Yes, I know, I have a major thing for Boonen. But come on, wouldn’t you? Look at those guns. Look at that position on the bike. He even makes that ugly Specialized helmet look good. He even makes that ugly Specialized Roubaix look good, come to think of it. And those White Ladies? Kill me now.
Picking the V-Moment of the year is always a tough one, especially in a year when there were so many great moments. In fact, that I’m glad I didn’t get saddled with the Anti-V Moment of the Year Award because it won’t be easy to pick out a loser for that one.
Some of the greatest instants of the season were Johan Vansummeren continuing on after he went through the meat grinder at the Tour. Or Hesjedal hanging tough on the Stelvio to stay close enough to J-Rod to take the win for the first Canuckian Grand Tour at the Giro. Faboo gritting his teeth to finish the Olympic ITT in tears despite a moronic but devastating crash in the Road Race. Gilbert coming back to take a decisive win in the Worlds Road Race after a disastrous season.
Maybe its my man-crush on Boonen, maybe its the fact that we were at the roadside for both events, but two moments stand out as what must have been two of the hardest moments in racing – with the most at stake. One was Boonen riding the Paterberg at the back of the three-man breakaway with Ballan and Potato during the Ronde van Vlaanderen; his gears were jammed and he couldn’t get into his lowest gear on that brutally steep climb. As the group got to the top, Boonen was overgeared and losing ground. Standing in a Flemish field not more than 1000 meteres (as the crow flies) from the Paterberg, I could almost hear his bike cry out in agony as he scraped the bottom of the V-Barrel to hold onto the back of the group.
But that’s not the V-Moment of the year because, in the end, there was only something to be gained by holding on – he had nothing to lose. If he got unhitched from the group, he would have called it training for Roubaix, and gone home feeling good about his chances in the Queen of the Classics.
The V-Moment of the year was instead a moment that wasn’t captured on camera; it was a solitary moment that echoed inside only one man’s heart. It was a moment that must have fluttered through his mind as he came off the secteur of cobbles about 55k from Roubaix, looked around, and noticed that no one was with him. At that moment, he had everything to lose. A wiser man would have sat up and waited for the group, knowing he could conserve his energy and pick his moment later, when the risks were more manageable.
But The V isn’t about sensibility. The V isn’t about planning. The V isn’t about calculation. The V is about making your own luck. The V is about bending the odds to your vvill. The V is about making the race beg you to relent. The 2012 V Moment of the Year was the moment Boonen decided to carry on to Roubaix, alone.
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@minion
Have to agree with you ..... Mortirolo then backs it up on the Stelvio ...... Bingo
For me a special V mention has to go to Chris Anker Sorensen for finishing the tour after mashing his hand in the spokes trying to retrieve the daily issue of Le Monde.
@Adrian
I saw the damage and it must have been very painful indeed but he was a bit of a twit to try and reach in to his spokes and remove newpaper whilst trying to keep going...what would he have lost....10 seconds at most....they are called "bladed" spokes for a reason, I bet he never does it again!
There is a fine line between idiocy and heroism...I would say he strayed the wrong side of it but pulled it back with a heroic continuation once the damage was done..
@Deakus Anti V and V all in one move. If you're going to be dumb, then you'd better be tough........
@Adrian
Both your posts need to go in the Rusty Chain award. i'm with Deakus on the Sorenson affair. Dumb + tough cancel each other out.
Veino was a support player in the Olympic RR. The lead role was Uran Uran who recognised the Britishness of the occasion and replayed the world the old Landy / Bannister manoeuvre. An all-time classic. How embarrassment!
@Harminator
I agree with you both, the Veino comment was definitely tongue in check but there was a something about watching a man who ended up having to have plastic surgery for, agreed a very dumb act, go deep in the TT to maintain his GC placing.
What timing! Just yesterday I realized that I maybe had never rewatched Paris Roubaix 2012. I watched it again, then again, and then again. No matter how many times I see Boonen & Niki go clear I have to rewind and watch it again. It seems to almost happen by accident, then they're clear, then they're gone. I simply cannot imagine what it feels like to have to solo in for that long, over those roads, and with those dudes chasing. I get freaked out enough being chased in a Thursday night ride!
Ha, I have been a big fan of the Specialized helmets since the M-series ones of the early 2000s. But, their top model for the last year or two has been bulky and ugly. Good call, Frank! People continue to buy them 'cause lots of top PROS are in them, but I just think they're ugly.
And I had no idea about the jammed gear; now I'll have to go rewatch that!
Here's the P-R video in case ya want to watch it again and haven't found it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZWbZoX3rig
@Ron
Thanks for the link. As I started watching it I thought I would have to search for the part where Tornado Tom drops everybody and its the first thing on the broadcast with like 1 1/2 hours left.
Soloing to victory with 55 km to go.
Amazing everytime
@strathlubnaig
This was probably the racing moment I got most excited watching all year - or maybe Rabottini winning stage 15 of the Giro, but I have to agree with Frank's pick here on Boonen's decision to go it alone in PR. Being a huge Boonen fan as well, when he took off I was disappointed and remember posting on the VSP page that he blew it and went too soon, but as I watched kilometer after kilometer, I was happy to have to remove a little more of my foot from my mouth after each one. A deserved win in both PR and the V-Moment of the Year (I think we all know which is more prestigious)
I tend to get more jazzed by bikes that I don't see that many of in the wild. Thus, smaller outfits or anything a bit rare gets my interest. That being said, Treks and Specialized bikes can be hot. Or not. Same thing goes for Colnago though. I've seen plenty of ugly, Rule-breaking Colnagos too. Any frameset holds lots of potential.