Russ Downing wins GC at Tour de Wallonie

[Roland Rat]

Russ Downing wins the final stage of the Tour de Wallonie and takes the overall GC! Good work fella!


Now, where's that numpty who said Russ was out of his depth at this level...?

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

tour de wallonie?? what level is that?

 

[theyoungest]

Bit of a stolen victory actually, but chapeau to him.

 

[Roland Rat]

UCI Euro tour - 2.3, and had some decent names in like Devolder, Weylandt, Pozzato, Steegmans, Garzelli, Kristoff etc

http://www.trworg.be/pages/trw/equipes/liste-des-partants

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

he's pretty good rider but nothing special, for his small build he's surprisingly strong sprinter though

I saw wallonie yesterday and he wasn't with the strongest

 

[sublimit]

Some decent riders in there, well done feller.

Teamskyfans will be happy wherever he is..

 

[joy118118]

CQ says Tour de Wallonie is 2.HC. it seems that ProTour teams should take part in races higher than 2.1 and 1.1.

 

[tofino]

HC is highest

UCI Euro tour - 2.3, and had some decent names in like Devolder, Weylandt, Pozzato, Steegmans, Garzelli, Kristoff etc

http://www.trworg.be/pages/trw/equipes/liste-des-partants

2.HC is above 2.1 or 2.2 stage races. It was designed to give certain races more status.

 

[taiwan]

Bit of a stolen victory actually, but chapeau to him.

There were protests from s/one about the sprint. What happened?

[edit]

Just a guess, but I think theyoungest might be referring to Downing chasing time bonifications on the final stage.

Ah, right.

 

[Mellow Velo]

Wallonie is indeed a 2HC race according to the UCI calander.
That puts it on a par with the Tour of California, so it can't be that good!
Seriously, outside the PT, that is as good as it gets. Same as the Tours of Belgium, Burgos, 4 Jours de Dunkerque and Denmark etc.

There were protests from s/one about the sprint. What happened?

Just a guess, but I think theyoungest might be referring to Downing chasing time bonifications on the final stage.

 

[kease7]

Well done to Russ that's another big win for him and Team Sky!! He is such a guttsy rider and is turning out to be one of there best signing with the wins he has picked up and I bet he aint on alot of cash either!

Anyone know if he & GB will get uci points for it?? If so how many?

 

[htvhlb]

Some people talk nonsense...how can that be a stolen victory....if you care to look at the results Russ was actually the most consistent rider in the race!
He was placed in the first ten on every stage and was in the final selection on the tough 4th stage.
All the guys down to 7th place in the Overall Standings benefitted from time bonuses. If there had been no time bonuses he would have been equal on time with the other riders in the break on stage 4....and won it anyway due to his better placings.
He was probably close to winning the points competition as well...looks like he missed out because of his 10th on stage 1 when he was almost certainly leading Henderson out who finished 3rd.
Also, the race had 7 man teams and Sky only started with 5.....and looking at the result, Russ only had 2 team-mates helping him at the finish of the final stage. A great win!
Seems to me Russ is flying and just might have been a better selection for Sky at the Tour.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Actually he wasn't in the final selection on the 4th stage. He was one of four riders (Vichot solo plus Downing as part of three) who bridged across from the reduced péloton to the selection on the final straight.

 

[liamclarke4]

will that move great britian up the rankings

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Actually he wasn't in the final selection on the 4th stage. He was one of four riders (Vichot solo plus Downing as part of three) who bridged across from the reduced péloton to the selection on the final straight.

Indeed, the 6 in front where playing a bit and that allowed the gap to come down from 45 seconds to 10 seconds in an instant, and Downing made the jump on the flat.
Still goes too far to call that a stolen win.
He was a bit lucky maybe, but isn't the winner always a bit lucky?

 

[Non Grimpeur]

Russell Downing is a very good rider. To think that Sky would probably not have signed him if he hadn't won the Tour of Ireland last year. Sky need more riders like him. He has a fantastic attitude, is very dedicated and is therefore a very good role model for young riders in showing how to get the best out of your talent.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

will that move great britian up the rankings

No. .HC and .1-rated events mean nothing to the ProTour rankings, and the Continental rankings only seem to apply to riders in ProConti and Continental Pro teams, so the results achieved by ProTour riders in those events don't count. Hence Rory Sutherland appears to be the only rider to actually have scored UCI points relevant to the Worlds at the Tour of California.

 

[theyoungest]

Indeed, the 6 in front where playing a bit and that allowed the gap to come down from 45 seconds to 10 seconds in an instant, and Downing made the jump on the flat.
Still goes too far to call that a stolen win.
He was a bit lucky maybe, but isn't the winner always a bit lucky?

Well, I called it (a bit) stolen because he certainly wasn't the strongest rider in this race (Bakelants, anyone?) and his team did none of the work. Not that I care, I just wasn't too impressed, as opposed to the above fan who apparently hasn't even seen this race.

 

[htvhlb]

Thanks for filling in the info on stage 4. It seemed strange that he finished only 10th when he has a decent sprint....but still the fact that he was up there on every stage speaks for itself.
It was a good victory in a race that must rank as one of Belgium's top stage races. The field had some of the best riders who weren't in the Tour or rode the Giro.

 

[Hairy Wheels]

If anyone here knows him, ask him about his giant woman boob (just on one side...I believe it's his right).

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Thanks for filling in the info on stage 4. It seemed strange that he finished only 10th when he has a decent sprint....

That's because the front group had lost a big advantage by playing about and he and the three others who made it across had used a huge amount of effort to cross the gap. They finished 6th, 8th, 9th and 10th in the sprint.

 

[ingsve]

Seems to me Russ is flying and just might have been a better selection for Sky at the Tour.

Nah, there are lots of other riders that would have been better replacements on the Tour squad if they had taken someone else there.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

The strongest guys in the race where Bakelandts, Mollema and Vantomme probably, but if the race isn't hard enough, then the strongest guys do not win, but the most consistent/allround guys. Guys like Downing.
There is nothing wrong with that. Not stolen at all. Just the best suited for this kind of race (sprint stages + 1 hilly stage)

 

[theyoungest]

The strongest guys in the race where Bakelandts, Mollema and Vantomme probably, but if the race isn't hard enough, then the strongest guys do not win, but the most consistent/allround guys. Guys like Downing.
There is nothing wrong with that. Not stolen at all. Just the best suited for this kind of race (sprint stages + 1 hilly stage)

And that's why (once again) I said it was "a bit of a stolen victory", rather than "a stolen victory". Nuance is the key.

 

[tgsgirl]

It was a good victory in a race that must rank as one of Belgium's top stage races. The field had some of the best riders who weren't in the Tour or rode the Giro.

"Belgium's top stage races" as a whole doesn't mean that much, and I'd rank the Tour de Wallonie behind Tour of Belgium and Eneco. Congrats to Russell though. Not a very inspiring victory, but I'm sure his palmares doesn't care about that.