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DFA123 said:Exactly. Stybar and Terpstra will be allowed to rider their own races. The Boonen sentiment card is being overplayed - he's not strong enough to win nowdays anyway unless Quickstep use their team to create multiple threats. Sure, the ideal scenario for Quickstep and the fans would be if he could win; but they are not going to recklessly sabotage Stybar or Terpstra's chances to achieve that. The team winning is still the most important thing; perhaps followed by not upsetting the star riders on your roster who won't be retiring.
You've taken what I said a bit out of context there. Of course he can be among the strongest, but he's not going to solo away from 50km and stay away these days. He's going to need the team more than he did at his peak; whether to help him distance some of the sprinters or to close splits for him at vital stages. Even in his mini-renaissance at last year's edition - Tony Martin played a huge role in getting him into a winning position.Mr.White said:DFA123 said:Exactly. Stybar and Terpstra will be allowed to rider their own races. The Boonen sentiment card is being overplayed - he's not strong enough to win nowdays anyway unless Quickstep use their team to create multiple threats. Sure, the ideal scenario for Quickstep and the fans would be if he could win; but they are not going to recklessly sabotage Stybar or Terpstra's chances to achieve that. The team winning is still the most important thing; perhaps followed by not upsetting the star riders on your roster who won't be retiring.
On the contrary, I think he will be the strongest. Don't know if he will win, but he'll be strong
DFA123 said:You've taken what I said a bit out of context there. Of course he can be among the strongest, but he's not going to solo away from 50km and stay away these days. He's going to need the team more than he did at his peak; whether to help him distance some of the sprinters or to close splits for him at vital stages. Even in his mini-renaissance at last year's edition - Tony Martin played a huge role in getting him into a winning position.Mr.White said:DFA123 said:Exactly. Stybar and Terpstra will be allowed to rider their own races. The Boonen sentiment card is being overplayed - he's not strong enough to win nowdays anyway unless Quickstep use their team to create multiple threats. Sure, the ideal scenario for Quickstep and the fans would be if he could win; but they are not going to recklessly sabotage Stybar or Terpstra's chances to achieve that. The team winning is still the most important thing; perhaps followed by not upsetting the star riders on your roster who won't be retiring.
On the contrary, I think he will be the strongest. Don't know if he will win, but he'll be strong
GraftPunk said:
GraftPunk said:
Dazed and Confused said:GraftPunk said:
Very nice, but we really don't need the overlay gimmick on the pictures. PR is not for teenagers.
LaFlorecita said:
Kazistuta said:So most likely there's gonna be lots of a$$holes in the race tomorrow.....
I get the sentiment of a Boonen win, but he needs to earn it on the road. He's already won this race several times, so the retirement argument is not enough for me. I think he's gonna be among the strongest in the race, though.
As the general consensus seems to be, I'm also backing TomBoy and Dege as the two main favorites.
Looking forward to seeing what Boom, Durbridge and Tony M can do - they are big unknowns with great potential.
DFA123 said:This is a completely different argument. I don't think anyone is disputing that he can put out really impressive power until the final kms of races, like he did in the climbing in Tirreno. But, what he has consistently struggled with is sprinting after those hard efforts. Which is way it has been said above that he will probably have to win solo. Of course he can still beat riders like Pinot and Quintana in a sprint, but pretty much anyone who gets to the velodrome in the front group in Roubaix will be a lot faster finisher than those two, and will probably leave Sagan in their dust.Jancouver said:wayahead said:Oh my, come on. He has his undisputable strenghts and I'm in fact his biggest fan, but if he has some weaks it's a lack of tactical acumen (e.g. three mistimed sprints in MSR) and his trouble to sprint strongly after working too much in the finale. Both of them are usually key factors in Roubaix.Jancouver said:Sagan needs a rest before a sprint? Since when? Is that how he won the last WC?
You know, I get it, there is a lot of people that dislike Sagan for whatever reason, but sometimes, I just cant believe what kind of nonsense the anti-sagan crowd can make up and wonder if those people even watch any of these races.
When discussing his sprint after hard work, what can you offer is Doha, E3 2014, GW 2016, Quebec 2016, KBK 2017 or sprint against Roelandts in RvV 2013. My list would be probably longer, including lost sprints against Kwiatkowski (MSR 2017, E3 2016), GVA (RvV 2012 & 2015, Omloop 2016 & 2017, Montreal 2016), Ciolek (2013) or group of top dogs (P-R 2014).
He is improving though, as unlikely as it sounds. Two - three years ago we were questioning even his ability to handle 250+km races, labeling him next EBH (Richmond cut this debate off), or discussing effectivity of his ride on cobbles because of his high bike position. His stamina is better, experience as well. But based on his previous results I would be very surprised to see him winning sprint in Roubaix.
How about his win in Tirreno where he won the stage to Ferno? Climbing with Quintana, Pinot etc and taking the sprint?
Oh, you are right. Let me recap. It was a coffe ride until the last 100m where he was sprinting against Pinot, that's right, that's why he won, because all the fast guys forgot to join the coffee ride.
What a bunch of BS about Sagan needing an easy ride or a break before the sprint. Yeah, he lost San Remo because he did 99% of the work since he attacked and went too early in the sprint, so he lost by a cm to a guy who drafted on his wheel for several kilometers. That's a great example why he needs an easy ride to the finish line.
DFA123 said:There surely can't be a better flat stretch of 'road' than the Areneberg in the cycling world. I rode it myself a couple of years ago and the photos and videos really don't do justice to how ridiculously uneven and hard to ride it is. It's become a bit of a cliche to say that, but it really is true for the Arenberg. The size, the irregularity, the sharpness of the cobbles. Plus the speed with which the riders come flying into it is just incredible - no one is in control, it's just a case of put out as much power as possible, grip the bars tightly and hope no-one falls near you. The feeling at the end when you get back onto the asphalt as well - it's like the smoothest road you'll ever ride in your life.
Sure, for position in the race Carrefour de l'Arbre is more perhaps more challenging. But it has nothing on the Arenberg for me in terms of the difficulty of the cobbles. The Arenberg also has more difficulties like the fight for position for 5km before and navigating a peloton along it - not usually an issue for most riders on the Carrefour. How many riders crash on the Carrefour compared with the Arenberg? It's true that Carrefour may decide the winner - although not so often in recent years - but Arenberg can easily lose you the race if you crash or get caught out positionally. So I think it's certainly not overhyped.LugHugger said:DFA123 said:There surely can't be a better flat stretch of 'road' than the Areneberg in the cycling world. I rode it myself a couple of years ago and the photos and videos really don't do justice to how ridiculously uneven and hard to ride it is. It's become a bit of a cliche to say that, but it really is true for the Arenberg. The size, the irregularity, the sharpness of the cobbles. Plus the speed with which the riders come flying into it is just incredible - no one is in control, it's just a case of put out as much power as possible, grip the bars tightly and hope no-one falls near you. The feeling at the end when you get back onto the asphalt as well - it's like the smoothest road you'll ever ride in your life.
It's iconic and spectacular but overhyped imo as far as the race is concerned. For us mere mortals though, I agree that it's an almost spiritual experience to ride (gripping the bars tightly is DEFINITELY not recommended). Carrefour is a far more difficult secteur - bigger cobbles, more exposure, later in the race so more fatigue :surprised:
blaxland said:Really looking forward Roubaix this year sagan and boonen are the two main favourites,but anything can and will happen.Riders like Vanmarke and degenkolb will also be up there and im hoping for a strong ride from durbridge.With a little over 24hrs till the race![]()
ChewbaccaDefense said:Kazistuta said:So most likely there's gonna be lots of a$$holes in the race tomorrow.....
I get the sentiment of a Boonen win, but he needs to earn it on the road. He's already won this race several times, so the retirement argument is not enough for me. I think he's gonna be among the strongest in the race, though.
As the general consensus seems to be, I'm also backing TomBoy and Dege as the two main favorites.
Looking forward to seeing what Boom, Durbridge and Tony M can do - they are big unknowns with great potential.
I was being hyperbolic...