Saturday 26th of March: E3 Prijs Vlaanderen - Harelbeke, 201km

[la.margna]

as mentioned, definitely impressive, very impressive.

but considering absence of most high calibre contenders and teams like BMC, SKY or HTC, it should not be overrated with regard to Flanders. Flanders will be a different game. and Flanders with punctures in the wrong moment will also be a different issue.

But thanks for the great race action. Even better than MSR last Saturday. Thrilling. Fascinating. Viva il ciclismo!

And even more remarkable: WITHOUT RADIOS! + great tactics with Stuey.

btw, Vanmarcke also impressive

 

[Christian]

but considering absence of most high calibre contenders and teams like BMC, SKY or HTC, it should not be overrated with regard to Flanders. Flanders will be a different game. and Flanders with punctures in the wrong moment will also be a different issue.

Yes very true. Also the chase group was really disorganized

 

[jens_attacks]

amazing victory by fabian.now i'm sure,there is no chance in hell that someone will beat him in roubaix or ronde.what he did today is great history.blowing people off your wheel on the flats is something absolutely fascinating.

 

[redtreviso]

What a great formula to win.. As long as the lead group is 12 or 15 and he has one disruptor with them Cancellara can just ride away.. O'Grady did a great job being the monkey in the wrench..It wouldn't have mattered anyway..

 

[fatsprintking]

Powerful riding by Cancellara helped in a big way by super smart riding by Stuey, who is riding at an amazing level for an old bloke with red hair and freckles. Radio's - who needs em when you have 25 years or summing up the score to fall back on.

Maybe its just the misty eyed nostalgic in me wishing for a return to the good old days - cause O'Grady is one of the last links between the old school and the modern, but if Cancellara gets heavily marked maybe the flying freckle can do something special at the Ronde. What a way to round off the palmeres of one of the great cyclists and great blokes of his generation.

 

[Christian]

Powerful riding by Cancellara helped in a big way by super smart riding by Stuey, who is riding at an amazing level for an old bloke with red hair and freckles. Radio's - who needs em when you have 25 years or summing up the score to fall back on.

Maybe its just the misty eyed nostalgic in me wishing for a return to the good old days - cause O'Grady is one of the last links between the old school and the modern, but if Cancellara gets heavily marked maybe the flying freckle can do something special at the Ronde. What a way to round off the palmeres of one of the great cyclists and great blokes of his generation.

+1 Stuey is in great shape, Top-10 finishes in San Remo and E3 while marking breaks and pulling The Canc ... I really hope he gets a shot at Flanders. He had similar results in 2007 in MSR and e3!

 

[Ruben B]

Impressive win by Cancellara - to be honest, I didn't expect him to be this good, considering last week's Milano-Sanremo.
He will have one problem next week: as last year he still had Boonen as a big concurrent, now he will be the only favourite. With a bunch of strong teams, everyone will focus on his team. Put a couple of strong domestiques in a quick counterattack - starting on the Kaperij - and put his team under pressure. I saw one moment of weakness, he was on his end on the knokteberg, completely gasping for breath on top when he passed us, but had the luck of having O'grady to put the speed high enough en letting him recover.
This tank has to carry 92 kilo's uphill, so non-cobbled hills are demanding a lot of energy from him. When a Gilbert goes on the Valkenberg and Tenbosse, Cancellara will have to go deep. But of course, what does that matter if he rides 4 km/h faster?
And also congrats to Vanmarcke (very strong race), I want to see that guy in Paris-Roubaix.

 

[Christian]

one of the great cyclists and great blokes of his generation.

This guy:

 

[El Pistolero]

O'Grady is the Renshaw of Cancellara. He doesn't really need him to win at all.

 

[fatsprintking]

Maybe he would like him to win, on account of him being such a top bloke and general hero of the people.

Canc can win Roubaix.

It makes sense for O'Grady to have a crack if the circumstances are right and put pressure on the Belgian teams to do the chasing. Canc is goling so well that they might be reluctant to keep riding him to the front. A good scenario for a rider like O'Grady who will not hesitate to take his chance.

Noone would be too upset if O'Grady snuck a victory.

 

[El Pistolero]

Maybe he would like him to win, on account of him being such a top bloke and general hero of the people.

Canc can win Roubaix.

It makes sense for O'Grady to have a crack if the circumstances are right and put pressure on the Belgian teams to do the chasing. Canc is goling so well that they might be reluctant to keep riding him to the front. A good scenario for a rider like O'Grady who will not hesitate to take his chance.

Noone would be too upset if O'Grady snuck a victory.

Cancellara would be upset. It wouldn't be the first time he's chasing his own teammates.

 

[beer_thirty]

No one would be too upset if O'Grady snuck a victory.

+10000000

I loved it when Stuey took Roubaix and would love to see him take another big one before he climbs off for good. If he does it by pulling a bit of a 'Devolder', I hope not too many will begrudge him that.

 

[fatsprintking]

Cancellara would be upset. It wouldn't be the first time he's chasing his own teammates.

Chasing a teamate and chasing O'Grady are two differnet things. Me thinky that the team will have to contend with the reality that everyone will be riding on Cancellara's wheel and that no matter how good you are you need to have a contingency plan.

Look O'Grady will probably do the team thing that he has done for his whole career, but I can dream a little can't I?

 

[El Pistolero]

Chasing a teamate and chasing O'Grady are two differnet things. Me thinky that the team will have to contend with the reality that everyone will be riding on Cancellara's wheel and that no matter how good you are you need to have a contingency plan.

Look O'Grady will probably do the team thing that he has done for his whole career, but I can dream a little can't I?

I'm just saying, don't underestimate Cancellara's desire to win.

 

[la.margna]

Cancellara would be upset. It wouldn't be the first time he's chasing his own teammates.

no. stuey is the only one who has this privilege.

unrelated quote to o'grady/cancellara question:

vaughters on destroying cancellara:

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/vaughters-garmin-cervelo-team-not-strong-enough-to-beat-cancellara-at-e3-prijs-vlaanderen

Vaughters acknowledged that Garmin-Cervélo could learn lessons from Saturday’s race in Harelbeke, even if they did not necessarily square with the team’s racing philosophy.

“It’s a lesson, but sadly the lesson is that you have to race negative,” Vaughters said. “Realistically you almost have to race against just him, but there’s no other way to beat him, apparently, when he’s like that.”

Cancellara’s brutal acceleration on the Oude Kwaremont and his metronomic ride to the line in the finale were reminiscent of the exhibitions he delivered on the cobbles this time last year, and Vaughters echoed the concerns of every other team in the peloton when he pondered how to counteract the Leopard Trek man’s dominance.

“Of course he’s beatable, but in order to do it you just have to use very negative tactics just against him,” Vaughters said. “You can eliminate him but then you risk losing the race because you’re not watching the other 100 guys. Yeah, you could beat him but whether it’s in your best interests or whether it makes for exciting racing, well, I don’t think that is necessarily the case.

“We’ll have to see how we play it. I don’t want to say to the guys, all we’ve got to do is beat Fabian, just stay on his wheel no matter what.”

 

[auscyclefan94]

It was a good win by Cancellara, but lets not get ahead of ourselves. Where was Hushovd when it counted? He was no way near the head of the race. The real big hitters other than Maybe Haussler and OGrady were the only riders near the front. There also wasnt much cooperation in the chase which is why the gap blew out so quickly.

 

[flicker]

It was a good win by Cancellara, but lets not get ahead of ourselves. Where was Hushovd when it counted? He was no way near the head of the race. The real big hitters other than Maybe Haussler and OGrady were the only riders near the front. There also wasnt much cooperation in the chase which is why the gap blew out so quickly.

Hushoff, no wheels to suck, thus no Hushoff.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

dear ACF, Hushovd was simply on the front when the Oude Kwaremont started I assume. He simply couldn't follow the acceleration. Neither could Nuyens or Boom on that moment.

So, Hushovd was beaten fair and square. No bull****ting please

 

[auscyclefan94]

dear ACF, Hushovd was simply on the front when the Oude Kwaremont started I assume. He simply couldn't follow the acceleration. Neither could Nuyens or Boom on that moment.

So, Hushovd was beaten fair and square. No bull****ting please

Ah, okay, thanks! I only watched the highlights of it. I guess it makes it more impressive then but some major protagonists did not race.

 

[Hugh Januss]

Ah, okay, thanks! I only watched the highlights of it. I guess it makes it more impressive then but some major protagonists did not race.

Would have just been more guys squabbling over who's turn it was to chase him.

 

[The Hitch]

I'll totally troll on him for the entire season.

Its not much of a threat if your already doing it

Or I could play an angry tifosi at Paris-Roubaix and make him crash

Ah. So now we know who the idiot spitting beer on Cancellara in 08 was.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ii48-E8H2mE

 

[Christian]

It wouldn't be the first time he's chasing his own teammates.

I do realize ever since ardennesgate his popularity went way down on this forum, but it is difficult not to acknowledge the remarkable domestique work he has done over the years.

A little known example involving O'Grady would be Züri Metzgete 2006, where he helped Stuey to 2nd place

 

[El Pistolero]

Its not much of a threat if your already doing it



Ah. So now we know who the idiot spitting beer on Cancellara in 08 was.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ii48-E8H2mE

Nah, I wouldn't dare to touch Cancellara He's no wheelsucker so he's so much better than Pozatto. The only thing those 2 have in common is that their riding style makes other people lose. The difference is... Cancellara wins...

You really should take it as a threat considering that right now I don't even troll him. Imagine how hard I'll break him down if he doesn't suck Cancellara's wheel next week

 

[El Pistolero]

I do realize ever since ardennesgate his popularity went way down on this forum, but it is difficult not to acknowledge the remarkable domestique work he has done over the years.

A little known example involving O'Grady would be Züri Metzgete 2006, where he helped Stuey to 2nd place

I'm just refering to Cancellara chasing Breschel down at MSR last year.

Cancellara is like Gilbert in that aspect, not a good team player. And yes, I know the work he does in GTS for his leaders, but that's because he knows he can't win the Tour. But in a one day race he really is like Gilbert. Totally uncaring for his teammates. The only reason he let Breschel win Dwars door Vlaanderen was because he was afraid of him.

 

[Christian]

I'm just refering to Cancellara chasing Breschel down at MSR last year.

Cancellara is like Gilbert in that aspect, not a good team player. And yes, I know the work he does in GTS for his leaders, but that's because he knows he can't win the Tour. But in a one day race he really is like Gilbert. Totally uncaring for his teammates. The only reason he let Breschel win Dwars door Vlaanderen was because he was afraid of him.

Well and then there was that Paris-Roobay thingie a couple years back