Ronde Van Vlaanderen discussion

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  • Yellow Peril
    Yellow Peril Posts: 4,466
    Richmond Racer wrote:
    Lars Bak!

    Do not underrare Bak! there or thereabouts in the the great snows of MSR 2013. He just needs more Arctic classics.

    FF I think you are being hard on Nuyens. I remember the race well, he rode to the max of his capabilities and hung around long enough to be able to jump Fabu at the end. If he never achieves anything else he'll always have that day.
    @JaunePeril

    Winner of the Bike Radar Pro Race Wiggins Hour Prediction Competition
  • andyrr
    andyrr Posts: 1,823
    Races such as Parix Roubaix and Flanders tend - NOT always - to be won by the rider who is the strongest or amongst one of the strongest guys.
    These 2 races don't feature climbs of any significant length so guys that are strong on the flat are able to get up the rises (of which P-R has essentially none).
    But they are won by the rider that uses his strength in the smartest way - do you negate your lack of any finishing kick to try to power away a longer way from the line or do you hope to hang on in the hope that your kick is still there after 6 hours ?
    Nuyens, Knaven, O'Grady, Van Summeren were not bad winners, to name a few of the recent'ish winners of these 2 cobbled monuments - the race is contested by teams and the reason that these guys won was that they and their teams took decisions, took chances with their cards on the day and it worked out.
    If it is a case of the strongest man always wins then lets have the riders sit on on turbos or maybe rollers all in a line, with their bikes fitted with knobbly tyres and lets decide that way.
    If all of the riders were asked who is the current strongest rider on the cobbles then probably 9 out of 10 or maybe more would name Cancellara - fortunately, IMHO, that does not preclude another rider getting an opportunity to shine and grabbing it with both hands.
    A Cancellara win may be 'deserved' but to my eyes anyway likely to be dull.
  • RichN95.
    RichN95. Posts: 27,253
    Sometimes cycling is called 'poker on wheels' but some people seem to want it to be a sophisticated as Snap!
    Twitter: @RichN95
  • Yellow Peril
    Yellow Peril Posts: 4,466
    RichN95 wrote:
    Sometimes cycling is called 'poker on wheels' but some people seem to want it to be a sophisticated as Snap!


    I take your point and agree. Nuyens/Cancellara was a David/Goliath victory
    @JaunePeril

    Winner of the Bike Radar Pro Race Wiggins Hour Prediction Competition
  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 43,463
    OCDuPalais wrote:
    frenchfighter wrote:
    Roubaix is survival of the fittest and almost always a worthy winner. Fabu would have won in 2011 if several wheelsuckers murdered the race and raced to make Cancellara lose.
    ... Or survival of the luckiest of the fittest.

    It's about now in discussions like this that I think of the scene in Woody Allen's 'Radio Days' when his mum and dad argue about which is the best ocean: the Atlantic or the Pacific...

    Pacific every time, no brainer.

    I wonder if the deluded ones who think the Flanders warm up race is better than Roubaix also think the Atlantic is the better ocean? Fools!
  • RichN95.
    RichN95. Posts: 27,253
    Pross wrote:
    OCDuPalais wrote:
    It's about now in discussions like this that I think of the scene in Woody Allen's 'Radio Days' when his mum and dad argue about which is the best ocean: the Atlantic or the Pacific...

    Pacific every time, no brainer.

    I wonder if the deluded ones who think the Flanders warm up race is better than Roubaix also think the Atlantic is the better ocean? Fools!
    The Atlantic provides the gulf stream, which stops me having to deal with snow very often.
    What has the Pacific done? Hawaii Five-O.
    Twitter: @RichN95
  • milton50
    milton50 Posts: 3,856
    Pfft. Looks like I'm outnumbered. I'll always maintain that pre-2011 Flanders produced better racing in general though.
  • ocdupalais
    ocdupalais Posts: 4,317
    Milton50 wrote:
    Pfft. Looks like I'm outnumbered. I'll always maintain that pre-2011 Flanders produced better racing in general though.

    Perhaps the Flanders fans are less opinionated and more considered, hence we haven't heard as much from them...?
  • milton50
    milton50 Posts: 3,856
    OCDuPalais wrote:
    Milton50 wrote:
    Pfft. Looks like I'm outnumbered. I'll always maintain that pre-2011 Flanders produced better racing in general though.

    Perhaps the Flanders fans are less opinionated and more considered, hence we haven't heard as much from them...?

    Yep, that must be it. Flanders fans don't hijack other people's discussions with chest-thumping statements about how much better Flanders is than any other race. We're just quietly content to keep our thoughts to ourselves. :wink:
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,667
    Millar's shoes, my favorite yet I think.

    ronde_zps87afc487.jpg
  • frenchfighter
    frenchfighter Posts: 30,642
    Superb interview with Freire about Flander's:
    http://m.cyclingnews.com/features/freir ... f-flanders
    Contador is the Greatest
  • tailwindhome
    tailwindhome Posts: 19,436
    http://www.sporza.be/cm/sporza/videozon ... _Kwaremont

    Police prevent Sagan from riding the Oude Kwaremont
    “New York has the haircuts, London has the trousers, but Belfast has the reason!
  • disgruntledgoat
    disgruntledgoat Posts: 8,957
    I'm not too fussed on the new route yet, but that's probably because it's yet to produce a stone cold classic.

    However, if I may go all FrenchFighter for a moment, the old route did have it's weaknesses. There was about 30km from the top of the Mollenberg to the foot of the Muur and 12km of slightly downhill roads into Ninove to the finish where sod all happened.
    "In many ways, my story was that of a raging, Christ-like figure who hauled himself off the cross, looked up at the Romans with blood in his eyes and said 'My turn, sock cookers'"

    @gietvangent
  • disgruntledgoat
    disgruntledgoat Posts: 8,957
    Incidentally, I was clearing out my decade worth of cycling magazines before I departed and found one with interviews with the "New Generation" of Belgian talent from about 2004/5.

    Nick Nuyens was touted as a monument winner, Maxime Monfort was supposed to be a GC rider and there was a quirky young bloke living in a tiny house, struggling with illnesses and injury who didn't seem to fit neatly into any of the boxes they tried to put him in... Ladies and Gentlemen Phillippe Gilbert!
    "In many ways, my story was that of a raging, Christ-like figure who hauled himself off the cross, looked up at the Romans with blood in his eyes and said 'My turn, sock cookers'"

    @gietvangent
  • mm1
    mm1 Posts: 1,063
    Saw the Garmins heading back to their hotel as I was riding from Gent to Oudenaarde earlier today. David Millar was on his own further upstream along the Schelde. Also spotted a Topsport Vlandren rider motorpacing on the towpath and a couple of MTN Qhubekas. This is my favourite weekend of the year.
  • RichN95.
    RichN95. Posts: 27,253
    disgruntledgoat wrote:
    Nick Nuyens was touted as a monument winner, Maxime Monfort was supposed to be a GC rider and there was a quirky young bloke living in a tiny house, struggling with illnesses and injury who didn't seem to fit neatly into any of the boxes they tried to put him in... Ladies and Gentlemen Phillippe Gilbert!
    I love looking back at those sort of articles.
    There's a Dutch website somewhere which ranks that year's top under 23 prospects. Looking back, some years they pick a load of future stars and some years you wonder who the hell these people are.
    Twitter: @RichN95
  • knedlicky
    knedlicky Posts: 3,097
    Milton50 wrote:
    Pfft. Looks like I'm outnumbered. I'll always maintain that pre-2011 Flanders produced better racing in general though.
    I prefer Flanders to P-R, although P-R can sometimes be more entertaining, like a FA cuptie slog on a bad pitch between top teams (Flanders being more like a top-team league match on a windy rainy day).

    But I think L-B-L is better than both (to carry on the analogies, being more like a top-of-table clash, where the better calculating tactician wins rather than simply the strongest on the day). By being the third of the three in the calendar, doesn’t help its popularity, though.
  • knedlicky
    knedlicky Posts: 3,097
    RichN95 wrote:
    disgruntledgoat wrote:
    ncidentally, I was clearing out my decade worth of cycling magazines before I departed and found one with interviews with the "New Generation" of Belgian talent from about 2004/5.
    Nick Nuyens was touted as a monument winner, Maxime Monfort was supposed to be a GC rider and there was a quirky young bloke living in a tiny house, struggling with illnesses and injury who didn't seem to fit neatly into any of the boxes they tried to put him in... Ladies and Gentlemen Phillippe Gilbert!
    I love looking back at those sort of articles.
    There's a Dutch website somewhere which ranks that year's top under 23 prospects. Looking back, some years they pick a load of future stars and some years you wonder who the hell these people are.
    A German website does the same each year. For 2004, their 1, 2 and 3 top-prospects were Thomas Dekker, Tomasz Nose, and Giovanni Visconti.
    Other names in the 2004 list include Pozzovivo (4), Greipel (11), Nibali (12), Farrar (17), and Haussler (25). I recognise 20 of the 30 names in the list.

    The website did less well with its prospects for 2005 – 1, 2 and 3 were Kai Reus, Luigi Sestili, and Frantisek Rabon, although there are a few recognisable names, e.g. Tony Martin (4), Ricco (6), Rojas (13), Kreuziger (19) and Ciolek (23). This time I only recognise 13 or 14 of the 30 names in the list.
  • RichN95.
    RichN95. Posts: 27,253
    knedlicky wrote:
    RichN95 wrote:
    I love looking back at those sort of articles.
    There's a Dutch website somewhere which ranks that year's top under 23 prospects. Looking back, some years they pick a load of future stars and some years you wonder who the hell these people are.
    A German website does the same each year. For 2004, their 1, 2 and 3 top-prospects were Thomas Dekker, Tomasz Nose, and Giovanni Visconti.
    Other names in the 2004 list include Pozzovivo (4), Greipel (11), Nibali (12), Farrar (17), and Haussler (25). I recognise 20 of the 30 names in the list.

    The website did less well with its prospects for 2005 – 1, 2 and 3 were Kai Reus, Luigi Sestili, and Frantisek Rabon, although there are a few recognisable names, e.g. Tony Martin (4), Ricco (6), Rojas (13), Kreuziger (19) and Ciolek (23). This time I only recognise 13 or 14 of the 30 names in the list.
    It may be the same website (I'm only thinking it's Dutch from memory)
    Twitter: @RichN95
  • Turfle
    Turfle Posts: 3,762
    kai reus would have been a star* if it wasn't for godawful luck throughout his career. luigi sestili is not a name that rings even the slightest of bells.

    *good dutchman
  • tailwindhome
    tailwindhome Posts: 19,436
    http://www.stickybottle.com/latest-news ... teammates/

    Sam Bennett gets the call up.
    “New York has the haircuts, London has the trousers, but Belfast has the reason!
  • tailwindhome
    tailwindhome Posts: 19,436
    977609_10152338406176310_1056290444_o.jpg
    “New York has the haircuts, London has the trousers, but Belfast has the reason!
  • disgruntledgoat
    disgruntledgoat Posts: 8,957
    "Can I get on the wheel?"
    "In many ways, my story was that of a raging, Christ-like figure who hauled himself off the cross, looked up at the Romans with blood in his eyes and said 'My turn, sock cookers'"

    @gietvangent
  • disgruntledgoat
    disgruntledgoat Posts: 8,957
    Museeuw controversially predicting that the Oude Kwaremont, the Paterberg and the Koppenberg will be important.
    "In many ways, my story was that of a raging, Christ-like figure who hauled himself off the cross, looked up at the Romans with blood in his eyes and said 'My turn, sock cookers'"

    @gietvangent
  • Give me more
    Give me more Posts: 487
    That's a pretty adorable pic TWH.

    Very excited for tomorrow, but I'm not sure how much of the race I'll be able to catch live =(
  • Wheelspinner
    Wheelspinner Posts: 6,692
    TailWindHome wrote:
    977609_10152338406176310_1056290444_o.jpg
    ^^^. Especially when you notice who the motor camera man is filming :D
    Open One+ BMC TE29 Seven 622SL On One Scandal Cervelo RS
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 75,661
    All the course chat over here is that there will be the odd shower and if it comes at a crucial moment (say, during the final paterberg) then it could have a big effect.

    Everyone's saying it's been so dry here last month. You can tell, the route was very dusty which will turn into nasty sludge.

    No wind here at all either.
    _
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 75,661
    Crozza wrote:
    So, lots of people fancying Fabs in PTP. When do we think he is going to make his move?

    Same as ever - Oude Kwaremont.


    Could possibly shake the tree at the haghoek/steenbeekdries combo, given it's a good 3-4km of Cobbles that are fairly badly set.
    _
  • blazing_saddles
    blazing_saddles Posts: 22,725
    Sporza will be live in 20 minutes, for the start and some of the early kms.
    On for 75 minutes, off from 75 minutes, then on for the rest of the race.
    "Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.
  • littledove44
    littledove44 Posts: 871
    TailWindHome wrote:
    977609_10152338406176310_1056290444_o.jpg
    I think I shall enter this in my favourite cycling photo of all time.

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