Amstel Gold

[SGP]

is it too early to strat this?

Davide Rebellin (Gerolsteiner) will win sunday, but, he will not repeat last years triple.

:fight:

[Dr. Doofus]

Win: Bettini
Place: Di Luca
Show: Erik Dekker

Dark Horse: Cadel Evans

would love to see George do something, but the race is too hard to control, too difficult to read, and too many stage racers/smooth road classics racers involved in this one.

holding out for George to win HEW or Zurich

[SGP]

if george gets a podium spot, does e-richie have to forgo twizzlers for another week?

[saab2000]

George won't win in Zuerich because it is too hilly a race and too late in the season.

That doesn't mean he is not a stud, but that is not his kind of race I don't think.

The UCI wants to ruin the Zuri Metztege (or Champ. or ZRH) by putting it in October. That is a bad time for a bike race in Switzerland. August is perfect. October could be 45 and raining. It might be nice, but I am skeptical.


Amstel Gold:

Vino
Dekker
Di Luca
Bettini
Rebellin
Beat Zberg

[coylifut]

Boogie, finally

[Dr. Doofus]

saab-issimo

look at how GH climbs in the Tour...and Flecha won the the thing last year....

GH doesn't have much motivation left after the Tour, and seems pretty fried along with the rest of the "postal" tour team when August comes around...but *if* he had the motivation, doof still thinks that Zurich would be perfect for him, maybe more so than flanders...he seems like he's lost a little "punch" over the last few years, but gained on longer climbs

any bets that GH starts winning a slew of one-day races after LA retires?

[saab2000]

Believe it or not, I raced against George Hincapie. And the funny thing is that it was in the late '80s I think and I can remember people thinking that he was just a big kid and when everyone caught up to him he would be nothing. Well, he proved them wrong. I hope he proves me wrong. I would like nothing more than to see him win a big one, especially P-R.

I am not sure that the shorter, more intense climbing of Amstel can be compared to other races. GH climbs great in the Tour, no doubt.

I would like nothing more than to have him prove me wrong.

Also, Zurich is a strange race. It is a circuit race, but on a circuit so long that it is almost not a circuit race. Each lap is like 45 km long, or more. The Pfannenstiel climb is about 10 km from where I used to live. I have seen the race many times and saw Ullrich beaten by Dufaux a few years ago. I was about 50 feet from the line when that happened. It was cool.

Doofusissimo (an affectation stolen from eRichie, to give credit where it is due), I am secretly hoping that I get based in Charlotte and that you can show me the good riding there!

[Dr. Doofus]

amstel is such an unpredictable and uncontrollable race...the climbs are like the Flanders climbs in length and gradient, but the roads are smooth...having 31 of them helps, but none of them, save the Cauberg, is a "splitter" like the Muur Du Grammont or La Redoute. Combine the short explosive climbs with narrow zig-zag-zig-zag roads and the usual flanders/south holland winds, and you have a race that can be taken by a rouleur, a sprinter, or a stage racer, and it seems to play out differently every year (though the new finish seems to have made it more of a ardennes-classic rider race)....

GH, like Van Der Pol or Rooks, is the kind of big guy who could win this race...but then again so could any other 30 guys...what a blast for the fans!

[yeehawfactor]

you know yeehawfactor, i'm afraid to admit this on the board, but i think a podim of merckx, dierckxsens, and cipo is very likely
:eek:

[BumbleBeeDave]

. . . but I do know I would be very happy to root for Merckx or Boogerd. Neither one had won anything in a while as far as I know.

BBDave

[GoJavs]

Either one....Tom or...I mean...Harry....I mean Eric...

The Dutch really come out for this one. :beer:

[e-RICHIE]

SGP-issimo wondered:
"if george gets a podium spot, does e-richie have to forgo twizzlers for another week?"




NO!

[Dekonick]

M boogard gets my vote - just cuz I like his style :cool:

[Dekonick]

M boogard gets my vote - just cuz I like his style :cool:

Already have the TiVo ready to record as I will be in Lamaze (sp?) class

[Dr. Doofus]

:eek:


patrick! can you not see irony!

coming to boone to slap your young bald head....and when did doof write that, anyway??????

hmmm...just searched for such a post -- and couldn't find it! Are you making stuff up, patrick????

[BumbleBeeDave]

. . . for the Boogie-Man today . . . always the bucktoothed bridesmaid, never the bucktoothed bride.

BBDave

[yeehawfactor]

patrick! can you not see irony!

coming to boone to slap your young bald head....and when did doof write that, anyway??????

hmmm...just searched for such a post -- and couldn't find it! Are you making stuff up, patrick????
no comment. :cool:

and the coverage of the race today was laughable

[sspielman]

Always at forefront of training and racing technology, the captain of the Discovery Channel classics squad displays new and advanced tactics: http://www.cyclingnews.com/photos/2005/apr05/amstel05/index.php?id=raceday/EKtaxi_for_Hincapie