Official thread: Gent-Wevelgem

[Anonymous]

provisional start list.. from http://www.bikeworldnews.com
as cycling news seem to be behind...

Rabobank
1 Brown, Graeme
2 Flecha Giannoni, Juan…
3 Hayman, Mathew
4 Horrillo Muñoz, Pedro
5 Leezer, Tom
6 Nuyens, Nick
7 Stamsnijder, Tom
8 Van Emden, Jos

Quick Step
11 Boonen, Tom
12 Devolder, Stijn
13 Hovelijnck, Kurt
14 Hulsmans, Kevin
15 Tosatto, Matteo
16 Van Impe, Kevin
17 Velo, Marco
18 Weylandt, Wouter

Silence - Lotto
21 Cretskens, Wilfried
22 Elijzen, Michiel
23 Hoste, Leif
24 Kaisen, Olivier
25 Lang, Sebastian
26 Ljungblad, Jonas
27 Roelandts, Jurgen
28 Scheirlinckx, Staf

Ag2R - La Mondiale
31 Clerc, Aurelien
32 Dion, Renaud
33 Elmiger, Martin
34 Hinault, Sébastien
35 Mondory, Lloyd
36 Pineau, Cederic
37 Poulhies, Stéphane
38 Smukulis, Gatis

Astana
41 Bazayev, Assan
42 Dmitriyev, Valeriy
43 Kupeshov, Berik
44 Muravyev, Dimitri
45 Raimbekov, Bolat
46 Rast, Gregory
47 Schär, Michael
48 Vaitkus, Tomas

BBox Bouygues Tele…
51 Claude, Mathieu
52 Gaudin, Damien
53 Haddou, Saïd
54 Jerome, Vincent
55 Labbe, Arnaud
56 Martias, Rony
57 Pichot, Alexandre
58 Turgot, Sebastien

Caisse d’Epargne
61 Coyot, Arnaud
62 Drujon, Mathieu
63 Erviti, Imanol
64 Garcia Acosta, José V…
65 Gutierrez Palacios, J…
66 Lastras Garcia, Pablo
67 Perez Arango, Marlon …
68 Rojas, José Joaquín

Cofidis
71 Blain, Alexandre
72 Blot, Guillaume
73 Brard, Florent
74 Duclos-Lassalle, Hervé
75 Duque, Leonardo
76 Portal, Sébastien
77 Usov, Alexandre
78 Villa, Romain

Euskaltel - Euskadi
81 Agirre Aseginolaza, J…
82 Aramendia Lorente, Ja…
83 De Lis De Andrés, Ser…
84 Fernandez, Koldo
85 Galdos, Aitor
86 Irizar Aranburu, Markel
87 Lafuente Olaguibel, A…
88 Urtasun Perez, Pablo

Francaise des Jeux
91 Gerard, Arnaud
92 Geslin, Anthony
93 Gudsell, Timothy
94 Guesdon, Frederic
95 Hutarovich, Yauheni
96 Ladagnous, Matthieu
97 Offredo, Johann
98 Sulzberger, Wesley

Fuji-Servetto
101 Bailetti, Paolo
102 Capelli, Ermanno
103 Dominguez, Ivan
104 Gomez Gomez, Angel
105 Jufre Pou, Josep
106 Nardello, Daniele
107 Shpilevskiy, Boris

Garmin-Slipstream
111 Dean, Julian
112 Dekkers, Hans
113 Duyn, Huub
114 Farrar, Tyler
115 Friedman, Micheal
116 Frischkorn, William
117 Maaskant, Martijn
118 Sutton, Chris

Lampre - N.G.C.
121 Bandiera, Marco
122 Da Dalto, Mauro
123 Furlan, Angelo
124 Lorenzetto, Mirco
125 Mori, Massimiliano
126 Righi, Daniele
127 Sapa, Marcin
128 Spilak, Simon

Liquigas
131 Bennati, Daniele
132 Fischer, Murilo Antonio
133 Franzoi, Enrico
134 Guarnieri, Jacopo
135 Kuschynski, Aleksandr
136 Oss, Daniel
137 Quinziato, Manuel
138 Sabatini, Fabio

Team Columbia - Highroad
141 Boasson Hagen, Edvald
142 Burghardt, Marcus
143 Cavendish, Mark
144 Eisel, Bernhard
145 Hincapie, George
146 Renshaw, Mark
147 Reynes Mimo, Vicente
148 Sieberg, Marcel

Team Katusha
151 De Haes, Kenny
152 Ignatiev, Mikhail
153 Ivanov, Sergei
154 Mikhaylov, Gennady
155 Pozzato, Filippo
156 Steegmans, Gert
157 Vandenbergh, Stijn
158 Vantomme, Maxime

Team Milram
161 Ciolek, Gerald
162 Eichler, Markus
163 Forster, Robert
164 Fothen, Thomas
165 Knaven, Servais
166 Terpstra, Niki
167 Velits, Martin
168 Wrolich, Peter

Team Saxo Bank
171 Arvesen, Kurt-Asle
172 Bak, Lars Ytting
173 Breschel, Matti
174 Cancellara, Fabian
175 Hoj, Frank
176 Klostergaard, Kasper
177 Ljungqvist, Marcus
178 O’Grady, Stuart

Cervélo TestTeam
181 Hammond, Roger
182 Haussler, Heinrich
183 Hunt, Jeremy
184 Hushovd, Thor
185 Klier, Andreas
186 Lancaster, Brett
187 Rasch, Gabriel
188 Reimer, Marcel

Landbouwkrediet
191 Amorison, Frederic
192 Barbe, Koen
193 Bellemakers, Dirk
194 Drouilly, Mathieu
195 Flahaut, Denis
196 Peeters, Kevin
197 Ricci Poggi, Martial
198 Scheirlinckx, Bert

Skil - Shimano
201 Beppu, Fumiyuki
202 Curvers, Roy
203 Deroo, David
204 Houanard, Steve
205 Lemoine, Cyril
206 Van Hummel, Kenny
207 Veelers, Tom
208 Wagner, Robert

Topsport
211 Goddaert, Kristof
212 Lodewyck, Klaas
213 Maes, Nikolas
214 Renders, Sven
215 Steurs, Geert
216 Van Hecke, Preben
217 Vandewalle, Kristof
218 Vanspeybrouck, Pieter

Vacansoleil
221 Bozic, Borut
222 Cooke, Baden
223 De Vocht, Wim
224 Groen van, Arnoud
225 Leukemans, Bjorn
226 Traksel, Bobbie
227 Veuchelen, Frederik
228 Westra, Lieuwe

cavvy favourite by about a week for me...
anyone found any tv coverage yet cos eurosport seem to have deserted it, or am i watching on french internet tv again... :/

 

[satelite]

Oficial participants list

2008 Edition

1. Oscar Freire (Spa)
2. Aur?lien Clerc (Zwi) allen zelfde tijd
3. Wouter Weylandt (Bel)
4. Erik Zabel (Dui)
5. Kenny Dehaes (Bel)
6. Luca Paolini (Ita)
7. Jose Joaquin Rojas (Spa)
8. Stuart O'Grady (Aus)
9. Heinrich Haussler (Dui)
10. Roger Hammond (GBr)

 

[Jasper]

Seeing Cavendish has made it very clear he wants to win this race, a lot of teams will have to change their tactics and try to avoid a bunch sprint. Or would the likes of Roelandts, Hutarovich, Brown or F?rster really believe they can take him on in such a flat out finish? I really hope the more attacking minded riders like Flecha or Pozzato won't just hand him the sprint on a plate, and try to make it an attractive race. Previous years have proven it is possible, especially since the weather on wednesday won't be as good as sunday. In fact, if you go back in time a few years, statistics say that there's only a bunch sprint every other year. And since there was one last year...

 

[cycutza]

I really hope the more attacking minded riders like Flecha or Pozzato won't just hand him the sprint on a plate, and try to make it an attractive race.

Absolutely...given Cavendish' form they can't expect any other result unless they try to mix it up. If it does bunch up near the end I would like to see Brown get up.

 

[El Loto]

Graeme Brown winning this, HAHAHA.

Got to be Cav doesn't it. He surprised everyone in De Panne with his surge on the Kemmelberg. The cobblers will have to get away to avoid the inevitable.

 

[Anonymous]

Graeme Brown winning this, HAHAHA.

Got to be Cav doesn't it. He surprised everyone in De Panne with his surge on the Kemmelberg. The cobblers will have to get away to avoid the inevitable.

i think if HE wants to win, he will
i think if columbia want him to win, he will

theyve shown they are pretty damn good at doing just what it takes to get cavvy the victory... i honestly cant see any other result...

*im going to be wrong arnt i*

 

[mr. tibbs]

I'm pulling for Haussler on this one. He's done so much this spring, and it'd be nice to see him bag a big race.

 

[Anonymous]

i think hausller may just look at the situation, know cavvy has got the edge and save his energy..

 

[jaylew]

I'm hoping for a race like in 2007 when Burghardt won - anything but a pack sprint finish. Hopefully there will be enough riders who really want the win and aren't saving it for Roubaix who are willing to take it to the sprinters.

 

[Merckx]

I'm not sure if Haussler has it in him. Cav goes in as one of the faves for sure..

 

[Greg Johnson]

I'm not sure if Haussler has it in him. Cav goes in as one of the faves for sure..

As much as I'd love to see a fellow New South Welshman take victory, I think you're right. I believe Haussler has had his chance to take a Classics victory this season and narrowly missed it.

With that said I think Cervelo will be amongst the action today.

I just hope Haussler continues to improve into next year and can claim his first Classics scalp then.

Cheers
Greg Johnson

 

[Mellow Velo]

I'm amazed that Haussler's tank hasn't run dry, yet. I'm also amazed that nobody seems to have figure out his finishing burst.

Reason dictates that the climbs will give an opportunity for the strong men, but Columbia have strong men. There's a long way to the finish for them to bring the race back together and the inevitable bunch finish.

Guys like Flecha and Gilbert, who could just nip off the front in the final few kms, will probably have one eye on the weekend.

 

[azrider]

Thor will not start today nor will Bennati

 

[53x11 in DC]

I'm not sure if Haussler has it in him. Cav goes in as one of the faves for sure..

Looks like Cav was asleep at the switch... Go George!

 

[jaylew]

Impressive to see McEwen cross that 30 second gap to the lead group solo. He seems to really want this one.

 

[tifosa]

Impressive to see riders other than "the usual suspects" riding in the first 2 breaks, giving their all - a new cycling star could emerge!

 

[53x11 in DC]

Kinda ridiculous that Columbia haven't put Hinc or Burg in this second group to try to steal a 3rd place as well.

 

[Merckx]

Nice win for ebh =)

 

[53x11 in DC]

Nice win for ebh =)

No doubt - Merckx, how is the contest going? Sorry I haven't been able to keep up. Too busy with work/travel.

 

[Anonymous]

nice win.... so columbia have a classic and a monument to their name already this year...

who said you win nothing with kids..

Now i just need to find my post on another forum in feb where i said EBH would win a classic this year..

 

[Oldscotspro]

How many did Cervelo have in the break?

OH Dear - there will be a lot of Cervelo's on the "Naughty Step" (British Joke) tonight.....all those riders in the break, and they end up with 5th...... as an ex-Pro, i find it really hard to believe that a break of two held off at least 15 riders who should have been chasing. Top Marks to Columbia, however, for getting their men in the right places while every other favourite was sitting on Cavendish...

 

[TRDean]

Good to see Skil-Shimano reprsented in the break. As was stated earlier...nice to see some other names up front. EBH is a star in the making. Also, I don't find it strange that the 2 men were able to stay away. Columbia was shutting everything down...Big George is one of the best teamates one could ask for!!

Great race.

 

[lookkg386]

Nice win, just reading up on Boasson Hagen, still only 21!. Going to be a superstar.

 

[2wheels]

Hey, that's why I was eyeing this kid last week in my Flanders postings. I just had a feeling he was ready to swipe one, and in just this fashion-- hitting out from 30 or 40 km out and the rest of the break not realizing that they weren't gonna catch him. Good ride!

 

[Anonymous]

it was fairly obvious in last years ToB that he was a classy rider.. watching it then the first thing that came to mind with us was "classics rider".. thought he might pick up one next year, or the year after, was hopefully he might win one this year, but didnt think he would so soon..

potentially this guy has the ability to be up there with the greats, he had a solid flanders, and i think in years to come he has the physical strength to tear up robaix.. columbia are doing a good job with him, he can be in contention for single day races now, small tours in a few years, the guy has a future..

only bad news really is for the guys at sky.. if rumours are true that they are after him, his price has just gone up...

hes allready got six wins for me this year in cycling manager.. all with lunatic attacks at about 20 to 30k