Thoughts and comments on Flanders after reading live updates and watching on VS.
- Cancellara caught Devolderitis 50km from the finish and thought he could ride 10 people off his wheel. Nice try. I have to wonder if that wasn't a little practice for Roubaix.
- Devolder, seeing Cancellara trying to steal his thunder, immediately tried to bridge up to Fabian's pointless attack. Nice try Stijn.
- Freire absolutely dropped anchor at the foot of the Muur.
- At the Muur, Boonen looked like I usually feel on a hill and you could see the heart being ripped out of him. He looked so good to start. Then he looked back and saw everyone on his wheel. That was the beginning of the end. He dug deep for a few more seconds, looked back and they were still there. Soon enough, the pedal revs began to slow ever so slightly and the pace eased up. Ballan saw the opening and flew by, then Hoste, then Boogerd. It was a rare sign of weakness by Boonen not unlike last year in Roubaix. You expect him to have an answer to just about anything and when he doesn't respond you are almost surprised that he is human at times.
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Television doesn't always do justice to how fast the pros can be. This short (13 sec) video shows Ballan approaching the top of the Muur-Kapelmuur and shows the speed pretty well. This is steep, on cobbles, and they are flying.
- Cancellara caught Devolderitis 50km from the finish and thought he could ride 10 people off his wheel. Nice try. I have to wonder if that wasn't a little practice for Roubaix.
- Devolder, seeing Cancellara trying to steal his thunder, immediately tried to bridge up to Fabian's pointless attack. Nice try Stijn.
- Freire absolutely dropped anchor at the foot of the Muur.
- At the Muur, Boonen looked like I usually feel on a hill and you could see the heart being ripped out of him. He looked so good to start. Then he looked back and saw everyone on his wheel. That was the beginning of the end. He dug deep for a few more seconds, looked back and they were still there. Soon enough, the pedal revs began to slow ever so slightly and the pace eased up. Ballan saw the opening and flew by, then Hoste, then Boogerd. It was a rare sign of weakness by Boonen not unlike last year in Roubaix. You expect him to have an answer to just about anything and when he doesn't respond you are almost surprised that he is human at times.
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Television doesn't always do justice to how fast the pros can be. This short (13 sec) video shows Ballan approaching the top of the Muur-Kapelmuur and shows the speed pretty well. This is steep, on cobbles, and they are flying.
2 Comments:
Boonen mortality in the RvV reminded me of the same mortality he showed in last year's TdF. Maybe he's overly susceptible to overtraining/fatigue...or maybe he's playing a cunning card for the P-R
Wow, that is a nice video.
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