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!
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View Comments
@Rhodri
Yep. He'll be crushed tonight. Massive effort at that stage of proceedings to reel in Caruso. We'll never know if he could have finished it off. Messed up Kwiatowski's line through the corner too.
Gerro pissed me off with his tactics in the Aussie summer. Sitting in all day behind lesser riders. He could afford to animate the race against the softer fields. Today is a different circumstance. Top class field on the toughest parcours? Yep. He knows his craft. Gritty, watchful & patient. I wonder how many posts before the usual derogatory comment surfaces.
He will love that he beat Malmerde to that one. No love lost there.
And he wore a cap on the podium.
I wonder how long it will take for the usual derision der tags to come out after this.
@Harminator
I'll go first with the derision... he needs lessons from Brian Holm on how to wear that cap.
Apart from that, good on him. To win one Monument may be regarded as good fortune; to win two looks like decentness.
Not to mention wins in all the grand tours. He makes the most of what he's got and he does it pretty well.
@ChrisO
Not fair. Brian Holm is cool for starters.
From Martin....
The team rode a beautiful race today. We did everything right and they gave everything for me all day. I hit a patch of something on the road, I don't know exactly what happened - it was like falling out of a tree - and down I went. Before I knew it, it was over. I think there were tears in my eyes before I hit the floor. I'm just so sorry. I know in my heart we did everything we could have to get me where I needed to be. I'm heartbroken I couldn't deliver the win for the team but I'm proud of how they rode for me and of Tom finishing 6th. We'll just have to come back next year and try again.
VSP: Dang, dang, dang, dang, dang, dang, dang, dang, dang. It's on now.
I think at least one of my top 5 has crashed in every race so far. Wonder if anyone will pay me to "pick the other guy".......
Zero point fuck. Martin's front wheel just washed out from what I saw on youtube. That is tough.
Good on Gerro. He is a smart and good sprinter. Pulling off a bad ass sprint after 256km and shietloads of hills. And as ChrisO mentions, two Monuments, pretty brilliant.
All right. What a finish. @dyalander rules the day. He must be an Aussie.
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awwwwww, jeeze. There I am. No cool.
@Harminator
+3