Boonen skipping le Tour

finchy
finchy Posts: 6,686
edited May 2012 in Pro race
Boonen's going to give the Tour a miss to concentrate on the Olympics.

Cue my gloating at anyone who called the Olympics a chipper. :P 8)

Comments

  • B3rnieMac
    B3rnieMac Posts: 384
    If he had turned up.....would we have noticed? Spring is his thing.
  • finchy
    finchy Posts: 6,686
    No, Boonen is back big time, I'm sure he'd have got a stage or 2 - maybe late Vino-style escapes on tough stage finishes.
  • LangerDan
    LangerDan Posts: 6,132
    He's already got a green jersey and stage wins. Maybe he just wants the opportunity to wear a series of naff golden accessories that come with winning the London novelty race?
    'This week I 'ave been mostly been climbing like Basso - Shirley Basso.'
  • LeicesterLad
    LeicesterLad Posts: 3,908
    Makes perfect sense for Boonen to skip le Tour and go to Poland. He can't contest the sprints so whats the point in dragging himself over mountains for nothing? the terrain and route in Poland is much more specific/similar to the Box Hill circuit.
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  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 75,661
    Source?
    _
  • LeicesterLad
    LeicesterLad Posts: 3,908
    http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/video-boonen-chooses-poland-over-tour-de-france-for-olympic-preparation
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  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 75,661
    Surprised Lefevre's OK'd that.

    Guess he can do WTF he wants after that spring.

    I'll be honest, I'm disappointed.
    _
  • OffTheBackAdam
    OffTheBackAdam Posts: 1,869
    Makes sense.
    He can't compete with the sprinters in the Cav league, possibly he thinks that doing the TdF will be too draining for him.
    Remember that you are an Englishman and thus have won first prize in the lottery of life.
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 75,661
    OffTheBackAdam wrote:
    Makes sense.
    He can't compete with the sprinters in the Cav league, possibly he thinks that doing the TdF will be too draining for him.
    Certainly does.

    You'd think he'd be on the start line given it's in Belgium.
    _
  • greasedscotsman
    greasedscotsman Posts: 6,962
    Rick Chasey wrote:
    I'll be honest, I'm disappointed.

    Why's that? Did you think he would win something at the Tour?
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 75,661
    greasedscotsman wrote:
    Rick Chasey wrote:
    I'll be honest, I'm disappointed.

    Why's that? Did you think he would win something at the Tour?

    Possibly.

    It's more I like the Tour virtually as much as the Ronde since we get so, so, so much coverage - and not just on the road. Behind the scenes, programs that follow the Tour round and talk cycling generally (the avondetappe for example), interviews, back stories, etc etc etc. In every race every rider has a story, and in the Tour, we actually get to hear all of them. As such, I like to see Boonen there, so we get to see that.

    I also think if he actually manned up a bit and rode a bit like Cancellara does in the classics he could make an otherwise very dull stage very interesting.
    _
  • knedlicky
    knedlicky Posts: 3,097
    LeicesterLad wrote:
    Makes perfect sense for Boonen to skip le Tour and go to Poland ... the terrain and route in Poland is much more specific/similar to the Box Hill circuit.
    That being the case (and the Tour of Poland organisers also claim it to be the ideal preparation for London), it’ll be interesting to see which other riders (allrounders, rouleurs, and sprinters who can climb okay) elect to do Poland rather than the TdF.

    Haussler said last January that he’d be skipping the Tour so he could better prepare for the Olympics, and Cancellara said 3 years ago that the Olympics were very important to him, so both might also be in Poland.

    Pozzato has said the Olympics is one of his goals for this year, and he (and Guardini) should be in Poland, because Farnese Vini haven’t been invited to the TdF. Same is true for Colnago (with Modolo).

    It wouldn’t surprise me to see the likes of Degenkolb, Sagan, Martin (both T. and D.), Gilbert, L.L. Sanchez, and Albasini (and even the odd Frenchman, perhaps Peraud more than Chavanel) all being in Poland.
    There could also be a few from the Giro (and therefore who one would not anyway expect to find at the TdF) going to Poland for Olympic preparation - Cunego, De Gendt, Ballan, Ventoso, Bennati, Hushovd, Gaspararotto.

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