Lemme see:
- reigning world champion
- stage wins in grand tours
- wins at Flanders and Paris-Roubaix last year
- successfully defended his Flanders title today
I'd say he's no flash in the pan.
Just because you can, doesn't mean you should.
Boonen is the real thing
Uber talented.
Classy - see the photo of Pozzato's win in Milano-SanRemo where Boonen has his arms in the air because he's happy his teammate won. I also just read that he'd like to help Pozzato win again tomorrow in Ghent-Wevelgem.
Bad hair.
Remember these days? Shame they let him go.
Another good article here:
http://www.pezcyclingnews.com/?pg=fullstory[HTML_REMOVED]id=3884
He's the good to guy in my cycling pool.I picked 6 out of the top 10 for Flanders but was out done by someone getting 8
"We've been attacked by the intelligent, educated segment of the culture"
Remember these days? Shame they let him go.
Minor point-but US Postal didn't (willingly) let him go. He signed a contract, then reneged on the contract and effectively forced a buyout.
http://www.seankelly.com/modules.php?name=News[HTML_REMOVED]file=print[HTML_REMOVED]sid=211
"The song of a bird…We used to ask Ennesson to do bird calls. He could do them. How he could do them, and when he perished, along with him went all those birds…"-Return from the Stars, Stanislaw Lem
"We just walk around, and sometimes we go out and dance, and then we listen to the environment."-Ralf Hutter, Kraftwerk
USPS didn't have the team to keep him happy once his ambitions started to grow regarding one-day racing. Quick Step was beckoning, and they were - still are - _the _team to beat in spring. Under Lefebvre's direction Boonen has truly blossomed. Would he have gone that far at USPS/Discovery? Maybe, but probably not as soon.
Just because you can, doesn't mean you should.
Would he have gone that far at USPS/Discovery? Maybe, but probably not as soon.
Hell, no. USPS at the time was completely oriented toward winning the TdF. Of course it made sense for Boonen to jump ship to a team that is built for classics and one-day races.
I was only disputing the fact that USPS didn't (willing) let him go.
"The song of a bird…We used to ask Ennesson to do bird calls. He could do them. How he could do them, and when he perished, along with him went all those birds…"-Return from the Stars, Stanislaw Lem
"We just walk around, and sometimes we go out and dance, and then we listen to the environment."-Ralf Hutter, Kraftwerk
Boonen is human after all. He just didn't have it in Paris-Roubaix today.
Huge props to young Fabian Cancellara for powering away from the likes of Flecha, Boonen and Hoste. Big thumbs down to the race organizers for letting a train crossing decide the outcome for at least some of the podium finishers.
http://www.cyclingnews.com/road/2006/apr06/roubaix06/?id=results
A sweet shot of the Swiss mini-mullet king powering the break:
http://www.cyclingnews.com/photos/2006/apr06/roubaix06/index.php?id=s022
"The song of a bird…We used to ask Ennesson to do bird calls. He could do them. How he could do them, and when he perished, along with him went all those birds…"-Return from the Stars, Stanislaw Lem
"We just walk around, and sometimes we go out and dance, and then we listen to the environment."-Ralf Hutter, Kraftwerk
Some additional race notes from http://www.canadiancyclist.com/default2.html
"Hincapie's race was over when his fork crown separated, sending him crashing into the ditch (later reports say he may have injured his collarbone). After that, it was a race of counterattacks which thinned the group to Cancellara, Boonen, Ballan, Hoste, Gussev and Van Petegem. Cancellara attacked strongly with 18 kilometres to go. Gussev tried to stay with him but couldn't manage the pace.
Cancellara's attack split the leaders, with Gussev, Hoste and Van Petegem dropping Boonen and Ballen. Cancellara soloed in for the victory, with Hoste apparently outsprinting Van Petegem for second. However, this is where the disqualification comes in - Cancellara got across some train tracks with 10 kilometres to go, and so did Hoste's group (Boonen and Bllan had to stop, losing 30 seconds). But Hoste's group crossed after the barricades had come down, a no-no under the regulations, so the three were tossed from the results, moving Boonen up to second."
1. Fabian Cancellara (Sui) CSC , 6:07:54
2. Tom Boonen (Bel) Quick.Step, at 1:51
3. Alessandro Ballan (Ita) Lampre-Fondital
4. Juan-Antonio Flecha (Esp) Rabobank, both s.t.
5. Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Francaise des Jeux, 3:24
6. Steffen Wesemann (Ger) T-Mobile
7. Frederic Guesdon (Fra) Francaise des Jeux
8. Bert Roesems (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto
9. Christophe Mengin (Fra) Francaise des Jeux
10. Staf Scheirlinckx (Bel) Cofidis, all s.t.
DNF. Peter Mazur (Can) Saunier Duval - Prodir
DNF. Charles Dionne (Can) Saunier Duval - Prodir
DNF. Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Phonak
"Hincapie's race was over when his fork crown separated, sending him crashing into the ditch
Trek chose to equip Hincapie's bike with a lower end fork with aluminum steer tube. (The fork crown appears intact here: http://www.velonews.com/images/int/9720.14346.f.jpg.) A rare equipment choice error by Team USPS/Discovery, although it could have been Hincapie's earlier crash that affected the steer tube.
Interestingly, Discovery chose to use low spoke count wheels for its riders (vs. 32-spoke box section rims), which appear to have held up fine.
http://www.cyclingnews.com/road/2006/apr06/roubaix06/?id=/tech/2006/features/hincapie_trek
"The song of a bird…We used to ask Ennesson to do bird calls. He could do them. How he could do them, and when he perished, along with him went all those birds…"-Return from the Stars, Stanislaw Lem
"We just walk around, and sometimes we go out and dance, and then we listen to the environment."-Ralf Hutter, Kraftwerk
what a desperate feeling to be flogging across the cobbles with nothing in your hands.
:shudder:
Just because you can, doesn't mean you should.
what a desperate feeling to be flogging across the cobbles with nothing in your hands.
:shudder:
Turns out it was definitely the steerer that broke:
VeloNews has posted a video of P-R, with a crazy shot of Hincapie losing it on the cobbles:
"The song of a bird…We used to ask Ennesson to do bird calls. He could do them. How he could do them, and when he perished, along with him went all those birds…"-Return from the Stars, Stanislaw Lem
"We just walk around, and sometimes we go out and dance, and then we listen to the environment."-Ralf Hutter, Kraftwerk
man do i ever miss not having my bikes with me.
Being an agoraphobic adrenaline junkie would be pretty convenient, because you could get your rush from just going to the store to get some milk instead of having to jump off a mountain or out of an airplane.
they also call me "balloon"
Yeah I saw that video. One broken tube and suddenly a world class million-dollar racer turns spastic and spears into the ground. Apparently he won't need surgery which is good to hear.
There must be some pretty pointed questions flying around between the riders, the team mechanics and Trek.
Just because you can, doesn't mean you should.
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