- Feb 20, 2012
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In all my years of wasting time on the cycling internet, I'm not sure I've ever read a comment as wrong as this one. It is wrong on every single level apart from the fact that it does appear to be English.
I'm still buzzing from that race. I feel like we've had a really good set of Spring races so far - the cobbled classics as a whole have been highly entertaining, MSR was an absolute riot, and now we've finally had a really fun Roubaix again, after a couple of years of impressive but uncompetitive van der Poel solos. I'm fairly optimistic for the Ardennes too, especially with del Toro out of Amstel and Flèche, and Remco and Seixas in great form, so hopefully a more competitive LBL than the last two years.
- Aug 9, 2021
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View: https://x.com/AnthonyBa5/status/2043392003883274729
Gotta spam some cheering images for Wout as they're quite incredible!
View: https://x.com/RuitemDias/status/2043391698642903475
View: https://x.com/AceroCaballito/status/2043337087198388674
View: https://x.com/parisroubaix/status/2043369516436976008
View: https://x.com/JDenaeghel/status/2043344003702177950
Gotta spam some cheering images for Wout as they're quite incredible!
View: https://x.com/RuitemDias/status/2043391698642903475
View: https://x.com/AceroCaballito/status/2043337087198388674
View: https://x.com/parisroubaix/status/2043369516436976008
View: https://x.com/JDenaeghel/status/2043344003702177950
- Jul 30, 2011
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You might brace for much worse english in coming years.
I'ma pack this post into my electrolyte bottle. It's plenty salty.
- Aug 9, 2021
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What a beautiful post!
I just watched the last 2 and a half hours, again.
Unsung hero was Matthew Brennan. He delivered Wout to the front at Arenberg, which gave him the ability to pick his path through. Mathieu was on his wheel, having little to no time to react to the cobbles, and that made all the difference in the world.
Unsung hero was Matthew Brennan. He delivered Wout to the front at Arenberg, which gave him the ability to pick his path through. Mathieu was on his wheel, having little to no time to react to the cobbles, and that made all the difference in the world.
We obviously disagree on racing,
Pogacar and Van Aert played zero games, each guy knew that a bunch of monkey business for position would give hope to the chase.
Each rider traded decent pulls, and I would have bet even money that in a drag race after 258k would be one thing but the Tadej chase obviously burned some matches,
Pogacar instead of taking even a momentary rest after chasing really, really hard, he jumped again and caused further chaos. Brilliant bike racing, Van Aert did everything that has been criticized from other races this year, he put some serious responsibility on Laporte who raced as good as anyone including the winner.
To lose by less than a bike against Wout is a no shame event. Please keep in mind what Van Aert accomplished, he didn't just beat World Champion Pogacar he kept him from a classics sweep. I get the idea of trying to downplay the win, I don't agree or understand it,
but just poopooing because you can is a thing I get it.
If you think the race blew and guys were holding something back, chases after crashes, bike problems, bike changes were all fake.. Cool..
This all could have been AI generated ,
my beer brothers from Sint -Niklaas were there in person and enjoyed it, I think it was a great day for the race, for the World Champion, for Belgium, for bike racing, and for Wout and his family, friends, teammates, fans..no wet blankets will ruin how good all this made me feel.. Incredible race.
That is the case sometimes, which is when I just switch to just watching rather than reading/ commenting.
Some surprising takes on here. A guy wins the fastest P-R in history, has multiple mechanicals, looks strong AF, never falters, launches multiple attacks, plays it perfectly, and wins without any indication that he was at his limit, and this is what some have to say? Wout has had some monstrous performances, from C-E to Mont Ventoux to Montmartre to today. When he is at his best, he is as good as anyone. That’s it. He is better than Pogacar at this type of race, at least today. And I see no evidence that MVDP would have done anything other than ridden with them had he not made some dumb decisions after a mechanical.
- Jul 20, 2017
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I'm a big fan of Pogacar, and wanted him to win Roubaix this year, to achieve 5 monuments in one year. He was strong today, but not as strong as VDP.
Not strong enough to be WVA (3rd strongest today).
For once WVA played it correctly (at least from Arenberg ).
After all those failures, he is the most beautifull winner here.
I have not forget that heavy crash just before the holy week, after missing precious time with his young kid(s) in winter, preparing for nothing.
I have not forget that it took 3 falls to remove him from a Vuelta where he was leading KOM and Points.
I have not forget that punctures in Carrefour de l'arbre, the one year he looked stronger than VDP.
I do have forget the countless falls, punctures, injuries, bringing back VDP on your wheel, that made most people think Wout was washed up.
Last year he won in Paris. Today in Roubaix. He won against the greatest rider of all time, again.
Pogacar may win in the future, and I hope he will once, but today, we got perhaps the most deservefull winner. One can say cycling won.
Not strong enough to be WVA (3rd strongest today).
For once WVA played it correctly (at least from Arenberg ).
After all those failures, he is the most beautifull winner here.
I have not forget that heavy crash just before the holy week, after missing precious time with his young kid(s) in winter, preparing for nothing.
I have not forget that it took 3 falls to remove him from a Vuelta where he was leading KOM and Points.
I have not forget that punctures in Carrefour de l'arbre, the one year he looked stronger than VDP.
I do have forget the countless falls, punctures, injuries, bringing back VDP on your wheel, that made most people think Wout was washed up.
Last year he won in Paris. Today in Roubaix. He won against the greatest rider of all time, again.
Pogacar may win in the future, and I hope he will once, but today, we got perhaps the most deservefull winner. One can say cycling won.
- May 5, 2010
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Prove them wrong
Uhm... I regret to inform you, I forgot to count...
We're just gonna have to take Decathlon's words for it.
- Feb 24, 2015
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Not only did Wout look really strong. He outskilled Pogacar on almost every corner. Quite expected from a cyclocross World Champion yet the pressure he was applying made Pog almost loose it. Same thing last year with Van der Poel. They’re going so fast that anyone without their skills will overshoot and make a mistake.
I also think MVDP was genuinely happy that it was Wout who won. They have competed against each other for several decades and MVDP has probably won 8 out of 10. Finally Wout got it right so a very deserved win!
I also think MVDP was genuinely happy that it was Wout who won. They have competed against each other for several decades and MVDP has probably won 8 out of 10. Finally Wout got it right so a very deserved win!
- May 5, 2010
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- Feb 24, 2015
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I believe so. They started racing CX as juniors and came up against each other from the start.
So much happened in the race but I can't help thinking:
WvA had his usual share of mechanics (2 flats). So even though he won, he and his team should seriously look at his material / riding, because he always seem to have flats in Roubaix. Watching slo-mo footage going through corners, you see his (32mm Vittoria) tires are always very much into snake-bite territory, especially compared to Pog's 35mm front Conti S-TR. In any other scenario where MvdP and Pog didn't have so many race-defining mechanicals, he would probably have been on the backfoot like in previous years, and have had a much lower chance of winning the race.
But luck was (finally) just a bit more on his side and MvdP and Pog had bigger mishaps. But the biggest mishaps by the 2 main favorites was how they dealt with their mechanicals. There was a lack of sound decision-making and good team management both in case of Pog / UAE and MvdP / Alpecin.
In Pog's case, any DS would have designated all guys with approx. the same bike position as Pog to ride around him and don't move an inch away from him when he has a mishap. Pog was in a train of at least 3 other UAE riders when he flatted (notice he said he felt he had a slow flat in one of his tires and a big one in the other tire when he stopped, so not an option to change wheels or he had to change both), and none of the UAE gang stopped, not even 100 meters up on the road, to help him chase back or quickly switch bikes.
--> Pog should have had (ALL of) his team mates wait immediately, not just after 5 minutes / a lot of hesitation,... And he should have had a bike from a team mate, immediately. I'm not even going to talk about the amateurish way that Shimano car was on the left side of the road and the other car blocking off the path of other riders almost completely when Pog was stopping on the right, thus blocking the way for every other rider and their uncle.
In MvdP's / Alpecin's case, MvdP should have said 'no' to Philipsen's bike switch offer and tell him to keep riding and thus to wait further up the road (if he wasn't feeling his best). Even with the right pedals, riding on Philipsen's bike was always going to be a serious disadvantage for MvdP on Arenberg. He should always have resorted to Del Grosso for either a bike change or that front wheel change. The one clutch move in the team at that moment was by Del Grosso changing the front wheel for MvdP while he went for a leisurely walk in the forest.
It was the perfect storm that enabled WvA to ride the whole finale from Arenberg in the best possible position (not in the least thanks to the huge lead-out by Brennan into Arenberg, for once Visma got the positioning 100% right). He also handled his second puncture pretty well (his chase was slow but he was lucky with the asisstance from the Bora riders).
Ofcourse he was on a very good day as he re-took the initiative no more than 5K after chasing back to that front group, and from that moment on, when he followed probably the hardest acceleration of Pog (droppin gPedersen), he was riding in full control, and finished it off in great style.
some random observations:
There were quite a few crashes in Arenberg. I saw footage of Vermeersch who flatted his front tire, lost control and crashed in Arenberg. Such crashes would never have happened with tubulars, just saying.
Changing front / rear wheel like Del Grosso did is easy if you have that little hex. key with handle that's standard on many bikes these days (like Giant has it standard, Canyon also maybe)? It surely helps to quickly change a wheel with your team mate.
I can't help but think that neutral service is contraproductive. They often ride in the way of the race, can't seem to get the right wheel, or riders simply don't want / trust their wheels / bikes? I read the neutral service bikes have some set up identically for the top riders (so one set up for e.g. Pog, another for MvdP etc). Pog rode a Shimano bike with the same saddle height / reach / drop etc. So all in all that shouldn't have been that bad of a bike, but still, I always hear complaints about shimano wheels with tires at way too high pressure etc.
Christophe Roodhooft is obviously seriously annoyed with the pedal incompatibility issue in his team. I wonder if he even knew the cleats weren't compatible (you can have the knowledge about riders using a prototype pedal but you could assume cleats are compatible if you haven't tried changing bikes before). He also said that, for the first time, no guys with wheels were allowed half way Arenberg. I honestly don't understand why on the one place where you could really use a spare wheel, guys with wheels aren't allowed.
WvA had his usual share of mechanics (2 flats). So even though he won, he and his team should seriously look at his material / riding, because he always seem to have flats in Roubaix. Watching slo-mo footage going through corners, you see his (32mm Vittoria) tires are always very much into snake-bite territory, especially compared to Pog's 35mm front Conti S-TR. In any other scenario where MvdP and Pog didn't have so many race-defining mechanicals, he would probably have been on the backfoot like in previous years, and have had a much lower chance of winning the race.
But luck was (finally) just a bit more on his side and MvdP and Pog had bigger mishaps. But the biggest mishaps by the 2 main favorites was how they dealt with their mechanicals. There was a lack of sound decision-making and good team management both in case of Pog / UAE and MvdP / Alpecin.
In Pog's case, any DS would have designated all guys with approx. the same bike position as Pog to ride around him and don't move an inch away from him when he has a mishap. Pog was in a train of at least 3 other UAE riders when he flatted (notice he said he felt he had a slow flat in one of his tires and a big one in the other tire when he stopped, so not an option to change wheels or he had to change both), and none of the UAE gang stopped, not even 100 meters up on the road, to help him chase back or quickly switch bikes.
--> Pog should have had (ALL of) his team mates wait immediately, not just after 5 minutes / a lot of hesitation,... And he should have had a bike from a team mate, immediately. I'm not even going to talk about the amateurish way that Shimano car was on the left side of the road and the other car blocking off the path of other riders almost completely when Pog was stopping on the right, thus blocking the way for every other rider and their uncle.
In MvdP's / Alpecin's case, MvdP should have said 'no' to Philipsen's bike switch offer and tell him to keep riding and thus to wait further up the road (if he wasn't feeling his best). Even with the right pedals, riding on Philipsen's bike was always going to be a serious disadvantage for MvdP on Arenberg. He should always have resorted to Del Grosso for either a bike change or that front wheel change. The one clutch move in the team at that moment was by Del Grosso changing the front wheel for MvdP while he went for a leisurely walk in the forest.
It was the perfect storm that enabled WvA to ride the whole finale from Arenberg in the best possible position (not in the least thanks to the huge lead-out by Brennan into Arenberg, for once Visma got the positioning 100% right). He also handled his second puncture pretty well (his chase was slow but he was lucky with the asisstance from the Bora riders).
Ofcourse he was on a very good day as he re-took the initiative no more than 5K after chasing back to that front group, and from that moment on, when he followed probably the hardest acceleration of Pog (droppin gPedersen), he was riding in full control, and finished it off in great style.
some random observations:
There were quite a few crashes in Arenberg. I saw footage of Vermeersch who flatted his front tire, lost control and crashed in Arenberg. Such crashes would never have happened with tubulars, just saying.
Changing front / rear wheel like Del Grosso did is easy if you have that little hex. key with handle that's standard on many bikes these days (like Giant has it standard, Canyon also maybe)? It surely helps to quickly change a wheel with your team mate.
I can't help but think that neutral service is contraproductive. They often ride in the way of the race, can't seem to get the right wheel, or riders simply don't want / trust their wheels / bikes? I read the neutral service bikes have some set up identically for the top riders (so one set up for e.g. Pog, another for MvdP etc). Pog rode a Shimano bike with the same saddle height / reach / drop etc. So all in all that shouldn't have been that bad of a bike, but still, I always hear complaints about shimano wheels with tires at way too high pressure etc.
Christophe Roodhooft is obviously seriously annoyed with the pedal incompatibility issue in his team. I wonder if he even knew the cleats weren't compatible (you can have the knowledge about riders using a prototype pedal but you could assume cleats are compatible if you haven't tried changing bikes before). He also said that, for the first time, no guys with wheels were allowed half way Arenberg. I honestly don't understand why on the one place where you could really use a spare wheel, guys with wheels aren't allowed.
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Pogacar fans don't really seem to understand cycling. They're used to one guy just riding off into the sunset whenever he pleases. That's not what cycling is about. You have to play the game. Pogi just happens to be so crazy strong that he doesn't really need to do that. Tactically he's not really a genius. We've seen that yesterday. Neither is Van Aert, by the way, but yesterday he played the game to perfection.
That's why I especially loved this win. Cycling is not supposed to be a sport where the strongest guy always wins. And in this case, I think everyone (except a few very vocal Pogi fans commenting under every single reel on social media) loved to see Van Aert win. Because he's not an untouchable alien, and in cycling you can still win when you're not an untouchable alien... if you play it smart.
I think people tend to judge Pogacar fans by the two or three members of the forum who shout the loudest. There are a lot of us who are much quieter about it and don't think he needs to win every race. I've mentioned before that he is the reason I got into cycling, but that was during the 2022 Tour de France, when he was getting beaten up by Visma. I prefer the version of Pogacar that doesn't win everything, and was delighted that Wout won yesterday. But then I might be unusual (going by this forum!), because I like pretty much everyone in the peloton. Apart from Tiberi, of course.
- Jul 15, 2023
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Here’s the thing chaps, a rider like Wout is built for the likes of Paris Roubaix. But for a lifetime of bad luck, he’d have won at least three of these things. But that context, plus the obvious fact he’s a really great human being who is universally respected and loved within the cycling world, made this win the most beautiful of all, the best result in cycling for at least twenty years. All things being equal, cyclists with the physical attributes of Pogacar should not be able to compete with the likes of Wout in this type of race. That he can raises all sorts of questions, but that’s for another forum.
- Jan 9, 2023
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It seems like there was a record number of flat tires this year, especially for the favorites. There must be a reason for that, since the roads were mostly dry. All the new knowledge about tires and the kilojoules saved are wasted on flat tires.
My hypothesis is that maxing out tyre width is not such a great idea if you can't get enough clearance between tyre and the frame. Tires today also have a box-like profile instead of a round one, which could cause more sidewall tears.
My hypothesis is that maxing out tyre width is not such a great idea if you can't get enough clearance between tyre and the frame. Tires today also have a box-like profile instead of a round one, which could cause more sidewall tears.
It’s true that Van Aerts best wins seem to come off sucking Pogis wheel/Van Der Poel not being there…
But if Pogacar was the greatest cyclist he would have won yesterday.
You have to say fair enough to Van Aert for this one, it’s not his fault Van Der Poel can’t use the right pedals, or whatever happened there
But if Pogacar was the greatest cyclist he would have won yesterday.
You have to say fair enough to Van Aert for this one, it’s not his fault Van Der Poel can’t use the right pedals, or whatever happened there
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