The 100th running of Liége-Bastogne-Liége takes place this Sunday. Danny-boy Martin will be marked heavily as the defending champion. Malmerde, and Phil Gil have shown they are peaking too. Froomy has thrown his hat into the ring, as he did last year but after last years 26th place, maybe it’s training. 263 kms, past winners include a long list of known dopers, again, the pot belge mix paid off to keep riders cranking through those last climbs. Cancellara talked of slimming down more in to add this Monument to his palmarés but this might be the farthest from his grasp. This is a very tough race course. You need to be a fondisti, someone with staying power, a Phil Gil or a fully doped Moreno Argentin to finish this race off successfully. Last year Red Ryder went ballistic, blew up the field and opened a way for his teammate, Danny-boy. Let’s hope for some equally exciting fireworks this Sunday.
Here is an imperfect startlist.
The points from the LBL VSP count towards the overall prizes. So check the start list, review the VSP Scoring Guidelines and get your picks in by the time the countdown clock goes to zero at 00:00 hours PDT on Sunday the 27th. If you think we mapped one of your picks wrong, use the dispute system and we’ll review it. Also remember to be precise enough in your description so we know which rider you mean; in other words, if you enter “Martin”, we will use our discretion (read: wild guess) to decide if you mean Tony or Dan – and that choice will not be negotiable once the the countdown clock goes to zero, so be sure to give yourself enough time.
Don’t forget we’ve got three major prizes for the season-long VSP:
First place overall wins a Veloforma Strada iR Velominati Edition frame in addition to the customary VSP winner’s VVorkshop Apron
Second place overall wins a set of hand built CR Wheelworks Arenberg wheelset in a custom Velominati paint scheme laced to orange Chris King hubs. (CR Wheelworks is Café Roubaix’s new wheel goods brand.)
Third place is you’re fired or overall wins a full Velominati V-Kit with accompanying custom orange Bont Vaypor+ road shoes.
All Hail Cosmo!
[vsp_results id=”29669″/]
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View Comments
@Teocalli
Thanks for putting this up.
Wow, talk about classy comments and realizing both what he lost, what the team did for him, and yet, already talking about next year.
Also, only makes me that much happier to ignore and ignore more many of the other American sports I used to follow. Let's see - answering questions employing nothing more than cliches or...thinking about what you want to say, how you feel, and giving an honest, passionate reply. Gotta love the class of some of the wheelmen.
I guess I should end any further speculation. Yep - Aussie. What gave it away? I tried my best to hide my smugness.
Tragic for Martin and Garmin.
Massively impressed by Kwiatowski. It'll be interesting to see where he goes from here. He could be a classics machine - "Beethoven's piano", if you will.
Someone else noted it first but I tend to agree - do Martin's cranks look quite long? Its possible that he clipped a pedal and that was enough to unweight a tyre at the worst possible time. Feel for him and the team, they did a good job till then: but thats bike racing. Credit to Gerro, that is a great win and he may have come past Martin (assuming no fall) by the line anyway.
What are those grey things between the pedal and the crank arm?
@sthilzy
Garmin Vector power meter pedals.
@The Grande Fondue
those would cornering even more dangerous. oh wait...
not a great idea for a crit bike either.
@RedRanger that picture is a little misleading, the pedal sensor is at a right angle to the crank arm when installed as below.
@unversio
I believe it's the battery pod, and yes it doesn't reduce ground clearance if installed correctly. I can't exactly think of a situation where it might be, but it just looks to be very vulnerable.
From http://inrng.tumblr.com/post/84027878450
Looks like his read wheel just slid out.