2015 Paris - Roubaix, 12th April 1.UWT, 253.5 Km

[lemon cheese cake]

Re: Re:

Brilliant. Stybar. Boom.
Does not compute.

You clearly never watched cyclocross

Not really, but I do know they magically transform into completely different and rather sad riders on the road. Particularly Stybar.

Sad riders?! Stybar?! What, Strade Bianche and 2nd in Roubaix is sad for you? What do you expected, some kind of Merckx performances?

Victories and strong performances as such are the last thing I was talking about.

Let's be honest now: pretty much all Stybar does in the road is follow wheels.

If he foes that why is he not picked on by everyone but Gerrans is?

 

[Bushman]

Such a pity that Sagan had a problem with his bike in the finale. He looked quite good.

Also Mørkøv said in Danish TV that Sagan had to get off his bike and take a sh*t on the side of the road some 20 k before the Arenberg. I think he did quite well in spite of illness.

 

[Bushman]

Re: Re:

Brilliant. Stybar. Boom.
Does not compute.

You clearly never watched cyclocross

Not really, but I do know they magically transform into completely different and rather sad riders on the road. Particularly Stybar.

Sad riders?! Stybar?! What, Strade Bianche and 2nd in Roubaix is sad for you? What do you expected, some kind of Merckx performances?

Victories and strong performances as such are the last thing I was talking about.

Let's be honest now: pretty much all Stybar does in the road is follow wheels.

Which wheel did he follow when he bridged to Degenkolb's group in the finale? The moto's?

 

[hrotha]

Re: Re:

Which wheel did he follow when he bridged to Degenkolb's group in the finale? The moto's?

Hyperbolic claim not literally true 100% of the time. GASP.

It was too little, too late, and it doesn't undo all the previous instances when he followed wheels instead of pulling when it counted. It's the general trend. Like, whose wheel did he follow earlier in the race instead of going for it? Wiggins's.

 

[Kwibus]

Re: Re:

Ofcourse he gets in the wind at times and when he won Strade Bianchi he certainly worked in the leading group, but he is not the initiator of action. He either follow attacks or ride on wheels.

 

[Akuryo]

Re: Re:

Which wheel did he follow when he bridged to Degenkolb's group in the finale? The moto's?

Hyperbolic claim not literally true 100% of the time. GASP.

It was too little, too late, and it doesn't undo all the previous instances when he followed wheels instead of pulling when it counted. It's the general trend. Like, whose wheel did he follow earlier in the race instead of going for it? Wiggins's.

Cause most of the time he has Terpstra, Boonen, Vandenbergh or even Trentin in a group behind. Why would he work? But Gerrans does not have a strong(er) rider in a group behind at LBL. That is the difference. Not pullig because of tactics is not the same as not pulling because you don't want to.

 

[Fernandez]

Re: Re:

Ugh Degenkolb. Not a fan.

Terrible tactics by some teams. Just leading in for Degenkolb, lol.

Thats exactly what i think

But what else could they have done? Degenkolb bridged the gap himself and then did most of the riding on the front, and then won the sprint easily. He was not just the fastest finisher, but the strongest rider as well.

It's not like Kristoff last week, where another rider worked with him to give him the advantage - Degenkolb did it all himself (albeit with his team mate). When he joined GVA and Lampaert, they pretty much stopped riding, they didn't pull him clear like Terpstra did to Kristoff.

He was behind someone all the race and just bridged one time on Van Avermaet and the Etixx. Ok, at that point he looked really strong. Nobody should have helped like Van Avermaet did and everybody should have attacked him all the way to the finish. Instead of that, for a reason i dont understand, Etixx lead him to the finish, waiting Stybar winning him the sprint? They should have let Degenkolb to pull the group and attacked him constantly, like everybody does with Valverde always in races like Liege or Lombardia. He was strong, but they put him the race very easy.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Stybar did absolutely nothing on cobbles, I think that's what hrotha is mainly referring to. Same as all other years so far. Only follow wheels and even there he had a hard time a couple of times.
Then he was in the wheels of the Boom/Elmiger/Keukeleire group, not co-operating because of Lampaert. Until they were empty then he started bridging the gap alone.

Tactically very smart, wise and optimal. But it gives anti-fans

 

[DFA123]

Re: Re:

Which wheel did he follow when he bridged to Degenkolb's group in the finale? The moto's?

Hyperbolic claim not literally true 100% of the time. GASP.

It was too little, too late, and it doesn't undo all the previous instances when he followed wheels instead of pulling when it counted. It's the general trend. Like, whose wheel did he follow earlier in the race instead of going for it? Wiggins's.

Cause most of the time he has Terpstra, Boonen, Vandenbergh or even Trentin in a group behind. Why would he work? But Gerrans does not have a strong(er) rider in a group behind at LBL. That is the difference. Not pullig because of tactics is not the same as not pulling because you don't want to.

This is very true. I think he could be a really attacking and exciting rider on another team. He's stifled to much by tactics at Etixx; several races when he was on peak form (around his SB win), he had to just sit in the pack and do nothing, with Vandenbergh and/or Terpstra up the road.

 

[Eyeballs Out]

Re:

Stybar did absolutely nothing on cobbles, I think that's what hrotha is mainly referring to. Same as all other years so far. Only follow wheels and even there he had a hard time a couple of times.
Then he was in the wheels of the Boom/Elmiger/Keukeleire group, not co-operating because of Lampaert. Until they were empty then he started bridging the gap alone.

Tactically very smart, wise and optimal. But it gives anti-fans

I think Stybar is one of those riders who isn't really big enough to do anything more than hang on when they hit the cobbles. He must weigh about 70 kg.

 

[Volderke]

If you think VM was stronger than Canc in 2013 then I've got nothing to talk about with you

You care to read? I didn't say what you think. Same for Canc<>rest. Read posts, don't judge with what you think would fit in your prejudices...
Vanmarcke was going to rip it apart, and he punctured. They gave him a wheel not suitable for PR on top... I wonder what wheels the neutral motorbike had?

 

[jmdirt]

Great Quote: "He’s known me since I was an 18 year old streak of piss and now I’m a 35 year old streak of piss” --SirWiggo

 

[jens_attacks]

i think i never seen such a strong headwind in the last 50 kms in roubaix
until then it was crazy fast, and from then on it blew hard in their faces. we're lucky that we didn't get a mass sprint
congrats to dege, the strongest of the day

also if anyone will use health issues as an arguement for not doping, i will adress harsh words to that person. i've seen today dozens of riders sprinting at a red level crossing. and the fuccin TGV 10 seconds after. if a single guy would have crashed, it would have been a mourning day tomorrow. these guys are most of the time at milimeters near certain death.

 

[The Hitch]

Re: Re:

If he foes that why is he not picked on by everyone but Gerrans is?

I think you'll find that in 99% of "why does rider A get less forum criticism than rider B even though they both do the same thing" type questions, you will find out that rider A is also far less successful

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Indeed, before Gerrans started winning nobody cared

 

[IndianCyclist]

Degenkolb was strong in the finale because except for the last 15 km, he was not in the front of the race. He played to his strengths and his tactics perfectly to avoid Terpstra scenario.
The race may have been fast but the race was simply put not hard enough. If in the last 20-30 km teams have 2-3 domestiques each, something is definitely off. Also Gregory Rast from the breakaway at just 31 s off and Gougeard at 1:38 off just implies that the chase wasn't hard enough. Domestiques finishing in the top 20.
Quickstep's Strategy was totally irrelevant. All it did was tire their main hard men in Terpstra and Vandenbergh out with their little digs and no concentrated long attacks
Wiggins last race- for all the talks of a soft race and the best race in the world and with a favorite tag, at least he could have tried a do or die attack as it was the last time. I think someone ( probably DB) prompted him to put in a dig at 3 k when all was lost(Wiggo doesn't do lost causes). For all the power that he has, Luke Rowe beat him in his favorite & last race
Van Avermaet is definitely the perennial podiumer as he either lacks the power or fitness but he still tries good long range efforts with good dividends.
Most of the contenders were waiting for what even i donot know. Perhaps to lose and then cry. Better to try and cry than that, like Lotto Soudal.
Gone is the era of the Classics Superman(Boonen Cancellara). Enter the new era of the Classics Sprinter(Kristoff, Degenkolb)

 

[Bushman]

Re: Re:

Which wheel did he follow when he bridged to Degenkolb's group in the finale? The moto's?

Hyperbolic claim not literally true 100% of the time. GASP.

It was too little, too late, and it doesn't undo all the previous instances when he followed wheels instead of pulling when it counted. It's the general trend. Like, whose wheel did he follow earlier in the race instead of going for it? Wiggins's.

He had his team mate pull with Wiggins but the peloton was catching up because of strong headwind. They wouldn't stand a chance, not if Stybar pulled either.

 

[Jagartrott]

A bit too much team opting for negative racing, just like in RVV.
A pity Sep punctured at a key moment again. I don't think he was the strongest, but without that puncture, the finale would've been different for sure (he was splitting the field).

Btw: Aleksejs Saramotins finished 13th. One hell of a ride from him (he was in the lead group for 200 km).

 

[Arnout]

Re:

also if anyone will use health issues as an arguement for not doping, i will adress harsh words to that person. i've seen today dozens of riders sprinting at a red level crossing. and the fuccin TGV 10 seconds after. if a single guy would have crashed, it would have been a mourning day tomorrow. these guys are most of the time at milimeters near certain death.

Similarly with the whining about dangerous race conditions that goes on all the time.

 

[Pantani_lives]

No one will be disqualified. The commissaires say the spirit of the rule was respected.

 

[Kwibus]

Re:

No one will be disqualified. The commissaires say the spirit of the rule was respected.

It's simply because the group was too big.
Elmiger was a rider that waited for the train, maybe he should go to the CAS and fight this decision. Maybe every rider infromt of him crossed the railroad and they all get banned and he wins P-R

Something has to be done about that situation though as the risks that were taken were too big.

 

[Kwibus]

Vanmarcke got a new wheel that was produced in 1987....

He got an aluminium wheel and DS Verhoeven looked at it after the race and noticed that in his days they had tires like that. Then they actually found "1987" printed on the wheel. Ridiculous that Mavic carries wheels like that with them.

 

[Kwibus]

I still see a lot of complaining posts of people that probably completely missed the fact that during the last 30-40km there was a lot of headwind. Serious hard headwind. That completely killed the attacks.

 

[Pantani_lives]

Re:

Vanmarcke got a new wheel that was produced in 1987....

He got an aluminium wheel and DS Verhoeven looked at it after the race and noticed that in his days they had tires like that. Then they actually found "1987" printed on the wheel. Ridiculous that Mavic carries wheels like that with them.

Remarkable story. I wonder how much of a disadvantage that was.

 

[Kwibus]

Re: Re:

Vanmarcke got a new wheel that was produced in 1987....

He got an aluminium wheel and DS Verhoeven looked at it after the race and noticed that in his days they had tires like that. Then they actually found "1987" printed on the wheel. Ridiculous that Mavic carries wheels like that with them.

Remarkable story. I wonder how much of a disadvantage that was.

Probably not very big. Getting the flat at that time was the biggest disadvantage