Possibly the race of the season and it's on this weekend (Sunday) 🙂
Loads of background stuff over on [url= http://velonews.competitor.com ]velonews[/url] and a [url= http://inrng.com/2014/04/tour-of-flanders-preview-2014/ ]good preview by inrng[/url].
Live coverage on eurosport tomorrow from about half eleven.
Fingers crossed for G. Just so long as he doesn't try and go head to head with Sagan in a sprint again.
What time is it on please? Eurosport or normal telly??
Eurosport tomorrow afternoon.
Can't wait!
Fingers crossed for G. Just so long as he doesn't try and go head to head with Sagan in a sprint again.
Yes, difficult to see how he can win against Sagan, Cancellara or Boonen. Be interesting to see how they play Wiggins, can't see him lasting too long in the lead group though hope I am wrong.
Gonna set tv to record.
I'll be at a children's Easter egg hunt in the afternoon, i tried to duck my parental responsibilities but ive been outnumbered by the women in the house.
My leftfield prediction is the polish quikstep guy.
cant recall his name right now.
Looking forward to this. Hope its raining so i've got an excuse to stay in.
I think Cancellara will have the edge over Sagan again this year. Degenkolb is also on good form with a strong team. Be interesting to see how Boasson Hagen does this year and Wiggo is supposed to be riding.
What's the weather forecast?
My leftfield prediction is the polish quikstep guy.
cant recall his name right now.
Stybar? He's Czech.
I don't really follow road racing but I can't begin to imagine wiggo winning this - how's he going to get up those steep hills fast enough when they start to attack ?
Can only imagine he'll be there to tow somebody else after a breakaway
What have I missed ?
(watched it last year and it was brilliant !)
Not him, hes a good bet though.
Kwiatowski. Blushes when someone points out he's not riding....
Kinda desperate to see Wiggo do something, he's got a huge engine when he wants to turn it on.
Cancellara was insanely strong at E3 though, if he wasn't caught behind that crash I think he would have destroyed 'em.
Thomas is leader for sky on Sunday. Wiggo probably superdomestique role if he can be arsed
Kwiatowski. Blushes when someone points out he's not riding....
[url= http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/racing/tour-of-flanders/tour-flanders-2014-start-list-119815 ]And as if by magic.....[/url]
if he can be arsed
Haha yep, would be great to see him throw some huge horsepower down though and split the field.
Here's hoping for some horrible wind and an OPQS smackdown.
if he can be arsed
Bit of a lol at that. I think he's only riding because Stannard is injured, his stated goal was always Roubaix.
OPQS have an awesome team, almost too many options though.
I meant the Czech guy stybar......
boonen for the win!
Luca Paolini?
Would guess Paolini will be supporting Kristoff. Stybar will likely be there for Boonen or Terpstra.
OPQS have an awesome team, almost too many options though.
wondering if Patrick Lefevere is forming the new "Mapei" classics super team. What are the odds on a 1-2-3?
if he can be arsed
Hope I'm wrong but it wouldn't surprise me if he's in the back seat of a Sky Jag before the race has even hit the Koppenberg. As I said, hope I'm wrong though, would be great to see him back on form.
I've heard the forecast is for rain which should count against Sagan but give Thomas a slightly improved chance. My outside bet would be Kristoff though.
Stybar will likely be there for Boonen or Terpstra.
Can't see Boonen doing anything. I suspect his glory days are behind him, combined with sad news in his personal life. Terpstra on the other hand looks in fine form this year.
Hard to see past Cancellara however if he is getting marked could see Devolder coming up with the goods, he has looked really strong the last couple of weeks
Fingers crossed for G. Just so long as he doesn't try and go head to head with Sagan in a sprint again.
I think he was probably pretty shagged in the last one to be fair, leaving him with no other options. He seems to be riding strong at the moment though, he just needs to find that last burst of power to get him over the line.
I think he was probably pretty shagged in the last one to be fair, leaving him with no other options.
I think you're right, despite what I said. Given the situation he was in it was very hard to see what else he could have done. He is getting better though, and what he did on the Kwaremont in the E3 must give him a lot of confidence for getting a big one day win quite soon. Real pity Stannard is out though.
About 40k in and the first break is up the road. Phinney an interesting one to let get away.
Live text coverage over at cyclingnews. Eurosport coverage imminent.
[url= http://cricfree.tv/euro-sports.php ]Online linky for those without Eurosport.[/url]
nevermind
Heh...who just saw the poor pedestrian with a bike on top of them? Hope they are ok.
You click the...
nevermind
..oh, ok 8)
that cricfree link jamie, it loads for a split second then jumps straight to some super deals site.....is this just me or is it borked for anyone else?
I have a adblocker* for those sites, so not seeing that. Assume it's just a pop up/under, that needs closing?
Couple of others to try:
http://www.nutjob.eu/ss4tv.html
http://lag10.com/ss4
http://www.footyfree.tv/sky-sports-4-stream.html
*adbl0cker
not sure whats going on there, but i've pictures from one of those feeds and an english commentary from a different one....
thanks!
Has that Garmin - Sharp rider took a Spectator out ?
As Jamie said, they were on the floor with his Bike on them and weren't moving 😯
live.Cyclingnews.com - member
This just in from our team in the press room:
A witness told VTM that an older woman tried to cross the street and Vansummeren was unable to avoid a collision. Both Vansummeren and the woman were driven to the hospital. The woman seemed unconscious. The latest information came from Sporza where a doctor would have informed them that the woman is still alive but in critical condition.
*deleted - given the above info*
edit, crossposted
First time I've remembered to watch this race. Is it always this hospitalising?
😯 ouch
Good question Jamie, I've never watched before.
That Trek rider went down with a Bang. Where are the cars ? Just members of the Public trying to help him who may do more harm than good.
Usual carnage out there. Yes quite normal. It may get safer as the bunch thins and string out but probably not. Unfortunately its one of the things that make it such an exciting race.
Just members of the Public trying to help him who may do more harm than good.
Nah, it probably sorted his dislocated shoulder 😛
[i]Step aside! I watch Holby City![/i]
😀
Ooof!
How many in the ditch? 😯
The racing has started.
Ouch!!
How many crashes?!
I bet those concrete telegraph poles sting a bit when you clip 'em.
😯
Devolder, what a guy. Think Carlton Kirby was genuinely a bit wibbley there.
nails, the lot of them
Under 30 to go, attacks will be starting soon...
Cor! That was different. Didn't think anyway was going to break.
What a guy. Swoons
Blimey!
Race of the year so far. Thoroughly enjoyed that.
The master at work! What a race.
Fabulous Candelabra MWAXxxxx 😀
Great finish!
And well done Gee, very respectable 8th 🙂
That was an excellent race from start to finish. Normally get a few things done while its on but not today. Geraint Thomas in eighth. Think Wiggo may have actually finished..
Roll on Paris Roubaix next week
I love the way they boxed in the Quickstep rider against the barrier.
Just brilliant to watch Cancellara win agin
And well done Gee, very respectable 8th
Absolutely. Attacked all the way till the end. Might've come up short but he left some notable figures behind too. Top effort.
Epic racing and a great finish.
Roll on Roubaix next week.
Vanmarcke bottled it in the game of nerves..... 🙁
live.Cyclingnews.com - member
This just in from our team in the press room:
A witness told VTM that an older woman tried to cross the street and Vansummeren was unable to avoid a collision. Both Vansummeren and the woman were driven to the hospital. The woman seemed unconscious. The latest information came from Sporza where a doctor would have informed them that the woman is still alive but in critical condition.
The Lady was stood in the middle of the Road on a pedestrian island and the Peloton split into 2 to go either side of the central reservation and it seems that Vansummeren was unsighted of the island and just ploughed straight into it and the lady.
There's a Video on You Tube but it's not very nice so I'm not linking to it.
Hope she recovers.
Just caught the highlights.
Smashes the finish, then smashes a beer. Awesome.
Extraordinary. 260 km and shitloads of climbing and he can still outthink and sprint for a finish.
Very interesting watching them 'bully', break and drop Sagan when he got alone at the 50km ish to go mark. Just shows how vital it is to have decent teammates.
Just caught up as well.
What a great race and last 300m, the 1km up to this point was like a velodrome ride
Brilliant race!
Thomas crashed 50km in and shook himself right up and felt like shite all day, stunning result really! Wiggo in 32(ish) only seen him once but he was in the main ish group on the last climb I think.
OPQS must be wondering what went wrong there having had four guys in a small group at the front with Cancellara and Segan isolated. Couldn't have been any better for them at that point in the race.
Cancellara was always riding within himself and isn't really renowned for needing a pile of teammates at the end of the classic races. I think most of Trek kept him safe for the first 200km then he was left to deal with the tactical part of the end by himself and the DS.
Sagan needed the help though and I think if Vandenbergh had worked with Van Avermaet a bit more he may have finished second rather than fourth but letting Cancellara and Vanmarcke catch them was a mistake. I guess they thought they might have a chance to get the others back to them for a bunch sprint but with the quality in that leading 4, it was unlikely.
Awesome race though, made better for me by the fact I rode the latter part of the course on the Saturday
but letting Cancellara and Vanmarcke catch them was a mistake
Not sure they had much choice in that after 250 KM.
Possibly if Vandenberg had worked with Avermeat sooner and not just tagged along they could have maybe held out, but then Cancellara would probably have gone sooner if they had. The OPQS tactics did seem very negative from about halfway despite strength in numbers.
Sets things up nicely for Paris Roubaix 🙂
Probably stating the obvious, but what a fantastic race, best of the season so far. If Roubaix is even half as good next Sunday I'll be quite content.
A nice round up of the race over at [url= http://inrng.com/2014/04/the-moment-the-race-was-won-the-tour-of-flanders/ ]inrng[/url] as usual.
Prospect of [url= http://inrng.com/2014/04/paris-roubaix-rain-probability/ ]rain at Roubaix[/url] which could see an even greater level of carnage than at Flanders 😯