Milan - San Remo *spoiler*

greasedscotsman

disgruntledgoat wrote:

Edit: Hang on, aren't Sky all on Di2?

Can an electric cable not snap?

disgruntledgoat

greasedscotsman wrote:

disgruntledgoat wrote:

Edit: Hang on, aren't Sky all on Di2?

Can an electric cable not snap?

You'd imagine that there would be less stress put on a cable that sits there waiting for a current than on one that has to pull and release to change gear.

iainf72

greasedscotsman wrote:

iainf72 wrote:

Biggles had food poisoning from Tenerife it seems.

So stomach again

Who is Biggles? Need a nickname sticky so I can look up who people are talking about!

Edward Biggles-Holden, the anglicised EBH

adr82

greasedscotsman wrote:

iainf72 wrote:

Biggles had food poisoning from Tenerife it seems.

So stomach again

Who is Biggles? Need a nickname sticky so I can look up who people are talking about!

EBH? (I'm wondering too)

Edit: oh OK, it was!

above_the_cows

greasedscotsman wrote:

Is that Sagan's lippy Ciolek has on his cheek?

Sagan has the look of a man whose girlfriend has left him and he doesn't quite believe it or know what to do.

disgruntledgoat

Really?

I had it more of a "Soon, I will crush you all" style look.

smithy21

Or, just wait for the next chipper, then I will crush you all.

greasedscotsman

disgruntledgoat wrote:

greasedscotsman wrote:

disgruntledgoat wrote:

Edit: Hang on, aren't Sky all on Di2?

Can an electric cable not snap?

You'd imagine that there would be less stress put on a cable that sits there waiting for a current than on one that has to pull and release to change gear.

I dunno, maybe it just failed. Maybe Stannard forgot to recharge the battery?

above_the_cows

iainf72 wrote:

Biggles had food poisoning from Tenerife it seems.

So stomach again

I was wondering this.

The idea that 300k races are too long for EBH because of his tummy problems (which are supposedly now sorted) doesn't even work here as he had the opportunity to get off and have a proper natural break on the bus half-way through.

I really think the conditions (weather and the break in the race) were so strange that it is very hard to determine anyone's form. Obviously those who finished strongly have good form but I don't think we can just dismiss those who didn't finish, or finished many minutes down as having poor form.

And if that is true about Stannard then he really has attained Certified Beast Status©

disgruntledgoat wrote:

Really?

I had it more of a "Soon, I will crush you all" style look.

Could be. He just doesn't really look all there, his eyes look a bit 'dead' and as if he's about to cry. It could also be an evil look you're right. He looks so vacant that you can probably read what you want to into it.

graeme_s-2

The last time Stannard attacked properly when he managed to get a few lengths (and I got a bit over excited on the sofa) I thought he seemed to be turning his legs over very slowly, which seemed odd given he was trying to accelerate away. I put it down to him just being too utterly wrecked to push a high cadence, but it would make sense if he was stuck in his top gear.

disgruntledgoat

Above The Cows wrote:

iainf72 wrote:

Biggles had food poisoning from Tenerife it seems.

So stomach again

I was wondering this.

The idea that 300k races are too long for EBH because of his tummy problems (which are supposedly now sorted) doesn't even work here as he had the opportunity to get off and have a proper natural break on the bus half-way through.

I really think the conditions (weather and the break in the race) were so strange that it is very hard to determine anyone's form. Obviously those who finished strongly have good form but I don't think we can just dismiss those who didn't finish, or finished many minutes down as having poor form.
.

Maybe it was a direct result of not using mud guards in the rain, that gives you a dodgy tum according to Maggie. :roll:

Ben6899

He's certainly in #11 in this photo and it's not a scenario (looks to be on the flat) where you'd argue #11 would be the best choice...

above_the_cows

disgruntledgoat wrote:

Above The Cows wrote:

iainf72 wrote:

Biggles had food poisoning from Tenerife it seems.

So stomach again

I was wondering this.

The idea that 300k races are too long for EBH because of his tummy problems (which are supposedly now sorted) doesn't even work here as he had the opportunity to get off and have a proper natural break on the bus half-way through.

I really think the conditions (weather and the break in the race) were so strange that it is very hard to determine anyone's form. Obviously those who finished strongly have good form but I don't think we can just dismiss those who didn't finish, or finished many minutes down as having poor form.
.

Maybe it was a direct result of not using mud guards in the rain, that gives you a dodgy tum according to Maggie. :roll:

Maybe a cold wet body just messes up your insides generally if you've got a delicate constitution? I've got a kidney ache before from having a really cold, wet back and having a tailwind blowing on it - kidney ache is not nice.

Jez mon

He also looks to be using electronic...guess it might have played up in the rain?

I think it's too early to draw any conclusions about EBH's (in)ability to do long races...he certainly managed well in the Worlds last year, perhaps he actually had a bug, or just got cold and wet, as opposed to having an issue with the distance?

Also, being the massive Cav fanboi that I am, I can't help but feel that had he received more help he may have been in with a shot.

graeme_s-2

Jez mon wrote:

I think it's too early to draw any conclusions about EBH's (in)ability to do long races...he certainly managed well in the Worlds last year, perhaps he actually had a bug, or just got cold and wet, as opposed to having an issue with the distance?.

As others have said, it was such a weird race I don't think you can really draw any conclusions from the riders who dropped out or who were struggling. If you look at yesterday in isolation then EBH did no worse than Nibali, but nobody's suggesting Nibali can't do long races.

above_the_cows

Jez mon wrote:

Also, being the massive Cav fanboi that I am, I can't help but feel that had he received more help he may have been in with a shot.

It was only him and Chavanel left at the sharp end. Stybar was the third highest placed OPQS rider coming in over 5 mins down, Velits was the only other OPQS finisher 13 minutes back.

I wonder what was discussed tactics wise? Whether Cav feels angered that he didn't have any support, that Chavanel went off on the attack? Or was it just ride and see where the chips fall given the conditions? I actually think Cav's 9th place here is really good seeing as he rode both the Cipressa and the Poggio without any team support, something very different from 2009.

frenchfighter

Cancellara's comments:
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/cancell ... n-san-remo

Pross

Above The Cows wrote:

Jez mon wrote:

Also, being the massive Cav fanboi that I am, I can't help but feel that had he received more help he may have been in with a shot.

It was only him and Chavanel left at the sharp end. Stybar was the third highest placed OPQS rider coming in over 5 mins down, Velits was the only other OPQS finisher 13 minutes back.

I wonder what was discussed tactics wise? Whether Cav feels angered that he didn't have any support, that Chavanel went off on the attack? Or was it just ride and see where the chips fall given the conditions? I actually think Cav's 9th place here is really good seeing as he rode both the Cipressa and the Poggio without any team support, something very different from 2009.

I think Chavanel going off the front was a good tactic but the lack of anyone to bring Cav back up when the chasers went away was a problem. It was a good ride by Cav though, he was near the front whenever I saw him, even on the Cipressa when other sprinters were going out the back.

frenchfighter

above_the_cows

Pross wrote:

Above The Cows wrote:

Jez mon wrote:

Also, being the massive Cav fanboi that I am, I can't help but feel that had he received more help he may have been in with a shot.

It was only him and Chavanel left at the sharp end. Stybar was the third highest placed OPQS rider coming in over 5 mins down, Velits was the only other OPQS finisher 13 minutes back.

I wonder what was discussed tactics wise? Whether Cav feels angered that he didn't have any support, that Chavanel went off on the attack? Or was it just ride and see where the chips fall given the conditions? I actually think Cav's 9th place here is really good seeing as he rode both the Cipressa and the Poggio without any team support, something very different from 2009.

I think Chavanel going off the front was a good tactic but the lack of anyone to bring Cav back up when the chasers went away was a problem. It was a good ride by Cav though, he was near the front whenever I saw him, even on the Cipressa when other sprinters were going out the back.

Yeah I said yesterday I thought Chava off the front was a good idea as it would force other teams to ride. I think the way the final winning group formed with the teams that were in it on the Poggio basically meant there was no one apart from Phinney (because BMC didn't have anyone in the it) prepared to ride to catch the lead group of Cancellara, Stannard, Sagan, Ciolek, Chavanel and Paolini.

I just realised Haussler finished 13th.

Squaggles

What happened to Boonen and Terpstra ?

graeme_s-2

Squaggles wrote:

What happened to Boonen and Terpstra ?

Boonen quit - before the restart I think, sounded pissed off that the organisers hadn't just cancelled the race given the conditions. Think Terpstra quit too, but not sure.

ocdupalais

Just trying to remember the last time one or two riders led from bottom to top of the Poggio...?

I hope Ciolek thanked Stannard for that last dig he put in with under 2km to go (how many was that by then- 7 or 8?) reckon it was Sagan having to close that down that did enough to take the edge off his sprint for the line.

deejay

Graeme_S wrote:

Squaggles wrote:

What happened to Boonen and Terpstra ?

Boonen quit - before the restart I think, sounded pissed off that the organisers hadn't just cancelled the race given the conditions.

So that's why the Belgian races get cancelled because the Belgians are getting soft.
2004 Het Volk and a Blizzard hit the start area at about 09.15 for about 25 mins it really came down.
10.00 and the thaw had set in with the locals predicting a half hour delay. The teams had their meeting with organisers at 10.30 and cancelled the race but the locals were disgusted as the roads were now only wet but snow remained on the grass.
VDB (Frank Vandenbroucke) was furious and got his Fassa Bortolo team together and rode off on their bikes while shouting at the other teams about being Sissy's. (or something to that effect in 3 languages)
I never saw them again as I went round the course and It turned out to be a lovely sunny afternoon and quite warm.
I'm glad that I didn't go to Het Nieuwsblad this year.

frenchfighter

http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/10- ... san-remo-1

Macaloon

frenchfighter wrote:

http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/10-conclusions-from-milan-san-remo-1

That was a good read with some excellent pics:

On_What

A cracking ride by Stannard, it's a shame Chavanel and the Russian didn't put in more effort when they were away as a three, perhaps they could have held off the chasing Sagan. Fair play to Stannard, really impressive, nice to see a Brit rider taking the classics seriously.

above_the_cows

Macaloon wrote:

frenchfighter wrote:

http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/10-conclusions-from-milan-san-remo-1

That was a good read with some excellent pics:

Poor Cav, he looks like his botox session has gone horribly wrong. :shock:

simon_e

Cav looks proper 'winter club run' cold in that photo!

Seven hours on the bike, split in two stages, first freezing ice on your clothing, the second soaking wet and 2-3ºC... everyone who finished deserved a medal (and equally I have no issue with anyone who, like Tom, felt it wasn't worth it). They might be well paid and have big, posh team buses, but they're still only blokes riding bicycles (without mudguards) wearing lycra, not polar explorers.

Tom Butcher

Is it asking too much for them to wear proper winter clothing ? It wasn't that cold that with a bit of thought they could have stayed relatively comfortable - winter shoes and multiple layers of overshoes, decent gloves not their standard team issue cool weather gloves. Boonen says the organisers knew it was going to snow - well in that case so did he. Most of the riders got on with it - if Boonen wanted to make a point about the organisation after the race fair enough but at least finish it.