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2012 Gilbert:Genghis Khan-like total annihilation of the classics?

Which of those races will be freshly put in Phil's palmares this season?

  • Giro dell'Emilia

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    0
  • Poll closed .
so i guess everybody knows that last year,we've witnessed the strongest performance of a classics rider since...well i can't remember any at this level,nothing in the last 20 years,he was better than jaja '95,my humble opinion.
what i like at phil is that he always sets new goals,that would be san remo and vlaanderen for next year.
if his 2011 form will be there(actually he said he will be even BETTER),how many classics which he never won until now can he win?
has phil any limits?can he win absolutely all the important one day races in next few years until he will maybe have a shot in grand tours?

oh so much time until san remo and het volk...let's discuss.
 
Yes, but no

Theoretically Gilbert has proven that he can potentially win every classic.(Expect Paris-Roubaix which he has still to prove but he probably can.)
He has also shown that he can be good for long enough periods of time to theoretically win every single one of these classics.

He also has a very strong team to back him up. So yes, he is the only one that can do it but he probably will not although he will come close. 2011 Gilbert could have won 3 monuments already or at least podiumed 3, 2012 Gilbert has a better team and is likely even stronger.

The potential is there but history and common sense dictates that it is unlikely.

He will dominate again but he will not win more than 2 monuments in one year.
 
Panda Claws said:
I have always wondered if he could do that on the poggio as well. He said that that climb was annoying because it is not really steep and there are a lot sharp bends which force everyone to slow down.

with the 2011 liege form he will make colombo/fondriest attacks to look amateurish.he almost did it in the fdj days but that wasn't enough,he needs bmc to go ballistic up to the point where he will attack.i'm confident he will succeed
 
mewmewmew13 said:
I voted for the Ronde...
:)

he's ambitious.
Marked or not he still dropped 'em last year.

but we could only vote for one...

It's a multiple choice poll so you can pick as many as you think, at least now that is the case.

I picked San Remo and Flanders. Those are his goals and I won't doubt him after last year.
 
Jul 16, 2010
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skidmark said:
Remember how well they 'marked' him in Fleche and Liege? And everything after that?

He's gonna win the Ronde and the Worlds for sure, I threw in KBK and Emilia for good measure.

He most likely won't even race those. He never races Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne.
 
I think he will win RvV, AGR and the WC RR.
I think JROD and Valverde, Vanendert and all the others will beat him at L-BL/ F-W and at M-SR he will attack but will be reeled in ( ideally setting it up for Thor )

I think next year the route at Flanders has that much more hills which should suit him. He also has a handy sprint. At the WC he shall have to attack on the Cauberg and hold it to the line. Otherwise riders like Freire who can top place on the Cauberg will survive/ outsprint him.
Other contenders include Evans, Valverde, Cunego, Sanchez, ( the Shlecks ), Sagan and all the others. However it is the course that most suits him so he should win there.

Also there were other destructive Mongols like Tsoubadi, Tamerlane and all the others.
 
Excellent title. If he wins any 2 of: MSR, RVV, PR, Olympics, Worlds all shall bow before him. I would like to see it happen and think him bagging all the monuments would be stupendous, however unlikely it may be.

MSR will be the next one on the list. Marked or not, he has the power.
 
Voted for Ronde and the Worlds. They will be his primary targets and he should win these two.
Ronde with a changed course with more hills should suit him more, and he also has a great team.
If he doesn't win the worlds RR which includes the Cauberg and most of The AGR route, it will be a big disappointment.
Not too sure about Milan San Remo, even with his strong BMC team.
He'll have to improve his riding on the flat to have a chance of winning.
He always attacks and gets away on the hills, only to be reeled in, on the flat.

Don't think he'll win Paris Roubaix any time soon.
 
Sep 16, 2011
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Netserk said:
Where is the 'he won't win any' option :confused:

Agreed. I picked one (Giro dell'Emilia) out of protest. No MSR, no Ronde, no Olympics, no Worlds, fanboys left reeling and searching for the next bandwagon to latch onto.
 
I picked RVV and Worlds, though I think he will have a pretty decent shot at MSR as well.

I think he will have a good year. Not dominate everything and win every race he rides like last year - but I think he will win some big ones.

He will win AGR too I think ... though probably not Liege.

I dont think he will ride Emilia though, as the date change for Lombardia kinda screws that up.
 
El Pistolero said:
He most likely won't even race those. He never races Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/gilbert-to-begin-2012-campaign-in-qatar

While Gilbert is certain to line up at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad on February 27, he will delay making a decision on whether to take part in the following day’s Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne.

“He’s sure to ride Omloop, but we’ll only decide about Kuurne after the race on the Saturday,” Lelangue said.

he needs races because he will peak very early in la primavera and ronde.
Tour of Qatar
Tour du Haut-Var
Omloop Het Nieuwsblad
Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne
Strade Bianche
Tirreno-Adriatico
La Classicissima

so we might even see a different schedule at the end of the year,why go again for lombardia.tre valli and emilia are extremely important too.



the asian said:
He'll have to improve his riding on the flat to have a chance of winning.
He always attacks and gets away on the hills, only to be reeled in, on the flat.

all changed this year.he's amazingly strong in the flats too.watch please if you didn't see it,belgium national champs and san sebastian.he's a powerhouse now.i say it again,if he will ride roubaix this year,hushovd might have a problem because phil won't look behind.

http://www.velonation.com/News/ID/10356/Philippe-Gilbert-believes-he-can-win-Paris-Roubaix.aspx
 
Parera said:
When did he last ride Paris-Roubaix? 2006? Yeah, I'm sure he will just walk over Spartacus in this race. :rolleyes:

he won't, i didn't say that...i even think it won't be smart to race it yet and he knows it,keep it as a desert for later in the career,an injury here is very dangerous.but please don't keep in your mind the idea that gilbert is not strong on the cobbles because in fact he is,not at cancellara level but close to.
 
jens_attacks said:
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/gilbert-to-begin-2012-campaign-in-qatar

While Gilbert is certain to line up at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad on February 27, he will delay making a decision on whether to take part in the following day’s Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne.

“He’s sure to ride Omloop, but we’ll only decide about Kuurne after the race on the Saturday,” Lelangue said.

he needs races because he will peak very early in la primavera and ronde.
Tour of Qatar
Tour du Haut-Var
Omloop Het Nieuwsblad
Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne
Strade Bianche
Tirreno-Adriatico
La Classicissima

so we might even see a different schedule at the end of the year,why go again for lombardia.tre valli and emilia are extremely important too.





all changed this year.he's amazingly strong in the flats too.watch please if you didn't see it,belgium national champs and san sebastian.he's a powerhouse now.i say it again,if he will ride roubaix this year,hushovd might have a problem because phil won't look behind.

http://www.velonation.com/News/ID/10356/Philippe-Gilbert-believes-he-can-win-Paris-Roubaix.aspx

He did win Begian national RR,ITT and San Sebs. But at MSR and PR, He will be up against more elite competition. Canc, SKY , OP-QS and Garmin all have strong classics teams
Hushovd will be BMC leader for PR. Gilbert will most probably skip it.

I'm a big fan of Gilbert, but you will have to be realistic.

He will not win all 3 of MSR, Ronde & Roubaix, may be one or two . Ronde, he has a higher possibility as he has said it is one of his main targets. But certainly not PR.
 

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