feeling a bit deflated

specialgueststar
specialgueststar Posts: 3,418
edited January 2017 in Pro race
can't quite put my finger on it - bit lacklustre - usually vocal in the winter

what is it? - somethings not right

Perhaps it's access to everything at all times

is it me or is it it?



is it life* or my part in life

*life is cycling

nietzsche.jpg
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Comments

  • joelsim
    joelsim Posts: 7,552
    can't quite put my finger on it - bit lacklustre - usually vocal in the winter

    what is it? - somethings not right

    Perhaps it's access to everything at all times

    is it me or is it it?



    is it life* or my part in life

    *life is cycling

    nietzsche.jpg

    Probably the fact that there's too much other sh!te going on at the moment. Depressing.
  • Vino'sGhost
    Vino'sGhost Posts: 4,129
    lool its winter, the weather shit and wiggins is going to get busted
    even if he doesn't no one with any sense believes his story anymore lololo

    Personally i look forward to saying i told you so
  • m.r.m.
    m.r.m. Posts: 3,312
    Life will have a different hue on the first warm and sunny ride in spring.
    PTP Champion 2019, 2022 & 2023
  • inseine
    inseine Posts: 5,786
    M.R.M. wrote:
    Life will have a different hue on the first warm and sunny ride in spring.
    So only about 5 months to wait then
  • inseine wrote:
    M.R.M. wrote:
    Life will have a different hue on the first warm and sunny ride in spring.
    So only about 5 months to wait then


    :cry:
  • SGS - put away the bicycle for now and seek the higher places. Breathe the clean air of the gods. And leave your tablet at home.
    I was going to say leave your phone at home but in this day and age that would be reckless. And Nietsche would not approve of recklessness.
    Ecrasez l’infame
  • existential crisis over ....I have discovered extra large Rollo's
  • existential crisis over ....I have discovered extra large Rollo's


    Chocolate is frequently the solution to any crisis, I find
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 72,225
    Get revved up for the final Boonen classics season.

    Fingers crossed he makes it through in decent form and has his Paris Roubaix showdown as his career finale.
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 72,225
    Potential revival of Degenkolb should whet the appetite. With a decent support cast too.
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 72,225
    I'm actually looking forward to a Quintana Nibali dual at the Giro.
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 72,225
    And there's always the chance Cav v Kittel becomes competitive again.
  • Get revved up for the final Boonen classics season.

    Fingers crossed he makes it through in decent form and has his Paris Roubaix showdown as his career finale.

    This. I may well get sh*tfaced again like I did last year for PR. Made a great race even better with a skinful of Leffe
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 72,225
    Anyone interested to see how Gilbert goes in Flanders + in the Ardenne with a decent team around him?

    Boonen & Gilbert in Flanders is a force to be reckoned with.
  • ShutupJens
    ShutupJens Posts: 1,373
    I am feeling much the same a SGS, usually well up to date with everything that's occurred over the post season like transfers etc but not so much this year, hardly even reading inrng.com whereas it used to be my first port of call on my lunch break

    Pretty upset about the tour of qatar, spring won't be the same without seeing the big boys in action and being able to reference the Boonen form guide
  • dish_dash
    dish_dash Posts: 5,551
    ShutupJens wrote:
    hardly even reading inrng.com whereas it used to be my first port of call on my lunch break

    whisper it, but that's because it's got quite boring...

    Come on folks, we're about to get the annual pros with baby kangaroo shots. How can you not be excited?
  • dish_dash
    dish_dash Posts: 5,551
    Anyone interested to see how Gilbert goes in Flanders + in the Ardenne with a decent team around him?

    Boonen & Gilbert in Flanders is a force to be reckoned with.

    I'm interested, especially as he looks top class in the Belgian champs kit. Am hoping for good things! Though this being Quickstep being the strongest team often doesn't seem to work out...
  • joelsim
    joelsim Posts: 7,552
    dish_dash wrote:
    Anyone interested to see how Gilbert goes in Flanders + in the Ardenne with a decent team around him?

    Boonen & Gilbert in Flanders is a force to be reckoned with.

    I'm interested, especially as he looks top class in the Belgian champs kit. Am hoping for good things! Though this being Quickstep being the strongest team often doesn't seem to work out...

    Is Gilbert really going to be leader when Alaphilippe and Martin as well as others are there?

    I'm bemused by this move both on his part and especially on the team's part.
  • dish_dash
    dish_dash Posts: 5,551
    At its most basic level why would Belgium's number 1 team not want this jersey in its midst.

    a891169970b9a331b83ae46f72b1c54f.jpg

    Pip's still got the potential for another win or too as well and I suspect he'll do better with Lefevre than he did at the allstar but confused BMC.
  • m.r.m.
    m.r.m. Posts: 3,312
    Quickstep does have a history in backing the older established (Belgian) name (see Boonen). Gilbert still wins. Don't think it's a fallacy to have him captain the Ardenne races. His final kick is pretty much unmatched, but he probably only has that one bullet left in the barrell.
    PTP Champion 2019, 2022 & 2023
  • joelsim
    joelsim Posts: 7,552
    M.R.M. wrote:
    Quickstep does have a history in backing the older established (Belgian) name (see Boonen). Gilbert still wins. Don't think it's a fallacy to have him captain the Ardenne races. His final kick is pretty much unmatched, but he probably only has that one bullet left in the barrell.

    I simply find it strange that they would usurp their talented youngster Alaphilippe after he's finished 2nd twice, Martin who's won LBL, for someone, Belgian jersey or not, who is well past his best. He's done nothing for years apart from a couple of stage wins.

    A PR exercise at best for QSF with the added benefit of dissuading the current team members from re-signing which in Alaphilippe's case seems a bit silly.
  • m.r.m.
    m.r.m. Posts: 3,312
    I don't disagree, but Boonen has also only been close for quite some years. Nevertheless he get's the captain role over guys like Terpstra or Stybar; and not just in role but rather in tactics as well. The Omloop debacle 2015 (Stannard 1v3) came down to Quickstep trying to make it a win at any cost for Boonen for example.
    PTP Champion 2019, 2022 & 2023
  • andyp
    andyp Posts: 10,069
    dish_dash wrote:
    Pip's still got the potential for another win or too as well and I suspect he'll do better with Lefevre than he did at the allstar but confused BMC.

    You could apply that analysis, which is spot on in my view, equally to QuickStep though. Their cobbled classics season was saved by Boonen's ride at Roubaix, but before that they'd ridden in a very tactically confused way, being reactive rather than their normal proactive approach.
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 72,225
    My rear wheel was also feeling a bit deflated when I parked it up this morning.
    :(
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 72,225
    andyp wrote:
    dish_dash wrote:
    Pip's still got the potential for another win or too as well and I suspect he'll do better with Lefevre than he did at the allstar but confused BMC.

    You could apply that analysis, which is spot on in my view, equally to QuickStep though. Their cobbled classics season was saved by Boonen's ride at Roubaix, but before that they'd ridden in a very tactically confused way, being reactive rather than their normal proactive approach.

    Wasn't that because none of their riders had the legs to make the selections on the bergs?

    They took the initiative in Paris Roubaix because Boonen had the legs to do so.
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 72,225
    Joelsim wrote:
    M.R.M. wrote:
    Quickstep does have a history in backing the older established (Belgian) name (see Boonen). Gilbert still wins. Don't think it's a fallacy to have him captain the Ardenne races. His final kick is pretty much unmatched, but he probably only has that one bullet left in the barrell.

    I simply find it strange that they would usurp their talented youngster Alaphilippe after he's finished 2nd twice, Martin who's won LBL, for someone, Belgian jersey or not, who is well past his best. He's done nothing for years apart from a couple of stage wins.

    A PR exercise at best for QSF with the added benefit of dissuading the current team members from re-signing which in Alaphilippe's case seems a bit silly.

    Gilbert has gone to Quick-Step mainly to ride Flanders, since it's a gap in his palmares, and BMC wouldn't back him to do that with GvA.

    Lefevre is more comfortable with multiple potential winners (and in fact, his teams often play those card very well indeed).
  • yorkshireraw
    yorkshireraw Posts: 1,628
    Think Boonen's savvy enough to know his chances Flanders are pretty slim these days, plus if he did manage to be right in it to the death he'd probably be limiting his chance for the following Sunday at P-R - which he still has a shot at becoming the AT leading winner at.
    Having Gilbert + Stybar + Terpstra (QS's best placer with 2nd in '15, since Boonen's 2012 win, and he has a good RVV record, but you can't really see a scenario where he wins it) takes the pressure of Tom B.

    I'd love to see GvA win it, as the whole of Flanders would likely party for a week, but unless he get's caught out of position on a climb, or is on a bad day, it's hard to see how anyone can topple Sagan for a while - race is made for him.

    Having ridden the Pave and the big name Bergs for the first time in November, I'm looking forward to RVV & P-R even more than usual this year. Pity I have to work over the P-R weekend tho - watching the whole thing unfold last year was immense.
  • joelsim
    joelsim Posts: 7,552
    Wonder if Gaviria will ride a few more of these races this season.
  • yorkshireraw
    yorkshireraw Posts: 1,628
    If you wanted an outside bet on a youngster for the classics Moscon could be worth a look - was going v well in P-R last year until that crash.
  • joelsim
    joelsim Posts: 7,552
    If you wanted an outside bet on a youngster for the classics Moscon could be worth a look - was going v well in P-R last year until that crash.

    Yep, he looks some rider.