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Paris-Roubaix 2017
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| Maddox |
Posted on 05-04-2017 07:54
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I guess we should have a thread about the biggest race of the year, Paris-Roubaix. What are your expectations? Who are your favorites? |
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| ringo182 |
Posted on 05-04-2017 08:15
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Weather forecast is for blazing sunshine 
WE WANT MUD!!!
"Ringo is exactly right", Shonak - 8 September 2016
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| fjhoekie |
Posted on 05-04-2017 08:19
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Ebh wins. No doubt.
And sunshine is good, mud is overhyped and will not make for a more exciting race at all.
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| Strydz |
Posted on 05-04-2017 09:46
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Why do we want mud? Last years Roubaix was in blazing sunshine and it was one of the best races I have watched.
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| ringo182 |
Posted on 05-04-2017 10:00
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Agreed, but the iconic Roubaix images are of riders covered in mud and fighting through puddles and rain. Dry races have their merits, but wet Roubaix races require a completely different skill set to win.
I can't remember the last truly muddy Roubaix race. You need at least one every few years and I just think we are due a muddy Roubaix.
There are some riders who are considered great classics riders in the current peloton who have never raced at a wet Paris Roubaix.
"Ringo is exactly right", Shonak - 8 September 2016
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| Riis123 |
Posted on 05-04-2017 10:04
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Last time I saw rain at Roubaix-secteurs it made for one of the absolute best Tour de France stages I've seen. So I definitely don't think its overhyped at all. 
I can already tell this thread will be pretty toxic considering Avin has gone in full defence mode, so I don't know how much time I'll spend here |
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| TheManxMissile |
Posted on 05-04-2017 10:18
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Riis123 wrote:
Last time I saw rain at Roubaix-secteurs it made for one of the absolute best Tour de France stages I've seen. So I definitely don't think its overhyped at all.
I think there's a big difference between a wet Roubaix, and a wet Tour stage over some cobbles. Different stakes make for different racing. We're unlikely to see Astana break the race open to get Nibali time gaps.
Roubaix is a race that doesn't need weather to be epic or make good racing. Rain can make some classics better, Roubaix isn't one of those because of how tough and unique the course is anyway. You win it, you're a legend. It's not like an E3 where you need a storm to make it amazing.
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| Riis123 |
Posted on 05-04-2017 12:06
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TheManxMissile wrote:
Riis123 wrote:
Last time I saw rain at Roubaix-secteurs it made for one of the absolute best Tour de France stages I've seen. So I definitely don't think its overhyped at all.
I think there's a big difference between a wet Roubaix, and a wet Tour stage over some cobbles. Different stakes make for different racing. We're unlikely to see Astana break the race open to get Nibali time gaps.
Roubaix is a race that doesn't need weather to be epic or make good racing. Rain can make some classics better, Roubaix isn't one of those because of how tough and unique the course is anyway. You win it, you're a legend. It's not like an E3 where you need a storm to make it amazing.
Rain can definitely make Roubaix better. Most races are more selective when it rains heavily and I think Roubaix is one of them - it simply just gets EVEN harder, even tougher. Needless to say such an epic race as Roubaix doesn't really need it, but it could be fun once in while. Many riders will be beaten already before the start.
And I don't get the E3 comparison - E3 is already one of the absolute best races on the calendar as it is. Definitely the best of the flemish classics leading up to the monuments. I think you are thinking about 2015 G-W. |
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| fjhoekie |
Posted on 05-04-2017 12:17
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A harder race is not a better race, if anything i believe IT makes races worse. Riders will hold back, especially in muddy conditions. The bigger selection you mention is mainly caused by misfortune in these cases, and that's not prefered, at least not in my opinion. Adding more hills or kilometers has a similar effect.
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| Riis123 |
Posted on 05-04-2017 12:18
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fjhoekie wrote:
A harder race is not a better race, if anything i believe IT makes races worse. Riders will hold back, especially in muddy conditions. The bigger selection you mention is mainly caused by misfortune in these cases, and that's not prefered, at least not in my opinion. Adding more hills or kilometers has a similar effect.
Who knows - most of us have not even seen a rainy/muddy Roubaix. 
Oh, and I suppose you have loved the first stages of Tour of the Basque Country then. |
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| fjhoekie |
Posted on 05-04-2017 12:24
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Cannot watch Pais Vasco, too busy on work, but I assume they added less hills in some stages? If so, that would not be too bad, nothing wrong with a good sprint, and the GC men will surely get their chances too. Making races shorter in particular helps in creating more exciting racing, less extreme stages is good too.
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| Riis123 |
Posted on 05-04-2017 12:35
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fjhoekie wrote:
Cannot watch Pais Vasco, too busy on work, but I assume they added less hills in some stages? If so, that would not be too bad, nothing wrong with a good sprint, and the GC men will surely get their chances too. Making races shorter in particular helps in creating more exciting racing, less extreme stages is good too.
They have basically made 2 completely flat, opening stages. In the Basque Country. +120 riders in the same time. Its like making flat sprint stages in the Dolomites- it shouldn't be possible.
Anyways, I couldn't possibly disagree more on your last point. I find it, hmm, contradicting, that you just wrote that in that Paris-Roubaix thread, possibly the hardest, longest and most inhuman race on the calendar. Needless to say that, in my point of view, exactly that humanisation you think makes races better (..?) should be considered the arch enemy of cycling. The bikes get better, so does the training, the diet, the 'preparation' - making the routes easier and shorter will make racing less selective and will lead to races being dominated even more by strong teams. We wouldn't want that, would we. There's a reason why races like Flanders and Roubaix not only are the pinnacle of the prestige for the riders, but also some of the absolute best TV when it comes to cycling. I'd argue the best. Humanising the race, cutting 50 km off, skipping some cobbled secteurs (which I assume will make the race more exciting to you?) is NOT the way to go about things. Quite the opposite.
Anyways, back to Roubaix. Hoping for Boonen, but I think Degenkolb or GVA will win. The latter isn't a Roubaix specialist by any means, but he has been amazing this spring and clearly one level above Sagan.
Edited by Riis123 on 05-04-2017 13:12
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| Kirchen_75 |
Posted on 05-04-2017 13:12
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the forecast for Roubaix is sunny and dry and quite hot (20C).
Honestly I prefer dusty Roubaix than muddy. Its better racing. I wanna see hard racing like last year. |
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| Riis123 |
Posted on 05-04-2017 13:20
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20C and dry all the week leading up to it will be epic. Cloudy and 5-10C is pretty meh, we want the extremes in this most extreme race. |
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| Riis123 |
Posted on 05-04-2017 13:25
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Gougeard on Ollie Naesen, quickly becoming one of my favourite riders for these races:
"I have participated in the entire Flanders campaign and have learned that positioning is paramount from start to finish. I am motivated to do well myself, but I’m also motivated to help Oliver Naesen," said Gougeard. "He has proved that he is one of the best Flanderian riders, and the whole team will be ready to do whatever it can to help him..."
Naesen on his own chances:
"I know every helling, every run-up to a helling, each and every cobblestone in Flanders, but Roubaix is unknown to me," he said. "I've ridden the race only twice and reconned it twice. It is still an important race for me and the team."
"I really hope a good result," he said.
"Winning? Why not? When you start, you can win. I feel good and that is reflected in my results in recent weeks." |
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| Shonak |
Posted on 05-04-2017 13:36
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No proper preview for the biggest one-day race of the year
"It’s a little bit scary when Contador attacks." - Tommy V
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| fjhoekie |
Posted on 05-04-2017 14:07
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Riis123 wrote:
fjhoekie wrote:
Cannot watch Pais Vasco, too busy on work, but I assume they added less hills in some stages? If so, that would not be too bad, nothing wrong with a good sprint, and the GC men will surely get their chances too. Making races shorter in particular helps in creating more exciting racing, less extreme stages is good too.
They have basically made 2 completely flat, opening stages. In the Basque Country. +120 riders in the same time. Its like making flat sprint stages in the Dolomites- it shouldn't be possible.
Anyways, I couldn't possibly disagree more on your last point. I find it, hmm, contradicting, that you just wrote that in that Paris-Roubaix thread, possibly the hardest, longest and most inhuman race on the calendar. Needless to say that, in my point of view, exactly that humanisation you think makes races better (..?) should be considered the arch enemy of cycling. The bikes get better, so does the training, the diet, the 'preparation' - making the routes easier and shorter will make racing less selective and will lead to races being dominated even more by strong teams. We wouldn't want that, would we. There's a reason why races like Flanders and Roubaix not only are the pinnacle of the prestige for the riders, but also some of the absolute best TV when it comes to cycling. I'd argue the best. Humanising the race, cutting 50 km off, skipping some cobbled secteurs (which I assume will make the race more exciting to you?) is NOT the way to go about things. Quite the opposite.
Anyways, back to Roubaix. Hoping for Boonen, but I think Degenkolb or GVA will win. The latter isn't a Roubaix specialist by any means, but he has been amazing this spring and clearly one level above Sagan.
I highly believe shorter, less extreme races will actually be more selective as riders can user all of their capabilities to the fullest. Sure, teams would be able to control races easy as well, but why not reduce them to 6 riders per team, also in Grand Tours? Would even allow more teams in these races, which could financially be very beneficial.
But anyways, Hagen will win easy, Erviti top 10.
Manager of Team Popo4Ever p/b Morshynska in the PCM.Daily Man-Game |
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| Riis123 |
Posted on 05-04-2017 14:11
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I don't get that logic at all, I must admit. Should we shorten Roubaix then? Flanders? Make more 100 km stages in the Tour? |
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| fjhoekie |
Posted on 05-04-2017 14:16
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Riis123 wrote:
I don't get that logic at all, I must admit. Should we shorten Roubaix then? Flanders? Make more 100 km stages in the Tour?
Not at all! Monuments are unique as they are now, however other races should really consider stages of around 150km rather than 200+km. If the difference between say Froome and Quintana is say 0,25%, the difference would be largest after a shorter (but not extremely shirt) stage. Besides that, also financially speaking, broadcasting entire stages would become more interesting as people will watch te entire stage more often, giving more opportunities to advertise, but please not like Eurosport...
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| Paul23 |
Posted on 05-04-2017 15:09
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Well, on the one side, I agree with hoekie. Shorter stages can be more fun to watch, but on the other side, it's the hour-long efforts, which made up for an amazing P-R last season, because everyone was too exhausted to bring a winning move.
Longer stages also hurt your arms, shoulders, neck and back way more, so you need to be more fit in these bodyparts.
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