So, Stannard humiliated Etixx to win yesterday's Omloop...
Anyone else tuning in to live coverage of Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne today? Can Stannard win today as well? (frankly I'm amazed anyone could come top 10 yesterday and have anything left in the legs to even start today, yet alone win!)
Aargh - why is Eurosport constantly so unreliable??
Skiing on 3 channels, despite the TV Guide saying the cycling should be on now (albeit the 2014 review, pending the live 2015 coverage at 13:45).
The actual programming never matches what the Eurosport TV Guide says, and there's no info (even on the website) as to when the cycling will actually start.
Epic win by Stannard yesterday - watched it on a flaky live feed, with Twitter updates filling the gaps.
Good to see Cav doing his thing today today, but the race was a bit boring at the end apart from Gilbert. Would have loved to see one team go for it at 5km to try and kill the sprinters.
Pete
Yes - I must admit I am not the biggest fan of sprint finishes - I always prefer to see a brave lone attack in the last 6-8km!Originally Posted by ptcoll
KBK is an odd race in that the last part (?40-50km) is the dullest in terms of scenery - just a flat city circuit - they should do something to mix that up a bit.
If you're on a disk / satellite tv: try to find the Belgian (Flemish) broadcasters or the Dutch (NOS -NPO). these have a wall to wall coverage of these Classics. Shame that most of you don't understand Dutch. The comment on the Flemish TV is always very good: professional, with just the right amount of useful info. One of the guys is always an invited guest who is always a former champion with in-depth knowledge the local circumstances, bikes and the way the 'peloton' behaves.
Menno
EDIT: for those of you who doesn't understand Dutch: 'Deze koers kent geen genade' translates roughly into: 'No mercy on this course'. Personally, I'm always a great fan of Paris - Roubaix and De Ronde van Vlaanderen; the 'High Mass of Cycling' as it's called in Flandres.
Menno
Last edited by thieuster; 1st March 2015 at 18:56.
It's amazing to me that a brit can win a spring classic these days and we take it in or strides. Who did we have ten years ago that could have done that? Good for Stannard and good for British cycling.
Last year, my wife and I spent a weekend in Maastricht, during the Liege - Bastogne - Liege weekend. Maastricht and Liege are only 20 miles apart. On Saturday morning, we had a coffee outside a Barista called 'Coffee Lovers'. While sitting on the terrace, 3 complete cycling teams came by, pulled the brakes and stopped for a coffee and a whole lot of cake & pie. A quick count: 45(!) amazing bicycles. Team Sky, Omega Pharma and Garmin. I didn't even want to guess an estimated 'hardware' value of what was loosely parked there...
Menno
Amazing!!!!!! That would never happen in any other sport!
Did you get any photos? Or a chance to chat to any of the riders?
Le Samyn today - no really big names riding, but should still be a great race, and it's live on Eurosport.
I hope Stannard shares his winnings with the three Etixx riders, in a three against one break, the one NEVER wins unless the three cock it up monumentally. What Vandenburgh was thinking, dragging Stannard back to Terpstra's wheel I have no idea. Boonen's attack on a windy motorway with 5km to go was optimistic to say the least, but may have worked if his team mates had blocked a bit more effectively. If you want a laugh, check out the sour grapes from Patrick LeFevre's comments after the race.
Anyway, full credit to Stannard, so,so strong on the day and on the Sunday too!
If eurosport are showing it, do check out Strade Bianchi on Saturday. Great race, beautiful scenery and fast becoming one of my favourites of the Spring (semi) Classics. Sagan must start favourite but there's usually a very strong field.
Why would he? He was stronger by far - he won not so much because of the Etixx riders poor tactics, but because they physically couldnt attack him - he'd motorpaced them into the ground!
They are, along with most of the other classics, semi-classics and monuments :-)
The full line up of coverage is on the Eurosport site here; http://tv.eurosport.co.uk/search.shtml?query=cycling
I disagree, if you've got 3 vs 1 with 10/20km to go then the three need to decide who they want to win and the other two work over the one until he cracks leaving a nice clear run to the finish.
When Terpstra attacked, why did Vandenburgh tow Stannard back - he shouldn't have been taking turns at all, let Stannard burn his matches all the way back, then Vandenburgh attacks and Stannard has to work again, then Boonen goes - repeat until Stannard is buried. It's bike racing 101 and it doesn't matter how much stronger Stannard was, if Etixx had been properly drilled they would have won.
That's not to take anything from the Essex boy, he played it absolutely perfectly.
Thanks for the masterclass- I have been watching cycling for enough years to understand racing tactics!
So you seem to be hinting that Stannard bought the win?
No, just a healthy debate about cycling whilst on my commute, but if you're not interested then that's fine. If you've been watching for that long then perhaps you've noticed that the strongest guy doesn't always win.
Absolutely not hinting that the win was bought. Etixx screwed up. That's all.
No doubt they made a right dogs diner of it, that's true!
Apologies - i think I misunderstood the nature of your comment re: Stannard paying Etixx! D'oh!!
Well, lets hope the upcoming races are as exciting!
PS oh to have been a fly on the wall of the Etixx team bus that night!
No probs. We'll leave the race fixing to Vino and his like...
It's certainly shaping up to be a memorable season though. Much as the Middle Eastern races and the Tour Down Under are nice, it's good to start the season proper now.
Anyone catch Gent - Wevelgem ?
Epic race in horrendous weather.
Pete
Yes, that was amazing today....makes me feel pretty pathetic for not venturing out sometimes! I thought Thomas had a real chance of a double after E3 win
What an amazing race, I was thinking it was windy yesterday on my commute struggling to get over 20kmh but for pros to be blown off the road and struggle like they clearly did shows how bad conditions were.
Classics have been great viewing thus far, can't wait for Flanders and Paris - Roubaix
Geraint Thomas, last weeks winner, was blown off his bike ffs!
https://youtu.be/-nQM_38OOVo
The reporters you can hear are two from the Belgian (Flandres) TV. So sad you guys can not understand them. These guys are the best! Former professional cyclists with an eye for detail and lots of interesting info!
Menno
(And after a stormy day on the water in his dinghy only 45 kms north, my son told me that he'd experienced worse this winter...)
Interesting to see some guys going with 50mm rims today despite the wind conditions!
Paris-Roubaix tomorrow. Looks like I may miss the live footage, so will have to rely on Twitter and watch the highlights later.
Pete
Same here no live TV where I am so web updates during the day and recorded later.
I have been looking forward to this year's race since Christmas.
Last edited by den77; 12th April 2015 at 06:15. Reason: Spelling errors
Take a look here for a live feed, scroll down the page..... http://www.steephill.tv/classics/paris-roubaix/
F.T.F.A.
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