Originally Posted by
Zinger
The bookies like Cancellara but I'm pulling for Phinney who seems to be aiming for this one.....no bets, lol.
A track/TT guy who is used to the cobbles would have a shot at this along with the half dozen or so other guys in the running and still in on this flat one. If Hushovd is on form he'll probably be supporting him. If he isn't I imagine Phinney will be the guy on his team to go for it providing he's in a position to when anything decisive happens. I imagine he'll be up front for it and he has a good team for this one. I think he's going to be ahead of Gilbert for any BMC plan "B".
Gilbert is not on the
start roster for BMC. The flat terrain really doesnt suit his usual style of winning and I seem to recall last year that he also skipped Roubaix saying it was too dangerous of a race, he was more concerned about staying rested and healthy for the subsequent Ardenes Classics.
Phinneys performance at Milan-SanRemo definitly proves he is ready for a major classics result.
I think that Garmin team will be highly motivated to get a solid P-R result. No one star that is a favorite but they have a strong team overall for this race and could use team tactics to pull off another win for any of several strong front group riders, similar to the Johan VanSummern win couple years ago.