Ronde van Vlaanderen ...predictions?

sy

My favourite race of the season, the Kwaremont, the Paterberg, the Koppenberg the Muur-Kapelmuur and of course the Boonenberg all classic climbs (15 in all) that make this one of the toughest races on the pro calendar. The usual suspects Boonen, Cancellara, Flecha, Pozzato (may not start due to illness ) Devolder, Breschel, Eisel, Gilbert....
EBH and Haussler out due to injury.

I think Boonen will not make the same mistake of letting Cancellara get the jump on him as happened in the brilliant E3 Prijs Vlaanderen. These two along with a fit? Pozzato and Flecha are in the form of their lives so should be a great race. Gilbert is going well but not at his best yet.
Devolder won it for the past two years and seemed to be going reasonably well at De Panne so don't count him out of a possible hat trick! Breschel should be a good help to Cancellara but the distance may be too much for him.
Really disappointed Pozzato is ill as I fancied him to win this race ( must do better tactically aswell)


Boonen to win his third Flanders from Cancellara and Flecha

The decisive moment in last years race to whet your appetite!
The speed they ride the Muur Kapelmuur with its 20% gradient is jaw dropping. Boonen and Pozzato nullified each other that day giving Devolder freedom to go on the attack and boy can he attack.

Caroline_ie

Boonen FTW

Chips Lovell

My thoughts here.

bcmf

Tornado Tom. But its gonna be a great race. Who will be watching who???? Have a feeling the domestiques will earn their crust. After Devolder got away while the others were eyeballing each other means anybody with a sniff who decides to have a pop will be hunted down.
Odds on Gilbert getting on the podium?

Esroh

Boonen. Having done his community service re the recreational drugs relaying cobbles on the route he knows them better than ever now:D

Chips Lovell

Looks like Eurosport are going to be showing four hours of coverage on Sunday. Happy days.

sy

el tonto wrote: »

My thoughts here.

Great work el tonto, good to see your back blogging again! House must be fully decorated .

ColSheehan

I think Lance will win it ! He's shown so far in the Classics that he's in great form and is my prediction to win. His training for Sunday >> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hux622JfpJ0

Nah I joke, he hasn't got a chance imo. I wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't finish :P My prediction at the moment is Lars Boom/Langeveld/Nuyens for a surprise win or one of the Vacansoleil guys . Although I would like to see Boonen or Cancellara win. You never know with races these days, but the main thing is that it will be very enjoyable for all !

ROK ON

Good post Sy. Tonto thanks. About time. Great insight from you two gents.

I can't wait for thia. I have no idea who will win, but despite the low likelihood would like to see Gilbert triumph.
Wouldn't be disappointed to see Bonen win.

ajk24

have breschel and boonen each way with paddy power- they have just led the main bunch over the pattersberg. Should I start spending my money??

bcmf

Katusha's Vlannderen Crash hat is cool

IM0

I was just going to say Cancellara..before he just had a mech and stopped for a bike change..not so sure no though.

Im not sure whether I'm wishing the weather was worse for this or not, will a wet slippy race make it better or worse for watching?
first time watching this. havent had eurosport for 15 years!

Slideshowbob

If pedictors here get a chance have a look at Shane Stokes opinions on the merits of predicting results.

http://twitter.com/ssbike

I would tend to agree with him as regards 1 day races. Grand Tours tend to be a bit different I think. Form, previous participation records etc come more into play, hence easier to predict.

IM0

have to say Armstrong is a whole lot further up than I expected here, I thought he would be just siting in and just on a recon for tour cobble sections

bcmf

44km left.the race is on

IM0

Is it too soon though, only 2 of them and boonen is only just coming through for a pull now.

bcmf

too many QStep boys in the chasers to break it up

IM0

Millar also going well, again I thought he was going for the experience rather than really being a contender, though I do remeber in the 3 days de Panne TT, someone mentioning that he is a great bike handler, and the way he was going on the TT bike on the cobbles in that was a 'ahh' moment when I heard he was doing the Ronde and having just won the 3 days he's clearly in top form.

This spoiler crap is rubbish, what fool will come into a thread on the day its on and expect to not see comments about the race!

thread titles absolutely and in threads where its not obvious and mentioned casually too, but dedicated threads?, come on!

bcmf

read thru the spoilers!!!!!! If we dont put up spoilers Lumen will give out to us

Slideshowbob

27k left, the race is still on ! woopie do

abcdggs

me@ucd wrote: »

what fool will come into a thread on the day its on and expect to not see comments about the race!

That would be me, well i keep forgetting that i've paused the race a couple times to make tea and such. But i don't mind finding out a bit early...

Slideshowbob

Millar is a joke - sure he's an ex doper.

If he really wants just to experience the race he should do the randonnee event, not deny some up and coming young lad a place in his team !! Such are the luxuries of team owners I suppose.

I love the way he does wasteful epic efforts in races just to show his strength :rolleyes:

Slideshowbob

I hope the Druggie doesn't win

Ha - made you look !

IM0

You beast! Amazing strength - the guy is off the chart, if ever an arguement for sitting and spinning with power :eek: that guy is some class act :cool:

bcmf

agreed. he is in some vain of form. Just rode away.

Chartsengrafs

Awesome finish to that, the way he dropped that other guy (am I allowed mention names- WTF's up with this spoiler business??) was really impressive.

jautukas87

SPOILER LINK TO YOUTUBE: http://bit.ly/9HVN8G

the speed of bike change :eek:

Any video where he dropped that other guy. A lot of videos before or after that point. Would be interesting to see.

IM0

That ^^ was as silky as they come! , pretty clever, Man love for Cancellara!

Caroline_ie

the man is a legend ... the flag grab at the finish:class!

Junior

jautukas87 wrote: »

SPOILER LINK TO YOUTUBE: http://bit.ly/9HVN8G

the speed of bike change :eek:

Any video where he dropped that other guy. A lot of videos before or after that point. Would be interesting to see.

While the speed of the bike change there had a lot to do with keeping him in contention, I think the best rider of the day got proper f*cked by his team with two bike changes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97MmSiBp1lM

RobFowl

LA rode well..................................

sy

Classic stuff and tactically perfect. Isolate the enemy, work him over for 25km and then strike the killer blow. Awesome show of power and style especially when your consider his opponent is one of the best classic riders of the past 10 years and also in top form.

@ Slideshowbob re predictions on one day races. Nobody, especially me, takes them too seriously. Just part of the fun and build up to the races
Agree with your comment re Tour predictions

@ RobFowl agree, Lance was very impressive today. Its a pity he never focused at least one season on the classics

bcmf

seriously quick bike change from Cancellara.Approx 30secs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DFM14BIYmA

Lumen

me@ucd wrote: »

This spoiler crap is rubbish, what fool will come into a thread on the day its on and expect to not see comments about the race!

thread titles absolutely and in threads where its not obvious and mentioned casually too, but dedicated threads?, come on!

bcmf wrote: »

read thru the spoilers!!!!!! If we dont put up spoilers Lumen will give out to us

Basster wrote: »

am I allowed mention names- WTF's up with this spoiler business??)

Spoiler tags are not required on dedicated threads about one day races, although in this instance since it's a "predictions?" thread I guess people are just being super-considerate.

Feel free to discuss further here.

Chips Lovell

Finally got to watch this late last night. Great race in the end and it was fantastic to see both of the favourites go mano a mano. You just knew that Cancellera would have to shake Boonen before it came down to a sprint but when he went for it on the Muur it was so subtle the way he just put the power down and left Boonen struggling.

Great race by David Millar. I was wondering if he'd be able to try something after doing so well in De Panne. If it had been anyone else out the front Millar might have been able to bridge across, but a brave effort nonetheless.

CheGuedara

Great race and an impressive win - when himself got into the TT position after riding off you just knew that was it - game over.

And made all the sweeter for having earned an R & A voucher for predicting it

Caroline_ie

Cancellara's values for yesterday's race

Funkyzeit

As ever Flanders comes up with the goodies. Superb racing.

That was some power by Fabian on the Muur - within a matter of seconds he effectivley ended any chance Boonen had - although I reckon Boonen to have revenge next week though (less hills more cobbles)

sy

VeloNews

Boonen, meanwhile, was gracious in his second successive runner-up place in a one-day classic after he was beaten to victory 
in Milan-San Remo by Spaniard Oscar Freire two weeks ago


“If you give him a few meters, you won’t see him again. I was racing after him at 55 km/h, and he took a minute off me,” Boonen said. “What can I say? He was the strongest.”

Cancellara

“To attack on the Muur and leave Boonen behind is amazing. When I get old, to be able to say to young riders, ‘At the Ronde I attacked on the Muur, left Boonen behind and won alone,’ not in a sprint, or dropped and came back, but alone … it was the perfect scenario. The gladiator won the battle.”

Read more: http://velonews.competitor.com/2010/04/news/cancellara-conquers-flanders_110336#ixzz0kE5EwLWM

Slideshowbob

Cancellara is a great bike rider but he comes across as a knob off the the bike. I've seen his sport so serious dodgy fashions and he considers himself a 'gladiator' woooooooooo

godihatedehills

a 'gladiator'???

Caroline_ie

I couldn't care less of how FC is off the bike. He's undestructable, an amazing cyclist!

Can he do this again next week ?? = ABSOLUTELY!

Slideshowbob

yeah baby!

niceonetom

His nickname is Spartacus, hence 'gladiator'. I've never seen him come across as anything other than very grateful and grounded in interview, but even if you absolutely insist on reading this as 'gladiator' thing as hubris, well, he did just win a monument, a moment of hubris is not only allowed, imo, it's called for.

Lumen

Found some pics.

IM0

Caroline_ie wrote: »

Cancellara's values for yesterday's race

Im pretty sure the beast man puts that out while standing having a piss

Home:Ballyhoura

Missed this one due to being away racing at the weekend, is there anywhere that I can still watch it now or at least the last hour or so (online)? Thanks in advance...:)

ColSheehan

Home:Ballyhoura wrote: »

Missed this one due to being away racing at the weekend, is there anywhere that I can still watch it now or at least the last hour or so (online)? Thanks in advance...:)

I'm not sure about seeing it without having to download it from somewhere, but I have found a website with a few of the climbs and the highlights from it if it helps

http://www.cyclingfans.com/node/725

niceonetom

Caroline_ie wrote: »

Cancellara's values for yesterday's race

me@ucd wrote: »

Im pretty sure the beast man puts that out while standing having a piss

ucd - I guess you were having trouble making sense of that readout (I know I was thrown by the 145 - turns out 3 digits is not enough...). Here's what it breaks down to:-

Avg.Speed:40km/h -
Avg.Cad:73 -
Avg.HR:143 -
Avg.Power:285W
Max.Speed:80km/h -
Max.Cad:147 -
Max.HR:190 -
Max.Power:1450W - (:eek:)
Tot.Calories: 6459

Via World Wide Cycles.

IM0

niceonetom wrote: »

ucd - I guess you were having trouble making sense of that readout (I know I was thrown by the 145 - turns out 3 digits is not enough...). Here's what it breaks down to:-

Avg.Speed:40km/h -
Avg.Cad:73 -
Avg.HR:143 -
Avg.Power:285W
Max.Speed:80km/h -
Max.Cad:147 -
Max.HR:190 -
Max.Power:1450W - (:eek:)
Tot.Calories: 6459

Via World Wide Cycles.

I was thrown by the 145 like yourself, I saw those values above on the net after the race, and then saw caroline's pic, which looked like it was taken in a back yard patio! (her one possibly ) but didnt realise the connection between the pic and the numbers I saw earlier. Also wasn't sure of the source for the numbers, but turns out its from cyclefilm, so its genuine :eek:

The Crunch

Thought he changed bike?