2012 Road World Championships, Mens Road Race Maastricht - Valkenburg 267 km 23/09/12

[the asian]

purito and moreno didn't do ****

Moreno attacked earlier, (or tried to) He got a small gap.

 

[Flamin]

Valverde was nowhere near the front though from what I could see from my place at the top of the Cauberg. Apparently he had to baby-sit Freire...

Freire was on Boonen's wheel at the foot of the cauberg, so his bad positioning had nothing to do with babysitting Freire...

 

[YoRUsh]

Back from Valkenburg. I have to say I'd forgotten how gorgeous Dutch girls are, and how good the fries taste.

Pretty much all the stands were flemish
This was the first time that I have been to a WC race on the road, really liked the atmosphere, mostly thanks to the many and many Belgians alongside the road (most of whom who were really quick with changing from personal favourit Boonen to Gilbert in no-time). The race was pretty decent until the break got caught, but what an impressive accelleration by Gilbert. Very worthy winner.

 

[barmaher]

Again, Gilbert is a contender in almost every type of one-day race.

So long as there are no cobbles.

 

[Cyivel]

Tears of respect pouring out of my eyes for Gilbert.

Glad to see him back to form, thought it was an impressive first outing at this level in some aspects for JTL.

Enjoyed the race.

 

[Scatto]

So long as there are no cobbles.

False, he won Omloop Het Volk / Het Nieuwsblad twice and had decent performances in RDV.

 

[ingsve]

Who are those pure climbers that can't ride well in a classic anyway. Sastre? Maybe Piepoli as well. Any current climbers that wouldn't have a chance in a hard one-day race? It seems to be an extremely small niche.

Rujano? Duarte? Tiralongo? Cobo? Riders like that pretty much. There are probably a bunch more colombians as well that are only really seen on MTFs.

 

[42x16ss]

Rujano? Duarte? Tiralongo? Cobo? Riders like that pretty much. There are probably a bunch more colombians as well that are only really seen on MTFs.

Even Sastre had some good showings at hilly classics such as San Sebastian. There aren't many climbers who can't mix it up in the hilliest classics TBF

 

[Caruut]

So long as there are no cobbles.

Two wins of Omloop, 3rd in the RvV in 2009 and 2010 and a top 10 in 2011 and Gent - Wevelgem he came 3rd in 2010. That's pretty good.

 

[pedromartins]

Two wins of Omloop, 3rd in the RvV in 2009 and 2010 and a top 10 in 2011 and Gent - Wevelgem he came 3rd in 2010. That's pretty good.

I see Gilbert as a great rider, but to go as far as to say that he is the best classics specialist of his generation is a lack of respect to riders like Boonen, Cancellara and even Valverde.

Having said that, it was a great win, with great style. Congratulations Gilbert.

 

[Afrank]

I see Gilbert as a great rider, but to go as far as to say that he is the best classics specialist of his generation is a lack of respect to riders like Boonen, Cancellara and even Valverde.

Having said that, it was a great win, with great style. Congratulations Gilbert.

You can't say he's not one of the best classics specialist of his generation though. I'd say he ties with Boonen for best classics specialist of his generation. He's definitely the best uphill sprinter of his generation.

 

[pedromartins]

You can't say he's not one of the best classics specialist of his generation though. I'd say he ties with Boonen for best classics specialist of his generation. He's definitely the best uphill sprinter of his generation.

Nobody here will argue that he is great, but i remember pre-ban Valverde, and he smoked everyone (even gilbert) uphill. Aren't both of them about the same age?

Ties with Boonen? The 7 monument winner (not only)? That's too much.

 

[Caruut]

I see Gilbert as a great rider, but to go as far as to say that he is the best classics specialist of his generation is a lack of respect to riders like Boonen, Cancellara and even Valverde.

Having said that, it was a great win, with great style. Congratulations Gilbert.

Boonen, Cancellara and Gilbert are three of the best classics riders ever - really no idea where you've just pulled Valverde from there though. I didn't even say he was the best classics specialist of his generation, either. Someone said that he was a contender for any one-day race, someone else said not if there are cobbles and I just replied that he can still contend even when there are cobbles.

Gilbert has wins in two of the monuments and the WC and has twice managed podium finishes in two of the three he hasn't won. Paris - Roubaix is the only one-day race where he genuinely isn't a threat to win.

 

[Afrank]

Nobody here will argue that he is great, but i remember pre-ban Valverde, and he smoked everyone (even gilbert) uphill. Aren't both of them about the same age?

Ties with Boonen? The 7 monument winner (not only)? That's too much.

Valverde is 2 years older than Gilbert, he was good before his ban, we'll have to wait and see if he can return to that level again next year in the classics. When valverde was beating Gilbert though that was before he got banned, so there might be some clinic related reasons for him beating Gilbert; and Gilbert is the one beating him now .

Boonens the best cobbled classics rider (maybe ever) but if you include San Sebastion, Paris-Tours, and Lombardia then Gilbert has won 9 classics. Plus he's been 3rd in 7 other classics.

 

[greenedge]

Boom is Rabo's MVR (Most Valuable Rider) at this point.

What about LLS?
If only he had won Tour of Romandie.

 

[The Hitch]

What the **** were germany doing ?

Belgium has the clear favorite, and they decide to do all the work for him, so that he can power away from them on the final climb and deprive their leader from getting a chance with his sprint.

I don't get it

 

[Pantani_lives]

What the **** were germany doing ?

Belgium has the clear favorite, and they decide to do all the work for him, so that he can power away from them on the final climb and deprive their leader from getting a chance with his sprint.

I don't get it

They were convinced Degenkolb could win the race. Well, he finished fourth.

 

[The Hitch]

They were convinced Degenkolb could win the race. Well, he finished fourth.

Yeah he finished 4t, not actually anywhere near the victory.

The break was never actually going to go away as Belgium would have had to bring it back, at considerable effort. Then Germany have extra men with Degenkolb and the real favorites have less men.

But for some reason they decided to do all of the work (with the exception of some truly bizzare behaviour from Colombia at first).

Its like trying to beat cav in a sprint by leading him out with 800 to go, then justifying it as a good tactic because you came 4th.

 

[Pantani_lives]

Yes, the Belgians can be grateful to the Germans.

 

[The Hitch]

Interesting that Eurosport chose as their background what i think is Samu on Luz

 

[manafana]

2nd year in row that it comes off for the bookies favourite, boom and degenkolb riders i thought could cause a shock had great race, degenkolb has potential to be such a big rival to sagan they will carve up the flat racing if cavendish sticks with sky

 

[Telmisartan new]

Nice call Hitch,what was your post,i think better than 50% chance Gilbert win.Nice call sir.

 

[Descender]

Yeah he finished 4t, not actually anywhere near the victory.

The break was never actually going to go away as Belgium would have had to bring it back, at considerable effort. Then Germany have extra men with Degenkolb and the real favorites have less men.

But for some reason they decided to do all of the work (with the exception of some truly bizzare behaviour from Colombia at first).

Its like trying to beat cav in a sprint by leading him out with 800 to go, then justifying it as a good tactic because you came 4th.

Didn't he have a chance to finish at least 3rd and get a medal? Wouldn't that been worth the German effort?

 

[Descender]

Freire was on Boonen's wheel at the foot of the cauberg, so his bad positioning had nothing to do with babysitting Freire...

Did you read Valverde's and Freire's words?

 

[movingtarget]

The other teams had to make the race harder, earlier. They just played into the hands of the Belgians. The Spanish or Italians were never going to outsprint Gilbert on that climb. It made no tactical sense. The French did the right thing and I was surprised that Voeckler did not try something serious with a couple of laps to go. Nibali tried but needed to get the gap earlier with a few good riders with him. Of course, you need luck and the right riders to go with you. I also hope the Belgians buy the Germans a beer or two. Although they were obviously confident that Degenkolb could do it. Aussies came to the front with the Germans but Gerrans did not have the legs at the finish. Davis surprised me to finish sixth to add to his third at Geelong in 2010. Difficult to see any hard luck stories at the finish. It was a pretty clinical display by Gilbert.