Amstel Gold is on the calendar this w...
Amstel Gold is on the calendar this weekend but I figured I would go back and review my picks for Roubaix.
A blind monkey could have thrown darts at a board full of names and done better I did last week.
Who did I pick? I believe my selections were Miller, Chainel and Boom. DNF. DNF. DNF. How about them apples?
I also wanted to see how Sagan and Popovych did. Sagan finished outside the time limit. Thankfully, Popo actually finished with the "main group" of 23 riders. Officially, he came across the line in 30th place. If I wanted to use a really positive spin, I could say he tied for 13th since those 23 riders were awarded the same time. The faster I can forget about those picks, the better. Thank goodness for another race this weekend.
Amstel lends itself to having the same people often finishing in the top 10. No less than 15 riders have finished top-10 multiples in the past five years. Only 29 riders have finished top-10 in that same span of time. Four of the 29 have retired. Nine have been suspended from the sport for doping and one (Ricco) has served his suspension but his team is not in the race. That leaves only 15 of the starters on Sunday having finished top-10 in the past 5 years.
You would think this small number top-10 finishers would open the door for a few new people to crack the top-10 for the first time. That is quite possible. Last year was a breakthrough as six people finished top-10 for the first time. On the other hand, there are not any schlubs in that group of 15 and I could see nearly all them being good enough to finish that highly again. That list includes the two Schlecks, Cunego, Freire, Gerrans, Gesink, Gilbert, Ivanov, Kolobnev, Kroon, Leukemans, Nuyens (maybe not), Pineau, Rodriguez and Valverde. Not many names there that I would bet against.
With all that said, here are my choices.
Chris Horner - he's riding a hot streak and good on the climbs
Vincenzo Nibali - pretty good in the hills and an attacking rider. Hasn't done a lot this year but maybe he has been pointing to these hillier Classics (crosses fingers)
Ryder Hesjedal - Not a great climber but good enough and he just seems to get stronger every year. Always seems to put in solid performances.
4 Comments:
Horner, Hesjedal & Nibali ?
Yes, that^´s the heart means, but not the mind^^ They are only Top 15-guys. Here´s my tip^^ Philippe Gilbert, Andy Schleck & Robert Gesink
We will see at sunday^^
Do you honestly believe I would choose the guys I did if it was a simple case of choosing whoever I wanted? Of course not.
I always limit myself to people that have NOT finished in the top 10 for the last 5 years. Based on those restrictions, Gilbert, Schleck and Gesink are all ineligible for me to select.
Sorry^^ I misunderstood. O.K., Horner and Hesjedal are good options, but Nibali ? Kreuziger should be a better spot for Liqui. Two names more: Fran Gavazzi (cause Cunego is not fit after illness) and Maxim Iglinskiy. Max has birthday on sunday, it´s a good motivation
We're not too far about really. I was going back and forth about which of the two Liquigas riders to select. I consider Kreuziger the bigger talent but I look at Nibali as the better one-day rider so I took him.
Iglinsky was on my short list of about six riders.
I looked at the Lampre guys as a possibilty but none of the names jumped out at me when I was looked the start list and this drug investigation cannot be helping matters at all. I'll keep an eye on Gavazzi.
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