if this was 2010/2015, all of these back&forth "the x mind can't comprehend" posts would work since there would be mutual respect. the average epstein citizen thinks that dynamic is still at play in 2026
it's not. not even close. i think of the avg US citizen i don't know same as a russian citizen
i genuinely think this general online disconnect (between EU&US) comes from the fact that the US still thinks of the EU as a societal friend they can poke at as a jest (and expect us to do it back) while they don't realize most of the EU despises them
which tbf is pretty new. at least at this scale
also usually when it's close to the worldcup, i see wholesome interactions between locals and visitors, sort of like cultural exchange. but with qatar and now north-america there has been dick all, online i mainly see americans laughing at how poor europeans and how they don't care about "soccer"
it's kinda insane how little hype there is for the football worldcup, june is not that far anymore & usually by this time at the very least merchandise etc starts being marketed here in the city, if only to passing by tourists to offload their country's flag or w/e
but nothing
i heard someone say: 'IM BUILT DIFFERENT (some people would say "incorrectly")'
and now it's fixed in my mind i can't stop thinking about it
like expected paul seixas being this good has done a number on the french and their confidence/arrogance. not only are they proudly declaring paul is going to win fleche easily, most of em are saying that "less than 8 french in the top 10 is a disappointment" or something similar
fun times ahead
i don't doubt UK public transportation can be great as well btw i'm not ridiculing it for that it's just that we don't have privatized railways so we don't have to remember companies or lines, it's all just under the NMBS
otherwise you should get the flibbertyfloop aboard the wostershestershostershire going to ligma-on-thyme (i have no idea what i'm typing)
anyway lorenzo finns performance was absolutely ridiculous today. on a meta scale and looking at age, experience etc i think he outperformed giulio in terms of expectancy
we know he's a great talent but there's a difference between potential of it and actually showing
RBH rode a fantastic final tactically imo. sending finn out, then giulio attacking making ineos chase while finn could just follow -> always making it a 2v2 post bernal chase effort
vlasov then basically doing an instant attack into leadout once he joined up after finn did some pacing for giulio
go giulio GO NNNJOEEM
FINN ☢️
this discussion about the NJ stadium is going to cause an aneurysm istg
EVERYONE on a certain level knows that paying 150 dollar for a 15 min train ride is completely insane but bc most of the victims are gonna be non US, americans of all sides refuse to acknowledge any fault bc uhm, patriotism?
on twitter just saw a US progressive make the argument (ab/WC@NJ) that euros are stupid for wanting to walk to a swamp and when ultimately people kept saying that forcing people to pay scalping money isn't very lefty and couldn't ignore it anymore she just responded w/ "well soccer is stupid lol xd"
quickstep w/ remco in essence was remco&merlier. that's it. merlier is a sprinter, which was the only reason that setup worked & another rider beside remco got preferential picks
RBH is completely different. multiple leaders, different structure
also, this is not quickstep anymore so remco can't just constantly choose&pick every single race on the calendar he feels like. just like w/ roubaix you have to give _some_ room to other riders & not take spots last minute, even if their winning chance is theoretically lower (in the case of fleche)
he will have enough opportunities to win or start that race if he wants but in all honesty, as long as fleche is on the wednesday before LBL remco will never ever prioritize fleche before LBL especially after he has ridden AGR
LBL is his de facto home race (training wise, not home wise)
i think after the UAE tour "scare" w/ questions about overloading a schedule i think it's fine to skip fleche. he's already done mallorca week onedays, valencia stagerace, uae tour, catalunya stagerace AND a surprise RVV
to be fair, both remco and RBH have always been honest that fleche was a maybe and only AGR & LBL were certains in his schedule, even re-stated it yesterday after the race
i can guarantee that if LBL was not on sunday, he'd have ridden fleche but LBL is obviously way more important to him
KOT
sporza.be/nl/2026/04/1...
i think it's kinda amazing that sporza finally caught on to the fact that remco gets hated by a far larger margin than other riders as a sort of online punching bag when they get frustrated
beter laat dan nooit maar gasten, dit is al bezig sinds 2020. tis midden 2026
hope he gets better soon, well wishes to him i was really looking forward to him butting heads with remco today
watched some moments back, young philipsen really was just outstanding. 19 years old & closing down attacks for your leader during a race that has continuous climbing, difficult aero rolling parts and technical cornering for damn near 260km
probably best race he's ever ridden stats wise
bram vandecapelle, one of the more reliable belgian journalists w/ good sources already confirmed w/visma neither jonas or wout will replace matteo jorgenson at the ardennes after his collarbone fracture
nordhagen will be the visma leader for fleche, LBL yet to be seen
a remarkable thing that doesn't happen that often in male pro cycling at the elites: at the tour of the alps there is only a singular belgian rider starting
matteo vanhuffel riding for the completely MIA team picnic post nl. he's only 19 years and usually rides for the dev team
think we can already conclude that RB transfer was not a dud like some (including me) feared could happen. first year in new team, integrating into team, taking over roles etc
but now in retrospect i think he delivered both results and efforts (working for lipo at catalunya)
only real👎was UAE tour
i just noticed the near 2 minute timegap between skjelly+remco relative to sprint for bronze won by cosnefroy, damn i did not clock it ballooned THAT much
effortlessly
😎💐
