Laggard

Sounds like a bloodbath already. PVP is out.

Laggard

Boonen!! This is his year as he wins the two most important races of the year!!!

Gustaf

And George, soo soo close

jkoman

Another horrible ride by that hack Hincapie huh Laggard??

ac71

he had the best position, but he forgot to control boonen

astrocub

i'm curious why hincapie and flecha let it go to a sprint. perhaps they
were spent. but if they felt strong, then why wait to sprint against
boonen. that's a low percentage play. i was especially
surprised that flecha did not go with a few kms to go.

ac71

it seems flecha is a very generous rider, but not so tactically clever. I am suprised by hincapie, ho is strong and has a great experience

don d.

Has GH ever led onto the velodrome at Roubaix before? Wow, that's one for the grandkids.

Generally riders know how strong each other is/are when they've been racing that long together. George and Juan could have refused to do pulls during the last 10k, but George and Juan are pretty stand up guys, and I don't really think that's their style.

Congrats to Boonen. This makes his year historic. I like his style.

Laggard

Second place is the first loser. Good ride by George, but he didn't win.

George is a strong rider. However he is not the super classics god that people want to believe he is.

jkoman

We all know the sprinting abilities of Boonen and that both Flecha and Hincapie....especially Flecha...would be more likely to win in a solo break away. Then look at the way Boonen rode them off. I would have to say that they were just "knackered" and didn't have anything left...the three of them rode a great, tough race and as usual earned the respect of the vast majority....especially those who race with and against them. Don't forget about the way they rode the very high quality chase group off in the last minutes...what a sport!!

CCFISH81

Jan and George could learn some things from eachother... about how to get close and actually win at the end.... Nice ride Boonen

sat_cycle

What's with all the continued Hincape bashing?

I think he did superbly in PR to redeem himself after his poor job at Flanders. Clearly the best man won PR in Boonen, but Hincape had a perfect race: making the right break, no mechanicals, and sprinting for second place. Super job

edit: he did get one flat but managed to regain the front of the peloton before the break happened

qmsdc15

You're nuts, who thinks he is super classics god!? He's a lot better than you ever gave him credit for. First loser? Right! Eat your crow or go to bed hungry.

Laggard

The amount of attention George gets here is not equal to his results though. No matter what the competition, be it the BMX national championships or Paris Roubaix, someone will always pipe in with "I think big Georgie can win it." For all the times his name is mentioned, you'd think that he'd won a whole boatload of races. And the thing is, I honestly believe that he's a better rider than his palmares would make you believe he is. But he seems to miss a lot of winning breaks and in general just seems to underperform.

gcasillo

At this pace, Boonen's going to make a lot of people underperform.

Devil

Johan who?

fight or flight

George is American and rides a Trek, thats plenty for Laggard to whine about.

Laggard

Damn straight!

I like George though. He's a damn strong domestique.

I really thought Flecha was going to make a break for it. It was a hopeless situation for both riders though. Boonen would have easily countered any move. You're damned if you do, damned if you don't.

Flaneur

The sprint was a formality, Boonen has super form. The fact that he also had prime position coming into the last bend was incidental: his kick would have been sufficient from the front, rear or in between............

Backstedt was chasing hard, which obliged Flecha and Hincapie to work with Boonen, or attack him. Looked like they were too cooked for the latter.

Very rare to see a rider win Flanders and Roubaix in successive weeks.

velocipedio

phil liggett for one. he has said on a number of occasions that hincapie is one of the best classics riders and my personal favourite: "the best american classics rider of his generation."

as for tom... well, he's 24 and won a roce that favours older riders. my guess is that he got some very good coaching from the lion himself. watch him. he's going to beat de vlaminck's record.

hoodlum

Did you guys see that crazy wrench on the roof of that car?

Laggard

Why do you hate America so much?

midgie

The man just did something no other american has done, lets at least credit him that. Yeah,yeah, yeah, second is the first loser, blah,blah,blah, Just my .02

Smoothie104

As of today, In Pro Tour Points, he is tied for 4th in the world at his chosen profession, who in here can say the same? And its a pretty tough profession.

Plus he doesn't mouth off, talk smack, intimidate witnesses etc...

Back to the race though... Boonen was doing some monster pulls with like 3-4k to go, and when neither Flecha or Hincapie attacked him after these big efforts I figured he was the freshest/strongest and would win it. He was also the obvious danger man if it came to a 3 up sprint.

My Buddy thought that maybe Boonen was going too hard, and would leave himself open. Blame it on youthful enthusiasm. But the now a days the radio keeps that from happening, as I'm sure he was kept in check by his DS. And maybe George should attacked in the Velodrome 1st, but we don't know what he was being told either, if anything.

A friend of mine was over there today, riding around in a Discovery Channel Car with Georges brother. I hope he has some good stories... Ill update you all.

Laggard

You're right.