Reply With QuoteLooking forward to it . Have ridden the sportive a few times on the Saturday and watched the pros on the Sunday . Beers in Ghent- proper cycling weekend .
It could become an interesting race this weekend with tons of rain today, tons of rain tomorrow and sun/dry on Sunday. MvdP, Van Aert of Pidcock? Ineos Grenadiers/Tom Pidcock are on the 'pavé' as well!
Looking forward to it . Have ridden the sportive a few times on the Saturday and watched the pros on the Sunday . Beers in Ghent- proper cycling weekend .
Anyone know if there is any TV coverage of the race?
GCN or Eurosport
i hope Wout wins it, or anyone apart from MvDP really.. not sure why but I just can't warm to him..
Dwars door Vlaanderen was a good race to watch - with a well deserved 2nd place for one of the breakaway riders..
They’re off. Started in Brueges for 273 kms and it is cold! Basically they’re cycling a few ‘loops’. The idea is that the spectators can walk from on spot to another to see them again and again.
I’ve experienced the Ronde’s crowd control last summer after a Rammstein concert in Ostend. I was (and am) in awe. It was the first gig on new festival grounds and after Corona, no one knew first hand how it would turn out. The 50,000 spectators were on their way out and within 300m after leaving the grounds, all was quiet again! The routing was fab! Like it was during the 2012 London Olympics when we left the ExCel exhibition center.
MvdP said this morning that he’s not really under pressure after winning it two times already.
Van Aert’s team is Dutch (Jumbo Visma) but still I would love to see a not so ‘obvious’ winner!
The Oude Kwaremont hill with the cobblestones looks ‘greasy’: the rocks are covered with mud. “Fat” is the word used by the Flemish tv commentators.
True winner of RVV23 (as it's called in the part of the world where we speak Dutch). MvdP agreed that he himself was not the best. What's good: a different winning team that Alpecin or Jumbo.
Great race , just watched the catch up on u tube. Not one for the squeamish with the size of the crashes
Yeah! I wondered why there was so much fuss about driving on the sidewalk etc. (No longer allowed) Today it was clear why that rule is enforced. The madman who caused the big crash was immediately expelled from the race.Originally Posted by higham5
Paris-Roubaix next week. The weather will be pretty good until Sunday with proper temps. Not much chance of rain. Lots of cobblestone roads (pavés) will be dry and dusty. However... the fields next to the pavés will still be wet and soggy. Farmers are allowed to use the dedicated roads of the trip up until Wednesday or Thursday. Big chance that there will be mud on the stones. And then the Forest of Wallers Aremberg, near the old coal mine. Normally that road is closed. It will be wet, muddy with moss because there's not a lot of sunlight on those stones. One of the most intrigueing stretches of cycling.
Something new for that race: Variable Air Pressure. Riders can adjust the amount of air pressure in the tyres. The ICU has allowed it. In fact they already did last year when DSM wanted to try it but decided not to do use it.
Last edited by thieuster; 2nd April 2023 at 21:11.
Yep - great race, I enjoyed watching that, apart from the crashes that is..
much respect to all who took part - or even rode the Sportive!
Wow variable tyre pressures! I remember spectating at LBL and the teams were working with Rockshox to make a short travel front fork. It was 30 mm from memory. They canned the idea fairly quickly in favour of the stem based “ headshock” systems.
At that time mtb riders were using Girvin Flexstems on their bikes prior to effective front suspension.
Eddy Merckx was honored today, 50 years after he won his 3rd Paris Roubaix: he now has his own stretch of cobbles: the Camphin-en-Pévèle is now 'Secteur Eddy Merckx'. This 1800 m sector is 20km before the finish and has a 90 degree turn after about 900 m.
Why this sector: because it's the one closest to the French-Belgian border. Fwiw: Merckx never rode this sector. It was added to the list of sectors in 1980...
From Wiki. This grim-looking stretch... pictured on a sunny July day.
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