Kuurne- Brussels-Kuurne

[Andy99]

Today is why I love cycling. Riders giving it their all and leaving nothing out on the course.

Fari play to the Dutch guys, great racing. As a Brit I was desperate for Stannard to win. They guy is a real hard man. He is quoted as saying the wetter, muddier and windier a race is the better. A future star of British racing in my opinion. Future Paris Roubaix winner as well??

Can't wait for the rest of the classics.

I think Sky have proved a point or 2 this weekend. Quick Step and BMC, widely regarded as better teams were blown to bits by.

Agreed. And they are letting the bikes do the talking...as it should be.

 

[craig1985]

Wow, the conditions must of been apocalyptic?

 

[Francois the Postman]

17 Kenny van Hummel (Ned)

Because he is always the kind of rider to finish a race regardless of the conditions.

Well they did say that today is more of a sprinter's race than yesterday was

I love that guy. Skil's chances of getting a Tour place are 0.0, but I bet he woudl still drag his sorry arse over the Alps just because that's what you do when you are a true cyclist.

Anyone finishing today can be proud, I think.

 

[Francois the Postman]

Wow, the conditions must of been apocalyptic?

"Boom" fell down and blocked a climb. And this time it wasn't a Rabo guy hitting the deck.

 

[Mellow Velo]

Wow, the conditions must of been apocalyptic?

There were only 26 riders to eventually finish the race, in Kuurne.

 

[Andy99]

Wow, the conditions must of been apocalyptic?

Just a normal February day..

 

[auscyclefan94]

BMC=gone missing?

 

[Andy99]

Legend.

http://img.skysports.com/10/02/800x600/bobbietrakselkuurnebruxelles2010_2425590.jpg

 

[auscyclefan94]

Not being smug, but i did say people would be asking who Ian Stannard was after this weekend..

I may talk a load of *** sometimes, but occasionally, just occasionally, I know what im talking about

Gonna shurrup now.. Im worn out.. what a race..

let the bragging begin! has bmc gone missing? can someone answer that question and why???? they were bad this weekend!

 

[Anonymous]

has bmc gone missing? can someone answer that question and why???? they were bad this weekend!

they pretty much saw the weather and quit today.. no balls any of them.. Feel sorry for Big George being surrounded by such girls.. no chance of Roubaix for him this year..

Cadel must be wondering what hes done. Lotto regularly went missing, but at least we saw them sometimes.

 

[Hawkwood]

Anyone know what the temperatures were? It was 5 degrees here in Kent earlier with lots of rain and major wind-chill. So I assume it was colder still in Belgium.

 

[issoisso]

Anyone know what the temperatures were? It was 5 degrees here in Kent earlier with lots of rain and major wind-chill. So I assume it was colder still in Belgium.

Considering 26 people finished....I'd bet quite miserable

 

[tgsgirl]

The temperatures weren't too bad (roughly 10°C) but it rained from beginning to end and the wind was absolutely merciless. Our garden furniture didn't survive the day; and at one point the break was going all out against the wind and they simply couldn't go faster than 25 k/h (that's 25 mph).

 

[Hawkwood]

Might be an idea for a forum topic, `The worst conditions a race has been run off in'?

 

[luckyboy]

Wow, only 26 riders. Kudos to those guys.

22 Sylvain Chavanel

 

[Condorman]

The temperatures weren't too bad (roughly 10°C) but it rained from beginning to end and the wind was absolutely merciless. Our garden furniture didn't survive the day; and at one point the break was going all out against the wind and they simply couldn't go faster than 25 k/h (that's 25 mph).

Windchill at 30 kph would reduce the temperature to 0°C into a headwind which would feel a lot colder with fatigue.

25 kph is 16 mph.

@Hawkwood Apologies for my earlier accusations. It has been a hard week.

Far from the worst conditions, but an epic nevertheless.
This is going to be a very interesting season.

 

[tgsgirl]

Right, I ran that speed through an online converter and then messed up the result. It is 16 mph indeed.

 

[Hawkwood]

@Hawkwood Apologies for my earlier accusations. It has been a hard week.

Far from the worst conditions, but an epic nevertheless.
This is going to be a very interesting season.[/QUOTE]

Hi Condorman - many thanks for your message.

If Flanders, Roubaix... are as good as this was then it will be a great season.

Re bad conditions - I didn't see it, but Liege-Bastogne-Liege 1980 must have been amazing to watch.

 

[Frosty]

Anyone know what the temperatures were? It was 5 degrees here in Kent earlier with lots of rain and major wind-chill. So I assume it was colder still in Belgium.

Max temp of 10.4 but this was recorded during the morning with the temperature dropping to 4.7 at 1400GMT/1500CET. Winds werent as bad as in some other parts of north-west europe but gusted towards 60mph for a time around 1500CET. Total rainfall in the afternoon was about 8mm (a third of an inch roughly).

Im guessing the laps at the end were at least partly responsible for the number of retirements? Must be hard to keep going in those conditions when passing the finish.

 

[Sasquatch]

so 26 riders finished hahaha

 

[taiwan]

Interview with Bobbie Traksel was good. Makes a point about hype surrounding riders.

 

[kurtinsc]

great race, all 3 deserve a nice leffe. vaconsoleil and sky are racing attackingly AND getting results, both GOT to be ahead of BMC and Radioshack (although we know theyre in).

i hope the weather improves for the tour of flanders sportive im signed up for

How much weight does ASO put in the classics?

I'd think it would be relatively little. Today was an incredible race, but I'm not sure it would prove much for ASO selection purposes. Same goes with the Omloop yesterday.

I could be wrong... but I think a GT would put more weight in say... Radio Shack getting 2nd and 4th in Sardegna and 3rd and 4th in Algarve then wins in cobbled races.

 

[ingsve]

I could be wrong... but I think a GT would put more weight in say... Radio Shack getting 2nd and 4th in Sardegna and 3rd and 4th in Algarve then wins in cobbled races.

Except that Omloop and KBK are classic high profile races and Sardegna and Algarve are irrelevant little stage races.

 

[issoisso]

Interview with Bobbie Traksel was good. Makes a point about hype surrounding riders.

He also had a bucketload of injuries

Except that Omloop and KBK are classic high profile races and Sardegna and Algarve are irrelevant little stage races.

Kuurne is not a high profile race.

Anyway, it depends on what's popular in each given country. Some countries will give far more weight to classics, while in others saying "I won a classic" is like saying "I ride my bike at the park on sundays".

 

[craig1985]

There were only 26 riders to eventually finish the race, in Kuurne.

Just seen the reports on the news of flooding in Vendee, France, and in Orduna, Spain, and they said it was moving north. So I guess it is no wonder that it was raining so heavily.