Is Boonen past his prime?

[Echoes]

When I saw him dismounting in the Arenberg Forest after a puncture (which never occurred to him in his best years), I was thinking of what De Vlaeminck used to say about punctures and crashes:

"Punctures and crashes are not bad luck, it's a matter of lucidity. I never punctured in my best years but I did in 1979 and then in the two next edition, because I was less good."

He exagerates a bit of course. Luck is always a factor in any race, whatsoever. However, there sure is truth in what he says.

In order to avoid puncture you've gotta avoid ruts and all the race's traps. Also if you're riding in front, you'll avoid mishaps more easily. So said Merckx after his win in 1973 while he was very angry after his crash in 1972.

I don't think Boonen was in the mood to win this Paris-Roubaix. He's never been at his best in this first part of this season (even in Wevelgem, he was **** on the climbs). His puncture might be an indication. It's his to show me I was wrong, now.


De Vlaeminck is a strange man though with a poor memory because he punctured in 1970 too. But in the doco "De Flandriens" on Canvas, there was an interview of him from 1975 and at that time he remembered his puncture from 5 years before and he claimed it was his mistake.

 

[Jamsque]

He's only 30, give the guy a break! OK, the rise of Spartacus has put a bit of a brake on his run of classics dominance, and the emergence of Cavendish has put his sprinting powers in to perspective, but he's still a huge talent and has many many more wins in his future.

 

[TRDean]

He's only 30, give the guy a break! OK, the rise of Spartacus has put a bit of a brake on his run of classics dominance, and the emergence of Cavendish has put his sprinting powers in to perspective, but he's still a huge talent and has many many more wins in his future.

I gotta agree with this...come on man!

 

[Lanark]

I would definitely say he is past his prime, look at his CQ results:

I don't think he'll ever reach his 2005/2006 shape again. He finished both those years as number 1 of the CQ-ranking, now he isn't in the top-100. He can still win classics (and probably will), but he isn't the force of nature he used to be.

 

[Cimber]

He is only 30 which is no age in the cobble classics, esp not in PRB. He might be over his prime in mass sprints but he aint past his prime in the classics. Not by a long shot.

He has not been super the last few years. Does that mean its age catching up? No. I think it was the success and the partying that caught up with him. He needs to get back to basics live and train like he did 5-6 years ago. Maybe a change of team wouldnt hurt either. But age? no thats not the problem.

 

[B_Ugli]

Nowadays I always feel as if Boonen is fighting his bike as if the power he once had simply isnt there, I dunno what it is he just doesnt look all that comfortable.

When you watch him sprinting he winds up an enormous gear and with the expception of G.Wevelgem he struggles to turn that gear over.

I would like to see him back to his best it whether Lefevre can motivate him in the same way he did Museeuw.

 

[El Pistolero]

So Cancellara is past his prime as well because of all all the mechanicals he had like in last years Ronde for example?

De Vlaeminck just sounds like a jealous old man.

 

[Ferminal]

I would definitely say he is past his prime, look at his CQ results:

I don't think he'll ever reach his 2005/2006 shape again. He finished both those years as number 1 of the CQ-ranking, now he isn't in the top-100. He can still win classics (and probably will), but he isn't the force of nature he used to be.

Hardly a scientific approach

He is not the bunch sprinter he was in those years, whether it is his deterioration or better competition.

Last year he would have another double if it was not for Cancellara. If Boonen had to compete against that kind of Cancellara in all of his monument wins, he would be lucky to have one.

 

[Anonymous]

I think Boonen is just not as motivated as he was, and after winning pretty much all you can win it must be difficult.

I think a change of team would be the best thing for him. Lefevre has made no secret of the fact that he wants to move to a squad that challenges in grand tours (although finding the rider to lead might be tough), and the quickstep classics team isnt a patch on what it was. Chavanel must be about 35 by now ( ok, 33) and Boonen is not much younger.

As he gets a little slower he needs a team that can fully support him, which QS cant. He could actually do well to go to BMC. They have proved this spring they have the support cast, they just dont have the big leader.

 

[Finbouy]

You're all a little light on praise for Boonan, so he flatted, couldn't get back on.. etc. You know how hard this race is, once it's gone off the front unless a serious mishap occurs, your a gonner if you flat and have to wait.
I still think the lads got it.. It was a shame he wasn't off the front.. but hey, thats racing.

 

[El Pistolero]

I think Boonen is just not as motivated as he was, and after winning pretty much all you can win it must be difficult.

I think a change of team would be the best thing for him. Lefevre has made no secret of the fact that he wants to move to a squad that challenges in grand tours (although finding the rider to lead might be tough), and the quickstep classics team isnt a patch on what it was. Chavanel must be about 35 by now ( ok, 33) and Boonen is not much younger.

As he gets a little slower he needs a team that can fully support him, which QS cant. He could actually do well to go to BMC. They have proved this spring they have the support cast, they just dont have the big leader.

Chavanel is just 31...

 

[Captain_Cavman]

In relative terms he is clearly not as strong as he has been. I think you can attribute some of that to having a weaker team than before but the cobbled classics are now all about Cancellara with Boonen becoming less and less relevant.

I hope things change around because I'm a big fan of the guy.

 

[auscyclefan94]

I think Boonen is just not as motivated as he was, and after winning pretty much all you can win it must be difficult.

I think a change of team would be the best thing for him. Lefevre has made no secret of the fact that he wants to move to a squad that challenges in grand tours (although finding the rider to lead might be tough), and the quickstep classics team isnt a patch on what it was. Chavanel must be about 35 by now ( ok, 33) and Boonen is not much younger.

As he gets a little slower he needs a team that can fully support him, which QS cant. He could actually do well to go to BMC. They have proved this spring they have the support cast, they just dont have the big leader.

I feel all giddy inside just thinking about it. I am a Boonen fan so would love for him to come to BMC. A lot will depend on what happens with Ballan and George in the upcoming 6-12 months with their careers. If Ballan goes for the doping charge then I think BMC will/should go after him. Boonen is still quite quick in sprints so they could get some early season wins as well.

 

[El Pistolero]

In relative terms he is clearly not as strong as he has been. I think you can attribute some of that to having a weaker team than before but the cobbled classics are now all about Cancellara with Boonen becoming less and less relevant.

I hope things change around because I'm a big fan of the guy.

He said he was never as strong as he was in 2010. And I believe him.

 

[Descender]

I expect him to come back strong next year. He isn't as dominating as in 05-06, but then again we knew that already.

 

[cobblehead]

just a simple remark:
this year Cancellara finished second in MSR, second in the ronde and Second in PR and for this he was praised (as he should be for entertaining us cyclingfans with his show of strength)

Last year Boonen finished second in MSR, second in the ronde en fifth in PR and got panned for that in the Belgian press with people questioning whether he was still on top of his game

just to show that (certainly in Belgium) people aren't realistic in their expectations.

you have to be realistic, Boonen no longer participates in sprints (hence him winning a lot less races) and is a lot more picky about the races he really wants to be in good form (compared tot five years ago with him racing to win everything), if you combine that with the fact that the competition in his races is a lot fiercer nowadays with a lot more good riders wanting to win in these races it might look like he's past his prime while, for me, this is definitly not the case.

I expect him to win both the ronde and PR at least once in the future, last year Cancellara had a superyear (like boonen in 2005) but i believe that Cancellara would have had a hell of a job losing boonen on the pavé this year (although I think cancellara would rather have had boonen with him than hushovd and ballan)


about this season: fact is that Boonen won Gent-Wevelgem, finished as fourth in the ronde and had a PR marred by bad luck.

that's a result a lot of other "big guns" in the peleton would probably settle for...

 

[Roland Rat]

I feel all giddy inside just thinking about it. I am a Boonen fan so would love for him to come to BMC. A lot will depend on what happens with Ballan and George in the upcoming 6-12 months with their careers. If Ballan goes for the doping charge then I think BMC will/should go after him. Boonen is still quite quick in sprints so they could get some early season wins as well.

Would be a good race-tutor for Taylor Phinney, too.

 

[Cimber]

this year Cancellara finished second in MSR, second in the ronde and Second in PR and for this he was praised (as he should be for entertaining us cyclingfans with his show of strength)

Just a small remark: He finished 3rd in RVV.

Oh and he wasnt really praised that much. Alot have been very critical about his tactics. But otherwise u are right regarding that the pressure on Belgian riders in the cobbled classics is huge and the expectations often unrealistic.

 

[Andre.J]

Boonen is still as strong as ever. Without the bad luck, he takes second in P-R. And if Fabian would dislike Boonen less, then he wouldn't have led out the sprint at Flanders when he saw Boonen coming for the victory. It seems Fabian would rather lose a race than have Boonen win it. Without the steroid bike things are leveling off again.
Strong riders are always marked. Pozzatto and company marked Boonen 2 years ago from start to finish. Devolder won Flanders, and Boonen still won P-R.

 

[rhubroma]

Too much blow me thinks.

 

[cobblehead]

Just a small remark: He finished 3rd in RVV.
Oh and he wasnt really praised that much. Alot have been very critical about his tactics. But otherwise u are right regarding that the pressure on Belgian riders in the cobbled classics is huge and the expectations often unrealistic.

sorry was in a state of delirium at that time due to nuyens winning...

about cancellara: as cyclingfans we have the luxury of being able to judge tactics in hindsight while riders have to make the choices at that time, to me both in the ronde as in PR what cancellara did was plausible at that time, it's just a shame for him it didn't play out the way he wanted..

 

[Cimber]

sorry was in a state of delirium at that time due to nuyens winning...

about cancellara: as cyclingfans we have the luxury of being able to judge tactics in hindsight while riders have to make the choices at that time, to me both in the ronde as in PR what cancellara did was plausible at that time, it's just a shame for him it didn't play out the way he wanted..

I dont necessarily disagree, I am just saying that the media wasnt really praising him that much (mainly due to tactics). But I agree that they were tougher on Boonen last year (tbh he deserved to get media-slapped more after this years RVV after his attack while Chavanel was out front).

 

[L'arriviste]

I think Boonen is just not as motivated as he was, and after winning pretty much all you can win it must be difficult.

I think a change of team would be the best thing for him. Lefevre has made no secret of the fact that he wants to move to a squad that challenges in grand tours (although finding the rider to lead might be tough), and the quickstep classics team isnt a patch on what it was. Chavanel must be about 35 by now ( ok, 33) and Boonen is not much younger.

As he gets a little slower he needs a team that can fully support him, which QS cant. He could actually do well to go to BMC. They have proved this spring they have the support cast, they just dont have the big leader.

This is so true. QuickStep is a shadow of its former self and I think there are lots of reasons for that, the weakest of which Lefevere peddled around all last year as if it explained everything (international cycling > Belgian cycling).

Amicable divorce is a good idea (or even a trial separation). Tommeke could regroup with a breath of fresh air and QuickStep itself probably should take some of that nice Czech money and do a big retooling for 2012.

Of course, I fully expect Pineau and Chavanel will respond again shortly to the SOS (Save Our Season / Save Our Summer), but they have no Barredo now and not much else to offer at GTs beyond Devenyns, Chicchi and Ciolek.

 

[LugHugger]

When I saw him dismounting in the Arenberg Forest after a puncture (which never occurred to him in his best years), I was thinking of what De Vlaeminck used to say about punctures and crashes:

"Punctures and crashes are not bad luck, it's a matter of lucidity. I never punctured in my best years but I did in 1979 and then in the two next edition, because I was less good."

He exagerates a bit of course. Luck is always a factor in any race, whatsoever. However, there sure is truth in what he says.

In order to avoid puncture you've gotta avoid ruts and all the race's traps. Also if you're riding in front, you'll avoid mishaps more easily. So said Merckx after his win in 1973 while he was very angry after his crash in 1972.

I don't think Boonen was in the mood to win this Paris-Roubaix. He's never been at his best in this first part of this season (even in Wevelgem, he was **** on the climbs). His puncture might be an indication. It's his to show me I was wrong, now.


De Vlaeminck is a strange man though with a poor memory because he punctured in 1970 too. But in the doco "De Flandriens" on Canvas, there was an interview of him from 1975 and at that time he remembered his puncture from 5 years before and he claimed it was his mistake.

He didn't puncture, he dropped his chain. The bike was unrideable. That's bad luck/poor set up the QS mechanics.

Makes the premise for this discussion irrelevant. And he certainly doesn't need to prove anything to you.

 

[Captain_Cavman]

He said he was never as strong as he was in 2010. And I believe him.

Maybe so. But this year he hasn't even looked like the clear second best rider.

In the 2010 Paris Roubaix, no-one would co-operate with Boonen and Cancellara rode off into the sunset. This year it's not really been an issue. Boonen's gone from major threat to just another contender in one year.