Let us pray for rain.
The Sunday after Ronde Van Vlaanderen brings us to Paris-Roubaix. The Holiest of Holies. There are no bergs to ride over, instead, accelerate to maximum speed to be in the top 20 to start each cobbled section, bring power up to flank to float over broken treacherous farm path crown, gutter or ditch or all three at the same time as required. Recover once back on the tarmac. Repeat 26 more times.
This Sunday’s edition of Paris-Roubaix will have Velominati moaning, staring through half empty bottles of Chimay, burning candles to Saint Ludo of Dierckxsens (the patron saint of Flemish V), begging for a sign. The winner won’t be a first timer to this race, he needs experience on these stones, he will also require equally experienced teammates who can hang tough close to Roubaix. He must be massively fit. He must be tough as nails. Andy Schleck will not be out here on Sunday, not because he is not tough (OK, he is not tough enough for this) but racing on such terrible cobbled farm tracks is a skill only a certain subset of professionals develop. All around tough bastard Bernard Hinault, aka The Badger, thought it was an insane lottery, unworthy of his attention but he did ride it twice and won in 1981. In 2011 you could do worse than roll up to the start on your 1980 steel Merckx ride as today’s bikes, used just for this one race, have a lot of old-school about them: 27mm profile tires, huge inner chain rings, 3-cross laced wheels, longer rake front forks, longer chainstays. These bikes go back into storage when this race is over. Insane bikes, riders, fans and of course, throw in some bad weather and we have a real race.
Finally Fabian Cancellara has shown himself to be human, a really strong human. Tomeke Boonen is showing signs of past greatness. Garmin-Cervelo has been hammered from all quarters, they are under pressure and Thor has always said this is the race he wants to win. Gilbert is fit, ready and Belgian (news flash, he may be ready but not to race P-R, coward). Chavanel is fit, ready and French. Could Ballan be the new Moser? No. Not ever. Team Sky, with nary a Belgian still has a shot with a Spaniard, an Englishman and a Welshman.
The spinning wheels of Fortuna could play havoc on the best laid bets like it did in 2001. Dutchmen Servais Knaven won it all. Knaven, with teammate Johan Museeuw was part of a select group closing in on Roubaix. Being the dutiful domestique he attacked to force Museeuw’s adversaries to chase but no one could. He was a tough guy and rode away with a beautiful victory.
Let us pray for rain.
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I like the bimodal distribution of VSP points, which mostly boil down to those that had Faboo 1st and those that had him 2nd. I'd forgotten I had him 2nd, but I'll take the extra three points!
Yeah finally, some points!! About to catch a delayed showing here at the pub, can't wait to watch it.
Lexicon Entry: Belgian Toothpaste.
I reckon JV (PVP?) got very lucky today - Garmin looked very confused at times. Go back and see where Garmin had guys on the from of Thor/Cance group just after Cance gave them a talking to. No way were they "playing for JVS" to make the break. It just happened.
If u r really going for the "we ain't working" u don't do anything - as it is a game of bluff. Garmin were less than resolute with this tactic.
But a great race that shows the exquisite injustice of cycling - u just don't get that in many (any?) other sports
I guess I take Thor at his word when he says he's happy with the team's performance - following Cervelo Test Team for the last two years and GarCev this year, he seems to be a pretty team-oriented guy. Him leading out Farrar twice at Tiereno-Adriatico would seem to, perhaps, at least partially prove that.
What disappoints me though is that he didn't take on Cancellara straight up. I happy to see Van Summeren win and it was an exciting race to be sure, but I so wish Thor would taken on the challenge of going heads up with Cancellara to the line. I fear that he elected to pass on that challenge not because he was primarily concerned with team (how on earth could he or JV have known that Van Summeren would gut it out?) but rather because he knew that Cancellara would beat him. Hiding behind the world champion's stripes behind the mantra of a "team wins" is to Thor, perhaps, less painful than than failing after a maximum effort.
@ZachOlson
PLUS.FUCKING.ONE
Clinging onto my leaders jersey... where's my super domestiques when I need them?
Great race! edge of the seat stuff and finishing with a double raised arm victory salute on a flat rear tyre is impressive!
@ZachOlson damn.
You might as well put "ZachOlson" in the Lexicon, too - for slamming home a lexicon entry in a brutally efficient, classy style.
Best ride of the day by a lesser-known:
Maarten Tjallingii, hands down. In the break from early on - even taking a flyer or two and getting nabbed. Still manages to hang tight take the biggest result of his career.
Honorable mention: Europcar's David Veillux (25th):
"I had never raced longer than 200km in North America, and now over here in Europe, we've been going 200-220km almost every race. I was doing OK until the final 20km or so, then I really started to suffer." - Velonews
Even if JVS hadn't broken away from the break he was still in the break - of course Hushovd shouldn't have helped in the chase, even though it clearly rankled with him. It's one of the first rules of bike racing, and he would have been mercilessly criticised if he had helped and Cancellara had profited from it. Ballan had cause to be sitting on also, with Quinziato up ahead.
Great ride by JVS and fantastic finish by the brave Spartacus. Another thrilling and absorbing edition of the Queen of the Classics...