Eneco Tour - 8th to 14th August

[Waterloo Sunrise]

Harmon is so overexcitable - he seems to have completely forgotten what Gilbert was like 18 months ago in his imagination it would be an easy walk to the line.

3 years ago Gilbert was a comedy figure for always attacking and always failing. Obviously he is vastly improved but anyone who's watched him regularly would expect him to lose out quite a bit to the bunch once the route got flat. He's always been great at creating gaps on hills, and losing them on the flat.

Anyhow, Boasson clearly not on top form like he said at the start of the week, but I suspect he's done enough to win this race now.

 

[Havetts]

Credit to Harmon in admitting his shortcoming though!

That for sure though !

 

[kanari]

Impressive ride by Stybar. Seems he is already better than Boom on the road

GC is between Phil, EBH and Millar I guess. I'm a bit worried about EBH's TT tomorrow, he didn't look great today.

 

[dlwssonic]

Good ride by phinney he can get over the hills but its not his strength at this moment. he will have to develop it. He proved the doubters wrong today. He can still do well in GC with the TT coming up and the last two stages being pretty flat.

 

[kurtinsc]

What are the remaining stages like? I know we have an ITT... but more hills after that or just flats?

 

[kurtinsc]

Good ride by phinney he can get over the hills but its not his strength at this moment. he will have to develop it. He proved the doubters wrong today. He can still do well in GC with the TT coming up and the last two stages being pretty flat.

And there's the answer.

 

[roundabout]

What are the remaining stages like? I know we have an ITT... but more hills after that or just flats?

There's a hugely disappointing last stage

http://sport.be.msn.com/enecotour/2011/downloads/parcours/profiel/rit06.pdf

so yeah, flats

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Stick it buddy....de Kort has been riding pretty well recently. Better than Rabo...

That's not hard is it?

Rabobank are completely sucking at the moment. Maybe the whole team peaked in february and march when they were winning everything and now they are done.

 

[dlwssonic]

Gilbert will really have to be some kind of immortal demi god to win the GC now.
EBH or Millar will win it.

 

[kurtinsc]

How far back was Phinney's group? 35 seconds from Gilbert?

 

[El Pistolero]

Harmon is so overexcitable - he seems to have completely forgotten what Gilbert was like 18 months ago in his imagination it would be an easy walk to the line.

3 years ago Gilbert was a comedy figure for always attacking and always failing. Obviously he is vastly improved but anyone who's watched him regularly would expect him to lose out quite a bit to the bunch once the route got flat. He's always been great at creating gaps on hills, and losing them on the flat.

Anyhow, Boasson clearly not on top form like he said at the start of the week, but I suspect he's done enough to win this race now.

You seem to have forgotten Omloop het Volk 2006, Omloop het Volk 2008 and Paris-Tours 2008. And his attack at Milan-San Remo of 2008 that broke the peloton. Yeah, what a comedy figure

 

[dlwssonic]

How far back was Phinney's group? 35 seconds from Gilbert?

I know im crazy but he can podium on the GC if he does a great TT ride which he is capable of with his good form.

 

[Mellow Velo]

GC is between Phil, EBH and Millar I guess. I'm a bit worried about EBH's TT tomorrow, he didn't look great today.

I know im crazy but he can podium on the GC if he does a great TT ride which he is capable of with his good form.

FWIW, I reckon Phinney can take 40-45" off Gilbert in 14.7kms of ITT.
Maybe good for 20" off the other pair...........if he still holds his prologue form and today hasn't sapped too much energy.

The final 2 stages are one uphill finish off a lumpy coures, but with no hill close to the finish.
Sunday has loads of climbs but with mostly modest gradient.

Hard to tell whether he can survive these days...............or not.

 

[dlwssonic]

Phinney is quickly becoming to a Tony Martin in stage races

 

[kurtinsc]

I know im crazy but he can podium on the GC if he does a great TT ride which he is capable of with his good form.

He might. In the 5.7km prologue he took 7 seconds on EBH and 8 on Millar. While I know it's foolish to project that on longer ITT's... if he can take 15-20 seconds on those two over the 14.7km ITT... a podium could happen.

 

[Ferminal]

There's a hugely disappointing last stage

http://sport.be.msn.com/enecotour/2011/downloads/parcours/profiel/rit06.pdf

so yeah, flats

I'm just wondering which passage of the Cauberg will split it up, the one with 60 or 160km to go.

 

[VeloMaster]

With all due respect

By calling him Failer?

As for Gilbert, I repeat: yawn.

With all due respect, I really don't understand this and related comments.

Gilbert is at the height of his sporting talent now. He has a strong team, and they executed their tactics perfectly. By contrast, the other contenders dropped the ball by looking around for the other guy to chase.

I don't call that boring. I call that what it is, job well done by (currently) the world's best road racer.

As a long-time fan and a amateur racer, I find Gilbert's talent, motivation, and success thrilling. And there is always the tension when he goes -- Will he pull it off? Who will chase? Can they reel him in?

It's stories like Gilbert's that make sitting inside to watch sports worthwhile.

 

[ingsve]

I think Millar might be the favourite at this point. He's only like 11 seconds behind EBH and should be able to pass both EBH and Gilbert on the ITT. Those two could possibly still get some bonus seconds back on the last two stages though if the GC stays close after tomorrow.

 

[El Pistolero]

I'm just wondering which passage of the Cauberg will split it up, the one with 60 or 160km to go.

Obviously the one with 160km to go. Would have been cool to see the Cauberg with 3km flat after that. With the Worlds next year...

 

[Parrulo]

i think watching gilbert ride is rather annoying because of his awfull national kit, the colours are bland and the shorts are just awful. it gets even worse when you compare it to boonen's old beauty

other then that i have no problems with it

 

[Waterloo Sunrise]

You seem to have forgotten Omloop het Volk 2006, Omloop het Volk 2008 and Paris-Tours 2008. And his attack at Milan-San Remo of 2008 that broke the peloton. Yeah, what a comedy figure

Calm down. I didn't mean he always failed. I mean I distinctly remember him attacking pointlessly in the Vattenfall, and Harmon laughing at Gilbert's pointless attacks again.


EDIT - Just read my original post and I did indeed write that he always failed - apologies, happy to retract, but I'm happily maintaining he was a rider who wasted his abilities on daft attacks and was rather comic for it.

 

[El Pistolero]

i think watching gilbert ride is rather annoying because of his awfull national kit, the colours are bland and the shorts are just awful. it gets even worse when you compare it to boonen's old beauty

other then that i have no problems with it

Glad he's wearing the leaders jersey now

Looks much better.

 

[El Pistolero]

Calm down. I didn't mean he always failed. I mean I distinctly remember him attacking pointlessly in the Vattenfall, and Harmon laughing at Gilbert's pointless attacks again.

He attacks every time at Vattenfall. He's not going to wait for the sprint you know Did you watch last year? He also attacked pointlessly there. There's not much option for anything else there. It's a sprinters race pur sang.

 

[Sylvester]

I think Millar might be the favourite at this point. He's only like 11 seconds behind EBH and should be able to pass both EBH and Gilbert on the ITT. Those two could possibly still get some bonus seconds back on the last two stages though if the GC stays close after tomorrow.

I agree. Millar looked very strong today, Boasson Hagen did not.

 

[Ferminal]

I think Millar might be the favourite at this point. He's only like 11 seconds behind EBH and should be able to pass both EBH and Gilbert on the ITT. Those two could possibly still get some bonus seconds back on the last two stages though if the GC stays close after tomorrow.

The ITT isn't ideal for Millar though, given its nature I'm not sure he will be able to take any time on EBH.