Loving Valverde's season so far, what a machine! I don't know how Movistar will manage to score the points needed for WT status after his retirement at the end of this season. edit: 13 racedays and 12 results already. Scored more points than half a dozen WT teams.
@@nolabob5047 I don't agree with LR when he is saying Valverde wasn't pulling. He was, I've seen it. Yes, it seems he wasn't pulling in order to pull back Pogi, but to keep the gap to the next group. But the gap was too big anyway when Valverde had caught up with Asgreen. You might be right though, maybe his main goal is to score as many points as possible in order to ensure the team he has been with for almost his whole long career will keep its WT level.
I wasn't watching women’s cycling too much before and as a latecomer to the sport (started watching cycling from 2020 Tour de France) I saw just a few women's races, namely Olympics, European championships, Worlds and first ever Roubaix. Then I realized that women’s cycling was pretty interesting, so I watched the delayed Ronde van Drenthe and I was having fun watching the race. Today I remembered my autumn exciment and decided to watch both the races. I must admit, I was much more excited watching the women’s race than the men's one and I think that I will repeat turning on the TV for Women’s cycling until the end of the season. Maybe it'll help the sport to grow even more, hopefully.
I'm Team Monument. It's a unique, beautiful and challenging course with a load of top pros racing aggressively for the win. This is a hugely contested race and personally it's my #1 spring race to watch.
I was laughing so hard at the lil pogi boy smoking everyone BY FAR and then the oldest dude ever coming second. Legendary race even if we dont realise it yet
26:00 I totally agree with Benji here. First race I watched live was Ronde Van Vlaanderen 2018, and I kind of expected that every one day race would be just as exciting. Actually, only a few have been that good, such as the last european road championships, the last Paris-Roubaix, and Bettiol's 2019 win at the Ronde as well. The only grand tour I found truly exciting was the 2019 TDF, mostly because of Ala's beautiful powerslide finish in the time trial in Pau.
Dan Lloyd made a good point about why Strade is not a monument. It's only 185 kilometers and not 250 to 300. But it can be a harder effort than RVV as Lanterne said.
@@MichaelBoogerd I agree. If he ever happened to be feeling a little off, his history and reputation might be enough to discourage the chase that might actually catch him.
Can we talk about stage 5 of Paris-Nice btw? Hilly stage, 7km 8% climb 30 km before the finish. Surely Nairo will attack there, will we see Nairo dropping Rogla on the descend, the group behind not wanting to work with an isolated Roglič and consequentually attacking him and TJV losing control? Nobody is talking that Roglič has to rely on out-of-shape Kruijswijk, an unknown of Dennis and classics shape WvA for the mountains.. I think he could be isolated early in 5th, 7th and 8th stage so I would say that his favorite status is a bit overexxagarated. Hoping for a quality race.
My one issue with Strada, is the terrible broadcast production when they are in Siena. They really struggle to know where to look at the right time. Every year they miss action which is frustrating. This year they missed Valverde dropping Asgreen and Asgreen coming across the line. In the women's they showed how limited their line of sight is for the cameras because it was barely viewable the awesome sprint to the final corner. Then they switched to Uttrup Ludwig instead of the finish line. Last year the moto behind MVDP, Bernal and Ala is cut away to show the chopper shot when MVDP attacks, which is fine, but they've never released that footage from the Motos perspective. Why? I'd love if they got a drone or something for the final stretch and maybe more static cameras at the top so they don't miss the action?
"This year they missed Valverde dropping Asgreen and Asgreen coming across the line." Yeah, so disappointing. I felt betrayed, why I'm hurrying to get home from work early when they don't show me the race? Italian coverage seems to lack professionalism. It is the same at the Giro. Bad weather = no pictures. But only in Italy. I think, when a race isn't broadcasted professionally, it should lose its World Tour status.
With 30+ guys hitting the deck like a pack of cards, it split the field up. Alaphillipe was very lucky after doing that summersault, that could have end his season!
On your discussion about monuments. You didn't mention distance as a factor. Monuments are 260km plus where as most other one day races are 200 or less. Except I think Ghent wevelgem and Amstel gold. Which is why GW is seen as the dress rehearsal for Flanders.
No-one can declare monument status. The monuments should forever be these five races, but the concept should be separated from UCI-points (which it already kind of is). If Strade continues to gain in popularity, more points should be awarded to it and likewise monuments could become worth less.
There could be a second tier of 5 more races, which score more UCI points than a standard races, maybe called ‘Epics’. Monuments could score even more. Or that could be a terrible idea.
Yeah, and it seems, his secret is to climb onto many podiums as possible and thus achieving OP form throughout the season and career :D The guy basically can't manage to finish any hard race outside top 10... I tried to count his career top10s, I quit at about 600.
All praise to Pogacar, but that was some dysfunctional chasing. That crash took too much from the good chase teams like QS and Ineos. I didn't think there was an inevitability at 40k, 30k, 20k. So I think your lede has it right- the main story is the crash over Pogacar's super performance.
If van der Pool have did this race nobody would have mention thinks like this, How was this chase dysfuctuonal you are in a classic more than 120 km in the race and 4 quick step guys did chase ?
the fact that pog rode right past Alla, Quinn, Wellens, Clarke and puts the distance in on the descent after crashing with torn jersey and dried blood was the craziest part I don't get surprised by much Tadej does anymore his racecraft is so good. Might not be best for Tirreno but regardless looked like hell of a training ride for MSR, Flanders etc he has got so good at pushing gap out without going into red and just maintains that gap , like you guys say eventually disfunction sets in been that way forever. Doing it on descent was the key and it was like lombardia where he went over top other attackers but group was there basically. Really didnt drop select group eventually a couple different ones formed after Rodriguez got caught, but he dropped and entire cooperating field trek was on front, ineos, lotto, quickstep was large group at around 1:20 whole remaining field . That took crazy cojones hes a showmen high fived guy before final climb so relaxed liked Merckz was saying pre race hes not racing Giro probably shouldn't be their if cautious but he loves to race. He beat the whole field for 1/4 of the length of the race 50 k's for over an hour exposed to insane headwinds and crosswinds, like in that gent 2015 type conditions on gravel at his size should be a weakness. We can't minimize how impressive it was it was madness he had almost 1:45 on everyone before they absorbed rodriguez it started to close but it was wrap. Only people that would make difference to me were healthy MVDP or WVA but he wasn't going to go to the end with them he'd get smoked in Siena this was his plan whole time if it didn't work oh well MSR hes a showmen. If anyone recovers quickly enough for tirreno its him but thought same. Without WVA and MVDP in race this was always his tactic he knew exactly where his feed men were whole 50ks , only one car chat just to grab bottle so obviously planned. Tadej will be bumming without alejandro to mess up the chase next year sitting on people:) Just like Lombardia really different style race and stayed solo this time but when I saw inside 50k's you knew he was in one hour tt mode. If WVA, and MVDP were there healthy he still makes it as messy as possible because fresher WVA is you get Oomloop or MVDP you get last year reapeat.of Strade. Loved womens race Kopecky had already made strong move where sagan did one year and then wouldn't let AVV go whole climb was great , reminded me of fabian with Brambillia getting that inside line she said best win of her life too so had to feel great for her!! She also mentioned watching those editions in training so paid off and In belgian colors too! My thesis/ crazy ramble:), we have five monuments and it that way. They are spread out and distinct differences fact that only 3 men have all 5 in history bodes well that they were picked proper imo. Love Strade not long ago it was a fondo where you had to ride old school bikes and for prestige in tuscany. Its amazing what has happened since then enjoy it every year. Hope quintana can hang on climbs would bring something really cool to tour so hope he goes well in Nice. Really excited now for MSR hope POG is healthy on todays form hed be great match up with WVA with poggio and descent and even sprint if wout has to close. I had wout already penciled into a few classics. Asgreen looked great too..... sorry if you read all that hope something was interesting seeing some cyclists perform real high level excited lol
That huge crash with Alaphillipe's aerials was crazy! After that, the women's race was much more exciting (not saying the mens race was bad, just unfortunate). Really missing the 3 phenom boyz & others so I hope they're all in it next year, and then we can call it a monument. Addendum: My apologies, I should have said 3 of 4 phenom's. Pog is most certainly a phenom!!
Definitely a race of attrition but not how I thought it would go. I really looked forward to it, was disappointed and awed at the same time. Nasty crash when I was hoping to see Alaphilippe and Pog go head to head. I hope both are fine. Vistas never disappoint! Awed by Pog's run, and Alaphilippe's ability to get back in front. Asgreen must be close to his best form? Great description of Alaphilippe, btw. And that's why I like him. You just never know... The women's race- is there going to be a podcast? I expect so. Great race!! Thanks, guys, as always. Made my day.
A 50km break against the entire peloton. I said it before and I will say it again, he is either the greatest rider since Hinault or the most doped one since Armstrong.
I believe that is not a correct analogy, there are many cracks in your theory; 1. We will never know how doped Hinault was, as there were minimum 2 pro riders dying per season due to cocain related health complications at his time. Other than that, he was a relentless bully, some 1 day races he won by only bullying other riders by threatening them to kill their careers over his connections. Pogi certainly don't have those character traits at all. So saying Pogi is as "great" as Hinault, i believe, wouldn't be a compliment at all. 2. Armstrong doping suspections surfaced at the media as early as after his first wins, years before his treatment and come back and back to back TdF wins. He was even suspended after an Amstel Gold when he was 19 yo. So he had a long and dirty history already standing. Imagine, the standards of WADA back at Armstrong's time, it was nowhere near of the standards of today, where Roglic had to give a urine sample, on a boat in the Carribeans during his holiday. WADA officialls came with a speedboat out of nowhere, without notice. Athletes have to submit where they are at all times, including off season. So it is nowhere near as easy as to dope in todays standards. So I believe, it is a combination of good race strategies and timings, putting down his power at the right time, plus his confidence after the first TdF win has skyrocketed and since then, he rides with reassured of his abilities. I believe, any rider of his level, Roglic, Alaphillipe, Asgreen, MvdP can beat him up if they are able to ride more clever than him and of course more luckier than him in that day in terms of crashes, he is beatable! (like he was many times by those riders above.)
@@melihgebler1768 There was no EPO when Hinault raced. No other drug makes cyclists better in the same way EPO does. Beyond that I never said Hinault never doped. His record speaks for itself. If Armstrong could beat the tests of his day, they can still beat the tests.
In terms of “Monuments”, my first thought when I hear the term is “Epic”. It’s like Wonders of the Ancient World. A monument is awe inspiring like Paris Roubaix. A monument is something only super athletes can achieve. In a phrase… a monument has some “Elvis” in it. Strade Bianche does have some Elvis. Lombardia doesn’t have any Elvis and should be relegated. For further understanding on “Elvisness” please search on TH-cam “Elvis is Everywhere” by Mojo Nixon. Peace
Either Liege or Lombardia. Others might say MSR, but imo its much more consistently exciting than the other two due to the Poggio. The few editions of Liege I've watched have been a bit dull.
When was the monuments set by the UCI? Could be like 30 years ago or something like that right? What was the original criteria for being a monument? The main problem with saying something new is a monument due to popular demand, then you end up adding some race to the list of monuments every couple of years. Then maybe you could say that there is only 5 monuments at any point in time and so you have to review all the current monutions to figure out which one should be demoted for Strade Bianche to become a monument
the uci never set the monuments, the monuments are the most historically significant races, and no they should never chnge, and if they were to change there are many more deserving races then strade
@@calumsutherland4927 But surely if UCI gives more points for winning monuments then some official governing body (probably the uci) at some point in time agreed that these races where the monuments, based on some set of criteria?
@@rasmuslaurberghansen8484 the points are basically arbitrary for one day races lol, they don’t give more for monuments are the time, theres no real reason it is the way it is lol
Side note on monuments they are scheduled specifically so as not to nullify anyones participation too...but my own defintion of monuments are take a tour de france as example from the team to, the riders, to the stages what makes the diversity so exciting and why you need balance was point of monuments to have a long grueling one day for the best in each one of those categories without making it a walk in the park to make it extra special for that type of rider. Sprinters have MSR but you have to be fit enough to get over poggio and cipressa at speed like best sprinter doesnt always win green. Best rouleur wants flanders they add the cobbles to make it even harder and guve guys with a bit of punch a chance to separate if they can stay with rouleurs. Roubaix is for the big men who pull all these teams and the time trialists, but stil rouleurs can have their day. Liege starts stearing more towards gc on one day avg world course hence alejandro, alla, Merckx, hinault success lots of rolling hills yet none long or steep enough to give climbers unfair advantage. Lombardia is like liege yet even punchier imo like when gilbert and cungeo won still final climb last year wasn't big enough on paper to keep remco off favorites list. I think obvious objective was if you are true all rounder you want to win as many as possible but give each specialist category their one day target. The reason strade shouldn't be a monument, yet its one of best races of year is its the all rounders race already its not speacialized enough in my mind to eliminate enough of the field WVA wants flanders and roubaix so bad he skipped it he wouldn't do that to MSR or other two despite having already won. For example that select group you named last year in strade and that we see most years in not something you would likely ever see at flanders, roubaix, liege, or lombardia races are too specialized and not after the poggio is sorted in MSR certainly. Winning five monuments is next to impossible obviously only eddy, roger , van looy, if you are mentioned as having a chance you will most likely win an edition of strade just look gilbert, cancellara, MVDP, alla, pog, sagan, WVA, in its young history. Thats my 102 cents:) don't know official definition but that was biggest shame with roubaix recently moving it in calendar these are usually pillars. Womens race was more competitive wouldn't say better it wasnt historic:) nobody had ever won strade from further than 20k fabian 2012 and only WVA is other to solo, benoot too actually my fault but after liege , lombardia , again first TDF winner to take Strade. Hes certainly improving in one days. You can only beat those you are racing like today with jumbo riding off front with roglic being key no other big engine could chase unless they had GC man on the wheel didn't look like would have mattered much anyway. Took advantage of that motor bike draft too and the other 4 mitigating factors:) Busting you... that was awesome Laporte looks happy WVA is in terrifying form! Primoz usually is:) Think psychologically race over that was brutal. I think Jonas gets Tirreno btw after this even Pog has to slip that queen stage repeat climb, remco will drop too but look great up until I think....or be very close Jonas is fresh and in form peace!
@@philipb.1950 seems that the pace in the peloton might have fallen flat due to the lack of enough domestiques/leaders for remaining domestiques to work for due to the fall.
What a race. Pogi is an animal. I love what he does for the sport. That being said if 2 of 3 of WVA, MVDP and Pidcock were there to chase with Asgreen he gets caught (though maybe wins anyway)
@@BenjiNaesenTV I think Lanterne meant this season and Wout really spent a lot of energy chasin, eventually leading out MvDP on the Tiegemberg to drop seconds later.. Asgreen winning in a masterful performance.
It's all about prestige - mix of history + money/accolades for winning. If I'm a cyclist, do I want to go down in the pantheon of over a hundred years of history, stand with the greats of Merckx, Coppi, Kelly, Bartoli, Vlaeminck (and get the bonuses and the accolades in the present) or win the one that had a slightly higher viewing figures that year? If Saudi invest a billion in a 3 week stage race, have the greatest riders in the world on the start line and through canny marketing have the highest viewing figures - won't mean anything to me over the Tour or the Giro
It was a stunning race, but its just not the same without van aert, van der poel, pidcock and an alaphilippe, who is not affected by a crash. With these 4 guys, that pogacar solo would not have been possible and the race also would have been more exciting.
You get lucky when you don’t do a somersault or fall on your clavicula maan. He got out of this crash as if God split the red sea(the road in this case) for him to pass.
So first, I guess no previews for one week races (like PN and TA)? Secondly Pogacar was the best, but without this crash 50km would have been too early. Several good riders/domestiques fell away/were injured and other domestiques were used up earlier to bring riders back (like Honoré and Schmid for Alaphilippe with QST I believe). This caused the peloton to not really ride initially after the attack. The moment there are some domestiques ramming it, the time went down fast. And with maybe riders like Campenaerts and Benoot also in that group of favorites, they might have worked together instead of immediately stop riding/attacking. Without this crash I'd argue that if Pogacar still went with 50km to go, he might have lost it, even being the best rider of the day. Likely not going to see another 50km solo in Strade any time soon due to this imo. Regarding monuments, I'd argue a monument is a race that both is 1) special (like SR really long with one punchy climb at the end, RVV the cobbled hills, Roubaix the cobbles, Lombardy the 'climbers' monument, only LBL I don't really know, just being the ardenne monument I guess, in between RVV and Lombardy) 2) has some history 3) is popular I'd say strade could qualify for all 3 within maybe 5-10 years or so, only the history part could be up for dispute. Maybe having a grand classic sub division inbetween regular classic and monument races? Races like Amstel, Fleche, Wevelgem, Strade, ... could be in it. Looking at it, it is pretty stark how all monuments are spread out over the 'disciplines' and/or year blocs. SR can be won by even a sprinter and is a good 'year opener', RVV the punchy flemish classic, roubaix the pure classic rider, LBL the more hilly/climby ardenne type and then Lombardy the pure climbers italian type. It is like every kind of rider has possibly their own 'kind' of monument.
Quite disappointed with the tv production in the end of both the women and mens race. Had especially looked forward to watch the elderly Movistar-rider smoke the dane, but nothing.
Poor effort by the peloton and the chase. Pogacar's timing was perfect in that sense, no domestique's left, one v one, tough gravel section, peloton shook by the previous crash not wanting to take risks. Shame about the 5 man chase not working together. I really think they could have come close to Pogi. He would've probably taken it regardless...
Really don't care if a race is called a monument or not, I get more excited for Strade than MSR. But maybe a new rule should be that you can only be called a monument if you also have a womans race.
In the end, I was really hoping to see how balla passed asgreen in the last climb, but I guess the transmission prefered showing pogacar's celebration. Oh well, nice race anyways, pogi is outta this world (or doping lmao)
Mr Rouge, what did you think of the Cycling News headline where Van Avermaet is complaining about GC riders ruining classics riders chances. I'm not sure if something was lost in translation, but riders like Pogacar need to be celebrated. He is amazing. When was the last grand tour rider who could do what he does. The only prolific one day winner and grand tour capable rider I can recall in recent times is Valverde himself. And Pogacar is a better GC rider thus far.
To me the point of talking about monuments is defining the most prestigious one-day races. If you are new to the sport, these are the races you should care most about. Now, what do I mean by "prestige"? How many riders want to win it. So, to me, a monument is a race where all the riders with a chance of winning are on the start list. That's why today proved that Strade isn't there yet. This is also why, to me, talking about women's monuments is kind of pointless, as the big stars will be on the start line of almost all world tour races.
I love Strade, but imo it shouldn’t be a Monument. For the riders that have all 5 monuments on their palmarès, it’s a great achievement having all of them, and adding Strade would take that away
Radical view on the Monument issue....scrap it, as it is meaningless and of little commercial value. Instead, have a National Grand Prix Classics series of great one day races, ONE per big cycling country. For example, RVV, Amstel, Paris-Roubaix, MSR, plus build on best one day event you’ve got or can create in Spain, UK, Germany, USA, UAE, even Africa. Thats ten...maybe space them out to be one a month from Feb to Nov. Each to represent the character of bike racing in that place. The other big one day races just continue, and prosper or decline on their merits. If Strade or Lombardia supplants MSR for Italy, so be it. Likewise LBL versus RVV etc. It has worked well for Formula 1, at least commercially and for audience interest.
Anymore guys are more worried about losing to the guy beside them than the guy up the road. They’d rather race not to lose to the guy behind than race to beat the guy ahead. I don’t understand it. And Strade is a MONUMENTAL event every year, just because it’s young doesn’t make it unworthy of the status
Thanks guys. Pog won fair and square but the race would have been much better without that crash and I'm sure Pog would agree. Now that LR is a bona fide European he needs to up his game on pronunciation - Roubaix is not Roo-bay but Roo-ba
If a rider is so much better than the rest and wins pretty much every race he attends, you should be worried. It also makes cycling as a whole very unattractive. I have a bad feeling about this.
I hate the "monument" labels it's a bike race and unfortunately cycling is full of cliche and labelling. I can barely tolerate the term "classic" but that's at least relating to history.
Loving Valverde's season so far, what a machine! I don't know how Movistar will manage to score the points needed for WT status after his retirement at the end of this season.
edit: 13 racedays and 12 results already. Scored more points than half a dozen WT teams.
Does he want his legacy to be top UCI point scorer of all time? I don’t get why he won’t work to pull back Pogi. It’s his last year why not try to win
@@nolabob5047 I don't agree with LR when he is saying Valverde wasn't pulling. He was, I've seen it. Yes, it seems he wasn't pulling in order to pull back Pogi, but to keep the gap to the next group. But the gap was too big anyway when Valverde had caught up with Asgreen.
You might be right though, maybe his main goal is to score as many points as possible in order to ensure the team he has been with for almost his whole long career will keep its WT level.
I wasn't watching women’s cycling too much before and as a latecomer to the sport (started watching cycling from 2020 Tour de France) I saw just a few women's races, namely Olympics, European championships, Worlds and first ever Roubaix. Then I realized that women’s cycling was pretty interesting, so I watched the delayed Ronde van Drenthe and I was having fun watching the race. Today I remembered my autumn exciment and decided to watch both the races. I must admit, I was much more excited watching the women’s race than the men's one and I think that I will repeat turning on the TV for Women’s cycling until the end of the season. Maybe it'll help the sport to grow even more, hopefully.
I'm Team Monument. It's a unique, beautiful and challenging course with a load of top pros racing aggressively for the win. This is a hugely contested race and personally it's my #1 spring race to watch.
I think strade has something the other races do not..add that it's a fantastic race...with beautiful scenery.
I was laughing so hard at the lil pogi boy smoking everyone BY FAR and then the oldest dude ever coming second. Legendary race even if we dont realise it yet
Haha. Where did Benji get that Adria Mobil jersey? What's the story behind that? Love it.
26:00 I totally agree with Benji here. First race I watched live was Ronde Van Vlaanderen 2018, and I kind of expected that every one day race would be just as exciting. Actually, only a few have been that good, such as the last european road championships, the last Paris-Roubaix, and Bettiol's 2019 win at the Ronde as well.
The only grand tour I found truly exciting was the 2019 TDF, mostly because of Ala's beautiful powerslide finish in the time trial in Pau.
8:30 Perfect summary of Alaphilippe, Patrick!
Dan Lloyd made a good point about why Strade is not a monument. It's only 185 kilometers and not 250 to 300. But it can be a harder effort than RVV as Lanterne said.
Definitely is a harder effort than MSR despite being 100km shorter.
these two are a treasure. really enjoy them
Pogacar isn't just insanely strong. He has a sixth sense for race dynamics. Seems to always know when to go.
@@MichaelBoogerd I agree. If he ever happened to be feeling a little off, his history and reputation might be enough to discourage the chase that might actually catch him.
Can we talk about stage 5 of Paris-Nice btw? Hilly stage, 7km 8% climb 30 km before the finish. Surely Nairo will attack there, will we see Nairo dropping Rogla on the descend, the group behind not wanting to work with an isolated Roglič and consequentually attacking him and TJV losing control?
Nobody is talking that Roglič has to rely on out-of-shape Kruijswijk, an unknown of Dennis and classics shape WvA for the mountains.. I think he could be isolated early in 5th, 7th and 8th stage so I would say that his favorite status is a bit overexxagarated. Hoping for a quality race.
My one issue with Strada, is the terrible broadcast production when they are in Siena. They really struggle to know where to look at the right time. Every year they miss action which is frustrating.
This year they missed Valverde dropping Asgreen and Asgreen coming across the line.
In the women's they showed how limited their line of sight is for the cameras because it was barely viewable the awesome sprint to the final corner. Then they switched to Uttrup Ludwig instead of the finish line.
Last year the moto behind MVDP, Bernal and Ala is cut away to show the chopper shot when MVDP attacks, which is fine, but they've never released that footage from the Motos perspective. Why?
I'd love if they got a drone or something for the final stretch and maybe more static cameras at the top so they don't miss the action?
I live in Italy, its standard practice for Italians to miss the true action!!! Sorry!
"This year they missed Valverde dropping Asgreen and Asgreen coming across the line."
Yeah, so disappointing. I felt betrayed, why I'm hurrying to get home from work early when they don't show me the race? Italian coverage seems to lack professionalism. It is the same at the Giro. Bad weather = no pictures. But only in Italy. I think, when a race isn't broadcasted professionally, it should lose its World Tour status.
At least Kopecky's win was very exciting.
Where else are we going to be honored with a South Park reference to Cartman's Jennifer Lopez hand puppet?
With 30+ guys hitting the deck like a pack of cards, it split the field up. Alaphillipe was very lucky after doing that summersault, that could have end his season!
On your discussion about monuments. You didn't mention distance as a factor. Monuments are 260km plus where as most other one day races are 200 or less. Except I think Ghent wevelgem and Amstel gold. Which is why GW is seen as the dress rehearsal for Flanders.
No-one can declare monument status. The monuments should forever be these five races, but the concept should be separated from UCI-points (which it already kind of is). If Strade continues to gain in popularity, more points should be awarded to it and likewise monuments could become worth less.
There could be a second tier of 5 more races, which score more UCI points than a standard races, maybe called ‘Epics’. Monuments could score even more. Or that could be a terrible idea.
Valverde is the goat fr
Yeah, and it seems, his secret is to climb onto many podiums as possible and thus achieving OP form throughout the season and career :D The guy basically can't manage to finish any hard race outside top 10... I tried to count his career top10s, I quit at about 600.
Amazing achievement today. Thought he was done, pero todavia ni de coña!😂
All praise to Pogacar, but that was some dysfunctional chasing. That crash took too much from the good chase teams like QS and Ineos. I didn't think there was an inevitability at 40k, 30k, 20k. So I think your lede has it right- the main story is the crash over Pogacar's super performance.
If van der Pool have did this race nobody would have mention thinks like this,
How was this chase dysfuctuonal you are in a classic more than 120 km in the race and 4 quick step guys did chase ?
the fact that pog rode right past Alla, Quinn, Wellens, Clarke and puts the distance in on the descent after crashing with torn jersey and dried blood was the craziest part I don't get surprised by much Tadej does anymore his racecraft is so good. Might not be best for Tirreno but regardless looked like hell of a training ride for MSR, Flanders etc he has got so good at pushing gap out without going into red and just maintains that gap , like you guys say eventually disfunction sets in been that way forever. Doing it on descent was the key and it was like lombardia where he went over top other attackers but group was there basically. Really didnt drop select group eventually a couple different ones formed after Rodriguez got caught, but he dropped and entire cooperating field trek was on front, ineos, lotto, quickstep was large group at around 1:20 whole remaining field . That took crazy cojones hes a showmen high fived guy before final climb so relaxed liked Merckz was saying pre race hes not racing Giro probably shouldn't be their if cautious but he loves to race. He beat the whole field for 1/4 of the length of the race 50 k's for over an hour exposed to insane headwinds and crosswinds, like in that gent 2015 type conditions on gravel at his size should be a weakness. We can't minimize how impressive it was it was madness he had almost 1:45 on everyone before they absorbed rodriguez it started to close but it was wrap. Only people that would make difference to me were healthy MVDP or WVA but he wasn't going to go to the end with them he'd get smoked in Siena this was his plan whole time if it didn't work oh well MSR hes a showmen. If anyone recovers quickly enough for tirreno its him but thought same. Without WVA and MVDP in race this was always his tactic he knew exactly where his feed men were whole 50ks , only one car chat just to grab bottle so obviously planned. Tadej will be bumming without alejandro to mess up the chase next year sitting on people:) Just like Lombardia really different style race and stayed solo this time but when I saw inside 50k's you knew he was in one hour tt mode. If WVA, and MVDP were there healthy he still makes it as messy as possible because fresher WVA is you get Oomloop or MVDP you get last year reapeat.of Strade. Loved womens race Kopecky had already made strong move where sagan did one year and then wouldn't let AVV go whole climb was great , reminded me of fabian with Brambillia getting that inside line she said best win of her life too so had to feel great for her!! She also mentioned watching those editions in training so paid off and In belgian colors too! My thesis/ crazy ramble:), we have five monuments and it that way. They are spread out and distinct differences fact that only 3 men have all 5 in history bodes well that they were picked proper imo. Love Strade not long ago it was a fondo where you had to ride old school bikes and for prestige in tuscany. Its amazing what has happened since then enjoy it every year. Hope quintana can hang on climbs would bring something really cool to tour so hope he goes well in Nice. Really excited now for MSR hope POG is healthy on todays form hed be great match up with WVA with poggio and descent and even sprint if wout has to close. I had wout already penciled into a few classics. Asgreen looked great too..... sorry if you read all that hope something was interesting seeing some cyclists perform real high level excited lol
That huge crash with Alaphillipe's aerials was crazy! After that, the women's race was much more exciting (not saying the mens race was bad, just unfortunate). Really missing the 3 phenom boyz & others so I hope they're all in it next year, and then we can call it a monument.
Addendum: My apologies, I should have said 3 of 4 phenom's. Pog is most certainly a phenom!!
Definitely a race of attrition but not how I thought it would go.
I really looked forward to it, was disappointed and awed at the same time. Nasty crash when I was hoping to see Alaphilippe and Pog go head to head. I hope both are fine.
Vistas never disappoint!
Awed by Pog's run, and Alaphilippe's ability to get back in front. Asgreen must be close to his best form?
Great description of Alaphilippe, btw. And that's why I like him. You just never know...
The women's race- is there going to be a podcast? I expect so. Great race!!
Thanks, guys, as always. Made my day.
I remember Quintana winning vuelta a Burgos and the heli pushing the chasers out of road creating to much wind being to close
Which year, 2013?
@@JonnaFaith th-cam.com/video/-zEONen9PmI/w-d-xo.html yes
@@victorc8581 thank you. Well that's crazy 😭😂
A 50km break against the entire peloton. I said it before and I will say it again, he is either the greatest rider since Hinault or the most doped one since Armstrong.
I believe that is not a correct analogy, there are many cracks in your theory;
1. We will never know how doped Hinault was, as there were minimum 2 pro riders dying per season due to cocain related health complications at his time. Other than that, he was a relentless bully, some 1 day races he won by only bullying other riders by threatening them to kill their careers over his connections. Pogi certainly don't have those character traits at all. So saying Pogi is as "great" as Hinault, i believe, wouldn't be a compliment at all.
2. Armstrong doping suspections surfaced at the media as early as after his first wins, years before his treatment and come back and back to back TdF wins. He was even suspended after an Amstel Gold when he was 19 yo. So he had a long and dirty history already standing. Imagine, the standards of WADA back at Armstrong's time, it was nowhere near of the standards of today, where Roglic had to give a urine sample, on a boat in the Carribeans during his holiday. WADA officialls came with a speedboat out of nowhere, without notice. Athletes have to submit where they are at all times, including off season. So it is nowhere near as easy as to dope in todays standards.
So I believe, it is a combination of good race strategies and timings, putting down his power at the right time, plus his confidence after the first TdF win has skyrocketed and since then, he rides with reassured of his abilities. I believe, any rider of his level, Roglic, Alaphillipe, Asgreen, MvdP can beat him up if they are able to ride more clever than him and of course more luckier than him in that day in terms of crashes, he is beatable! (like he was many times by those riders above.)
@@melihgebler1768 There was no EPO when Hinault raced. No other drug makes cyclists better in the same way EPO does. Beyond that I never said Hinault never doped. His record speaks for itself. If Armstrong could beat the tests of his day, they can still beat the tests.
In terms of “Monuments”, my first thought when I hear the term is “Epic”. It’s like Wonders of the Ancient World. A monument is awe inspiring like Paris Roubaix. A monument is something only super athletes can achieve.
In a phrase… a monument has some “Elvis” in it. Strade Bianche does have some Elvis. Lombardia doesn’t have any Elvis and should be relegated.
For further understanding on “Elvisness” please search on TH-cam “Elvis is Everywhere” by Mojo Nixon. Peace
I kinda like Lombardia. Demote Milan Sanremo. It's the most boring of the monuments. Strade Bianche is way more fun.
A good question for these sort of arbitrary group things is "What would you remove to add Strada".
Either Liege or Lombardia. Others might say MSR, but imo its much more consistently exciting than the other two due to the Poggio. The few editions of Liege I've watched have been a bit dull.
I find MSR to be a boring edition almost every year, so...
@@Symbioticism it is for most it, but the Poggio has been delivering every year since 2017
@@philipsaunders842 liege is one of the oldest races, it should stay imo. It's also just a good race to watch
Nobody gives a damn about Lombardia
When was the monuments set by the UCI? Could be like 30 years ago or something like that right? What was the original criteria for being a monument?
The main problem with saying something new is a monument due to popular demand, then you end up adding some race to the list of monuments every couple of years.
Then maybe you could say that there is only 5 monuments at any point in time and so you have to review all the current monutions to figure out which one should be demoted for Strade Bianche to become a monument
the uci never set the monuments, the monuments are the most historically significant races, and no they should never chnge, and if they were to change there are many more deserving races then strade
@@calumsutherland4927 such as?
@@emorhcelgoog San Sebastian, Fleche Wallone, Amstel, all much more significant races witha real history
@@calumsutherland4927 But surely if UCI gives more points for winning monuments then some official governing body (probably the uci) at some point in time agreed that these races where the monuments, based on some set of criteria?
@@rasmuslaurberghansen8484 the points are basically arbitrary for one day races lol, they don’t give more for monuments are the time, theres no real reason it is the way it is lol
Side note on monuments they are scheduled specifically so as not to nullify anyones participation too...but my own defintion of monuments are take a tour de france as example from the team to, the riders, to the stages what makes the diversity so exciting and why you need balance was point of monuments to have a long grueling one day for the best in each one of those categories without making it a walk in the park to make it extra special for that type of rider. Sprinters have MSR but you have to be fit enough to get over poggio and cipressa at speed like best sprinter doesnt always win green. Best rouleur wants flanders they add the cobbles to make it even harder and guve guys with a bit of punch a chance to separate if they can stay with rouleurs. Roubaix is for the big men who pull all these teams and the time trialists, but stil rouleurs can have their day. Liege starts stearing more towards gc on one day avg world course hence alejandro, alla, Merckx, hinault success lots of rolling hills yet none long or steep enough to give climbers unfair advantage. Lombardia is like liege yet even punchier imo like when gilbert and cungeo won still final climb last year wasn't big enough on paper to keep remco off favorites list. I think obvious objective was if you are true all rounder you want to win as many as possible but give each specialist category their one day target. The reason strade shouldn't be a monument, yet its one of best races of year is its the all rounders race already its not speacialized enough in my mind to eliminate enough of the field WVA wants flanders and roubaix so bad he skipped it he wouldn't do that to MSR or other two despite having already won. For example that select group you named last year in strade and that we see most years in not something you would likely ever see at flanders, roubaix, liege, or lombardia races are too specialized and not after the poggio is sorted in MSR certainly. Winning five monuments is next to impossible obviously only eddy, roger , van looy, if you are mentioned as having a chance you will most likely win an edition of strade just look gilbert, cancellara, MVDP, alla, pog, sagan, WVA, in its young history. Thats my 102 cents:) don't know official definition but that was biggest shame with roubaix recently moving it in calendar these are usually pillars. Womens race was more competitive wouldn't say better it wasnt historic:) nobody had ever won strade from further than 20k fabian 2012 and only WVA is other to solo, benoot too actually my fault but after liege , lombardia , again first TDF winner to take Strade. Hes certainly improving in one days. You can only beat those you are racing like today with jumbo riding off front with roglic being key no other big engine could chase unless they had GC man on the wheel didn't look like would have mattered much anyway. Took advantage of that motor bike draft too and the other 4 mitigating factors:) Busting you... that was awesome Laporte looks happy WVA is in terrifying form! Primoz usually is:) Think psychologically race over that was brutal. I think Jonas gets Tirreno btw after this even Pog has to slip that queen stage repeat climb, remco will drop too but look great up until I think....or be very close Jonas is fresh and in form peace!
Pogi did 350w for 50 kms solo effort (Velon data).
Yeah and his avg. for the whole Race was 340. Meaning He did Not Really increase the pace by much
@@philipb.1950 seems that the pace in the peloton might have fallen flat due to the lack of enough domestiques/leaders for remaining domestiques to work for due to the fall.
What a race. Pogi is an animal. I love what he does for the sport.
That being said if 2 of 3 of WVA, MVDP and Pidcock were there to chase with Asgreen he gets caught (though maybe wins anyway)
Watched both races - both awesome for very different reasons.
Superb singing LR Lopez 😂
strade bianche i loves trade and a lot of races are starting to copy it so its speeks at it self
Pog just knows exactly when to start the Landis😜
5:10 pretty sure E3 as Lanterne says where Wout had to chase with his twam due to a mechanical and expanding loads of energy
My mind was in that Roubaix where he crashed while coming back 2 years ago.
@@BenjiNaesenTV I think Lanterne meant this season and Wout really spent a lot of energy chasin, eventually leading out MvDP on the Tiegemberg to drop seconds later.. Asgreen winning in a masterful performance.
Benji. Right on Bro!
benji what is the deal with the Adria jersey?
You two are fun.
😘
What monuments mean to me is a large slate of elite riders show trying to win. No one shows up to RVV to get ready for the Giro. They show up to win.
Fantastic races - the women's finish was so tense, the men's simply a blowout. One question: where's the Rat Thing? Most important issue of the week..
Do you have a highlights version of the race?
Hi Linda, I may have a video on this race on my main channel later in the year, I’m still sorting out the licensing - lr
Let’s call Strade, Fleche, Amstel, Omloop and San Sebastian The Small Monuments
Guys any chance of Paris-Nice preview here or on LR main channel?
Ran out of time this week - lr
@@LanterneRougeCyclingPodcast that's fine, recover well for an intense next week ;)
Pog looking very Armstrong-like. Loulou gets a 10 for crash style 🤣👍🏼
It's all about prestige - mix of history + money/accolades for winning. If I'm a cyclist, do I want to go down in the pantheon of over a hundred years of history, stand with the greats of Merckx, Coppi, Kelly, Bartoli, Vlaeminck (and get the bonuses and the accolades in the present) or win the one that had a slightly higher viewing figures that year? If Saudi invest a billion in a 3 week stage race, have the greatest riders in the world on the start line and through canny marketing have the highest viewing figures - won't mean anything to me over the Tour or the Giro
It was a stunning race, but its just not the same without van aert, van der poel, pidcock and an alaphilippe, who is not affected by a crash. With these 4 guys, that pogacar solo would not have been possible and the race also would have been more exciting.
It was Roubaix 2019
I would like stade to be a monument only because it would always attract the biggest riders
Oh yeah babayyyyyyyy
For me Monuments mean the harrdest one day races in cycling and that's it. So ye
MSR is long but I'd argue it isn't very hard until the end...
the women's race was like 7x as good; any vid about the Donne coming?
Landis style
One of the camera motorbikes were disqualified for taking pace behind Pogadcar
Pogacar won it fair and square, but he got very lucky in the crash.
How do you get lucky when you crash?
You get lucky when you don’t do a somersault or fall on your clavicula maan. He got out of this crash as if God split the red sea(the road in this case) for him to pass.
Santos tour down under lmaoo
So first, I guess no previews for one week races (like PN and TA)?
Secondly Pogacar was the best, but without this crash 50km would have been too early. Several good riders/domestiques fell away/were injured and other domestiques were used up earlier to bring riders back (like Honoré and Schmid for Alaphilippe with QST I believe). This caused the peloton to not really ride initially after the attack. The moment there are some domestiques ramming it, the time went down fast. And with maybe riders like Campenaerts and Benoot also in that group of favorites, they might have worked together instead of immediately stop riding/attacking.
Without this crash I'd argue that if Pogacar still went with 50km to go, he might have lost it, even being the best rider of the day.
Likely not going to see another 50km solo in Strade any time soon due to this imo.
Regarding monuments, I'd argue a monument is a race that both is
1) special (like SR really long with one punchy climb at the end, RVV the cobbled hills, Roubaix the cobbles, Lombardy the 'climbers' monument, only LBL I don't really know, just being the ardenne monument I guess, in between RVV and Lombardy)
2) has some history
3) is popular
I'd say strade could qualify for all 3 within maybe 5-10 years or so, only the history part could be up for dispute. Maybe having a grand classic sub division inbetween regular classic and monument races? Races like Amstel, Fleche, Wevelgem, Strade, ... could be in it.
Looking at it, it is pretty stark how all monuments are spread out over the 'disciplines' and/or year blocs. SR can be won by even a sprinter and is a good 'year opener', RVV the punchy flemish classic, roubaix the pure classic rider, LBL the more hilly/climby ardenne type and then Lombardy the pure climbers italian type. It is like every kind of rider has possibly their own 'kind' of monument.
LRCP, now with Lanterne, Benji, and Jennifer Lopez :) #tacotacoburritoburrito
Where's the highlights/analysis videos from LTR?! The podcast is great but I'm getting withdrawal!
Stage 1 of Paris Nice dropping tomorrow!
#2:48 Proof Patrick is not human. How the hell do you remember that?
Quite disappointed with the tv production in the end of both the women and mens race. Had especially looked forward to watch the elderly Movistar-rider smoke the dane, but nothing.
Very good point!
Wout had like 2 crashes and a mechanical and a puncture
Poor effort by the peloton and the chase. Pogacar's timing was perfect in that sense, no domestique's left, one v one, tough gravel section, peloton shook by the previous crash not wanting to take risks. Shame about the 5 man chase not working together. I really think they could have come close to Pogi. He would've probably taken it regardless...
LR does CP3PO
Really don't care if a race is called a monument or not, I get more excited for Strade than MSR. But maybe a new rule should be that you can only be called a monument if you also have a womans race.
In the end, I was really hoping to see how balla passed asgreen in the last climb, but I guess the transmission prefered showing pogacar's celebration. Oh well, nice race anyways, pogi is outta this world (or doping lmao)
wind, obvious and profound!!! the great outdoors boys and girls. stuff happens.
Asgreen pulling from 40K to 50K for Alaphillipe was so wrong...
01:15 lunatic Attack
MSR is the most boring (race) monument of the season
Mr Rouge, what did you think of the Cycling News headline where Van Avermaet is complaining about GC riders ruining classics riders chances. I'm not sure if something was lost in translation, but riders like Pogacar need to be celebrated. He is amazing. When was the last grand tour rider who could do what he does. The only prolific one day winner and grand tour capable rider I can recall in recent times is Valverde himself. And Pogacar is a better GC rider thus far.
Reminds me of this : th-cam.com/video/Pbc6BHuEWPk/w-d-xo.html
Mass crash at high speed on the TdF in 2015 down to Huy.
To me the point of talking about monuments is defining the most prestigious one-day races. If you are new to the sport, these are the races you should care most about. Now, what do I mean by "prestige"? How many riders want to win it. So, to me, a monument is a race where all the riders with a chance of winning are on the start list. That's why today proved that Strade isn't there yet.
This is also why, to me, talking about women's monuments is kind of pointless, as the big stars will be on the start line of almost all world tour races.
I love Strade, but imo it shouldn’t be a Monument. For the riders that have all 5 monuments on their palmarès, it’s a great achievement having all of them, and adding Strade would take that away
Would it? Would it not still be a fantastic thing to have achieved?
@@Symbioticism it would but for the riders that have won all 5 and have retired, they suddenly won’t have all ‘6’ on their palmarès
no recap for women's race?
Radical view on the Monument issue....scrap it, as it is meaningless and of little commercial value. Instead, have a National Grand Prix Classics series of great one day races, ONE per big cycling country. For example, RVV, Amstel, Paris-Roubaix, MSR, plus build on best one day event you’ve got or can create in Spain, UK, Germany, USA, UAE, even Africa. Thats ten...maybe space them out to be one a month from Feb to Nov. Each to represent the character of bike racing in that place. The other big one day races just continue, and prosper or decline on their merits. If Strade or Lombardia supplants MSR for Italy, so be it. Likewise LBL versus RVV etc. It has worked well for Formula 1, at least commercially and for audience interest.
That's a cool idea
When you see how pogacar looked on the gravel im pretty sure he would have won a Sprint in Siena as well pretty easily
Hard to believe he is clean...
Anymore guys are more worried about losing to the guy beside them than the guy up the road. They’d rather race not to lose to the guy behind than race to beat the guy ahead. I don’t understand it. And Strade is a MONUMENTAL event every year, just because it’s young doesn’t make it unworthy of the status
Thanks guys. Pog won fair and square but the race would have been much better without that crash and I'm sure Pog would agree.
Now that LR is a bona fide European he needs to up his game on pronunciation - Roubaix is not Roo-bay but Roo-ba
definitely not roo-ba ^^
@@pachr At best it would be Roo-bae
If a rider is so much better than the rest and wins pretty much every race he attends, you should be worried. It also makes cycling as a whole very unattractive. I have a bad feeling about this.
I hate the "monument" labels it's a bike race and unfortunately cycling is full of cliche and labelling. I can barely tolerate the term "classic" but that's at least relating to history.
Pogacar is le Patron of cycling I think.