The Fastest Cobbles Power Poll Ever!
by Chris Fontecchio on Apr 6, 2009 12:51 AM EDT
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Lot of words spent already today, so I want to reflect the monumental results without dragging this on much longer.
1. (1) Quick Step ↔
Any questions? Didn't think so.
2. (3) Cervélo Test Team ↑
Yes we can! Knights of é on pace to get on every podium that matters this year.
3. (2) Team Columbia-High Road ↓
In danger of becoming a one-trick pony? There's more to racing than setting up your bunch sprinter.
4. (4) Silence-Lotto ↔
Dominated the race for Quick Step's leftovers. Nobody had more riders patrolling the front of Group 3.
5. (6) Team Katusha ↑
Not a one-man team! A two-man team! Poor Pippo... if only he had a ferocious Belgian teammate to do his winning for him.
6. (7) Rabobank ↑
Bad luck today? Or is this what happens when lack of preparation meets lack of opportunity?
7. (5) Saxo Bank ↓
Strange to see them do so little. But it's also bound to be different next weekend.
8. (10) Garmin ↑
Experience means a lot in this race, and Maaskant is gaining very valuable experience, very quickly.
9. (9) Liquigas ↔
Either Kuschinsky or Quinziato on the front most of the day. Willems wins Driedaagse. If you saw that coming... no you didn't.
10. (NR) Vacansoleil ↑
Three guys in the top 21? Good enough for third-best Belgian team best Dutch team performance.
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The Knights of é!
Maybe it is just me, bit every time I read about the Knights of é I am waiting for a Monty Python skit to begin.
Hahahaha . . . . .
Err
Why is Columbia still rated so high? They had one guy with the first 30 finishers yesterday. A pro-american bias or am I missing things. Sure, Cavendish is a nice bunch sprinter but we are talking cobbles here.
Vacansoleil is a Dutch team.
Wins
2 stages of De Panne. [MSR, though that’s off-topic.] Favorites for GW. How low should I rate them?
Apologies to Vacansoleil, I’ll correct it.
CQRanking.com, you complete me.
by Chris Fontecchio on Apr 6, 2009 10:21 AM EDT up reply actions
Thanks for the correction
But with Rabo above them in the list they probably should be 2nd best Dutch team. Or best Dutch non-pro tour team.
are you sure?
CQRanking.com, you complete me.
by Chris Fontecchio on Apr 6, 2009 11:14 AM EDT up reply actions
What do you mean, about them being Dutch?
Sure they are: http://www.vacansoleilcyclingteam.nl/
Riders: 12x NED, 3x BEL, 2x ITA, 1x AUS, 1x FRA, 1x SLO, 1x UZB, 1x DEN
Management: 3x NED
DS: 1x BEL (but as longtime DS of Jan Raas he’s an honorary Dutchman), 1x NED
Soigneurs: 3x NED, 1x BEL
Mechanics: 4x BEL
If you go by mechanics, they’re Belgian :)
Mechanics
Wouldn’t that make half the teams in the peloton Belgian?
CQRanking.com, you complete me.
by Chris Fontecchio on Apr 6, 2009 2:20 PM EDT up reply actions
Hincapie
would have finished higher than 34th if he had been taken out 200 meters from the finish.
More Muur...
Sure they have Cavendish
And that guy just wins every bunch sprint in sight. But it is difficult to label him a cobbles guy. If you look at the real THR cobbles team (the ones riding the real cobbles races E3, Gent-Gent, RvV, PR etc. etc.) the performance is below 3rd place standards I’d say.
Hard to categorize
I suppose this is open to debate. I would say he’s a smaller, faster Thor. He’s not half-bad at the cobbles. Certainly better than Petacchi or Cipollini ever were. He also has two Scheldeprijs wins along with four De Panne wins. I say he’s in.
CQRanking.com, you complete me.
by Chris Fontecchio on Apr 6, 2009 11:16 AM EDT up reply actions
Considering it's him against the field in wednesdays G-W and the odds favour Cav
I’d say Columbia rate pretty highly.
You're right
It’s a matter of definition. If I think of cobbles I think of the really hard races in Flanders. But most races in Flanders have some cobbles so a wider definition makes sense too.
Hincapie was taken out in the crash 200M from the finish. Otherwise they's have 2 in the top 10.
But I do agree that they were disappointing.
what about..
Topsport Vlaanderen, they rode a good race, putting one guy in the winning move. Seemed like some awesome tv publicity, especially for a team based in Flanders.
Yeah
it was pick ’em with Vacansoleil. They both rode well.
CQRanking.com, you complete me.
by Chris Fontecchio on Apr 6, 2009 10:21 AM EDT up reply actions
Thor?
I’ve seen reports that his wrist is broken, and that it’s not. Has anyone heard anything definitive?
This is what it says in today's Cycling Weekly:
Initially, it was feared Hushovd had broken his fingers, but they are just badly bruised. However, on Monday he was struggling to grip the bars properly when the Cervelo team went out for a spin.
—link
So Daniel Lloyd might replace him in G-W.
That matches yesterday’s reports, that they at first thought something might be broken, but at the hospital it turned out nothing was. I think some places (CN, for instance) just repeated earlier reports.
Team Red Shorts--Let us show you what we've got
hard to imagine
riding PR with a bad wrist/hand/fingers.
I mean, once you get passed being able to ride it at all
From the Cervelo Team Page
06-Apr-2009: We are pleased to report that Thor Hushovd has nothing broken, contrary to media reports. Thor was back on the bike today for more than 1 hour and tomorrow he will decide together with DS Jean-Paul van Poppel if he will be able to ride Gent Wevelgem Wednesday
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