Quick-Step Floors' Domination

Quick-Step Floors is dominating the 2018 seasons but who is really happy with this?
I think that the only people happy with Quick-Step Floors' domination are Lefevere and his staff.
In particular, in Belgium, this is a huge problem to deal with.
Their most representative team is dominating but the Belgian riders in the team are not winning any significant race, with the little exception of Lampaert's Dwars Door Vlaanderen.
Is this enough for a nation in which cycling is like a religion? I don't think so.
Also Gilbert said, with a bit of regret, that when you ride for Quick-Step Floors you can never consider yourself as The captain and you have to accept it.
My question is: if you are a champion, can you accept to have, potentially forever, a secondary role?
What would do Terpstra as the only captain of a team? He would be controlled as all the others I think.
Terpstra is a solid cobbles rider and deserved his victory but would have been the same if Van Avermaet or Sagan would have attacked?
Quick-Step Floors' strategies are the best in the world and we are witnessing an incredible phenomenon in cycling, that we have never faced before.
For the first time in cycling history, the team is the hero to admire more than its riders.
We will remember Quick-Step Floors more than its riders I think.
This phenomenon is more common in other sports such as Football or Basketball but I've never seen this happening in cycling.
Enjoy Quick-Step Floors' last miracle.

Rider of the Month : June

Congratulations Jakub, you did it!
Fuglsang is the first Danish rider that triumphs in this special classification.
He dominated the Critérium du Dauphiné and is ready to lead Astana in the upcoming Tour de France.
He is a solid and complete rider and can find in Aru something more than a helper.
The strategy of the multi-captain is one of the best but, so far, there is just one team able to do it tadily and it is Team Quick-Step Floors during the classics campaign.
Nevertheless, it is two years in a row that the rider who won the Criterium du Dauphiné, in late July, won the Tour de France too, will the tradition continue?

Amstel Gold Race 2017 - School Of Cycling, School Of Life

The final kilometre of the Amstel Gold Race 2017 has been something amazing, something more than just cycling.
The two characters of this amazing show have been Kwiatkowski and Gilbert, the riders that showed the best shape in 2017 classics campaign.
They arrived in the Ardennes with prestigious and spectacular victories conquered this year in the previous classics. Today, they found themselves in this emotional final kilometre where just one of them, in the end, would have won.
The final has been absolutely unpredictable: Kwiatkowski, apparently stronger than Gilbert in a sprint, showed Gilbert respect, refusing to take the lead in the final kilometre.
This has been a mistake, the last kilometre became a psychological and tactical battle, but more that a matter of strategy, the final duel turned out to be a mental toughness question.
Kwiatkowski used the same strategy that in March had given him his great Milano - Sanremo victory but, this time, he wasn't fighting with Sagan and Alaphilippe, two young and bumptious riders.
His opponent, today, was a clever "old" champion, Philippe Gilbert, one of the most experienced riders in the Peloton.
Kwiatkowski has been beaten by an opponent better than him at his own game.
The attack of Kwiatkowski was provoked by the patient and the courage of Gilbert, waiting 'til the end, confident that his young antagonist would not have resisted longer without attacking.
The last kilometre of the Amstel Gold Race 2017 should be projected in any kind of school, because it is a life lesson.
Has Kwiatkowski learned the lesson? We will discover it soon.

Ronde Van Vlaanderen 2017

I want to start the article on such an epic race with two quotes:

The first is of the World Champion, Peter Sagan, that,  when asked if the trio would have caught Gilbert, replied: "I think so. Given how I was riding and I had strong companions, so yes, I think I could have got back up to him, but destiny didn't want it".


The second is of the Winner of the race, Philippe Gilbert: “It all started on the Muur. I was riding on Tom Boonen’s wheel and it went on from there,” Gilbert said. “We had three riders in the group and we decided to push on.”

These two quotes explain better than 100 words how epic has been the 101° ronde.
The genius of Tom Boonen invented an incredible race and the class of Gilbert drew it.
In the final, when a super strong trio made by Sagan, Van Avermaet and Naesen could have ruined such a wonderful masterpiece, destiny decided that it was time to pay back the Belgian champion for the amazing start of the season and for his bravery.
This has been the 101° Ronde Van Vlaanderen and we will talk about and remember this race for a long long time.