Paris-Roubaix 2012 - The Queen of the Classics (257.5km)

[Ferminal]

one of the best races i've ever seen

tommeke is a god no doubt

europcar will wipe the floor in july

my god that was unbelievable what he did.

tommeke for cauberg!

No joke jens, Belgium 1-2 is looking good.

 

[Gloin22]

For all the SKY fans ... ummmmm, huge fail for SKY.

Ymm, not really. It was a decent performance, calling it failure is just wrong.

 

[burning]

turgot and Ballan both got the 2nd place?

cqranking says they both got 2nd indeed

 

[dlwssonic]

cqranking says they both got 2nd indeed

Ballan got third.

 

[hrotha]

Find it funny that people is saying that a 24 yr old Norwegian kid that does his first serious PR NEVER EVVEEERRRRR will do good here, and should focus on other stuff

Hushovd didn't ne nearly as well when he was at his age, neither did Ballan or Flecha.

Personally I find it funny that Flecha has to suffer not being given full captaincy at Sky even though every single time he proves he's their best cobbled rider. It's ridiculous that he has to share his status with someone who hasn't done ANYTHING on these races.

When Flecha was EBH's age he had just signed for Banesto, who saw him as a hilly/GC rider. He couldn't really go for the classics until he signed for Fassa in 2004, at 27, and that year he was already 12th in RvV and 13th in PR. It's really not comparable.

 

[Roude Leiw]

europcar have like 20 riders

But those 20 race with a lot of heart....

Turgot & Jerome did a good cobbles campaign, if Rolland/Voeckler/Kern take over for Ardennes in the same way, they actually deserve a spot in the WT (more than Saxo/AG2R)

 

[Waterloo Sunrise]

His tank was empty though. It's still a bit too long.
When he rode away from Flecha and Ballan he was impressive, but I wondered how long he would manage to keep it up.... well not long again.
Typical Boom. He can be very explosive, but his engine just isn't big enough.

Just as a matter of avoiding crap metaphors which don't work at all, in future when we want to make this comment, can we say that his fuel tank isn't big enough.

Small engines do not run out of fuel quicker.

 

[dlwssonic]

But those 20 race with a lot of heart....

Turgot & Jerome did a good cobbles campaign, if Rolland/Voeckler/Kern take over for Ardennes in the same way, they actually deserve a spot in the WT (more than Saxo/AG2R)

Voeckler got an 8th in flanders! He is hardly a cobbled rider. Their team is doing great.

 

[maltiv]

ebh has been showing ti in every race, espeically msr as well. but they simply don't leanr I guess. probably because ebh has great tests :L

Meh, I'm starting to give up on him. Until they come up with a better solution than eating fish only, there's no way he'll have the energy to contest for a monumental victory.

Nordhaug is my only hope now, he'll win L-B-L for sure

 

[burning]

But those 20 race with a lot of heart....

Turgot & Jerome did a good cobbles campaign, if Rolland/Voeckler/Kern take over for Ardennes in the same way, they actually deserve a spot in the WT (more than Saxo/AG2R)

Do not discount Charteau too

 

[thehog]

turgot and Ballan both got the 2nd place?

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

Yes, off course, i do understand that, but someone here speaks like he never will be able to do anything

Do you expect any different from that someone.

At least ebh was visible unlike a certain team in ta

 

[dlwssonic]

I thought Ballan's super long arms would have helped him

 

[Waterloo Sunrise]

Personally I find it funny that Flecha has to suffer not being given full captaincy at Sky even though every single time he proves he's their best cobbled rider. It's ridiculous that he has to share his status with someone who hasn't done ANYTHING on these races.

When Flecha was EBH's age he had just signed for Banesto, who saw him as a hilly/GC rider. He couldn't really go for the classics until he signed for Fassa in 2004, at 27, and that year he was already 12th in RvV and 13th in PR. It's really not comparable.

He was sole captain last 2 years. This year he's had a broken hand and 0 race prep.

 

[thehog]

First Frenchman on the podium in 30 years?

 

[luckyboy]

First Frenchman on the podium in 30 years?

A Frenchman won it 15 years ago

 

[dlwssonic]

First Frenchman on the podium in 30 years?

Guesdon......

 

[hrotha]

He was sole captain last 2 years. This year he's had a broken hand and 0 race prep.

0 race prep except for the Ronde where he was near his usual level and the first 200 km of PR where he was good.

I should clarify, though. He is given full captaincy by Sky themselves, usually, but the fans seem to always have other ideas.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

First Frenchman on the podium in 30 years?

Guesdon 97?

 

[Trofinios]

Meh, I'm starting to give up on him. Until they come up with a better solution than eating fish only, there's no way he'll have the energy to contest for a monumental victory.

Nordhaug is my only hope now, he'll win L-B-L for sure

So you know that the reason EBH failed today was energy problems due to bad food preperations. It haven't crossed you that he might just not be good enough at this point?

 

[El Pistolero]

Wtf.

Lars Boom fails totally in the final 300m

Boom can only handle 257km.

That will be the new joke on this forum, aye?

Be happy, Boom and Terpstra both did very good rides today.

 

[Trofinios]

He was sole captain last 2 years. This year he's had a broken hand and 0 race prep.

He performed ok in RVV, a sign that he could do well in PR.

 

[Waterloo Sunrise]

So you know that the reason EBH failed today was energy problems due to bad food preperations. It haven't crossed you that he might just not be good enough at this point?

Sadly we're looking for a way to explain his results in 255km classics, not general weakness, so I think you're barking up the wrong tree. If he was just not very good at all, his palmares would look rather different.

 

[Vino attacks everyone]

Personally I find it funny that Flecha has to suffer not being given full captaincy at Sky even though every single time he proves he's their best cobbled rider. It's ridiculous that he has to share his status with someone who hasn't done ANYTHING on these races.

When Flecha was EBH's age he had just signed for Banesto, who saw him as a hilly/GC rider. He couldn't really go for the classics until he signed for Fassa in 2004, at [B]27[/B], and that year he was already 12th in RvV and 13th in PR. It's really not comparable.

I am just saying....

 

[Echoes]

Fastest average speeds ever:

1 Peter Post 1964 (45.129kmh) [old course, less cobbled]
2 Rik Van Steenbergen 1948 (43.612 km/h) [old course, less cobbled and shorter race]
3 Pino Cerami 1960 (43.532km/h) [old course]
4 Germain Derycke 1953 (43.528km/h) [old course]
5 Tom Boonen 2012 (43.480km/h) [new course, headwind most of the time and 60km alone]
6 Tom Boonen 2008 (43.407km/h) [new course]
7 Johan Museeuw 1996 (43.310km/h) [new course, Mapei sweep, "weird era"]
8 Francesco Moser 1980 (43.106km/h) [new course]