What tactic does Cancellara use now?

[Anonymous]

He hasnt got much choice, todays riders are much more conservative and there really isnt much he can do.
Thus he may just have to realise that there is nothing else he can do and give up on MSR etc. In Flanders and Roubaix though he is strong enough that he can make the race hard enough so that he will be able to drop everyone and hopefully solo to the finish as he showed he could do in P-R last year. The only caveat is that he need a strong team for this (which is why he didnt win roubaix last year), his team looked reasonably strong today especially Bennatti so we may see something like this materialising effectively for Canc otherwise he doesnt have much besides riding hard as the riders behind are in most cases faster than him in a sprint.
I think that in the classics its all about patience if he can wait in Roubaix and Flanders towards the end whilst his/other teams make it hard then he can effectively attack as he found out in Roubaix where he only managed to get away from Hushovd and co. close to the end. Thefore MSR races etc. are too easy and that tactic wont work

ChrisE,

Read this post.

 

[ChrisE]

Still whining? Need a little cry? It's ok.

Ive been racing my bike a few decades now. Thanks.

Like I said, today's race he clearly should have waited for the field sprint. lol.

Any other brilliance the forum should know about today's race?

Clown troll, please show me where I posted the bolded above. Thanks.

 

[Anonymous]

Clown troll, please show me where I posted the bolded above. Thanks.

U stalking me?

Canc doesn't make a dash and tow Nibs and Gerrans to the line... how does he place today? Thanks in advance for your answer.

 

[ChrisE]

U stalking me?

Canc doesn't make a dash and tow Nibs and Gerrans to the line... how does he place today? Thanks in advance for your answer.

How did he win in 2008? How did he lose last year in Flanders? How did all of the sane people watching this morning think it would end up when he towed them to the line? That is what this thread is about, clown.

Earth to binary clown troll: if somebody suggests FC should do something different, it does not mean that same somebody thinks he should just sit in a sprint with Sagan and Boonen. There are other options, and I nor anybody else in this thread have suggested he just sit and sprint.

Maybe you should slow down your training for cat 5 criteriums and the MS150, you 2 decade racer you lol, and engage your brain.

 

[Froome19]

How did he win in 2008? How did he lose last year in Flanders? How did all of the sane people watching this morning think it would end up when he towed them to the line? That is what this thread is about, clown.

Earth to binary clown troll: if somebody suggests FC should do something different, it does not mean that same somebody thinks he should just sit in a sprint with Sagan and Boonen. There are other options, and I nor anybody else in this thread have suggested he just sit and sprint.

Maybe you should slow down your training for cat 5 criteriums and the MS150, you 2 decade racer you lol, and engage your brain.

I dont think there was any other sensible way in which Canc could have raced today, and there certainly havent been any suggestions which could contradict me.
Maybe in Flanders/Roubaix etc other things could work but there was no other possibility for Fabian today, unless you suggest to the contrary?

 

[killswitch]

I dont think there was any other sensible way in which Canc could have raced today, and there certainly havent been any suggestions which could contradict me.
Maybe in Flanders/Roubaix etc other things could work but there was no other possibility for Fabian today, unless you suggest to the contrary?

From another thread:

Today he should have let Nibs and Gerrans alone to be caught on the descent/flat afterwards by Rabo and Katusha and then put in a decisive attack 2-3 km from the finish.

 

[Race Radio]

U stalking me?

Canc doesn't make a dash and tow Nibs and Gerrans to the line... how does he place today? Thanks in advance for your answer.

He doesn't even get on the podium.

He was smart. Nibs and Canc are the two best descender in the business. If He sat back he is lost with 4-5 real sprinters. He did the smart move to go. Got him on the podium of a classic.

 

[Anonymous]

How did he win in 2008? How did he lose last year in Flanders? How did all of the sane people watching this morning think it would end up when he towed them to the line? That is what this thread is about, clown.

Earth to binary clown troll: if somebody suggests FC should do something different, it does not mean that same somebody thinks he should just sit in a sprint with Sagan and Boonen. There are other options, and I nor anybody else in this thread have suggested he just sit and sprint.

Maybe you should slow down your training for cat 5 criteriums and the MS150, you 2 decade racer you lol, and engage your brain.

Nobody racing today would have a) known Canc was still in the group and 2) had amnesia over what happened in 2008.

Fail.

Lessee, I was at Flanders last year, You? I sat in the tent with Lefevere and the Quickstep boys. They thought it would be a 2-up sprint between Canc and Chava before they got to Geraardsbergen, said again and again the race was over.. So did everyone else. Had Chava taken a few turns at the front maybe it's a different race, but then how would you know? You are only capable af back-biting after the **** goes down. Clueless? Pretty much.

So now you are smarter than Lefevere. Congratulations. You are the smartest guy you know.

 

[Anonymous]

He doesn't even get on the podium.

He was smart. Nibs and Canc are the two best descender in the business. If He sat back he is lost with 4-5 real sprinters. He did the smart move to go. Got him on the podium of a classic.

Yep. Nothing to do at that point except ride.

Good win for Gerrans. I was glad to see him give Canc much of credit for the finale. If I'm Gerrans, I don't want to win many like that. My opinion.

 

[Anonymous]

I dont think there was any other sensible way in which Canc could have raced today, and there certainly havent been any suggestions which could contradict me.
Maybe in Flanders/Roubaix etc other things could work but there was no other possibility for Fabian today, unless you suggest to the contrary?

There is not. You are completely correct and unfortunately responding to a troll.

 

[Race Radio]

How did he win in 2008?

2008 was a complete shock to everyone, including Canc. Now everyone is wise to his "Attack with 1 km to go" move.

If he does not go with the move the Nibs attack goes nowhere. Instead of a fractured group you have 40 guys. Multiple teams with 2-3 guys each.....all of them looking to pounce on Canc's slightest twitch......and in the end Greenedge wins anyways with Goss.

 

[Wallace]

It's pretty simple: when Cancellara attacks and gets a gap, as happened when he won MSR, Flanders, Strade Bianche, etc., he wins. When he attacks and isn't able to dislodge his main opponents, he loses. Isn't it a team matter then? If NRT had a sprinter or another serious contender in their deck, then they'd have some tactical options and/or at least be able to force guys to work with Cancellara. Imagine how different today would have been if, say, Sagan was on Fabian's team. NRT have to come up with something, because the "I'm so strong I can ride the entire peloton off my wheel" thing clearly isn't working in the monuments anymore.

 

[Froome19]

Originally Posted by killswitch
"Today he should have let Nibs and Gerrans alone to be caught on the descent/flat afterwards by Rabo and Katusha and then put in a decisive attack 2-3 km from the finish."
Unless Im missing something this makes no sense and is certainly not something Canc would have done if he wanted to win the race (which is the point), so it just reinforces my point.

 

[Caruut]

How did he win in 2008? How did he lose last year in Flanders? How did all of the sane people watching this morning think it would end up when he towed them to the line? That is what this thread is about, clown.

Earth to binary clown troll: if somebody suggests FC should do something different, it does not mean that same somebody thinks he should just sit in a sprint with Sagan and Boonen. There are other options, and I nor anybody else in this thread have suggested he just sit and sprint.

Maybe you should slow down your training for cat 5 criteriums and the MS150, you 2 decade racer you lol, and engage your brain.

How should he have ridden it instead? He is criticised for towing Gerrans and Nibs to the line, yet had he tried to put them on the front, they would have been caught. Nibali looked spent and can't sprint, so has no incentive, and Gerrans just doesn't have the engine to keep away from the chasing Katusha pack.

Do you agree that neither of them were going to contribute?

At what point do you think he should have done something different?

Maybe he should have gone earlier on the Poggio, before Nibali went, or gone later and let Nibs and Gerrans tire themselves out. Neither is without risk, and had he lost with either, people would be criticising him here. The same goes for his tactic in '08, if someone had seen that move, they would have been on his wheel. Since he won doing that a few years ago, it's safe to say it might have been anticipated. Again, people would be sat here questioning how such a strong rider didn't win.

 

[Anonymous]

It's pretty simple: when Cancellara attacks and gets a gap, as happened when he won MSR, Flanders, Strade Bianche, etc., he wins. When he attacks and isn't able to dislodge his main opponents, he loses. Isn't it a team matter then? If NRT had a sprinter or another serious contender in their deck, then they'd have some tactical options and/or at least be able to force guys to work with Cancellara. Imagine how different today would have been if, say, Sagan was on Fabian's team. NRT have to come up with something, because the "I'm so strong I can ride the entire peloton off my wheel" thing clearly isn't working in the monuments anymore.

Here's my thought. Canc thinks he can dump those two coming off the Poggio. He doesn't and then knows he's screwed.

He took his shot, it didn't quite work. There's another race next week.

 

[Cancellator]

It's pretty simple: when Cancellara attacks and gets a gap, as happened when he won MSR, Flanders, Strade Bianche, etc., he wins. When he attacks and isn't able to dislodge his main opponents, he loses. Isn't it a team matter then? If NRT had a sprinter or another serious contender in their deck, then they'd have some tactical options and/or at least be able to force guys to work with Cancellara. Imagine how different today would have been if, say, Sagan was on Fabian's team. NRT have to come up with something, because the "I'm so strong I can ride the entire peloton off my wheel" thing clearly isn't working in the monuments anymore.

I think that is a really good analysis. I was hoping Bennati would be that other contender/sprinter, but that didn't happen. Don't really know who could play that role with the roster they've got, any suggestions?

 

[killswitch]

Unless Im missing something this makes no sense and is certainly not something Canc would have done if he wanted to win the race (which is the point), so it just reinforces my point.

Multiple teams with 2-3 guys each.....all of them looking to pounce on Canc's slightest twitch......and in the end Greenedge wins anyways with Goss.

Other teams could have attacked in the final flat kms if it was gruppo compato, like Vac, BMC, Astana, Rabo, etc. Canc could have counterattacked, he won Strade Bianche last from a counterattack.

 

[Anonymous]

Other teams could have attacked in the final flat kms if it was gruppo compato, like Vac, BMC, Astana, Rabo, etc. Canc could have counterattacked, he won Strade Bianche last from a counterattack.

True, but that race is much more selective in the finale. I'm not too sure you will see many bunch sprints at SB.

 

[Cancellator]

Other teams could have attacked in the final flat kms if it was gruppo compato, like Vac, BMC, Astana, Rabo, etc. Canc could have counterattacked, he won Strade Bianche last from a counterattack.

Who else can attack on the flat at full speed like that?

 

[killswitch]

Who else can attack on the flat at full speed like that?

Ballan was WC in 2008.

True, but that race is much more selective in the finale. I'm not too sure you will see many bunch sprints at SB.

You're right the bunch is bigger in MSR, but the technical Poggio descent always fragments the group. If timed properly (the chase is not (initially) organised) Canc could get the necessary gap and hold it to the finish.

 

[Froome19]

By attacking on the Poggio and then taking full steam down the descent, imo Canc was playing his whole hand with nothing left, he was going to get to the finish line before the chasers because even for a rider like him pushing like that means that you will be at a disadvantage if youre in the peloton with the others.
Especially as attacking with 2-3km is not as simple as you make it sound

 

[Caruut]

It's pretty simple: when Cancellara attacks and gets a gap, as happened when he won MSR, Flanders, Strade Bianche, etc., he wins. When he attacks and isn't able to dislodge his main opponents, he loses. Isn't it a team matter then? If NRT had a sprinter or another serious contender in their deck, then they'd have some tactical options and/or at least be able to force guys to work with Cancellara. Imagine how different today would have been if, say, Sagan was on Fabian's team. NRT have to come up with something, because the "I'm so strong I can ride the entire peloton off my wheel" thing clearly isn't working in the monuments anymore.

I don't know about "clearly isn't working". He is 8 monuments without a win, yes. In that time he has been 2nd 3 times, and 3rd once. It might not be working perfectly, but it's working pretty well.

Boonen is 13 without a win, Ballan 24.

In some senses, Canc just sort of relies on luck. If no-one catches his initial move, it's going to be really hard to reel him in. He differs from most riders in that despite the fact that his move sometimes doesn't work, he never gives up.

 

[Froome19]

In some senses, Canc just sort of relies on luck. If no-one catches his initial move, it's going to be really hard to reel him in. He differs from most riders in that despite the fact that his move sometimes doesn't work, he never gives up.

The question is then why did he counter attack Nibali if he knew Nibali would latch on?

 

[Polyarmour]

Here's my thought. Canc thinks he can dump those two coming off the Poggio. He doesn't and then knows he's screwed.

He took his shot, it didn't quite work. There's another race next week.

+1 I think you've got it Scott SoCal. I love Cancellara but as we know he has a "gladiator's" ego.

I also think he had another opportunity to ditch Gerrans and Nibali and he didn't take it. When Gerrans came to the front for a pull, Cancellara didn't leave him there for long as I thought he wasn't happy with the speed. He coud have left him to fry a little longer then attacked. I don't believe Nibali or Gerrans would have been able to follow.

 

[Caruut]

The question is then why did he counter attack Nibali if he knew Nibali would latch on?

Maybe he thought that he could get a hand of Nibali up the climb, Gerrans would get dropped on the descent and that there was no way Nibali would match him in a sprint. I just don't feel that his ride was a tactical disaster.