That Tom Boonen's something else, eh? He pretty much had the points competition for P-N all wrapped up, and then he drops out today, presumably to allow those smaller guys the opportunity for fame. He's got a couple wins to boost his confidence and track his training, he's the freaking World Champ; he doesn't need to win points classifications. He'll show what he's made of in La Primavera.

Cole

I haven't been following--do you mean Points or GC?

Points. Sprinter's joisey. He had nearly double the points of second place before he dropped out, I think.

Cole

Sorry, no. He told the TV cameraman on a moto (during the stage) that he was leaving because he is in the Milan-San Remo next weekend. Presumably to save some energy.

I used to like him a lot, but he seems to be getting a big head lately. Cipollini was bad enough, then it was Petacchi. We really don't need another one.

Don't forget Robbie McEwan in that group. . .

Petacchi a bit head? Have you ever read/seen post race interviews w/ him? He always gives huge kudos to his team. He is 100x more humble than Cipo (aka horse face). For as good as Petacchi is, he should have a sickening ego - which he does not. Hell, even Boonen isn't bad at all.

I guess a question is... Have you ever won races? Can you relate to someone who wins often? Winning takes a certain personality type as 99% of guys who race (pros through Cat 5) never see the finish line 1st.

Not trying to be a di#k, just saying that Petacchi is quite humble for as good as he is, and Boonen is far from being a conceeded a-hole too.

+1 McEwen, Petacchi and Boonen always give due respect to their teams for getting them to the line first. More importantly, though, I appreciate them actually admitting that they are one of the best cyclists in the world. I'd rather them be honest about their abilities relative to everyone one else than for them to be faslely humble.

Recent Boonen interviews reflect that. The guy has won a lot of races already this year, what do you expect him to say? "Uh, well, I just got to give it up to God who made this all possible, I just got lucky out there today, every day is a different race, I'd like to thank my agent."

Won't brook no bad talk about my boy. One of our junior riders had a horrible crash last year and you know who one of the first guys to send him a get well was? Robbie.

He's a tough SOB, but I've never seen him ride others into the barricades, unlike some of the other sprinters.

Amen. Boonen seems like a pretty laid back, levelheaded guy in some of the interviews I've read, but I'd like to see him evolve into a grand tour GC contender. So far his strategy of dropping out of stage races has paid off nicely, but I hope it doesn't become a habit in July.

Amen about Boonen. There's a lot of bogus modesty in pro sports across the board. Boonen, Petacchi, etc., just being frank and open about their goals, what's important to 'em. Strike me as pretty straight-up guys. I pull for 'em. M-SR will be a treat. Even that little a-hole McEwen calls it like he sees it; he just seems to be a real jackass with relatively little professional regard for his peers. Don't blame him for exchanging words with Lance -- cut from the same "little man" cloth -- but hooking people, cutting wheels, riding guys into the barriers, all sure seems to be pretty bush and unnecessary on this level. What would it be like if Barry Bonds were a pro cyclist?

McEwen cheats:


"Danish talent Matti Breschel was on his way to a possible victory in Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen, but then crashed badly as previously reported. The Team CSC rider was in the decisive 18-man breakaway on the final stage, a breakaway that also included the leading rider, Davitamon-Lotto's Robbie McEwen.

"I already won the intermediate sprint yesterday; and I was only seconds away from winning overall," Matti Breschel told Cyclingnews from the hospital in Torhout this morning. "I just knew that I was stronger than McEwen but I never got the chance to show that in the final sprint. He had already come beside me and given me a push a couple of times to intimidate me so I'd be reluctant to take him on in the sprint. But I was where I had to be in that final straight."

While referring to the Monday morning edition of Het Volk newspaper on his bedside table, Breschel's tone of voice changed. "I'm most upset because McEwen said to the Belgian press that I tried to get through a gap which wasn't there. But that's rubbish. We started sprinting in the middle of the road and Robbie took me from the middle to the left, trying to close the door on me by pushing me towards the barriers. He went down first because of his irregular sprinting, and it was his bike which brought me down and made me hit the barriers damn hard."

Watching the TV footage of the event, race commissaires later relegated the Australian to 44th place for irregular sprinting. "Ok, they disqualified McEwen, but he walked away unscathed and although it is good to know that the commissaires saw what he was doing, their decision doesn't put me back in competition for the spring classics!," a very sore and battered Breschel said. "I've got to admit I'm seriously pissed off right now." Two fractures vertebrae and a serious concussion will keep the Dane out of racing for a few weeks, meaning he will miss out on the spring classics he was so focused on.+ -- cyclingnews.com 3/5/06

Sorry but in the world of proffessional cycling the sprinters world is 'rubbin is racin'. If you get a chance watch the video of last years Giro. Every overhead shot of the groups sprints all you see is shoulders and elbows flying. These guys play rough and Robbie is one of the roughest.

I respect your opinion as much as anyone's, but there's a difference. Contact is expected. Back in my racing days -- such as they were -- I leaned on people, stuck out an elbow to hold a wheel, touched a hip or two to move someone over, shouted, used the odd choice euphemism, etc. But it's a whole other thing to ride dirty. McEwen rides dirty. Shame, because he has some physical class, but one suspects just not quite enough to go wheel-to-wheel with Boonen, Petacchi, and maybe even Hushovd. Those guys don't ride like Robbie M., mainly because they don't have to. McEwen, when he gets a whiff of somebody actually BEATING him, like Breschel appeared likely to do, stops at nothing to prevent it from happening. Screwed himself out of the green jersey in Paris last year because his "little man" craziness couldn't stand that the semi-washed up O'Grady was about to pip him in a sprint. Notice that he went after Stuey, not Boonen, who's got 6 or 7 inches on him and probably forty punds. He's a pric_. lance was a pric_, too, he just acquired a little polish over time.

McEwen is no better or worse than any of the other sprinters. The only class sprinter over the last 10 years who I can't recall doing anything questionable (either a DQ or much media comment) is Hushovd.

If you didnt say lance was a prick, I would take that last comment as flame bait against us Aussies.

I dont think us Aussies have been this represented in pro cycling, so I root for any aussie thats winning, even if hes a prick

Yeah in case you missed it, the reason he head-butted O'Grady was because O'Grady had already thrown an elbow at his head, and then held it there, in order to impede him. But many people overlook that fact. I respect Robbie because he'll sell his soul to get to the line first, and doesn't need a damn armchair ride like Petacchi to do it.

Have you seen the video Veloduo? Mcewen was coming from 3rd of 4th wheel, and Breschel got the perfect leadout. It looked like Mcewen would take him, but MCewen could have dies and Breschel might have held on and had the strength.

Breschel took the line to the barriers at the start. Mcewen got in on his shoulder but side by side so the marginal slipstream benefit would be his. 'dats racin, both taking the line to the barriers where the win is calm.

Breschel appeared to get antsy, nervous as Mcewen had his shoulder and was rding him on that line. He corrected, but OVER-corrected and really took Mcewen by surprise as Mcewen is the most talented handler in the peloton. It looked like Breschel did a mini hook, NOT intentionally, just in the act of over correcting as he was throwing his bars to and fro. *Note this correction could have come after they locked bars, so not 100% on it.

Mcewen's bars or brake caught on Breschel's bars and he went down, and then made Breschel go into the barrier.

My take, if Breschel was an experienced sprinter it would not have happened. I don't see how MCewen can be dq'ed *except in expediency* when Breschel took the line to the barriers first. It also looked as if it sloped down that way too. If one takes the view that a racing line can be taken to the barriers, when the sprint begins, and then obviously corect the line along the barriers, versus a tangent from the sprint start to the end line on whatever angle as long as it is at the finish line, and not to the barrier, Mcewen should be clean. The overcorrection by Breschel was just as much to blame than Mcewn getting in close to Breschel. Besides, worse is seen every day.

In case some of you "Let's all Get Along World Peace" weenies haven't noticed, pro cycling is a VERY tough, dangerous, grueling sport. And generally speaking, Nice Guys Don't Win. You saw how many Tours Jan won after 1997 with his total lack of a killer instinct. No knock on Jan. I LOVE Jan. But there it is.

Most Tour winners and successful pro bike racers do have it. A few notable exceptions (Miguel Indurain does come to mind).

That being said that Boonen kid is very scary. God forbid he turns into a big mtn. climber. Man he can sure crush those shorter steeper Spring Classic climbs eh? Ask George Hincapie about that.

Boonen's a little big to be a serious GC contender. He did drop out during the tour last year and I made a mental note to see if he does it again, right before the mountians like Cipo used to do.

Well there was Indurain, not to say they have a comparable style.

Yeah, I hope Boonen doesn't turn into Cipo. Boooooring.

The "elbows out" maneuver is a time-honored ploy sprinters have used for decades. What happened with Mc and Stuey is that Stuey had the spot and it pissed Robbie off. That battle, I understand, really dated back to junior days in Oz -- those two hate each other. Can't understand why, Robbie being such a charmer and all...

Guess I stirred up the 'Roos. That's fine. It's great they root for their boys. Even when they're jackasses. Hell, a third of a billion Americans managed to delude themselves about what a great guy Lance was for 6-7 years and root for that pric_. It's all good.

A lot of us have raced against guys like McEwen (chip on the shoulder-wise, not talent-wise). I doubt very many of us at all then subsequently root for the little shi_s. And Lance was very definitely the same kind of jackass; he just had a better PR team and a little more compelling schtick.

Yeah - Robbie shouldn't have done that, but it definitely was provoked.

Why this desire to see Boonen turn into a GC guy? It's as if he's a lesser rider because he wins one day races and not grand tours.

He is not a one trick poney like Cipo or Peta. He is an stunningly strong one day rider who also has the ability to sprint with the best of them.

If I remember correctly, he dropped out of last years TDF because of a nasty injury caused by a crash while crossing some tracks. He has the ability to finish stages in the autobus al la Zabel.

For better or worse Robbie is the kind of guy who give back twice what he is given. Yeah he shouldn't have leaned on Stuey so hard but Stuey started it and Robbie always finishes it. If you pull a knife on Robbie he'll pull an M50 so be prepared.

I have mass respect for all sprinters they are bravest guys in the peleton, some play rougher than others but they all play rough.

Ok, I understand that they are not choir boys, and its a rough sport, but of the top sprinters, is anybody relegated more often than butthead?