MSR: So How'd Those Team Tactics Work Out?
by Chris Fontecchio on Mar 22, 2009 10:56 AM EDT
in News
Email
Print
Accountability time. Yes, I'm the guy who called for Tyler Farrar to flirt with greatness yesterday, causing him top crash out and maybe putting him on the shelf for a few weeks. But not all was lost. Let's reflect on what the more interesting teams were actually up to yesterday.
Quick Step: The key to everything was Boonen's powerful finish, but he was hampered by cramps, leaving Davis to sprint it out with the bunch. I'm guessing this message got around to Chavanel et al, and they chose to take their chances in what was shaping up as a sprint finish. Fourth place for Davis is about what you'd expect in a full pack gallop.
Serramenti: Rebellin and Scarponi were both seen at the front on the Cipressa and Poggio but the general tactics didn't split things up enough for their efforts to have much chance. It's not easy to drop 50 guys on a modest incline, particularly when everyone knows what you're thinking.
Cervelo Test Team: My best call?
There is nobody on the roster who you'd point to and say "that guy can't lose in the right conditions..." If the race is bunched up just enough so that team tactics matter, you can write them onto the podium someplace.
Not gloating; this was as obvious beforehand as after: they had aces to play. But the consensus in the comments (see Sminer's fanpost) is that tactics require familiarity and practice, the achilles heel of any brand-new team. On an unrelated note, while Heinrich Haussler certainly sounds like a German name, he did mention "bloody Cavendish" in post-race comments. Oy!
LPR: Seems like they played it conservatively, hoping for Petacchi to win from the bunch. DiLuca tried countering attacks, but in hindsight it's probably a bit early in the season to expect anything more. Anyway, the race unfolded for the sprinters, which ordinarily would be fine, except Petacchi's leadout train wasn't there. Ongarato missed the split, and DiLuca and Bernucci couldn't find the front.
Katusha: Pippo Pozzato expressed some regrets about not driving things up La Manie and shedding more sprinters, but he shouldn't take it too personally. Despite his attempts at a late escape, it wasn't meant to be.
Lampre: As Mirco Lorenzetto's immunities went, so went the team's chances. Neapolitan Flu 1, Lampre 0.
Columbia-High Road: Despite some sandbagging, Columbia never wavered from the plan to get the World's Fastest Man into position. Hincapie was apparently immense in that role, prior to the Poggio (so says Cav), and winding things up in the last KM. This is the difference between Cervelo's tactics and those of a team that have been working it out for three years.
Liquigas: I dislike their lineup a bit less in hindsight. Basso worked hard to control the race for Bennati, who rewarded the effort with a pedestrian sixth place. Liquigas probably don't regret investing in Benna, a classy rider, as long as he can bring home the ciclamena (points jersey) in May, but you can see why they felt they needed Basso. Benna simply isn't the elite of the elite.
Rabobank: Nice race for the Orangemen, placing Langeveld, Flecha and Nuyens in the first group. Had the bunch disintegrated enough for some classics-style shenanigans... not unthinkable. They are clearly ready for Flanders, and are still the team that interests me most right now.
Speaking of which, if you didn't think it was underway already, the Northern Classics Season starts... now.
60 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
Yep. Dual citizenship, but born and brought up in Australia.
More on his background in an interview at CN.
And if you want to hear his Australian accent, go to Gazetta and click on the first video on the left.
One of the sweetest things today was seeing Tom Boonen go past me backwards on the climbs. .--Mark Cavendish, MSR
It's been nice knowing you Chris
Benna simply isn’t the elite of the elite
I hear good things about the witness-protection-program. You could probably live to see P-R as long as you don’t use your credit cards or make any other easily trackable moves.
Did your favourite rider just win Montepaschi Strade Bianch Eroica Toscana? OK then.
Don't make me
do sprinters’ statistical analysis… Don’t think I won’t do it!
CQRanking.com, you complete me.
by Chris Fontecchio on Mar 22, 2009 11:29 AM EDT up reply actions
Well you know....
You could always distract them with this:
What? You say it’s not about the bike? Oh. Well I guess you’re out of luck then Chris.
Pantera?
He named his bike after an 80s hair band?
CQRanking.com, you complete me.
by Chris Fontecchio on Mar 22, 2009 11:51 AM EDT up reply actions
You do realize that if your ancestors were alive and read that
they’d smack you on the back of the head with a slab of salmon?
Did your favourite rider just win Montepaschi Strade Bianch Eroica Toscana? OK then.
Oh, right
Back at home, we call them kitty…
CQRanking.com, you complete me.
by Chris Fontecchio on Mar 22, 2009 2:23 PM EDT up reply actions
Oooo nice bike there! But Benna is actually tons nicer.
I’ve decided not to kill you Chris, as I am rather disappointed in Benna myself…I mean, he’s not as quick as Cav but I kinda thought he’d have more fight than that. However, I would imagine that Liquigas don’t NEED the Giro points comp to make them happy they invested in Benna; only one team can have Cav and Benna does win more races than anyone else on Leaky. Cav aside, his wins are hardly insignificant. There, wasn’t I nice to you?!
I think Jens might be worried about the impending Bennalance.
The best defense for that is pictures of bacon!
right click, refresh
Talking about new teams
Katusha doesn’t seem to have it’s act together at all. Of course Pozatto did ok in MSR but he could have done that alone too probably. McEwen was nowhere to be seen. Today in the Ronde van het Groene Hart Steegmans dropped out early and more Katushans were blown from the peloton (Swift and ?). Napolitano did not make the final group.
They bagged some nice results in the pre-season but things look bad for now I’d say.
McEwen's been having breathing problems
he mentioned it on Twitter a few days ago when he first got to Milan, then again yesterday after the race mentioned that it had still been bothering him throughout the entire race.
OGrady
Stuey O’Grady is out of the classics, according to the team. He ended up with a broken collarbone and rib. And he had to have surgery for an edema between his ribs and lung. l’ouch. Off the bike for a month or so.
Farrar, broken collarbone, too. Meh.
All these injuries/illnesses are getting old
Cobbles are now minus: Ballan, Cancellara, O’Grady, Farrar and who else?
Did your favourite rider just win Montepaschi Strade Bianch Eroica Toscana? OK then.
My VDS taking a good solid thumping.
Had Steegmans and O’Grady both. Bummer! That said, I hope these guys recover well and we see them all again soon.
"....Up Sestriere on a rental clunker in jeans and loafers? Brother, lemme buy you a beer."
by Rolls on Mar 22, 2009 1:24 PM EDT up reply actions
Damn. That's too bad.
One of the sweetest things today was seeing Tom Boonen go past me backwards on the climbs. .--Mark Cavendish, MSR
I was wondering
when someone would blame specialized for this slew of bad luck
"Never swing a small stick. " Andy Hampsten
Going out on a limb here...
Did anyone else think yesterday’s race was pretty boring and uninspiring? It was a very exciting finish (last 500 meters), but the dashes up Cipressa and Poggio were more group rides than racing. And since no one had a significant gap at the top, it was just a roll to the finish line. The sprint was exciting, but meh.
This is a monument. Should be more of a story line developing throughout the race than wondering if Cav can make it to the finale with the lead group. That was really all that happened in the last hour, wondering if Cav was in the lead group or not. That’s not a monument in my opinion. That’s a sprint stage in a three week tour.
More or less agree
It wasn’t last year and it wasn’t ’92 for sure. My taste runs much more toward strongman classics exploits like those races. But I found the two-up sprint very exciting, even though in general bunch are not what turns my cycling-fan cranks.
Viva la Lactique
Sounds like the speed of the race in general may have taken the bite out of riders ability to attack
+1
I think it was a harder race than PopUp’s giving it credit for being. The lack of attacks at the end doesn’t seem like ‘group ride’ to me, just survival.
Believe me, I am not diminishing how hard the race was at all
And I understand why the race unfolded as it did. But as a spectator only, i thought it was pretty boring and uneventful race.
I was disappointed too.
MSR is sometimes suspect, it’s not hard enough if it ends in a bunch sprint. Happy for Cav, but it was not on the level of the other big classics. Some years it is, but this was not a great edition in my mind. 300k to end in a bunch sprint is kinda pointless to me, especially for a monument. Makes me want to embrace the no radios idea.
"....Up Sestriere on a rental clunker in jeans and loafers? Brother, lemme buy you a beer."
by Rolls on Mar 22, 2009 4:24 PM EDT up reply actions
Pozzato (was it?) said that they made the mistake
of not “lighting it up” on Le Manie. That made the final on the Capi less selective.
I saw something to that effect in L'Equipe.
I wish we’d had TV of La Manie =/
I don't know how anyone could make that mistake
You would have thought people would try anything and everything.
“Nobody told us that Cavendish guy could sprint so fast” Is that their excuse?
Did your favourite rider just win Montepaschi Strade Bianch Eroica Toscana? OK then.
si
It was Pozzato. I s’pose since it was a new addition to the course, they weren’t quite sure what to do with it.
No one really had the legs on the Cipressa to make a move stick – Scarponi was the only one who really tried. He brought Nibali and Garzelli along with, but they didn’t get far at all. With so many riders arriving at the base of the Poggio, it was unlikely any move would survive. QuickStep did a good job of slowing down the tempo there too in the early portions of the climb.
That was a nice move from Pozzato, but not enough. Odd, too, to see Petacchi doing the work of getting accross on his own. Nervy mistake there, in my view.
Too many sprinters teams survived to the finale, and not enough teams in the race wanted to force a selection. Sprinters win this time.
La Mainie was there last year too, no?
Did your favourite rider just win Montepaschi Strade Bianch Eroica Toscana? OK then.
really?
The thingy I read said it was new this year – but it’s possible I misunderstood. Or, the thingy was wrong ;-)
It came in last year
when a cliff fell on to the road they used to ride along. This year was the first time it was there from choice rather than as a necessary detour.
Yep, 2nd year.
Still, riders are not robots and predetermined team tactics can play out differently all the time. Perhaps someone important got a flat on the run-in, or the team got tangled up in the back of the group a little, whatever. Or! they did not think it through before and this was all hindsight from Pozzato who saw the whole peloton (almost) in his wheel at the Poggio.
That was a big group on the Poggio this time
It didn’t seem to me like they rode the Cipressa all that hard this year, either. Scarponi didn’t have much help there. I was surprised Garzelli didn’t help out there, though maybe he couldn’t.
Maybe not hard,
because of the constant tempo, but it was fast! According to RAI: 2nd fastest Cipressa in MSR.
Ah, really
That is interesting. And explains the lack of attacking on the Poggio, I s’pect.
Heh, maybe tomorrow a tactics talk is in order.
It sounded like lots of teams wanted it to end in a sprint
An awful lot of teammates got burned up on the road by people who thought that this was their best chance all year to beat Cav. Whoops.
I agree with you in part and that is why I rank Flanders and L-B-L above La Primavera
but I also like the fact that not all races are the same. MSR is a race that gives the sprinters an opportunity. It’s not given though that they will win, but it takes an exceptional effort from a attacker to win.
As for it being a wait for the finish it is really up to the non-sprint teams to make the race, yesterday there was no one who managed to do that and that is really the only disappintment for me.
Did your favourite rider just win Montepaschi Strade Bianch Eroica Toscana? OK then.
One thing...
WTF were Astana, in particular, doing riding hard tempo on the peloton for a lot of the pre-TV period. If I were Cav, I’d thank them for both bringing back the break and making it hard enough that there weren’t any other credible attacks later. Thing is, why the heck did they do it?
Scratching someones back so that they can get theirs scratched at some other race (Giro/Tour)?
That would be standard Bruyneel MO.
Did your favourite rider just win Montepaschi Strade Bianch Eroica Toscana? OK then.
I've been bored
in past editions, before coming to a different place with MSR. I appreciate more now how wide-open it is, and I’d submit that this year was far more exciting than the year Petacchi won, when it all seemed so inevitable, a coronation. This was a real nailbiter in the end, and there was at least some legitimate expectation of action from the Cipressa onward. The year Petacchi won, or Freire’s win… BOOOOOring.
CQRanking.com, you complete me.
by Chris Fontecchio on Mar 22, 2009 5:14 PM EDT up reply actions
I like that the stage is set a certain way
It will be a sprint-battle…………………unless!……..
Did your favourite rider just win Montepaschi Strade Bianch Eroica Toscana? OK then.
I agree.
I liked this year. You kept waiting for the attack, for something to stick. They tried, but nobody had it, or had the guts to commit—either way, all of that was significant. Then the line kept creeping closer and closer, tension ramping up. Will someone go? Or not? When Haussler went it was a jump out of your chair moment. Can he do it? Then Cav followed and that was just astonishing to watch.
Sure, not a lot “happened” before the finale, but its not like that wasn’t significant and meaningful in itself.
What also made it for me
was the warm-up it got here, that built the anticipation through the week. The fact that they all stopped a day before the actual race was even more of a tease.
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Recommended FanPosts
Recent FanPosts
Featured Stories
FanShots
Quick hits of video, photos, quotes, chats, links and lists that you find around the web.
Recommended FanShots
Recent FanShots
![This is funny on so many levels. [Html should open bigger]](http://cdn3.sbnation.com/fan_shot_images/239959/flagged_small.jpg)
Certain photos copyright © 2012 by Associated Press or Getty Images. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Associated Press and Getty Images is strictly prohibited.
