Garmin biggest cowards in today peloton

[Yeahright]

A great race today and a worthy winner. Some of the attitudes on here make me wonder how many of you guys race. I'd sit on Cancallera if i could, he's shown he's the strongest, and the peloton knows that if you try ride with him you die(Boonen in flanders?), in order to beat Cancellara, you first need to isolate him, then get him to do the chasing, so he uses as much energy as possible. This has happened in flanders and P-R and both times he was beaten....just.

Well I have raced for decades, but I guess it comes down to how you want to win races. Personally I would rather come second in a race like PR than sit on a guys wheel for 30-40km and then out sprint him at the end.

Thats why I am really glad Van Summeren won today and not the likes of Hushovd (who I actually like as a rider) and Ballan and Flecha. All three of those guys did nothing to make the race a race.

 

[Granville57]

Incredible what a bunch of cowards they are again.

Garmin did absolutely nothing right in this Paris Roubaix.

Van Summeren can credit this win 100% to himself and 0% to the team.

This really is quite the conundrum.
Which of the three, from the podium-of-posts above, are the stupidest of the year and not likely to be unseated even with 8 months to go?

All three are simply staggering in their ignorance, and toxic with vitriol.
I must admit, I am floored by some of the after-the-fact analysis of this race.

JV gets taken to task when he is giving out more information on his own thought process that all the other directors combined.

For many of the critics on here, I can't imagine living in your world.

And to think that regulars in The Clinic get accused of being the "haters"?

News Flash: Garmin-Cervelo won Paris-Roubaix in 2011.
End. Of. Story.

 

[GoGarmin]

Tough day for the haters of Garmin. Tactically they were perfect today, managing to beat Cancellara who clearly was by far the strongest rider in the peloton.

 

[M Sport]

Well I have raced for decades, but I guess it comes down to how you want to win races. Personally I would rather come second in a race like PR than sit on a guys wheel for 30-40km and then out sprint him at the end.

Thats why I am really glad Van Summeren won today and not the likes of Hushovd (who I actually like as a rider) and Ballan and Flecha. All three of those guys did nothing to make the race a race.

Their teams did though, all three had riders up the road, there was no need for them to make the race. The moment Fabian sat up and had a hissy fit at the team car when he was only 25 seconds away from the leaders is the moment the favorites chances went and a second tier rider was going to win, Fabian had to keep riding it was his only option and he blew it.

I would like to have seen what would have happened with no radios though, I reckon Ballan was nearly tempted to go before he went for the radio.

 

[barn yard]

i wonder if that was the first time roubaix has been won by someone wearing a skinsuit

 

[fatsprintking]

What drugs are some of you blokes on???? You send someone up the road so you dont have to chase. You have to be willing to loose to win sometimes. Sometimes you work others you don't. If you have a bloke in the break you don't.

Van Summeran has been good at Roubaix in the last few years and so Thor in particular had every reason to sit on. Good play all round. It was the wrong break for Canc to let go given who was in it, and in the end too many factors against him. To finish 2nd in the circumstances shows that he was in winning form which I guess everyone knew.

 

[Martin318is]

JV's blurt's out his crap



This guy is always the victim!

..... you wrote this in a thread attacking Garmin......

dude, that is just plain flawed logic....

 

[Oldman]

What drugs are some of you blokes on???? You send someone up the road so you dont have to chase. You have to be willing to loose to win sometimes. Sometimes you work others you don't. If you have a bloke in the break you don't.

Van Summeran has been good at Roubaix in the last few years and so Thor in particular had every reason to sit on. Good play all round. It was the wrong break for Canc to let go given who was in it, and in the end too many factors against him. To finish 2nd in the circumstances shows that he was in winning form which I guess everyone knew.

I'm not reading the rest of the thread because I agree with you. Thor showed he was a team guy, frustrated but still there for the team win. That's a big deal considering he'd come second before. Ballan did his bit as long as he had someone up the road, which didn't seem to register in the primeval commentary by P & P on Vs. All that and I'm not sure Cancellera was stronger than Hushovd. Thor was saddled with keeping him under control and, when his job was done he rode in. All in all a successful day. Cancellera didn't lose; he merely suffered the fate of a favorite that declares himself to be the favorite.

 

[Cimber]

Tough day for the haters of Garmin. Tactically they were perfect today, managing to beat Cancellara who clearly was by far the strongest rider in the peloton.

I agree though I think Thor would have been able to follow himn and win as well. Well played tactically though... today at least

 

[luckyboy]

yeah he did well to follow him to the end


oh wait

 

[cyclingPRpro]

yeah he did well to follow him to the end


oh wait

Yes, he followed him to the end... because his teammate had already crossed the finish line, in first.

Thor showed today that he was not out for himself, but his team. That is admirable.

 

[Ferminal]

Thor showed today that he was not out for himself, but his team. That is admirable.

Thor wouldn't have worked even if there was no break. Thor will never win P-R solo (well he could, but that is a risky move he probably isn't willing to take) so his only option is to hold someone's wheel until they blow up, or just sprint past them in the velodrome.

 

[luckyboy]

Yes, he followed him to the end... because his teammate had already crossed the finish line, in first.

Thor showed today that he was not out for himself, but his team. That is admirable.

It was the right thing to do for the team, so he had to do it.

And he followed him by 18 seconds at the end. If Cance had gone 2km earlier, Hushovd still wouldn't have held his wheel, and who knows what would've happened when Cance caught JvS.

But that's all hypothetical, so who gives a ****.

 

[hrotha]

Regardless of what you think of Garmin's tactics and Hushovd's role in them, winning the race doesn't mean their tactics were right. I don't think this is too hard to understand, and yet people keep using the fact that Vansummeren won to disregard any criticism about their tactics. Well, that's silly.

 

[Tangled Tango]

Regardless of what you think of Garmin's tactics and Hushovd's role in them, winning the race doesn't mean their tactics were right. I don't think this is too hard to understand, and yet people keep using the fact that Vansummeren won to disregard any criticism about their tactics. Well, that's silly.

Where and when would Garmin´s tactics be considered anything other than good? Even if having a strong man in the break was pure luck (which is unlikely), it would still be smart tactics. Even if having a strong man in the chase (who absolutely should not chase his own teamate) was pure luck, it would be considered smart tactics. Garmin had the cards and played them to a successful win. So where in this race was evidence that Garmin did anything other than apply good traditional team tactics to take the win?

 

[hrotha]

Where and when would Garmin´s tactics be considered anything other than good? Even if having a strong man in the break was pure luck (which is unlikely), it would still be smart tactics. Even if having a strong man in the chase (who absolutely should not chase his own teamate) was pure luck, it would be considered smart tactics. Garmin had the cards and played them to a successful win. So where in this race was evidence that Garmin did anything other than apply good traditional team tactics to take the win?

I'm not saying their tactics were bad (I'm undecided), what I'm saying is that you can't dismiss arguments to the contrary by saying "they won so everything's perfect", like many people are doing here.

 

[M Sport]

Regardless of what you think of Garmin's tactics and Hushovd's role in them, winning the race doesn't mean their tactics were right. I don't think this is too hard to understand, and yet people keep using the fact that Vansummeren won to disregard any criticism about their tactics. Well, that's silly.

The tactics were absolutely 100% correct, and they won the race. Can't do any better than that. Last week Garmin's tactics were crap, this week great.

 

[hrotha]

The tactics were absolutely 100% correct, and they won the race. Can't do any better than that. Last week Garmin's tactics were crap, this week great.

Sigh. The fact that they won the race has nothing to do with whether their tactics were correct or wrong. If Chavanel had won that final sprint at RVV, that wouldn't have made Quick Step's tactics right all of sudden. As for their tactics being absolutely 100% correct, that's arguable, and my point is you can't dismiss claims to the contrary by saying "but they won!"

 

[M Sport]

Sigh. The fact that they won the race has nothing to do with whether their tactics were correct or wrong. If Chavanel had won that final sprint at RVV, that wouldn't have made Quick Step's tactics right all of sudden. As for their tactics being absolutely 100% correct, that's arguable, and my point is you can't dismiss claims to the contrary by saying "but they won!"

Of course it did! They had one rider in the break, Thor sitting on Fabians wheel where he should be and two more Garmin riders closing in from the bunch behind once Fabian sat up. Absolutely the correct thing to do to say don't work.

That decision alone didn't win the race but the next one for JVS to go did. In sumary perfect tactics.

Quickstep example isn't the same, not comparable to yesterday.

 

[Ferminal]

The tactics were absolutely 100% correct, and they won the race. Can't do any better than that. Last week Garmin's tactics were crap, this week great.

What was wrong with their tactics last week (from a "best result" point of view)?

It was more or less the same decision, which was a smart one given who they had and how strong they were and who they were against. Only this week they good enough to have someone up the road.

 

[hrotha]

Of course it did!

Imagine Vansummeren's flat tire was bad enough that he needed to change his wheel/bike, was caught and didn't win. Would that have changed anything regarding Garmin's tactics being right or wrong? Of course not.

 

[ingsve]

I'm not saying their tactics were bad (I'm undecided), what I'm saying is that you can't dismiss arguments to the contrary by saying "they won so everything's perfect", like many people are doing here.

Yes, I agree that the argument that they won="good tactics" is flawed logic. I think their tactics were good on it's own merits though.

Their tactic was obviously to give Hushovd the best possible ride so that he could stay as fresh as possible. That's why Hushovd didn't work himself but instead had the domestiques do the work. Some people say that it was wrong of them to have Vanmarcke and Rasch ride for Hushovd at all because JVS was still up the road. I don't agree. It makes perfect sense to keep their leader within striking distance if it would turn out that JVS wasn't strongest in the break. That's what you do when you have multiple cards to play. It would have been stupid to put all eggs in one basket when you have several other riders in the thick of things. It's not like JVS was a sure thing to win from the break. He may have been strong but all it would have taken was for someone to be able to follow him and he would most likely lose the sprint. Completely relying on him being able to go alone from a group of 10-15 riders would be a giant leap of faith.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Tough day for the haters of Garmin. Tactically they were perfect today, managing to beat Cancellara who clearly was by far the strongest rider in the peloton.

I'm absolutely not a hater of Garmin. I just think their tactics yesterday were ludicrously stupid. And they got away thanks to JvS

 

[Dr. Maserati]

So why would you chase a team mate who's in the lead? Garmin eventually did that which was odd.

If they were sitting on and didn't have team-mates up the road (like Pozzato always does), then that would obviously be worthy of all the criticism. But when the strongest guy doesn't have anyone in the break and you do, I don't know why you would work.

I must be missing something

I'm surprised you don't see this.

Garmin didn't chase per se - they kept the break within striking distance. This meant that the break had to work hard (except JVS & probably Quinziato).
If the break had been allowed get a significant lead it would have been very difficult for JVS to mark the inevitable attacks - especially as others (Rast in particular) were stronger. Having the break work 'full gas' meant they inevitably tired, turning it in favour of JVS.

Behind Husvold had to mark the only person who could bridge on their own, Cancellara.

 

[Astana1]

Even more is perhaps not the best wording. What I mean is that anything they would have done different would have favoured Cancellara period.

I'm absolutely not a hater of Garmin. I just think their tactics yesterday were ludicrously stupid. And they got away thanks to JvS

If Garmin were Mapei or Domo Farm Frites then people would call their tactics brilliant-unanimously.

Either way yesterday was a great day to be bike racing fan. This has to be one of the most popular wins of the year. JVS winning the race on his own with a rear tire going down or already flat. Great stuff