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Ronde van Vlaanderen Discussion
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| SportingNonsense |
Posted on 22-07-2014 13:21
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Team Manager
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First off - apologies for the delays in MG recently. It's been quite a busy period for a lot of people recently, for me in particular - and it is hard to find the motivation to find time for MG when I can see that almost nobody is able to claim the races that happen after this.
Anyway, time for another PT race.
RVV is the 2nd monument of the season and as with all cobbled races, the field is no surprise - all the big names are here.
 Burghardt | 84 |  Bewley | 83 |  Cancellara | 83 |  Vanspeybrouck | 82 |  Boonen | 81 |  Blythe | 81 |  Summerhill | 81 |  Sibilla | 81 |  Franzoi | 81 | | Nolf | 80 |  Gusev | 80 | | Fenn | 79 |  Vanmarcke | 79 |  Zepuntke | 79 | | Veelers | 78 |  Jacobs | 78 | | De Vocht | 78 | | Albert | 78 |
With 5 victories out of 7 MG editions, this really is Tom Boonen's race. Last year he won with a 40km move.
He is looking for a hattrick of wins this year, something he has not managed before - Ballan denied him in 2011.
A look at the season to date shows that he is clearly in form. Both he and Bewley took the Top 2 positions at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and East Midlands Cicle Classic, with one win between them.
Mid-stage attackers took the spoils at Gent - Wevelgem. Ramon Sinkeldam with a fine solo victory, and Luke Rowe 2nd.
But Boonen was still best of the rest in 3rd.
A higher cobbles stat has yet to really prove worthwhile. Cancellara's best result is 4th, Burghardt's is 6th and Vanspeybrouck's only 12th. Is this the race to turn that around?
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| roturn |
Posted on 22-07-2014 13:24
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Good to have this coming.
I pretend another Rothaus cobbled fail and definitely no top10 here. Also I am very sure that my depth won`t be good for me and there will be no mid-stage attack by me to have chances for a good result.
Might be to pessimistic though.  |
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| CountArach |
Posted on 22-07-2014 14:08
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Grand Tour Champion
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Vanspeybrouck will do nothing and I accept this.
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| Roman |
Posted on 22-07-2014 16:50
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Nice to see MG back, thanks for that.
My team goal is a win. A win would be good thing then...
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| Mhaley45 |
Posted on 22-07-2014 17:51
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Protected Rider
Posts: 1035
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Oh Boy! Back on the PT.
I wish we could pretend we have a chance to compete, but alas that is just not going to happen. Breschel and Eisel have ridden well on the PCT and this will be a good ruler for us to guage our cobble skills.
Maybe we can slip one of them into a late attack and get on tv???????
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Team Manager of AMEX - Navigon
Editor of the Cobbler
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| Miguel98 |
Posted on 22-07-2014 18:04
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World Champion
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Yeah, the MG is back!!!   |
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| jph27 |
Posted on 22-07-2014 18:18
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Miguel98 wrote:
Yeah, the MG is back!!!
My thoughts exactly. Thanks SN, I can understand your frustration and wish I could help. Sadly I can't report, but will start on the win-lists this week. 
Looking forward to this and the final stage in Corsica. |
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| DubbelDekker |
Posted on 23-07-2014 02:24
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Excited for this race!
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 09-12-2025 04:47
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| Heine |
Posted on 23-07-2014 07:30
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One of my fav races irl, not expecting alot but will be interesting to see how Zepuntke fares. I have a feeling that Vanspeybrouck will win this, dunno why
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| Smowz |
Posted on 23-07-2014 07:59
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Please be that the winners surname does not begin with B in particular the boo bastard!
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| roturn |
Posted on 23-07-2014 08:02
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Ballan
Boom
I wouldn`t mind.  |
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| beagle |
Posted on 23-07-2014 09:16
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Smowz wrote:
Please be that the winners surname does not begin with B in particular the boo bastard!
I also don´t want to see Lars Boom winning here, I prefer green jersey on the top spots instead
The question is, can Tommeke once more defend victory from his home race?
Manager of Polar in Man-Game
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| roturn |
Posted on 23-07-2014 12:15
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This was a surprisingly strong result by me. 4th and 8th plus Boom/Nooytens/Sbaragli in top35 as well.
So this was probably the maximum, in especially after Ballan`s crash.
Still I feel a bit strange to see neither my team nor Hornbach trying to chase the leading riders. But in the end I don`t really care and finally my team delivered in a cobbled race. |
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| wackojackohighcliffe |
Posted on 23-07-2014 12:17
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Thanks very much for the report SN but what a load of shit. Why are there always huge groups over the cobbles?
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| Mhaley45 |
Posted on 23-07-2014 12:24
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Very pleased to have Matti Breschel finish 9th. That's a pretty solid finish for a PCT rider. Bernhard Eisel did not have his form today finishing over 14 minutes behind Cancellera.
Thanks guys for hosting AMEX and Hornbach - I know we had a good time.
Breschel and Veelers finish 9th and 10th.
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Team Manager of AMEX - Navigon
Editor of the Cobbler
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| Roman |
Posted on 23-07-2014 12:37
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At least Bewley gave me that little hope in the end. 3rd place is better than nothing, but as I failed my race goal, it is quite a disappointment. Thanks for the report, but PCM13 AI is really, really bad.
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| alexkr00 |
Posted on 23-07-2014 19:27
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Sinkeldam, y u no sprint?
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| Bushwackers |
Posted on 23-07-2014 19:49
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Sprinter
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Awesome report SN! That was a great race. I love seeing Cancellara win, so congrats to Smowz. I'm just happy to put Wyss in the 30's.
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| ember |
Posted on 23-07-2014 21:47
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Excellent report! Great rides from Kruijswijk and Breen, especially the latter who has been our gem on the cobbles this season. A shame Sibilla abandoned, as he should also have been in the mix for a top 10 seeing how the race developed.
Amazing ride from Cancellara and Burghardt, and truly nice to see Spartacus finally get De Ronde. Congratulations, Smowz! |
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| beagle |
Posted on 23-07-2014 22:39
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Not as good as I would wish, but 5th and 7th is still decent result (and completing of 2nd goal).
Thanks for brilliant report and congrats to Smowz 
Manager of Polar in Man-Game
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