"The 33"-Road Bike Racing - MSR... the picks

Digging that cycling.tv is covering this for North America. Hope it's Backstedt in the commentary.

I'm diggin on Haussler right now. How long can he hold form? And if he wasn't at peak already, cripes... what else will he be a major player at?

Why don't you think Lance is going to win? Are you a Lance hater?

something to wet your appetite.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jC6vGMEVXU

An Australian (inc Haussler). Yes I'm parochial, but there are 5 or six of them easily capable of a top 10. Or Tyler Farrar. He goes alright. I'm avoiding tipping Boonen or Petacchi because every man and his dog will pick them.

Cavendish will get dropped on the Poggio or will be too far back coming off it - 300km will be too far for him at this stage of his career IMO. Maybe in a year or two.

something to wet your appetite.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jC6vGMEVXU

That was the one that got away for Argentin. Kelly was a desperado when he smelt a win. Argentin was the strongest, but he was out-bluffed by the master.

vaitkus!

That was the one that got away for Argentin. Kelly was a desperado when he smelt a win. Argentin was the strongest, but he was out-bluffed by the master.

kelly played every card that he was dealt to perfection. genius.

An Australian (inc Haussler). Yes I'm parochial, but there are 5 or six of them easily capable of a top 10. Or Tyler Farrar. He goes alright. I'm avoiding tipping Boonen or Petacchi because every man and his dog will pick them.

Cavendish will get dropped on the Cipressa or will be too far back coming off it - 300km will be too far for him at this stage of his career IMO. Maybe in a year or two.

fixed.

fixed.

LOL

Do you reckon he will get over the Turchino?

probably, but he'll have 60km to catch back on before he gets dropped again on the le manie.

probably, but he'll have 60km to catch back on before he gets dropped again on the le manie.
Nah, he'll lose ground on the Capo Berto, Capo Mele and the Capo other one I can never remember. :D

...hopefully never

fixed

Boonen from a group of 40.
It's desperation time settling in at MSR. He wants to retire at 30 and he's already 28.

something to whet your appetite.

fixed. (http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/wet.html)

"fixing" other people's posts is so last year

Boonen will own Cav in MSR.

An Australian (inc Haussler).

Don't you mean Austrian?

I too think that Haussler will win.

fixed

Boy, people sure do love to hate Cavendish around here! I agree, he won't win it this year, nor next year. It might happen someday, though.

CrimsonKarter, Haussler is Australian and German.

And he won't win it this year, either.

Boy, people sure do love to hate Cavendish around here! I agree, he won't win it this year, nor next year. It might happen someday, though.

CrimsonKarter, Haussler is Australian and German.

And he won't win it this year, either.

I don't care much for Cav because I think he's whiny.
As far as Boonen, I could take him or leave him in a race.
I like McEwen. :thumb:

farrar's results in tirreno adriatico have gotten him some respect on unibet (https://www.unibet.com/betting/grid/cycling/milano---sanremo/1000093633.odds).

my guess is bennati. a lot of the teams have two or more leaders, so anything that gets away on the poggio could get brought in by chavanel/langeveld types.

outsiders - nibali, rodriguez, and rebellin if they can stick something special on the climb.

rooting for - hesjedal and lokvist

damn, this is going to be a good race.

Tintin, seems like he has been wicked pissah form.

With Tintin, only a small break gives him a chance.
And even then, 2nd seems to be his m.o.

damn, this is going to be a good race.

Definitely agree here. The field is full of possible winners, many who have already shown great form in the opening races of the season.

Definitely agree here. The field is full of possible winners, many who have already shown great form in the opening races of the season.

i suppose i'm the only one who finds this (these days) an overrated classic.

i suppose i'm the only one who finds this (these days) an overrated classic.


I'll agree that as a Classic, MSR doesn't have that all day slogfest that we get from other great races, but it has the most intense final hour of racing anywhere. I can't even imagine the jangled nerves heading for the Cipressa.

I'll agree that as a Classic, MSR doesn't have that all day slogfest that we get from other great races, but it has the most intense final hour of racing anywhere. I can't even imagine the jangled nerves heading for the Cipressa.

fair enough.

If she comes down to a sprint: Pettachi.

If a group gets away in the last 30K: Pozzato

Cavendish is too young for the distance.

Agreed sorta with botto. 300K is too long for a race that very often comes down to a field sprint.

"fixing" other people's posts is so last year

Fixed.

Call me nostalgic.

I'll agree that as a Classic, MSR doesn't have that all day slogfest that we get from other great races, but it has the most intense final hour of racing anywhere. I can't even imagine the jangled nerves heading for the Cipressa.

+1. Great final 45km. Total balls out for the last hour.

Maggie is commentating on cycling.tv this morning. So far the feed is superb.

Boonen
Petacchi
Hushovd

http://en.justin.tv/abdel55

(for those without cyclingtv)

Hmmmm...Cav is still there....

any english language feeds bumping around?

Holy $#!+

Hahahahahahahahahaha.......Cavendish........Wooooooooooooooooooooohoooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!.

Cavendish! Wow. I never gave him enough credit.

wow. Very last moment. I can't believe how much distance he covered in the last 5 seconds. When I saw him hanging on easily in the final climbs I suspected he would be contending.

wtf.

Wow. What a finish.

Cavendish! Wow. I never gave him enough credit.

I don't think very many people did. I was surprised.

cav sprints out of a selective group that doesn't contain armstrong. if haussler doesn't veer right at the end, i think he wins it. incredible race.

That was interesting to say least. Haussler seemed to open that gap pretty easily and Cav did an equally impressive last 50 meters or so. Chapeau!

I wasn't able to watch the race, but from what I've read, it sounds like Hincapie was pretty instrumental in Cav's victory. Hats off to Big George too. How cool would it be to see him finally win Roubaix this year?

According to cyclingnews Hincapie dragged Cavendish right from the back of the group to the front after the Poggio descent. He owes the big fella beers for the rest of his life.

Haussler wins if he sprints for himself. He started early enough to lead out Hushovd and I bet was wishing he took off ~10 meters later! What a ride by Cav. I didn't think he had it in him. Phenom

Cavendish. Absolutely incredible. Can we call this an underdog victory?

Here's video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2E88WsOW3uc) of the final km. Amazing!

Cavendish. Absolutely incredible. Can we call this an underdog victory?

He wasn't even very confident.

According to cyclingnews Hincapie dragged Cavendish right from the back of the group to the front after the Poggio descent. He owes the big fella beers for the rest of his life.

it didn't look like he was all the way in the back. however, i went from seeing him 30 to 40 guys deep in a single file descent to 5th wheel behind george in literally 1 or 2 minutes. hincapie is houdini. cav and haussler are going to be trouble for the old guard of sprinters. amazing sprinters.

cav sprints out of a selective group that doesn't contain armstrong. if haussler doesn't veer right at the end, i think he wins it. incredible race.

I think you're right. If Haussler had hugged the barriers and taken the straight line (shortest distance) to the finish, and forced Cav to come around, he might have had just enough to hold off Cav.

Of course it's easy to make this decision when watching a review of the race in an armchair, rather than from the saddle after 297.8 km. ;) No disrespect meant towards Haussler at all.