Road Bike Racing - Amstel Gold Race

Bartoli [Fassa Bortolo] wins it in a sprint ahead of teammate Ivanov. Boogerd [Rabobank] is third, while Armstrong [USPS] gets fourth.

Another stellar spring classics season for USPS.

All within about .25 seconds of each other too. Armstrong did OK, though he just did not seem to have it at the finish. For a guy who was sick on Friday night, he did OK. ;)

It looked like anybody's race with 200 meters to go, though I wondered if the two FB riders didn't have him boxed in a bit.

Cheers...Gary

I wonder if armstrong really is sick or he was trying to psych people out!

Way to go Bartoli- I was thinking he might be a strong contender, the way the Italians have been going. His teammate, Casagrande, just won the Giro del Trentino.

My wink was my vote for psych.

And I realized while thinking about the race, that in the last twenty Km or so, one of the two FB riders would break - probably did it half a dozen times or so. Armstrong was the only one to react, every time. I suppose that would have been their plan - wear him out before the finish. It may have worked.

Cheers...Gary

Originally posted by gmason
In the last twenty Km or so, one of the two FB riders would break.

It looked like anybody's race with 200 meters to go, though I wondered if the two FB riders didn't have him boxed in a bit.

Exactly. First, Ivanov attacked constantly and Boogerd let Armstrong catch him every time. And then the sprint... It looked like they had planned it. Ivanov keeping a steady pace near the right-hand barriers with Armstrong on his wheel, Bartoli (with Boogerd on his wheel) sneeking up on Armstrong's left side putting him in a nice little box before they started sprinting almost simultaneously. And Boogerd drifted left forcing Armstrong to take the long way around him as well.

I just hope Ullrich (or Simoni or someone) will be in form for the Tour.

/Csson

It's getting pretty clear....Amstrong is getting ready for the tour and a 4th victory. I don't see anybody beating him.