Gilbert out-sprints Kwiatkowski in a two up finish.
Albasini leads the rest of the selection in for 3rd.
Matthews did what I expected, which was not much. Not sure he as the support at Sunweb to be a real threat.
The race was lit up with 40kms to go when Gilbert and Henao attacked on one of the climbs - Rojas, Albasini, Haas and Izagirre bridged over - They lead the next group by 15 or 20 seconds until the Patenberg when Kwiatkovski bridged over from the second - At this time Kreuziger who was in the second group and looking good crashed with Gasparotto and Kwiatkovski attacked on the final climb with 5 km and rode away from the rest of the group - Kwiatkovski went early in the sprint and Gilbert came over the top with 30 metres to go - Albasini wins the sprint for third in front of Haas - Albasini looking good for Fleche and LBL - Great ride by Haas.
I missed the Kreuziger crash, noting he was a DNF.
Very impressed with Nathan Hass’ ride.
Brendan Canty waved the flag for Cannondale, being in the break for most of the day.
That’s about as good as it gets for Cannondale these days!
It was obvious that Kreuziger was the protected rider while Albasini went with the attacks - It looked like Kreuziger took a heavy hit, though no broken bones - Doubt he will ride Fleche, but hoping he’s in form for LBL and Romandie where he is the protected rider - Gerrans a DNF - Shades of Hawthorn - Impey and Juul Jensen with good rides.
Interesting to see how A.Yates performs in Fleche - Apparently Orica is confident in his prospects, though I prefer Albasini
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Gerrans is clearly quite cooked.
Makes it interesting to see if he is offered another contract for next year - I’d let him go - Tuft will retire - Would offer Hayman another one year contract - Plaza is cooked - So that’s 3 immediate changes - Could be a question mark over Docker and Hepburn - So I see 3 to 5 changes - Then of course if Lefevre can’t find a sponsor for Etix, then you must go after one or two of their riders.
Hard to imagine that QS won’t get a sponsor after this classics season.
Mind you Gilbert is up for grabs, as he’s on a one year contract. He’ll command a substantial wage next year!
Would say it’s 90% certain LeFevre will find sponsorship - Seriously if you look at value for money than Etix and Moviestar are the two best teams in the peleton.
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No Yates and Kreuziger named by OS.
Albasini is protected.
Guess the Yates are still training at altitude. Kreuziger is named but its all in for Albasini.
Looked at profiles for Albasini’s race the Tour of Romandie. Only one stage suits and the short prologue.
Provisional start list for Giro
Yates × 2
Verona
Ewan
Kluge
Mezgec
Last 2 spots will be for work horses.Guess it will come from Tuft, Hepburn, Docker, Bewley or they f could use Plaza.
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Gilbert out of the remaining Ardennes classics with a torn kidney suffered in a crash earlier in the Amstel Gold.
Kind of remarkable that he managed to win the race despite that.
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And Valverde bosses the field in Fleche Wallone - Martin 2nd and Teuns 3rd - Albasini 5th.
And yesterday Nick Schulz was 4th in stage 2 of The Alps.
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Valverde winning last night was almost set in stone after Gilbert pulled out.
What happened to Dennis ?
Have no idea what happened to Dennis. Anyway he should focus on tt,classics and one week stage races. Should have ridden AG and LBL.
Albasini must be a chance in LBL, especially if they have the cobbled finish like 2017.
Ewan to ride the Tour of yorkshire like in 2016. Good lead up to the Giro. Ewan should win stage/s with no Kittel or Cavendish.
Simon Yates switches to the TdF in a two prong attack with Chaves.
I think that’s more of a reflection of the concern about Chaves fitness than Simon’s chances.
Adam will continue to target the Giro.
As i predicted a month ago - It makes sense because Simon’s number one goal in 2017 was the Vuelta, so he was always behind in fitness, compared to Adam - This gives Simon every chance to be at his peak for the TDF, and for Chaves to peak for the Vuelta.
Orica team for LBL
Albasini
A.Yates
S.Yates
Gerrans
Howson
Impey
Juul-Jensen
Kreuziger
The late addition of both Yates gives Orica multiple cards - I’d expect Orica to attack the last three or four climbs and one may stick.
Ewan to be the sprint option at the Tour of Yorkshire with Orica not seeming to have a GC contender.
Terrible news. Michele Scarponi killed by a truck in an accident.