Pro-cycling thread

Hear hear. He is rainbow while you concentrate on touring now ;-)

And he is not going to win MSR.

You can get Cancellara and Van Avermaet at very good odds:

http://www.paddypower.com/bet/cycling/milan---san-remo

Bouhanni causes a crash taking out all fav sprinters and Boonen will win it from the third line because he's scared of sprints nowadays

Boonen will climb off the bike after 80k with stomach troubles.

Bouhanni will be dropped on the Poggio while Gerrans marks Cancellara leaving Matthews for the win.

Gaviria is interesting. He looked strong when he was pulling the break at Tirenno stage 7 but that wasn't 300km.

Will Etixx even be riding for him?

Where's Julian Alaphilippe? Quick google search says he was ill in the off season. Haven't noticed him riding though. Hopefully he's riding the classics again this year.

I'd forgotten about him. So many excited young riders about at the moment.

Not seen Vuillermoz so far this year either.

Edit - he's not so young at 27.

Fantasy League for the classics is here: https://www.lfgss.com/comments/12860153/

Very unlikely I would say. I don't think he'll feature at the end of MSR at all.

Going from winning the World Champs in the Omnium to winning Milan San Remo a fortnight later would be some feat.

My Shortlist is:
Fabs - He will attack on the Poggio and I think some will go with him
Sagan - Will go with Spartacus, descend like crazy, then work with him for the sprint
Bling - Can go with the above two and will probably have Gerrans to drive on the front to stop others getting back on

I think the final group this year will be about 10-15 riders, and the likes of Bouhanni, Viviani and Kristoff will all get gapped

^ I agree with the last bit. What's Bouhanni like in long races? I feel like he's often missing from a lot of sprints on hard days, but this isn't based on actual examples.

^ 6th last year, and very motivated for this edition apparently

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rLTZK1nau98

^ ah, cheers! Never trust your impressions!

Also, not that he was a big favourite, but Dumoulin is ill and out for MSR.

ah, that's a bummer. hope he'll be tip top for the star-studded Volta a Catalunya

What odds can you get on Sagan coming second?

Anyone watch the Nokere?

Never even heard of it. Sounds like a Ugandan porno.

Intrigued.

Lots of crashes. One bloke with head stuck in frame triangle for comedy effect.

Nokere Koerse, West Flanders. Recent upgrade to 1.HC race so it's now top conti category from lower rating before.

yes I saw the last couple of km, mainly Belgian affair despite the 1.1 rating

The Handzame Classic tomorrow is also bumped up to 1.1, so there will be a stream I think. No big guns riding though with MSR coming up, but it's nice to see Kris Boeckmans in the start list

Elbows out, punches thrown, very close finish.

Is it daft to think kwia might win msr?