"It's not just about the 258km from Bruges to Aankomst, it's about those grueling cobblestone climbs. Legendary climbs include the 22% Koppenberg, the penultimate 20% Kapelmuur (or Mur de Grammont), and the Bosberg which leaves the riders 12km from glory." (rvv.bemuur kapelmuur.htmlOpen ↗ - yikes ! :eek: )
My pick is Boonen or maybe Flecha ...... still can't really see past Boonen unless there is a crash or a mechanical...
"It's not just about the 258km from Bruges to Aankomst, it's about those grueling cobblestone climbs. Legendary climbs include the 22% Koppenberg, the penultimate 20% Kapelmuur (or Mur de Grammont), and the Bosberg which leaves the riders 12km from glory." (rvv.bemuur kapelmuur.htmlOpen ↗ - yikes ! :eek: )
My pick is Boonen or maybe Flecha ...... still can't really see past Boonen unless there is a crash or a mechanical...
Thoughts, feelings, emotions ?
It's probebly Boonen again... Anyway i will post some pics (like i did today at the Criterium international thread) next week.
"It's not just about the 258km from Bruges to Aankomst, it's about those grueling cobblestone climbs. Legendary climbs include the 22% Koppenberg, the penultimate 20% Kapelmuur (or Mur de Grammont), and the Bosberg which leaves the riders 12km from glory." (rvv.bemuur kapelmuur.htmlOpen ↗ - yikes ! :eek: )
My pick is Boonen or maybe Flecha ...... still can't really see past Boonen unless there is a crash or a mechanical...
Thoughts, feelings, emotions ?
I say Boonen too. And also think it's going to be some heavy marking strategy from QuickStep, some effort of escape from Lampre and again wrong strategy from Disco. And did you see Eurosport coverage schedule... Motto GP is killing De Ronde... But four and a half hours of Paris Roubaix... I can't wait
[quote="whiteboytrash"]Tour of Flanders is on this Sunday and the route is tough.... rvv.beprofiel.pngOpen ↗
"Tour of Flanders and the route is tough." Ummmm....anything else you'd like to share with us Einstein? Did you just discover gravity Sir Isaac?
The route of the tour of flanders is basically the same every year with little variation, for what, like a hundred years and you wnt to inform us the route is tough. Do you know anything about cycling?
Oscar Freire is out. According to www.todociclismo.com and De Telegraaf Freire won´t be at the start due to problems in one of his knee.
Damn, I was counting on the Freire - Flecha - Dekker trio to play out a good strategy. His knee doesn't sound that bad... just not good enough for the cobbles:
«He vuelto a tener alguna molestia en la zona isquiotibial y aunque no es grande, si corro la Vuelta a Flandes, el movimiento que se produce en los pavés puede ser perjudicial para las próximas pruebas, por lo que de común acuerdo con el equipo hemos decidido cambiar algo el programa» señalaba Freire desde Suiza.
Podium max.......the first spot is allready booked by Boonen!!!!!!
I think he only thing to do in terms of strategy is for Disco and a few other teams to put some guys in a break who could be dangerous, then play the Hoste, Devolder, Hincapie cards along the way. Too bad Hammond messed his thumb up again today in 3 Days of Panne. They are downplaying it but I bet its a problem.
Lampre will be playing the Ballan card CSC is hard to tell since so many are out with crashitis. Reallt too bad Stuey OGrady is out.
The interviews indicated that Freire is afraid literally of the cobbles, like many riders from the south, and like Lance was but for other reasons.
I think he only thing to do in terms of strategy is for Disco and a few other teams to put some guys in a break who could be dangerous, then play the Hoste, Devolder, Hincapie cards along the way.
Even then, QuickStep seem to have so many cards to play in the Classics this year. Obviously this is a big one for Boonen but I don't think they'll rule out letting Nuyens or Pozzato etc go for it if Boonen is being too well marked.
I think he only thing to do in terms of strategy is for Disco and a few other teams to put some guys in a break who could be dangerous, then play the Hoste, Devolder, Hincapie cards along the way. Too bad Hammond messed his thumb up again today in 3 Days of Panne. They are downplaying it but I bet its a problem.
Lampre will be playing the Ballan card CSC is hard to tell since so many are out with crashitis. Reallt too bad Stuey OGrady is out.
The interviews indicated that Freire is afraid literally of the cobbles, like many riders from the south, and like Lance was but for other reasons.
Does anyone know the truth about Hammond? He is my longshot pick.... Longshot being the key word. The obvious pick is Boonen, but I was thinking a Hincapi/Hammond setup might somehow be effective. I have a feeling that Disco is putting a lot on this race. This might be a season defining moment for Disco.... With Hoste, Hincapi, and Hammond .....
Freire is NOT riding vlaanderen as a precaution......he still has problems with his ass......and as you know riding on cobbles could make that injury worse. And we won't want another season like last year for freire, now would we??
hombredesubaru said:
I think he only thing to do in terms of strategy is for Disco and a few other teams to put some guys in a break who could be dangerous, then play the Hoste, Devolder, Hincapie cards along the way.
Too bad Hammond messed his thumb up again today in 3 Days of Panne. They are downplaying it but I bet its a problem.
Lampre will be playing the Ballan card CSC is hard to tell since so many are out with crashitis. Reallt too bad Stuey OGrady is out.
The interviews indicated that Freire is afraid literally of the cobbles, like many riders from the south, and like Lance was but for other reasons.
Freire is NOT riding vlaanderen as a precaution......he still has problems with his ass......and as you know riding on cobbles could make that injury worse. And we won't want another season like last year for freire, now would we??
cyclingnews.com notes Boonen was up all night Monday night coughing with a cold. Hell, he'll still probably win Flanders but this could change his teams strategy. It also explains why his team kept shutting down counter attacks after the big group went away yesterday...to keep the pace low and let Tom rest and train, not race hard.
I think its gonna be a real exciting race. It is I think my favorite although Roubaix is close. I am very bummed about Hammond. Van Petegem told Roger that he is sure Roger will win P-R one day. I sonehow think Hincapie is off form but maybe he is hiding. Cant wait. Plus, I here the route is really tough this year. 🙄
I will still vote for Hammond to win. Just because he is British. Realisticly though I will have to pick Boonen. The route is hard, as always, and so even if he is heavily marked he will still probably get away towards the end. Plus he has a very strong team with him. Whatever happens, should be an interesting race.
Contrary to earlier reports by his team director Rik Van Slijcke, defending Ronde van Vlaanderen champion Tom Boonen denies he's ill, saying that it's been a case of mitigating risk during 'training' at the Driedaagse van De Panne.
"I didn't want to take any risks in the lead up to the Tour of Flanders. Apparently everyone wants to win here and that causes serious wriggling," Boonen was quoted on Sport.be as saying, having failed to participate in the sprint finish for the second day running.
"My goal has been reached today. I could pull through two, three times, another test for Sunday. I hear people say I'm sick, but I strongly deny that. I'm having a bit of discomfort of the bronchial tubes, but that's it, nothing serious," he said.
It's no April Fool's joke. The mayor - or burgermeister - of Grammont intends to ban the tossing of water bottles and other trash on the roadways in Sunday's Tour of Flanders. "I hope that Tom Boonen will be the first to lead by example," mayor Guido De Padt told Belgian newspaper La Dernière Heure. "I'm appealing to the common sense of riders, [as] there will be no sanctions or fines," De Padt told the daily newspaper.
"How can young people understand that it's not good for the environment to toss anything and everything if they see riders doing it. On Saturday, there will be 13-thousand cyclotourists who will climb the Grammont and I can guarantee that afterward, the Muur and its surroundings will look like a bonafide public dump"
It's no April Fool's joke. The mayor - or burgermeister - of Grammont intends to ban the tossing of water bottles and other trash on the roadways in Sunday's Tour of Flanders. "I hope that Tom Boonen will be the first to lead by example," mayor Guido De Padt told Belgian newspaper La Dernière Heure. "I'm appealing to the common sense of riders, [as] there will be no sanctions or fines," De Padt told the daily newspaper.
"How can young people understand that it's not good for the environment to toss anything and everything if they see riders doing it. On Saturday, there will be 13-thousand cyclotourists who will climb the Grammont and I can guarantee that afterward, the Muur and its surroundings will look like a bonafide public dump"
Good PR move of him, he knows it's rubbish but as a politician you have to do something to get publicity...
