Then I'll go against the flow, and request a preview on Paris-Nice. Would have been interesting to see why Cancellara can win such a difficult stage race.
Great looking story so far, by the way. As long as other races are more of a challenge for you than the Omloop
After the young stageracer Johnson Harriet was signed to Apple-Ford Breed two seasons ago, there has been close to no end as it goes for comparisons. Obviously, most of these comparisons are made to the former world number one Lance Armstrong. Up to this point, the young american has yet to prove himself in races, which leads many critics to believe he is just another hype. According to AFB director Christopher Schackt, though, he is not.
"It is obvious to me, and the rest of the team as well as the coaches that Johnie's (Johnson Harriet) got something special. He's shown a lot of progress during the last two years, and if he continues this progress over the rest of the season, he will be in a position of possible captainship in some of the continental races. More than anything, it is important to give him racepractice - so that we can exploit his tremendous potential".
Obviously, Apple-Ford Breeds director has no doubt in his potential. But still there are critics stating his not better than other 22-year olds, saying there is no basis to judge this so called "tremendous potential" on.
"Over the years we've seen lots of great talent, or at least riders touted to be the next world champ. Still we see noe youngster breaking up the elderly elite, no unknown rider showing extreme promise in races. It doesn't matter what a rider shows in practice, if he can't deliver in races," Bob Stapleton declares. "Why him, in particular? You don't hear me declaring Patrick Bercz (23-year old, Team HTC) as the next Fabian Cancellara, no matter how good he's in practice. Let them show their potential, let them prove their worth - and then we can start talking about potenial!
As we see it, this is a clear message to Christopher Schackt and Apple-Ford Breed. Johnson Harriet will have to earn his respect and future predictions within the critics - can he do it? How long will it take before Harriet is able to prove his more than the ordinary rider?
"As far as I'm concerned, we are moving on with his schedule of evolution. He is planned to be second captain in the next years Giro d'Italia, and unless he's injured he will be. Too bad for Bobbie (Bob Stapleton) if he can't wait that long".
Guess we'll have to wait and see, then...
Edited by christopher s on 23-04-2010 15:04
This years Paris - Nice was a tough one, especially as the team director caught a bad cold and was forced to bed after the first to stages. Luckily, I was able to catch the race on TV, but a lack of pictures from the last stages should be expected. The race it self wasn't too shabby. The team we sent wasn't in too good of a condition, and we weren't expecting a win. Amael Moinard was in great shape, so was Cristophe Kern. They proved to be to tough competition for our team, and we ended up with a strong third place from Rigoberto Uran.
Stage 1
This was a 9 kilometer short timetrial, perhaps a bit too long to be called a prolouge. Obviously, with timetrialists as Cancellara and Boasson Hagen present, this stage was never exciting. Our best result in this stage was from Rigoberto Uran, who finished in 19th place - 18 seconds behind Cancellara. Cancellara, not too surprising, won the stage in front of Boasson Hagen.
