like this before. His team is all the better for it, the Lotto-Soudal riders appreciate him for this.
2 years ago he was up front with his team mate Sieberg who had a hard time following Greipel on the climbs. It was the year Roelandts anticipated and became third.
He did the same in Roubaix 2013, but not as late in the race as this.
Greipel looked really strong and at least in hindsight seemed to waste his energy during his several moves. Team Lotto-Soudal obviously had a plan and Greipel stuck to it probably to pay back to his team mates for everything they usually do for him. But at the latest when I saw him win the sprint of the group he came in I started thinking that maybe they should have kept him safe as their plan B or C.
His late moves over the climbs simply looked like lag climbs to me… i.e., so he wouldn’t be dropped from the group and remain relevant
Boom has had either *terrible* luck, or an unworkable situation at P-R despite making the final selections countless times. It’s good to see him in the top-10 and I hope his luck turns.
Stybar is set for a good ride at P-R. He looked really good following wheels today.
Don’t think Boom can cope with the distance as well as others
we’ll see next week… he might be benefiting from being sole leader instead of trying to be a dual-leader with Sep on Belkin where last year they were taking it in turns to lead and force the pace on the cobbles…
Not the most exciting Ronde, but on the day the best man won. He was the best man in every important bike racing department. A worthy winner.
Is Sagan the new Van Avermaet?
Does Thomas have the Monument distance? (Does Sagan for that matter?)
Impressive by Benoot.
It’s really disappointing that Sagan hasn’t yet completed his rise to greatness I think the distance is the main problem and may be his boss.
I doubt it is the distance in general , I think he showed that in the past years. But this year he certainly breaks down after a certain distance. I wonder if he is a bit overtrained because of the pressure he is under?
Don’t agree with a lot of this. Terpstra’s tactics were non-existent – yet more “Tactix Miss Step” from Etixx. Stybar was reduced to an also ran once Terpstra went (as he wouldn’t help chase) and when Terpstra knew he had Kristoff for company (was he really the favourite as you now say INRNG? Or is this a bit of “after the fact” judgment coming in?) he was riding for second only. He should have refused to work with Kristoff and waited for the next chance. This would have also brought Stybar and Vandenburgh into play. As it was, their job was just to sit in the bunch.
Fair play to Kristoff but I’ll never understand why Terpstra helped him. My own view is he settled for second. And we all know what Kwiatkowski said about that recently.
I suppose Terpstra would have been hoping that he would be strong enough to drop Kristoff – hardly a renowned climber, as we saw on the Poggio – on the Oude K. or the Paterberg. But perhaps when that didn’t happen he should have stopped working with Kristoff and waited for the rest of the bunch to see if he or, more likely, another team mate, could attack again. But Vandenbergh has no kick whatsover and despite doing no chasing Stybar didn’t do well in the final sprint.
In Inner Ring’s defence, this morning’s article tipped Kristoff as joint favourite.
Yes, the top of the list of contenders in the preview and a 5-chainring rating in the preview.
Also look how Terpstra went from working a lot at the start to get the gap to sitting on and softpedalling the more they went on, Terpstra was even doing this before the Oude Kwaremont.
I note that Terpsrta has just tweeted ” Happy to finish second in this monument”. Hmmm.
Terpstra said the same in post-race interviews: “It’s a podium place in a Monument, so of course I’m proud, and of course I would have rather won; I have a lot of second places already. But this was the maximum possible result today.”
He also referred to Stybar’s apparent dental problem, saying that he could only eat gels, and maybe that’s why he wasn’t able to do more.
Kristoff has been getting top results all season, and was already 4th and 5th in the Ronde before: today should not have been a huge surprise to anyone, least of all readers of the blog. Kristoff says he suffers more in Roubaix and that he’s better on cobbled climbs than cobbled flats.
Terpstra definitely rode for second. Very poor tactics. The amount of sitting on he did in the final 5k, surely he had the legs for an all out attack at 2k or so. Worst case Kristoff gets his wheel/bridges across. He still would have had second place for sure, but at least tried. Really was his plan to out sprint Kristoff inside the last 400m? Didn’t even make a good fist of looking like he tried.
I was waiting for Terpstra to attack at about 4k out, and it never came. To me he wasn’t rocking and rolling as much as Kristoff, so I figured all he need was a gap. If Kristoff closed, he could try again later, as neither of them could afford to shirk pulls due to GVA & Sagan chasing. Surely he was going to lose the sprint.
There is a fine line between our perception of poor tactics vs just not having the legs to make it happen, even if you know what the “right” thing to do is. Still, I was surprised by the lack of a noticeable attempt.
Your last paragraph sounds spot on to me. Fair play but a little disappointing.
Whatever QuickStep did, Degenkolb, Kristoff, Van Avermaet and Sagan will always beat every man they have in the sprint. They miss Boonen badly in this regard (tactically).
True although perhaps we could say they miss Boonen in his prime? The Boonen we saw running out of steam in the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad wouldn’t have been so useful although of course Boonen was building form. It’s more that had he not fallen in Paris-Nice there’s no guarantee he would have triumphed, he could have been soaking up the criticism as Flemish newspapers discuss his retirement plans.
I could have imagined Boonen in that chase group today. In any case, they could certainly use someone with a sprint to add that extra dimension
if Boonen was in that chase group, for sure Stybar and vdBergh would be working and Terpstra just sitting on Kristoff making him tire.
I totally have to agree. There was the opportunity to drop kristoff on the climbs, but it didn’t work the first time, so sitting up and letting vdb or stybar throw some more punches at the sprinters before the next try sounds pretty reasonable to me. I could understand degenkolb or sagan working with kristoff,maybe van avermaet but terpstra,after het nieuwsblad, was a very unrealistic assessment of the situation.
I really like terpstra,but today that looked really egoistic, taking second before one of his team mates might make the move that sticks. And that despite him being the benefiting one of a marked leader last year.
Andrew E: you don’t wait for a next chance in this race with this competition. With the distance and pain in your legs, when you go there’s no looking back.
Agreed. I expected an attack from Terpstra but he must’ve been spent. He’s too dependably an aggressive rider for him to have simply been “settling” as Andrew E puts it…
I was surprised too that Terpstra didn’t try to attack in the last 5 k. If nothing else he would have tired Kristoff out so that if they were caught Stybar was in with a chance. Chapeau to Kristoff though. Not many sprinters win the Ronde.
+1 Not a vintage many will celebrate outside of Katusha and Kristoff fans. I couldn’t believe the Shimano car driver was such an idiot! Reminded me of the bozo in LeTour who took those guys out a few years ago. I was taught rule #1 when driving a motor vehicle in any bike race was DO NOT HIT ANYONE! Wreck the car if you must, but DO NOT HIT ANYONE! This knucklehead failed not once but TWICE? I thought surely it could not be the same guy after the first fiasco. This guy should not be driving ANYTHING anywhere near a bike race….ever.
Per Sporza it was two different drivers: the one who mowed down Sergent is a police officer, and the one who rear-ended the FDJ car is an ex-pro rider.
Thanks KB for clearing that up. BOTH of these knuckleheads should find other jobs! Bury them in a basement office somewhere like the “rubber cop” who took out Jalabert all those years ago at LeTour by taking a photo when he should have been controlling the crowd. UCI might have to start a driving school and issuing licences for anyone operating a motor vehicle in or around the peloton – making damn sure they understand rule #1.
Hitting a rider directly is one thing, but cars hitting each other in bike races is not what one would call uncommon. It happens far more often than the public knows, it just usually isn’t so dramatic or caught on video/broadcast. It is just very unfortunate that the the car that was hit was servicing a rider at the time, and was pushed forward.
Not just anyone can drive in UCI race caravans; there isn’t a test, but background checks are typically performed and permissions are issued, typically by the host nation’s federation.
The UCI has enough issues with their core competencies, running a caravan driving school would be just one more thing they can mismanage.
UCI regulations, Article 2.2.035bis – in effect from July 1st 2013:
“In UCI WorldTour events, a holder of a «licence for a vehicle driver in a road event»
bis (section 1.8 of Art. 1.1.010) must also hold a driver’s certificate delivered by the UCI in
accordance with the directives established and published on this subject, in order to be
allowed to drive a following vehicle in the race convoy.”
Someone probably din’t get the memo… nor the certification.
The driver’s course is a quick thing and helps educate but no substitute for experience and awareness. As said above these things happen a lot but they’re not on TV, someone was taken out in Paris-Nice too by a team car but there are no images. None of this excuses it but just to say it’s not exceptional, and that the convoy zone is dangerous.
“Theory says they (BMC Racing Team) should have led the pursuit but who knows what world of pain Jempy Drucker and Daniel Oss were in just to be there after 235km?”
It wasn’t pain, it was strategy, said Sport Director Valerio Piva:
“Everybody in the past was thinking that we would close the gap. Today, we did not move until the final. All the time, we had four or five guys in the front group. We controlled the race and waited until the attack from Greg. We did our race. We didn’t win, but we were still fighting for the victory.”
Thanks, that clears it up… probably some pain too? We did see Oss start chasing a bit later too.
The question i’m asking about that chase group is where was the rest of Tinkoff Saxo?
Last year Canondale had a presence right up until the final lap.. this year, where were Tinkoff? With kristoff up the road i would expect Giant-Alpecin or Tinkoff-Saxo to start the chase, as they have sprinters who would benefit from it coming back together.
understandable that BMC favoured leaving 2 out front, knowing GVA was capable of bridging over the Kwaremont/paterberg.
Good point. I’ve raised this on other blogs. Sagan’s exchanged a bad team in Cannondale for a worse one in Tinkoff. He has no support and still has to do it alone. No wonder he has so many misses. His middle name should be changed to “4th”.
JJ Rojas already has laid claim the that moniker as per an earlier INRNG post.
Don’t know why everyone obsesses over Sagan not winning every race. There are loads of good bike riders who are trying to do the same.
He was supposed to have a better team but we never saw the recruitment to match. He came with Bodnar from Cannondale and Breschel is good but that’s about it so far. Still he could have said no to signing without the requisite support but chose it anyway.
If I remember correctly, Tinkov gave him 4 million reasons to come over to the Russian’s team.
Breschel might be good, but he worked for himself in Milan-SanRemo and has been anonymous in Belgium!
No matter how much my heart wanted G to win my head said Kristoff from the start. Only I had expected it to be more Paolini pulling back an earlier break and it ending in a select bunch finish.
TBH I thought Kristoff did a good job and showed he was the strongest out there. GG.
We shouldn’t forget the unacceptable and life threatening antics of the Shimano neutral car driver/s. Many should be concerned at the antics of moto’s and cars associated with bike racing recently. Some of these chancers appear to think that closed roads give them a free hand to drive and behave as they please.
I hope the current review on race safety by the UCI doesn’t overlook this totally unacceptable behaviour.
Bit harsh? Granted the move that took down Sergent was stupid. But we see cars and bikes try to slip through gaps on the road all the time. It was a misjudgment which went horribly wrong. The second one where the car drove up Madiot’s backside was simply a split second’s mistake. To be honest, in six and a half hour’s driving with no stops I’m surprised this sort of thing doesn’t happen a lot more. It can’t be easy to be in amongst a dynamically moving train of vehicles when there is always things going on around you. Two dangerous incidents happened in the same day. But, actually, this stuff is very rare. I’m not sure how you can engineer it out with rules either.
The second one was, perhaps, fair enough – the first one was Hoogerland-esque and incredibly stupid. And unnecessary.
‘Bit Harsh’. Yes probably. On the other hand if you have witnessed at first hand the antics of many race support vehicles, you might reconsider. It is unfortunately common place, not as you say extremely rare. This is a serious and on going problem, which requires addressing because it presents riders with potentially lethal consequences. There is little point in legislating for bumpy roads, ‘dangerous’ descents, road furniture, rain, wind and snow, etc., if equally, if not more dangerous situations are simply ignored.
I would prefer that the commissaries’ and judges make driving etiquette very clear, with draconian consequences for ignoring the prescribed etiquette. Always better than more central rules and regulations. The rest of the natural hazards could then hopefully come under a similar common sense umbrella.
On your last paragraph, trust me; we do.
There’s a lot of bad driving at times and cars regularly get damaged in races. It’s rare to see riders paying the price but the FDJ car incident probably happens a lot this year without it being on TV.
Inner Ring is correct: cars are regularly damaged at races – even when the races are on TV. At Paris-Nice alone, there were four team car collisions in a three-day span. And those are just the ones that I saw happen.
I am so angry with the reckless driver of the neutral car, this guy has no place in a pro race. Of course not all service car and motorcycle drivers are alike. Most are working very hard, sometimes in extreme conditions and taking risks to help the riders. See an example here:
http://www.vittoria.com/news/gavia-and-stelvio-what-a-challenging-day-for-alberto-and-paolo/
P.S. Disclaimer: I have no affiliation with Vittoria, I am just trying to be fair in my critique.
such a disappointment! what were sky doing? they spent 200km on the front and then when the race finally got going they all collapsed. no other team with players did that – why? because it’s not a grand tour? where was wiggo when he should have been there for GT?
anyway, great win for Kristoff!
Wiggins hit the deck early on the race – both his left knee and ego visibly damaged – he appeared briefly for a token pull at the front of the race. Doesn’t bode well for his Roubaix dreams. Rowe was still there in the final; he’s been very strong.
Wiggins had neither head nor heart for it today- I think the Paris Roubaix plan will come to nothing I reckon he’s just focusing on the hour and retirement. If I’m proved to be wrong I’ll be happy.
Maybe he is saving his energy for next week. He has a chance.
Don’t expect too much from Wiggo. He has been erratic. I expect him to flop next week.
He’d be better off doing a Boom and force the pace for G on some of the middle pave sectors.
Sky constantly do this – needlessly burning up their riders. I don’t know why they feel the need to lead races from over 100k out. Bad tactics that often mean their top rider is isolated at the end.
To be fair to Sky everyone know G is in form and left Sky to chase down the early break.
In Gent Weveglem final Ks everyone kept looking to G to chase down the attacks.
Guess Etix-QS are just glad that it’s not left to them for a change.
You’re right. All G’s E3 win has done is make no one willing to work if he is there. He and Sky now need to figure out a way around this.
TBH , I think Ian Stannard is the only genuine monument contender on team Sky. I think they have excellent riders but I think the distance and pressure of a monument are beyond the riding group. Ian is the exception , I think he has the size and the stamina to make the difference next week at Roubaix. I would like to have seen more from Orica being an Aussie but their impact at the business end of the classics is miserable.
Anyone else getting increasingly fed up seeing, the ever arrogant wiggo throwing his multi thousand pound bikes of the ground in a huff?!
Yes! Me. But I think it’s part of his rock star status. They destroy guitars he disrespects his bikes and the work of Team Sky mechanics. Strangely many road professionals let their bikes fall to the ground even onto the drive train side. They probably never had to care of their bikes not even as a junior.
hes not the only one, it seems to be quite widely accepted behaviour : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgUwXv8jp8w
someone should make a longer clip; that was funny
i guess most of us have some riders they dislike (for whatever reason) im not that emotional about wiggins. he seems to be a complicated person. but his palmares is very impressive
If the bike can’t take such a light shock it wouldn’t be worth the price. Can we please stop all the moaning about a guy who finished 102nd or something? The internet has plenty of other places for doing that.
wiggo also ran another ride almost into the ditch the other day and then looked like he flipped him off once the guy said something. he’s a dick … but i think we’re seeing the last of him. he won’t do shit in PR …
another “rider” … sorry
I’ve never seen anyone do it as much as wiggo. Kittel did it two years ago in Corsica at le tour and immediately took to Twitter after the stage to apologise. Wiggo’s rockstar image got dull along time ago. I had to live on chicken stock and rice for months to buy a 3 g Merida and he constantly flippantly throws his away when there is a helper milliseconds away to take it off him. Roubaix (which he won’t win) can’t come quick enough. Will be glad to see the back of him. Classier riders in Team Sky Porte Froome Thomas have been hidden in the cast of his shadow for too long. Apologies rant over
I reckon you will have one more chance to see Wiggo throw his bike. It will be next week when he is dropped and is somewhere out the back. Thanks for the memories Wiggo. But they are fading fast.
Sounds like someone is just jealous…
Who wouldn’t be jealous of a multi-gold medallist, world champion Tour de France winner? Is that all you have to offer?
Define classy, because my list doesn’t jive with yours..
As a mechanic I hate to see anyone abuse machinery. BUT this machinery is provided as a tool for the athlete to use to secure victory. If it fails, what is the guy supposed to do with it? With all the marketing-maven claptrap about how all you need is S’s electronic groupset combined with P’s game-changing frame and fork and to wear R’s fantastic clothing, this stuff seems to fail as much or perhaps more than all the “inferior” stuff that came before. There was a story about Greg LeMond in his early (junior?) days throwing a bike in disgust when it failed at a moment in which it looked like he could win. Some famous (Eddy B? Guimard?) DS saw this and decided here was a guy with fire in his belly, a real will-to-win. I want HIM on my squad!
Yes, but at the Pro Team level, these riders and teams are being paid (in some case quite handsomely) to use specified brand(s) equipment.
Equipment fails, it is part of the sport. But when a racer has a hissy fit and throws his bike (or helmet), yes it shows passion, but is also sends the message to the world that this brand is a piece of crap.
As much as the brands enjoy the glory that comes with results, they might want to avoid certain players who can’t control their tempers.
Agreed. Pros probably does not have the same level of attachment to their bikes as we amateurs do. They go through probably a dozen of them every season (mutiple on a day on some occasions), it wouldn’t do, for example, for Paolini to grow too attached to a bike and does not feel right on a swapped backup. He would lose his GW that way.
On the other hand, Sky & Pino’s habit of debuting new bikes mid season in important races seems really odd to me. However good their fitting department or the bike, the bike wouldn’t feel the same & simply better. The riders need time to fit into the new bike.
You didn’t have to, you chose to.
Sounds like anonymous is Bradley Wiggins! Haha
Well Oleg Tinkoff was here yesterday so I wouldn’t be surprised.
Top predicting Inner Ring. I had my doubts about whether Kristoff could hang on in a group over the final two climbs, however over the Paterberg with Terpstra, it looked like Kristoff could have dropped him if he really wanted to.
Greipel was epic, surely worth seeing whether he can hang on in PR?
Kristoff was very solid last year, he missed the Cancellara/Vanmarcke move out of caution last year, hesitating when they went… but set off in pursuit and made up a lot of time, these bergs are fine for him.
In that case, looks like he’s Boonen’s heir as the classics rider that is strong on the bergs and can attack but also win from a sprint. If he was on Etixx, he’d be close to unbeatable.
If Kristoff can make light of the hellingen like that then we may have a heir to boonen and cancellara
I agree, he was ominous last year in the background. I am slightly perturbed though by the ease in which a guy with his build can bully his way to a win in such a race (19 climbs).
Apart from not being from Belgium why would Etixx not sign Kristoff or Deg and give Cav the bullet?
I too am a little suspicious how someone carrying that much weight round his middle can climb with the best and outlast them too. It all seems a bit too good to be true. Chapeau if he is clean.
Kristoff is 81 kg. Cancellara is 80 kg, Boonen is 82 kg. I hope you are not fat-shaming these guys? 🙂
De Ronde isn’t for climbers – that’s what the Ardennes classics are for – it’s for riders with power endurance, which is basically a description of Kristoff (even more so the longer and harder the race, cf. his M-SR win, Olympic bronze). He got over these same hellingen to finish 4th and 5th previously; even though he risked being outsprinted by Van Avermaet and Vanmarcke, Cancellara helped drive the winning break last year specifically because Kristoff was in hot pursuit and closing on the foursome, and Spartacus wanted no part of that!
I hate this “too good to be true” crap. It’s a pretty toxic thing to say about a rider. As far as I know Kristoff is clean and should be treated as such until there is genuine evidence to the contrary.
2nd San Remo, Clean sweep in Du Panne (only bettered by Wiggo in the TT) & then Flanders. I won’t put it past Kristoff for Roubaix. His form is second to none at the minute
Not the ultimate suspense-packed finale but a deserved podium. One aspect I missed in the report is that Terpstra, shortly after his first testing attack on one of the bergs, found himself on the wrong side of a split in the peleton with a long flat stretch still to go until the next climbs. He was the one who pulled back that trailing group almost single-handedly. That must have cost him some strength that he would have liked to save for dropping Kristoff on the Paterberg.
Another thing I sensed is not much congratulations for Terpstra. I think the guy is immense. I suppose its because he’s Dutch yet rides for Etixx? Can anyone enlighten?
I guess the congratulations lack mostly because he didn’t win? He had some second places already this year. It is true he’s not as popular in NL as you could expect based on his palmares. He’s by far the most succesful Dutch rider in the past two to three years. He moved himself a bit out of the Dutch spotlights early in his carreer by going to Milram instead of Rabo, and of course the large non-specialist audience cares mostly about the TDF which isn’t really his race. I really like him as a rider, always in for an attack but still smart in the sense that he he only goes when there is an actual chance he could make it all the way to the line.
I’ll congratulate Terpstra. He made a winning move, but the wrong guy got on his wheel. Fair enough to say he rode for second, I guess, but it is a little hard to blame him (or the team) for wanting to stay at the front of the race so close to the finish. I was hoping for a puncher to come through, but Kristoff wasn’t having it. Not Terpstra’s fault.
Great race, and as I said in the comments of the preview – Kristoff will have no chance…..
I wonder if G just didn’t have the legs, given he came last in the sprint for his group as well (I think). Peaked a touch too early? I don’t think it’s the distance and maybe needed someone out ahead, maybe Rowe given his form, so that G can sit up a bit more and wait for chances.
Most probably G ran out of energy or accumulated more fatigue in his legs because he rode right behind his mates at the front of the peloton for the whole day. While it’s undoubtedly safer in order to avoid crashes you also unquestionably need more power to do so compared to riding somewhere around the third row of the peloton or even further back. Of all the men featuring in the finale he had surely the highest average power-to-weight output over the whole race because of being not perfectly sheltered from the wind during the first 200 k’s before the race really begun.
During a stage race if you’re the GC leader it might still make sense to ride behind your team mates riding single file given that the number of days when you really have to race in the finale are limited. But for such a long one-day race it really is a questionable method especially for a team relying so heavily on marginal gains.
Merino- I agree wholeheartedly. I would rate terpstra as QS top rider. Boonen & Cav r fantastic riders but are past their top powers (yet still hailed as best thing since sliced bread) terpstra stybar and kwaiakowski are what QS are all about
I think this was already true last year. Boonen cracked on the final climb and only then was Terpstra allowed to start chasing the front group but of course it was too late. Also in Roubaix Terpstra did a lot of work to get Boonen to the front before his final attack and I very much doubt that Boonen would have beat Degenkolb in the sprint if the group would have chased. But Boonen is a Belgian superstar on a Belgian team. His stardom is worth more publicity than Terpstra’s wins, so from a business point of view it makes total sense that he is still the team leader.
Boonen didn’t have it in Flanders last year, but he was strong in PR. He rode at the front of the race for a long time, while the rest of OPQS could sit as the other teams chased. When he was finally caught, and Vanmarcke went, Boonen was behind Boom (who was behind. Cancellara, who was behind Vanmarcke), unfortunately Boom crashed going into a corner and Boonen had to unclip to avoid going into him and lost the wheel. Given the work he has done earlier, it’s not surprising that he couldn’t chase back on by himself.
Next year might be a step too far but I was expecting Boonen to be competitive in PR at least this year.
Oh yes, and this: ‘daddy of the Paterberg’. Pretty slick again Inrng.
Great race. Nice write up. Greipel looks lean – anybody know his weight vs last year. Sagan looks much beefier than before – anybody know his weight status? I think Niki did what he could. I was waiting for the attack with 2-3 km to go but maybe those kinds of superhero efforts on top of already a strenuous days were only possible with adjuncts. Congrats to Kristoff. For the sake of cycling hope his urine is clean.
Terpstra said he did not try the attack in the final kms because Kristoff “probably ” would just ride his wheel…versus 100% certain would out sprint him? Makes no sense to me. Why not take a chance? Another case of poor or questionable QS tactics to me. Before reading that I figured that Terpstra was simply at the limit (which seemed plausible given how he suffered on the final ascent of the Patterberg), but he seems to indicate he had legs for it but figured it to be “chanceless”. Anybody watch or read the Dutch interview that can confirm these statements?
final 10km is not suited for attack. Upon finishing the final cobbles, Etixx are satisfied with 2nd place
Kristoff was amazing in the race. He has proven that he can win despite not having teammates in the final stretch. Wonder what happened to Paolini.
As for Etixx boys, VDB is missing in action. He could have made the difference. Feel for Stybar as he is forced to mark all attacks thus not having the energy to join GVA and Sagan. Plus he did not want to bridge the gap as well for Degenkolb and Thomas to join the mix.
Feel gutted for Thomas as Wiggins and Stannard were not there to help him. I am not buying that Thomas does not have the legs to podium but it is simply because of the wrong tactics employed by the team. There is no way Sagan be better in form than Thomas.
BMC has been a disappointment. It is their responsibility of bring GVA into a winning position. They was not able to bring back the leaders before the final cobbles. GVA need a good leiutenant and Oss does not fit the bill.
Sep Vanmarck made have peaked too soon. The disappointment of the race but his heart is still there.
Do you think Lotto has the budget to keep Benoot?
Enjoyed the race on TV. Was in Belgium last summer and visited the Tour of Flanders museum – highly recommended for anyone in the area. Disappointed for G – seems the team couldn’t deliver him fresh enough at the end to challenge.
Shimano said in their apology statement the cars were driven by two different people, and they’d look into what happened “deeply” . (Will be interesting to know what they find way down below.) Presumably Shimano are just the sponsor of the neutral car service, INRNG? If so they may be reviewing it, given the number of people apparently preparing to switch to Campag and SRAM!
Breaking news from League of Armchair DS’: A perfectly timed and executed attack from Terpstra, earning him 2nd in a monument, was actually a massive tactical blunder!
And here I thougth it was a good idea, having dropped all riders bar one, to fight it out for 1st & 2nd rather than sprinting for 8th from a bigger group. Huh, live & learn, I guess…
Top comedy
Doc: That is exactly the point, as I wrote/hinted in a post before. The attack was top notch only couldn’t shake a faster sprinter. It was a given that he would’ve been beaten in a sprint and with the remaining route to the finish also nearly impossible distance a rider in a one-on-one situation. So Terpstra rode on to finished second instead of eighth to tenth, but effective killing all chances for Etixx to win. In a group of ten or twelve with, at that moment, three riders, the possibility to go solo for one of them,like he did in Paris-Roubaix last year, was much higher than him winning a sprint. Just that most probably that rider would have been Stybar or VDB and not him, because the others would have been watching him. And rightly so.
+1000
Terpstra came closer to winning than many realize. The mechanics found a piece of metal in Kristoff’s rear wheel tyre after the race. It might just as well have ended in puncture for Kristoff and victory for Terpstra.
What’s with all the Vandenbergh hating. The guy crashed into a tree and broke his nose halfway through, then after getting back on and making the front group with Stybar, Boom et al he was taken out by Degenkolb after he switched off for a sec and misjudged a drainage ditch. Must be some real Flandrian hardmen commenting on this blog if you think VDB wasn’t helping his team much!
It’s a good example of all that’s happening in a race, he had this and others had troubles too but only a tiny proportion of these moments are seen on TV, even in a race so well covered in Flanders with many motos and helicopters.
Daddy of the paterberg, nice one! Thanks for those full of style comments.
On Tersptra tactics, I am still not sure. After the Paterberg, I think he would have better sit on. If GVA and Sagan come back, there would have been 4 riders in front, with 2 good sprinters. A good situation for a hard rider to launch an attack. Probably he was happy with being second. Anyway Kristoff deserved to win this, both for its strenght in the race as for the iniciative he took on the kluisberg (which I found was tactically well done).
Hope for Vanmarcke that his peak is not over. Anyway, I think he should try other races as well, not only cobbled classics. He is still a too young rider to focus only on these races.
Re Thomas, I got the impression he was being heavily marked – for example when VanA and Sagan got the gap, everybody seemed content to let him do all of the chasing initially. Given that, he had an almost impossible task.
Thomas was also very isolated once Rowe was cooked. Unlike BMC an several other teams who had at least two guys forward. Sky need someone , perhaps a GC rider with some track experience, who can help out after 250km.
Very Clever.
Other than Tersptra attacking on the Paterberg, I don’t know what else he could have done. They either attack, which Tersptra did, or sit in the bunch and finish outside the podium since they didn’t have anyone that could have matched Kristoff, Sagan, Degenkolb, or GVA in a finish. With that company, it they needed to attack to have a chance at winning. I don’t think they anticipated Kristoff to follow. It must have been disheartening for Tersptra turn around and see the big Norwegian on his wheel.
I think Sky used up their team too early in the race. There were other big teams that didn’t have someone in the break that could have helped to reel in the break. It left G isolated at the end.
What happened with Sep Vanmarcke? I guess he just cracked?
>>What happened with Sep Vanmarcke?
Wondering this myself. He fell off the back of the lead group, but was chasing back on very aggressively which made it seem as though he had a mechanical or non legs-related incident on the climb. Anyone hear anything about it?
He gave a rather brave post-race interview to Sporza in which he said “I failed.” I think he said he’d gotten caught in trailing group (perhaps the one that Terpstra bridged from earlier), and when the TV cameras caught him chasing back on on the Hotond (I think), within touching distance almost, and then cracking, was almost exactly the moment that Terpstra went off after Oliveira and Kristoff grimaced to jump on his wheel. Vanmarcke conceded that if the group had been sitting up a bit at that point, he’d have gotten back, but instead they accelerated.
He didn’t refer to his physical condition or a mechanical problem; he said in pre-race interviews that it took a long time to recover from Gent-Wevelgem because he was riding so much in the wind to avoid crashing. And he acknowledged that he’d be over-eager and wasting energy in the way he was racing.
My own guess he was not actually recovered from G-W and didn’t learn the lessons yet.
Really helpful – thanks.
We’ve all been there before – when the bunch is in sight and you’re chasing as hard as you can but just can’t get there. I was hoping he’d make it.
Flanders is such a great race, my favorite of the year. It’s a race where you wish they could have 30 or 40 cameras throughout the course so you could follow everything that happens.
Sam (below), I caught only the last 50km or so on TV (cyclingnews text updates before that) and I thought it was exciting all around. Even the last 15-20km – they played out the way it seemed they would, but it was definitely riveting to see if it would go another way. Would have loved to see Sagan and GVA catch the leaders to make it a 4 man race.
For shimano service car’s first knock-down of Jesse Sergeant, can someone explain why the neutral service car was trying to get in front of riders in the leading break?? Makes no sense at all – neutral service car obviously needs to be BEHIND the break in case neutral service is required. Why was the driver trying to overtake?? And when he got in front of the leaders, who could he give assistance to?
I was roadside for the early part of the race then watched from around 2 hours into the race through to the end in a nice friendly Flandrian bar.
As usual I read some of the comments here and wonder whether some posters watched any more than the final 20 kms. Or whether their personal dislikes shape how they view a race to such a degree that they act as blinkers to the actual happenings in a race.
As for the winner: a worthy one, strongest and smartest guy in the day.
To go to a certain defeat in order to secure a 2nd place, says very little of a rider’s ambition.
Mostly when you already have won one monument.
Guess the UCI points have to do with that: Peeters and Lefevere didn’t seem to have any problem with Terpstra’s 2nd. Was not so when a resurrecting Vandenbroucke rode with faster van Petegem all the way to Meerbeke in van Petegem’s second Ronde.
I was watching from 180 km to go. And until 50 kms to go I was content with the on screen info. But from than on it was below standards.
Some already mentioned in the comments of other articles in this blog that a timing mat would serve well in these kind of races where are circuits.
It would have been nice to have one on the Oude Kwaremont to have instant info on who has managed to be in the lead.
I’ve been left to the helicam to guess Vanmarcke is not there because I haven’t seen any yellow jerseys…
anyone heart about that argument Paolini and Kristoff had the days before the Ronde? (some German Eurosport commentator mention it) wonder if this is a true story and if this was the case why Paolini was just riding in the back all the time.
Het Nieuwsblad reported this too but we’ll probably not get too much more on this.
the story going around about them having words after E3?
Dont know so much about that being why he was at the back all of the race after he had a bike change. Can be incredibly difficult to make it up to the front of the race, halfway through the race, when they’re going full gas, narrow roads, the concertina effect on every berg etc. Its possible but its incredibly wearing.
What’s your opinion of the current parcours of Flanders, InnerRing? I think they’ve absolutely ruined it, the group is just waiting for the final loop of the Kwaremont and Paterberg. I don’t think the Paterberg is selective enough. Terpstra surprised them somewhat by going on the Hotond, but it still seemed all too predictable. I’d like to see the Molenberg later in the race, I guess it’s too much to hope the Kapelmuur will feature again. Cancellara and Boonen’s showdown in the 2010 RVV remains the highlight of Flanders for me, I doubt we’ll see its like again.
The muur was dropped completely due to a dispute about hospitality tents… the town of Geraadsbergen wanted to have their own and keep the revenue, the organisers insist that if you’re watching their race, you’re buying your prawn sandwiches from them. Geraadsbergen thought they were bluffing when they said they’d take the race away, they weren’t. Word is that the muur will return next year but it won’t be on the finishing stretch (Organisers have a 10 year deal with Oudenaarde) and will occupy a slot like it does now in Omloop. Given the current shape of the race, the logical place to have it would be after the mariaborestraat/steenbeeksries/Taainberg combo and do Haghoek/Leberg/Berendries on the way before looping back into Ronse and onto the last 30km…
I think people have a tendancy to romanticse the muur from watching Cancellara attack Boonen on it or Museeuw power up it solo but it really was just a final twist in the tail. Geraadsbergen is quite removed from the rest of the traditional route and you used to have 15-20km of pretty dull racing to get to it (Ten Bosse would occasionally liven things up) and another 20km, albiet with the Bosberg, of pretty easy riding (all downhill) to the finish.
I go with all of that, a great final climb in reputation but no less predictable and the open approach through the town means only a short part of the climb is tough and then it’s the steadier Bosberg and open ride into town, not too dissimilar from today’s finish.
Cancellara ditched Boonen on the Muur but did the same with the Paterberg to Sagan.
The Kapelmuur was the Kapelmuur, with all its legend. This was also very selective, I guess one of the most selective helling in Vlaanderen. Anyway, this is true that it is difficult to combine with other bergs as geraadsbergen is quite isolated. Plus, we all remember the 2010 Ronde, but there were also plenty of RVV where nothing happened until the kapelmuur (remember for instance Wesemann or Balan wins).
The current parcours is in my opinion interesting, because the kwaremont and the pater are two different kind of helling. One can be good on the first but not so on the second and inversely. The parcours is also now better than in the first editions arriving in Oudenaarde, where they made like 3 successive loops on the kwaremont/Pater combo just before finish.
By way of balance, the muur retains a lot of popularity locally. The freebie for last years Retro Ronde cyclo was a sew on patch that read “Geen Ronde Zonder De Muur” (No ronde without the muur) and a few of my friends here jokingly call it the Ronde Van Oudenaarde now. You can also see some graffiti on the way down to the Paterberg that reads “RIP RVV”.
I’d like to see a few more of the outlying cobbles on the west side of Oudenaarde get back in as well, Huispontweg, Doorn and the Nokereberg are all great.
The sight of Sep Van Marcke very nearly getting back on the group and then slowly lose his grip on it was fantastic, he buried himself so close so close then he got “February Legs” and had to watch them ride away ……. we have all done it but just not with a million viewers watching.
Great Race
IMHO Wiggo is a legend … he can do what he likes 😉
This was a good race, and was listening to the owner of the race ( he was stood in front of me on the Tiegemberg). he sounded very happy about the race, and was getting plenty of stick from some guys on the other side of the road who support a different football team to him. these young kids were playing the worst cover versions of some terrible songs, and generally messing about… was quite funny really.
As for the race, sky’s tactics were pretty nonsensical. G needed better quality support, and with Wiggins doing his usual there one minute then not there the next, and Stannard not able to reproduce his form of early March, and Rowe only being able to do so much ( also Eisel and Knees etc), he was going to be marked as he wasn’t already away, his best bet would have been an attack with another before the flat section… His climbing on the Koppenberg and later on the oude Kwaremont and Paterberg indicated he may have not had enough shelter earlier on and the last 10km others were relying on him to cover moves he should have freed himself up for (if he’d have sheltered more he’d have saved energy). Outside of that, Kristoff, was the real star of the show. He marked Terpstra effectively, and also had enough in reserve despite getting more and more work to do with 5km to go. it was pretty clear even if tired he had enough to cover Terpstra.
Chapeau as well to GVA for shaking Sagan at the end. I feel for Sagan, as he’s so consistent, yet the big money move may well have affected him much more than what any of us know. Thing is he’ll get something soon, and his palmares are not at all bad. He is obviously physically heavier than before though, that should still be a concern, I’d suggest.
As for the main exponent of attacks during the race, Id say Andre Greipel was on fire yesterday. He had a lot of screentime, and was very active.
I enjoyed it, and whilst not an absolute classic, it was a good day. Did the sportive the day before. Was great fun albeit cold in the wet… and I still never got to get up the Koppenberg….
I agree about Sky’s tactics. Only just watched the race on Eurosport on demand as I was away this weekend and was surprised to see Sky doing all of the work with 150kms to go. It cost Thomas as he didn’t have anyone to help him. As he was, arguably, the favourite maybe the other riders expected him to bridge the gap, a bit like they expect Sagan to do it all. Maybe Sky thought they could control that race like they can control a mountain stage??
I feel sorry for Sagan too as he has a rubbish team, you could see him do a lot of work to follow GVA on the Paterberg which obviously cost him as when GAV accelerated at the finish line, he did not even try to follow. If only he had a Paolini type to help him bridge the gaps, he’d definitely win more races.
Really disappointed with Vanmarcke, I expected him to do better, hopefully he can recover for Paris Roubaix. Really impressed by Benoot and Greipel. Great teamwork from him.
Great footage of Kristoff’s son on the Flanders podium:
https://vine.co/v/OlxAFLWxjVh
Just read the interview with Stannard on cyclingnews http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/different-approach-for-sky-at-paris-roubaix-says-stannard and have to say I’m stunned by the lack of critical self-reflection. So he thinks they did everything right patroling at the front of the peloton with the whole team for 5 hours and then vanishing completely except for G who didn’t have the legs? Really? And “you can’t ride around the 30th position because you spend much more energy there”? Someone has got to tell this to Kristoff who did exactly this. Then he will win much easier next time.
But for Roubaix, according to Ian, Sky will apply a different tactic because they don’t have the outright favorite (which they had with G for the Ronde, really?) – but what about Sir Bradley who is going to win it? Is he less of a favorite for P-R than G was for the RVV? I’m confused -.
Or is Ian a little bit confused? Or does he want to confuse us or the competition? However, they will need more than their fair share of luck in order to win P-R if that’s their (lack of a well thought-out) race strategy. That’s the one thing that seems to be sure for Team Sky going into P-R.
Let them dominate the modern stage racing with their formulaic approach, I’m glad they have not yet found a way to dominate a real classic.
The idea is numerical, that having riders up front means they’ll get through to the next section unscathed and so on, with the idea being to have many riders for the finish. Certainly for the cobbled sectors this makes sense, the effort on the front is substantial but it is behind too and comes with added risks. Sky though did seem to do a lot of work early and during the paved and open road sections, using energy when others, like Kristoff, were sat tight.
Sky have been using this tactic for years. I think it might have been the 2012 Paris-Roubaix when they had several riders in with a shout with 30km to go… but none by the finish as they’d all been used up. They’ll hope that having more upfront means one, two or more will luck out and make it to the finish.
That’s exactly why they played it like that.
What they did in the 2012 P-R was have 4 guys – Hayman, Stannard, Flecha and EBH – in that chase group. Cos of their numbers no rider from any other team would help. The onus fell on Stannard and then Hayman to work to try to get the gap down to Boonen, with the tactic of trying to save their two leaders – EBH in case they brought Boonen back and it came to a sprint; and Flecha, as an attacking card, again if they brought Boonen back. But EBH did his usual fading act, and Flecha had had enough at some point and set off solo in pursuit (and got beaten in the velodrome to a podium place).
And they ended with just a 4th and an 8th place.
(Not trying to say the tactics were best, just describing what happened at P-R).
Thanks, Inrng, for picking up that discussion again. Very much appreciated.
Yes, I know that this strategy is a Team Sky trade mark and I’m also familiar with the thinking behind it. It’s the same as applied by Team USPS / Disco during the Lance-era. It worked for them during stage races.
What I’m criticizing is that this strategy only works if you have a team whose members are superior enabling them to endure the increased consumption of energy that goes along with it. For USPS that was a given not least due to some medical help. But today and for a team with a zero-tolerance strategy with regards to doping applying this strategy sends out a message of a very strong self-confidence to the informed spectator as well as to the competition. And it’s almost sure that this message can’t be true. As a clean team they can’t be superior by so much that riding at the front all day would not ruin their chances.
What I mean is: Their strategy is so simple it’s almost dumb. If this is a level playing field it takes a much more refined, say well-conceived strategy to bring your leader into the finale of a classic with a chance of winning.
And the 2012 P-R example showed exactly this. They were in the chase group with – if I remember correctly – three riders (EBH, Stannard, Flecha, not sure if Hayman was also there), but all of them were obviously cooked so that even when riding as a team and trading pulls they were not able to reduce Boonen’s advantage. Which is telling even when considering that Boonen was flying on that day.
I can’t proof it, of course, but I’m pretty sure that G would have been able to really feature in last Sunday’s finale if he (and ideally two team mates) had paid more attention to conserving their energy during the first five hours of the race. Come on, that’s one of the most important lessons you learn when you take part in long road races on a high level: Nearly all of them are won in the last hour. Up until then it’s all about staying safe, staying in contention and conserving as much energy as possible.