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

[El Pistolero]

Looks like 2008 Vuelta.

Why are you guys talking about sprinting anyway? Its boring. Boonen is obviously a cobbled rider with a good sprint nowadays. He's never going to beat Cav or Greipel etc, but he can outsprint the likes of Haussler, Hushovd, Pozzato etc in the races that matter for him (i.e. cobbles).

Because for the rest of the season Boonen will be a sprinter.

 

[Caruut]

I don't think the term 'better ride' makes sense in itself. I take it to mean most impressive. What do you think it means? Who pushed the most watt?

While it may have been a while since Boonen has won a GT mass sprint it remains true that most of his wins comes down to his sprinting ability.

Or perhaps he sprints for wins because people know how good he is on cobbles. If he were a worse cobbled rider, people would make so much more effort to break him on the cobbles - as it is, it's very difficult to get away from him. Hence without his ability on cobbles, the sprint would be a non-factor.

 

[El Pistolero]

Boonen has won plenty of races without cobbles like the world championship, 6 stages in the Tour plus the green jersey and 2 stages in the Vuelta.

How many GT stages did Farrar win again?

Surely, Boonen has achieved enough to also earn the title sprinter?

 

[rghysens]

for those of us who understand dutch: http://www.sporza.be/cm/sporza/wielrennen/120408_PR_reacties_rest#

says it all.

This interview reminds me of: "Fred, ik moet het zeggen gelijk het is: hij rijd 5km/h te rap voor ons."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnSVG_fjHH0

 

[hrotha]

Boonen has won plenty of races without cobbles like the world championship, 6 stages in the Tour plus the green jersey and 2 stages in the Vuelta.

How many GT stages did Farrar win again?

Surely, Boonen has achieved enough to also earn the title sprinter?

To be a sprinter you have to sprint, otherwise you're a former sprinter.

 

[El Pistolero]

To be a sprinter you have to sprint, otherwise you're a former sprinter.

And Boonen hasn't sprinted?

 

[Gloin22]

To be a sprinter you have to sprint, otherwise you're a former sprinter.

This season his sprinting though. Not counting classics sprints, he got victory at Paris-Nice and two victories at Qatar, that's better than most best sprinters like Farrar, Rojas etc.

 

[hrotha]

And Boonen hasn't sprinted?

"Has". We'll see if later in the season he's back into bunch sprints, but I doubt he says much to gain from them at this point of his career.

 

[shalgo]

"Has".

What, if he is not sprinting at the very moment that I type these words, he is not a sprinter? He has had several good sprint results in 2012, as others have mentioned. If that doesn't make you a sprinter right now, I don't know what does. The fact that he is also other things in addition to being a sprinter doesn't take away his strength in a sprint.

 

[hrotha]

What, if he is not sprinting at the very moment that I type these words, he is not a sprinter? He has had several good sprint results in 2012, as others have mentioned. If that doesn't make you a sprinter right now, I don't know what does. The fact that he is also other things in addition to being a sprinter doesn't take away his strength in a sprint.

Simple. If he doesn't get into real bunch sprints anymore, he's not a sprinter, he's a guy with a good sprint. He could be the fastest man in the world, and that wouldn't make him a sprinter if he didn't get into bunch sprints. Call me when he decides to get involved with Cavendish, Kittel, Greipel and co., and I'll say he's back to being a sprinter.

 

[El Pistolero]

Call me when these guys decide to man up and race against Boonen

He has a different program than pure sprinters, so he won't meet them that often, but he's still a sprinter. After the Amstel Gold Race his next race will probably be the Tour of Belgium where he'll face Petacchi.

Is Chicchi not a sprinter by the way?

 

[sklein]

My Roubaix picture and video coverage:

http://www.radfoto.de/pictures/2012/paris-roubaix/

enjoy!

 

[The Hitch]

Surely, Boonen has achieved enough to also earn the title sprinter?

Its about whether he is merely a sprinter or is he actually more a classics specialist than a sprinter.

Magnus said that Boonens victory was insane because he is just a sprinter.

Its like saying - OMG Contador won a Giro MTF, thats amazing cos he is a a time trial specialist

 

[DominicDecoco]

My Roubaix picture and video coverage:

http://www.radfoto.de/pictures/2012/paris-roubaix/

enjoy!

Brilliant quality!

 

[c&cfan]

His LBL win was very impressive indeed. Andy isn't one of the worst ttists in the peloton by the way. He just doesn't train a lot with his TT bike. He has the engine, but not the mentality to become one of the greats in cycling history.

A month to recover from P-R? Boonen has never felt the pain of the cobbles.

It reminds me of a quote by Roger de Vlaeminck: "Cancellara would have never beaten me in Roubaix. He was tired at the Velodrome, I was never tired."

roger is a useless tiresome old *** that understands 0 about modern cycling.

canc would be 10km/h faster than him during the whole race.

simple as that.

 

[skidmark]

Simple. If he doesn't get into real bunch sprints anymore, he's not a sprinter, he's a guy with a good sprint. He could be the fastest man in the world, and that wouldn't make him a sprinter if he didn't get into bunch sprints. Call me when he decides to get involved with Cavendish, Kittel, Greipel and co., and I'll say he's back to being a sprinter.

Just like Milan-San Remo is a sprinters' classic because it has mostly been for the last 20 years. Doesn't matter what happened before.

 

[hrotha]

Other sprinters: O'Grady, Cooke.

 

[El Pistolero]

roger is a useless tiresome old *** that understands 0 about modern cycling.

canc would be 10km/h faster than him during the whole race.

simple as that.

No one rode as fast on the Koppenberg as Roger de Vlaeminck. And that was with ancient equipment. Say what you want about him, but he could teach Cancellara a thing or two.

 

[El Pistolero]

Other sprinters: O'Grady, Cooke.

Yes, they're past their old sprinter days.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zW48oMZk3Q

Boonen however isn't.

 

[jens_attacks]

some interesting datas:

ghincapie ‏ @ghincapie Close
For all the watt afficianados , today i had 300 watts average and 6200 kjs. Tough day on tbe office !!!


Jimmy Engoulvent ‏ @JimmyEngoulvent Close
#ParisRoubaix pour moi c'est : 6H - 42,4 de moy - 28000 coups de pédales - 315 Watts de moy - 2 crevaisons - 21eme a 4'37" .

Jimmy Engoulvent ‏ @JimmyEngoulvent Reply Retweet Favorite · Open
#arenberg pour moi c'est : 3'35" - 437watts - 39,4 km/h de moy - 54 km/h a l'entrée . #ParisRoubaix #cycling #SAURSOJASUN


tommeke's must be:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3IoPeNC4k_0

 

[Magnus]

Magnus said that Boonens victory was insane because he is just a sprinter.

I don't think I said that...

But then again, I suppose such a claim is to be expected from someone that writes "it was 2 minutes in no time" about Canc's gap in 2010 when infact he used 15 km to establish 55 seconds.

 

[cobblehead]

quite the non-discussion going on here...

2010 with Cancellara winning was brilliant and quite the spectacle to behold...

2012 with boonen winning was also brilliant and also quite the spectacle to behold...

let's be grateful that when one godlike rider isn't there to up the level of awesomeness, his other half takes over...

brilliant ride by boonen by the way, forced the decision himself and fought for every second, epic stuff deserving for an epic race like Paris-Roubaix...

 

[Spine Concept]

Lol. ''Boonen won from third-rate riders'' -Roger de De Vlaeminck- This guy is not impressed by Boonen's victory and says that the Belgians may think this was great but to foreigners it wasn't at all. A sad affair. He also says that he cannot wait till Cancellara recovers and we really get to see a properly contested race next year.

Note: The article is in Dutch so I kind of took out what he was essentially saying. My apologies if this has already been posted.

 

[Arnout]

He is right though, the race was far from spectacular, as Boonen was not one, but three notches above the rest.

 

[DominicDecoco]

Someone was offended by Tom's little message pointing one finger to the camera 1 km from the finish line.

Poor Vlaeminck...