Gent (Deinze)-Wevelgem, it starts with 130 km of cruising around Belgium and Northern France followed by a flurry of bergs and then a final 38 km of flatter riding to the inevitable sprint finish. How hard can the climbing be if Super Mario got over them? Ask the riders from KT 2012, (the ones not in the following car) and they will tell you the Kemmelberg, for one, is a steep beast of a climb. It does not go up too far but it goes. And all these bergs seem to have some climbing just to get to the named climb, so yes, one can be gassed real fast in this area. Luckily there is the chance of catching back on each descent too, something sprinters like Cipo must have been good at.
This is one of the final tune up races for Ronde van Vlaanderen. The Velominati banner shall be flying in Flanders in a week from this Sunday’s race. Whomever is fit and fast into Wevelgem shall be on the short list for the Ronde.
Here is a provisional start list and here is the race profile. The start list shall be updated by Saturday so double check your picks before start time. No whining, no delgados.
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@frank & @Buck Rogers
Let me try to offer some conciliatory ground. My initial response was exactly the same as Frank's. But it does seem as though this kid is just having an awful lot of fun, which is pretty cool. At the end of the day he just seems to love riding bikes. And he's pretty damn good at it. Also, too, the end of the race is never the right time to evaluate a rider's judgment. The adrenaline is high, and they are typically lost in the moment. I have come around on Cavendish for much the same reason. I think we treated him rather unfairly in the same kind of way. Which is to say, that arrogance and panache are not terribly far removed on any kind of spectrum. We don't like arrogance, but we demand panache. What is the difference, really? Or, how do you separate one from the other?
@Dinan
For the record, I don't care for showing off or braggers.
-Dinan
That said, just raising the one hand in exhausted triumph at the end of the race would've been awesome. Certainly a more human response...
@Dinan
He's not a bragger at all. He's a really nice kid and obviously loves what he does. I don't see anything remotely douchey in his behavior.
@Sauterelle
I'm not sure a wheelie counts as panache. Here... This is panache...
@Sauterelle
I'm not commenting on how nice the kid is. I think he's a good kid too. He brings a lot to the sport and is giving it a fresh, lively face. I'm right there with you, Sauterelle.
Was the wheelie a douche move? Maybe, maybe not. Who am I to say what douche behavior is. It's all subjective, right?
I do however think it was the equivalent of hanging on the rim after a dunk, or trotting around the bases after a home run. Yes, we get it, you're seriously good. No question there. Just maybe celebrate with touch more grace? He's young and full of gusto, I see why he does it. It's just not my taste.
Righteously good win today though. I can't take that away from him!
-Dinan
I prefer a little swaggring doucheyness over faceless soporofic drivers any time. As Cipollini once said about AC: "Contador has the anonymous face of a surveyor or an accountant. I cannot stand how he wiggles his arse on the bike." Nothing to add.
@Dinan He ain't a douche. A least least, not on account of his wheelies and running men. Because those are funny - or, at least, obviously done with humorous intent. Cav's various line-crossing antics are never funny. More often they are some tiresome variation of an adrenaline-fuelled 'fuck you - look at me'. That is douchery - brash, crass, aggressive douchery. (Hanging onto the rim after a dunk falls into a middle-ground: not very funny or original, but not particularly in-your-face aggressive either. Just sort of meh.) The difference can occasionally be subtle, but it is there nonetheless. I hope Sags continues to remember which side fo the line to fall (as it were),
@Sauterelle, @V-olcano, @Buck Rogers
None of these riders found it necessary to pop a wheelie over a finish line in order to demonstrate their worth. There is something in showmanship, but if you're going to do that, at least get it right on the first try.
He rode with panache, but he still has an awful lot to learn about humility. I like spirit, but he lacks the self confidence to realize that his riding speaking much louder than his childish plays for attention.
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@G'phant
Its exactly the same as Cav's showboating from a few years ago, except he's never pointing at his own balls.
@frank
Oh jeez, give the kid a break! I don't think he's making a play for attention at all. Just a kid having fun on his bike!