E3 Harelbeke, 28 March, 2014 (1.WT)

[hfer07]

"G' getting the girls company on the side

 

[Roude Leiw]

Don't be too hard on the Steppers, tactics were correct, vandenberghe to work with the others to keep the gap, and then once sure attack multiple times. Suppose that Terpstra was still feeling wednesday in his legs. Sagan handled it very well. Thomas should have attacked at least once, but the way he sprinted he seemed a bit cooked in the end.

 

[More Strides than Rides]

Too much talk about tactics. These races are not chess games, they are physical contests. If anyone could have bridged over the last 25k, they would have.

 

[DenisMenchov]

Bravo Peter!!! Big big win in therms of confidence before RVV.

 

[Arredondo]

The reporter asked 1 question to Cancellara, 3 minutes later he still speaks

 

[gooner]

I don't care how cooked Terpstra was (and how cooked he was, really, taking 2nd place in the sprint). He should have tried, if only to make Vandenbergh's chances a wee bit better.

How cooked he is does come into it. He barely kept the wheel at one point coming into the last km when Sagan and Thomas marked Vandenbergh's attack.

He didn't have it and I bet any less penetrative attack on his part wouldn't have enhanced Vandenbergh's chances.

 

[Lanark]

The reporter asked 1 question to Cancellara, 3 minutes later he still speaks

How many times did he say 'in the end'?

 

[Der Effe]

How many times did he say 'in the end'?

"The world goes not under" was my favourite quote tbh.

 

[Vino's Mum]

Some great racing, and well done to Sagan for the win. Unlucky for Canc, but he can't be too upset after the effort he (and Devolder) put in today.

 

[JRanton]

Or a bit less meat in his head

Great talent, but his tactics still need a bit/lot* of work

*delete as appropriate

I don't think there was much he could do. For one thing, he looked cooked in the final 10kms and if you do attack then there are 2 OPQS riders to chase you down anyway. That's his first podium in any World Tour classic in his career and he looked quite strong on the cobbles so I'm sure he's pretty happy.

 

[Netserk]

I don't think there was much he could do. For one thing, he looked cooked in the final 10kms and if you do attack then there are 2 OPQS riders to chase you down anyway. That's his first podium in any World Tour classic in his career and he looked quite strong on the cobbles so I'm sure he's pretty happy.

Sagan was the strongest in the final group, yet he twice bridged for him.

 

[hrotha]

Terpstra was cooked, blah blah blah, oh look at him beat Thomas to get 2nd.

When you have numerical superiority with slower riders, you have them attack successively. That's cycling 101.

 

[Netserk]

https://twitter.com/ksavje/status/449581539345854465

Xavier ‏@ksavje

Tom Boonen may have broken his thumb, reveals Stijn Vandenbergh in post race interview. Bad news, if true/confirmed. #E3H

 

[JRanton]

Sagan was the strongest in the final group, yet he twice bridged for him.

It's not like Sagan didn't shut down other moves though. There's a certain etiquette that riders adhere to in those situations.

 

[kingjr]

Thomas' only chance to win the sprint was to let Sagan close the gap to Stijn.

There was no chance either way.

 

[gooner]

Terpstra was cooked, blah blah blah, oh look at him beat Thomas to get 2nd.

When you have numerical superiority with slower riders, you have them attack successively. That's cycling 101.

To attack more alternatively between the two, the other needs to have the legs. Sprinting in the last km doesn't mean he could have done that more consistently with Vandenbergh to shake Sagan up. That's one only, you're talking successively. If anything he was trying to keep his best condition coming into the backend of the race for this very reason. That's why it looked like Vandenbergh got the go ahead to attack futher out which he tried on a few occasions with Terpstra at the back of the 4.

He did a big solo on Wednesday and for some reason today in a WT race he has never won, he somehow didn't have the heart to be more aggressive which he did a couple of days earlier. I doubt this very much.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Hrotha needs a 'energy reserves' 101

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Nice bossy win by Sagan. Race action not quite as good as the other cobble races this year, but still ok.

Looking forward to GW on Sunday.

 

[JohnDev]

Sagan is such a huge talent, great win.

OPQS also super strong as a team.

 

[Gloin22]

Seems to me Senechal is the next big superstar on cobbles. At age of 20 to do this kind of results on cobbled classics which require great deal of experience is insane imo.

19. Omloop Het Nieuwsblad Elite
17. Dwars door Vlaanderen
14. E3 Harelbeke

 

[jens_attacks]

fantastic race once again E3, loved every piece of it

 

[Buffalo Soldier]

https://twitter.com/ksavje/status/449581539345854465

It turns out his thumb is probably not broken. Boonen did claim he had tears of pain the whole race though. The whole team, except for Vandenbergh, Keisse and Wijnants, was held back by that crash where he hurt his thumb, just before La Houpe. They only got back just before the Taaienberg (after almost one hour of chasing).

1)This makes the team performance even more impressive
2)As for Boonen, not sure what to think. Wednesday it was very normal for him to be bad, but today he should have been there.

 

[Armchair cyclist]

14 Florian Senechal (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
15 John Degenkolb (Ger) Team Giant-Shimano
16 Laurens De Vreese (Bel) Wanty - Groupe Gobert

Impressed that Senechal stayed with the group after having been in the long break. Even more impressed that De Vreese, also from the group, rejoined after his detour via the greenery.

 

[Buffalo Soldier]

Also: I'm rather disappointed by Roelandts. He seemed really good in MSR...

 

[Jspear]

fantastic race once again E3, loved every piece of it

Definitely an exciting race. I just hope in the next and upcoming classics, that Fabian's team can keep him protected near the front. Who knows what he would have been able to do if he hadn't been caught out....