Best Spring Classic 2012

greasedscotsman

OK, the spring classics are now over, but which of the 2012 races was best?

rick_chasey

M-SR for me, if I'm being objective.

greasedscotsman

Rick Chasey wrote:

M-SR for me, if I'm being objective.

Yeah, MSR was good. But I'm gonna have to go for Roubaix!

rick_chasey

I think we had two extremes.

We had one guy dominate all the cobbles, and the big showdown we were hoping for never happened. No-one else was close.

In the Ardenne, no-one seemed to think they were in really good form - good enough at least to take it to the rest - so it was shut for a long time.

M-SR was the one most beautifully balanced, which is what a good M-SR is all about. For sure, I moan that LBL was shut untill 20km to go, yet I praise M-SR despite the fact that's shut untill the Poggio - but I guess it's about expectations.

ddraver

hmm, I enjoyed P-R (despite Sky), MSR, OHW and the RVV most out of all of them, which one to choose as best??

OHW was good, lots of action, no idea who was going to win until the last 10m and a surprise winner to boot, MSR had Canc 's brilliant descent, the chase from Sagan and Gerrans' sprint, RVV had some excellent cat and mouse play and Boonen was just orgasmically awesome at P-R...

Think i'm going to have to go for OHW as in tewrms of pure, post club run, sitting on the sofa with a beer, I enjoyed that one the most

MrTapir

I chose MSR, as i thought that had the most exciting finish and maybe because i was so excitied as it was the first race of the season i watched. but i havent seen them all. I thought Flanders was good but the finish was boring and new course is a bit too difficult i think and too much flat at the end. P-R was good for Boonen's masterful cobbled riding, Amstel was boring until Frieire went, LBL was good

RichN95.

I voted for Amstel Gold on the basis that it was better than last year's version and I'm not sure you say that about any of the others.

shinyhelmut

I vote MSR. You know exactly what to expect so don't need to tune in for 3+hours to see nothing happen. In the last few years the last 20 minutes or so of MSR has been great racing. (I'm sure someone will now pop up to remind me of an edition which was boring....) Even Cav's '09 sprint win was far from a foregone conclusion with Haussler's early sprint nearly taking it.

rick_chasey

RichN95 wrote:

I voted for Amstel Gold on the basis that it was better than last year's version and I'm not sure you say that about any of the others.

Which one did you enjoy the most?

Yellow Peril

Roubaix without a doubt. Absolute panache by Boonen. My runner up is L-B-L for Nibs death or glory break.

RichN95.

Rick Chasey wrote:

RichN95 wrote:

I voted for Amstel Gold on the basis that it was better than last year's version and I'm not sure you say that about any of the others.

Which one did you enjoy the most?

Roubaix. But I always enjoy that one the most.

I didn't think anything really really stood out this year.

Lightning

Roubaix for me too. It's not my favorite usually but Boonen made it the best for me this year.

Pross

I went for Amstel just down to the close finish. The only one I watched a significant amount of was Flanders which had potential if it hadn't been for one man! I missed P-R which is usually my favourite but sounds like that was also too much one man's dominance.

rick_chasey

Pross wrote:

I went for Amstel just down to the close finish. The only one I watched a significant amount of was Flanders which had potential if it hadn't been for one man! I missed P-R which is usually my favourite but sounds like that was also too much one man's dominance.

It was, but it was so unexpected it made it exciting - at least for me. If Canc had done it, we'd be "here we go again" but with Boonen we, or at least I, didn't really know it was going to work.

If you read the spoiler thread I'm bricking it for a quite a while.

Cleat Eastwood

Rick Chasey wrote:

Pross wrote:

I went for Amstel just down to the close finish. The only one I watched a significant amount of was Flanders which had potential if it hadn't been for one man! I missed P-R which is usually my favourite but sounds like that was also too much one man's dominance.

It was, but it was so unexpected it made it exciting - at least for me. If Canc had done it, we'd be "here we go again" but with Boonen we, or at least I, didn't really know it was going to work.

If you read the spoiler thread I'm bricking it for a quite a while.

I agree, thats why I voted for it, it was one of those 'wow he's going for it moments' in other words panache - although fleche W was a close second for me - I love seeing jrods explosive power and it was exciting seeing the pack close in on hesjedal and nordhaugh biggest let down was flanders but I think last year we were spoilt for choice.

greasedscotsman

Pross wrote:

I missed P-R which is usually my favourite but sounds like that was also too much one man's dominance.

I dunno, I don't think it was as dominant as Cancellara's win in 2010. Boonen's maximum lead was about a minute and a half, whereas Cancellara had over three minutes at one point. If you watch it back now, it looks very dominant, but at the time I think it was only certain Boonen was going to win once he had got through the sections around the Carrefour de l'Arbre with over a minutes lead. If he had punctured, maybe on the section at Hem, he would have had time to take a new wheel or bike.

TheStone

LBL for me.

inkyfingers

For me it was between Flanders and Het Nieuwsblad, went for HN in the end because it got exciting early and ended with an unexpected winner.

Roubaix was incredibly impressive, but not as much a spectacle.

I'm sad to say that I pretty much slept through the Ardennes classics.

takethehighroad

Paris-Roubaix is, and always will be, truly the Queen of the Classics, and nothing comes even remotely close.

The sheer nature of the course means the best on the day wins.

greasedscotsman

TakeTheHighRoad wrote:

Paris-Roubaix is, and always will be, truly the Queen of the Classics, and nothing comes even remotely close.

The sheer nature of the course means the best on the day wins.

And that's the right answer!

finchy

Flanders. It has to be a Boonen one and seeing as P-R was more or less done and dusted with 20km left, Flanders scrapes it for me.

After Boonen lost a bike length on the final climb, he just seemed that bit more vulnerable, even though it turned that he was, in fact, an unbeatable winning machine that day.

Pross

TakeTheHighRoad wrote:

Paris-Roubaix is, and always will be, truly the Queen of the Classics, and nothing comes even remotely close.

The sheer nature of the course means the best on the day wins.

I agree with the first sentence but not the second, the race probably relies more on the luck of not getting a mechanical at a crucial time than any other race. Also, it isn't uncommon for the favourites to mark each other out and let someone else slip away for the win.

LangerDan

Why isn't Dwars door Vlaanderen up there? I thought is was one of the more enjoyable races of 2012 so far - no expectations but we got a great little race.

Anyhoo - I'm holding on until the end of the season for deciding on the best classic of 2012. Lombardy is now only 6 days after the Worlds and over not dissimilar terrain. Provided the riders haven't gone on the p!ss for the week, it should be a doozy.

greasedscotsman

LangerDan wrote:

Why isn't Dwars door Vlaanderen up there? I thought is was one of the more enjoyable races of 2012 so far - no expectations but we got a great little race.

Anyhoo - I'm holding on until the end of the season for deciding on the best classic of 2012. Lombardy is now only 6 days after the Worlds and over not dissimilar terrain. Provided the riders haven't gone on the p!ss for the week, it should be a doozy.

Sorry, polls are limited to 10 items (I think...), I tried to pick the ones I thought most people would go for. And title now changed to Spring Classic!

LangerDan

greasedscotsman wrote:

LangerDan wrote:

Why isn't Dwars door Vlaanderen up there? I thought is was one of the more enjoyable races of 2012 so far - no expectations but we got a great little race.

Anyhoo - I'm holding on until the end of the season for deciding on the best classic of 2012. Lombardy is now only 6 days after the Worlds and over not dissimilar terrain. Provided the riders haven't gone on the p!ss for the week, it should be a doozy.

Sorry, polls are limited to 10 items (I think...), I tried to pick the ones I thought most people would go for. And title now changed to Spring Classic!

Jaysus - at this rate, why don't you just remove the 9 races that don't suit you and just leave Paris-Roubaix

I'm going for E3 - again, not a "headline" race but very enjoyable, good mid-race drama and a great finale

greasedscotsman

LangerDan wrote:

Jaysus - at this rate, why don't you just remove the 9 races that don't suit you and just leave Paris-Roubaix

Hmm, now there's an idea...

moray_gub

MSR for me the rest were maybe PR apart dull. Worst start to the season in terms of excitement for donkeys not helped by a turd of a Flanders course and Cancellara's crash.

takethehighroad

greasedscotsman wrote:

LangerDan wrote:

Jaysus - at this rate, why don't you just remove the 9 races that don't suit you and just leave Paris-Roubaix

Hmm, now there's an idea...

That's the same criteria for Rick's rider of the year poll. Take out everyone that's not Boonen

dave milne

LBL for entertainment
PR for mind-blowing ride
Het Niewusbad as a solid 3rd

Abdoujaparov

LBL or MSR cos my expectations were fairly low. Was massively looking forward to a Boonen / Canc showdown at RVV and PR which of course didn't happen. Boonen's PR win was hugely impressive, but a little shine was taken by his main rival not being there.

rick_chasey

Just letting you know I'm downloading Paris Roubaix 2002.

That is all.