Gent Wevelgem

[rghysens]

Agreed, Freire much more likely than Boonen.

What are Freire's chances in the lousy weather they predict?

 

[mr. tibbs]

Fyumi Beppu FT.... Oh, no retardshack. thank god.

Therefore:

BOONEN FTW

Beppu could still take it. You never know.

Is Haussler riding? He's my pick.

 

[philcrisp]

You mean: Wednesday before Paris-Roubaix.

Yes, You're right

 

[Cosette]

Is Haussler riding? He's my pick.

He's not on the startlist....

As for predictions... I think I'll move away from the usual suspects and put in some wishfull thinking...
I say Yoann Offredo.

 

[Frosty]

Ive probably been looking at old startlists but from what i can see Gilbert is riding this one and not the one the day before. This suggests he is targetting this race so i will go for him.

 

[*G*K*S*]

Ive probably been looking at old startlists but from what i can see Gilbert is riding this one and not the one the day before. This suggests he is targetting this race so i will go for him.

Maybe his teammate Kenny De Haes.

 

[auscyclefan94]

From Cycling weekly

"Allan Davis (RadioShack): Can Davis give The Shack a decent early-season win?
Fabian Cancellara (Saxo Bank): Always a threat for a late attack, one burst from those enormous Swiss thighs and everyone else struggles"

LOL

Does anyone have a race timetable of GW so I can work out my nights viewing of CI and GW

 

[Michele]

Since when Allan Davis switched to Radioshack?

 

[spanky wanderlust]

Ive probably been looking at old startlists but from what i can see Gilbert is riding this one and not the one the day before. This suggests he is targetting this race so i will go for him.

i like this pick, frosty. this race and setup is tailor-made for gilbert. if only it were six months later in the season.

i still think flecha gets away from a small selection. he's always wanted this one. but sky has many cards to play here, including EBH and never count out arvesen.

if chavanel is racing, this is gold for him. would be nice to see quick step and/or a french rider win a classic one-day.

good weekend of bicycle racing coming up. woo hoo!

 

[maikel]

I don;t think we will see FLecha much tomorrow, he seemed to be totally empty after todays race. And Boasson Hagen seems to be not strong enough to compete with the best 8-10 riders at the moment, although tomorrow you'll have other riders than today

 

[spanky wanderlust]

I don;t think we will see FLecha much tomorrow, he seemed to be totally empty after todays race. And Boasson Hagen seems to be not strong enough to compete with the best 8-10 riders at the moment, although tomorrow you'll have other riders than today

+1. sky played the flecha card today. no way he makes the final selection tomorrow. looks like he dug deep. third is a great result considering who 1 and 2 were.

whether or not he even makes a good domestique tomorrow is a crapshoot. i still think ebh is in the bullpen tomorrow for sky.

 

[maikel]

whether or not he even makes a good domestique tomorrow is a crapshoot. i still think ebh is in the bullpen tomorrow for sky.

I think boasson hagen is a little bit overrated bij some, I think that if he could he would follow the best today, because when sky was riding today in front of the peleton you saw hem clearly sitting in Boonens wheel. But after the next hill, the paterberg I believe that is, he completely dissapeared from the front.

He is still a young guy who has shown a tremendous potential for his age but to follow the best in races like this is a little bit too much for Hagen I think.

If he wants to win tomorrow he has to make sure that Freire is nowhere to be seen, otherwise he wont make it
[I[/I]

 

[Tugboat]

Since when Allan Davis switched to Radioshack?

Maybe they've merged with Astana so that they'd actually have a shot at winning something this year.

 

[maltiv]

I think boasson hagen is a little bit overrated bij some, I think that if he could he would follow the best today, because when sky was riding today in front of the peleton you saw hem clearly sitting in Boonens wheel. But after the next hill, the paterberg I believe that is, he completely dissapeared from the front.

He is still a young guy who has shown a tremendous potential for his age but to follow the best in races like this is a little bit too much for Hagen I think.

If he wants to win tomorrow he has to make sure that Freire is nowhere to be seen, otherwise he wont make it
[I[/I]

uhh yea, of course, he's not been able to train this week due to his injury. He said before the race that he was using it as training.

 

[spanky wanderlust]

I think boasson hagen is a little bit overrated bij some, I think that if he could he would follow the best today, because when sky was riding today in front of the peleton you saw hem clearly sitting in Boonens wheel. But after the next hill, the paterberg I believe that is, he completely dissapeared from the front.

He is still a young guy who has shown a tremendous potential for his age but to follow the best in races like this is a little bit too much for Hagen I think.

If he wants to win tomorrow he has to make sure that Freire is nowhere to be seen, otherwise he wont make it
[I[/I]

well, i don't know what to say. he certainly had trouble following them last year as everyone ended up behind him.

some could argue that as defending champ, he at least has the experience and talent to win this race, if not some others.

i don't know what you mean by overrated. he is not god. but he sure is a good bicycle racer. stage wins in avenir, the giro, tirreno adriatico, overall at eneco, gent wevelgem. that's just off the top of my head. he is 22 with palmares some veteran pros will never see. pretty impressive stuff.

if he is on form he could factor. was he laying off a bit today to leave some in the tank for tomorrow? can't wait to find out.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Yes he did win Gent-Wevelgem, in a 2-man sprint with Kuchinski and they came from a group that contained god-like riders like Matthew Hayman or Michiel Elijzen.

What I want to say is, head-to-head against, not even the best, but even the suptop of cobbled classics, he hasn't shown anything. He can't follow the 2nd string like Nuyens or Paolini, let stand the Cancellara and Boonen's on cobbled climbs.

Last year in Gent-Wevelgem, the wind formed an group which was excellent for Hagen, guys he could handle. He can only hope this year will be the same, or a mass sprint, otherwise I can't see him winning.

I won't even talk about his chances in flanders, he has none there

 

[theyoungest]

You don't "get lucky" in the wind. Only strong riders survive.

Last year in Gent-Wevelgem, the wind formed an group which was excellent for Hagen, guys he could handle. He can only hope this year will be the same, or a mass sprint, otherwise I can't see him winning.

Kind of contradicting yourself there.

 

[pmcg76]

No Ghent-Wevelgem on British Eurosport tomorrow, WTF.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Kind of contradicting yourself there.

I know that, but wind riding is different than cobble riding, those guys were definately the strongest, plus many strong cobble riders spare themselves for Paris Roubaix when GW was on wednesday, Hagen didn't get lucky in that sense.

He did get lucky that no strong COBBLE riders were in there

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

Yes he did win Gent-Wevelgem, in a 2-man sprint with Kuchinski and they came from a group that contained god-like riders like Matthew Hayman or Michiel Elijzen.

What I want to say is, head-to-head against, not even the best, but even the suptop of cobbled classics, he hasn't shown anything. He can't follow the 2nd string like Nuyens or Paolini, let stand the Cancellara and Boonen's on cobbled climbs.

Last year in Gent-Wevelgem, the wind formed an group which was excellent for Hagen, guys he could handle. He can only hope this year will be the same, or a mass sprint, otherwise I can't see him winning.

I won't even talk about his chances in flanders, he has none there

+1

anyway breschel could do something tonight.

 

[hfer07]

having Boonen, Cancellara & Flecha out of the equation, I'm going to throw some names that might win it:

Flecha
Ivanov
Breschel
Haussler

 

[auscyclefan94]

QS have the B-Team in for gent.

BMC would want to do something. They have their A team in and on paper should get someone on the podium.

EDIT: CN's startlist says Tomeke is not riding gent but Tom says he is in a CN article.

 

[rghysens]

having Boonen, Cancellara & Flecha out of the equation, I'm going to throw some names that might win it:

Flecha
Ivanov
Breschel
Haussler

not really woken up, I guess

 

[The Barb]

BMC would want to do something. They have their A team in and on paper should get someone on the podium.

I agree - indications are that Burghardt is more their man than Ballan and I wouldn't be surprised if he won this for the second time.

 

[maltiv]

QS have the B-Team in for gent.

BMC would want to do something. They have their A team in and on paper should get someone on the podium.

EDIT: CN's startlist says Tomeke is not riding gent but Tom says he is in a CN article.

If BMC once again fails to deliver a result with the strong classic team they have, it would be an absolute failure really. Surprising that they are so weak, almost makes me wonder if their bikes can't handle the cobbles...