{"id":622790,"date":"2026-04-22T04:14:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-22T04:14:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/622790\/"},"modified":"2026-04-22T04:14:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T04:14:09","slug":"they-still-have-a-lot-to-learn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/622790\/","title":{"rendered":"They still have a lot to learn"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&#13;<\/p>\n<p>This edition\u2019s profile also turns the screw. &#8220;But for Wednesday\u2019s favourites, it will be a hard race, with more elevation than in other years,&#8221; Vanbelleghem notes. Even so, the finale seems pre-written: &#8220;Given the level of the field, it\u2019s obvious everyone will target the final ascent of the Mur de Huy.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Seixas at the heart of the debate<\/p>\n<p>When it comes to standout names, the analysis places Paul Seixas as the leading reference. Traksel doesn\u2019t hesitate: &#8220;For me, yes. If you look at the rest, but especially at what he\u2019s achieved lately, I\u2019d definitely back him.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Beyond the Frenchman\u2019s individual talent, the real question mark is his team. Not without quality, but certainly lacking to some rivals in terms of experience with fellow youngsters L\u00e9o Bisiaux, Antoine L&#8217;H\u00f4te and Noa Isidore at Seixas&#8217; support.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"720\" height=\"405\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/tourdownunder2026stage2-decathlon-69736a0cac2a4.jpg@webp.webp\" class=\"w-auto h-auto\" alt=\"Decathlon CMA CGM Team\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Decathlon CMA CGM Team<\/p>\n<p>Doubts over Decathlon<\/p>\n<p>This is where Traksel focuses. &#8220;How are they going to race? They still have a lot to learn,&#8221; he says, hinting that tactical management will be key. The Dutchman recognises the potential shown so far, but sees room to grow: &#8220;We\u2019ve seen it already; they handled stage races well by staying close to him. But above all, he showed impressive strength.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>There are plenty of unknowns: &#8220;How will they start the race? Will they try to make it hard from the gun? Will they dare? Or will they give others the freedom to make the difference too?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>In that scenario, Traksel sees openings for rivals: &#8220;In fact, they need to make sure Seixas is quickly isolated, so he feels boxed in. I\u2019m curious to see if everyone takes that seriously.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>International outlook<\/p>\n<p>Vanbelleghem widens the lens and tips foreign firepower: &#8220;This is going to be a French party with Skjelmose. It\u2019s going to be exciting.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"720\" height=\"405\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/mattias-skjelmose-amstel-gold-race-2026.jpg@webp.webp\" class=\"w-auto h-auto\" alt=\"Mattias Skjelmose came close to a victory at the 2026 Amstel Gold Race\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Mattias Skjelmose came close to a victory at the 2026 Amstel Gold Race<\/p>\n<p>The Belgian also defends the place of this race type on the calendar: &#8220;You don\u2019t always need the action to kick off with 80 kilometres to go. Not 50 or 100 either. I think these kinds of races also have their place in the calendar. That way, on Wednesdays, when people don\u2019t have time, they know: &#8216;Okay, we just need to watch the last fifteen minutes.'&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>With all the ingredients on the table, La Fl\u00e8che Wallonne again promises an explosive finale\u2026 and plenty of tactical questions to answer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"&#13; This edition\u2019s profile also turns the screw. &#8220;But for Wednesday\u2019s favourites, it will be a hard race,&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":622791,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[569],"tags":[64,63,226618,784,176987,299653,176605,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-622790","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-bobbie-traksel","11":"tag-cycling","12":"tag-decathlon-cma-cgm-team","13":"tag-la-fleche-wallonne","14":"tag-paul-seixas","15":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/622790","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=622790"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/622790\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/622791"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=622790"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=622790"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=622790"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}