Chris, thanks to your video's, I've been calling my kids knuckleheads for the past couple years when they did dumb things. Then they started watching you with me so they found out where I got it from. They don't seem to think that it is a very serious insult so now we all call each other knuckleheads all the time. Thanks for the influence! 😊
My favorite Alpecin tactical move was that they asked Gianni to help Mads for a while at the front, only to keep him in break and empty his tank. That was brilliant. Without Gianni's help, Mads would have been caught sooner, saving him some energy.
I genuinely believed before I watched this video that Chris would mock the commentators for thinking Alpecin put Gianni on Mads to tire him out... as though Mads isn’t a seasoned rider who wouldn’t know better. But Chris didn’t say that at all! I thoughts Mads knew he was hurting from the crash earlier in the week and figured he’d go all in, get whoever to go with him and tire them out so his teammates (either Skujins or Milan) would have a better shot.
It was really was a good move. Normally I’m not a fan of riders going into the break when they got an out right favorite like MVDP but today it was money how Mads seemed to just keep pushing on the pedals because of the extra help from Gianni. 🦋👊
Understatement! Alpecine Deucunik's strategy for handling Mads was very devious and parasitic! Alpecine director sitting in their cars must be thinking "yo guys, is Mads that dumb, or is Lidl Trek director that dumb?" Well yes, Mads and Trek directors were major knuckleheads. But if you go back and watch the 2023 Flanders, Mads did the same thing, he tried to solo away from a leading group, so it seems that it is Mads' mojo to keep attacking/solo'ing away, a style if his. If Mads had not tired himself out like that, the dynamics of the race would change dramatically. I believe Mads would then be highly able to follow MVDP up the Koppenberg and Paterberg too, and the dynamics of the race would change completely in this scenario. As far as Jorgenson goes, he is not on the same level as MVDP when it comes to short burst (2-3 minutes) high power efforts. Jorgenson is a good longer-distance climber but not a power climbers like MVDP. But a healthy and not-burnt-out Mads would have been able to match MVDP in these power climbs.
I thought that too. I figured they were dangling Mads out there 20 seconds ahead for as long as they could. He was in no man's land even though he was in front. Must have been torturous. Genious. Alpecin payback for Dwars Dors
MVDP handled this so well. The whole peleton was against him and he still pulled it off. Watched it thinking there are so many guys who are going to cop the Chris Horner Knuckehead treatment. 😂
yes it was everyone against him and he pulled if off relaxed even, crazy how complete he is at classics (handling, cross, mtb, punch, tactics on point in big races, almost pressure free it seems)
i think it was a really good decision to wait for team mates those 2-3 times, specially cuz he said himself after the race he was far off his normal power output in the last 10k, he even said he started to feel like he did in Herrogate where he had that loss in the world championship (when mads pedersen became world champ). so most likely if he had decided to do those 2-3 chases himself and not wait for his team he would have had the same thing happening as in Herrogate.
In one of the highlights videos I saw, the camera stayed viewing the stragglers crawling over the Koppenberg long enough for a glimpse of 'My man'. Victor was also scrapping with Pederson over a top 40 place at the end.
As a kiwi I’m rather biased but Laurence Pithie is a huge star in the making. At 21yrs he’s always in the final moves, you can’t teach race craft like that. He’s just lacking a bit of stamina which will come over the next few years. When you go back over the classics season so far he’s always featuring next to Wout or Mathieu in the pics with 30km to go.
Pretty much knew Mads Pedersen would get the knucklehead treatment 😅 He even admitted that he didn’t ride the smartest race. Hope he learned a lesson for Roubaix!
Great delivery Chris. One note on the list of knucklehedism, UAE did not have 4 riders chasing MVDP, Bjerg and Morgado only came back at the last climb over the Koppenberg, otherwise it was just Wellens and sometimes Pollit. What they did do wrong, in my opinion, was not making a train for one of their riders to go for second. I believe Morgado is their fastest sprinter so a hard pull from Bjerg, then Pollit in the last 4kms could have dropped Mozzato and Matthews and delivered 2nd and maybe 3rd to UAE. In the end they got lucky with the penalty given to Matthews.
To me a major lesson from the fact that UAE had 4 finish in the top 10 after a long hard race is that this bodes well for the quality of team support Pogacar is going to get in the TDF this year.
@@epincion Wellens was 12th but you are right about the depth of the squad. Only, this is the classics team, for the TDF the line-up is totally different.
It depends on what they were after. The tatics they did was perfect for the UCI points situation. They earned over 1,000 points from just one race, and it is well known that UAE take great stock in coming top team in the classification.
@Flakey101 yes you are right. I mentioned this somewhere as well. They rotated so they all had a crack at the best possible position. I don't like it but I know it is their target.
A tactical master class from MVDP and Alpecin. Sure people will says Mads was hurt, WVA didn’t start and Pog wasn’t there… but there’s a reason MVDP is always up there, hardly ever has a problem and that level of awareness and skill is what makes him so hard to beat…and people who want to say he has no team should watch how well they ride to put MVDP in a winning position. Great analysis as always.
Morgado is a classics Monster, but i still think he can work for GC races too . "He is the youngest cyclist to be Top 5 in the history of great monuments, in the last 80 years."
Canyon - Hey MVDP, if you have a few extra moments, can you get us a new catalog cover photo/website photo? We'd appreciate it. MVDP - Sure thing, I'll do it at Flanders.
Oh man, these moves we're textbook knucklehead... one moment you're shouting at the screen like shut it down, the next you're laughing hysterically because they won't and then you deflate because you know it's a done deal.
MvdP Started 6 times in the Tour of Flanders. He fell in his first participation in 2019 But still came 4th The results in the 6 participations are incredible: 2019 4 2020 1 2021 2 2022 1 2023 2 2024 1 Will he be able to win his fourth RvV and become the record holder?
Fantastic analysis as always Chris. I love riding my bike but I'm always happy to kick back on the chesterfield on days like this! Can van Der Poel do it again next Sunday in Roubaix?
Lots if knucklehead moves on this edition of De Ronde. I could not believe what riders from Trek and Visma were doing. WAIT and mark MVP. Burning your matches with 120+ km to go is nutty.
Mads P said, that he was hurt, and that he could not do the 500-700 watts on the climes so he hoped to be ahead before the hills.... Because he would be droped there anyways
I wonder how much technology that will trickle down from mountainbike and gravelbike to roadbike to get an edge in difficult sections in roadraces. I think about huge tyre clearance and fat and soft tyres ( what about 40-50 mm tyres for the cobblestones) , dropperpost (Mohoric won a race descending with dropper-post), and of course spd pedals and mtb-shoes that are absolutely winning if you have to run with bike. And cassettes so big that climbing 25 degrees is possible without getting supertired.
Chris and Garrett can we get a commentary or analysis of the womens Tour of Flanders? From the small snippets of coverage I saw of it, it looked like a pretty exciting race. More womens cycling coverage please.
MVDP is the very best in power and stamina. So, how would anyone think that in a 270 km race it would be e good idea to have their top riders doing crazy stuff themselves? Like Pedersen and Jorgenson; of course they ran out of steam before Mathieu did. Apart from knuckleheads all over the place, MVDP was in a class of his own. Great race, great comment as always, Chris.
Because it is not as simple as that. Pedersen knows that he needs to get over Oude Kwaremont before MVDP, because he cannot follow the sharp acceleration MVDP makes. So he can't just sit and wait for MVDP to make his move, because Mads P. will be dropped if he does. He admitted that he should have sat up earlier when he only had Gianni V as company. But "anticipation" is a well known and necessary strategy in big classics if you are not the absolute most explosive on the climbs. Jorgenson could however, have tried to match MVDP on the climbs, because he should be more suited for it. But he still doesn't have the same acceleration that MVDP has it, but he at least would have stood a chance.
I wonder if Van der Poel is flying higher up in the butterflyranking now? He is both a super helper (for Philipsen), a classic winner and a multicompetent World Champion.
It was spectacular to see that Jogenson kid could get up the koppenberg well although he already shot his first cartouche. As he doesn't have any obligations or special feelings towards wout, this could get fun very soon :). #troubleinparadise
He's not at Wout's level in these Classics. He's not as explosive as Wout. He's potentially a better climber than Wout on longer climbs, but that doesn't put them head to head in the Classics. Wout doesn't do the Ardennes Classics, he focuses on Flanders and Roubaix. Maybe in the future he can challenge Wout in a Grand Tour, but the team leader for those events is Vingegaard, whom Jorgensen can't touch. So, it's just not in the cards. All three of them are different style riders.
@@S0ulinth3machin3 we will just have to wait and see :). Normally wout ends up 6 seconds behind mathieu after an attack, and that's exactly where Jorgenson ended up. Might end up working perfectly, might end up working sdworxy also known as hilariously. I like fun!
As a Dutch i would never come up with the idea of booing or throwing beer at a Belgian rider! I cheer for this sport no matter where the rider is from! A few Belgians should be very ashamed of what they did again yesterday to MvdP.
As a Belgian cycling enthusiast, I must emphasize that appreciation for cycling as witnessed from Mathieu transcends nationality. Many of us felt devastated when Wout Van Aert had to withdraw due to his crash. However, we witnessed a world champion display world class cycling skills yesterday. If one cannot admire such remarkable performance, then you don't have anything to seek at De Ronde Van Vlaanderen or any other race!
As I watched Flanders and saw MVDP tactifully use his teammates, I couldn't help but think "MVDP must have watched Chris Horner's Gent-Wevelgem video."
I think the move pedersen did with 85k was a bit early. However when you disect only on mvdp, pedersen had the right intention by attacking when van der poel bridged on the climb and his team was used, but when he realized that there was only vermersch with him after like 5 minutes he should have immediately dropped back. When I saw the peloton grouping up and chasing him, i was like immediately his race is done. Looking forward to your coverage of basque country and roubaix.
Everything Alpecin did wrong at Wevelgem they did right today. Also the relegation of Matthews was completely justified and needed, as soon as I seen it happen I called it out. It's the same in Milan san remo, hopefully Matthews will learn to keep his line from this as you cannot go from the middle full into the boarding endangering riders. He doesn't need it, he is a good enough rider without it.
Indeed you left out some details but who can count them in the Tour of Flandres! So, formerly, van der Poel didn't attack on the slippery berg, he just wanted to make sure that he wouldn't get involved in some crash. Practically that is in his case an attack for the others. So when he saw he had a gap he decided to go on; it was not planned. As a dutchman he'll probably know how to skate very well and keep the balance, for his backwheel too made at a moment escapes to the side of the road. So it was the 《skating dutchman》in him, some kind of Mathieu van de froozen Poolberg that decide the decisive moment of Fladres 24.
Excellent analysis. Mads is a stubborn dude, whose tactics defies rational thinking. He later said he hadn´t the power in the legs to go 700 watts on the steep stretches, so he decided to give it a go and get a head start to allow for his deficient power. On instagram he later admitted that he screwed up. A lesson for the next big one Paris Roubaix.
Wait, what?! Belgium's biggest race and the train takes precedence? The bike race has to stop for a train? I'm sort of new to pro cycling, but it sure seems to me that if you know the big race is crossing the tracks at about X time, you coordinate with the trains to make sure this sort of thing doesn't happen. I'm open to being educated on this; where am I going off the tracks (so to speak ;-) ) here? Thanks!
Bike races are supposed to stop for the trains. If the stop is a long one and the peloton and or other smaller front groups catch up with the breakaway during the hold up, the breakaway and other small groups are supposed to be given a head start to keep their time advantage the same.
Thanks Chris that was informative and entertaining. So with the benefit of hindsight I can stick by my contention that the race was MVDP’s to lose ...and he did not because he and Alpecin rode a great race. There is no doubt that he was by far the best rider on the day and probably only WVA and Pogacar could have matched him.
in fairness I think many of these attacks (Jorgesson, Pederson) were because they know they have no real answer to a late MVDP attack on the bergs...they simply cant compete with him if he goes nuclear in the last 15-20km.....so they tried to soften him up well in advance and just hope something sticks....their moves seemed so ineffective because Mathieus team played it so well... Mathieu was predictably imperious...but his team were instrumental in keeping it all together. . chapeau all.
When MvdP attacks I think Pogi can stay on him on Koppenberg and will also drop WvA no way he can stay on them. What a spectacular climb that is. We initially thought Lidl-Trek is the best team in this race but the UAE Team Emirates emerged on the last k atleast 4 riders in the lead group. Knucklehead Rider : Mads Pedersen 🇩🇰 Knucklehead Team : Lidl-Trek 🇺🇸 Knucklehead Finished: Michael Matthews 🇦🇺 MVP tactics : Alpecin-Deceuninck Team 🇧🇪
The early attacks may be pointless knuckleheadery, but they are entertaining. BTW, do any American fans have advice for post-GCN+ viewing? I can't bring myself to pay for WBD's ridiculous MAX/BR service.
Max isn't charging extra for the B-R Sports add on right now but that will change at some point. Charges were supposed to kick in beginning in March but that has been extended to sometime later in the year (can't find any specific date). .
I paid for Flo Sports for one month just to watch these Flaunders races. Already get complementary Max through my AT&T mobile service. Do have to pay for Peacock, but wife loves Bravo shows anyhow. 😁
Nils Pollit said in an interview, he had to brake two times due to a slowing Matthews. If he can hold the podium he hadn't ride against the rules - so another knuckelhead move - Be honest, Chris, maybe Pollit could have a bikethrow for a second place ... The DQ was absolute correct!
Ok...I'm going to predict, before I watch this video, that Mads Pederson is a knucklehead. Because I was yelling at him the entire time he attempted his breakaway🤦🏼♂️🤦🏼♂️🤦🏼♂️
Yep...called it. Should have given Dylan Teuns from Israel Premier Tech more love, my brother. No way that when the race started, anyone was predicting an IPT rider to place top ten, much less be driving a break to catch MVDP. If not for the Movistar rider putting his foot down, I think Teuns at least bridges to Matteo--he looked like he had the momentum. Other than that, spot on.
Mads called himself out on his Instagram account. Philipe Gilbert's reply was one of surprise that a rider would publicly criticize his own race. Good stuff. Mads knew he was a knucklehead. Hopefully he doesn't repeat it in Paris-Roubaix.
Jorgensen and Pederson rolled the dice too soon. The last 10k showed that if they played it differently, then MVDP was beatable as he was cracking towards the last 5k. Fantastic watching though!!
Do you think Matteo should have waited as soon as Mvdp got a gap. He coulda stayed out of the wind and put it them on the last time on the paterberg and takes second ??
Pedersen's move was not that bad if he expects another few of the better riders to come across and reduce the group. But you don't make a move like that for over 30km... Pity for Cortina having chain problems on the Koppenberg, he anticipated well and without the problems likely would have arrived behind MVDP together at the top of the Koppenberg.
I mean, MVDP was just on a league of his own here, the other guys may have made some mistakes but I feel like I his outcome was inevitable, and the winner would be the same if you repeat the race 10 times.
The plan from jumbo appeared to be to have jorgenson keep up with MVDP. Might have been possible in better weather but that still wouldn't have won them anything unless matteo sat on.
Also, Visma lab really seems to have a problem with their tires. Constant flats the past two years in the classics. Besides that their tactics to not take any responsibility always seems to backfire in every race they use this tactic, they seem to race more aggressive when they actually take control of the race. I get they didn't have to control the race, but they just seem to miss the mark whenever they race like this.
As soon as Mads Pedersen decided to pull from 85km out, we all knew he was gonna get the knucklehead treatment on the butterfly effect.
😂
Love it when an underdog makes the podium. Mozzato kept his head down the whole race whilst the knuckleheads blew up. Captures the imagination 🤩
Chris, thanks to your video's, I've been calling my kids knuckleheads for the past couple years when they did dumb things. Then they started watching you with me so they found out where I got it from. They don't seem to think that it is a very serious insult so now we all call each other knuckleheads all the time.
Thanks for the influence! 😊
MVDP put on a clinic. His brilliant tactics and bike handling skills were on display. Bravo! 🦋👊
👊🦋💪
My favorite Alpecin tactical move was that they asked Gianni to help Mads for a while at the front, only to keep him in break and empty his tank. That was brilliant. Without Gianni's help, Mads would have been caught sooner, saving him some energy.
I genuinely believed before I watched this video that Chris would mock the commentators for thinking Alpecin put Gianni on Mads to tire him out... as though Mads isn’t a seasoned rider who wouldn’t know better. But Chris didn’t say that at all! I thoughts Mads knew he was hurting from the crash earlier in the week and figured he’d go all in, get whoever to go with him and tire them out so his teammates (either Skujins or Milan) would have a better shot.
It was really was a good move. Normally I’m not a fan of riders going into the break when they got an out right favorite like MVDP but today it was money how Mads seemed to just keep pushing on the pedals because of the extra help from Gianni. 🦋👊
Understatement! Alpecine Deucunik's strategy for handling Mads was very devious and parasitic! Alpecine director sitting in their cars must be thinking "yo guys, is Mads that dumb, or is Lidl Trek director that dumb?" Well yes, Mads and Trek directors were major knuckleheads. But if you go back and watch the 2023 Flanders, Mads did the same thing, he tried to solo away from a leading group, so it seems that it is Mads' mojo to keep attacking/solo'ing away, a style if his.
If Mads had not tired himself out like that, the dynamics of the race would change dramatically. I believe Mads would then be highly able to follow MVDP up the Koppenberg and Paterberg too, and the dynamics of the race would change completely in this scenario.
As far as Jorgenson goes, he is not on the same level as MVDP when it comes to short burst (2-3 minutes) high power efforts. Jorgenson is a good longer-distance climber but not a power climbers like MVDP. But a healthy and not-burnt-out Mads would have been able to match MVDP in these power climbs.
I thought that too. I figured they were dangling Mads out there 20 seconds ahead for as long as they could. He was in no man's land even though he was in front. Must have been torturous. Genious. Alpecin payback for Dwars Dors
* Gent Welvergen that is
Feel like i started understanding cycling once i discovered this channel
Best commentary in the business
In English by far
Yup. Waiting for anyone to hire him because he’s miles better than what currently exists.
👊🦋🙏
@@ChrisHornerCycling Such great analysis. Do you ever cover the women's races?
@@ddennis669would love to see him do more coverage of the women’s tour
Edge of seat commentary! Love it!
Great breakdown Chris as always.I couldn't wait to watch The Butterfly Effect on this race. Congrats too MVDP The LION FLANDERS!
Really like MVDP's bike colorway and kit today. White frame, subtle World Champs accents, black shorts, and the rainbow jersey. Very classic style!
Agreed 👊🦋
Do you think he went for black shorts instead of white because of the weather?
@@wazzup105 No, he went for black shorts because he's got class.
@@wazzup105he said in a pre race interview he didn't wear white because of the rain forecast.
I watched your pre race analysis yesterday and it made the race more interesting. Great calls.
👊🦋
With the rain it was always going to be all about the Koppenberg ! Sort of a classic demonstration of how a key climb decides the race .
Great job as always Chris!! Thanks for sharing your pro insights.
Thanks Chris.
👊🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋
Great show Chris, I always look for your show after every race man, the best analysis ever
👊🦋🙏
MVDP handled this so well. The whole peleton was against him and he still pulled it off. Watched it thinking there are so many guys who are going to cop the Chris Horner Knuckehead treatment. 😂
yes it was everyone against him and he pulled if off relaxed even, crazy how complete he is at classics (handling, cross, mtb, punch, tactics on point in big races, almost pressure free it seems)
i think it was a really good decision to wait for team mates those 2-3 times, specially cuz he said himself after the race he was far off his normal power output in the last 10k, he even said he started to feel like he did in Herrogate where he had that loss in the world championship (when mads pedersen became world champ). so most likely if he had decided to do those 2-3 chases himself and not wait for his team he would have had the same thing happening as in Herrogate.
Good decision indeed 👊🦋💪
Yep... when he pounded that gel with 5k to go, you know that he was on his last reserves... Chapeau to MvdP!
@@doctornrsfnly yes sir.. my thought too.. my favourite champion is still a human being.. 😊
Chris you miss nothing - were waiting whole night for you, loved your commentary. Felt like the race in summary👌🏻
In one of the highlights videos I saw, the camera stayed viewing the stragglers crawling over the Koppenberg long enough for a glimpse of 'My man'. Victor was also scrapping with Pederson over a top 40 place at the end.
Okay, thanks for the {fun} breakdown of tactics and especially the focus on skills learned through cyclocross that apply here-
As a kiwi I’m rather biased but Laurence Pithie is a huge star in the making. At 21yrs he’s always in the final moves, you can’t teach race craft like that. He’s just lacking a bit of stamina which will come over the next few years. When you go back over the classics season so far he’s always featuring next to Wout or Mathieu in the pics with 30km to go.
Agreed - big future ahead. Not afraid either to get involved with some argie-bargie with a big lad like Milan.
He could still get a good result at Paris-Roubaix this year if he's riding it. He seems to struggle on the climbs a bit.
Thanks Chris. Now i always look forward to your video after the race is over. 😂
Perfect analysis Chris, really enjoyed this as always.
"MVDP's race to win"... if his team is perfect. Excellent point.
It takes a village 😜👊🦋
@@ChrisHornerCycling With assistance from neighboring village idiots 😂
Pretty much knew Mads Pedersen would get the knucklehead treatment 😅 He even admitted that he didn’t ride the smartest race.
Hope he learned a lesson for Roubaix!
Great insight as always. I hope that you will break down the women’s race as well. Lidl Trek’s dismantling of SD Worx needs your commentary
Just no time left. But agree that the smoke out on a show today that was excellent viewing. Demi and Lotte went deep to return and trek was spot on 👊🦋
It seemed like Niewmiadoma had a great race too. She is one of my favorite Woman riding today, and has such a wide range of capability.
You are the MVDP of Bike Race Commentaries!!
Thanks Chris thanks Garrett happy Easter you nailed it Chris see you on the road soon Wednesday looks like it's going to be in the 70s
Basque Country starting tomorrow. 🤔🦋👊
Mads P attack was a Hail Mary move as he felt it was his only shot today due to the injuries from the crash, go big or go home
Exactly, what Horner just said!
Great breakdown as usual Horner!
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Great delivery Chris. One note on the list of knucklehedism, UAE did not have 4 riders chasing MVDP, Bjerg and Morgado only came back at the last climb over the Koppenberg, otherwise it was just Wellens and sometimes Pollit. What they did do wrong, in my opinion, was not making a train for one of their riders to go for second. I believe Morgado is their fastest sprinter so a hard pull from Bjerg, then Pollit in the last 4kms could have dropped Mozzato and Matthews and delivered 2nd and maybe 3rd to UAE. In the end they got lucky with the penalty given to Matthews.
Berg also help do some great positioning before the climbs. Good team effort out there from UAE 👊🦋
To me a major lesson from the fact that UAE had 4 finish in the top 10 after a long hard race is that this bodes well for the quality of team support Pogacar is going to get in the TDF this year.
@@epincion Wellens was 12th but you are right about the depth of the squad. Only, this is the classics team, for the TDF the line-up is totally different.
It depends on what they were after. The tatics they did was perfect for the UCI points situation. They earned over 1,000 points from just one race, and it is well known that UAE take great stock in coming top team in the classification.
@Flakey101 yes you are right. I mentioned this somewhere as well. They rotated so they all had a crack at the best possible position. I don't like it but I know it is their target.
Thank you for the best race review informative and just fun....
Thank You
👊🦋🙏
A tactical master class from MVDP and Alpecin. Sure people will says Mads was hurt, WVA didn’t start and Pog wasn’t there… but there’s a reason MVDP is always up there, hardly ever has a problem and that level of awareness and skill is what makes him so hard to beat…and people who want to say he has no team should watch how well they ride to put MVDP in a winning position. Great analysis as always.
Vanderpoel is just another level. Vasque Country time trial kicking off
Morgado is a classics Monster, but i still think he can work for GC races too .
"He is the youngest cyclist to be Top 5 in the history of great monuments, in the last 80 years."
Wow. Cool fact 👊🦋💪
Was thinking of all rhe knucklesheads yesterday when watchint the race😂😂
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Spot on like always Chris! 👊 Knuckleheads galore 😂
Man, I was pulling for Bettiol to hang on for a podium. UAD/ UAE looked pretty good for what they could've done.
I was waiting for this
Easter morning at the house took a bit longer than I was planning. 👊🦋🦋
Canyon - Hey MVDP, if you have a few extra moments, can you get us a new catalog cover photo/website photo? We'd appreciate it.
MVDP - Sure thing, I'll do it at Flanders.
I'm sure he was happy to do it after signing a 10-year deal!
Oh man, these moves we're textbook knucklehead... one moment you're shouting at the screen like shut it down, the next you're laughing hysterically because they won't and then you deflate because you know it's a done deal.
I was able to watch the entire race, but I still stayed up well past my bed time to get Chris's take.
Great tactics analysis 🙌🏻
MvdP Started 6 times in the Tour of Flanders. He fell in his first participation in 2019 But still came 4th
The results in the 6 participations are incredible:
2019 4
2020 1
2021 2
2022 1
2023 2
2024 1
Will he be able to win his fourth RvV and become the record holder?
Fantastic analysis as always Chris. I love riding my bike but I'm always happy to kick back on the chesterfield on days like this! Can van Der Poel do it again next Sunday in Roubaix?
Thanks. Chris. John USA
Great analysis! I think UAE is def riding great. Tadej must be excited for Giro.
Eyes on Morgado!
Exactly 👀👊🦋
Lots if knucklehead moves on this edition of De Ronde. I could not believe what riders from Trek and Visma were doing. WAIT and mark MVP. Burning your matches with 120+ km to go is nutty.
Top race recap Chris.
6:48 got really excited there for a moment, when alaphillippe attacked, but not for long 😢
Mads was still showing signs of strength and form despite his recent crash. If it was a contest of calories burned I think he won. 🙂
Chris was a family guy today and kept us waiting for his analysis!
Yup. Easter always makes the video late for Flanders. I am always hoping I can make up the time somewhere but I never can. 😜🦋👊🐇🐇🐇🐇🐇
Mads P said, that he was hurt, and that he could not do the 500-700 watts on the climes so he hoped to be ahead before the hills.... Because he would be droped there anyways
I wonder how much technology that will trickle down from mountainbike and gravelbike to roadbike to get an edge in difficult sections in roadraces. I think about huge tyre clearance and fat and soft tyres ( what about 40-50 mm tyres for the cobblestones) , dropperpost (Mohoric won a race descending with dropper-post), and of course spd pedals and mtb-shoes that are absolutely winning if you have to run with bike. And cassettes so big that climbing 25 degrees is possible without getting supertired.
Chris and Garrett can we get a commentary or analysis of the womens Tour of Flanders? From the small snippets of coverage I saw of it, it looked like a pretty exciting race. More womens cycling coverage please.
MVDP is the very best in power and stamina. So, how would anyone think that in a 270 km race it would be e good idea to have their top riders doing crazy stuff themselves? Like Pedersen and Jorgenson; of course they ran out of steam before Mathieu did. Apart from knuckleheads all over the place, MVDP was in a class of his own. Great race, great comment as always, Chris.
Because it is not as simple as that. Pedersen knows that he needs to get over Oude Kwaremont before MVDP, because he cannot follow the sharp acceleration MVDP makes. So he can't just sit and wait for MVDP to make his move, because Mads P. will be dropped if he does. He admitted that he should have sat up earlier when he only had Gianni V as company. But "anticipation" is a well known and necessary strategy in big classics if you are not the absolute most explosive on the climbs.
Jorgenson could however, have tried to match MVDP on the climbs, because he should be more suited for it. But he still doesn't have the same acceleration that MVDP has it, but he at least would have stood a chance.
Morgado rules!!
Good luck tomorrow with the oral surgeon. I'll be watching Marathon Man tonight to get a preview of your tooth extraction.
I wonder if Van der Poel is flying higher up in the butterflyranking now? He is both a super helper (for Philipsen), a classic winner and a multicompetent World Champion.
It was spectacular to see that Jogenson kid could get up the koppenberg well although he already shot his first cartouche. As he doesn't have any obligations or special feelings towards wout, this could get fun very soon :). #troubleinparadise
I think you are wrong, Matteo is a proper team player and respects team strategy and if WVA is racing as leader then Matteo will support 110%.
He's not at Wout's level in these Classics. He's not as explosive as Wout. He's potentially a better climber than Wout on longer climbs, but that doesn't put them head to head in the Classics. Wout doesn't do the Ardennes Classics, he focuses on Flanders and Roubaix. Maybe in the future he can challenge Wout in a Grand Tour, but the team leader for those events is Vingegaard, whom Jorgensen can't touch. So, it's just not in the cards. All three of them are different style riders.
@@S0ulinth3machin3 we will just have to wait and see :). Normally wout ends up 6 seconds behind mathieu after an attack, and that's exactly where Jorgenson ended up. Might end up working perfectly, might end up working sdworxy also known as hilariously. I like fun!
I think, Jorgensen was not fully recovered from dwaars win, and he participate on bigger intensiver flanders😊knucklehead too
The great thing about cycling is that everyone gets to be a knucklehead several times this season. No matter who you are
Horner drops a video. I am in for a Knucklehead report...
As a Dutch i would never come up with the idea of booing or throwing beer at a Belgian rider! I cheer for this sport no matter where the rider is from! A few Belgians should be very ashamed of what they did again yesterday to MvdP.
As a Belgian cycling enthusiast, I must emphasize that appreciation for cycling as witnessed from Mathieu transcends nationality. Many of us felt devastated when Wout Van Aert had to withdraw due to his crash. However, we witnessed a world champion display world class cycling skills yesterday. If one cannot admire such remarkable performance, then you don't have anything to seek at De Ronde Van Vlaanderen or any other race!
finally!!
Easter always slows the Flanders video down a bit. 😜🦋👊
As I watched Flanders and saw MVDP tactifully use his teammates, I couldn't help but think "MVDP must have watched Chris Horner's Gent-Wevelgem video."
Visma bike went full blown knucklehead. ALPD schooled all of them.
Can we get an end-of-season Knucklehead podium? 😂 Biggest knucklehead award goes to...???
Like Shaq-tin a fool?
Knucklehead of the year. KOTY
Back in the day just give it to Moviestar now more recently it would really get hard to pick from the long list of applicants. 😂👊🦋
@@ChrisHornerCycling I wonder if viewers would help with nominations
This should be on the national news in Belgium.
I think the move pedersen did with 85k was a bit early. However when you disect only on mvdp, pedersen had the right intention by attacking when van der poel bridged on the climb and his team was used, but when he realized that there was only vermersch with him after like 5 minutes he should have immediately dropped back. When I saw the peloton grouping up and chasing him, i was like immediately his race is done. Looking forward to your coverage of basque country and roubaix.
Everything Alpecin did wrong at Wevelgem they did right today. Also the relegation of Matthews was completely justified and needed, as soon as I seen it happen I called it out. It's the same in Milan san remo, hopefully Matthews will learn to keep his line from this as you cannot go from the middle full into the boarding endangering riders. He doesn't need it, he is a good enough rider without it.
Agreed, there was even a white line in the middle of the road, giving the rider perspective, it was so bad!
Indeed you left out some details but who can count them in the Tour of Flandres! So, formerly, van der Poel didn't attack on the slippery berg, he just wanted to make sure that he wouldn't get involved in some crash. Practically that is in his case an attack for the others. So when he saw he had a gap he decided to go on; it was not planned. As a dutchman he'll probably know how to skate very well and keep the balance, for his backwheel too made at a moment escapes to the side of the road. So it was the 《skating dutchman》in him, some kind of Mathieu van de froozen Poolberg that decide the decisive moment of Fladres 24.
Excellent analysis. Mads is a stubborn dude, whose tactics defies rational thinking. He later said he hadn´t the power in the legs to go 700 watts on the steep stretches, so he decided to give it a go and get a head start to allow for his deficient power. On instagram he later admitted that he screwed up. A lesson for the next big one Paris Roubaix.
Wait, what?! Belgium's biggest race and the train takes precedence? The bike race has to stop for a train? I'm sort of new to pro cycling, but it sure seems to me that if you know the big race is crossing the tracks at about X time, you coordinate with the trains to make sure this sort of thing doesn't happen. I'm open to being educated on this; where am I going off the tracks (so to speak ;-) ) here? Thanks!
The riders get stuck often by the train schedules. 😬🦋⏰
Bike races are supposed to stop for the trains. If the stop is a long one and the peloton and or other smaller front groups catch up with the breakaway during the hold up, the breakaway and other small groups are supposed to be given a head start to keep their time advantage the same.
Thanks@@ChrisHornerCycling !
@@ellen5165 Thanks!
Spot on as ever. Apart from the obvious, I was impressed with how Sheffield kept coming back after being dropped.
Right 👊🦋
Thanks Chris that was informative and entertaining. So with the benefit of hindsight I can stick by my contention that the race was MVDP’s to lose ...and he did not because he and Alpecin rode a great race. There is no doubt that he was by far the best rider on the day and probably only WVA and Pogacar could have matched him.
in fairness I think many of these attacks (Jorgesson, Pederson) were because they know they have no real answer to a late MVDP attack on the bergs...they simply cant compete with him if he goes nuclear in the last 15-20km.....so they tried to soften him up well in advance and just hope something sticks....their moves seemed so ineffective because Mathieus team played it so well...
Mathieu was predictably imperious...but his team were instrumental in keeping it all together. . chapeau all.
When MvdP attacks I think Pogi can stay on him on Koppenberg and will also drop WvA no way he can stay on them. What a spectacular climb that is. We initially thought Lidl-Trek is the best team in this race but the UAE Team Emirates emerged on the last k atleast 4 riders in the lead group. Knucklehead Rider : Mads Pedersen 🇩🇰
Knucklehead Team : Lidl-Trek 🇺🇸
Knucklehead Finished: Michael Matthews 🇦🇺
MVP tactics : Alpecin-Deceuninck Team 🇧🇪
Wish I could have seen it, couldn't find the race on Max or Peacock 🤷
livestream on the internet
FloBikes 🦋🥲
The early attacks may be pointless knuckleheadery, but they are entertaining. BTW, do any American fans have advice for post-GCN+ viewing? I can't bring myself to pay for WBD's ridiculous MAX/BR service.
I use all three. It’s ridiculous but I need to watch the big races. 👊🦋
Max isn't charging extra for the B-R Sports add on right now but that will change at some point. Charges were supposed to kick in beginning in March but that has been extended to sometime later in the year (can't find any specific date).
.
I paid for Flo Sports for one month just to watch these Flaunders races. Already get complementary Max through my AT&T mobile service. Do have to pay for Peacock, but wife loves Bravo shows anyhow. 😁
Mads Pederson 👑 king knucklehead
King indeed... His iq needs to be checked
Yes he was. 30k out front with an Alpecin rider. Didn’t we just watch that out come last week. 😂🦋👊
@@ChrisHornerCycling waiting for the next knucklehead show at Roubaix!!
You should call this show the KNUCKLEHEAD effect.
Nils Pollit said in an interview, he had to brake two times due to a slowing Matthews. If he can hold the podium he hadn't ride against the rules - so another knuckelhead move - Be honest, Chris, maybe Pollit could have a bikethrow for a second place ... The DQ was absolute correct!
Ok...I'm going to predict, before I watch this video, that Mads Pederson is a knucklehead. Because I was yelling at him the entire time he attempted his breakaway🤦🏼♂️🤦🏼♂️🤦🏼♂️
Yep...called it. Should have given Dylan Teuns from Israel Premier Tech more love, my brother. No way that when the race started, anyone was predicting an IPT rider to place top ten, much less be driving a break to catch MVDP. If not for the Movistar rider putting his foot down, I think Teuns at least bridges to Matteo--he looked like he had the momentum.
Other than that, spot on.
Mads called himself out on his Instagram account. Philipe Gilbert's reply was one of surprise that a rider would publicly criticize his own race. Good stuff. Mads knew he was a knucklehead. Hopefully he doesn't repeat it in Paris-Roubaix.
When MVD is in the race the Jumbo Leas a Bike's tactics, seem to be advantagious for MDV, although he's from a different team.
Jorgensen and Pederson rolled the dice too soon. The last 10k showed that if they played it differently, then MVDP was beatable as he was cracking towards the last 5k. Fantastic watching though!!
Certainly was a good viewing. Loved it 👊🦋
I like how Visma lab dominate the spring classics, but in the BIG races there is none in top 10
Could Matthews have won that sprint if he didn't go the extra mile (well meters) by going all the way to the other side of the road?
Do you think Matteo should have waited as soon as Mvdp got a gap. He coulda stayed out of the wind and put it them on the last time on the paterberg and takes second ??
Chris... your commentating is bomb brother!
Matthews did a similar, but not as aggressive moves in the final of San Remo.....looks like it finally caught up with him
He could've had two monument podiums in a season if he had kept his line. Still a strong spring campaign for him; his career is hanging around.
Yes it did. 😬🦋
Pedersen's move was not that bad if he expects another few of the better riders to come across and reduce the group.
But you don't make a move like that for over 30km...
Pity for Cortina having chain problems on the Koppenberg, he anticipated well and without the problems likely would have arrived behind MVDP together at the top of the Koppenberg.
Chris, i Love your videos! Do you think ineos is a super team anymore ?
But would Jasper Philipsen have been relegated if he did the same thing?
Ronde de Knuckleheads
I mean, MVDP was just on a league of his own here, the other guys may have made some mistakes but I feel like I his outcome was inevitable, and the winner would be the same if you repeat the race 10 times.
The plan from jumbo appeared to be to have jorgenson keep up with MVDP. Might have been possible in better weather but that still wouldn't have won them anything unless matteo sat on.
Also, Visma lab really seems to have a problem with their tires. Constant flats the past two years in the classics. Besides that their tactics to not take any responsibility always seems to backfire in every race they use this tactic, they seem to race more aggressive when they actually take control of the race. I get they didn't have to control the race, but they just seem to miss the mark whenever they race like this.