Sat 5th of March: Montepaschi Strade Bianche (was Monte Paschi Eroica) 1.1

[Dekker_Tifosi]

yeah i forgot, a guy who finished 4th in fleche wallone while 21yo, 3rd in agr when 22yo and won emilia at age 23y and again at 24y (a double winner of emilia at 24...) must suck in lombardia type of classics, sorry, ofcourse that doesn't count as competition

 

[c&cfan]

libertine.. one thing is racing. the other thing is racing to win.

totally different.

pistolero.

again.. didnt cancellara won TDS tirreno and was the strongest in mendrisio beijin etc? saying that about gilbert and not mentioning canc isnt smart.

this is fun but i cant respond to all of you people! the others that arent even worth to be called people, the one that talks about crack, sorry. ignored.

 

[c&cfan]

yeah i forgot, a guy who finished 4th in fleche wallone while 21yo, 3rd in agr when 22yo and won emilia at age 23y and again at 24y (a double winner of emilia at 24...) must suck in lombardia type of classics, sorry, ofcourse that doesn't count as competition

arent you dutchie? i was kidding man.
still, you have to agree that gesink isnt at the smae level as gilbert and thats just normal. thats no accomplishment by gilbert. still, didnt gesink did the tour at full gas and not only hitting the gas one time each 20th day in the road as gilbert?

 

[boomcie]

...but to be the best or to dominate, you have to win. he didnt won any big classic so far besides lombardia against a sh*tty field both in riders' name and shape.

again.. didnt cancellara won TDS tirreno and was the strongest in mendrisio beijin etc? saying that about gilbert and not mentioning canc isnt smart.

this is fun but i cant respond to all of you people! the others that arent even worth to be called people, the one that talks about crack, sorry. ignored.

Could you please stop making this mistake.

 

[jaylew]

J

Perhaps adding this race and the Omloop to the World Tour would do a lot of good things for both races. Perhaps in 60 years this could rival some other important Italian races.

But then they'd have to invite more than 14 teams!

 

[TourOfSardinia]

A video here

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sQU3TLfOt4
last 15 mins

 

[boomcie]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sQU3TLfOt4
last 15 mins

Thank you.

 

[roundabout]

Ballan was very impressive except perhaps for the final corner. Nice finish.

 

[ak-zaaf]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sQU3TLfOt4
last 15 mins

Thanks!

Man, what a last KM by Gilbert. Very impressive.


Also Ballan!

 

[hrotha]

Thanks for the video!

Not sure I like that finish for this kind of race, but it was interesting.

 

[The Hitch]

Gilbert's problem last year was that he could drop everyone on a climb, but had a hard time defending his lead. That happenend in the Gold Race, were he attacked on the Keutenberg, but was quickly captured by Ivanov and Kolobnev, it happened in LBL, were he was by far the best on the Saint Nicolas, but could barely hold his lead on Valverde and a some of other guys for a couple of kilometers, during the Worlds he had the same problem, dropping everyone on the last hill, getting caught 3 kilometers later.

He only succeeded (and brilliantly) in Lombardia, but that was after he got a gap in the descent, in the rains, against some tired, and not that strong, competitors.

Brilliant analysis. Brilliant.

Gilbert wins on the hills. But put a descent and flat after the hill and hes in trouble. Thats what makes Fabian that bit better. As we saw in E3, give him a 2 second gap and you wouldnt be able to stop him with a htc train

Lombardia isn't training. He won it twice.

You know... Beating Samu Sanchez(olympic champion) and Michele Scarponi(second best climber at the Giro 2010)

And he raced more than both those guys They have less excuse than him for being tired.

Cancellara failed 6 times before he finally could win the Ronde... Gilbert was third on his third and fourth try... Cancellara is not super man you know. Just because he had one great season doesn't mean they will all be like that.

You're not going to hear Boonen say Paris-Tours is a training ride by the way...

But Cancellara has a major success every season

So he didnt win Ronde so he won TDF Prologue at 23 (in Gilberts home town no less)

SO he didnt win Ronde so he won Paris Roubaix and world tt.
So he didnt win Ronde so he won 2 stages at Tour and World tt.
So he didnt win Ronde, he had 1 of the greatest seasons of all time (2008)
He didnt win Ronde so he won the Tour de Suisse and 7 days in yellow at Tour and 4 days in yellow + 2 stages at Vuelta.

Then he won Ronde and Roubaix and 2 tdf stages.

Only Fabu know what wonders await this season

Gilbert is the only person in cycling that sees ALL the classics. Boonen is just cobbled classics and MSR(every type of cyclist can win that one really, sprinters just need less luck than other types), Gilbert can win the Ronde, LBL, GdL, Paris-Tours, MSR, etc

The only thing I can't see him win is Fleche Wallone, think it's too steep for him. And Paris-Roubaix is a question mark as of now, so will not comment on that.

thats because some classics riders - Valverde, Evans, Vino do gts. Gilbert cant so he does the other monuments instead.

Its kind of like claiming Ricco is the best because he won Ostrich Rundfahrt when in fact most of his potential competitors had other things on their mind

Boonen doesn't feel like sprinting anymore.

The only times you'll still see him sprint is in MSR and perhaps P-T.

Not a lot of cyclists had a better season than Gilbert in 2009 and 2010

Cancellara comes to mind

 

[The Hitch]

To those who say Gilbert was the strongest at this years LBL, well VIno attacked from far out and was with Kolobnev.

Gilbert was with the FW champion and the 2 time champion. Thats more people and better people. THey couldnt close the gap. So he attacked on his own. Couldnt close the gap. Its clear that the 2 best riders that day were both named Alexander.

Gilbert has won 2 Vealta stages last year, a Giro stage the year before that. & some small stage races.


I'm not that sure Valverdo would outsprint him these days btw

Valverde beat Oscar Freire in bunch sprints twice at Pais Vasco last year. He came 2nd to Boonen in a worlds sprint in Madrid.
The idea that Gilbert could be Valverde at a sprint is laughable. If gilbert was that good at sprints he would have waited for a sprint at Geelong. Had Valverde been there he could have podiumed the sprint. Hell, a good tactic from spain or 2 and he would have won.

Are we really criticizing Gilbert here? Dzjeezes. He makes cycling so attractive.
You want to talk about class? Well, you can start by scratching Vino and Valverde of your list for obvious reasons.

Let's just compare Gilbert to Bettini, the best one day rider of the last decade, at the same age.

Bettini: 2 LBL, Zurich, Lazio, 1 stage Tour, 2 stages Tirreno
Gilbert: 2 Lombardia, 2 Paris-Tours, 2 Het Volk, 2 Piemonte, 2 stages Vuelta, 1 stage Giro, 1 stage Dauphiné.

I would say he's pretty much on schedule of becoming the best one day rider of his generation.

Yeah, he might be on course to being as good as Bettini. But theres a little somebody from Switzerland who has won 3 monuments already, who is far more on course for being the best 1 day rider of his generation. And hes done all that while at the same time being the best Time trialist in the world.

Sorry, wrong era for Gilbert.

...and Fabu is ready to win in the next couple of weeks!!
Excellent classics season this year!

And whats more, future ones are actually live rather than the highlights crap rai pulled.

 

[The Hitch]

...and Fabu is ready to win in the next couple of weeks!!
Excellent classics season this year!

And whats more, future ones are actually live rather than the highlights crap rai pulled.

 

[The Hitch]

Well Gesink for instance, who just won Emilia the week before in 2009... top shape, couldn't go with him.

Didnt Gesink not ride because his father died?

 

[luckyboy]

Thanks for the highlights Great for Gilbert. Many more for him this year

 

[Waterloo Sunrise]

Thanks!

Man, what a last KM by Gilbert. Very impressive.


Also Ballan!

Given he didn't drop Ballan on the hill, at all, and Siena is insanely steep, I didn't find it very impressive at all.

 

[luckyboy]

Was more impressed by Ballan holding on. Still a month til the Ardennes though.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Gilbert definately not super yet. Ballan could hold on and ruined his sprint with a badly taken corner.

 

[auscyclefan94]

Props to Van Avermaet for finishing in ninth after being in the breakaway.

Yes impressive ride. Both Van avermaet and Ballan seem to be back. Just a shame for a BMC fanboy like me that ballan didn't get the inside and then because he didn't get the inside he took the outside part of the corner quite badly. Shame...

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Yes impressive ride. Both Van avermaet and Ballan seem to be back. Just a shame for a BMC fanboy like me that ballan didn't get the inside and then because he didn't get the inside he took the outside part of the corner quite badly. Shame...

Yup, he totalle fudged up that corner.
But in this shape, he'll surely win something soon

 

[auscyclefan94]

I am bit confused of why they didn't save van avermaet for the finale as they had he and Kohler in the break.

 

[El Pistolero]

Brilliant analysis. Brilliant.

Gilbert wins on the hills. But put a descent and flat after the hill and hes in trouble. Thats what makes Fabian that bit better. As we saw in E3, give him a 2 second gap and you wouldnt be able to stop him with a htc train


But Cancellara has a major success every season

So he didnt win Ronde so he won TDF Prologue at 23 (in Gilberts home town no less)

SO he didnt win Ronde so he won Paris Roubaix and world tt.
So he didnt win Ronde so he won 2 stages at Tour and World tt.
So he didnt win Ronde, he had 1 of the greatest seasons of all time (2008)
He didnt win Ronde so he won the Tour de Suisse and 7 days in yellow at Tour and 4 days in yellow + 2 stages at Vuelta.

Then he won Ronde and Roubaix and 2 tdf stages.

Only Fabu know what wonders await this season


thats because some classics riders - Valverde, Evans, Vino do gts. Gilbert cant so he does the other monuments instead.

Its kind of like claiming Ricco is the best because he won Ostrich Rundfahrt when in fact most of his potential competitors had other things on their mind



Cancellara comes to mind

Gilbert had a better 2009 season than Cancellara though. I'd rather win any monument than the world championship TT.

Not every classics specialist needs to be turned into a second tier climber. Plenty of those around already who will try over and over again and never win a GT.

Glad the Tour this year doesn't have a prologue anymore, now we will actually see a fight for the yellow jersey. Either put bonus seconds back in or dump prologues all together. I think the only reason why the Tour doesn't start with a prologue this year is called Cancellara. And the reason why it has only one "long" time trial is called Alberto Contador.

That and Boonen is still ahead of Cancellara in the one day races department before you start calling Cancellara the greatest classics specialist of his generation. Anything can still happen.

The likes of Boonen, Cancellara and Gilbert need to win at least one monument or the Worlds road race every season or they underperformed.

Can't wait till the fourth of April. I have a good feeling about it. And I will be at the finish in Ninove.

 

[auscyclefan94]

For those who were laughing at Cav beating Cadel and Andy, both Andy and Cadel worked hard for team mates and were in some of the moves. In this race they didn't sit in the peleton like Cav does.

 

[El Pistolero]

Gilbert definately not super yet. Ballan could hold on and ruined his sprint with a badly taken corner.

Yeah, Tirreno-Adriatico will do him good. I can see him take a stage in there along the way as well.

 

[red_flanders]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sQU3TLfOt4
last 15 mins

Fantastic, thanks for posting this!