2012 Paris - Roubaix

Fracking Boonen!!!!

What a solo to the line! Classy, very classy!

Where did George end up?

I am failing to understand how the hell a group let TOM BOONEN, of all riders, pop off the front. Obviously, he was strong enough where a chase may have ended up futile anyway, but the coverage here missed the key moment; all I saw was Boonen at 44" and Terpstra doing a good job of playing tactics and gumming up the chase group.

Nice ride by Turgot - way to not quit and end up with a 2nd place.

Quoted post said:

Originally Posted by Chavez [IMG]/img/forum/go_quote.gif[/IMG]

I am failing to understand how the hell a group let TOM BOONEN, of all riders, pop off the front. Obviously, he was strong enough where a chase may have ended up futile anyway, but the coverage here missed the key moment; all I saw was Boonen at 44" and Terpstra doing a good job of playing tactics and gumming up the chase group.

Nice ride by Turgot - way to not quit and end up with a 2nd place.

Ballan and pippo were both with Boonen and went back to the main group.......fools [IMG]/img/vbsmilies/smilies/rolleyes.gif[/IMG]

Quoted post said:

Originally Posted by steve [IMG]/img/forum/go_quote.gif[/IMG]

Ballan and pippo were both with Boonen and went back to the main group.......fools [IMG]/img/vbsmilies/smilies/rolleyes.gif[/IMG]

"We'd better go back to the main group, what has this Boonen guy ever won?"

Quoted post said:

Originally Posted by Chavez [IMG]/img/forum/go_quote.gif[/IMG]

"We'd better go back to the main group, what has this Boonen guy ever won?"

Yeah I thought they'd at least nail it for a few k's and rip the field apart even more.

On the American side, Taylor Phinney had a pretty damned good finish, 15th. At only 22, he's got plenty of time to improve, and it can't hurt that Paris-Roubaix is pretty much his favorite race. According to Velo News, Ballan was ordered not to chase Boonen. Plus Ballan also said he didn't have the legs to chase him. Fair enough. I guess with Boonen's move coming so relatively early, BMC thought they had time to bring Hushovd back to the first group behind Boonen, but Hushovd certainly didn't have it today. I guess Thor's talk in the lead-up to the race didn't carry the day. Ballan sounds like a team player, not the kind of guy to ignore team orders. Someone needs to help Pozzato with his tactics.

Chavez said:

I am failing to understand how the hell a group let TOM BOONEN, of all riders, pop off the front. Obviously, he was strong enough where a chase may have ended up futile anyway, but the coverage here missed the key moment; all I saw was Boonen at 44" and Terpstra doing a good job of playing tactics and gumming up the chase group.

Nice ride by Turgot - way to not quit and end up with a 2nd place.

... The same way that a whole bunch of guys lost time to Boonen during the remaining 50km. Sometimes it's not a case of letting them go - its a case of you can't hold the wheel. Tom has a very deceptive style and makes even the big efforts look smooth. All it takes is 5 meters and if a guy that's faster than the rest is givIng it full gas then it's game over on the cobbles.

Boom's counter attack from the chase group was the only effort that nicked into Boonen's lead...and he killed himself to pull back 5-10 seconds...

Boom's a decent sprinter and that effort cost him any shot at a podium.

Boonen rode without gloves. I'm impressed. If I was counting cogs correctly on the close-up shots, Tom was powering a 15 and 14 over the pave. I'ld love to see his wattage output...'if' the power meter survived the bashing.

I saw George finished in the 70's...good for him! More P-R finishes than any other rider IIRC.

Yes, good job by Taylor Phinney. Davis and Connie must be proud.

Quoted post said:

Originally Posted by steve [IMG]/img/forum/go_quote.gif[/IMG]

Ballan and pippo were both with Boonen and went back to the main group.......fools [IMG]/img/vbsmilies/smilies/rolleyes.gif[/IMG]

hind sight is 20:20... logically Boonen shouldn't have been able to survive from 60km's out like that with all that firepower chasing.. 4 x Sky's chasing.. I don't think they did anything necessarily wrong.. Boonen's performance was not a probable out come.. they bet right it's just that sometimes that 5% chance of something happening happens.. you can bet properly and still lose.. it's about the odds..

Quoted post said:

Originally Posted by Chavez [IMG]/img/forum/go_quote.gif[/IMG]

I am failing to understand how the hell a group let TOM BOONEN, of all riders, pop off the front. Obviously, he was strong enough where a chase may have ended up futile anyway, but the coverage here missed the key moment; all I saw was Boonen at 44" and Terpstra doing a good job of playing tactics and gumming up the chase group.

Nice ride by Turgot - way to not quit and end up with a 2nd place.

the two guys who could have chased him down were in no possition to chase at the time... Pozzata had just chased down Boonen's previous attach and Ballan had just bridged up to the group from a flat so they just looked at each other and Boonen got away..

Quoted post said:

“I just didn't have the legs. It's that simple,” Vansummeren told HLN.be.

But no one really had a chance against Boonen on Sunday, as the Omega Pharma-QuickStep rider finished off the race solo in front for more than 50 kilometres. “Tom just rode us out of the wheel, out of the saddle. I never saw anything like it before,” he said.

“It was just hopeless. He was much too strong.”

According to Vansummeren, Boonen's rivals would only have had one chance to catch him. “If the race had gone another 100 kilometers, we might have caught him.”

cyclingnews.comvansummeren no one had a chance against boonen in paris roubaixOpen ↗

Great view of the Arenberg crash [IMG]/img/vbsmilies/smilies/eek.gif[/IMG]

I would like to see an aerial shot of the break's crash entering the Arenberg. It almost looks like a touch from the rear pushed the guy out of shape and out of control. I didn't see an over-correction from 'losing the front end'.

Close-ups of the entrance area did show a lot of grass and green stuff growing between the stones though.

Hellova hard fall by the first three to go down.

The race may have had a slightly different complexion if the break stayed intact longer, but I think the outcome would have been the same. Boonen is simply the best and the luckiest so far this season.

Fabian? He's had my typical race luck! Punctures at the wrong moment and way too many falls.

have to say that roger de vlaeminck's take on the race is closest the truth. no spartacus, no real competition for boonen. particularly liked his slagging of pozzato and ballan. they (and others, truth be told) had the horses to close the gap, but neither seemed to be able to organise a determined chase.

It's not like Terpstra is a duffer. An ex team pursuit World Championship silver medalist, Dutch road race champion in 2010 and recent winner of Dwars door Vlaanderen a few weeks ago and Boonen just shelled him on the cobbles while he was drafting. Even when the Ballan was working with the folks from Sky they weren't making progress even on regular roads.

DeVlaeminck is just [censored] that he's no longer the only Mr Paris Roubaix...

Quoted post said:

Originally Posted by swampy1970 [IMG]/img/forum/go_quote.gif[/IMG]

DeVlaeminck is just [censored] that he's no longer the only Mr Paris Roubaix...

HAHA spot on!

That was a very impressive win by Boonen.

I didn't go for him in my selection because presumed Flanders might have taken the edge away from his performance. I couldn't be more wrong.
His win reminded me of Cancellara's win there a couple of years back when he was too strong for the field.

Good race this year.

A win in one of the hardest classics is still a win. And apparently sour grapes are still sour grapes.