Omloop het Nieuwsblad 2012

[El Pistolero]

Most of the guys from OPQS crashed out, hardly a fair comparison. What matters is that they had 2 guys in the final, just like Sky.

 

[maltiv]

5 Sky riders in Top 30 v 2 from OPQS v 1 from BMC. Shows the team's Classics strength already Sky will be strong, but they don't have kind of favourite as OPQS ( Boonen ), but if they play it out at PR or Ronde they have lots of cards to play for.

They have a really strong team for the classics, but only one proven winner. I hope they don't do the same mistake as last year with having fast guys like EBH and Geraint pulling for Flecha, who (with all due respect) can't really win races. In those races they should send one and one rider on the attack while EBH (assuming he doesn't get injured again) sits on and hopes for a sprint.

 

[Gloin22]

Most of the guys from OPQS crashed out, hardly a fair comparison. What matters is that they had 2 guys in the final, just like Sky.

Velits is the only one I heard of. Knees came down for Sky too Also Eisel, Sutton and Stannard in the report they were saving themselves a lot for tomorrow's lead out and chasing the breaks. Quite impressive as they both finished in Top 30 ( Eisel and Stannard ). It's better to have a stronger team support ,while OPQS has decent but not best, so that imo might affects their chances of winning a big clasic like PR. It doesnt have to, but it might Also Sky have about 4/5 cards to play for in later classics, while OPQS has only 2.

 

[Kvinto]

5 Sky riders in Top 30 v 2 from OPQS v 1 from BMC. Shows the team's Classics strength already Sky will be strong, but they don't have kind of favourite as OPQS ( Boonen ), but if they play it out at PR or Ronde they have lots of cards to play for.

It doesn't work this way. 5 Sky riders in top-30 only means they could do better. The work of QST domestiques was much better seen and this is what really matters.

 

[Gloin22]

Pisti, I heard of Velits going down, while Knees came down for sky as well.

Agreed maltiv. That what's good about Sky. they have about 4 riders that can go into those elite breaks like at PR where the winner came from late break. Hayman, Eisel and Stannard. Flecha and EBH can sit around and should follow Cancellara or Boonen attacks. Hopefully EBH will do well, as you said he was training over the winter mostly for PR and Ronde.

 

[theyoungest]

Pisti, I heard of Velits going down, while Knees came down for sky as well.

Agreed maltiv. That what's good about Sky. they have about 4 riders that can go into those elite breaks like at PR where the winner came from late break. Hayman, Eisel and Stannard. Flecha and EBH can sit around and should follow Cancellara or Boonen attacks. Hopefully EBH will do well, as you said he was training over the winter mostly for PR and Ronde.

EBH isn't the kind of rider yet who can wait for Cancellara or Boonen to attack... seriously, has he managed to follow them even once? Flecha is the card to play, EBH needs to attack earlier.

 

[Gloin22]

EBH isn't the kind of rider yet who can wait for Cancellara or Boonen to attack... seriously, has he managed to follow them even once? Flecha is the card to play, EBH needs to attack earlier.

We never know how he feels. I just think after that kind of work he put in winter he might be able to follow them. I know he didn't prove it, but that's the hope. Hopefully he'll have the chance to show it ...

 

[maltiv]

EBH isn't the kind of rider yet who can wait for Cancellara or Boonen to attack... seriously, has he managed to follow them even once? Flecha is the card to play, EBH needs to attack earlier.

He was the closest rider to Boonen when he went nuts on a cobbled climb in Omloop 2010. Else than that we've barely seen him in classics so it's hard to say. Also in RVV last year he was 3 meters from making the front group, and if he had then well, there weren't many in that group who could've outsprinted him. Things could've been very different had he not used all his energy attacking with 60 km left.

Of course, I don't think he has much of a chance of following Cancellara or Boonen on the cobbles either, but with a development like last year then he has a (small) chance of winning RVV if he rides conservatively. As for P-R I doubt he has any chance at all since he basically has no experience there, since he hasn't been able to ride it since his debut in 2009...

 

[El Pistolero]

Pisti, I heard of Velits going down, while Knees came down for sky as well.

Agreed maltiv. That what's good about Sky. they have about 4 riders that can go into those elite breaks like at PR where the winner came from late break. Hayman, Eisel and Stannard. Flecha and EBH can sit around and should follow Cancellara or Boonen attacks. Hopefully EBH will do well, as you said he was training over the winter mostly for PR and Ronde.

Velits, Trentin and Ciolek went down. And QS also controlled the race from the beginning till the end. Sky mostly followed.

 

[Gloin22]

Velits, Trentin and Ciolek went down. And QS also controlled the race from the beginning till the end. Sky mostly followed.

Tomorrow will be vice versa with the controlling of the race...nice balance

 

[hatcher]

Velits, Trentin and Ciolek went down. And QS also controlled the race from the beginning till the end. Sky mostly followed.

No, they didn't. Sky had men at the front from the minute the chase started until the sprint at the end.

 

[Zam_Olyas]

No, they didn't. Sky had men at the front from the minute the chase started until the sprint at the end.

yea, they did a nice job of slowing down the chase along with opqs.

 

[on3m@n@rmy]

yea, they did a nice job of slowing down the chase along with opqs.

yea, no way with Flecha in the break that Sky is going to chase that down.

The 3 in the break didn't seem to have a lot left for the sprint, don't you think? The 3 (Boonen, Flecha, Vanmarcke) did work well together to stay clear, so they must have burned a lot of energy. So I guess I should not be too surprised if Boonen mistimed the sprint a bit.

 

[skidmark]

That said, the real work still has to begin and it's too early to already peak and perhaps Vanmarcke already reached that peak. But to win the Omloop as your first professional victory is something special.

I thought it was here that I was reading that he deliberately only used one race (Algarve) as prep so that he wouldn't peak too early. Good as he was, it's possible that it's just the beginning of things this spring.

 

[Kvinto]

I thought it was here that I was reading that he deliberately only used one race (Algarve) as prep so that he wouldn't peak too early. Good as he was, it's possible that it's just the beginning of things this spring.

It's me who posted that. I've read his interview recently, he said he wants to be 100% till Ronde (but can't find the link agan )

 

[DominicDecoco]

Westra's 'Fight' with a spectator:

http://tv2sport.dk/puha-det-var-taet-paa

 

[Ruudz0r]

Westra's 'Fight' with a spectator:

http://tv2sport.dk/puha-det-var-taet-paa

Video only available in Denmark.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

I came home an hour ago and watched the highlights

WTF was Boom doing there

And also funny Boonen thinks he can win a sprint if he starts at 1252352km from the line. Vanmarcke was amazing.. I wonder how long he can hold this form

 

[Kvinto]

I thought it was here that I was reading that he deliberately only used one race (Algarve) as prep so that he wouldn't peak too early. Good as he was, it's possible that it's just the beginning of things this spring.

It's me who posted that. I've read his interview recently, he said he wants to be 100% till Ronde (but can't find the link agan )

I've found

http://www.sporza.be/cm/sporza/wielrennen/120222_vanmarcke_voorjaar

"Ik reed tot nu enkel de Ronde van de Algarve, omdat ik vooral mik naar de klassiekers in de weken rond de Ronde van Vlaanderen en Gent-Wevelgem."

of course i read it 'through' the Google Translate which gave me:

"I drove up to now only the Tour of the Algarve, especially because I'm aiming for the classics in the weeks around the Tour of Flanders and Gent-Wevelgem."

 

[Cult Classics]

Really enjoyed today's race - great way to open up cycling season proper (as it is as far as I'm concerned). Just goes to show once again that the UCI can have all their ratings and points, but it is the riders themselves who dictate which races are really the important ones. Teams will show up for money or cos they're obliged to, but they won't necessarily care about it. Omloop, Paris-Tours, Emilia will always be worth more to me as a fan than Hamburg, Quebec or Beijing.

 

[Gloin22]

After the race, Boonen and Vanmarcke talked with each other and at one point they were in the Sporza TV studio together when Boonen said that Vanmarcke probably peaked for this race whereas Boonen himself is aiming for the big Classics in April.

“Well, that’s not true because I’ve only raced in the [Volta ao] Algarve (Feb. 15-19) before today. I intended to be in top form later than other years. Tom congratulated me several times and told me it would now start for me,” Vanmarcke said.

Boonen acted a bit tw*t-ish there.

 

[Andy99]

Really enjoyed today's race - great way to open up cycling season proper (as it is as far as I'm concerned). Just goes to show once again that the UCI can have all their ratings and points, but it is the riders themselves who dictate which races are really the important ones. Teams will show up for money or cos they're obliged to, but they won't necessarily care about it. Omloop, Paris-Tours, Emilia will always be worth more to me as a fan than Hamburg, Quebec or Beijing.

Exactly. And to think that as far as any UCI ranking is concerned, none of the podium gain any kind of points whatsoever from today.

Pi$$ up in a brewery springs to mind.

 

[canyonball]

Boonen acted a bit tw*t-ish there.

Just a few days ago we were talking about the importance of knowing a set of languages. I think this is one of those times. Let's look at an alternate translation I got from podium cafe.

Boonen

"One step at a time for him, step by step. I think there are very few guys in Belgium with talent like him. I think he made the right decision – or at least I hope he did! – to aim at this weekend. And now it’s the next step for him: the big classics."

Mind you they were shoulder to shoulder in the boot. I don't think Boonen was being a tw*at at all. Yes, he might be talking to a young talent as a veteran of the classics, if you will. But hey. I say he's entitled to that and he's not doing it in a disrespectful way.

 

[pastronef]

http://www.twitter.com/mmmaiko SEE SEP ****ING VANMARCKE USES #OMLOOP. WE WON!!

ahahah! more or less what i shouted when he crossed the line
my father, from upstairs, asked what happened!?

 

[The Hitch]

Boonen may have lost, but hes imo the most impressive rider this season so far. Stages in San Luis, absolutely destroyed Quatar in Robo Basso style and now so impressive in Omloop.

If he can rediscover this form for London, and it becomes an attackfest race, watch out.