Paris-Roubaix Race Thread - Warning Contains Spoilers

Beasty

Coverage starts on Eurosport UK at 11.15 (Eurosport HD at 11.30) with highlights at 8.15

Spoil away ....

trad

I need to get Eurosport

witty username

http://www.teamskyfans.com/live.html

Morrisseeee

Surely Spartacus can't be at 100% after his exploits in SanRemo & Flanders, so my choice is Thor.

goldencleric

Tommeke or Pippo please

bcmf

Break at 1.50 at arenberg (80km odd to go left) No major favourites in the break. Boonen had a major mechanical in the forest and prob race over for him.

bcmf

just over 70km to go. Gap to leaders tumbled to 45secs.Main Peleton @1.45. Boonen at 2.45

.

Jawgap

Boonen 2:10 behind - less than 70km to go

Jawgap

Boonen down - Geraint Thomas down. It's not Quick Step's day

dastardly00

major crash in the Tom Boonen group. Carnage. Boonen down again

bcmf

Boonen just came down heavily on the cobbles. Game over for Tornado Tom

ROK ON

No need for spoilers.

Hail 2 Da Thief

Quickstep are having a nightmare of a race!

Jawgap

Chavanel down now - looks hurt - deffo not a day to be a Quick Step rider

bcmf

Cancellara must be in stitches laughing

dastardly00

ROK ON wrote: »

No need for spoilers.

ah right, wasn't sure.

Alot of riders are sliding and falling off going around corners today even though it's bone dry.

trad

witty username wrote: »

http://www.teamskyfans.com/live.html

thanks for that, came in with 54 km to go. If only Kelly would speak a little louder.

Hail 2 Da Thief

Boonen out. Cancellara looking odds on now

ROK ON

Hopefully Flecha and Hushovd make a race of this otherwise the next 40k will be pretty boring with the man with the motor driving away.

bcmf

Spartacus and the God of Thunder. Should be an interesting last few km

manafana

flecha does look bit more pushed than the others, and ballan has work bit more to get back on, anyone in lead group capable of staying with them?

bcmf

Hushvod not giving Cancellara a millimeter

Heisenberg1

Great race

dastardly00

argument going on between Spartacus, Thor and Ballan!

Harrybelafonte

Fab tired of doing allthe work?

Jawgap

Looked more like he was having a strop!!!

dastardly00

Spartacus has seriously turned on the turbo!

Heisenberg1

Looks like it's going to be another win for the cervelo R3 in Paris-Roubaix

Heisenberg1

There goes Fab to little to late

barrabus

ballan and hushovd showed no balls or ambition

blorg

He is quite good, isn't he, that Cancellara chap.

Moreofthatjazz

tremendous reserves ^

TinyExplosions

Really disappointed with Hushovd today... wheel sucking isn't the way to win Roubaix, regardless of team tactics. Cancellara was right to sit up and tell the rest to go fuck themselves. HE did show that he's the best bike rider out there today with that attack though

kennyb3

Great race - delighted to see FC place and the wheel sucker nowhere.

Hail 2 Da Thief

JVS rode the last 5k on a flat tire :eek:

drogdub

I thought Chavanel was very impressive today - again

bcmf

TinyExplosions wrote: »

Really disappointed with Hushovd today... wheel sucking isn't the way to win Roubaix, regardless of team tactics. Cancellara was right to sit up and tell the rest to go fuck themselves. HE did show that he's the best bike rider out there today with that attack though

In fairness Tiny, as you say, Hushvod had a team mate in the break up the road. He was hardly gonna help Spartacus bridge the gap. Sparta's cards were marked from last year and he wasnt gonna catch anyone off guard again.
Riding away from the bunch is akin to sandbagging your way to a win. you will get away with it once maybe twice then after that all eye's are watching you.Though ,again as you say, he showed his strenght when he rode away from the rest on that little climb.

bcmf

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/de-vlaeminck-picks-cancellara-as-his-paris-roubaix-heir
Four-time winner criticises the current generation of ‘spoilt’ riders

Tom Boonen could win Paris-Roubaix for a fourth time on Sunday, equalling the record of Belgian classics legend Roger De Vlaeminck. But that is where the similarities between the two Flemish riders go, according to De Vlaeminck in an interview with Gazzetta dello Sport, who predicts that Fabian Cancellara, rather than Boonen, could be the first to match his record.

Just like during his career in the 1970s, De Vlaeminck is not afraid to speak his mind about the current generation of ‘spoilt’ riders. He described Filippo Pozzato as ‘too good looking to be a rider’ and revealed he prefers French-speaking Philippe Gilbert to fellow Flandrian Boonen.

“It’s about time, considering the record has lasted for 34 years,” De Vlaeminck said bluntly about Boonen’s chances of winning a fourth Paris-Roubaix.

“But I think Cancellara will beat the record before Boonen does. He can win on Sunday by dropping Boonen. I like Cancellara, he attacks and races with panache. Everyone rode against him at Flanders, even the mechanics of the other teams who wouldn’t give him a bottle. That was scandalous. But he was the strongest. Boonen is a good rider but he’s not as strong as he once was.”

De Vlaeminck refutes the idea that he and Boonen are very similar as riders.

“How can you say that? He can’t climb and can’t time trial. Cancellara is good at time trials but can’t climb, so neither of them are like me. I was more like Merckx…

“I was a bandit. If Boonen is the God of Belgian cycling, then I’m the devil.

“Our generation was classier, too. Look at Saronni? He won the Giro at just 21. We always raced to get a result and me and Merckx fought even for the criteriums. These days they use 50 races a year as training. We were more complete and could win in a sprint, on a climb or in a time trial. And there were far stronger rivals. At Roubaix I was up against Moser, Maertens, Kuiper, Raas and Hinault. Today, apart from lucky cases like Nuyens at Flanders, there’s just Cancellara and Boonen.”

Despite being Flemish to the bone, De Vlaeminck admits he’s a fan of Philippe Gilbert, from the French-speaking Walloon part of Belgium, even if the Omega Pharma-Lotto rider always avoid the cobbles of Paris-Roubaix.

“I like Gilbert far more than I do Boonen. He’s a nice guy, kind and not at all big-headed. He races all year, right up to Lombardy and can win alone. I wish he’d try Paris-Roubaix. I’ve nothing against Boonen but you can’t be a fan of both of them in Belgium and I’m not going to change my mind.”

Gazzetta also asked De Vlaeminck about Filippo Pozzato. He dismisses the Italian with some hard truths and blunt criticism about owning a Ferrari.

“Pozzato was a champion when he was young and had more class than Boonen. I don’t know his problem but he’s lost a lot of time. He should be able to easily win Paris-Roubaix. His problem is that he’s too good looking to be a rider.” :pac:

“A Ferrari is not the car for a rider, it’s for a footballer. The boss of Brooklyn (Giorgio Perfetti) gave me a Ferrari when I won Milan-San Remo but I couldn’t get my bike in the boot and had to take the saddle off, which I then forgot at home. I sold it after a year.”

De Vlaeminck won 249 races during his 16-year career. He won all five monumental Classics but dismisses the idea that Cancellara can pull off the same achievement. He also has some choice words for modern-day directeur sportifs. His only involvement in cycling was as a mentor for some rider from Zimbabwe but watched the Tour of Flanders at home, claiming he had not been invited by the organisers.

“Cancellara better hurry up because he’s already 30. I think it’ll be hard for him, especially at Lombardy and I don’t think he can beat Gilbert at Liege,” De Vlaeminck said.

“I’m not interested in the ‘’politics’ of cycling and I was tired of driving a team car a30km/h behind the riders. I’m against race radio because the races are better without all the tactics but perhaps the directeur sportifs are scared of falling asleep.”

bcmf

sorry a repost of Hail 2 da Thief

full gas

wheelsucker, come guys garmin rode the perfect race , it was the only way to beat fabian , good on them . they got the win they wanted . we didnt see fabian till thor attacked with 45k to go does that make him a wheelsucker too, its tactics thats how you win races

ednwireland

just watched the highlights, great race, dream day for van summeran
unfortunately cancellara needed a team mate there with him to bury himself team leopard didnt have a good enough team

hushovd wasnt going to pull cancellara upto his teammate

still great race

ROK ON

For me the key to wheels sucking allegations is the type of rider you are. Gilbert when racing is invariably looking to attack. Sometimes at the wrong time, but he will attack and win or fail gloriously trying. That was why he in my mind is a true champion.
I was disappointed with Thor today. I completely understand his tactics but that doesnt mean I enjoy watching it.
Cancellara was good to watch.
I have to say I have been impressed by Boom and Tjallingi in past 2 weeks.
Rabo are one hell of a strong team without shouting from the rooftops about it.

Mitchel Docker has had a great 2 weeks. Never heard of him but will be watching.

Geraint Thomas has had a good spring classics season, pity today didn't work out for him.

Bonen things just aren't going his way.
Pozatto a joke.

It's been an action packed few weeks. Hopefully the hilly classics will be just as good and not cOmpletely ruined by unrepentant dopers.

MrCreosote

Great win for Garmin, especially after they ballsed it up so badly last week.

Pity about Cancellara- I'm not sure why he didn't complete the bridge up to the leaders, they were down to 25s when he sat up and had the hissy-fit. Sure he would have towed up Hushovd, but there was plenty of time to attack again. He just looked more human this year- maybe everyone else has added a motor.

Just happy Ballan didn't win.

ednwireland

hmmmmmm

DNF Dominic Klemme (Ger) Leopard Trek
DNF Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) Leopard Trek
HD Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Leopard Trek
DNF Joost Posthuma (Ned) Leopard Trek
DNF Tom Stamsnijder (Ned) Leopard Trek
DNF Wouter Weylandt (Bel) Leopard Trek

good to see this

sy

Leopard Trek had only one other finisher in Mortensen 15 mins down. He was the only guy who gave Fabian a pull in Flanders. What a disaster for them. O'Grady like last week was nowhere to be seen. Surley they know that they have the strongest rider in the peleton for these two classics but probably the weakest team (O'Grady excepted). Yes they have the TDF as their main target but what a waste of talent.
Chavanel was great again today and in my opinion was better than Boonen this year ( I wonder was he ordered to wait for Tom at the finish of Flanders last week? which made him delay his final sprint). Garmin- Cervelo played a blinder and were under a lot of pressure to get a result as Haussler and Hushvod were disappointing so far. Ballan spent the day wheel sucking and left it too late in the end and as for Pozzato, he needs to change team and his brain .

Van Summeran deserved his win and yes Cancellara was the strongest rider.


PS What about those Sidi ads? do the "Eyetalians" really know how to takle tha piss. I could just imagine what Kelly might have to say to Basso and Nibali if he was still riding in the peleton :pac:

hinault

Fair dues to Roger De Vlaeminck.

I enjoyed todays race. Fantastic to see Johan Vansummeran get his time in the sun.
Canc put in a huge effort but couldn't shake Hushovd until it was too late.

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

Cancellara is an animal plain and simple although i love the way Chavanel never gives up. QuickStep had a disaster today and Leopard trek look as if they have no dept to help out Cancellara.

Morrisseeee

Good win for JVS, well deserved, I guess Thor gave up his chance of winning so that his team could get the win, what can you say about Cancellara, I love his style of racing, one man versus the rest and he kills them.

/I hate teams & team tactics, it should be every man for himself

Chips Lovell

I thought Garmin played it brilliantly yesterday and were really deserving of the win. The key to it was having men up the road and Hushovd being in the form of his life.

Once Cancellara decided to start motoring, Hushovd, unlike anyone last year or anyone else this year was able to hold his wheel no matter what. Inevitably he decided to quit working once he realised that he was just towing a better sprinter to the velodrome. Everyone's learned the lesson from last year's Flanders. You don't trade pulls with Cancellara as you'll just end up getting dropped by him.

When Cancellara started kicking up, Garmin were pretty clever in getting Van Summeren to attack. Hushovd now had the perfect excuse not to chase, leaving the ball in Cancellara's court again.

Almightly ride by Van Summeren. He's a horse of a rider who's worked so hard over the years and it took some grit to stay out in front, particularly with a flat.

bcmf

.....Kurt Asle Aversen

http://www.sporza.be/cm/sporza/videozone/MG_opvallend/1.1000639



Riding the cobbles with no saddle :eek:

dave.obrien

Delighted for Van Summeren; he was my outside tip for Flanders, just a week off! Great tactics by Garmin-Cervelo, and hats off to Hushovd for the selfless work he did for the team, can't be easy for a reigning world champ to swallow his pride for the bigger picture.

It also highlighted how it may have been a mistake for Cancellara to move to Leopard. He'll be a great piece of their Grand Tour puzzle, but must feel let down by them at this time of year.