Voeckler: nine out of ten riders don't like me...

[Benotti69]

I meant they can't "afford" wasting their chance, because they are unlikely to get into another break that day.

Voeckler rarely goes with breaks that look doomed to failure from the start.

I would say he's more cunning, not necessarily smarter.

Nope i would say he is smart.

 

[El Pistolero]

People actually forget that he barely won a race until last year and that a lot of his attacks failed.

 

[yetanothergreenworld]

I like Voeckler in general but found myself getting annoyed by his "I'm squeezing out every last ounce of strength to hang onto yellow" schtick last year. He seems like a bit of a drama queen and also like someone who's good at pandering to the French romanticization of doomed struggles (not an attitude French cycling needs right now). I will continue to applaud TV victories, but I foresee trouble should Pierre Rolland try to rally his troops around a serious TDF bid . . .

 

[Walkman]

Depends on how you choose to look at it. Both are reasonable possibilities.

Uhm, actually him attacking someone that lies in a ditch seems kind of unlikely. To me it looks more like he is trying to pick up the pace after nearly crashed and it isn't like the other two guys does anything else.

Or what, are we back in the sand box again, "because he started it"?

 

[Angliru]

Uhm, actually him attacking someone that lies in a ditch seems kind of unlikely. To me it looks more like he is trying to pick up the pace after nearly crashed and it isn't like the other two guys does anything else.

Or what, are we back in the sand box again, "because he started it"?

If recall correctly, 2 riders went down in that accident, one of them being Flecha who I would pick any day over Voeckler in a small group dash to the line.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

People actually forget that he barely won a race until last year and that a lot of his attacks failed.

Yup, so he just grew smarter. He's always been an opportunist when a chance for a win has presented itself; he's got much, much better at knowing which moves to be part of, so he gets those chances more often.

 

[Walkman]

If recall correctly, 2 riders went down in that accident, one of them being Flecha who I would pick any day over Voeckler in a small group dash to the line.

Yeah, but Vockler was more interested in yellow that day in I remember correctly. Didn't he push on pretty hard all the way to the finish and then more or less let the other two fight it out?

I am not saying he acted correct, whatever that would have been in a situation like that, but it wasn't like he was the only one to ride on after Flecha and Johnny wnet down. The other two didn't stop either. So bashing only TV seems kind of unfair to me and then it seems more like people want bash him just because he is who he is.

 

[karlboss]

Most breaks fail!

What can they not afford? They cant afford riders not to work. If one refuses to do the share the break is definitely doomed.

Voeckler happens to be smarter than most riders. Simple.

I think you'd find more breaks surviving if noone worked, at least for a while. I suspect exercise physiologists should spend some time making breakaway strategies.

 

[Angliru]

Yeah, but Vockler was more interested in yellow that day in I remember correctly. Didn't he push on pretty hard all the way to the finish and then more or less let the other two fight it out?

I am not saying he acted correct, whatever that would have been in a situation like that, but it wasn't like he was the only one to ride on after Flecha and Johnny wnet down. The other two didn't stop either. So bashing only TV seems kind of unfair to me and then it seems more like people want bash him just because he is who he is.

A riders reputation precedes him. If he carries on doing what he's always done, even in circumstances as those that we're discussing, it only enhances that history.

A visual image is a powerful thing, and maybe because the image that sticks with me immediately after the crash is TV out of the saddle seemingly accelerating away from the carnage, it has possibly skewed my perspective. I'll have to view the incident again in detail to see if that's the case.

 

[happychappy]

I think you'd find more breaks surviving if noone worked, at least for a while.

I didn't know Peter Noone was a pro cyclist.

 

[El Pistolero]

Boonen reacts to Voeckler

http://www.sporza.be/cm/sporza/wielrennen/120303_boonen_reax_voeckler

Just use google translator, you'll get the grasp.