Surely rely on his sprint. Dillier surely cannot have much in his tank.

Brilliant from Sagan.

sagan it is

Sagan masterclass.

It was pretty bloody close

well done both of them. Happy to see Sagan win it.

That was a brilliant finish. Sagan is class.

That's the best of the classics to be won.

Wasn't it. Thats why I qualified with the second 'surely'

Michael Goolaerts died at PR today. Cardiac arrest. Terrible

RIP

Very sad indeed. Can't imagine the pain of his poor relatives.

Awful News RIP Michael

Sounds increasing like he had the Heart Attack on the road, & drifted off as he collapsed; paramedics were on the scene very quickly, & he was medivac'd to hospital very rapidly; but there was nothing the medical response could do

That's horrible news. I was with a mate in a race (charity event for a hospital!), we were bridging to a group in front when he called to me to ease up, turned round and he was grey as fcuk. Never seen anyone look like that. No mobile signal where we were so flagged down another rider to go up the road and find a signal or marshal when a 'kin ambulance passed! Got him to the hospital (where he worked as a charge nurse!) and they sorted him out. He placed third in his category at the one-day Coast to Coast two years later.

Well done Sagan, got it taped. Mrs. Doc in for a disappointing night in front of the telly...

23 years old, terrible news. I think the coverage caught him today. He was lying on his own at the side of the road.

Same thing happened during the 2003 Etape du Tour that I did at Limoges. It is really terrible to see this happening. Condolences to the riders family and friends.

2018 race was good viewing. Piotr Sagan is a class rider. Lots of class one day riders though, Cancellara, Museeuw, Kelly remains my personal favourite.

There used to be only a few of us here on this site who actually followed the sport. It has deteriorated badly since a couple of the resident gobshites here began pontificating about the sport.

Yeah, I saw this. He was alone on the side of the road, lying flat on his back and I immediately thought something looks very wrong there. Liggett and Sherwen didn't seem to think too much of it at the time.

RIP young man.

That is really really sad news. RIP.

Haha, harsh! There's a few know their onions though, and I'll try to avoid gobshitery on my part .

That wasn't directed at you. doc.

Thanks I'm quite capable of talking out of my arse though...

Fair play to Sagan, he backed himself to make an aggressive move whilst the rest of them were looking around them, and was lucky that Dillier put in such an incredible ride.

RIP Michael Goolaerts.

Confirmed now that Goolaerts suffered cardiac arrest, which caused his crash, rather than vice versa. Lots of articles floating around now about all the health screenings that riders undergo, and a reminder that what pro cyclists do to themselves is absolutely not healthy.

Watched Roubaix on Sunday morning, but then the hangover kicked in and my head felt like I’d been dragged through carrefour de l’arbre out the back of the Bora team car, so I didn’t post. Anyway, Sagan v impressive, looked like GVA just let him roll off the front, no Quicksteppers were around to chase him, so off he went. He was very lucky to find a willing and able break-mate in Dillier.

Also great to see Taylor Phinney having such a good day.

Ardennes coming up. Getting into the exciting part of the season...

Anyone else remember his old mans crash on LBL ?



His face was, unsurprisingly, in tatters; over a 100 stitches required; & an example on why drafting behind team cars is dangerous, as well as illegal.

Did anyone else see the backstory that leads to this?





https://www.instagram.com/p/BgGb_lbjxuq ... =petosagan

Anyone watching the Amstel Gold Race? Sagan and Valverde looking to battle it out in the last 10.

Irish rider Eddie Dunbar for Aqua Blue Sport in the breakaway for a good deal of the race.

Cracking finish here. Some talent in this front group.

Valgren wins, deserved after taking it to the lead group. Sagan and Valverde 4th and 5th.

Astana worked that well with Valgren and Fuglsang. Valgren's attack to get away from the group was a rocket.

Sagan, Valverde and Alaphilippe should have been the favourites in the final group, but they were too focussed on watching each other. Eventually, Sagan just let his old teammates Valgren and Kreuziger go, nobody else chased them, and the race was decided.

Good picture. Ireland's Eddie Dunbar being helped off his bike at the finish.

As encouraging as Dunbar’s ride was, you can’t help thinking if he’d rode within himself a bit more in the break, rather than trying to be the biggest motor in it, he might’ve been able to stay with the leaders when they bridged. Lawson Craddock in the break, and now he has a top 10 in Amstel Gold.

I thought he was fairly motoring as well. All a learning experience for him though I suppose.

Valverde beaten at Fleche Wallonne shocker. Somehow Fleche managed to be a cracking race this year, but still come down to a group sprint up the Mur, and Alaphilippe was just that little bit fresher and stronger.

Good to see.

Alaphilippe has to be my favourite current French rider. Always animates races and willing to have a go.

to be fair pinot (leading the tour des alpes (ex Trentin) does atack regularly (finished second last 2 stages )

so does Bardet who finished in top 10 in the flèche only 6 sec behind

They only attack on mountain stages. Alaphilippe will have a go anywhere.

It's just personal bias though - my personal preference is for classics and rouleur riders like Alaphilippe, Sagan, Gilbert, Terpstra

both are pretty much climbers though Alaphilippe is a good bit better on the flat .

What are Jungels' chances here?

49 secs?

52now

Fark me this is gonna be so close.

Alaphillipe for mine

or maybe not... Jungels might get this