Flanders spoiler

[coylifut]

Hoste, the Belgian George Hincape.

[BarryG]

Ballan, the Italian un-Hincapie: did most of the work AND won.

[saab2000]

Boring race. Quality winner who deserved to win. But a boring race.

[SponsorsWanted]

Tafi's replacement?

[BarryG]

Boring race. I must be easy to please, esp. after watching yesterday's US Open :rolleyes:

[jhcakilmer]

Were we watching the same race?

When any rider, especially as young, and unexperienced as Ballan can drop riders like Boonen, or Bettini like they were taking a nap......that exciting!

I've definitely seen more dramatic Flanders, but this edition was definitely entertaining!

Also, like to thanks cycling.tv for 4 hours of coverage, with minimal interuptions....awsome!!

[GoJavs]

Ballan's move reminded me of Bartoli's winning move in the '96 Flanders - except on that occasion Bartoli took off alone.

Ballan was a deserving winner in the end. He made the move. He pulled his share. Shame for Hoste, but that's cycling.

Great race. :)

[saab2000]

There are many exciting races. I stand by this opinion that it was boring. That is not to say that the best man did not win. He did for sure! But there was no drama. Boonen, Bettini et al were simply outgunned and tired at the end of the day. A huge pack reaching the Mur de Grammont together does not a dramatic race make.

At least Ballan was the strongest rider and for sure took the initiative. Deserving winner for sure.

[Ray]

Made the decisive move, did most of the work to stay clear, and came up with the sprint even after it looked like he might have been tactically beaten. Not an epic by any means, but would we feel the same way if it had been Boonen in the same position that Ballan was in today? Or, heaven forfend, if it had been George?

-Ray

[AgilisMerlin]

boonen did not win, cause' he was riding aluminium !

[Elefantino]

boonen did not win, cause' he was riding aluminium !

Boonen did not win because he went brainless on the Muur.

Hey, Tom, no need to grind. Your bike has … GEARS! There is no shame in spinning and staying in the race. Oops.

As for Hoste, do you think that Bruyneel teaches his guys how to lose in the classics?

[Ray]

Boonen did not win because he went brainless on the Muur.

Hey, Tom, no need to grind. Your bike has … GEARS! There is no shame in spinning and staying in the race. Oops.

As for Hoste, do you think that Bruyneel teaches his guys how to lose in the classics?
Boonen appeared to be spinning at a reasonably high cadence on the lower slopes when he was leading. When it got steeper, I think he stayed in the gear he thought he needed to stay at the front, but just couldn't turn 'em yesterday. He may well have shifted once he lost contact just to get up the hill, but we didn't see that part. Bottom line, he just didn't have the legs - I guess that's pretty much always the bottom line, excepting egregious tactical goofs. I didn't see the early coverage on Cycling TV (just watched the hour long VS coverage) so I didn't see his crash. But he pretty much said he never really got it going after he went over the bars.

-Ray

[Elefantino]

Yeah ... like I'm going to tell Tom Boonen how to climb a hill.

Hey, Tom: Get a compact or a triple, grind in the spinning gear and say "I suck today" a lot. When you hit the top, say, "At least I didn't have to walk it" to no one in particular, because all your riding buddies are so far down the road.

It helps if you are passed by a recumbent or two, too.

[Ray]

Hey, Tom: Get a compact or a triple, grind in the spinning gear and say "I suck today" a lot. When you hit the top, say, "At least I didn't have to walk it" to no one in particular, because all your riding buddies are so far down the road. :beer:
Sounds like we climb a lot alike. Although if you're in Jacksonville, I climb a lot more. And I have real doubts about whether I could even WALK some of the cobbled steeps in Flanders. At least in cycling shoes hauling a bike. I'm pretty sure I couldn't ride some of them without a mountain bike.

Yeah, Boonen has a lot to learn :)

-Ray

[dbrk]

I sorta' count on the spring Classics to keep me interested in pro bike racing. The way things have gone in general over the last 20 years makes it far less captivating to me---still there have been some great days. Yesterday at Flanders was not one of them. 'Not because Boonen or Bettini didn't win but because this---the hardest of all the Classics---didn't cause the fractious, heartrending destruction (like the Koppenberg usually does) that separates the greats from the almosts. I'm not saying, of course, that this race isn't incredibly hard beyond mortal imagination but rather that the day, the course, the riders, the culture of contemporary racing didn't reveal much to interest me. I watched, bored as Saab was, un-thrilled with the whole, happier by far to see the new Sopranos. Heck, I have zero interest in golf and found the Masters (the last 40 minutes) more interesting. I was happy to see that fellow Johnson win. This sounds grumpy. I need some Belgian weather, not this March of the Penguins stuff.

dbrk

[Ray]

I'm not saying, of course, that this race isn't incredibly hard beyond mortal imagination but rather that the day, the course, the riders, the culture of contemporary racing didn't reveal much to interest me. I watched, bored as Saab was, un-thrilled with the whole, happier by far to see the new Sopranos. Heck, I have zero interest in golf and found the Masters (the last 40 minutes) more interesting. I was happy to see that fellow Johnson win. This sounds grumpy. I need some Belgian weather, not this March of the Penguins stuff.

I feel the same way about golf, the Masters, and the Sopranos. Bike racing getting a little boring - can I interest you perhaps in a nice friendly game of Monopoly? :cool:

-Ray

[zeroking17]

I<snip> 'Not because Boonen or Bettini didn't win but because this---the hardest of all the Classics---didn't cause the fractious, heartrending destruction (like the Koppenberg usually does) that separates the greats from the almosts. I'm not saying, of course, that this race isn't incredibly hard beyond mortal imagination but rather that the day, the course, the riders, the culture of contemporary racing didn't reveal much to interest me. <snip>

dbrk

You description of the race as "...incredibly hard beyond mortal imagination" is a fine insight into why some of us had a somewhat humdrum reaction to the race. We humans likely were anticipating an epic sufferfest, hoping that the tv motos would give us extreme close-ups of the riders' grimacing visages--covered in mud, sweat, and tears--as they struggled to survive this "hardest of all the Classics." We'd hoped for immortals; yet all we saw were mortals like ourselves.

[Grant McLean]

Flanders was boring.

Last week's "E3 Prijs Vlaanderen" was one of the most exciting races i've ever seen!

I think you can still watch the free highlights on cycling.tv


g

[obtuse]

that race was not boring.

fabian drilling it....

boonen attacking and getting dropped by ballan.....

ballan and hoste holding off a rapidly pursuant group of the world's best cyclists....

hoste sprinting early knowing it was his only chance to beat the bigger stronger italian....

and finally ballan pipping him at the line and claiming the ronde....

what was boring about that? i thought it was a great race. ballan has got to have the best looking position on the bike of any of the big guys and he hammering away in the drops with hoste on his wheel was pretty high-five if you ask me.

obtuse

[Grant McLean]

what was boring about that?

obtuse

There's a similar pattern that unfolds sometimes,
maybe boring is the wrong word, but many Tour
stages and F1 races follow that example.

What's missing from those events is that moment
during the race when you have no idea what's going
to happen next, when something really cool happens.


g

[saab2000]

To me it was boring because, as someone else noted, it wasn't epic. Don't know why, but for me there are others which are more exciting. Milano-San Remo is an example.

When Tchmil won the Ronde it was a very great race.

I just thought yesterday's example was a bit uneventful. That doesn't mean the best man didn't win. He clearly did.

[93legendti]

that race was not boring.

fabian drilling it....

boonen attacking and getting dropped by ballan.....

ballan and hoste holding off a rapidly pursuant group of the world's best cyclists....

hoste sprinting early knowing it was his only chance to beat the bigger stronger italian....

and finally ballan pipping him at the line and claiming the ronde....

what was boring about that? i thought it was a great race. ballan has got to have the best looking position on the bike of any of the big guys and he hammering away in the drops with hoste on his wheel was pretty high-five if you ask me.

obtuse
Obtuse and I saw the same race. I thought the finish was thrilling!

[Ray]

that race was not boring.

fabian drilling it....

boonen attacking and getting dropped by ballan.....

ballan and hoste holding off a rapidly pursuant group of the world's best cyclists....

hoste sprinting early knowing it was his only chance to beat the bigger stronger italian....

and finally ballan pipping him at the line and claiming the ronde....

what was boring about that? i thought it was a great race. ballan has got to have the best looking position on the bike of any of the big guys and he hammering away in the drops with hoste on his wheel was pretty high-five if you ask me.

obtuse
Can't disagree with any of that, and I certainly enjoyed the race. But there was something missing. Maybe it was the pure mano a mano aspect of it. Like Museeuw, Knaven, and Peters ganging up on Hincapie in the '01 Roubaix. Or, more recently Contador attacking Rebellin in Paris Nice and Rebellin killing himself while failing to close it down. Or Lance vs Jan or Basso or Pantani in the mountains of the Tour on any given stage. Yesterday, Ballan made a really impressive move and made it stick, but the chase was so disorganized it wasn't like there was one guy you could root for to catch him. It was just more generally can he stay out there and can he hold off Hoste at the line. Hell, it beat watching most other sporting events, but I've seen bike races that have gotten me a lot more pumped. But I recognize that may just be because I didn't have any specific rooting interest in the specific players who had a real chance at the end.

-Ray

[Elefantino]

There's a similar pattern that unfolds sometimes,
maybe boring is the wrong word, but many Tour
stages and F1 races follow that example.

What's missing from those events is that moment
during the race when you have no idea what's going
to happen next, when something really cool happens.

Yesterday's Malaysian Grand Prix was over in Turn 1.

Massa drove it like my Aunt Dorothy, who is 90.

[zeroking17]

Massa drove it like my Aunt Dorothy, who is 90.

Massa had his left blinker on the entire race.