Omloop Het Nieuwsblad

[lucybears]

Why is Haussler expected to miss it? He is one of my potential winners.

see my original link
Haussler crashed in the Volta ao Algarve on Friday, suffering a blow to his knee
or CN
Knee problems for Haussler
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/knee-problems-for-haussler

 

[ImmaculateKadence]

see my original link
Haussler crashed in the Volta ao Algarve on Friday, suffering a blow to his knee
or CN
Knee problems for Haussler
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/knee-problems-for-haussler

When I read the velonation article, I read Haussler as Hushovd for some reason...duh

Thanks.

 

[Anonymous]

hopefully there's going to be some sort of coverage for the race though online.

there is.. and k-b-k

 

[ak-zaaf]

Boom wants to show something but doesn't have a clue how his form is. Might be a good team with Nuyens, Langeveld, Boom, Posthuma....

No finishers will be the main problem again for them this year.

 

[Christian]

I've never been too interested in Het Volk but this year Kim Kirchen's ridding and so I wanted to ask whether any of you think there is a chance he might finish well/have a chance at the win? I mean it's long, there are some steep hills, it's gonna be cold and rainy, some of you said Gilbert could win, Kirchen said he's really looking forward to racing there again (he did these races in the very beginning of his career with Fassa Bartolo) ... what do you think?

 

[ak-zaaf]

I've never been too interested in Het Volk but this year Kim Kirchen's ridding and so I wanted to ask whether any of you think there is a chance he might finish well/have a chance at the win? I mean it's long, there are some steep hills, it's gonna be cold and rainy, some of you said Gilbert could win, Kirchen said he's really looking forward to racing there again (he did these races in the very beginning of his career with Fassa Bartolo) ... what do you think?

Honestly: Not a chance.
Youtube old video's where Boonen and Canc and guys like that go all out on the Taaienberg. Just as well as I don't see them doing that in Huy, I don't see Kim doing it here.

 

[hfer07]

Apart from the usual favorites, I'm curious about what BMC can do, since they're going to bring the big names to the Omloop to start off the classic season...

 

[jb12345]

forecast

1) M Maaskant
2)EBH
3)Peter Sagan
4) Haussler (if he can race)

then bunch sprint

 

[zapata]

I really think it's time for boonen to win this. Otherwise, perhaps breschel? Van avermaet?

 

[hektoren]

With the weather-forecast in mind:
EBH to win, in 8 degrees and rain (in what most Norwegians consider to be a jolly nice summer).
On a more serious note: Cobbles, rain and below 10 deg. centigrade sort of precludes all Iteys, Spanucks etc. Stijn Devolder is, sadly, out of the equation, and Tom Boonen is too old. He knows he's in no rush. There'll be better and warmer days later in spring. I have Tom pegged for Paris-Roubaix this year.

 

[Michele]

What about Hoogerland? He looked in form in those races he took part.

 

[il_fiammingo]

Long time reader, first time poster! Well, the rain's photogenic at least!

This year I'm planning to 'do' my first Classics season as a spectator at the roadside, starting with Het Whatever and K-B-K. I've checked out a lot of sources, but details are a bit thin on some of the big spectating questions.

I'm planning to see Het at the Muur van Geraardsbergen and K-B-K on the Oude Kwaremont.

Has anyone got experience of getting to the Muur on race-day as I've only visited G'bergen thus far in peacetime. What's the parking situation like in the town? Same question goes for the Kwaremont, which is of course a village location.

I've been studying photos and Google Earth. I figure it could be a nightmare (especially doing two stops in a single race, even with GPS) but any advice from those who know the ground situation would be gratefully appreciated.

I'll write down my experiences in detail on my website (link above) after each event for anyone else who might want the info.

As for the Muur; if you're early, you can park in the Pachtersstraat. Right in front of the golden jezus statue, there is a narrow alley for pedestrians (max 100m, not visible on google maps) that leads to the bottom of the 20% section of the Muur. Or you can park on top of the Kloefstraat at the dog traing facility. You just have to walk next to the training field and you're at the top of the 20% section. This you can see on google maps.

As for KBK, what I normally do is heading to the Zandstraat in Ronse (right after the Kruisberg) where they take a right turn down the Hoogbergstraat. Make sure your car is parked in the direction of the Kwaremont/Kluisbergen, 100 meters after this turn. By parking the car a little further away, you'll have to run a little further but your car is rather free and won't get stuck in the traffic jam of all the other people who are leaving. Once they riders are gone, run to the car and speed to the point where the riders finish the cobbestones of the OK (http://maps.google.be/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=N425&daddr=50.769362,3.528929&geocode=Fa-YBgMdKqw2AA%3B&hl=nl&mra=dme&mrcr=0&mrsp=1&sz=14&sll=50.772185,3.540001&sspn=0.02942,0.07699&ie=UTF8&ll=50.766431,3.556995&spn=0.014712,0.038495&z=15). There will be a lot of cars allong the side of the N36. In my experience it's best to pass them all to find a parking spot if you don't want to be a 10' walk away from the OK. Near the end of the cobblestones there is a little shortcut that will lead you from the N36 to the last slightly uphill section of the OK. 10' later you'll see the riders again as the take the descent of the N36 to Berchem after the Cote de Trieu (they are coming from the Ronde van Vlaanderen Straat right in front of this little alley)

 

[Polish]

UNIBET odds

Current UNIBET odds...

Omloop Het Nieuwsblad 2010
Who will win?

Boonen, T 5.00
Boasson Hagen, E 7.50
Gilbert, Philippe 9.00

Pozzato, F 12.00
Van Avermaet, G 16.00
Nuyens, N 18.00
Chavanel, Sylvain 20.00
Devolder, S 20.00
Flecha Giannoni, J-A 20.00
Ballan, A 22.00
Hincapie, G 25.00
Kirchen, K 25.00
Klier, A 30.00
Breschel, M 30.00
Burghardt, M 30.00
Rosseler, S 35.00
Hammond, R 35.00
McEwen, R 40.00
Kroon, K 40.00
Maaskant, M 40.00
Steegmans, G 40.00
Cooke, B 50.00
Mondory, L 50.00
Hoste, L 60.00
Hutarovich, Y 60.00
Sentjens, R 60.00
Eeckhout, N 60.00
Casper, J 60.00
Leukemans, B 60.00
Ista, K 75.00
Hinault, S 100.0
Terpstra, N 125.0
Bonnet, W 125.0
Amorison, F 150.0
Posthuma, J 175.0

 

[LugHugger]

Arveson out with collarbone, Downing in, who will be the bottle carrier extroadinaire he was in Australia. The unsung hero of skys season. From skys lineup, who knows, Michael Barry, Edvald Boasson Hagen, Juan Antonio Flecha, Mathew Hayman, Ian Stannard, Chris Sutton , may well be that Barry takes on the road captain role, outside of that its likely to be flecha and ebh going for it with hayman, sutton and downing doing the work for them.. Stannard is Sky's wild card.. I can see him being left to his own devices and getting top 20, maybe even higher.

Exactly, Dim. Said exactly the same thing in the EBH thread a couple of days ago.

 

[Anonymous]

Exactly, Dim. Said exactly the same thing in the EBH thread a couple of days ago.

Ah well, you heard it hear second..

Be nice if people around here are asking saturday night "who the **** is Ian Stannard"

 

[auscyclefan94]

Is Flecha just going to be working for Boasson Hagen all season? I would consider Boasson Hagen the more likely choice too, but surely this is Flecha's specialization. If he was going to get leadership at all, it would be for a race like this. Flecha to follow the big moves, keeping Boasson Hagen for the sprint, maybe?

Anyone agree that BMC have the most cards to play?

Also noone has mentioned Hushovd yet.

I think that BMC have the most cards to play but it can't really come down to a sprint because their are quite a few strong finishers in this race.

That's why I think EBH can win because he can sprint and can ride away. Teams may have to target him out a bit because in a lot of the cobbled races i see him being very hard to beat.

 

[ingsve]

Current UNIBET odds...

Omloop Het Nieuwsblad 2010
Who will win?

Boonen, T 5.00
Boasson Hagen, E 7.50
Gilbert, Philippe 9.00
---
etc

Did I see that right? Unibet has no odds for Hushovd? He last years winner and is set to ride as far as I know so it seems strange that they don't even give him any odds.

 

[philcrisp]

According to the weather thing on my iphone, the lead up is as follows:

T - 6 degrees and raining;
W - 8 and raining;
Th - 9 and raining
F - 8 and raining
Sa - 8 and raining
Su -6 and raining.

So my money's on it raining.

Anyone know what the wind is likely to be like?

 

[krebs303]

I'm thinking Gilbert ! Though Boonen has some good form behind him atm.

Personally I'm interested to see how boom will go.

+1secret message: things are askew but I know not where

 

[tgsgirl]

Yeah, I've been caught in a few downpours today and yesterday; and they're predicting rain, rain, rain and more rain for the rest of the week.

 

[Night Rider]

Hushovd, Haussler and Steegmans likely to miss Het Nieuwsblad

Damn, if Haussler doesn't start I will change my pick to Ballan.

 

[taiwan]

Does anyone have an accurate startlist? I posted link to the provisional startlist on the race website, but there are quite a few names being mentioned who aren't on it, e.g. Gilbert, Van Avermaet.

 

[zapata]

I think cyclingfever is generally pretty up to date. They don't have neither haussler nor hushovd, uncertain who'll replace them.

http://www.cyclingfever.com/editie.html?detp=view&_ap=startlijst&editie_idd=MTk3NzU=

 

[taiwan]

Cyclingfever don't have Haussler or Hushovd, they've got Downing in for Arvesen, and they don't have Gilbert or Van Avermaet, so I'm taking it they're not riding for Omega Pharma.

 

[zapata]

Hm! I'm sure I saw van avermaet there only a few hours ago? Might have been kuurne, though. And strange about Gilbert, last I heard he wanted one more. he must have pulled out very recently?