MSR '09: Re-Live the Grand Finale

by Chris Fontecchio on Mar 22, 2009 3:09 AM EDT in News

One last time, before we head north for, oh, some odd races in a little country. Nothing important...

Milan - Sanremo / Milano - Sanremo / Milan - San Remo 2009 Final Kilometer (via Wielerflits)

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I was still hoping Haussler had won

Damn it!!

Oh and yes bring on the cobbles, I will be reporting from there soon, Hope you will enjoy my stories..

We don't stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing.
George Bernard Shaw, 1856-1950

by CycleGirl on Mar 22, 2009 3:14 AM EDT reply actions

Ok, now I've watched replays and I'm now thinking Cervelo is going to have a problem.

How the heck do you sort out the hierarchy on that sprint train?

Did your favourite rider just win Montepaschi Strade Bianch Eroica Toscana? OK then.

by Jens on Mar 22, 2009 3:58 AM EDT reply actions

I have an idea

“Thor, Haussler’s faster than you right now. So start doing leadouts until Kangaroo-boy burns out in about a month.”

silence…

“OK, so we’re in agreement then. Great!”

CQRanking.com, you complete me.

by Chris Fontecchio on Mar 22, 2009 7:22 PM EDT up reply actions

LOL

You realize that Jens is probably having enormous schadenfreundey bliss from this precise scenario, don’t you?

by Ed K on Mar 22, 2009 7:41 PM EDT up reply actions

Sure, it's all fun and games for now

but wait until Sondre Gjerdevik Sørtveit, who currently rides for a continental team, starts showing up in the big races.

I’m not counting on much love for the norwegians as you all fracture your tongues trying to say his name.

Did your favourite rider just win Montepaschi Strade Bianch Eroica Toscana? OK then.

by Jens on Mar 23, 2009 7:04 AM EDT up reply actions

So you're expecting us to toss them under the bus for purely verbal reasons?

by Ed K on Mar 23, 2009 7:29 AM EDT up reply actions

Crashdan: "Veni Vidi Vici beats Wing Kong Exchange... … and I’ll change my signature to a backwards smile for a month."
Franzoi wins Parijs-Roubaix and I win a date with the VDS of Team Txirrindulariak..

by Frinking on Mar 23, 2009 7:46 AM EDT up reply actions

Same way as an Ö :-)

roughly the same sound as in curve, serve, Guernsey

Did your favourite rider just win Montepaschi Strade Bianch Eroica Toscana? OK then.

by Jens on Mar 23, 2009 7:53 AM EDT up reply actions

Ohh i just saw the Provisional list for Flanders...

Can’t wait to get there… Bring it on…

We don't stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing.
George Bernard Shaw, 1856-1950

by CycleGirl on Mar 22, 2009 7:30 AM EDT reply actions

Saw this after missing the race

As had been said in a few other threads, it did indeed look like Thor missed latching onto Hausler but Cavendish was smart enough to jump into the gap. That was a huge hole he opened up too – if the race is 1 meter shorter, Hausler wins.

Brilliant move by both him and Cav – shame one of them had to come in 2nd.

"I didn't look for him and I didn't see him. If you base your race on another rider, most of the time you lose."

Tom Boonen

by Drew Davis on Mar 22, 2009 9:38 AM EDT reply actions

The official version from Thor's coach

is that the Cervelo guys (Thor , HH, Klier) lost touch with each other in the run-in and when HH jumped, Thor didn’t latch on so as not to ruin the surprise element of the attack. The seperation thing I buy, Thor was probably as surprised as anyone when HH launched. HH claims he yelled at Thor to get on his wheel but who knows if he heard that or not?

Did your favourite rider just win Montepaschi Strade Bianch Eroica Toscana? OK then.

by Jens on Mar 22, 2009 9:47 AM EDT up reply actions

I'd buy that - it's tough to hear anything in a group that big going that fast

I’d also buy what someone else said (maybe even you) that they haven’t had enough practice yet with their sprint train. But man, was that a huge jump by Hausler or what? They might have to let him off the chain at some point.

And, Hincapie is becoming a spectacular last kilometer guide for Cav.

"I didn't look for him and I didn't see him. If you base your race on another rider, most of the time you lose."

Tom Boonen

by Drew Davis on Mar 22, 2009 10:07 AM EDT up reply actions

Could get to be a problem

They might have to let him off the chain at some point.

Hence my comment above.

Did your favourite rider just win Montepaschi Strade Bianch Eroica Toscana? OK then.

by Jens on Mar 22, 2009 10:13 AM EDT up reply actions

My vote

is for the not enough practise for the train. It happened in TA as well, I think the stage Fardrdrdrddrdrdrdrarrrrrrr won. If you watch the final km, Cervelo is all over the front, four, then three guys….and then Thors final leadout pulls off abruptly, and Thor hesitates, as though he wasn’t expecting it.

"Never swing a small stick. " Andy Hampsten

by Hons on Mar 22, 2009 11:59 AM EDT up reply actions

I agree

Other than the stage at Cali- where they were almost perfect- they have not looked very smooth. TA was a great example of that, they dropped off way too early. I’m not sure anyone could have jumped on HH’s wheel, straight away, with that acceleration.

by jsallee00 on Mar 22, 2009 10:21 PM EDT up reply actions

Seriously

Oral communication? In the middle of that bunch, at 40 mph? Unless you’re side by side, forget it.

CQRanking.com, you complete me.

by Chris Fontecchio on Mar 22, 2009 7:24 PM EDT up reply actions

I wonder about that "if the race is 1 meter shorter" thing.

Wave a finish line in front of Cavendish and I think he’ll do whatever necessary to get to it first. If the course had been a little shorter or a little longer, there’s a good chance he would have adjusted accordingly. But absolutely—chapeau to them both for a great, great finish.

One of the sweetest things today was seeing Tom Boonen go past me backwards on the climbs. .--Mark Cavendish, MSR

by majope on Mar 22, 2009 10:07 AM EDT up reply actions

Honestly, the depressing thing is...

…it’s entirely likely we’re not going to see a finish that exciting for the rest of the year. Somehow the two up duel to the line is better than the 14 guys all hitting it at once who won thing.

by Ed K on Mar 22, 2009 10:11 AM EDT up reply actions

It's always, 'if the finish line were a little closer or a little further', ludicrous

by sminer on Mar 22, 2009 2:55 PM EDT up reply actions

there's nothing ludicrous about it,

I’ve seen enough instances where guys run out of steam to early, leave it to late, or misjudge the line. It’s fact and it happens. Part of what I said was tongue in cheek, but it’s been known to happen a time or too at San Remo. Ask Zabel.

"I didn't look for him and I didn't see him. If you base your race on another rider, most of the time you lose."

Tom Boonen

by Drew Davis on Mar 22, 2009 5:20 PM EDT up reply actions

Ludicrous?

Why? Nobody’s making excuses for Haussler — a margin that tiny is more or less completely random — a mind-bogglingly miuscule separation that decides the entire race. Are you saying Haussler should have known better and started his attack a tenth of a second later?

CQRanking.com, you complete me.

by Chris Fontecchio on Mar 22, 2009 7:27 PM EDT up reply actions

Misunderstanding me, all I'm saying is the line is where it is, yes it's ludicrous in a sense

Yes it gets misjudged all the time and that’s part of racing, I guess what I’m hearing is whining like people want to move the line forward and back to change the results. I hear it too much from racers after the race “man, I would have had it if I had 10 more meters”

by sminer on Mar 22, 2009 9:03 PM EDT up reply actions

So, no

I am certainly not saying that HH should have known better, he was beautiful to watch and it pains me everytime I watch to see him lose. I think he feels that if he had known that Thor didn’t have it and he could have raced for himself it might be his. So many ways to seond guess yourself when you come in second.

by sminer on Mar 22, 2009 9:08 PM EDT up reply actions

OK

there are definitely times when guys use it to cover for the fact that they aren’t as fast as the guy who beat them, or they really just did screw things up. This wasn’t one of them, but I get it.

CQRanking.com, you complete me.

by Chris Fontecchio on Mar 23, 2009 1:52 PM EDT up reply actions