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Ronde picks

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Old 07-04.-2008, 03:03 AM   #46
Powerful Pete
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Default Re: Ronde picks
Well Ballan (my pick) got fourth...
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Old 07-04.-2008, 04:02 AM   #47
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Originally Posted by RdBiker
Quite a solo ride from Devolder! I was happy to see him win in front of his "home crowd". This is my favourite way of winning: solo for the last 5-20Ks with the bunch chasing.

Boonen did look strong on the climbs though so I'm a bit dissapointed he just sat back and watched the show. Some nice riding from the Astana rider in the last 20Ks (Vaitkus/Rast? Even the commentators had a problem deciding )

I thought Boonen looked like the clear strongman of the race. Cancellara was not good, no other favorites were impressive. Boonen probably could have driven a good group away on the Muur de Gramont or Bosberg if he wasn't constrained by the situation.

Devolder did a lot work for a long time but never looked overly strong and profitted from the lack of any organized chase after Geraardsbergen.
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Old 07-04.-2008, 04:09 AM   #48
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Originally Posted by Wayne666
I thought Boonen looked like the clear strongman of the race. Cancellara was not good, no other favorites were impressive. Boonen probably could have driven a good group away on the Muur de Gramont or Bosberg if he wasn't constrained by the situation.

Devolder did a lot work for a long time but never looked overly strong and profitted from the lack of any organized chase after Geraardsbergen.

I agree.
Devolder would've been caught if there were an organised chace.
Chapeu to him anyway, he was the work horse today, and the victory for the kamikaze was well deserved.
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Old 07-04.-2008, 04:24 AM   #49
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I agree.
Devolder would've been caught if there were an organised chace.
Chapeu to him anyway, he was the work horse today, and the victory for the kamikaze was well deserved.
At one point at 4 or 5 km to finish, it looked like Devolder was losing steam, and the gap between him and Flecha was dropping down to 9 sec making it plausible that he would be caught. I guess Flecha himself couldn't keep up the tempo. Also, Devolder seemed to be near/at the front of the peloton for much of the race before he escaped.
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Old 07-04.-2008, 04:48 AM   #50
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At one point at 4 or 5 km to finish, it looked like Devolder was losing steam, and the gap between him and Flecha was dropping down to 9 sec making it plausible that he would be caught. I guess Flecha himself couldn't keep up the tempo. Also, Devolder seemed to be near/at the front of the peloton for much of the race before he escaped.

exatly. He worked for Boonen, so his victory was even more surprising and impressing.
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Old 07-04.-2008, 05:19 AM   #51
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BTW, here is a video of the crash I talked about in my previous post: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QTAJnDduVA. The rider is Ángel Gómez, and apparently broke his leg and elbow/shoulder. Scary crash.
OUCH!!! He never saw it coming.

In other news: George looks like he may do well in Roubaix
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Old 07-04.-2008, 05:32 AM   #52
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Originally Posted by TheDarkLord
At one point at 4 or 5 km to finish, it looked like Devolder was losing steam, and the gap between him and Flecha was dropping down to 9 sec making it plausible that he would be caught. I guess Flecha himself couldn't keep up the tempo. Also, Devolder seemed to be near/at the front of the peloton for much of the race before he escaped.
Some discussions point to motorcycle drafting assistance to Devolder when Flecha got too close... I have not yet seen the race - can anyone confirm that the cameras cut away from Devolder when Flecha got close and all of the sudden the gap opened up?
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Old 07-04.-2008, 05:39 AM   #53
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Originally Posted by TheDarkLord
BTW, here is a video of the crash I talked about in my previous post: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QTAJnDduVA. The rider is Ángel Gómez, and apparently broke his leg and elbow/shoulder. Scary crash.
Looks like CyclingTV have had it withdrawn from Youtube in the last 20 mins. TFF may have been the last person in the world to view it on Youtube.
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Old 07-04.-2008, 05:48 AM   #54
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Looks like CyclingTV have had it withdrawn from Youtube in the last 20 mins. TFF may have been the last person in the world to view it on Youtube.
LOL. Keep on searching. I found it youtube with a Romanian commentary on the Eurosport feed. It will be back on in a while...
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Old 07-04.-2008, 05:58 AM   #55
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Some discussions point to motorcycle drafting assistance to Devolder when Flecha got too close... I have not yet seen the race - can anyone confirm that the cameras cut away from Devolder when Flecha got close and all of the sudden the gap opened up?
They clearly showed Devolder getting a bit tired, and then yeah, they cut to Flecha. But I don't remember if they continued to show Devolder after that or whether they didn't show him for a while.
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Old 07-04.-2008, 06:00 AM   #56
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Looks like CyclingTV have had it withdrawn from Youtube in the last 20 mins. TFF may have been the last person in the world to view it on Youtube.
I don't understand what cycling tv has to do with that video. The video posted was a recording from Eurosport. They don't own coverage from Eurosport, do they?
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Old 07-04.-2008, 06:07 AM   #57
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Well I saw quite a few riders riding near motorcycles but just for a few seconds at a time.
You'd think that the motorcycle drivers would be very very careful about not letting riders benefit from them - especially when they are passing the riders. It's quite simple: you see a rider drafting your motorcycle -> just speed up and loose him. A few seconds of drafting won't give the rider any noticable benefit.

Speaking of which: did you see a motorcycle passing the Astana rider a bit too close(Rast maybe) and then Rast giving the guy international hand signs? Reminds me of our local group rides...
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Old 07-04.-2008, 06:25 AM   #58
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Well I saw quite a few riders riding near motorcycles but just for a few seconds at a time.
You'd think that the motorcycle drivers would be very very careful about not letting riders benefit from them - especially when they are passing the riders. It's quite simple: you see a rider drafting your motorcycle -> just speed up and loose him. A few seconds of drafting won't give the rider any noticable benefit.
Well, the Ronde has a bit of a reputation for helping out certain riders with motorcycle drafting, or so some argue (I recall some arguing about it following Boonen's first victory, but I could be wrong).
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Old 07-04.-2008, 06:40 AM   #59
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I don't understand what cycling tv has to do with that video. The video posted was a recording from Eurosport. They don't own coverage from Eurosport, do they?
No, but they do have the exclusive rights to coverage and highlights in North America, so they seem to have been very diligent about complaining to youtube about people posting any footage of "their" races to Youtube. Even if the commentary is in Romanian...

(in fact, on another site, there was a cycling tv rep this morning posting helping people access the cycling tv feed ... and when someone posted "just watch it on the Eurosport feed" this c.tv rep posted something like "please let us know if you can watch on Eurosport from the US, because they're supposed to block it and we need to know so we can deal with that". I'm thinking - it takes me 20-30 minutes before I can actually even log in to your site, sometimes it crashes, and you want me to report my potential alternate source of live footage so you can block it? not likely )


addendum - so look here for the crash, just don't tell c.tv
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Old 07-04.-2008, 07:55 AM   #60
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Originally Posted by thoughtforfood
OUCH!!! He never saw it coming.

In other news: George looks like he may do well in Roubaix

I'm not so convinced. He had a nice finish because he was able to catch back up to the group as many other did, and sprinted well. He showed himself in a doomed early move in the finale but it was a tactical attack, not one of strength. He was well distanced by the strongmen on the Muur de Gramont and Bosberg.

Cancellara looks off the boil and Boonen looked very good, which should make him the big favorite for Roubaix. Hincapie will probably have to ride very smart to finish on the podium in Roubaix and he has a history of doing just the opposite.
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