2026 Classics

[Daka]

Everyone watching Flanders? Reminder it's started

 

[eth-dog]

Everyone watching Flanders? Reminder it's started

At the footy but will watch once I get depressed at the scoreline, so in about an hour

 

[Duck Farmer]

2 from 2 monuments for Tadej.

 

[Daka]

It baffles me why other riders like MVDP pull with Pogacar, he would have beaten Remco anyway in a sprint.
than they wonder why they get dropped on climbs because use up all their energy pulling, yeah he might got dropped anyway but they always seem to play into Pogi's hands.

 

[eth-dog]

It baffles me why other riders like MVDP pull with Pogacar, he would have beaten Remco anyway in a sprint.
than they wonder why they get dropped on climbs because use up all their energy pulling, yeah he might got dropped anyway but they always seem to play into Pogi's hands.

I think he was doing fake pulls. Remco only gained time when MvdP was on the front.

 

[Daka]

I think he was doing fake pulls. Remco only gained time when MvdP was on the front.

Remco was never returning, not with the moto pacing ahead of MVDP & Pogacar.
big elephant in the room in cycling at the moment. 100% Remco would have got back to them if it wasn't for that.

But I think Pog would have been stronger anyway on the climbs anyway, but MVDP should not work at all imo. even fake turns.

EDIT - What last nights race showed us is that Remco Evenepoel has to focus more on the classics, I did not expect him to be as good as he was on the cobbles, I knew he'd be easily top 10 but I wasn't sure he'd be stronger than guys like Wout & Petersen who have much more experience.
It makes sense this is a guy that won a 273km Olympics Road Race that featured cobbled climbs.
I am not the biggest fan of Remco but I must say he did look good last night and deserves some credit.

 

[Black Diamond]

Pogacar now has as many Ronde wins as Boonen and Cancellara.

All of this is plausible IMO:

One more Ronde win making him the outright record-holder (although MDVP also has three at present).
One more Lombardia win making him the outright record-holder with six (currently equal with Coppi).
Two more Liege wins equalling him on five with Merckx.

I hope he does it.

 

[Vader]

The big question for 2026 is whether or not Pogi can do a Monument Grand Slam?

He's already won MSR and RVV, and all but has a mortgage on LBL and GdL. The only thing stopping him now is MVDP in Paris-Roubaix.

Merckx won all of the Monuments on multiple occasions. I'm not sure that he ever achieved a Grand Slam.

 

[eth-dog]

The big question for 2026 is whether or not Pogi can do a Monument Grand Slam?

He's already won MSR and RVV, and all but has a mortgage on LBL and GdL. The only thing stopping him now is MVDP in Paris-Roubaix.

Merckx won all of the Monuments on multiple occasions. I'm not sure that he ever achieved a Grand Slam.

Nope. Best he ever did was 3 in one year, but he did that a few times (69 and 75 did MSR, Ronde, Liege, 71 and 72 did MSR, Liege and Lombardia)

 

[Orange Agent]

Remco was the biggest highlight for me from Ronde. Pog just plays his cards and makes it a selection, then rides away when it suits him. When you break it down, he mostly wins because of better tactics, I doubt his numbers are better than most other riders on a course like this. But tactics are as big apart of racing as strength. He's a level above in all facets.

 

[Daka]

Remco was the biggest highlight for me from Ronde. Pog just plays his cards and makes it a selection, then rides away when it suits him. When you break it down, he mostly wins because of better tactics, I doubt his numbers are better than most other riders on a course like this. But tactics are as big apart of racing as strength. He's a level above in all facets.

Pogacar looked less fatigued than Mvdp, I think Remco looked stronger than Mathieu but he made a tactical mistake by not being in Pog's wheel on the climb he got dropped on. instead he was side by side with Pog. He was never going to make it back with Pogacar & Van Der Poel working together.

 

[Orange Agent]

Pogacar looked less fatigued than Mvdp, I think Remco looked stronger than Mathieu but he made a tactical mistake by not being in Pog's wheel on the climb he got dropped on. instead he was side by side with Pog. He was never going to make it back with Pogacar & Van Der Poel working together.

MVDP's form seems to have dropped off a bit compared to a month ago. MSR he didnt look 100% but then he goes long range at E3 albeit against a weaker startlist. I think he should have skipped last weekend and refreshed for Flanders and PR. Be interesting to see what he's like this weekend.

 

[Daka]

MVDP's form seems to have dropped off a bit compared to a month ago. MSR he didnt look 100% but then he goes long range at E3 albeit against a weaker startlist. I think he should have skipped last weekend and refreshed for Flanders and PR. Be interesting to see what he's like this weekend.

MVDP looks vulnerable to me, he is no longer guaranteed to outlast Pogacar on the flatter cobbles.
Pogacar looks like he almost has more power even on flat sections, Mvdp kept dropping back and was way out of position when things popped off at Flanders, he is 31 I wonder if he is slowing down more.

 

[Ilkka Sinisalo]

It baffles me why other riders like MVDP pull with Pogacar, he would have beaten Remco anyway in a sprint.
than they wonder why they get dropped on climbs because use up all their energy pulling, yeah he might got dropped anyway but they always seem to play into Pogi's hands.

I think it comes down to them being proud dudes who have been great at the sport for a very long time. Remember, in Remco and MVDP we are talking about two guys who have been elite cyclists since their teenaged years, champions among their younger peers, both previous world champs. It's gotta be awfully hard for two men with their background to swallow their pride and admit that the only way they can hope to win a race is by sitting on the wheel of another guy and making him do all of the work.

I am very much looking forward to Roubaix. Always an entertaining race but with all of the classics you can pretty much look at the course and predict exactly when and where Pogi will attack from. Roubaix it's not at all clear because it doesn't have any real climbs, just the tougher cobbled sectors. Feels like MVDP should still be the favourite since there's not an obvious place where Pogi can drop everyone but who knows, in this kind of form it's hard to bet against Pogi.

 

[eth-dog]

Just due to the nature of the race and his form being pretty good I wouldn't count out Wout yet. His form in De Ronde was the best I've seen in a few years, I know he's been 4th a few years in a row but I thought it was a much stronger performance than those.

Also probably can't count out the likes of Ganna or Pederson

 

[Ilkka Sinisalo]

Just due to the nature of the race and his form being pretty good I wouldn't count out Wout yet. His form in De Ronde was the best I've seen in a few years, I know he's been 4th a few years in a row but I thought it was a much stronger performance than those.

Also probably can't count out the likes of Ganna or Pederson

Everyone goes into these races listing off their favourite and outside favourites but ever since Pogi stopped coasting on pure talent and started training like an animal and doing pre-season high altitude camps, it’s been a two-man show. Him and MVDP have won the last 11 monuments, Philipsen was the last one besides those two to win one (MSR in 2024). So it would big a big upset for someone besides the big two to win.

The weather forecast looks pretty dry for Sunday which I don’t think will benefit Wout. He’s in good form but he’s a level below the others. With his bike-handling skill (as well as MVDP) I would have thought that the dirtier the weather, the better.

 

[Daka]

Paris-Roubaix "The Queen of the Classics" "The Hell of the North" is on tonight

Should be an absolute cracker!

 

[eth-dog]

Holy shit. It's happening

 

[Ilkka Sinisalo]

Disaster for MVDP

 

[eth-dog]

I don't think Wout could stand another podium here, same with Mads.

 

[eth-dog]

Oh unlucky for Wout

 

[Ilkka Sinisalo]

Barring mechanicals, MVDP is gonna have to do an Amstel Gold 2019.

 

[BomToydd]

Would love to see Wout win this. Pogacar's dominance is making the sport boring

 

[Vader]

Does Dave Mackenzie ever speak a sentence without the word "I" featuring somewhere in it?

 

[eth-dog]

YES WOUT!