Ronde van Vlaanderen question

[Keith A]

Just watched the Ronde van Vlaanderen (Tour of Flanders) last night and was curious about the tactics when Fabian Cancellara was in the break with about 10 or so other guys. Why wouldn't anyone work with him? Where all the other riders in the break riding for someone else? Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Cancellara catch that break and therefore somehow the group managed to escape the peleton without Cancellara leading the way.

What am I missing here?

[saab2000]

I saw the race at around 150km to go and then with about 40 km to go. I suspect that nobody would work with Herr Cancallara because they had 'team leaders' in the group. Most of them were not 'name' riders and Cancallara is now a major name rider based on his results of last year and his obvious talent.

He is simply very strong and the other riders were either being tactical for their team leaders or were simply unable to assist.

Cancallara is world class. He needs to win a few more biggies, but he is not far out of the league of Boonen and Bettini and Zabel.

[Keith A]

So if Cancallara wouldn't have bridged up to them, then someone would have be at the front. I assume they went in the break to try and see if they could escape or put the pressure on other teams to chase. It is common to have a guy or two not working in the break for one reason or the other, but is was just odd seeing so many guys all sitting on his wheel.

Maybe he was so strong that they all just decided to sit on him and not let him have a chance to recover and then "fly the coop".

[saab2000]

Maybe he was so strong that they all just decided to sit on him and not let him have a chance to recover and then "fly the coop".

That's part of it. He is a real beast and pulls hard enough that others simply cannot pull around. That said, I did not see the break form. I was riding in the valley near Baden, west of Zurich. :beer: Got home just in time to watch the final 30+ minutes or so.

[BarryG]

FWIW, I saw an interview with Steegmans - he said he was absolutely knackered and could just ride Cancellara's wheel for much of the time although eventually he took a few pulls. Cancellara is THAT strong.

[Keith A]

That makes more sense if Cancellara came up to them and then put the hurt on and no one could or was able to take a turn at the front.