“If Tadej Pogacar doesn't have a puncture, he wins" - Jeroen Vanbelleghem in no doubt about Strade Bianche prospects
Cycling
On Saturday the 2nd of March, one of the most exciting one-day races on the calendar takes place in Italy, Strade Bianche. The 2024 edition could possible be even more exciting than normal as it's longer an tougher than ever before.
This is a decision that hasn't been met with wholehearted agreement however. “I really wonder why?” questions Eurosport cycling expert, Jeroen Vanbelleghem. “It has always been a nice race. There is no need to make it harder, but the course will still be longer and we will have longer gravel strips.”
The extra thirty kilometres have done nothing to put the question of who will win the race into any doubt for Vanbelleghem however. If anything the fact it's longer and tougher than ever before may make it even more predictable. “If Pogacar doesn't have a puncture, he wins," Vanbelleghem predicts. "His biggest competition is within his own team. But Tim Wellens has already said that he will ride for Pogacar.”
Elsewhere on the startlist, the likes of Tom Pidcock, Ben Healy, Matej Mohoric, Richard Carapaz and more will provide some competition for Pogacar. Whether they can do enough to pull off a surprise win though remains to be seen.
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- And your point is what exactly?vappaxbipmv22-12-2024
- MVDP dominates this sport even more than Pogaçar dominates road racing. Also he can beat Tadej on the road quite regularly, the opposite is unlikely.Mistermaumau22-12-2024
- If you listen to team radios you'll hear each DS telling their riders to ride faster, fight their way to the front, and all occupy the same 8 places.Sweep22-12-2024
- You're talking about a sport where equipment and clothing is measured in grams.Sweep22-12-2024
- “During a TT, I am basically blind”. That was his quote after crashing into the barriers in a TT. The problem isn’t the UCI, radios or air bags. The problem is the riders and their teams.JoeyB22-12-2024
- I think you overestimate scientific knowledge and for sure the spreading of it. There are huge numbers of people in similar situations, if there were an easy solution somebody would be making big money out of it. Nerve pain can have many complex origins or be due to complex combinations of reasons. Even if you discover a reason there is not always a solution. Migraines haven’t been solved either. I have had lower back/hip nerve pains on and off for over 30 years, no kind of doctor has ever found a way to reduce, prevent or solve the problem. It may just be that some people are born with nerves that are too short or get twisted out of position during certain movements.Mistermaumau22-12-2024
- Amazing ride by her and very promising for her future. On a side note, it’s a bit worrying all these wins riders have after emotional moments in their lives, someone will come up with emotional doping at some point. Maybe give them fake news just before a big race to get hormones pumping.Mistermaumau22-12-2024
- I doubt he will have the energy to do that if he continues to do leadout for Phillipsenabstractengineer22-12-2024
- I know several people who’ve tried contacting sport airbag manufacturers and none of them ever got a reply. Might be hard to organise anything with such attitudes.Mistermaumau22-12-2024
- It's the BBC. Who cares outside of little Britain.leodis22-12-2024