Tour of Britain 2011- 11th-18th September

[Moondance]

Boom could be an outsider for the Worlds.

I'm hoping he'll take part in some cyclo crosses.

Extremely outside...

What's more stupid is that he isn't taking part in the TT. I know his record on long TTs is rather dismal, but in this form you'd be insane to leave him behind. I know Clement did a good TT in Colorado, but what has Westra done lately? While Boom has been dominating this ToB, Westra has been sitting in the peloton. Maybe Westra's just prepping and will show himself in a big way on Sunday's TT, but Boom, in this kind of form, will dominate him.

TT selections were made way too early.

 

[mb2612]

Sky brining EBH to lead in Britain is a bit of a cop out IMO

 

[maltiv]

Extremely outside...

What's more stupid is that he isn't taking part in the TT. I know his record on long TTs is rather dismal, but in this form you'd be insane to leave him behind. I know Clement did a good TT in Colorado, but what has Westra done lately? While Boom has been dominating this ToB, Westra has been sitting in the peloton. Maybe Westra's just prepping and will show himself in a big way on Sunday's TT, but Boom, in this kind of form, will dominate him.

TT selections were made way too early.

He wouldn't have been top 3 anyway so doesn't matter. No way he can beat Cancellara or Tony Martin (no matter what form they are in) and guys like Wiggins, Millar and Zabriskie are far more likely to get 3rd. I can't even remember seeing Boom do a good ITT at 40km+.

Might as well save energy for the road race and hope for some luck.

 

[Frosty]

Boom could be an outsider for the Worlds.

I'm hoping he'll take part in some cyclo crosses.

Given the state of some British roads i would have thought that being a cyclo crosser would have given him a big advantage in the tour of britain - should have put some money down at the start

(To be fair though i havent heard any complains about road conditions)

 

[TeoSheva]

He wouldn't have been top 3 anyway so doesn't matter. No way he can beat Cancellara or Tony Martin (no matter what form they are in) and guys like Wiggins, Millar and Zabriskie are far more likely to get 3rd. I can't even remember seeing Boom do a good ITT at 40km+.

Might as well save energy for the road race and hope for some luck.

this one! if the RR is hard enough, he can show something...in the ITT he can only hope for a cut of 35km to do something

 

[theyoungest]

He wouldn't have been top 3 anyway so doesn't matter. No way he can beat Cancellara or Tony Martin (no matter what form they are in) and guys like Wiggins, Millar and Zabriskie are far more likely to get 3rd. I can't even remember seeing Boom do a good ITT at 40km+.

Might as well save energy for the road race and hope for some luck.

You could also argue the opposite: he can't win the road race anyway, so why not go for a good result in the TT, with this kind of form.

 

[maltiv]

You could also argue the opposite: he can't win the road race anyway, so why not go for a good result in the TT, with this kind of form.

Well then I disagree, because I think he can win the road race. It's more likely than a medal in the TT in my opinion. He just needs to get away with the right group.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

He wouldn't have been top 3 anyway so doesn't matter. No way he can beat Cancellara or Tony Martin (no matter what form they are in) and guys like Wiggins, Millar and Zabriskie are far more likely to get 3rd. I can't even remember seeing Boom do a good ITT at 40km+.

Might as well save energy for the road race and hope for some luck.

It's not like Boom does not have the potential to do good long ITT's though. He can do it. But when he feels he is going badly in a long TT he usually lets go. In races where he might have done a top 15, he drops after knowing he can't be top 3 anymore for instance.

 

[theyoungest]

Well then I disagree, because I think he can win the road race. It's more likely than a medal in the TT in my opinion. He just needs to get away with the right group.

Like Dekker_T says above, the results often don't really reflect his ability, because unfortunately unlike your man EBH, Boom is a bit lazy (which is also why he took up cyclocross again in the winter, he finds training for nothing boring)

edit: finish photo, reminds me of his espoir days:

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

If you see his acceleration plus the ability to keep a high speed for a few kilometers (prologues) you do wonder why Boom doesn't win much anymore like in the U23 days.

He is terribly inconsistent also.. one week he can be in form and 2 weeks later he is utter ****.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Stage result
1. Lars Boom Rabobank ProTeam 100 20
2. Alexandre Pichot Europcar 90 15
3. Leopold Konig Team Netapp 85 10
4. Jan Barta Team Netapp 80 8
5. Steven Cummings Team Sky 75 6
6. Linus Gerdemann LEOPARD - TREK 70 5
7. Jack Bauer Endura Racing 66 4
8. Julian Dean Team Garmin - Cervélo 62 3
9. Bartosz Huzarski Team Netapp 58 2
10. Iker Camano Ortuzar Endura Racing 54 1

General classification
1. Lars Boom Rabobank ProTeam 100 50
2. Leopold Konig Team Netapp 00:28 90 40
3. Daniel Lloyd Team Garmin - Cervélo 00:29 85 35
4. Linus Gerdemann LEOPARD - TREK 00:31 80 30
5. Steven Cummings Team Sky 00:32 75 26
6. Jelle Wallays Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator zt. 70 22
7. Jan Barta Team Netapp zt. 66 20
8. Jonathan Tiernan-lock Rapha Condor Sharp zt. 62 18
9. Iker Camano Ortuzar Endura Racing 00:50 58 16

 

[roundabout]

I don't demand boulevards but that final straight is about 100 meters long at best.

 

[ParfaitAmour]

Wow, that is all change in the GC

 

[roundabout]

Will be a good battle for second.

Won't be surprised if Barta takes it.

 

[Eyeballs Out]

Thomas affected by the crash today ?

 

[El Pistolero]

You could also argue the opposite: he can't win the road race anyway, so why not go for a good result in the TT, with this kind of form.

Bigger donkeys have won the road race in the past. While a time trial has practically no luck involved. I wouldn't count on every single rider of the top 10 throwing their time trial bike away in a hissy fit.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Two words on that:

Bert Grabsch

 

[maltiv]

Two words on that:

Bert Grabsch

Bert Grabsch is the best in the world when it comes to completely flat/slightly downhill, windy TTs. I mean he crushed Tony Martin with like a minute in the german nationals. So it's not like his worlds title was "random".

I guess Boom would be in the same category if the ITT was insanely technical and mostly driven on mud but it's not

 

[Moondance]

Stage result
1. Lars Boom Rabobank ProTeam 100 20
2. Alexandre Pichot Europcar 90 15
3. Leopold Konig Team Netapp 85 10
4. Jan Barta Team Netapp 80 8
5. Steven Cummings Team Sky 75 6
6. Linus Gerdemann LEOPARD - TREK 70 5
7. Jack Bauer Endura Racing 66 4
8. Julian Dean Team Garmin - Cervélo 62 3
9. Bartosz Huzarski Team Netapp 58 2
10. Iker Camano Ortuzar Endura Racing 54 1

General classification
1. Lars Boom Rabobank ProTeam 100 50
2. Leopold Konig Team Netapp 00:28 90 40
3. Daniel Lloyd Team Garmin - Cervélo 00:29 85 35
4. Linus Gerdemann LEOPARD - TREK 00:31 80 30
5. Steven Cummings Team Sky 00:32 75 26
6. Jelle Wallays Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator zt. 70 22
7. Jan Barta Team Netapp zt. 66 20
8. Jonathan Tiernan-lock Rapha Condor Sharp zt. 62 18
9. Iker Camano Ortuzar Endura Racing 00:50 58 16

Boom overall victory, barring injury or crash, is now assured.

 

[El Pistolero]

Bert Grabsch is the best in the world when it comes to completely flat/slightly downhill, windy TTs. I mean he crushed Tony Martin with like a minute in the german nationals. So it's not like his worlds title was "random".

I guess Boom would be in the same category if the ITT was insanely technical and mostly driven on mud but it's not

Plus he already got fourth the year before and with Cancellara not there it was always going to be an open time trial.

 

[Frosty]

West-south-west wind tomorrow so there will be the potential for cross-winds to split the peloton. Imagine Sky will give it a go.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

I don't demand boulevards but that final straight is about 100 meters long at best.

Boom made good use of that. He said he knew there was a steep corner at 200m before the finish line. He said they went very fast into the corner but he took the corner much much better than the rest and took the speed from there to win easily.

Booms cyclocross background really does help him on these type of finishes

 

[ParfaitAmour]

Watching the stage highlights..... real nasty crash *ouch*

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Hoping for a good finish for König and Camaño.

 

[Froilan Gonzales]

Andy99 - road furniture and traffic calming are problems that weren't around years ago - le Tour seems to keep away from large towns now in recent years as well.

In the TdF as well this year there were all those crashes on narrow roads - partly due to the terrain I guess but also maybe the authorities not wanting the race on main roads.