Tour of Lombardy *spoiler*

pb21

Gilbert is sheer class. Best rider in the peloton?

shakey88

Ha ha they are all on drugs and you still believe what you are seeing.Suckers! :P :shock:

frenchfighter

Lombardia 2010, a race for the history books, one of the best pieces of racing I have ever seen. A great example of real bike racing, one that touches on the purest and best aspects of this great sport. Where the victor and the top placers were strong, courageous, impassioned and daring. Under constant rain and overcast skies, through tight, challenging roads, in small groups or solo, the last 50km of racing was for the cycling romantic. Everyone of those leading riders contributed, none held back, none created discord or tried to shirk work.

Everyone of those 34 finishers deserves respect for finishing, regardless of how far down they came in:

1 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto 6:46:32
2 Michele Scarponi (Ita) Androni Giocattoli 0:00:12
3 Pablo Lastras Garcia (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 0:00:55
4 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Team Saxo Bank 0:01:08
5 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas-Doimo
6 Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 0:01:12
7 Mikel Nieve Ituralde (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 0:02:07
8 Mauro Santambrogio (Ita) BMC Racing Team 0:03:01
9 Carlos Barredo Llamazales (Spa) Quick Step 0:03:25
10 Giampaolo Caruso (Ita) Team Katusha 0:03:50
11 Vladimir Gusev (Rus) Team Katusha 0:04:24
12 Rigoberto Uran Uran (Col) Caisse d'Epargne 0:05:13
13 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Rabobank
14 Dries Devenyns (Bel) Quick Step 0:05:32
15 Fabian Wegmann (Ger) Team Milram 0:05:52
16 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto 0:06:00
17 Vladimir Miholjevic (Cro) Acqua & Sapone 0:06:10
18 Luca Mazzanti (Ita) Team Katusha
19 Maciej Paterski (Pol) Liquigas-Doimo
20 Maxime Monfort (Bel) Team HTC - Columbia
21 Christopher Horner (USA) Team Radioshack
22 Guillaume Bonnafond (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:06:41
23 Jurgen Van Goolen (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto 0:08:23
24 Serge Pauwels (Bel) Sky Professional Cycling Team 0:09:38
25 José Luis Rubiera Vigil (Spa) Team Radioshack 0:09:52
26 Ludovic Turpin (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:11:50
27 Manuele Mori (Ita) Lampre-Farnese Vini 0:12:30
28 Jose Rodolfo Serpa Perez (Col) Androni Giocattoli 0:12:42
29 Samuel Dumoulin (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne 0:12:44
30 Assan Bazayev (Kaz) Astana 0:12:46
31 Thomas Peterson (USA) Garmin - Transitions
32 Johannes Fröhlinger (Ger) Team Milram 0:14:34
33 Lars Petter Nordhaug (Nor) Sky Professional Cycling Team 0:20:39
34 Aleksejs Saramotins (Lat) Team HTC - Columbia 0:21:35

From Albasini's spirited effort, to Mollema's strong attack, to Nibali's attack, to the perilous descent taking Nibali victim in his pursuit of speed. To Gilbert for his power and determination, to Scarponi for soldiering on solo, to regain contact and immediately take a pull. To San Fermo, Gilbert and Scarponi riding side by side, neither trying to ride the other's wheel, even touching shoulders on two occasions, evoking the Puy de Dome photo. Until Gilbert rose out the saddle, transferred the power to the pedals, crested alone, descended swiftly, and came through the finish line after 6hrs and 46mins, glorious and victorious, the most memorable win of his career. Champion.

The race lives on, the sport lives on, none other can touch it.

andyp

shakey88 wrote:

Ha ha they are all on drugs and you still believe what you are seeing.Suckers! :P :shock:

Signore Torre I presume?

greeny12

I agree with FF - it was great racing, especially the Gilbert/Scarponi shoulder to shoulder duel. Would have loved Scarponi to win, and not just for PTP purposes! I know he's had his "issues" but I've become a big fan...

jerry3571

Great race. I did feel sorry when Scarponi caught Gilbert and was used to share the pace and then handily dispatched when his usefulness was at an end.
Scarponi must have known his game was up in the last few kilometres.

Scarponi and Gilbert did a bit of leaning on eachother on a climb too!!. A bit of nostalgia for the old guys. Nice-



-Jerry

rick_chasey

iainf72 wrote:

Excellent race. Unfortunate Nibs decking it.

But Pip's final attack was brilliant. Sheer power.

Wasn't the most subtle of attacks!

Sitting on the front, shift to the big ring, then put the hammer down...

Had he not been head and shoulders above Scarponi, it would have been a rubbish one.

Might as well tell him you're going to attack 2 seconds before you do!

Having said that, it was very good. Just had more in the tank than anyone else.

Kléber

Great riding by Gilbert he just rode off the front. We had a selection on the Ghisallo which then shrunk on the Sormano and I thought he was just controlling on the descent but it turned out that he dropped most of the riders. Then he just ploughed on. Scarponi did a ride to catch him but the San Fermo finished him.

It's rare to see one rider do a demolition job like this, often you watch a classic and aren't sure if the result is right but this time there's no doubt at all. And in the current climate, one thing to note is that Gilbert has long been cited as a clean rider.

rick_chasey

Kléber wrote:

Great riding by Gilbert he just rode off the front. We had a selection on the Ghisallo which then shrunk on the Sormano and I thought he was just controlling on the descent but it turned out that he dropped most of the riders. Then he just ploughed on. Scarponi did a ride to catch him but the San Fermo finished him.

It's rare to see one rider do a demolition job like this, often you watch a classic and aren't sure if the result is right but this time there's no doubt at all. And in the current climate, one thing to note is that Gilbert has long been cited as a clean rider.

True. He's been steadily building up to this.

Extreme weather does tend to exagerate results though.

FJS

Gilbert said yesterday that he could see himself later on feature in the grand tours, if he would lose 3 kgs or so. I sincerely hope he doesn't go down that route
De Ronde, LBL and San Remo, and even Paris-Roubaix on his to-do-list first http://www.sporza.be/cm/sporza/wielrenn ... lbert_reax

rick_chasey

FJS wrote:

Gilbert said yesterday that he could see himself later on feature in the grand tours, if he would lose 3 kgs or so. I sincerely hope he doesn't go down that route
De Ronde, LBL and San Remo, and even Paris-Roubaix on his to-do-list first http://www.sporza.be/cm/sporza/wielrenn ... lbert_reax

His boss came out not long after saying that he'll focus on classics and that he said that in the moment of euphoria and didn't mean it.

Lotto keeping him on a tight leash...

frenchfighter

Gilbert let Scarponi catch him and accelerated when Nibali crashed.

frenchfighter

He wont ride Roubaix for many years due to fear of one crash ruining his career.

FJS

frenchfighter wrote:

He wont ride Roubaix for many years due to fear of one crash ruining his career.

Do you have a source for that? He has done Vlaanderen for a couple of years now, and plenty of crash-risks in Amstel Gold too. Roubaix seems a logical challenge for the relatively near future if he keeps winning hilly classics right left and centre like now

Kléber

I've heard him saying he'd try Roubaix, but not yet. He's said he's simply not suited to it given the flatter roads and besides, he's got Liege in his mind for 2011 which means losing a bit of weight to be there on the hills.

rick_chasey

FJS wrote:

frenchfighter wrote:

He wont ride Roubaix for many years due to fear of one crash ruining his career.

Do you have a source for that? He has done Vlaanderen for a couple of years now, and plenty of crash-risks in Amstel Gold too. Roubaix seems a logical challenge for the relatively near future if he keeps winning hilly classics right left and centre like now

Roubaix doesn't make sense for Pip though.

He wants Liege more than anything else, and vs Canc, Boonen, even Hushovd; Roubaix looks unlikely.

inkyfingers

Agree with FJS, don't see how Roubaix is that much more dangerous than riding Het Neuwsblad, Flanders etc.

I really believe he has the capability to win all 5 monuments by the time he retires, though in the end it will obviously come down to good luck as well as great riding on his part.

Pross

I don't know if it was just the late coverage and poor TV pictures due to weather / break up but that was the first time I've watched Lombardy and was looking forward to it and yet it was about the most uninspiring race I've ever seen. This may well have been due to Eurosport missing out most of the hills or perhaps the weather but it was as if Gilbert just rode away, there didn't seem to be any noticeable attack either when he first got away or when he ditched Scarponi - very strange race (not taking anything away from Gilbert who just dominated with apparent ease).

Philip S

I enjoyed it, but it was a spectacle in a war of attrition sense rather than spectacular racing. Gilbert won it by either being the strongest guy there or the one who wanted it most or, more likely, both.

Scarponi must have known that Gilbert was going to stick it in the big ring at the top of that last climb, but he either didn't have it in him to respond or was so cold and tired that he blew his gear change.

Great ride by Gilbert.

FJS

Of course, LBL will be his big goal next year. And with that in mind starting just to 'learn' in Paris-Roubaix next spring probably isn't too smart.
On the other hand, if he bags LBL (not unlikely), and does really well in Vlaanderen (or even win, he already had two podium finishes), there will be significant pressure for him to try Paris-Roubaix in the next couple of years after next. He has already done Paris-Roubaix for Francaise des Jeux, and with his Ronde performances and the way he has won say Omloop het Volk, I think Roubaix is more within his capabilities than it ever was for someone as Bettini, also dominant in the hilly classics.

FJS

Pross wrote:

I don't know if it was just the late coverage and poor TV pictures due to weather / break up but that was the first time I've watched Lombardy and was looking forward to it and yet it was about the most uninspiring race I've ever seen. This may well have been due to Eurosport missing out most of the hills or perhaps the weather but it was as if Gilbert just rode away, there didn't seem to be any noticeable attack either when he first got away or when he ditched Scarponi - very strange race (not taking anything away from Gilbert who just dominated with apparent ease).

That wasn't due to Eurosport, exactly how it was watching without commercial brakes too. The most significant attack was Mollema's in the last kms of the Sormano, the rest mostly was the peloton slowly fragmented into smaller and smaller groups. Uninspiring is one view, the other is an epic race of attrition.

rick_chasey

FJS wrote:

Of course, LBL will be his big goal next year. And with that in mind starting just to 'learn' in Paris-Roubaix next spring probably isn't too smart.
On the other hand, if he bags LBL (not unlikely), and does really well in Vlaanderen (or even win, he already had two podium finishes), there will be significant pressure for him to try Paris-Roubaix in the next couple of years after next. He has already done Paris-Roubaix for Francaise des Jeux, and with his Ronde performances and the way he has won say Omloop het Volk, I think Roubaix is more within his capabilities than it ever was for someone as Bettini, also dominant in the hilly classics.

I've said this before, but I think it's reasonably straightforward to hold 80% of top form for the whole duration of the classics season, but to hold that 100% for more than a week is tough, if not impossible.

I think that Pip would have to be at 100% and race VERY shrewdly to win at Flanders, and as such, don't think Flanders can be his.

The motivation for Flanders needs to be there, and, given his background, it won't be quite there.

FJS

Rick Chasey wrote:

I think that Pip would have to be at 100% and race VERY shrewdly to win at Flanders, and as such, don't think Flanders can be his.

The motivation for Flanders needs to be there, and, given his background, it won't be quite there.

Agreed, the competition in October is nothing like the competition in April. Still, I doubt there will be lack of ability and motivation - for one, there will be pressure coming from his team. He was third in De Ronde both this year and last. Lotto can't afford to not have put forward a serious contender for Vlaanderen. With Hoste and Van Avermaet gone, who else do they have? - Roelandts? Willems? Perhaps. But I can see Lotto management being quite keen on creating a 'Boonen vs Gilbert' story in the Belgian press before Vlaanderen, rather than 'Boonen vs Cancellara'.

Pross

FJS wrote:

Pross wrote:

I don't know if it was just the late coverage and poor TV pictures due to weather / break up but that was the first time I've watched Lombardy and was looking forward to it and yet it was about the most uninspiring race I've ever seen. This may well have been due to Eurosport missing out most of the hills or perhaps the weather but it was as if Gilbert just rode away, there didn't seem to be any noticeable attack either when he first got away or when he ditched Scarponi - very strange race (not taking anything away from Gilbert who just dominated with apparent ease).

That wasn't due to Eurosport, exactly how it was watching without commercial brakes too. The most significant attack was Mollema's in the last kms of the Sormano, the rest mostly was the peloton slowly fragmented into smaller and smaller groups. Uninspiring is one view, the other is an epic race of attrition.

Unfortunately with less than an hour of coverage shown on ES it was hard to get the idea of it being an attritional race, it looked more like Gilbert was the only one who could be bothered. There was also no coverage at all of where many of the other pre race favourites were. In terms of conditions it was like a Belgian Spring classic had been moved to the Italian lakes. I'd been looking forward to it all afternoon but by time the tennis had finished I think I'd just got fed up waiting for it to start. :oops:

frenchfighter

Was surprised Cadel didn't finish, but just read that he crashed/got dropped? about 20km from the finish and got a lift from Sean Yates.

A hard race made even harder in wet and cold conditions. A tough way to end the year. Guys falling like bowling pins on a clay covered descent, narrow hilly roads in the constantly splitting peloton made for a very draining day.

After passing all of the 'dangerous' descents, I managed to drop myself on a seemingly safe bit of road 20km from the finish. I'm certainly glad for the quick witted thoughtfulness of the following Sky car driven by Sean Yates and his mechanic. "Are you ok?" ...."I'm not sure" could have been a lot worst than a brief headache and some head spins. I was good enough to find a direct way to the BMC hot shower and store of gauzes and betadine, still in time to see Phil take the win very convincingly.

inkyfingers

Cadel did say before the race that he was tired and probably didn't have the form to challenge for the win. After the season he's had I think we can let him off!

frenchfighter

"I was really careful. It would have been madness to take risks, and I was very cold. More or less, I was seized by the cold. It was so dreadful in that descent [of the Colma di Sormano]. They caught me on the descent and rode right by me - it was just not possible for me to link up with them. I'm glad that I could stay on my bike. I ended up in the second group. That's not bad…yet?"

"I was so cold in the last eight kilometers, that last climb [the San Fermo] was especially too hard for me. At the base, I was still in the chasing group with Nibali and Sanchez, but suddenly the power was gone. I started drifting. I was shivering with the cold on my bike and could not see out of my eyes. It was cold in the grueling finale. It was just too much for me, but I felt really good for a long time."
Mollema

moray_gub

FJS wrote:

Pross wrote:

I don't know if it was just the late coverage and poor TV pictures due to weather / break up but that was the first time I've watched Lombardy and was looking forward to it and yet it was about the most uninspiring race I've ever seen. This may well have been due to Eurosport missing out most of the hills or perhaps the weather but it was as if Gilbert just rode away, there didn't seem to be any noticeable attack either when he first got away or when he ditched Scarponi - very strange race (not taking anything away from Gilbert who just dominated with apparent ease).

That wasn't due to Eurosport, exactly how it was watching without commercial brakes too. The most significant attack was Mollema's in the last kms of the Sormano, the rest mostly was the peloton slowly fragmented into smaller and smaller groups. Uninspiring is one view, the other is an epic race of attrition.

I think i have to agree with the uninspiring camp the only real, thing of note was Nibs hitting the deck which in effect decided the outcome of the race. No real attacks of note apart from Gilbert stepping up just before the end of the last climb. Sometimes the weather makes races epic here it made it incredibly dull where the outcome was known from 25k out. Worst Lombardy for years.

afx237vi

Moray Gub wrote:

I think i have to agree with the uninspiring camp the only real, thing of note was Nibs hitting the deck which in effect decided the outcome of the race. No real attacks of note apart from Gilbert stepping up just before the end of the last climb. Sometimes the weather makes races epic here it made it incredibly dull where the outcome was known from 25k out. Worst Lombardy for years.

A bit like Paris-Roubaix this year. A dominant and extraordinary feat of riding... but not exactly a great race for the viewers.

rick_chasey

afx237vi wrote:

Moray Gub wrote:

I think i have to agree with the uninspiring camp the only real, thing of note was Nibs hitting the deck which in effect decided the outcome of the race. No real attacks of note apart from Gilbert stepping up just before the end of the last climb. Sometimes the weather makes races epic here it made it incredibly dull where the outcome was known from 25k out. Worst Lombardy for years.

A bit like Paris-Roubaix this year. A dominant and extraordinary feat of riding... but not exactly a great race for the viewers.

Canc in Roubaix was in a different league to this, as good as Pip's win was.