Down Under Cancer Council Classic

[auscyclefan94]

Henderson's jersey has the Australia flag next to his name

That's because he's on an aussie team

Some great pics of the "red devils"

 

[stefrees]

That's because he's on an aussie team

Some great pics of the "red devils"

dont you think your a bit one eyed? when are bmc going to challenge until we get to the first classic? then there will be a fair few teams up for it, quickstep, saxo bank, cervelo, silence, columbia, sky to name a few

 

[auscyclefan94]

dont you think your a bit one eyed? when are bmc going to challenge until we get to the first classic? then there will be a fair few teams up for it, quickstep, saxo bank, cervelo, silence, columbia, sky to name a few

It's a joke, i've been trying to tick off dim because of my continual talk of evans, bmc and the australian sky team.

I think with the cobbled classics BMC will be a team to beat. Ballan, Hincapie and Burghardt will be able to work as a strong team.

 

[karlboss]

just watched the finish, great positioning by sky, HTC messed it up. Watching griepel come back once he was passed doesn't bode well for other sprinters.

 

[auscyclefan94]

just watched the finish, great positioning by sky, HTC messed it up. Watching griepel come back once he was passed doesn't bode well for other sprinters.

I agree, he still came third when the team and himslef screwed up the lead out. he's way faster than anybody in the tdu.

 

[stefrees]

It's a joke, i've been trying to tick off dim because of my continual talk of evans, bmc and the australian sky team.

I think with the cobbled classics BMC will be a team to beat. Ballan, Hincapie and Burghardt will be able to work as a strong team.

fair enough. as much as i do have an english bias, when it comes to my favourite races i just want great racing. im off to the tour of flanders again this april to watch on the muur (staying in the grupello hotel in geraardsburgen if anyone else is going) and i just love the atmosphere EVERY rider gets, and the attacking, and the fact the strongest rider wins. i agree bmc will be up there, along with the teams ive previously mentioned, it should make for a great classics season

 

[Big_Blue_Dave]

Another thing to point out regards the speed is that the final 300m is downhill, ok not a 10% decline but enough to raise the speeds of the riders at top speed, this is why you always get a very fast finish and a longer sprint than most finishes. I remember Robbie Mc pulling more than 70kph when he won the first stage, when the Cancer Classic was still a part of the TDU. I think Greipel was pulling 72kph last year as well, so its not really a major surprise that the speed was high.

If it is the same on Tuesday then yes it will be a different year in sprinting, but I think the finish is either flat or rises ever so slightly (like 1% or 1.5% at most over the last km).

 

[miffed]

After watching the highlight video a few times I agree Gripel looks amazing coming from that far back for third. It does seem like a missed oportunity to follow the astana rider (presumebly Alan Davis) rather than his train. Though I guess thats a mistake he wont be making again anytime soon.

I think the agressiveness of Sky today does bode well for the season. If a team is clearly interested in running an agressive high speed lead out train against HTC it could make the grand tours sprints a bit more interesting as it is a tactic that has beaten Cav before (so he cant get a jump). I guess we need to see if they can be that organised and fast after a 200km stage rather than just 50km.

On the wearing skin suits in non-TTs didnt some of the Slipstream guys do it on days in the grand tours when they wanted to be in breaks last year? Also the Cross racers often do it. As long as you dont need pockets and youve go a good fit I dont see the problem, plus they look pretty PRO (as Belgium Knee Warmers would say).

 

[richwagmn]

Poor old Sky.. even when they win on their debut, its blamed on columbias mess up rather than Sky brilliance..

shape of things to come i guess..

Not sure what everyone is getting worked up over. First "race" of the season. How much have some of these guys even been training by this point?

If early season racing meant anything, Levi would be on his 3rd tour win by now...

Wake me up when the spring classics start.

 

[bianchigirl]

+1 a bit of perspective never goes amiss. Sky achieved their aim to stick it to Columbia in this 'big race' - that they achieved - after all, zipping round short circuits for 50kms isn't so very different to the track. Be interesting to see how they cope after 200+ kms on a varied parcours with the real big hitters all present and correct and up for it.

Bet Cavendish is kicking himself that he didn't sign for Sky - after all, what's a M-SR win when compare to the Down Under Cancer Council Classic

 

[Angliru]

That's because he's on an aussie team

Some great pics of the "red devils"

I like Hincapie's US Natl Champ kit. One of the best designs for that kit in years.

 

[Biscuit]

Cavendish will be ruing the day he decided to stay with Columbia and not enrich his palmares with 50km crit wins instead of Classics

+1 a bit of perspective never goes amiss. Sky achieved their aim to stick it to Columbia in this 'big race' - that they achieved - after all, zipping round short circuits for 50kms isn't so very different to the track. Be interesting to see how they cope after 200+ kms on a varied parcours with the real big hitters all present and correct and up for it.

Bet Cavendish is kicking himself that he didn't sign for Sky - after all, what's a M-SR win when compare to the Down Under Cancer Council Classic

I can't decide if this repeated sentiment is cos of bitterness about Sky or a bit of a pash going on for Cav. Either way you may need to let it go otherwise i suspect you're going to be proper fed up this season

 

[Anonymous]

I can't decide if this repeated sentiment is cos of bitterness about Sky or a bit of a pash going on for Cav. Either way you may need to let it go otherwise i suspect you're going to be proper fed up this season

Ive given up trying to work out which riders bianchi girl supports.. I think she is an Eddie fan...