Scheldeprijs, 8th April 2015, **warning: contains unmasked spoilers**

dastardly00

Scheldeprijs is a Flanders semi-classic (1.HC) that started earlier today.

The 103rd edition begins in Antwerp and covers a 150km loop in the northeast of Belgium. The finish is in Schoten, with riders covering a 16.4km finishing circuit three times. The route includes some cobbled sections, but they do not impose any serious difficulty to the peloton.

No matter how you dress this race up, it's pretty boring until the peloton go under the flamme rouge. The parcours is flat, and the race always ends in a big bunch sprint. It's not called the sprinter's classic for nothing. Kittel, Cavendish, Petacchi, and Cipollini have all won here.

Eurosport have no live/deferred/highlights coverage.

So why am I posting this thread?

Well Sam Bennett is taking part, and he finished 5th in 2014. And he has a great chance to do even better this year.

Kittel, Cav, Greipel, and Degenkolb, for one reason or another, are not riding.

The Tour of Flanders winner Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) is racing, but I'm not sure if he is aiming to win this, or just using it as a warm-up to Paris Roubaix at the weekend. If he does contest the sprint, it's hard to see anyone beating him given the form he is in.

Andrea Guardini (Astana) performed very well in the early season races outside of Europe, but has yet to repeat those results on the continent. He finished 8th in the 2014 race. Elia Viviani (Sky) has a strong set of team mates with him for this race so he should feature. Peter Sagan (Tinkoff-Saxo) is taking part, but he is riding as a domestique and saving himself for the weekend. Danny van Poppel finished an impressive 3rd last year in this race. He has another chance to shine today as Trek team leader. Former winner Alessandro Petacchi may be past his best, but it wouldn't be too much of a suprise if he managed a podium finish. Although now that he is with a Pro-Continental team he might struggle that bit more. And finally, MTN-Qhubeka are desperate for some good results, and Tyler Farrar who was runner-up last year might be able to give the team a welcome boost with a good ride today. Matt Brammeier is riding alongside him.

A full startlist can be found here.



Cyclingnews have a live text ticker here.

Koobcam

Is this on TV?

dastardly00

Koobcam wrote: »

Is this on TV?

It's on the Belgian TV station Sporza.

neris

Is paolini in? Could be a good bet if kristoff isnt going gung ho

Darkglasses

neris wrote: »

Is paolini in? Could be a good bet if kristoff isnt going gung ho

He is indeed.

I would also put forward Lotto Jumbo's Tom van Asbroeck as a contender.

lennymc

Darkglasses wrote: »

He is indeed.

I would also put forward Lotto Jumbo's Tom van Asbroeck as a contender.

is his name pronounced ass-broke? Could he not get a better saddle?

Decuc500

Hoping for a podium finish for Farrar.

dastardly00

Matt Brammeier being awarded his beer.

Darkglasses

Janey, Matt's a bit lighter than I thought.

dastardly00

Darkglasses wrote: »

Janey, Matt's a bit lighter than I thought.

Or else the beer is very, very, very dense :pac:

dastardly00

Who else but Alexander Kristoff wins!

Pudsy33

dastardly00 wrote: »

Who else but Alexander Kristoff wins!

It helps that his team barged their way to the front with total disregard for the safety of everyone else! Bennet was involved in a massive crash as a result.

dastardly00

There was a big crash (as there always is in this race) near the finish. Sam must have got held up by it as the rider who finished 10th (Pfingsten) is one of his lead-out men.

Pudsy33

If you watch the crash, Bennett was directly involved in the crash. An Astana rider tries to pass him where there is no space and leans in with an elbow. Sam hits back and they both go down leading to a massive pileup.

Darkglasses

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIMAmVCagPY

An Astana rider at fault there, but it's just a typical racing incident.

Darkglasses

Broken collarbone for Viviani, big loss for Sky.

Junior

Darkglasses wrote: »

Broken collarbone for Viviani, big loss for Sky.

Haven't seen that confirmed anywhere. Sam wouldn't be riding Roubaix sunday after that I'd say, it was a big smash.

dastardly00

Katusha's highest finishers in the races that make up the Flanders Classics:

Omloop Het Nieuwsblad: 11th (Alexander Kristoff)
Dwars Door Vlaanderen: 10th (Alexey Tsateevich)
Gent-Wegelgem: 1st (Luca Paolini)
Ronde Van Vlaanderen: 1st (Alexander Kristoff)
Scheldeprijs: 1st (Alexander Kristoff)
De Brabantse Pijl: 15th April

Very impressive!

Darkglasses

Junior wrote: »

Haven't seen that confirmed anywhere. Sam wouldn't be riding Roubaix sunday after that I'd say, it was a big smash.

@Procyclingeu said it, a quite reliable Danish journalist who goes to all the races.

Taxuser1

Pudsy33 wrote: »

It helps that his team barged their way to the front with total disregard for the safety of everyone else! Bennet was involved in a massive crash as a result.

in fairness this wasn't Katusha's fault but Gaurdini trying to squeeze a gap that wasn't there.

Have a watch for his blue jersey. Bennet to his left

http://www.stickybottle.com/races-results/video-massive-sprint-finish-crash-in-scheldeprijs-sam-bennett-among-fallers/

Pudsy33

Taxuser1 wrote: »

in fairness this wasn't Katusha's fault but Gaurdini trying to squeeze a gap that wasn't there.

Have a watch for his blue jersey. Bennet to his left

http://www.stickybottle.com/races-results/video-massive-sprint-finish-crash-in-scheldeprijs-sam-bennett-among-fallers/

You're dead right, spotted it on later viewing. Was arguing with someone online who reckons Bennett was at fault as he switched lanes? Can't see that myself.

MPFG

Pudsy33 wrote: »

You're dead right, spotted it on later viewing. Was arguing with someone online who reckons Bennett was at fault as he switched lanes? Can't see that myself.

Bennett was following the wheel in front of him when Astana rider tried to make a gap where there was none ...Another reason Astana should not be riding

pelevin

MPFG wrote: »

Bennett was following the wheel in front of him when Astana rider tried to make a gap where there was none ...Another reason Astana should not be riding

In fairness that'd be a crazy harsh reason to dump a team from cycling! How many teams would there be left?!

Koobcam

dastardly00 wrote: »

Katusha's highest finishers in the races that make up the Flanders Classics:

Omloop Het Nieuwsblad: 11th (Alexander Kristoff)
Dwars Door Vlaanderen: 10th (Alexey Tsateevich)
Gent-Wegelgem: 1st (Luca Paolini)
Ronde Van Vlaanderen: 1st (Alexander Kristoff)
Scheldeprijs: 1st (Alexander Kristoff)
De Brabantse Pijl: 15th April

Very impressive!

Yeah, katusha are cleaning up at the moment, Rodriguez had a win in the Basque tour a couple of days ago as well, plus Kristoff wiping the floor with everyone at the de Panne race.

dastardly00

Ouch!!! :eek: :eek:

https://instagram.com/p/1OVT1vHSAI/?taken-by=sammmyben

Darkglasses

dastardly00 wrote: »

Ouch!!! :eek: :eek:

https://instagram.com/p/1OVT1vHSAI/?taken-by=sammmyben

Owww oww oww. And they say rugby is tough.

dastardly00

Darkglasses wrote: »

Owww oww oww. And they say rugby is tough.

It's going to be a tough few weeks for Sam.

Lying in bed. Ouch.
Having a shower. Ouch.
Putting on clothes. Ouch.

Darkglasses

dastardly00 wrote: »

It's going to be a tough few weeks for Sam.

Lying in bed. Ouch.
Having a shower. Ouch.
Putting on clothes. Ouch.

Still be training like a beast though, guaranteed.

eeeee

dastardly00 wrote: »

Ouch!!! :eek: :eek:

[
]

Jesus ouch :eek: :eek: :eek: Get better soon Sam

nak

Tony Martin's road rash at the Tour was much worse than that, no idea how he managed to carry on.

pelevin

Nasty as it looks, say he can count himself comparatively lucky if it's essentially superficial, which hopefully it is.

dastardly00

Viviani managed to escape with just soft tissue injuries as well.