Fleche Walloon Pick 'Em

[Dr. Doofus]

Ok, the Doc got these bits right about Roubaix:

No Johan
No Peter
Backstadt and Hammond were the Doc's dark horses.


About everything else, the Doc was wrong. Or his pancreas was....


For the Fleche:

Top Three

A CSC. Equal chance or Jaschke or Bartoli, but *one* of them will be there. Riis is either a mastermind, or has them on some good blood-boosters. Funny thing is, as well as the Danish-Dutch wing of the team has ridden in the Flemish classics, they're the weak links on this crew...the week-long stage race/Ardennes Classics group are the real horses. Scary.

Valverde, if he's there.

VDB


Bettini lurks in 6th
Landis 15th
Moreau or Virenque or both featured crying on French TV when they pull out at 120K

[Russell]

I agree - Bartoli all the way.

[jerk]

yeah doc- you mighta been right or close to right but admit it johan should have won...he was the strongest and would have ridden those four minor leaguers right off his wheel if he hadn't flatted....then again van petegem probably would have as well if he hadn't flatted and roubaix is roubaix and if the jerk hadn't flatted he would have finished the thing at least once and probably started at least twice and blah, blah bah. anyway onwards to the jerk's picks for fleche wallone.....

bettini, bartoli and vdb in a four man sprint with some other lucky fool....i'd give the edge to bettini because frankie's going to win liege.


jerk

[Dr. Doofus]

100% in agreement, lion of Beantown. Johan should have won that race...sort of like his wheel implosion in the '97 Flanders....

and anyway, in the great academic tradition, the doc has to self-promote when he's even in the same zip code as correct...but the doc *does* know better...he just doesn't do better....

Amstel Gold? Nobody knows...talk about an uncontrollable, unpredictable race...unless your name is Raas.

[jerk]

doc-
remind me to send you the results i have lying around here somewhere of bjarne "hgh" riis' wattage the year he won amstel..the jerk was there and bjarne was incredible. he rode with srm cranks that year...i'll try to post the graphs later.

jerk

[oracle]

jerk -

eons ago, if i remember correctly, you said that you were in possesion of a photo of cipo puffing a butt while racing his bike, and that you would post it. as i have been away in europe for much of the last month and a half, i am wondering if you ever posted it?

oracle

p.s. vdb in la doyenne? hmmmm......

[Dr. Doofus]

jerk --

my froggybud made me a US-compatible tape of that race...what did he average after his move, 400+ and like 270 *for the whole freaking race*? Mr. Sixty Percent was on that day....

Were you racin or watchin, jerk? I thought you bowed out in '95 from a D2 squad...?

I've always dug that Riis used SRMs that race -- kind of like how Dede Demet rode away from the field in Montreal on her father-in-law's lugged steel bike...legs and lungs, kids...and chemical assistance if your'e Danish....

[Kevan]

if i ever get OLN, I too will get to make race predictions, except I'm using the "who has the prettiest uniform" approach.

Hey, it seems to be always working for the ladies in HR, come college playoff office pools.

[Dr. Doofus]

Kev -- If you dig around, and if you have broadband, you can find the Eurosport feed on the web...

[jerk]

doc-i was just watching.....you think if the jerk was racing he would have even seen rijs? maybe his jaw which can be seen from over thirty klicks away.....

[Dr. Doofus]

jerk --

Riis has some jawbone...kinda weird how it grew a bunch between the Systeme U days and the Geweiss-Bianchi stint...the Doc used to amuse his buddies by showing them "before and after" pictures of pro riders in the mid-late 90s, highlighting their jaw growth, hair loss and ever-decreasing body fat.... Strictly natural, of course....

[Kevan]

his helmets are customized with chin strap extensions. They kinda hurt the lines of the helmet, I think. :D

[shinomaster]

again I pick Max Sciandri..

[oracle]

vinokourov, ullrich

[csb]

[shinomaster]

I was a big Max fan back when he was in Motorola and he had that great year...almost winning but not quite....oh well.. :banana: :banana: :banana:

[csb]

[shinomaster]

HOW DARE YOU tease the SHINOMASTER???