**Paris-Roubaix spoiler**

[Roy E. Munson]

Come on, let's get this started! A brililiant tactical race, lead the best sprinter of the bunch onto the velodrome and take them right to the line.

If there were ANY doubts or questions on Boonen, they were answered today!

[e-RICHIE]

6.5 more days without twizzlers.

[saab2000]

You work alone Pal. Nobody is gonna hold you to that Twizzler thing. If a tree falls in the forest, does anyone hear it?

I did not see the race, but I did follow it on the internet. Were there tactics? Are was it just a race of attrition?

[Ti Designs]

6.5 more days without twizzlers.

I am so lost...

[e-RICHIE]

http://forums.thepaceline.net/showthread.php?p=82207#post82207

[Climb01742]

i say, bravo, george. a gutsy race, IMO. he rode well, intelligently, at least from what i saw on OLN. he simply was beaten by a stronger rider. yes, boonen got the jump on him on the track, but that looked like the stronger rider have the juice to dive down. george simply looked spent. he gave it his best. i hope that's not his last best shot, but could be. well done, george. :beer:

[jerk]

boonen could have rode flecha and hincapie off his wheel at almost any point....he's an adrenaline junky and loves best those wins that come in the sprint....he was playing with two of the best classics racers of his generation like a killer whale with a seal pup....it was like watching mike tyson against leonard spincks...that's the only way the jerk could describe it. boonen was so strong....

jerk

[Big Dan]

i say, bravo, george. a gutsy race, IMO. he rode well, intelligently, at least from what i saw on OLN. he simply was beaten by a stronger rider. yes, boonen got the jump on him on the track, but that looked like the stronger rider have the juice to dive down. george simply looked spent. he gave it his best. i hope that's not his last best shot, but could be. well done, george. :beer:


" the juice"...interesting.................. :eek:

[Climb01742]

"juice"? nay, just a figure of speech.

[e-RICHIE]

leon spinks.

[Big Dan]

He could have used a good dentist............... :D

[jerk]

as saturday night live said, "tyson will be facing dracula tonight for the world championship...."

[mikemets]

leon spinks.

It was Michael Spinks ;)

[e-RICHIE]

michael was the baby brother, no?
i'm having an "apache" moment.

help.

[BumbleBeeDave]

. . . when they had 4k left. Couldn’t avoid it--I had promised to meet the buddies at noon. But when I left CyclingNews was talking about George and Juan setting pace, and wondering if they were giving Boonen an “armchair ride” to the finish and I thought, “Uh-oh . . . “ Backstedt is a minute behind and if George and Juan start playing games, trying to Force Boonen to take his turn, then all of a sudden Backstedt is gonna be right up there with ‘em . . . and that would be reeeeely bad, IMHO.

Based on what I know at this point, I would share Climb’s opinion. George rode a great race just to be in that final break with the other two. If it were anyone else but Boonen with them, then I think he would have stood a chance. But Tom is just so hot right now . . . In any event, second place is CERTAINLY nothing to make fun of. So, Bravo George! . . . :banana: :banana: :banana:

BBDave

[coylifut]

michael was the baby brother, no?
i'm having an "apache" moment.

help.

Yes. Michael was the lH champion for years. Leon was the Heavy weight champion until he was busted with a $1.50 worth of coacaine.

[e-RICHIE]

3KMan wrote (snipped):
"In any event, second place is CERTAINLY nothing to make fun of..."


jan u certainly has taken alot of hits.
bananas.

[e-RICHIE]

"Yes. Michael was the lH champion for years. Leon was the Heavy weight champion until he was busted with a $1.50 worth of coacaine."



coacaine is illegal?

[BumbleBeeDave]

. . . I wasn’t trying to be snippy at all. How many guys were in this race? A hundred? More? How many even finished? George did pretty d@mn well . . . Ulrich has ALSO done pretty d@mn well . . . Won the Tour. Olympic gold medal. So he finished second to Lance several times. So what? Lance has done a great deal for cycling in America, but unfortunately he has also re-enforced the American sterotype that nothing besides first place means anything. That’s unfortunate . . .

BBDave

[e-RICHIE]

snipped:
"I wasn’t trying to be snippy at all."


bbd
where's the sense of humor we all
know and love? i tagged on a "bananas"
just for that reason!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
xoxoxoxs
e-RICHIE


ohhhhhhhhhh i get it...
"snipped" means cut/pasted, not "snipped".
okay?

[Dr. Doofus]

george is a good guy


the only tactical advice george (and plenty of others guys) needs for the next five years is "stay on boonen"

[BumbleBeeDave]

. . . from STW . . . Sympathetic Twizzler Withdrawal. ;)

BBDave

[Len J]

i say, bravo, george. a gutsy race, IMO. he rode well, intelligently, at least from what i saw on OLN. he simply was beaten by a stronger rider.

I think the change in taqctic for George compared to Flanders was he had instructions to never lose Boonen's wheel.....Watching the coverage, it was apparent that Goerge "Only had eyes for Tim" he was a pit bull...he latched on and wouldn't let go. Simple, not thinking on the fly and George executed it to a tee.

George as much as admitted that he had nothing left for the final sprint in the post race interview.......Boonen was the stronger rider.

George rode a great race.....He is definatly a "Hard Man'.

Congrats George.

Len

[Dr. Doofus]

Boonen is amazing...how many riders in the last thirty years can a) win bunch sprints against the best and 2) ride away from the field solo in a monument? Kelly in his prime...Vanderaerden had the talent (remember the Moser duel in '85 when Madiot won it?) but not the head...

This had to be a Belgian science project...combine Frank Hoste with Edwig Van Hooydonck...maybe we're seeing now what Van Steenbergen was like in his prime....

whatever....

[Climb01742]

one reason why jan -- it's my reason anyway -- gets few kudos for all his second-places is...he's incredibly genetically gifted, yet he seems to not be willing to put in the work, and diet, necessary to live up to all that potential. second due to laziness is different than second due to, on sunday anyway, riding your heart out and getting beaten by a stronger rider.

i feel for george. not for jan.

[Roy E. Munson]

Sad, but in 10 years people outside the US will still be talking about Jan Ullrich, while George will be "George who"?

Anyone else thinking, "I wonder what he's on?" when Boonen pummeled everyone else into the ground?

[Dr. Doofus]

Roy --

"Belgian Science Project"

take it as you will

[93legendti]

one reason why jan -- it's my reason anyway -- gets few kudos for all his second-places is...he's incredibly genetically gifted, yet he seems to not be willing to put in the work, and diet, necessary to live up to all that potential. second due to laziness is different than second due to, on sunday anyway, riding your heart out and getting beaten by a stronger rider.

i feel for george. not for jan.

I agree 100%.

[jerk]

I agree 100%.



no offense friends,
but you go try to even complete the first two days of a three week tour, let alone win the tour de france and podium in every other attempt save one where you come in first....saying jan isn't tough, isn't prepared and is a waste of talent is not right. ullrich is one of the greatest bike racers of his generation, he just is cursed by being in his peak at the same time as someone just a little bit better. if you want to pick on someone and not feel sorry for someone who wasted every god given gift they have, make fun of vdb...(of course the jerk will come over to your house and kick your *** because he's the jerk's boy....but at least you'll have a point!)
jerk

[Climb01742]

senor,
yes, jan could whip my *ss eight ways from sunday, but...
why does he get fat every winter?
why did he not go with CSC and riis? maybe 'cause riis would have made him suffer too much?
he's tough as hell in july. but is he just as tough on himself in the winter?
yes, i'm basing this on what i read. which may not be the whole or real story.
but if even lance says jan is more talented, something has to account for his 0-6 vs lance.
bird and johnson split championship.
jack and arnie did.
bjorn and johnnie mac did too.
why is jan 0-6?
for what its worth, i think the issue is mental. he's got the physical gifts.

[coylifut]

no offense friends,
but you go try to even complete the first two days of a three week tour, let alone win the tour de france and podium in every other attempt save one where you come in first....saying jan isn't tough, isn't prepared and is a waste of talent is not right. ullrich is one of the greatest bike racers of his generation, he just is cursed by being in his peak at the same time as someone just a little bit better. if you want to pick on someone and not feel sorry for someone who wasted every god given gift they have, make fun of vdb...(of course the jerk will come over to your house and kick your *** because he's the jerk's boy....but at least you'll have a point!)
jerk

I feel for VDB. His talent seems to be wasted by severe mental illness. The appears to need help, not cycling.

[Andreu]

Using your criteria does Joop Zoetemelk (amongst many) have no kudos?
A
PS :beer:

[saab2000]

The issue here is that Joop Zoetemelk was an overachiever who always seemed to do well, even win the World Championship, even when he was not expected to.

Jan Ullrich, for all his greatness, is an underachiever.

Poulidor and Gimondi also came up agains Merckx in his prime and basically had to accept that they would never achieve what they would have had they not had to race against the greatest ever. Zoetemelk had to race against Merckx and Hinault. Right place at the wrong time.

[e-RICHIE]

world championship
olympic gold medal
at least 1 classic win
many tdf podiums
1 tdf victory

jan's got cred with me

[saab2000]

There is no doubt the Jan Ullrich has cred. The issue here is the impression that if he REALLY wanted to that he could probably have a lot more cred. I am not blaming him. He has his own personal goals and to be honest, seems lukewarm about this whole cycling thing. He just seems to enjoy life and that is OK. But the rest of us who wish we had his talent don't.

Jan rocks on the bike, but he could rock more.

It is like when we were in 3rd grade and the teachers would say that they were disappointed because they knew we could do better than we were doing.

[Len J]

world championship
olympic gold medal
at least 1 classic win
many tdf podiums
1 tdf victory

jan's got cred with me

Jan kind of reminds me of Mike Schmidt.

When he was at the height of his career, he "Made it look way too easy" which was interpreted (by the ever forgiving Philly fans) as him being lazy. The truth was he just did it different than everyone else. I think that Jan's Palmares is amazing.......if Lance didn't exist, how many TDF's would Jan have won?

He's just unfortunate to be racing at a time when there is someone better.......who knows, if he worked at it like Lance appears to, he might have been out of the sport and broken down within a year or so........the point is we just don't know.

How many other Professional racers would like to have his Palmares?

Len

[Climb01742]

jan's record is not shabby at all. but does it equal his talent? for me, the most telling moment was when he did not join CSC. he seemed to want to stay in his comfy cocoon. rather than go to a team ready to kick his butt to greatness. but maybe that is his priority, which is ok...comfy very good vs uncomfortable greatness. his call, to be sure.

[e-RICHIE]

he came up in the east-west german system.
why are we projecting western values
on this guy's achievements without walking
a km in his addilettes?

[bostondrunk]

How does anyone here (other than the jerk?) have any idea what kind of training and/or weight gain Jan Ulrich does/has in the off season?????

Me thinks people here read about him being overweight one winter, and now assume that he has that issue every year because he hasn't beaten Lance.
In reality, no one here (other than the jerk.....or munson,,,) has any idea what any of the pros do for preparation, what they eat, what their weight fluctuation is, what training they did, what drugs they are on, who they shagged last night, etc.

"Oh, but they said on the lance chronicles...." hahaha :beer: :crap:

[William]

..who they shagged last night

:no: Hey, no shagging going on on this forum BD-man! :no:

Now, time to let the Basset chase the 23c's accross the yard. When you coming over BD?

William