crash66

2 questions about the Ronde van Vlaanderen:

1. Why can a sprinter like Tom Boonen dominate in a race that has so many climbs--is it the nature of the climbs (short, maximal efforts separated by plenty of recovery time) that suits his style more than the usual climber types?

2. Why would Disco tell Leif Hoste (or why would he decide for himself) to wait until the last 1000m to challenge Boonen in Boonen's specialty? Why wouldn't they try to have him gap Boonen with 3-4k to go--even if he fails, he wouldn't gas himself enough to lose 2nd place, as the chase group were still 1'45" behind.

botto 

1. Boonen is much much much more than a sprinter (see Petacchi's DNF). Also, those climbs are about PURE power, not just climbing.

2. No clue. next time i talk to Dirk I'll ask him

harlond

Doesn't seem like many people can ride away from Boonen on the flats these days, and they were going pretty fast once they were away. I didn't see it, but it seems to me that if Hoste sat on with Boonen, Boonen would sit up--he doesn't mind going back to the peleton because he's still the fastest and strongest in the group. And if Hoste continually attacks Boonen, the attacks probably fail and Boonen ends up riding away from him--as Boonen says in his CN interview, it was second or fifth for Hoste, his choice. I know Hincapie didn't want to chase Hoste down, but it seems as if Hincapie could have escaped the peleton and bridged up to Hoste and Boonen, Disco would have had some options. But with two (or three) Quicksteps and two CSCs in the peleton, the chances of Hincapie escaping seem pretty slim. Quickstep just isn't leaving much on the table for anyone else these days.

And from the CN live account, seems like a pretty good job of policing by Bettini.

* jack *

Quickstep was the best team on Sunday, and Hoste wasn't thinking right.
Even Hincapie said in the post-race interview that it 'should have been' him.
And yes, Bettini owned that race.
I was well-assured that Boonen, in the stripes, in Belgium... was a done deal.
- with Merckx and the King in attendance? Yeah. damn sexy.

botto 

WTF were you watching? Hincapie said no such thing. He may have alluded to it, but he never said it directly.

CyLowe97

He most certainly said something like, "it should have been me" during the interview. Don't have a transcript, but I was taken aback when he said that. I think it was just a bit of frustration by George as he was just stepping off the bike from intense competition, but he did the right thing in the race and worked with Bettini to keep Leif and Tom away in the break. He gave Hoste a chance (albeit a very slim chance) against Boonen, which is a lot more than anyone else got.

George should be primed for P-R next weekend.

bigskymacadam

hoste went too soon ... he still would have came in second though. gh said in the beginning of the interview w. sherwin that "it should have been me". sounded like hincapie felt slighted. but that's bike racing. there's no true leader on team discovery yet so it looks like you gotta take what you can get.

all in all it worked well for disco.

that was awesome seeing those guys carrying their bikes up the one hill. all dirty and all.

2Rodies

Paul asked him if Hoste attacking was part of the plan and George said no, that it should have been me.

Boonen, like Valverde, are not pure sprinters in the Cippolini and Pettachi sense. They are guys who can finish GT's, win classics and right now I doubt there is a better one day rider on the planet than Tom Boonen.

Boonen also has a the best classics team in the ProTour. Bettini, Pazzato, Nuyens are all excellent one day riders and all capable of winning any race they enter. Pettachi really isn't a threat to Boonen in races like this, you'll see them duke it out at the Tour because the stages for the sprinters are relatively flat.

botto 

maybe on OLN, but on Sporza (Dutch language Belgian Sports Network) he more or less said this (snipped from cyclingnews)

"I don't know, I felt really good today," he told Cyclingnews. "I was in a situation where I couldn't do much. The team was second and third so we have to be happy with that. But I had really good legs today and maybe I could've done a little better. Hoste surprised me a little with his jump on the Valkenberg. But that's ok, I'm happy for Leif. He‘s a really good teammate and he always works hard for the team. We wanted to win today but I'm happy with him getting second. I had super good legs but I'm a team player and once a team mate is in the road I just sit back." Hincapie was a little frustrated, however, adding later, "I'm a bit disappointed because we didn't win. Hoste played his card and that's alright. Sadly, my legs felt better than ever but I couldn't show it. In the pursuit, Bettini covered every move the others made. After 260 kilometres, everything is possible. If you look to my sprint, you'll see that I'm a few bike lengths ahead of the others."

bigskymacadam

hincapie said entirely different words to sherwin on oln; the sentiment was the same however.

1955

"he more or less said this (snipped from cyclingnews)"
Did he more or less say it??? Is that a quote or not?


NOT MAYBE on OLN...that IS what he said.

I watched it just last night and was a little supprised to see the nicest guy in the peleton speaking the way he did. A little attitude just might serve him well.

If you didn't even see OLN, how can you comment on it?

briscoelab

As mentioned before, to lump Boonen as simply a sprinter doesn't give him anywhere near enough credit. He's one of the strongest riders period. He has the ability to throw down like no one else on the planet in a one day race..... he can actually finish a GT... and is strong enough in the sprint to beat most of the pure sprinters as well. As far as George and Leif.... George did seem pretty put out at the end of the race. I think Leif saw a chance and said screw it! (He is Belgian aterall! The man deserves a chance to win in his own country) George could have gone if he wanted to. I love George, but others are right when they say he doesn't have the killer instinct to jump when he needs to. Oh and poor Roger Hammond... second year in a row he's screwed himself by crashing. Last year he broke his thumb... then tried to ride Paris-Roubax and messed it up even more. His tumble this year looked pretty bad. Anyone heard what condition he's in?

botto 

OLN? Sorry, but I'm in a luxurious position, I don't have to put up with that cr@p.

I used the quote from CN, who most likely took notes while watching the same coverage as I did. Is it a quote? Yes. Is it accurate? Probably. Did they get everything he said verbatim? Sorry, but I didn't have my Dictaphone on when I was watching it. Save your pedantic BS for your kids, or your wife, or whomever is making your Mid-Life Crisis all that much more miserable.

BTW Ralph - Where the **** did I dispute any of the things written by those who specifically cited OLN?

furiousferret

Tom Boonen definately showed he's more than just a sprinter. I'm not too sure if he can compete for the major tours, but after seeing him, it wouldn't surprise me.

I gotta admit that was one of the funnest races to watch, seeing half the peloton walk up a hill was definately fun. seeing how many people attended, the Belgians are definately serious about cycling.

shawneebiker

1. The climbs aren't nearly as long as the TDF or Giro. Plus its only one day. I don't think he could sustain day after day of climbs as well as the smaller guys.

2. It was obvious that Boonen was so strong that if Leif would have went earlier Boonen would have been able to stay with him. His only chance was to try to beat him in the sprint and hope that Boonen would make a mistake.

I think that Hincape should have went with Leif then they might have had a chance if they could have kept attacking him.........

Hincape always seems to wait too long and doesn't seem to be as agressive as he should be at the right times......

2Rodies

George Hincappi is the David Coultard of bike racing.

formulaben

Indeed. A little anger and attitude is a necessity at the top.