Fleche Wallone picks
My Amstel Gold picks were okay. Sammy Sanchez was an unimpressive 56th place @ 2:46. Fabian Wegmann did a little better with 20th @ 2:13. I'm really happy with my choice of Ben Hermans. Ben did me proud with his 8th place, only 18 seconds adrift of Phil Gilbert.
We now move on to Fleche Wallone and the tough uphill finish on the Mur du Huy. This is another race where if you get top 10 once, you will likely get there multiple times. There are a lot of riders with multiple top 10s in the past five years. Also notable is the number of riders who have finished top 10 that are NOT at the race this year. Several are serving doping suspensions or retired from the sport after being caught doping. Plus, there are a few retirees and some injuries that further reduce the number of past top 10 riders. In total there are only 17 riders on the start list that have been top 10 in the past five years. This would seemingly present an opportunity for some other riders.
Back to the subject of multiple top 10s in this race. Fourteen people have had multiple top 10s in the past five years. Leading the way is Al Valverde with four top 10s, but he is on suspension. Those with three top 10s are Dave Rebellin (suspended), Cadel Evans (injured) and Damiano Cunego. Another ten riders have had two top 10's. I wont list them all but one name that I would have never guessed is Michael Albasini. And, he finished 11th last year otherwise he would be mentioned with some big names. The last three years he has finished 7th, 9th and 11th. I am curious whether this relatively anonymous rider can pull out another strong performance.
Speaking of anonymous, I am choosing some lesser names for my Fleche Wallone picks
In alphabetical order...
Jerome Coppel - This is a bit of a shot in the dark. He's a good young rider that can climb and is probably the leader of of his smallish Saur-Sojasun team so he should have as much support as his team can provide.
Bert De Waele - De Waele has been hidden away on the Landouwkrediet team for his whole career. Thus, he does not get a lot of exposure. He is a not-so-young 35 year old but in the last few years he has turned in some nice placings in big races. Tenth an the '09 Flanders. Last year he finished 4th at Amstel and 12th at Fleche
Ben Hermans - Ben treated me well on Sunday. I'm willing to ride the wave.
We now move on to Fleche Wallone and the tough uphill finish on the Mur du Huy. This is another race where if you get top 10 once, you will likely get there multiple times. There are a lot of riders with multiple top 10s in the past five years. Also notable is the number of riders who have finished top 10 that are NOT at the race this year. Several are serving doping suspensions or retired from the sport after being caught doping. Plus, there are a few retirees and some injuries that further reduce the number of past top 10 riders. In total there are only 17 riders on the start list that have been top 10 in the past five years. This would seemingly present an opportunity for some other riders.
Back to the subject of multiple top 10s in this race. Fourteen people have had multiple top 10s in the past five years. Leading the way is Al Valverde with four top 10s, but he is on suspension. Those with three top 10s are Dave Rebellin (suspended), Cadel Evans (injured) and Damiano Cunego. Another ten riders have had two top 10's. I wont list them all but one name that I would have never guessed is Michael Albasini. And, he finished 11th last year otherwise he would be mentioned with some big names. The last three years he has finished 7th, 9th and 11th. I am curious whether this relatively anonymous rider can pull out another strong performance.
Speaking of anonymous, I am choosing some lesser names for my Fleche Wallone picks
In alphabetical order...
Jerome Coppel - This is a bit of a shot in the dark. He's a good young rider that can climb and is probably the leader of of his smallish Saur-Sojasun team so he should have as much support as his team can provide.
Bert De Waele - De Waele has been hidden away on the Landouwkrediet team for his whole career. Thus, he does not get a lot of exposure. He is a not-so-young 35 year old but in the last few years he has turned in some nice placings in big races. Tenth an the '09 Flanders. Last year he finished 4th at Amstel and 12th at Fleche
Ben Hermans - Ben treated me well on Sunday. I'm willing to ride the wave.
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