Ronde van Vlaanderen 2006

[cyclingheroes]

April Fool!

And CH, why did you have to spoil the party?

i was a bit confused... is it a joke or not.....

 

[Andrija]

i was a bit confused... is it a joke or not.....

Good enough for me...
And tomorrow... Big showdown on Flandrian roads.
I just can't wait.

 

[wolfix]

Here click on the link on the right.....there is a nice video of the ronde, it's in dutch though!

http://www.nos.nl/nosstudiosport/artikelen/2006/3/31/31031200vbsrondevanvlaanderen.html

Great video ......Thanks.

 

[cyclingheroes]

Good enough for me...
And tomorrow... Big showdown on Flandrian roads.
I just can't wait.

Yeah! Can't wait too! We are gonna take pictures on the Koppenberg (that's why i got a bit nervous about the April 1 joke... ) and De muur (Geraardsbergen), i will post some pictures here on Monday.

 

[Andrija]

Yeah! Can't wait too! We are gonna take pictures on the Koppenberg (that's why i got a bit nervous about the April 1 joke... ) and De muur (Geraardsbergen), i will post some pictures here on Monday.

Hey man, if you could shoot some pictures in Mater after Molenberg it would be great!
There's going to be one unusual flag 4x2m. on Flandrian roads...
And everybody watching the race on TV... Pay attention at, around, 1:30PM. that's the time when the Mater is scheduled.

 

[doctorSpoc]

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.

According to his coach Freire is not riding because he just hates riding cobbles..

[size=-1]Rabobank manager Erik Breukink said Freire's inherent fear of riding on cobblestones, sections of which feature at Flanders and Paris-Roubaix a week later, has effectively ruled him out. [/size]

[size=-1]"Oscar isn't too comfortable on the cobblestones. I would say he is even scared of them," said Breukink. "There's no point in sending him out to a race as difficult as the Tour of Flanders." [/size]
http://www.velonews.com/race/int/articles/9655.0.html

 

[wolfix]

According to his coach Freire is not riding because he just hates riding cobbles..

That's the reason my buddies and I are staying home too...

 

[doctorSpoc]

In all seriousness, I still cannot believe he pulled off that attack last year. He went with 9k to go and attacked a six man group containing Klier, Zabel, Van Petegem, Ballan, and some dude from Fasso who I had not heard of. He attacked on the flats then just rode away from them to win by 35 seconds. If that group can't pull you back with no road features to slow them down, you are not to be taken lightly. I still saw him as more of a sprinter until that moment even with his win in Gent the year before. Now I figure he can do anything he wants. Sick???? We will see about that.

no doubt about it... that was an amazing, well timed effort.. but he didn't just ride away from them.. boonen timed his attack right after a van petegem (the only one capable of brining him back alone) attack and on top of that waited 'til van petegem was looking back to see where the other riders were. on top of that, it really wasn't that the others couldn't bring him back.. if they had worked together and team time trialed it, they would have brought him back in under 1k.. no one wanted to work together and bring anyone else with them to the line. van petegem got 3/4 of the the way accross by himself once, 1/2 way accross another time... if he hadn't attacked and anyone else was on his wheel to do the second turn boonen would have been caught and likely dropped. boonen's win of flanders last year was more of a great tactical victory more than an athletic one... even though it was a pretty great athletic one as well.

 

[doctorSpoc]

That's the reason my buddies and I are staying home too...

I agree with [size=-1]Breukink... why send my 3 time world champion winning machine to a race that he's likle not going to do anything in and maybe get hurt in... especially given his aversion to cobbles... it's dumb!

QUESTION....? why is a thread called "Ronde van Vlaanderen 2006" a 1 day classic... doing in a category called Grand Tours???
[/size]

 

[limerickman]

5Kms to go :Boonen and Hoste : one fo these is going to win - they'er 2mins ahead of the chasers.

 

[limerickman]

BOONEN WINS HIS SECOND CONSECUTIVE RVV !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Superb - this man is a cycling machine. Superb.

His break on the Koppenberg indicted just how well he was going.
Hincapie was forced to get off the bike - that shows how tough the Koppenberg is.
And Boonen flew up it.
Superb.

 

[DV1976]

Slightly off topic but I'm too ****** off about it: "Thank you" Eurosport for totally ****ing up today's broadcast...
Well done Tom...

 

[bobke]

Slightly off topic but I'm too ****** off about it: "Thank you" Eurosport for totally ****ing up today's broadcast...
Well done Tom...

Sounds like a great race...
I note how Discovery's disarray continues.
Hoste made the winning break that only Boonen could go with and Hincapie won third place easily over Cancelara, Zabel and PVP.

 

[MJtje]

To be fair,and don't shoot me, it was a boring race......boonen was head and shoulders above the rest and there were only 2 attacks the whole race. Btw let's also consider the superrrrrr team Boonen had. Baquet and Pozzato did a lot of work till hoste attacked and bettini controlled the 2nd group after that......damn what a team!

Overall: boring race, with a predictable outcome.......nonetheless hats off to boonen.....

Sounds like a great race...

I note how Discovery's disarray continues.
Hoste made the winning break that only Boonen could go with and Hincapie won third place easily over Cancelara, Zabel and PVP.

 

[DiabloScott]

To be fair,and don't shoot me, it was a boring race......boonen was head and shoulders above the rest and there were only 2 attacks the whole race. Btw let's also consider the superrrrrr team Boonen had. Baquet and Pozzato did a lot of work till hoste attacked and bettini controlled the 2nd group after that......damn what a team!

Overall: boring race, with a predictable outcome.......nonetheless hats off to boonen.....

Man you are hard to please!

 

[limerickman]

Slightly off topic but I'm too ****** off about it: "Thank you" Eurosport for totally ****ing up today's broadcast...
Well done Tom...

agreed @ the coverage from GP at Monza interrupted the schedule totally.

 

[limerickman]

To be fair,and don't shoot me, it was a boring race......boonen was head and shoulders above the rest and there were only 2 attacks the whole race. Btw let's also consider the superrrrrr team Boonen had. Baquet and Pozzato did a lot of work till hoste attacked and bettini controlled the 2nd group after that......damn what a team!

Overall: boring race, with a predictable outcome.......nonetheless hats off to boonen.....

Quickstep really did put the lid on it : from the Koppenberg onwards, Quickstep controlled it.
Hoste's break was shutdown immediately by Boonen.

Looking at the footage of Betini and Boonen and Baguet chatting as they were climbing - awesome.

 

[whiteboytrash]

Did you see the race ? What was Hoste doing ? He refused to take turns with 2km to go so Boonen slowed to almost a walk..... Hoste still refused to take turns and then tried to go with 900m to go ! Bonnen just jumped on his wheel then out rode him.....

The Discovery riders need to stop taking orders from Demol.... that was diabolical what was seen out there today.... that was the easiest race Bonnen has ever won and Hoste gave it to him on a plate.

I suspect Hoste made the break to and lose some of QuickStep guys to set it up for Hincapie but in the end only Bonnen could follow....

Sounds like a great race...
I note how Discovery's disarray continues.
Hoste made the winning break that only Boonen could go with and Hincapie won third place easily over Cancelara, Zabel and PVP.

 

[whiteboytrash]

Slightly off topic but I'm too ****** off about it: "Thank you" Eurosport for totally ****ing up today's broadcast...
Well done Tom...

Agreed why don't they split the shows between EuroSport 1 + 2.....

 

[MJtje]

Talking about Hoste........how many years is the dude racing?? He sprinted like a rookie.......you never ever sprint from 500 metres out, ESPECIALLY NOT against TOM %*()^)_(__&^Y_(&^ Boonen

Did you see the race ? What was Hoste doing ? He refused to take turns with 2km to go so Boonen slowed to almost a walk..... Hoste still refused to take turns and then tried to go with 900m to go ! Bonnen just jumped on his wheel then out rode him.....

The Discovery riders need to stop taking orders from Demol.... that was diabolical what was seen out there today.... that was the easiest race Bonnen has ever won and Hoste gave it to him on a plate.

I suspect Hoste made the break to and lose some of QuickStep guys to set it up for Hincapie but in the end only Bonnen could follow....