Podium Cafe - Flandrien Faceoff Rd 1, Bracket 2: Oude Buitenlanders!You can check out, but you can never leavehttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/25744/podiumcafe_f.png2013-03-26T04:23:00-04:00http://www.podiumcafe.com/rss/stream/39119732013-03-26T04:23:00-04:002013-03-26T04:23:00-04:00Flandrien Faceoff Rd 1, Brkt 2: Oude Buitenlanders
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<p>That's Old Foreigners to you and me, back here in Buitenland.</p> <p>FYI, this is the last bracket of round 1. We will take votes up until Midnight Tuesday, then conduct Round 2 on Wednesday and Thursday. Next week we will do one round a day for four days.</p>
<p>Best of the retired outsiders!</p>
<p><a target="_blank" href="http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/2380447/oude_buitenlanders.jpg"><img src="http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/2380447/oude_buitenlanders_medium.jpg" class="photo" alt="Oude_buitenlanders_medium"></a></p>
<p>Unlike Ursula, who went with sexy matchups, I tried to really nail the seedings here, come what may. Some very fun faceoffs in there...</p>
https://www.podiumcafe.com/2013/3/26/4147912/flandrien-faceoff-rd-1-bracket-2-oude-buitenlandersChris Fontecchio2013-03-26T04:22:23-04:002013-03-26T04:22:23-04:001 Jan Raas vs. 16 Louison Bobet
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<h4>Jan Raas</h4>
<p><b>Cobbles Credentials:</b> The most accomplished Dutch rider in terms of Cobbled results, with two Flanders wins, one Paris-Roubaix, three E3 victories, two K-B-Ks, one Paris-Brussels and a Het Volk. He was on the Flanders and Roubaix podiums a combined six times in his six best years.</p>
<p><b>DId you know?</b> "Raas" is Dutch for rage, not race. Rage might actually be more befitting a cobbles stud. People sometimes refer to the Amstel Gold Raas after he won five editions over six years.</p>
<h4>Louison Bobet</h4>
<p><b>Cobbles Credentials:</b> When he wasn't winning Le Tour, Bobet was racking up some solid cobbles results, including wins in Flanders (1956) and Roubaix (1957), plus a second in Roubaix the previous year, just barely keeping Bobet from the prestigious doubles club.</p>
<p><b>DId you know?</b> "Zonzon" Bobet was almost impossible to be around during a race, thanks to his neurotic personality, and the interwebs abound with unflattering stories.</p>
https://www.podiumcafe.com/2013/3/26/4148044/1-jan-raas-vs-16-louison-bobetChris Fontecchio2013-03-26T04:10:35-04:002013-03-26T04:10:35-04:008 Henri Pelissier vs. 9 Maurice Garin
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<h4>Henri Pelissier</h4>
<p><b>Cobbles Credentials:</b> Won the 1919 and 1921 editions of Paris-Roubaix, when the entire landscape was still blown to smithereens. Not the easiest editions. </p>
<p><b>DId you know?</b> Pelissier's first victory involved hopping on a train... and out the other side. The train was parked and blocking the route, and Pelissier became infuriated when told that Honore Barthelemy was about to catch him at the stoppage. Was eventually murdered by a jealous lover.</p>
<h4>Maurice Garin</h4>
<p><b>Cobbles Credentials:</b> Another double-winner, the second and third editions in 1987 and 1898, after taking second in the inaugural run.</p>
<p><b>DId you know?</b> Garin, like Pelissier, is famous for maybe having cheated, namely hopping on a train and staying there for a while. But then, few riders in history generate legends as frequently as Garin. He is said to have been sold by his (Italian) parents to a French home for a wheel of cheese. He is also said to have risen from the grave in search of the brains of modern-day riders. One thing we know, he won the first Tour de France, then lived out his life at the gas station he bought.</p>
https://www.podiumcafe.com/2013/3/26/4148030/8-henri-pelissier-vs-9-maurice-garinChris Fontecchio2013-03-26T03:55:07-04:002013-03-26T03:55:07-04:005 Heiri Suter vs. 12 Peter Post
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<h4>Heiri Suter</h4>
<p><b>Cobbles Credentials:</b> The first man ever to achieve the Flanders-Roubaix Double, in 1923, and the only non-Belgian to ever do so until his countryman Cancellara matched Suter in 2010. </p>
<p><b>DId you know?</b> It was another 26 years before another foreigner broke through in de Ronde.</p>
<h4>Peter Post</h4>
<p><b>Cobbles Credentials:</b> His Paris-Roubaix victory in 1964 stands as the fastest on record, though that has something to do with the stones. Took second in E3 in 1963.</p>
<p><b>DId you know?</b> Known as the Emperor of the Six-Days. Guess why?</p>
https://www.podiumcafe.com/2013/3/26/4148016/5-heiri-suter-vs-12-peter-postChris Fontecchio2013-03-26T03:46:34-04:002013-03-26T03:46:34-04:004 Octave Lapize vs. 13 Hennie Kuiper
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<h4>Octave Lapize</h4>
<p><b>Cobbles Credentials: </b>Won three consecutive editions of Paris-Roubaix (1909-1911) at a time when the Tour of Flanders didn't yet exist. Also took three editions of Paris-Brussels in that time frame.</p>
<p><b>DId you know?</b> Won the Tour de France in 1910, making him one of three riders to win the Tour and the Queen of the Classics in the same year, along with Eddy Merckx and Bernard Hinault. Was shot down over northeastern France in WWI and died of his wounds.</p>
<h4>Hennie Kuiper</h4>
<p><b>Cobbles Credentials:</b> Wins and thirds in each of Flanders and Roubaix. Virtually all of his results in the classics were achieved after his 30th birthday, when he trained his focus away from the grand tours.</p>
<p><b>DId you know?</b> Undoubtedly the best all-around rider in Dutch history -- he's the only Netherlander to win four of the five monuments, missing out only on Liege. He also came in second in the Tour de France twice, winning stages to Alpe d'Huez on two occasions, unlike virtually anyone else we have mentioned on the blog in the last week or so.</p>
https://www.podiumcafe.com/2013/3/26/4148006/4-octave-lapize-vs-13-hennie-kuiperChris Fontecchio2013-03-26T03:30:43-04:002013-03-26T03:30:43-04:006 Fiorenzo Magni vs. 11 Franco Ballerini
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<h4>Fiorenzo Magni</h4>
<p><b>Cobbles Credentials:</b> The White Wolf was only the second non-Belgian rider to win the Tour of Flanders... but remains to this day the only rider of any stripe to win three consecutive editions (1949-51). No fluke either; he beat Briek Schotte in two editions and was known for his aggressiveness on the road. Owns a single third-place at Paris-Roubaix and no other Flemish results of note.</p>
<p><b>DId you know?</b> Affectionately known (also) as "the biscuit" for his lack of hair, and the Tuscan Flandrien for... obvious reasons.</p>
<h4>Franco Ballerini</h4>
<p><b>Cobbles Credentials:</b> One more P-R specialist: the late Ballerini took home two titles there plus a second and a third. He knocked on a lot of doors in Flanders: second in de Ronde, second and third in Gent-Wevelgem. But he also became the first Italian Omloop winner in 1995.</p>
<p><b>DId you know?</b> Ballerini gained additional fame as the Italian national team coach, overseeing two world titles and an Olympic gold medal.</p>
https://www.podiumcafe.com/2013/3/26/4147998/6-fiorenzo-magni-vs-11-franco-balleriniChris Fontecchio2013-03-26T03:12:49-04:002013-03-26T03:12:49-04:003 Sean Kelly vs. 14 Andrea Tafi
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<h4>Sean Kelly</h4>
<p><b>Cobbles Credentials:</b> Two wins and a third at Paris-Roubaix for the great Irishman, along with three seconds at the Tour of Flanders. Which is positively bizarre given his skillset. But in his heyday in the mid-80s he achieved six podiums in eight starts at the two cobbled monuments, plus a Gent-Wevelgem win for good measure.</p>
<p><b>Did you know?</b> Kelly is another guy who won practically everything you can think of... except Flanders.</p>
<h4>Andrea Tafi</h4>
<p><b>Cobbles Credentials:</b> Il Gladiatore was another of the big, strong Paris-Roubaix specialists, and as a member of the famed Mapei squad he didn't always get to win. But he stormed away for the victory in 1999, and added a Flanders to his palmares in 2002, at age 35.</p>
<p><b>Did you know?</b> Delivered one of the all-time great Flanders quotes when he said "Only those who are in top condition can say that the Ronde is not hard. For everyone else, it's the Way of the Cross."</p>
https://www.podiumcafe.com/2013/3/26/4147986/3-sean-kelly-vs-14-andrea-tafiChris Fontecchio2013-03-26T02:56:50-04:002013-03-26T02:56:50-04:007 Fausto Coppi vs. 10 Gilbert Duclos-Lasalle
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<h4>Fausto Coppi</h4>
<p><b>Cobbles Credentials:</b> il Campionissimo didn't dwell on the cobbles as much as most of the guys on this list, and sports a lone victory, in the 1950 Paris-Roubaix. But that one victory was won in dominant fashion, with a 45km solo effort that gained him so much time on his rivals that he was done showering by the time they arrived. The previous year he sacrificed his chances so his brother Serse could win (controversially). Two years later, after Serse's tragic death, Coppi hammered away at Rik Van Steenbergen for the last hour, trying to avoid losing in a sprint, to no avail.</p>
<p><b>DId you know?</b> Coppi didn't ride in Flanders at all, really. I see no record of him finishing de Ronde, despite its favoring the climbers.</p>
<h4>Gilbert Duclos-Lasalle</h4>
<p><b>Cobbles Credentials:</b> Another of the Paris-Roubaix specialists (not a bad occupation for a Frenchman), Gibus won his two titles in the Hell of the North at ages 37 and 38. Plus a Bordeaux-Paris from back in his earlier years.</p>
<p><b>DId you know?</b> Apparently there's a bridge on the Paris-Roubaix route named after him.</p>
https://www.podiumcafe.com/2013/3/26/4147970/7-fausto-coppi-vs-10-gilbert-duclos-lasalleChris Fontecchio