2012 Montepaschi Strade Bianche

[Kwibus]

You mean at 13km? Yup.

I started watching with 16km to go. A group of about 16 riders was left? So nothing must've happened before that. Ofcourse... makes sense El Pistrollero.

 

[pastronef]

He's married Judging his winning salute he also became a believing christian.

his italian family side lost his uncle a few days ago, he dedicated the victory to his family (basilicata region)

 

[El Pistolero]

of course 13, before that moment the peloton had ridden all together

Before that they separated the wheat from the chaff. The final exploded in the final 13km. In Roubaix and Flanders it's common to see the final explode at over 50km to go.

 

[dlwssonic]

Unlucky? They just were up against a much stronger Cancellara and a good Bennati. Nothing unlucky about it really.

well yeah unlucky to face cancellara on such good form. I think they could have won. Im desperately waiting for a win from them in PR or TA!!

 

[Kwibus]

argh! BMC so unlucky!!! How long do I have to wait for their first win!!

There was nothing unlucky about their loss today. They were beaten by Cancellara. Fair enough.
GVA and Ballan rode well.

 

[Kwibus]

well yeah unlucky to face cancellara on such good form. I think they could have won. Im desperately waiting for a win from them in PR or TA!!

lol. If that's bad luck then every rider besides Cancellara had bad luck and last weekend all other riders beside Vanmarcke were unlucky that Vanmarcke had such good form.

Great reasoning

 

[El Pistolero]

The Plaza wasn't exactly full don't you think? It's still a pretty new and growing race. First time live on the TV.

Cancellara was too fast, so they were still doing their Siesta

 

[Kwibus]

Cancellara was too fast, so they were still doing their Siesta

Yeh the commentators said that, but that's ofcourse not the real reason

 

[rghysens]

Cancellara standing on the podium does not look like he wants to be there. no smiles, made no effort for the kisses from the short podium girls. Strange.

Apparantly his uncle died a few days ago (hence the salute to heaven just before crossing the finishline).

 

[El Pistolero]

I zapped away shortly after the finish, but last year there were a decent amount of people at the Campo or I have a bad memory. One of the two.

 

[LaFlorecita]

But he didn't take credit. So maybe JB is maturing in his old age.

Just wait a little longer.

 

[hfer07]

argh! BMC so unlucky!!! How long do I have to wait for their first win!!

did you watch the race at all? BMC should have won this with Ballan-they just lost it due to poor tactics

 

[El Pistolero]

I'm afraid it's going to be a boring cobbled classics season again by the way

 

[Kvinto]

did you watch the race at all? BMC should have won this with Ballan-they just lost it due to poor tactics

Poor tactics? may i ask about this poorness? why do you think their tactics was poor? They rode an intelligent race, and lost to machine-like Cancellara.

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

I'm afraid it's going to be a boring cobbled classics season again by the way

never know, cobbles can be unpredictable at least.

see quickstep P-R 2011

 

[Kwibus]

I'm afraid it's going to be a boring cobbled classics season again by the way

I was thinking the same. Let´s just see and find out

 

[Echoes]

What a ride ! Ask Gilbert to perform this.

The 2010 Cancellara seems back. Give him three lengths and he holds through ! I hope he can be the sprinters on Lungo Mare.

Good ride by Van Summeren even though he seemed in trouble on the hills. Van Avermaet should have raced for himself. Nice to see that Gatto is not just a sprinter.

Also seeing so different types of riders like Cancellara and Kreuziger in the lead group adds up to the greatness of that race.

Disappointed by Nibali though.

Also I was glad I finally could watch this wonderful race live, even though I wish the live coverage had started a bit earlier so that we could've seen the first sterrati.
Tuscany has such wonderful landscapes, and the Piazza del Campo is supreme, great memories for me.

 

[Gloin22]

never know, cobbles can be unpredictable at least.

see quickstep P-R 2011

Cancellara has better technique on bike then Chava and Boonen though

 

[meat puppet]

Poor tactics? may i ask about this poorness? why do you think their tactics was poor? They rode an intelligent race, and lost to machine-like Cancellara.

Well, hindsight is always 20/20, but when GVA went, my first thought was "Okay, in 2-3 minutes Fabu will pull a Fabu and solo to victory". I think they should have sandbagged until the finish and constantly 1-2 there.

 

[pastronef]

Good ride by Van Summeren even though he seemed in trouble on the hills.

well said, good form for him, and the hills are not his cup of tea. garmin will be strong on the cobbles come April

 

[Kvinto]

Well, hindsight is always 20/20, but when GVA went, my first thought was "Okay, in 2-3 minutes Fabu will pull a Fabu and solo to victory". I think they should have sandbagged until the finish and constantly 1-2 there.

they thought they are strong enough, and tried to attack alternately. Cancellara proved to be stronger, they couldn't know this, they rode their race and lost, but it's definitely not a poor tactics.

 

[El Pistolero]

What a ride ! Ask Gilbert to perform this.

Ok, done.

http://www.sporza.be/cm/sporza/wielrennen/1.1034173#

Click on the vid that says "Gilbert deelt lakens uit in Ronde van België"

Or this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-VZVpmFQLc

 

[meat puppet]

they thought they are strong enough, and tried to attack alternately. Cancellara proved to be stronger, they couldn't know this, they rode their race and lost, but it's definitely not a poor tactics.

Agreed on the general point and no need to impose the view, here. Yet Cancellara has tended to continually use others' attacks as launchpads, which I think they should have factored into the play, no?

 

[canyonball]

Poor tactics? may i ask about this poorness? why do you think their tactics was poor? They rode an intelligent race, and lost to machine-like Cancellara.

If they rode an intelligent race like you defend, they were definately outsmarted by Radioshack. Van Avermaet had to do a bunch of work to get Bennati back. Ballan was strong, but the truth is he was spending more energy than he should since that first attack with 50 km to go (all while Cancellara was following wheels).

It's not their fault what happened after Cancellara got the gap. Canc he's a beast period. But It's my opinion they weren't that smart when managing the race. I mean, they brought a "fresh" Cancellara along untill the last sterrato...

 

[Kvinto]

Agreed on the general point and no need to impose the view, here. Yet Cancellara has tended to continually use others' attacks as launchpads, which I think they should have factored into the play, no?

Maybe, but i guess no one would like to see a RVV2011-like tactics against Cancellara there. What happened happened, Cancellara got a win, we got a great race and BMC were the part of this race