BMC in disarray?

[jens_attacks]

but this year they had tailwind on the cauberg (i know because i was there). So that is favourable for a fast time.
Also in 2004 Boogerd and Rebellin where almost riding at a standstill before they started the sprint. Small group sprints are therefore also not comparable. They never went full from the bottom there

nothing of those are comparable i always say that especially the big group sprints and the solo ones like schumacher.

still i always have a curiosity of how fast the pros go on the hills and the mountains.

you also have to reckon phil in 2011 was something else,you don't need time ascents and power datas for that.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

nothing of those are comparable i always say that especially the big group sprints and the solo ones like schumacher.

still i always have a curiosity of how fast the pros go on the hills and the mountains.

you also have to reckon phil in 2011 was something else,you don't need time ascents and power datas for that.

pretty sure epo time rebellin and co go faster

 

[jens_attacks]

pretty sure epo time rebellin and co go faster

in my opinion,nope. they go as fast or even faster.rebellin=consistency,a terrible one,he wasn't the man of stratospheric attacks,he just had boring tactics,good legs and boogerd lol

1993-1997 then you are right.real cycling from the planet of venus.give me some videos from that age and i'm glued to the screen,epic cycling,motorbiking whatever you want to call it.


and to be ontopic finally,very sad to see again cadel out of the ardennes.he has to win a liege until he retires.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Gilbert in epo times couldn't even top 20 in the gold race. Says enough imho.

 

[greenedge]

Sad that Cadel is sick - get better for TOR.

I think Gilbert can still win.

 

[greenedge]

Worst case scenario is a repeat of last sunday, with none of the big men feeling confident, and everyone waiting and waiting and waiting....

Valverde would win hands down then at LBL ( I'm assuming ).

 

[Panda Claws]

So that means Gasparotto was about as fast as Gilbert last year.
Not comparable anyway. Last year they went up the Cauberg through the centre of Valkenburg, with flat in front. Now they went up the Cauberg straight from the descent of the Daalhemmerweg
Also, shows how good these top riders are. After 260km in 1m30 (theraround). Kruijswijk on training (full-out) 1m36s and that was without the added fatigue of 260km.

Best guys in the tourist version (day before) around 2 minutes...
My best time ever was 2:50 lol

Didn't Gasparotto finish only 2 seconds ahead of Gilbert?

EDIT: After reading some of the other posts we can safely assume that Gilbert still isn't even close to last years form. But then again I can imagine him winning another treble with that form. It is interesting to see though that he is basically the Cavendish of the uphill sprint.

 

[dlwssonic]

No worries that cadel is out. He will own in the tour of romandie anyway.

 

[dlwssonic]

So it seems. I hadn't seen anything in print.
Now I see that this sinus infection has ended his Ardennes campaign.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/cadel-evans-withdraws-from-remaining-ardennes-races

Last year, he had the perfect preparation, so we got the best ever Tour Cadel.
This year, things have so far not got to plan, so the chances of him achieving that same peak are dwindling.

Illness continues to dump on BMC's season.

its eerily similar to last year where he had the injury that forced him out of the ardennes but was strong at romandie. He will be able to hit his form at the TDF and should be strong at romandie like last year. won't be surprised if he wins it.

 

[movingtarget]

its eerily similar to last year where he had the injury that forced him out of the ardennes but was strong at romandie. He will be able to hit his form at the TDF and should be strong at romandie like last year. won't be surprised if he wins it.

Even though he missed the same week last year with his knee injury, he was in better form before that with his win at Tirreno than the same time this year. He will find it harder to win Romandie this year but he usually bounces back pretty well from setbacks. The Dauphine should be a better indicator of where he is at. With Gilbert on the improve and hopefully Hushovd also on the up it's not looking too bad for the next few months. A few results before the Tour would give them a boost.

 

[Ferminal]

Even though he missed the same week last year with his knee injury, he was in better form before that with his win at Tirreno than the same time this year.

He was better in Corsica 2012 than Andorra 2011. Had same intentions leading into Ardennes "not top form, play team role".

That said I'm not sure he will win Romandie, will be harder this year.

 

[dlwssonic]

Even though he missed the same week last year with his knee injury, he was in better form before that with his win at Tirreno than the same time this year. He will find it harder to win Romandie this year but he usually bounces back pretty well from setbacks. The Dauphine should be a better indicator of where he is at. With Gilbert on the improve and hopefully Hushovd also on the up it's not looking too bad for the next few months. A few results before the Tour would give them a boost.

Did you see he looked great at Criterium international after TA. I think he has the form for Romandie and he just must get healthy. The race really suits him with the hills and a TT. A healthy Evans should be able to win it. It seemed like he also missed the ardennes to prepare for Romandie. Its quite an important race for BMC being it a swiss race and all that.

 

[dlwssonic]

Evans will ride defensively at Dauphine, Wiggins will probably win it.

 

[greenedge]

He may have the form for Romandie but the fever might knock him back a bit. Besides Sky will be sending a strong squad there ( Wiggins/ Froome- along with Cav for sprints ) so there will be competition.

 

[El Pistolero]

Froome has barely raced this season... He's not a strong member of the squad right now. Cav is not going to threaten Evans' bid for the GC.

I'd even be surprised if Cav did something at Romandie, hasn't raced since Gent-Wevelgem and I doubt he trained vigorously during that time off.

 

[greenedge]

He should have if he wants to go well at the Giro.

Also i only said Cav to outline how strong the Sky squad is/ maybe representative of their TDF squad.

 

[movingtarget]

Evans will ride defensively at Dauphine, Wiggins will probably win it.

I did not say he had to win it. He struggled to finish second last year but he obviously planned it that way with his later start to the season. By the time the Tour started he obviously was right where he wanted to be. Evans has finished second in the Dauphine so many times that it is almost expected now. Missing the Ardenne week did not effect him last year but sinus infections make it very hard to breath. Contador had chronic sinus problems and needed an operation. Evans would not have acheived anything by riding this week.

 

[kjetilraknerud]

Good riding from BMC in Trentino today. Pinotti could be in with a shot at another top 10 in the Giro.

 

[dlwssonic]

Good riding from BMC in Trentino today. Pinotti could be in with a shot at another top 10 in the Giro.

No lol..... No way pinotti can handle the killer Giro climbs.

 

[kjetilraknerud]

No lol..... No way pinotti can handle the killer Giro climbs.

In 2010 he was top 10 on Zoncolan, Grappa and Aprica - and he can time trial. Top 10 is within his capabilities.

 

[maltiv]

No lol..... No way pinotti can handle the killer Giro climbs.

He was 9th in 2010, one of the hardest Giro's ever...and that was without being in that huge breakaway.

 

[Gloin22]

He was 9th in 2010, one of the hardest Giro's ever...and that was without being in that huge breakaway.

He's older now and last year the injury he got at Giro seems to have taken a lot from him. He's still a Top 15 GC candidate imo.

 

[Mellow Velo]

We still have LBL before we are in agreement, right?

.....and I picked him ftw, today.

 

[jens_attacks]

put the last year's pics too for the effect

really he did well today,gotta say chapeau and good luck for liege

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

to compare with gilbert 2011

Looks like he wasn't really even putting an effort in here