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94th Ronde van Vlaanderen - April 4

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Aug 6, 2009
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sublimit said:
its hard to say but Breschel is class and in good form but didnt string the leading peleton out for hours, Hayman was on the front for ages and drove relentlessly for the whole race, and i still think will do well at Paris- Roubaix.

But yes Breschel will definitely win again in April.
No, he strung out the chase group trying to reconnect with the Peloton :p
Anyway for Vlaanderen you really need to be able to make the selections on the cobbled climbs, which Hayman as far as I could see wasn't able to. Strength on the flats just don't make up for that. Still there are no significant climbs in Roubaix so perhaps the rules are different there. I'm looking forward to seeing how Breschel will do. My bet is a strong early showing and then a mechanical when things start to heat up
 
Apr 1, 2009
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theyoungest said:
Such an effing joke Vacansoleil didn't get an invite for 2 of the 3 Ardennes classics. Clearly one of the strongest teams today.

Considering relative team strengths, budgets etc they have been the team of the year so far for me.
 
Apr 5, 2010
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Hincapie

I'm glad someone else chimed in regarding Hincapie's comments and not me. I must confess that I can't stand the guy. It didn't matter that one of his teammates after RVV (the year that Boonen was on Postal, and rode him off his wheel while working for him) told me point blank "The guy will never will RVV, he doesn't have the head for it, much less the legs".
His status in my eyes started steeply downhill when it seemed like there was an auction for the San Francisco Grand Prix win from a 3 man break with 1 lap to go. Trent Klasna and Michael Barry, (Klasna was in top form at the time) the 2 riders in the break with him, on the same Saturn team no less, just seemed to go backwards after a little jump from GH and he ended up winning solo. Races get bought all the time, I have no issue with that. It's just the garbage out of his mouth after the race that was unbearable.

But that's not really the event that sunk him below cat 5 status with me. Does anyone remember the 2006 RVV when Leif Hoste went up the road with Boonen and lost to Boonen in the sprint to take second? Hoste rode a great race and went pull for pull with Boonen but lost in the sprint after what seemed like a "I'll probably lose the sprint to Tom but I'm going to give it my best shot anyway and jump early". 2nd that year to a superman Boonen was not a bad ride. The post race interview with George had him spewing the same crap. "It wasn't the plan today for Hoste to jump away like that. It should have been me and..." Here goes, "I had the legs". I felt it was the most disrespectful thing I'd ever heard from someone after their Belgian teammate just took second in the biggest race in their home country. Utterly classless and selfish.

And don't even start with his whining after not getting the yellow in the 2008 tour. Yes, it was all Astana's fault.....

Even at ones' worst, they make their own race. Where you put yourself in the pack and who's wheel you jump on or attack is either in you or not. Against the best, he's all excuses.
 
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red_flanders said:
I love Hincapie, and frankly one thing I noticed yesterday was that I wasn't quite as excited about Flanders (and assume it will be the same with Roubaix) when I don't think he has a chance of winning. That said, he does almost inevitably get himself in a situation where he's looking back and trying to urge people to pull through.

He's just not strong enough.

Anyone notice Cancellara asking someone to pull through in frustration yesterday? :)

That was one of the more beastly performances I have ever seen. The amount of time he put into Boonen in just 1K was amazing. Boonen said something about choosing the wrong gear or standing up and having his rear tire slip...well yea, that will cost you 4 or 5 seconds, but the video from the helo of Boonen reaching the top of the Muur, and then them panning up the road to show the distance to Spartacus was incredible. I didn't know there was a human alive that could do that to Boonen in that race. It was sick.
 
Jan 18, 2010
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Cerberus said:
No, he strung out the chase group trying to reconnect with the Peloton :p
Anyway for Vlaanderen you really need to be able to make the selections on the cobbled climbs, which Hayman as far as I could see wasn't able to. Strength on the flats just don't make up for that. Still there are no significant climbs in Roubaix so perhaps the rules are different there. I'm looking forward to seeing how Breschel will do. My bet is a strong early showing and then a mechanical when things start to heat up

you obviously never saw the whole race then. Barry, Hayman, Thomas, and some Saxo riders but not Breschel Closing the initial break down for about 2 hours i saw the whole 4 hours on eurosport not the last 50k :rolleyes:
 
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Hitchey said:
I'm glad someone else chimed in regarding Hincapie's comments and not me. I must confess that I can't stand the guy. It didn't matter that one of his teammates after RVV (the year that Boonen was on Postal, and rode him off his wheel while working for him) told me point blank "The guy will never will RVV, he doesn't have the head for it, much less the legs".
His status in my eyes started steeply downhill when it seemed like there was an auction for the San Francisco Grand Prix win from a 3 man break with 1 lap to go. Trent Klasna and Michael Barry, (Klasna was in top form at the time) the 2 riders in the break with him, on the same Saturn team no less, just seemed to go backwards after a little jump from GH and he ended up winning solo. Races get bought all the time, I have no issue with that. It's just the garbage out of his mouth after the race that was unbearable.

But that's not really the event that sunk him below cat 5 status with me. Does anyone remember the 2006 RVV when Leif Hoste went up the road with Boonen and lost to Boonen in the sprint to take second? Hoste rode a great race and went pull for pull with Boonen but lost in the sprint after what seemed like a "I'll probably lose the sprint to Tom but I'm going to give it my best shot anyway and jump early". 2nd that year to a superman Boonen was not a bad ride. The post race interview with George had him spewing the same crap. "It wasn't the plan today for Hoste to jump away like that. It should have been me and..." Here goes, "I had the legs". I felt it was the most disrespectful thing I'd ever heard from someone after their Belgian teammate just took second in the biggest race in their home country. Utterly classless and selfish.

And don't even start with his whining after not getting the yellow in the 2008 tour. Yes, it was all Astana's fault.....

Even at ones' worst, they make their own race. Where you put yourself in the pack and who's wheel you jump on or attack is either in you or not. Against the best, he's all excuses.

I agree with some of what you are saying, but you are incorrect about Boonen riding him off of his wheel that year. You need to go to the video. Hincapie crashed into the ditch.

I am a fan of Hincapie. He used to live here, and the number of cool things he did for people here tells me that he is a good guy. I met him a couple of times, and he was always really cool. In fact, he got a friend of mine into the rider's village 5 days at the 2004 Tour, and they didn't know each other that well.

That being said, his excuses, and the number of times I have woken up in April to watch him yet again fail to win either RVV or P-R tells me that he just never had it. Most of the problem seems to be between his ears.
 
Aug 6, 2009
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sublimit said:
you obviously never saw the whole race then. Barry, Hayman, Thomas, and some Saxo riders but not Breschel Closing the initial break down for about 2 hours i saw the whole 4 hours on eurosport not the last 50k :rolleyes:

You realize that if I'd only watched the last 50 k I wouldn't know that Breschel had done anything because he had a flat before then, right? :rolleyes: indeed. So yes, I saw that (though I don't recognize Hayman by look). That's what domesticates do, Breschel being something close to a co-captain obviously don't do work like that. If Sky had Hayman doing work like that then obviously they didn't consider him one of the strongest riders in the race. I also saw Breschel forcing selection at least twice, once pulling free 9 of the favourites, none of whom where Hayman.
 
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Hitchey said:
He did crash into the ditch but Boonen waited for him a couple of times before that... Take a look.:)

Um, I watched the race, and Boonen never rode him off his wheel.
 
Jul 9, 2009
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George's comments

Remember, no matter whether you love or hate him, he is really targeting PR next week. If he were to say that Spartacus and Tomeke were too strong, he has no business riding at all next week. He has to believe in it, so he says it. It doesn't make him a ****. The mental game is big. Not about class, about keeping himself in the game:;)
 
Mar 12, 2009
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theyoungest said:
Such an effing joke Vacansoleil didn't get an invite for 2 of the 3 Ardennes classics. Clearly one of the strongest teams today.

stronger than saxo, sky, quickstep? no chance. a few decent showings from indivduals but they werent clearly one of the strongest teams
 
Mar 12, 2009
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auscyclefan94 said:
6th place dissapoiniting:eek:. Hincapie said he had the legs to go with tomeke and spartacus on the molenberg.

Sky were very dissapointing IMO...

Going to try to work out a team's classification for the race...may take a little while!

i cant agree sky were disappointing, worked all day as a team looked strong flecha just missed the move, they maybe did a bit too much too early.
 
Mar 12, 2009
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TRDean said:
Wow, what a race...can't really add to what has been said. I will say a couple of thoughts...Cancellara is a beast and Boonen close behind. I am amazed at the quality of team that Vacansoleil field...those guys are everywhere, and it is different riders all the time!! BMC was once again a pile of festering dung and I am tired of hearing "they are rounding into form". Surprised a little at Armstrong..didn't expect him to make it that well...but laughed at Cavendish (who could win this race someday LOL) DNFing. All in all a great race and why I love cycling.

On a smaller note..Skil wins in Hel van het Mergelland Saturday...and not saying they should have gotten a tour invite..but that is two more wins than BMC...and Floris Goesinnen rode a hell of a race in de Ronde!

apart from having a rider in break early, and leukmanns (sp) wheelsucking his way to 4th, how were they amazing? and fair play to cav, he came past on the muur a way after anyone else, but kept going to the finish out of respect for the race-he was classed as a dnf but chose to fight on. he loves the sport, the history, and its great for the sport. after myself riding the shorter sportive on sat, i can guarentee you this race is bloody hard, and for cav to do what he did instead of packing in deserves massive respect, not people laughing at him-he never said he would win it, but he'd like to do it but until he did he didnt know howd hed ever do in it
 
stefrees said:
stronger than saxo, sky, quickstep? no chance. a few decent showings from indivduals but they werent clearly one of the strongest teams

Apropos of the Tour invitations and Vacansoliel and BMC the UCI World rankings just out include:

6. BMC 197 pts.

21. Vacansoliel 60 pts.

24. Radio Slack 27 pts.


Seems pretty clear to my who should and who shouldn't be invited.:cool:
 
Oct 29, 2009
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Hugh Januss said:
Apropos of the Tour invitations and Vacansoliel and BMC the UCI World rankings just out include:

6. BMC 197 pts.
21. Vacansoliel 60 pts.
24. Radio Slack 27 pts.


Seems pretty clear to my who should and who shouldn't be invited.:cool:

You've just proved that if you don't invite a team to points scoring races, they will not score points, and will look worse by definition.

And that some teams don't score points even if they are invited.

Vacansoleil will have a major problem if UCI ranking is indeed becoming the yardstick for next year's invites. Double suck.
 
Francois the Postman said:
You've just proved that if you don't invite a team to points scoring races, they will not score points, and will look worse by definition.

And that some teams don't score points even if they are invited.

Vacansoleil will have a major problem if UCI ranking is indeed becoming the yardstick for next year's invites. Double suck.

I wasn't saying Vacansoliel shouldn't be invited.
 
Hugh Januss said:
Apropos of the Tour invitations and Vacansoliel and BMC the UCI World rankings just out include:

6. BMC 197 pts.

21. Vacansoliel 60 pts.

24. Radio Slack 27 pts.


Seems pretty clear to my who should and who shouldn't be invited.:cool:
...or, you could look at a proper ranking (CQ):

10. Vacansolei 1586
16. Team Radioshack 1308
23. BMC 1056
 
Dekker_Tifosi said:
The World Ranking is a joke. Anyone taking that as an example has a giant block of wood in front of their eyes (they can't see straight)

For real comparison, I look to maltiv's post, the CQ ranking:

10. Vacansolei 1586
16. Team Radioshack 1308
23. BMC 1056

The problem with the CQ system is that it's based on a points "rollover" model. In other words, points earned in a race stay on the books for a year, or longer if the race date is changed (ala the Tour of Cali). A lot can happen from season to season, so the potential exists for a team, heavy with riders showing strong performances mid to late season 2009, to be ranked much higher in 2010 than it's more contemporaneous results would support.
 
Feb 14, 2010
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The ASO isn't going to use CQ rankings in October for their seventeen automatic Tour de France invitations.

It's really simple. Radio Shack has 23 teams ranked above them by the International cycling organization that issued their license. Heck, Astana finished last year as the top team, and Radio Shack took all the best riders and left Contador with...what did they call it...? "the dregs"?. Where will RS win points to move up the ladder? There are none to be earned in Circuit de la Sarthe, or in California. Other teams will be earning big points at the Giro d'Italia. So where does RS make it's move? Which of their riders are going to finish in the top five or top ten at races? Will Armstrong do it? Will he encourage teammates to finish way ahead of him since he's on the perfect training arc for the Tour de France?

Pais Vasco top ten overall, top five stage
Paris-Roubaix top ten
Amstel Gold top ten
La Fleche Wallone top ten
Liege Bastogne Liege top ten
Tour de Romandie top ten overall, top ten stage
Dauphine Libere top ten overall, top five stage
Tour de Suisse top ten overall, top five stage

Or will they be ranked last when they get to Paris for the TdF?
 
Mar 13, 2009
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flicker said:
Saw the wheels the riders used in this race, all types deep dish carbon, normal alloy and everything in between.

I wonder why.

Varying degrees of sponsor commitment, value in different aspects of a wheels, light weight, reliability, aero, etc.
 

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