Michaelsen bike change?

[Bret]

Anyone know what was up with the Michaelsen bike change late in P-R?
It wasn't clear if he had a mechanical or just wanted a faster bike
(deep section carbon wheels) for the finale. Anyway, he slipped and
fell on his butt trying to do a cross-like bike exchange, then he
promptly crashed the new bike in the first pave corner. If that was a
strategic move, it backfired big time, especially considering the
circumstances.

Bret

 

[Tom Kunich]

"Bret" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Anyone know what was up with the Michaelsen bike change late in P-R?
> It wasn't clear if he had a mechanical or just wanted a faster bike
> (deep section carbon wheels) for the finale. Anyway, he slipped and
> fell on his butt trying to do a cross-like bike exchange, then he
> promptly crashed the new bike in the first pave corner. If that was a
> strategic move, it backfired big time, especially considering the
> circumstances.

The pave' was covered in sand. I'm quite sure that anyone traveling as fast
as he was going there would have crashed as hard.

 

[Bret]

On Apr 15, 9:48 pm, "Tom Kunich" <cyclintom@yahoo. com> wrote:
> "Bret" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>
> news:[email protected]...
>
> > Anyone know what was up with the Michaelsen bike change late in P-R?
> > It wasn't clear if he had a mechanical or just wanted a faster bike
> > (deep section carbon wheels) for the finale. Anyway, he slipped and
> > fell on his butt trying to do a cross-like bike exchange, then he
> > promptly crashed the new bike in the first pave corner. If that was a
> > strategic move, it backfired big time, especially considering the
> > circumstances.
>
> The pave' was covered in sand. I'm quite sure that anyone traveling as fast
> as he was going there would have crashed as hard.

If he was taking that corner faster than the others it was only
because he was trying to chase back on. My question, which you didn't
address, was whether that situation was a tactical blunder or the
necessary result of a mechancal problem.

Bret

 

[Richard Cheese]

Were all the other rider who preceded him traveling as fast? Did they crash
as hard?


"Tom Kunich" <cyclintom@yahoo. com> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> "Bret" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>> Anyone know what was up with the Michaelsen bike change late in P-R?
>> It wasn't clear if he had a mechanical or just wanted a faster bike
>> (deep section carbon wheels) for the finale. Anyway, he slipped and
>> fell on his butt trying to do a cross-like bike exchange, then he
>> promptly crashed the new bike in the first pave corner. If that was a
>> strategic move, it backfired big time, especially considering the
>> circumstances.
>
> The pave' was covered in sand. I'm quite sure that anyone traveling as
> fast as he was going there would have crashed as hard.
>
>

 

[Morten Reippuert Knudsen]

Bret <[email protected]> wrote:
> Anyone know what was up with the Michaelsen bike change late in P-R?
> It wasn't clear if he had a mechanical or just wanted a faster bike
> (deep section carbon wheels) for the finale.

He had a flat tire.

> Anyway, he slipped and
> fell on his butt trying to do a cross-like bike exchange, then he
> promptly crashed the new bike in the first pave corner. If that was a
> strategic move, it backfired big time, especially considering the
> circumstances.

It wasn't. The bike wasn't his own. After the crash on the borrowed
bike he had to wait for a new bike. While dooing that he was caught by
Boonen.

Too bad for him he would have finnished 2nd in his last race ever. As he
said: "I had diamonds in my legs". He was clearly the strongest man
in the race, and would easyly have beaten Fletcha and Wesseman in
the sprint or left them if the tactics would have allowed him.
He rode his best P-R ever. I really feel sorry for him.

--
Morten Reippuert Knudsen <http://blog.reippuert.dk>

Merlin Works CR-3/2.5 & Campagnolo Chorus 2007.

 

[Bret]

On Apr 16, 12:11 am, Morten Reippuert Knudsen<[email protected]>
wrote:
> Bret <[email protected]> wrote:
> > Anyone know what was up with the Michaelsen bike change late in P-R?
> > It wasn't clear if he had a mechanical or just wanted a faster bike
> > (deep section carbon wheels) for the finale.
>
> He had a flat tire.
>
> > Anyway, he slipped and
> > fell on his butt trying to do a cross-like bike exchange, then he
> > promptly crashed the new bike in the first pave corner. If that was a
> > strategic move, it backfired big time, especially considering the
> > circumstances.
>
> It wasn't. The bike wasn't his own. After the crash on the borrowed
> bike he had to wait for a new bike. While dooing that he was caught by
> Boonen.
>
> Too bad for him he would have finnished 2nd in his last race ever. As he
> said: "I had diamonds in my legs". He was clearly the strongest man
> in the race, and would easyly have beaten Fletcha and Wesseman in
> the sprint or left them if the tactics would have allowed him.
> He rode his best P-R ever. I really feel sorry for him.
>
> --
> Morten Reippuert Knudsen <http://blog.reippuert.dk>
>
> Merlin Works CR-3/2.5 & Campagnolo Chorus 2007.

Thanks for clearing that up. I felt bad for him too. It reminded me
some of Rasmussen's famous TT implosion.

Bret

 

[[email protected]]

On Apr 16, 8:11 am, Morten Reippuert Knudsen<[email protected]> wrote:
> Bret <[email protected]> wrote:
> > Anyone know what was up with the Michaelsen bike change late in P-R?
> > It wasn't clear if he had a mechanical or just wanted a faster bike
> > (deep section carbon wheels) for the finale.
>
> He had a flat tire.
>
> > Anyway, he slipped and
> > fell on his butt trying to do a cross-like bike exchange, then he
> > promptly crashed the new bike in the first pave corner. If that was a
> > strategic move, it backfired big time, especially considering the
> > circumstances.
>
> It wasn't. The bike wasn't his own. After the crash on the borrowed
> bike he had to wait for a new bike. While dooing that he was caught by
> Boonen.
>
> Too bad for him he would have finnished 2nd in his last race ever. As he
> said: "I had diamonds in my legs". He was clearly the strongest man
> in the race, and would easyly have beaten Fletcha and Wesseman in
> the sprint or left them if the tactics would have allowed him.
> He rode his best P-R ever. I really feel sorry for him.
>
> --
> Morten Reippuert Knudsen <http://blog.reippuert.dk>
>
> Merlin Works CR-3/2.5 & Campagnolo Chorus 2007.

And his last day as a pro too. I nearly fell out of my chair when he
crashed.

Joseph

 

[[email protected]]

On Apr 16, 12:57 am, "Richard Cheese" <[email protected]>
wrote:
> Were all the other rider who preceded him traveling as fast? Did they crash
> as hard?
>
> "Tom Kunich" <cyclintom@yahoo. com> wrote in messagenews:[email protected]...
>
> > "Bret" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> >news:[email protected]...
> >> Anyone know what was up with the Michaelsen bike change late in P-R?
> >> It wasn't clear if he had a mechanical or just wanted a faster bike
> >> (deep section carbon wheels) for the finale. Anyway, he slipped and
> >> fell on his butt trying to do a cross-like bike exchange, then he
> >> promptly crashed the new bike in the first pave corner. If that was a
> >> strategic move, it backfired big time, especially considering the
> >> circumstances.
>
> > The pave' was covered in sand. I'm quite sure that anyone traveling as
> > fast as he was going there would have crashed as hard.- Hide quoted text -

Was it just me watching the actual racing? NO - the compressed TV
coverage on Versus STILL managed to get O'Grady going around that same
corner with comments from our intrepid announcers about how he had to
be extra careful because of all of the sand covering the pave there.

But you may demonstrate that you didn't actually watch the racing all
you want.

 

[[email protected]]

On Apr 16, 12:07 am, "Bret" <[email protected]> wrote:
> On Apr 15, 9:48 pm, "Tom Kunich" <cyclintom@yahoo. com> wrote:
>
> > "Bret" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>
> >news:[email protected]...
>
> > > Anyone know what was up with the Michaelsen bike change late in P-R?
> > > It wasn't clear if he had a mechanical or just wanted a faster bike
> > > (deep section carbon wheels) for the finale. Anyway, he slipped and
> > > fell on his butt trying to do a cross-like bike exchange, then he
> > > promptly crashed the new bike in the first pave corner. If that was a
> > > strategic move, it backfired big time, especially considering the
> > > circumstances.
>
> > The pave' was covered in sand. I'm quite sure that anyone traveling as fast
> > as he was going there would have crashed as hard.
>
> If he was taking that corner faster than the others it was only
> because he was trying to chase back on.

Certainly. What the hell else would it have been? He's an expert rider
hyped to the gills with being near the front and simply made a
judgement error.

> My question, which you didn't
> address, was whether that situation was a tactical blunder or the
> necessary result of a mechancal problem.

How the hell would any of us know what the strategy behind that was?
But as a guess - if he had mechanical problems I would have assumed
that he would have been a great deal further back than he was. That
would imply that this was a tactical change designed to give him a
faster bike in the last 20 km of the race. However, it is possible
that their testing led them to discover that frames may not take that
much pounding and it was a strategic change to make sure that he
didn't have a frame fallure in front of the entire cycling universe.
That's not as far fetched as it would be if he were riding a steel
bike.

 

[[email protected]]

On Apr 16, 1:16 pm, "Bret" <[email protected]> wrote:
> On Apr 16, 12:11 am, Morten Reippuert Knudsen<[email protected]>
> wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
> > Bret <[email protected]> wrote:
> > > Anyone know what was up with the Michaelsen bike change late in P-R?
> > > It wasn't clear if he had a mechanical or just wanted a faster bike
> > > (deep section carbon wheels) for the finale.
>
> > He had a flat tire.
>
> > > Anyway, he slipped and
> > > fell on his butt trying to do a cross-like bike exchange, then he
> > > promptly crashed the new bike in the first pave corner. If that was a
> > > strategic move, it backfired big time, especially considering the
> > > circumstances.
>
> > It wasn't. The bike wasn't his own. After the crash on the borrowed
> > bike he had to wait for a new bike. While dooing that he was caught by
> > Boonen.
>
> > Too bad for him he would have finnished 2nd in his last race ever. As he
> > said: "I had diamonds in my legs". He was clearly the strongest man
> > in the race, and would easyly have beaten Fletcha and Wesseman in
> > the sprint or left them if the tactics would have allowed him.
> > He rode his best P-R ever. I really feel sorry for him.
>
> > --
> > Morten Reippuert Knudsen <http://blog.reippuert.dk>
>
> > Merlin Works CR-3/2.5 & Campagnolo Chorus 2007.
>
> Thanks for clearing that up. I felt bad for him too. It reminded me
> some of Rasmussen's famous TT implosion.

Rassmussen wasn't fast enough and blew up trying to be better than he
could be. Michaelsen was fast enough to beat everyone but O'Grady and
had some bad luck and then tried to catch up too fast. Perfectly
understandable and really sad for such a quality rider.

 

[Kurgan Gringioni]

On Apr 15, 9:07 pm, "Bret" <[email protected]> wrote:

> > The pave' was covered in sand. I'm quite sure that anyone traveling as fast
> > as he was going there would have crashed as hard.
>
> If he was taking that corner faster than the others it was only
> because he was trying to chase back on. My question, which you didn't
> address, was whether that situation was a tactical blunder or the
> necessary result of a mechancal problem.



Dumbass -


If a racer crashes and there's no one else involved, then it's his/her
fault. Especially if other people were making it around the turn w/out
crashing.


thanks,

K. Gringioni.

 

[Bret]

On Apr 16, 5:16 pm, "Kurgan Gringioni" <[email protected]> wrote:
> On Apr 15, 9:07 pm, "Bret" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> > > The pave' was covered in sand. I'm quite sure that anyone traveling as fast
> > > as he was going there would have crashed as hard.
>
> > If he was taking that corner faster than the others it was only
> > because he was trying to chase back on. My question, which you didn't
> > address, was whether that situation was a tactical blunder or the
> > necessary result of a mechancal problem.
>
> Dumbass -
>
> If a racer crashes and there's no one else involved, then it's his/her
> fault. Especially if other people were making it around the turn w/out
> crashing.
>
> thanks,
>
> K. Gringioni.

True, but I was still interested in the events leading up to the
crash. If the bike change wasn't really necessary, then that would
have compounded the mistake. Based on what Morten said, that wasn't
the case.

Bret

 

[Morten Reippuert Knudsen]

[email protected] <[email protected]> wrote:

> And his last day as a pro too. I nearly fell out of my chair when he
> crashed.

Yes he rode pefectly and would have finnished 2nd without doubt. He
was clearly the strongest rider that day. (Feltcha, Weseman and
Leukenamns said they let O'Grady go because they feared that it was
CSC's way of setting Michalsen up). He would easyly have beaten
Fletcha, Weseman and Leukemans in a sprint. However i think that he
would have left them on the cobbels once O'grady had a gap arround 45
sec.

--
Morten Reippuert Knudsen <http://blog.reippuert.dk>

Merlin Works CR-3/2.5 & Campagnolo Chorus 2007.

 

[Kurgan Gringioni]

On Apr 17, 12:42 am, Morten Reippuert Knudsen<[email protected]>
wrote:
> [email protected] <[email protected]> wrote:
> > And his last day as a pro too. I nearly fell out of my chair when he
> > crashed.
>
> Yes he rode pefectly and would have finnished 2nd without doubt. He
> was clearly the strongest rider that day. (Feltcha, Weseman and
> Leukenamns said they let O'Grady go because they feared that it was
> CSC's way of setting Michalsen up). He would easyly have beaten
> Fletcha, Weseman and Leukemans in a sprint. However i think that he
> would have left them on the cobbels once O'grady had a gap arround 45
> sec.




Dumbass -


What a load of baloney. If he could have left them whenever he wanted,
then he would have done it instead of waiting for O'Grady to do
something.


thanks,

K. Gringioni.

 

[Tom Kunich]

"Kurgan Gringioni" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On Apr 17, 12:42 am, Morten Reippuert Knudsen<[email protected]>
> wrote:
>> [email protected] <[email protected]> wrote:
>> > And his last day as a pro too. I nearly fell out of my chair when he
>> > crashed.
>>
>> Yes he rode pefectly and would have finnished 2nd without doubt. He
>> was clearly the strongest rider that day. (Feltcha, Weseman and
>> Leukenamns said they let O'Grady go because they feared that it was
>> CSC's way of setting Michalsen up). He would easyly have beaten
>> Fletcha, Weseman and Leukemans in a sprint. However i think that he
>> would have left them on the cobbels once O'grady had a gap arround 45
>> sec.
>
> What a load of baloney. If he could have left them whenever he wanted,
> then he would have done it instead of waiting for O'Grady to do
> something.

We are simply stunned with all of your poignant knowledge.

 

[Kurgan Gringioni]

On Apr 17, 11:52 am, "Tom Kunich" <cyclintom@yahoo. com> wrote:
> "Kurgan Gringioni" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>
> news:[email protected]...
>
>
>
>
>
> > On Apr 17, 12:42 am, Morten Reippuert Knudsen<[email protected]>
> > wrote:
> >> [email protected] <[email protected]> wrote:
> >> > And his last day as a pro too. I nearly fell out of my chair when he
> >> > crashed.
>
> >> Yes he rode pefectly and would have finnished 2nd without doubt. He
> >> was clearly the strongest rider that day. (Feltcha, Weseman and
> >> Leukenamns said they let O'Grady go because they feared that it was
> >> CSC's way of setting Michalsen up). He would easyly have beaten
> >> Fletcha, Weseman and Leukemans in a sprint. However i think that he
> >> would have left them on the cobbels once O'grady had a gap arround 45
> >> sec.
>
> > What a load of baloney. If he could have left them whenever he wanted,
> > then he would have done it instead of waiting for O'Grady to do
> > something.
>
> We are simply stunned with all of your poignant knowledge.




Jackass -


You're the one who's making noise about how much O'Grady "deserved"
it.


thanks,

K. Gringioni.

 

[Tom Kunich]

"Kurgan Gringioni" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> You're the one who's making noise about how much O'Grady "deserved"
> it.

And you're the one telling us he didn't?

 

[Bill C]

On Apr 17, 3:04 pm, Kurgan Gringioni <[email protected]> wrote:
> Jackass -
>
> You're the one who's making noise about how much O'Grady "deserved"
> it.
>
> thanks,
>
> K. Gringioni.- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

O'Grady did deserve it because he rode his ass off, especially the
last 23Km and had a better race than anyone else. Gotta throw in a
little kudos for Riis and the rest of the team for executing plan B,
ulike Disco who apparently failed to execute any of their plans:

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2007/apr07/apr17news

Demol questions Discovery tactics

Discovery Channel had a largely unsuccessful Paris-Roubaix on Sunday,
causing directeur sportif Dirk Demol to question why none of the
designated team leaders made the early breakaway of 34 riders
containing eventual winner Stuart O'Grady from arch rival Team CSC.

<rest snipped>
Bill C

 

[Howard Kveck]

In article <[email protected]>,
"Tom Kunich" <cyclintom@yahoo. com> wrote:

> "Kurgan Gringioni" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> >
> > You're the one who's making noise about how much O'Grady "deserved"
> > it.
>
> And you're the one telling us he didn't?

He deserved the win for the ride he did *that* day, not because of anything he'd
done in the past.

--
tanx,
Howard

Never take a tenant with a monkey.

remove YOUR SHOES to reply, ok?

 

[Morten Reippuert Knudsen]

Kurgan Gringioni <[email protected]> wrote:

> MRKnudsen said that Michaelson was the strongest and the reason
> O'Grady won was because everyone was sitting on him.

It has happend in this race before, most obvious was 1996 and 2001. One
could add 97 as well although that result wasn't dictated by team
tactics. Then there was the year when ballerini wasn't allowed to
bridge to his teammate in the front.

--
Morten Reippuert Knudsen <http://blog.reippuert.dk>

Merlin Works CR-3/2.5 & Campagnolo Chorus 2007.