Velominati Super Prestige: Liege-Bastogne-Liege 2016
We were descending for a while before I saw Roche’s name painted on the road. It was one of those little bridges over a river that you only seem to find in the Benelux; just a little too ancient and just a little too arched, and just a little too perfectly flawed to be anywhere else.
The trouble was that the sportive was run in the summer after the race had already taken place; Roche had retired the year before, so it seemed really strange that his name would be painted on the road. What we didn’t appreciate was that the previous year’s sportive had used blue arrows to mark the route, and this year’s sportive was using white arrows. After a year in Belgium, blue paint tends to start looking an awful lot like white paint; it was only a matter of time before we took a wrong turn.
Another concerning clue was the fact that we hadn’t seen another rider in much longer than one sees another rider during a sportive event as popular as this one. Neither my dad nor I are dumb people but you didn’t need to be smart to realize there was something horribly amuck with how abandoned the roads were.
We turned around and climbed back up the serpentine route we had gleefully descended into the valley. If memory serves, which I am fairly confident it doesn’t, we added something like 100km to the prescribed route.
The route from Liege to Bastogne is relatively easy, if you consider lots of climbing of short, steep côtes “easy”. On the way back, they pack the climbs in fast and furious, the steeper the better. The Prophet, Eddy Merckx, has his statue at the top of the Stockeu; this is a gratuitous climb if ever there was such a thing. The road wings off the main road to the right and flies up a 21% gradient for just over a kilometer before taking a hard left and swinging right back down to the same point in the road; a loop of suffering added purely for the sake of suffering. When we rode it with Johan Museeuw, he tried to convince us not to ride it, “You don’t need to ride it for me…” When I rode it with my dad, all I remember is woods and suffering.
Liege will be held on Sunday, and I’m done trying to predict the weather in a country where I don’t live except to say I predict there will be weather; either sunny or rainy or stormy, or snowy. As far as winners go, the smart money is on the Valve Cap, which is very disappointing to me and why I’m going with the “dumb” money. Hopefully something exciting will happen instead. So check the start list, and stock up on points for the Don Walker custom frame, Cafe Roubaix wheelset, or V-Kit.
Mercxkspeed.
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Two French Monument winners in one year. What are the odds on that?
Kangert has good form.
Froome will fall off, so Poels will fly the Sky flag.
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Great to see Woods getting into the picks. Awesome athlete. Not sure if he’s got the tactics and positioning down yet, but he’ll get there quick.
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Seeing what this looks like in black and sickly gray or whatever the background color of this website is called (cadaver penis?)
; If Drs. S Punk and B Rodgers believe that it will be more Dan FUCKING than Dan FALLING, then a re-think may be order.
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Valverde’s race to lose but my fingers just cannot type his name in the picks box.
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Placeholder. Because after spending mucho dinero today on my Jaegher buildout, I need to spend time the next two days with my VMH. I’m still fighting a rear action on a request for diamonds and gold jewelry.
Before I forget, a BIG
shout out to @Frank, the Keepers, and Jaegher for the opportunity to compete for and win a custom hand made and painted Interceptor (Super Stiff in my case) frame!
Pictures to follow.
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Woods in for good measure
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Wild card at #5. Fuck knows, I’ve been pretty awful so far
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1deg at the start warming to a Badgeresque 6deg later. Snow flurries on the cotes and a headwind all the way home. No fucking way am I picking Froomey
for this one.
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I think this race is all about the points from the places 2-4, too many people name the same winner.
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@xyxax
This is pretty much my VSP strategy at this point.
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Slight change up due to Froomeys dislike of poor weather (or as we northerners call it: “weather”).
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@Steampunk
I consider…
“They can buy anything, but they can’t buy backbone. Don’t ever let them forget it.”
a sort of sermon on Rule #5.
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Provisional so as to avoid the Delgado, etc.
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@Bianchi Denti
Hoping if Froome does fall off he takes out Malmerde
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Lads, the weather is by no account going to be apocalyptic. A couple of showers, but mostly dry and fresh.
I’m envisioning Dano & Alpha Dog working over Malmerde in the final after stretching him (if that were possible) on the Stockeau, but every dog will have their day in the sun. This is Dano’s favourite race after all.
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Yet another change. Think I’m happy with this order now. Dano to win by 8″ or thereabouts. Alpha Dog to beat a tired Alejandro to the line for 2nd. Or maybe this is just pure fantasy on my part!
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