Reminder - Dwars door Vlaanderen tomorrow (Now with spoiler content)

[MattTuck]

Not one of the biggest races on the calendar, but often a good indicator of form for the imminent cobbled classics.

Terpstra won last year and went on to win Paris-Roubaix.

Also, Quintana is riding this race tomorrow to prep for the TdF.

Not sure of the streaming situation yet, but it can't be any worse than today's coverage of the Volta a Catalunya.

[tiretrax]

Thank you, Matt. That would be a good way to spend the a.m. Wish I had a conference call instead of meetings so I could watch the livestream. What are you using?

[MattTuck]

Thank you, Matt. That would be a good way to spend the a.m. Wish I had a conference call instead of meetings so I could watch the livestream. What are you using?

I'll be checking cyclingfans to see what they've got. May end up having to watch in some foreign language if they don't have an English language stream. I believe Eurosport is covering Volta a Catalunya... not sure if they're also covering this race.

[kramnnim]

Doesn't look like Eurosport will have it. Wonder if this cycling.tv subscription is worth it?

[joco]

Anyone know if BeIN Sports has it?

[nooneline]

DDV is a lesser-known race to a lot of American fans. Here's some good background info:

http://www.podiumcafe.com/2015/3/23/8278317/ten-reasons-to-love-dwars-door-vlaanderen

http://www.pavepavepave.com/2015/03/24/dwars-door-vlaanderen-5-riders-to-watch/

[MattTuck]

Word, watching a dutch stream. (http://www.bvls2013.com/ss21.php)

[MattTuck]

Awesome to see the world champion in the lead group, taking pulls.

[thwart]

Cool, damp, gray...

In other words, perfect Belgian one-day race conditions. :banana:

[MattTuck]

Also, that was a gnarly corner. Looks like it took down atleast 3 riders and a moto.

Looks like the moto driver layed it down to avoid hitting Lars Boom (I think) who was hitting the deck just in front of the moto... Good on them.

[thwart]

Boom, Devolder, motorbike.

Amazing what one oil spot in a corner can do. At least in the drizzle.

[Uncle Jam's Army]

Did Lars fall down and go Boom?

[ultraman6970]

Can you imagine quintana winning this solo??

[thwart]

That's the way to play the finish when you've got 2 riders in the front group.

[MattTuck]

That's the way to play the finish when you've got 2 riders in the front group.

I guess Kwiatkowski's mindset on that was, "I've the world champ, this is training for me." I've never seen such an 'easy' win out of a 4 man group.

[nooneline]

I guess Kwiatkowski's mindset on that was, "I've the world champ, this is training for me." I've never seen such an 'easy' win out of a 4 man group.

he gave it an effort, and then he realized that Van Baarle wasn't going to help chase - he was content with a podium place. and Theuns, obviously not gonna help.

when it comes down to it, if you're Kwiatko, there's not a whole lot you can do against a two teammates and a young guy to whom this is a huge result.

especially after ripping the field apart and then working for 50km in belgian march rainfall... !

[MattTuck]

he gave it an effort, and then he realized that Van Baarle wasn't going to help chase - he was content with a podium place. and Theuns, obviously not gonna help.

when it comes down to it, if you're Kwiatko, there's not a whole lot you can do against a two teammates and a young guy to whom this is a huge result.

especially after ripping the field apart and then working for 50km in belgian march rainfall... !

Agreed. Not saying he misjudged it. I just think he made the decision that he wasn't going to chase it. Let others, to whom this would be a big result, put in the work to win it.

Also, I think it helps for upcoming races that riders see he is credibly willing to lose a race if the others aren't willing to work. And this is a fairly 'cheap' way of sending that message.

[Uncle Jam's Army]

Anti-climactic finish. The Topsport guys played it like they were supposed to. Kwiatkowski must have said screw it, I'm willing to lose the race if I get no help from the Cannondale guy. The Cannondale guy must have said "I'm racing for second."

[MattTuck]

From Bryan Smith's twitter.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CA9K4VaWgAAfvLQ.jpg