Boonen not sure about the Tour re Olympics

rick_chasey

So Boonen's #1 aim is still the Olympics.

He's currently not sure if the Tour will be the best preparation or not for it. He's concerned that a 250km race needs 'freshness'.


What's the forum consensus - should he ride it or not?


As an aside, I'm surprised he's even been given the option by Lefevre. Then again, when you do a cobbled classics season like he has, you can probably do whatever you want.

greasedscotsman

Rick Chasey wrote:

What's the forum consensus - should he ride it or not?

No, not if the Olympics is his number one aim. What would he do at the Tour anyway, he's not going to beat Cavendish in a sprint, so his best bet would be to try and get away on a lumpy stage. So really the best would be a stage win or two. I'd say no, go to the Olympics and forget the Tour. It's not like he's desparate to win, his season is a success already!

tailwindhome

Start the Tour and bail before the mountains or ride the Tour of Poland or other?

greasedscotsman

TailWindHome wrote:

Start the Tour and bail before the mountains or ride the Tour of Poland or other?

Is there going to be anyone left in Paris? Think I might have to enter, quite fancy a stage win on the Champs Elysees!

RichN95.

Despite the Olympics being designated a chipper on this forum, the London games should be his top priority and Belgium should back him to the hilt. E3 and Wevelgem have shown he is the king of the reduced sprint and that's exactly what Belgium need to make the Olympic race.

On the other hand, if he focusses on the Tour he will need to rely on breakaways because he's not in Cav and Greipel's league. If he beats them in sprints I'll give credence to the QS doping rumours.

liquor box

greasedscotsman wrote:

TailWindHome wrote:

Start the Tour and bail before the mountains or ride the Tour of Poland or other?

Is there going to be anyone left in Paris? Think I might have to enter, quite fancy a stage win on the Champs Elysees!

I hope they move the crowd barriers into the flat gutters and only leave the cobbles on the straight

jibberjim

It'll take some pretty serious bribe money for him to drop out and then do the tour of poland - you can't start a race when you've DNF'd another one that overlaps without permission.

Yellow Peril

More importantly does Boonen's "endorsement" of the Olympics elevate it from chipper status? If not isn't he better preparing for a chipper by racing a chipper i.e The Tour of Poland?

finchy

RichN95 wrote:

Despite the Olympics being designated a chipper on this forum

I somehow doubt that Boonen would care too much about the members of this forum calling the Olympics a chipper. Nor would any professional anywhere in the world. Ever.

inkyfingers

As much as I hate guys dropping out of big races I think the best preparation would be to ride the tour and possibly drop out in the final week. To win the Olympic RR you are going to need some serious racing in your legs but without completely knackering yourself, not sure the Tour of Poland is going to give him that.

I think he rode the Vuelta before he won the worlds in '05?

iainf72

johnfinch wrote:

RichN95 wrote:

Despite the Olympics being designated a chipper on this forum

I somehow doubt that Boonen would care too much about the members of this forum calling the Olympics a chipper. Nor would any professional anywhere in the world. Ever.

Do you think so? Man, that breaks my heart.

Serious question : If everything else remained the same, but the Olympics were still "amateur", how many people would remain "amateur" so they could compete in them.

finchy

Of course nobody would stay amateur to compete in the Olympics. That, however, is not the case - they are professional and they are now a major aim for many of the top pros.

Which do you think most professionals would prefer to win - Olympic RR or Giro di Lombardia?

p.s. when people are talking about a race being a "chipper", are you talking about if as a spectacle or a sporting contest?

BikingBernie

johnfinch wrote:

Which do you think most professionals would prefer to win - Olympic RR or Giro di Lombardia?

Probably the Giro di Lombardia. Certainly Paris-Roubaix, the Tour of Flanders, The Giro or the Tour De France...

finchy

BikingBernie wrote:

johnfinch wrote:

Which do you think most professionals would prefer to win - Olympic RR or Giro di Lombardia?

Probably the Giro di Lombardia. Certainly Paris-Roubaix, the Tour of Flanders, The Giro or the Tour De France...

The Giro di Lombardia above the Olympic RR? The Olympics are only once every four years, the field is of the highest quality and usually in decent form, it's far more lucrative in terms of sponsorship deals, etc and gets far more worldwide coverage.

That said, it's probably going to be a terrible race this year.

iainf72

johnfinch wrote:

The Giro di Lombardia above the Olympic RR? The Olympics are only once every four years, the field is of the highest quality and usually in decent form, it's far more lucrative in terms of sponsorship deals, etc and gets far more worldwide coverage.

Didn't Wiggins say after Athens he didn't particularly benefit from winning gold?

In terms of it's chipper status, here's how I get to that. If it went away, would anyone really care? If Lombardy disappeared, we'd all be upset and sad but if the olympic RR disappeared, we'd moan about it briefly, then shrug and move on.

Cycling doesn't need the olympics like a lot of sports do. Well, road cycling. If you're a track and field athlete, the olympics are as good as it gets. The same is not true for cycling.

RichN95.

I've said this before. Sanchez, Cancellara, Hamilton and Bettini all had their Olympic wins celebrated on their kit. I've never seen a monument celebrated in the same way by anyone.

iainf72

RichN95 wrote:

I've said this before. Sanchez, Cancellara, Hamilton and Bettini all had their Olympic wins celebrated on their kit. I've never seen a monument celebrated in the same way by anyone.

That's because everyone knows if you've won a monument. They were just terrified of being Alexi Grewal

RichN95.

iainf72 wrote:

RichN95 wrote:

I've said this before. Sanchez, Cancellara, Hamilton and Bettini all had their Olympic wins celebrated on their kit. I've never seen a monument celebrated in the same way by anyone.

That's because everyone knows if you've won a monument. They were just terrified of being Alexi Grewal

Are they terrified of Oliver Zaugg and Nick Nuyens now?

If riders thought that the Olympics weren't prestigious, they wouldn't turn up. Yet in Beijing, riders like Menchov, Sastre, Contador and Leipheimer, who have barely done a handful one day races between them, all turned up.

ddraver

Tom's done everything he can do in Le Tour, not sure he has a genuine Green Jersey Shot this year, He could win a token stage or two maybe...

He's already had a superb season, The Olympics will be a new item on his palmeres, something different...

iainf72

RichN95 wrote:

If riders thought that the Olympics weren't prestigious, they wouldn't turn up. Yet in Beijing, riders like Menchov, Sastre, Contador and Leipheimer, who have barely done a handful one day races between them, all turned up.

No one suggested they're as clever as I am.

I like that 75% of the names you gave have been linked to doping. Cycling is awesome.

rick_chasey

Ok. So does Tom ride the first week & drop out? Bail altogether? He really doesn't seem to enjoy the nervousness of the Tour week one and that seems to cost him a lot of energy.

finchy

iainf72 wrote:

johnfinch wrote:

The Giro di Lombardia above the Olympic RR? The Olympics are only once every four years, the field is of the highest quality and usually in decent form, it's far more lucrative in terms of sponsorship deals, etc and gets far more worldwide coverage.

Didn't Wiggins say after Athens he didn't particularly benefit from winning gold?

In terms of it's chipper status, here's how I get to that. If it went away, would anyone really care? If Lombardy disappeared, we'd all be upset and sad but if the olympic RR disappeared, we'd moan about it briefly, then shrug and move on.

Cycling doesn't need the olympics like a lot of sports do. Well, road cycling. If you're a track and field athlete, the olympics are as good as it gets. The same is not true for cycling.

I was talking about the RR and TTs, not track cycling.

No, cycling doesn't need the Olympics, but then as it turns out, it didn't need the GP des Nations, Midi Libre, Zurich Championship or Bordeaux-Paris either. Yet they were all important dates on the cycling calendar.

You are a bit older than me (I'm 32) and probably have been into cycling for longer and associate the Olympics with being a 2nd rate race, but times change. These days we see just about all the world's top riders, highly motivated and in (nearly) top form trying to take a once-in-4-years title as part of their national team which will get them recognition beyond the usual fans. If they are competing on a decent route (Beijing), then isn't that something for which we should be thankful?

finchy

Rick Chasey wrote:

Ok. So does Tom ride the first week & drop out? Bail altogether? He really doesn't seem to enjoy the nervousness of the Tour week one and that seems to cost him a lot of energy.

Take part, go for a breakaway stage win or 2, forget about the bunch sprints, take it easy in the mountains.

Tusher

Yup, start the Tour, have a long break away day, then leave and prepare for London.

The Belgians usually win a couple of medals at the Olympics. OK, he's set for life back home, but it would be HUGE for Tommeke to win.

rick_chasey

I don't think Boonen will ever be allowed to get into a break at the Tour - especially not week one.

inkyfingers

Rick Chasey wrote:

I don't think Boonen will ever be allowed to get into a break at the Tour - especially not week one.

Hushovd often manages it, can't see why Boonen would be any different unless he was in the running for the green jersey.

ms_tree

Don't bother with the Tour Tom. You could do Poland and then do the Olympics.

ddraver

inkyfingers wrote:

Rick Chasey wrote:

I don't think Boonen will ever be allowed to get into a break at the Tour - especially not week one.

Hushovd often manages it, can't see why Boonen would be any different unless he was in the running for the green jersey.

Yeah, I'm not sure this is in his make up but sitting out of a few sprints, loosing some time and GJ points so that he can have a crack at some stages could be a good move, then drop out before the second set of mountains (cant remember which order they are in this year)

rick_chasey

Yeah - I've just seen 3 or 4 interviews of his over the years where he moans that he's never ever let into the break.

It's obvious he doesn't like the Tour.