Oh! I do love this article on RDV...

[mewmewmew13]

why can't more riders today be as colorful as this! de Vlaeminck's thoughts on modern peloton...

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/de-vlaeminck-picks-cancellara-as-his-paris-roubaix-heir

 

[El Pistolero]

Seems like another oldie that can't accept the fact cycling, like any other professional sport, has changed.

 

[goggalor]

Sheez, doesn't this guy ever shut up? Every year it's the same story.

 

[mewmewmew13]

Where's your sense of humour? ...some folks appreciate where today's racing came from. To each his own, but lots of things repeat every year don't they

 

[flicker]

How can anyone criticize Roger DeVlaemink a true champion. Other champions, Henk Lubberding, Hennie Kuiper, Didi Thurau.

 

[ergmonkey]

RDV's a legend of a rider, but it seems like he has an awfully hard time accepting the fact that some people have natural charisma while he doesn't.

 

[ergmonkey]

How can anyone criticize Roger DeVlaemink a true champion.

You don't have to disagree with RDV's champion status to think that he made more persuasive statements with his legs firing and his mouth closed.

 

[Mambo95]

While he is clearly one of the all time greats, he appears to have fallen into that trap of thinking that he's so much better than the current generation because they don't do it like he did.

A question for Roger: When you were winning P-R, how much threat did the Australians/Americans/Norwegians/Eastern Europeans pose? Or was just the Belgians, French and Moser, back then?

 

[fatsprintking]

I am always a little bit careful when reading articles that have been translated and maybe miss some of the nuances of what was being said.

Is anyone going to really argue with his comments on Pozzato? I am sure heaps of people prefer the riding style of Gilbert over Boonen. As for his back in the day comments well....

I know I can get a bit weepy over this sort of stuff, but I am pretty happy to sit down with an old video of the people he mentioned, racing together over all terrain. You know the story, things were better then. Maybe they were? Yeah I think so probably.

Rock on RDV.

 

[flicker]

RDV's a legend of a rider, but it seems like he has an awfully hard time accepting the fact that some people have natural charisma while he doesn't.

I do not know DeVlaemink the person, only as the rider. Criticizing Pozzato as a rider to me is quite funny as Pozattos riding is not up to snuff with his overblown image. I like Boonen, but I think Boonen is past his prime.
I guess De Vlaemink likes Cancellera because Cancellera is a hardman, old school guy, likes to win properly.
DeVlaemink admittedly sounds jealous of todays current riders, which shows a lack of class on his part. I do not get why these retired riders are jealous, I would think they should celebrate the new breeds accomplishments.

 

[ergmonkey]

I do not know DeVlaemink the person, only as the rider. Criticizing Pozzato as a rider to me is quite funny as Pozattos riding is not up to snuff with his overblown image. I like Boonen, but I think Boonen is past his prime.
I guess De Vlaemink likes Cancellera because Cancellera is a hardman, old school guy, likes to win properly.
DeVlaemink admittedly sounds jealous of todays current riders, which shows a lack of class on his part. I do not get why these retired riders are jealous, I would think they should celebrate the new breeds accomplishments.

I think the jealousy is simply due to the fact that the riders today make much better money than the riders of the '70s. Some of the Old Boys have convinced themselves that a 'hard life' is a necessary element in properly performing in a hard sport.

The Pozzato stuff doesn't bother me--though I think it's funny that De Vlaeminck focused on the way Pozzato looks, rather than the way he acts (I don't think it's impossible for a 'pretty' guy to act like a hardman).

The Boonen comments are more telling to me. Boonen is a massive star in Belgium who has been popular from the start; Boonen has never been overshadowed by another contemporary the way RDV was completely overshadowed by Merckx; and despite his sprinting ability, Boonen races very aggressively in the true 'hard man' mold.

To me, RDV comes across as being resentful of Boonen's natural star quality and almost giddy to see a non-Belgian hopefully preventing Boonen from displacing RDV as the Classics king of Flanders. Sad.

 

[LugHugger]

I do not know DeVlaemink the person, only as the rider. Criticizing Pozzato as a rider to me is quite funny as Pozattos riding is not up to snuff with his overblown image. I like Boonen, but I think Boonen is past his prime.
I guess De Vlaemink likes Cancellera because Cancellera is a hardman, old school guy, likes to win properly.
DeVlaemink admittedly sounds jealous of todays current riders, which shows a lack of class on his part. I do not get why these retired riders are jealous, I would think they should celebrate the new breeds accomplishments.

Jealous? Of whom? Name one rider in today's peloton who has achieved what he did? Do you understand what jealous means?

And RdV is far from jingoistic and nationalistic - his comments on Gilbert and Cancellara prove that. He's right. Most modern racers are prima donna's, victims of their media obsessed DS's and managers and have lost their focus on actually winning races.

 

[hrotha]

It's standard issue "in my time we were tougher and that makes me superior" BS. I'm sure riders from the 50s would have said the same about his generation. He's not as bad as Bahamontes though - but then again, he's younger and probably still sane.

 

[ergmonkey]

Jealous? Of whom? Name one rider in today's peloton who has achieved what he did? Do you understand what jealous means?

So, you can't be "jealous" of somebody who's less accomplished than you but still manages to make much, much more money than you?

Wow. I guess I don't know what "jealous" means.

 

[beer_thirty]

Jealous? Of whom? Name one rider in today's peloton who has achieved what he did? Do you understand what jealous means?

Not jealous of palmares, if that's what you mean. Jealous of Boonen's natural star power, the amount of money he makes, the fact that in spite of all the 'clinic' stuff cycling is so much more modern and advanced than back in RDV's day it's almost comical.

RDV was an incredible hard man; a true warrior. But the old 'things were so much better back in <whatever> day' thing never wears well on anyone, ever. Just makes you look bitter.

Still an awesome read though...

 

[Echoes]

It's every year the same but every year, I enjoy every bits of it. All he's said about present-day cycling are things I already thought before reading him.

I understand that gloryhunters can't appreciate such comments, but he speaks the truth, period.

In the book dedicated to him Roger De Vlaeminck Top60 Mens & Renner (2007) he spoke openly about it, "everything so predictable" "only Valverde and Bettini can do everything", his hatred towards "shared leadership (in a team), absence from the most important classics", "specialization towards GT", "traditional route changes", etc.
Semi-classics were far longer in his days. And the radios? Of course, he hates 'em. In his days, riders made up their own tactics. His manager never got involved in it.

For Paris-Roubaix 2006: "Where are the Vinokourov, Popovych and Ullrich? Why aren't they there?"

About Hoste leaving out Gent Wevelgem before Paris-Roubaix, he also a legendary comment in Humo



Globalization? Of course he has something to say. "The field was also strong in my time. There were 30 good Belgians + the French, Dutch, Italians, the Pettersson bros or Ole Ritter. Nah, he who wins a big race today earns a million; therefore they don't train hard for a whole season." (De Grootste Wielerkampioenen - Aarsbergen & Nijssen; Dutch book)

The non-European were of course there in his days. But the Belgian standard was too high for them. Why should you be so jealous?

Australians? Don Allan, Gary Clively, Clyde Sefton, Graeme Gilmore
Norwegians? Knut Knudsen was a tremendous tt'er !!
Americans? He competed against Jon Boyer in his prime.
Eastern Europeans? Of course he competed against 'em. Amateur Cyclocross Worlds 1968. He was 20 while they were in their prime.

He's a true champion. Just face the truth.

 

[hrotha]

Well, I disagree with just about everything in that post, so I guess it's just going to reaffirm everyone's beliefs on this issue.

 

[La Pandera]

I do not know DeVlaemink the person, only as the rider. Criticizing Pozzato as a rider to me is quite funny as Pozattos riding is not up to snuff with his overblown image. I like Boonen, but I think Boonen is past his prime.
I guess De Vlaemink likes Cancellera because Cancellera is a hardman, old school guy, likes to win properly.
DeVlaemink admittedly sounds jealous of todays current riders, which shows a lack of class on his part. I do not get why these retired riders are jealous, I would think they should celebrate the new breeds accomplishments.

I don't see him as being any different than the posters on this forum. He has riders that he favors and those that he doesn't. I'm not sure how you get that he's jealous of today's riders. He's voicing the same criticism that is frequently mentioned here that many of the riders train in races for most of the season and actually race for a relatively small percentage. This in comparison to the riders of his era. The riders of today of course do have it alot easier compared to RdV's day with 300+km classic races, regular double stages in one day in the grand tours with longer routes. Those that dispute that his era were true hardmen compared to most of today's riders haven't read up enough on cycling's history.

 

[mewmewmew13]

I don't think that one has to agree with any or all of his views. My point is that it's refreshing to read anything where someone actually speaks his mind, and not some mindless, scripted and predictable blather. I think I've read a few comments on the forum where some rider or DS or whatever is rolled over the coals because he/she is not being forthcoming.

You're right about things being different these days. I can't imagine RDV lounging before and after a race in a large pimped out team bus with pink pleather seats and large speakers booming out tunes.

 

[La Pandera]

His statement about Pozzato and his Ferrari is hilarious to me because it brings to mind an associate/club member who bought a 2 seater as his only car and now expects everyone to be his and his bike's mode of transport to any race, ride or event that is of any distance.

 

[hrotha]

You're right about things being different these days. I can't imagine RDV lounging before and after a race in a large pimped out team bus with pink pleather seats and large speakers booming out tunes.

That's because they didn't have that kind of stuff back then, but if RDV rode now he'd be all over the fancy team buses and the iPods. That's the issue here, you can't use that kind of stuff to make value judgments on a whole generation. It's like grandpa saying they were real men in his time because they shat in the forest.

 

[ergmonkey]

I can't imagine RDV lounging before and after a race in a large pimped out team bus with pink pleather seats and large speakers booming out tunes.

Yeah, because the Eastern Invasion hadn't hit yet!

That sort of tacky decadence requires at least some element of East Germans, Near Asians, or Russians.

P.S. the irony here is that Vino lives up to the RDV ideal of a rider better than just about anyone. And that dude's tacky enough to wear a jersey with a photo of himself on it. Ulle and Klodi, maybe less RDV hard man quality, I'll admit.

 

[ergmonkey]

And if RDV has issues with Pozzato being too pretty, what did the old man have to say about this, circa 2003?

 

[The Hitch]

Cycling has changed and you cant compete for PR and gts in the same season though i do agree that its nice to see him speak his mind. Controversy is good.

As for Pozzato being too pretty for cycling, well Fausto Coppi is the only man ive ever considered handsome.

The only reason that epic picture isnt my avatar is because ninety5rpm already has it.

 

[Parrulo]

Seems like another oldie that can't accept the fact cycling, like any other professional sport, has changed.

my thoughts exactly.