Ollfardh wrote:
I think Sky should go for Thomas, he's probably the better rider. Both Sky and OPQS failed to do something with their numbers. Though the Quick Step strategy was definitely worse then Sky's.
But I'm suspecting it will be Cancellara vs. all again though.
OPQS failed when Stybar and Vandenbergh did most of the work (not) holding off the Cannondale chase. Will be intresting to see if these two will get a free role, especially Vandenbergh, as Boonen is clearly not stong enough yet.
Spilak23 wrote: Sagan apparently raced 30 kms on a teammate's bike.
His team was surprisingly strong aswell. Haven't seen any team bringing such a strong group back in cobbled classics.
Yeah, he did, said it on his pages. He also say, that catching up the peloton cost him a lot of energy, which he missed later when Cancellara attacked. But he is still happy somewhat for second and is looking forward to next classics, as he feels great in these days, apparently the ilness is gone completely. Praise goes to his teammates, who did great job for him yesterday.
Schleck96 wrote:
Spartacus showing he is back. 5 guys in a group(2 wheelsucking), and Spartacus kept his advantage alone. He is simply a hell of a rider.
Please tell me you're trolling
I saw the last 20 km, and from what I saw, Oss and Langeveld were doing nothing imo.
Dude, compared to Sagan, Chavanel and Thomas, those 2 were doing almost nothing. A relay here or there doesn't mean that they were really working, but well.... it's just an opinion
Schleck96 wrote:
Dude, compared to Sagan, Chavanel and Thomas, those 2 were doing almost nothing. A relay here or there doesn't mean that they were really working, but well.... it's just an opinion
Did you watch the race? Thomas was the guy who did nothing for 20 km,and ofc chava and sagan worked more than the others
Ian Butler wrote:
It's true Roelandts punctured. But to be fair, he was dropping out sooner than that. On Paterberg he got drummed away already.
I'm not saying he did bad, but I just expected more from him. As soon as the favorites starts racing, he can't seem to follow.
He rode a decent race, you just have too high expectations from him. Why are so many people acting like he's the next Tom Boonen? The only things he's accomplished so far in cobbled classics is a 6th place in GW in a sprint and a 2nd place in E3, again in a sprint, with Cancellara and Housler as the only favourits who made it into the top 10.
He will most likely do well in Gent-Wevelgem, but I don't see him riding top 10 in de Ronde or Paris-Roubaix.
Edited by fosforgasXIII on 23-03-2013 16:32
Ian Butler wrote:
It's true Roelandts punctured. But to be fair, he was dropping out sooner than that. On Paterberg he got drummed away already.
I'm not saying he did bad, but I just expected more from him. As soon as the favorites starts racing, he can't seem to follow.
He rode a decent race, you just have too high expectations from him. Why are so many people acting like he's the next Tom Boonen? The only things he's accomplished so far in cobbled classics a 6th place in GW and a 2nd place in E3, again in a sprint with Cancellara and Housler as only favourits in the top 10.
He will most likely do well in Gent-Wevelgem, but I don't see him riding top 10 in de Ronde or Paris-Roubaix.
It's his first season as a leader. He will challenge for top 10 in both those races as he handles longer races quite well.
Ian Butler wrote:
It's true Roelandts punctured. But to be fair, he was dropping out sooner than that. On Paterberg he got drummed away already.
I'm not saying he did bad, but I just expected more from him. As soon as the favorites starts racing, he can't seem to follow.
He rode a decent race, you just have too high expectations from him. Why are so many people acting like he's the next Tom Boonen? The only things he's accomplished so far in cobbled classics a 6th place in GW and a 2nd place in E3, again in a sprint with Cancellara and Housler as only favourits in the top 10.
He will most likely do well in Gent-Wevelgem, but I don't see him riding top 10 in de Ronde or Paris-Roubaix.
It's his first season as a leader. He will challenge for top 10 in both those races as he handles longer races quite well.
I don't doubt his ability to perform well in long races, otherwise you don't get 5th on WC or 7th in the Olympics. But I do doubt his ability to go with the best on the Paterberg/Kwaremont or on the cobblestrokes of Roubaix.
Maybe with a 2011-Paris-Roubaix scenario he can make it in the top 10, but otherwise not.
Ian Butler wrote:
It's true Roelandts punctured. But to be fair, he was dropping out sooner than that. On Paterberg he got drummed away already.
I'm not saying he did bad, but I just expected more from him. As soon as the favorites starts racing, he can't seem to follow.
He rode a decent race, you just have too high expectations from him. Why are so many people acting like he's the next Tom Boonen? The only things he's accomplished so far in cobbled classics a 6th place in GW and a 2nd place in E3, again in a sprint with Cancellara and Housler as only favourits in the top 10.
He will most likely do well in Gent-Wevelgem, but I don't see him riding top 10 in de Ronde or Paris-Roubaix.
It's his first season as a leader. He will challenge for top 10 in both those races as he handles longer races quite well.
I don't doubt his ability to perform well in long races, otherwise you don't get 5th on WC or 7th in the Olympics. But I do doubt his ability to go with the best on the Paterberg/Kwaremont or on the cobblestrokes of Roubaix.
Maybe with a 2011-Paris-Roubaix scenario he can make it in the top 10, but otherwise not.
He did make the right splits in both Omloop and E3. Plus he was probably the strongest on Taaie,berg yesterday.
Ian Butler wrote:
It's true Roelandts punctured. But to be fair, he was dropping out sooner than that. On Paterberg he got drummed away already.
I'm not saying he did bad, but I just expected more from him. As soon as the favorites starts racing, he can't seem to follow.
He rode a decent race, you just have too high expectations from him. Why are so many people acting like he's the next Tom Boonen? The only things he's accomplished so far in cobbled classics a 6th place in GW and a 2nd place in E3, again in a sprint with Cancellara and Housler as only favourits in the top 10.
He will most likely do well in Gent-Wevelgem, but I don't see him riding top 10 in de Ronde or Paris-Roubaix.
It's his first season as a leader. He will challenge for top 10 in both those races as he handles longer races quite well.
I don't doubt his ability to perform well in long races, otherwise you don't get 5th on WC or 7th in the Olympics. But I do doubt his ability to go with the best on the Paterberg/Kwaremont or on the cobblestrokes of Roubaix.
Maybe with a 2011-Paris-Roubaix scenario he can make it in the top 10, but otherwise not.
He did make the right splits in both Omloop and E3. Plus he was probably the strongest on Taaie,berg yesterday.
The favourites did nothing in Omloop, the whole race was dominated by second-tier riders (except for Chavanel). Roelandts was indeed strong on Taaienberg, but like I said, he fails at the crucial points of the race. He got dropped on the Paterberg before he bad a flat tire.
Schleck96 wrote:
Dude, compared to Sagan, Chavanel and Thomas, those 2 were doing almost nothing. A relay here or there doesn't mean that they were really working, but well.... it's just an opinion
A really bad opinion. Were you even watching? Langeveld and Chavanel were the only ones taking full turns from the moment Cancellara went. Sagan did so for while, but held back at the end. Oss and Thomas were taking turns but not full.
It's not strange Langeveld and Chavanel were 'dropped' in the sprint/end as well as they did most work
Schleck96 wrote:
Spartacus showing he is back. 5 guys in a group(2 wheelsucking), and Spartacus kept his advantage alone. He is simply a hell of a rider.
Please tell me you're trolling
I saw the last 20 km, and from what I saw, Oss and Langeveld were doing nothing imo.
Langeveld said on the OGE webstie that because Sagan was in the group, he didnt want to pull it back for the bunch sprint. Really wouldnt have been any point for him to do it.
Schleck96 wrote:
Spartacus showing he is back. 5 guys in a group(2 wheelsucking), and Spartacus kept his advantage alone. He is simply a hell of a rider.
Please tell me you're trolling
I saw the last 20 km, and from what I saw, Oss and Langeveld were doing nothing imo.
Langeveld said on the OGE webstie that because Sagan was in the group, he didnt want to pull it back for the bunch sprint. Really wouldnt have been any point for him to do it.
CountArach wrote:
Some of the team cars seem to be coming up, maybe they just told the chasers to pack it in and save themselves for the sprint.
My tip for the sprint here: Sagan just pips Oss
Just reading the comments now, seems like Count was spot on here.. but not sure if the way it happened was how he thought it'd be
Btw, is Sagan the 2011 Leopard Trek? Lots of podiums and stage wins everywhere, but rarely winning the big races (funnily enough, two of their few non-stage/classification wins were the races of yesterday and tomorrow, E3 and Crit Int)
Schleck96 wrote:
Dude, compared to Sagan, Chavanel and Thomas, those 2 were doing almost nothing. A relay here or there doesn't mean that they were really working, but well.... it's just an opinion
A really bad opinion. Were you even watching? Langeveld and Chavanel were the only ones taking full turns from the moment Cancellara went. Sagan did so for while, but held back at the end. Oss and Thomas were taking turns but not full.
It's not strange Langeveld and Chavanel were 'dropped' in the sprint/end as well as they did most work
Lol, you have to be joking, he was doing the most work the whole time, just stopped with others as soon as it was clear they dont have the chance.
Oss did nothing, Langeveld very little, Thomas started late. Chavanel was doing great turns, only one with Sagan, who was also working hard few minutes before that, to bring himself back to the pack after mechanical..
Edited by Avin Wargunnson on 24-03-2013 08:38
I think this will make for a more than interesting race!
The peloton is already ripped into pieces because of the wind. In the front group are many (+25 riders), including Boonen, Greipel, Cavendish, Eisel, Sagan, Sutton, Oss, Amador (great form)... They're not waiting, actually. Second group on 20 seconds, a third group on 45 seconds. 160 km to go!
Edited by Ian Butler on 24-03-2013 12:15
