Ronde van Vlaanderen?

[-Adam-]

Whos gonna win!?

My cash is on Boonen, he's such a legend.

[Andrew G]

It is hard to look past Boonen, but for variety I hope he doesn't win this year. I've gone for Gilbert on the theory the really big guns will be looking at each other and he can get away in the last few kms.

My faves in these cobbled classics are Flecha and Ballan but they're more suited to the flatter ground of Paris-Roubaix.

[Dominic]

Well as we all know now Ballan won the sprint. Perfectly timed!!!!

Felt sorry for Hoste because he must have thought he had won it. Felt even more sorry for Cancellera for nobody helping him. Even though I am a Quickstep fan it really serves them right for not helping as Boonen was not good

[-Adam-]

Blimey, Tom who!?

Begs the question, whats gonna happen on the Roubaix Velodrome next week!?

I have to say i think Cancellara was pretty foolish to work so har towing the remnants of that break. Why do it, if nobody contributes, sit up and save your legs. I think he wanted to win too much.

I dont think Quickstep did anything wrong, i just dont think any of them were on that great a day. Shame Discovery didn't do more, and where was Hammond!?

Oh and, how many crashes were there. They get paid to ride all year round, and they still fall off every 5 mins!

[Jon C C on a Bianchi]

Hi. I'm relatively new to ACC and this is the first time on the boards.

For what it's worth: Not a bad race - thrills and spills throughout. For me Alessandro Ballan deserved it. He made the decisive break and then did most of the pulling to the finish. Leif Hoste did his bit and deserved second.

Cancellara was unlucky. He was also a bit too predictable. Quick Step knew he was a threat, were ready and had him marked. Gert Steegmans did a job on him.

Samuel Sanchez will win the Tour of the Basque Country. He lost it last year on the TT. He's a much better TTer than he was - finished second to Vinokourov in the Vuelta TT.

Best wishes

Jon C

[Dominic]

Jon, welcome.

Sanchez for the Basque tour we'll see, I fancy Valverde myself. Have just watched the first stage with 9 yes 9 climbs in it, fantastic.

What a good week to have off work with Flanders, the Tour of the Basque Country, Ghent-Wevelgem and Paris Roubaix. I took the week off of course to be with my children during the Easter hols.

Did I mention they were going to their grandparents tomorrow

[Jon C C on a Bianchi]

Hi, Dominic. Yeah, a great stage today. And this was only the preliminary warm up! Basque Tour produces some great racing. Only worry is that after a week of battling on the climbs it'll all come down to the TT like last year.

Valverde - a good choice - has to be a good bet. So far you have a few seconds on me. Whatever, I'm sure it'll be close.

A brilliant week for watching cycling - us teachers have got it sussed! Let's hope the tennis, handball, syncronised swimming doesn't get in the way!

Jon

[higg]

Just got back from a weekend in Flanders. Tried to do the sportive but a cold blew up the day before so I had to pull out. Surprisingly it was still a good trip. For what it's worth here are my musings on the race.

What is it about the Tour of Flanders?

Even though the name makes it sound like a stage race, it's only a one day race. People say it has cobbles but there’re nowhere near as many or as rough as Paris-Roubaix. People say it has the "bergs", 18 of them but in reality most of the climbs in the surrey hills are longer and higher. Sure, it has the famous Muur but even that's a walk in the park compared to the likes of Tanhurst Lane at the back of Leith Hill.

What the Tour of Flanders has though is Belgians, Belgians everywhere, mad about the race, mad about their riders and this alone makes the race stand out from everything else at this time of year.

The day before the main race almost 20,000 of them took the course, most doing the 140km version which covered most of those "bergs". There was a definite non-competitive spirit as the weather was good and the course is not seriously tough. Some groups blasted up each hill, then waited and regrouped before spinning over to the next one. Others trundled along at a steady pace happy to mentally tick that box at the top of each climb. More than a few were on normal situpandbeg street bikes with a basket on the front and I even spotted two families carrying young children in child seats. More of a festival than a sportive then.

Race day itself came with all the usual trappings, at least in Belgium. Crowds lining the streets, mobs lining the climbs, but what really brought home what the race meant was the Belgian television coverage after the race. So picture this, a Belgian gets beaten by a half a wheel in a sprint for the line. Two minutes later the coverage shows a close-up of the same rider sitting on the ground up against a crash barrier trying to bury his head in his hands while half a dozen microphones and cameras were stuck in his face. Cut to the studio where his teammate had barely taken his helmet off but he had already been nabbed for a sit-down interview. Hunched over the desk and speaking through a bad case of helmet hair he was already giving his opinions on the race. I didn’t understand a word he said but his pain was obvious especially when he was asked to review a replay of the sprint. Wincing continuously, he started shouting “turn, turn” and hitting his head off the desk as his teammate’s cadence slowed 20 yards from the line and the winner came past.

You couldn’t make it up, pure drama.

[higg]

Ithought you might ask that. I'll organise them when I get home and will try to put something together.

[-Adam-]

Anybody see Gent-Wevelgem today?

What a race! And the legend that is Roger Hammond nabbing second after an all day break away, whilst making it a T-mobile 1,2 was fantastic!

I had a chat with him at the TOB a few years back, and he's such a nice guy! And arguably GB's best road racer (as apposed to TT'er)

Great stuff!

[Ian A4size]

[quote]Anybody see Gent-Wevelgem today?

[Sylv]

48.7km/h

Did they have a tailwind?

[Andrew G]

Classic one-two from the pink boys.

Can't believe how long it took the fellow escapees to notice that the guy twice the size of all the rest of them was "hiding" at the back though. Fingers crossed Hammond can carry it through to Sunday and have another podium there.

[Jon C C on a Bianchi]

WOW!! It had practically everything. Even my wife sat down to watch. One of the best races for a long time. Roger Hammond - simply immense.

[Jon H]

I didn't think much of Jimmy Casper's method of slowing down on the Kemmelberg by using his face as a brake on the cobbles