Monday Musette - Omloop Het Nieuwsblad Edition

Photo by Van Wichelen.

In hindsight, going to NAHBS on the weekend of Het Nieuwsblad and Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne might have been a bad idea as it prevented me from providing you the most up-to-date commentary on the weekend’s action. That said, last week was probably to most popular and well-read week in Pavé’s 1-year history—for that, I thank you.

So even though many others have beaten me to the punch in providing coverage and analysis on the weekend’s events, I’ll still share what I noticed—after all, this is Pavé, right?

1. Nick Nuyens has to be wishing he either: a) rode for Quick Step; or b) was named Tom Boonen, as it might have earned him some neutral support inside the last 30 km of the race. While it can be understood why he had no team car—the gaps were too small between groups and the roads were too narrow—it’s hard to imagine why it took so long for even a motorcycle to arrive with a fresh wheel. Maybe they were taking a break for a pintje before the finish? Maybe they were all waiting with Boonen in case he triple-flatted? Regardless, it cost Nuyens a chance for the victory, and is certainly embarrassing for the organizers. No matter what happens, there has to be at least one moto at the front at all times.

Tire choice was key on a day when punctures ruled. Photo by Van Wichelen.

2. That said, it’s not Roubaix, but the section where Rabobank punctured is one where I might have thought—if I were Rabo’s DS—of planting a few wheels with team staff on foot just in case someone flatted at a time when support couldn’t be had from a car or moto—which is exactly what happened. Teams do it at strategic points in Flanders and Roubaix, why not here? It was clearly a section where the race was going to blow apart; I would have rolled the dice and had a wheel or two waiting after the Molenberg, the Taaienberg, and the cobbled Paddestraat and Lippenhovestraat.

While not the result he wanted, Boonen can feel good about his form. Photo by Van Wichelen.

3. And speaking of the Taaienberg, Tom Boonen’s attack there was breathtaking. I’m not sure how deep he went, but he rode away from everyone at a rate that has to strike at least a little bit of fear into the minds of his competitors. No one was able to follow his wheel, forcing Boonen to soft pedal while waiting for someone—anyone—to join him. One can only wonder what the outcome of the race would have been had he not flatted several kilometers later.

Chavanel and Quick Step are feeling the heat following a poor weekend. Photo by Van Wichelen.

4. Boonen’s Quick Step had a rough weekend, but never fear, its happened to them before. No doubt the Belgian press will criticize and speculate in the weeks to come, but this is clearly a team with its sights squarely set on the monuments still to come. Ask any Belgian if he would take the Omloop over Flanders or Roubaix and his answer would be an astonished, “Nee.”

5. As for Quick Step’s main rival, Omega Pharma-Lotto, the day went a bit better albeit with similar results. I’m not sure why, but most media outlets claim that Flecha was the first to initiate the attacks inside the final 20km—that wasn’t the case. Gilbert attacked first; Flecha countered and then accelerated once he realized Gilbert was riding at his limit, ultimately pulling away for the win. The wild card here was Jurgen Roelandts, who rode a fantastic race in service of Gilbert. His one mistake was perhaps hesitating a bit too long when Gilbert attacked. It was the safest decision, as he would not have wanted to make a move that might have harmed Gilbert’s chances for the win; but Guesdon and Curvers were hanging-on by a thread—Roelandts could have left them easily to join his teammate in the winning move. He tried to bridge once he realized the frailty of his companions, but it was too late to bridge before Flecha counter-attacked. I’m left wondering what would have happened had Roelandts immediately ridden-away with the other two—would Flecha have dropped him as well?

Roelandts can only ponder what might have been. Photo by Van Wichelen.

Regardless, at 24 Roelandts seems to have all the makings of a solid classics rider. He if can continue to progress over the next few weeks, he’ll prove a valuable asset to Gilbert and Hoste later in the spring, perhaps making the loss of Johan Vansummeren a bit less detrimental to Lotto’s chances for a win in Flanders or Roubaix.

6. As for Flecha, give him and Team Sky credit for a well-deserved victory. Sky rode a smart race, almost finishing 1-2 had Boassen Hagen not started his sprint a bit too soon. Flecha’s win was the first for a Spaniard and only the 10th time a non-Belgian has won the Omloop.

Another 2nd-place finish for Haussler. Photo by Van Wichelen.

7. And 2nd on the day? Yup, Heinrich Haussler. His knee clearly not bothering him, Haussler rode an aggressive race, ultimately missing the only move that mattered. His quest for a monument win will be one of the main stories throughout the next six weeks.

So close! Photo by Van Wichelen.

8. 3rd place on the day went to Garmin’s Tyler Farrar. Kudos to Farrar for hanging-in all day to take 2nd in the field sprint—another 10 meters and he might have nipped Haussler. If Farrar continues finds his top-end speed in Tirreno, he’ll have to be considered one of the favorites in Milan San Remo a little more than 10 days from now. Here’s hoping the rest of his team’s up to the challenge as well.

Devolder wasn't smiling after the race. Photo by Van Wichelen.

9. Finally, several top favorites were clearly content to treat patience as a virtue by taking a more reserved approach to the races this weekend. Several of the men we thought would play leading roles were more content with cameos including Pippo Pozzato, Stijn Devolder, and just about everyone on BMC—a team whose performance has me more than a little worried.

This was the last we saw of BMC. Photo by Van Wichelen.

All in all, it was an exciting weekend of racing that typified all that we love about springtime in Belgium. From here the action moves to France and Italy with Paris-Nice and Tirreno-Adriatico before kicking of the monuments with Milan-San Remo.

Share your comments with the rest of below—what stood-out to you from the first Belgian weekend of the year?

Thanks again and enjoy your week!

Tour de France - Stages 8 and 9 - Weekend Wrap-up

Admit it, you felt a bit let-down by Stages 8 and 9. After such an exciting climb up Arcalis on Friday, you wanted more fireworks from the remaining two days in the Pyrennes this weekend. It's okay, you can say it.

But we didn’t get it—at least to the degree we were hoping. Yes, Stage 8 included 3 categorized climbs including two 1st Category ascents; and Stage 9 included the Col d’Aspin and the Col du Tourmalet, two legendary mountains. But on both days the organizers put all the heavy lifting at the beginning of each stage, all but rendering these climbs moot. For example, from the top of Tourmalet in today’s Stage 9, there were still 70 kilometers left to race—almost half the stage. Couldn’t ASO have done more to bring-on the Pyrenean fireworks?

Regardless, some great racing ensued, particularly if you’re a fan of breakaways and aggressive opportunists. Luis Leon Sanchez and Pierrick Fedrigo are two worthy winners, both after spending the majority of the day in breakaways. In Sanchez' case, his exploits have moved him up the GC to 11th place overall; a standing he can certainly improve as the race continues.

Now the Tour heads north for a rest day followed by 3 relatively flat stages through the center of France. Tuesday brings Bastille Day and a stage rideen—unless Bruyneel and his petition win-out—without the aid of radios in the peloton’s ears. Exciting racing should ensue.

Things get interesting again on Friday in another stage without radios through the Alsace region. Several tough climbs speckle the route, including two 1st Category ascents. Will it be a day for another breakaway, or will we see the GC battle begin to boil again?

The week ends with the race’s entry into the Alps, culminating with a summit finish in the village of Verbier. Will Astana end the week in yellow? If so, who will the bearer be? Will Saxo or Liquigas succeed in breaking the race apart? Will Evans, Sastre, and Menchov climb their way back into contention?

All in all, with one week down and two to go, several questions remain unanswered. But one thing’s certain: it’s been a great Tour so far, and it looks to get even better.

What are your thoughts on the first week? How do you see things shaping-up in week two?

Share you thoughts below. And thanks for reading!

Tour de France - Stage 7 Wrap-up

It wasn’t as explosive as some might have expected or desired, but the action today was certainly revealing. Here’s what we saw:

1. French housewives have a new hearthrob and his name is Brice Feillu. Svelte, handsome, a mountaintop winner in the Pyrennes, and the polka dot jersey to boot! Can you say Ree-chard Virenque? (Now teach your brother to climb; you needed to wait 28 minutes to celebrate with him.) He's also the first neo-pro to win a Tour stage since an American did it in 1993!

2. Italians have their first yellow jersey in nine years. Tifosi everywhere are celebrating. But how long will Nocentini keep it?

3. As for Astana, it’s now clear that they came to the race with perhaps the strongest team ever to take the line in the Tour. Three riders in the lead group, several more able to ride tempo and blow the race apart. We’ve said it once and we’ll say it again: it’s their race to lose.

First of all, we need to credit Lance with being a good teammate. He rode wheels and let Contador fly when the time was right.

But I’m not sure he had a choice. Watching Lance in the last few kilometers, he appears to have lost the killer acceleration that made him so terrific in the mountains. The power is there, but the alacrity with which he could leave his competitors seems to have diminished with age. Of course, I could be wrong. Lance might have been dutifully playing the role of dedicated teammate, confident in knowing that Contador was softening the competition for his own assault on yellow. But I'm not buying it. While Lance is definitely one of the strongest riders in the race, he’s a small step below his old self and his teammate. Podium and a stage? Yes. An 8th title? Nope.

And speaking of Contador, how about his acceleration? He rode clear past Jurgen Van Den Broeck and the moto! In the end, he only gained a handful of seconds, but the ease with which he broke free has to put fear in the hearts of the rest. With such talent and such a team, Contador is now the top favorite for victory.

One last thought before moving-on: are we discounting Levi Leipheimer? He's never struggled to follow the leaders, and he seems to have been given little responsibility to work--yet. Could he quietly ride his way onto the podium? Maybe the Giro was the best thing for him?

4. As for the rest of the lead group, credit Cadel Evans with at least trying to stir the pot. Too bad though, he just doesn’t seem to have it compared to Contador, nor does his team have an answer to Astana (although Van Den Broeck was nice to see at the front). Garmin rode exeptionally well with Wiggins and VDV both riding-in with the favorites. It will be very interesting to see if Wiggo can keep this up as the mountains continue.

Andy Schleck confirmed he's a top contender, but will need to attack as the race progresses. He appears to have an acceleration approaching Contador's; he’ll just need to turn his reactivity into proactivity. Brother Frank finished with him, boding well for the mountains to come.

5. As we suspected, Tony Martin seems to be Columbia’s most talented GC rider. He’s got a good grip on white, and never appeared in difficulty today. Columbia should put Kirchen, Momfort, and Rogers to work for him (he’s the best time trialist of the lot). Then they need to sign him to a long-term contract.

And Liquigas? A mixed bag. Nibali hung-in and now lies at 1:54; Kreuzinger lost a bit at the end and has slipped down to 2:40. To be honest, I thought the opposite would have been the case with Nibali slipping while Kreuziger hung tough. That said, there’s a lot left to race and Liquigas is a strong, but continually underrated team. I still see one of these two finishing on the podium—at least Top-5.

6. Are we missing anyone? Sastre and Menchov both hung-in well, unfortunately that’s not going to get them anywhere in this year’s race. Like so many others, they need to attack. Following wheels won't cut it. Karpets was there for Katusha, but does anyone take him seriously? Don't think so.

What about you? What do you see happening over the next two days? Is Lance conceding leadership or biding his time?

Share your thoughts with the rest of us.

Tour de France - Stage 6 - Wrap-up - The Rain in Spain...

It was yet another exciting stage today, thanks in large part to David Millar hoping he could emulate Thomas Voeckler’s last gasp before the line. Unfortunately for Millar, the chase did its math correctly and caught the Garmin veteran with a bit less than 2km to go.

This was the second bout of misfortune for Garmin, since what would have been a terrific chance for Tyler Farrar was rendered moot by his crash with about 15km left in the stage. Farrar fell along with Heinrich Haussler and Mick Rogers; all three men lost over 10 minutes. For Rogers, the crash effectively put an end to his GC hopes; he now lies 159th overall, over 14 minutes back.

And finally, it wouldn’t be a relatively flat stage if we didn’t discuss Tom Boonen’s terrible luck. Hopefully for Tom, bad things do indeed happen in three’s, for this is the third time this week fate has killed his chances for a win. Maybe from here on out he’ll ride with a clean slate? There are still several chances left for him to get a stage as Belgian Champion.

All in all, it was an exciting day capped by a thrilling win for Thor Hushovd. Tomorrow, things really get interesting, with the race's first summit finish to Andorra’s Arcalis.

Come back later for a preview of tomorrow’s events.

Tour de France - Stage 2 Wrap-up

Mark Renshaw deserves a large share of the credit for Cavendish's stage win. His teammates laid the groundwork with terrific placement coming into the red kite, but he literally rode Garmin's Tyler Farrar off of Cavendish’s wheel. Cavendish was lucky to hang-on himself! One can’t help but wonder if one day Renshaw will get a chance to take a win. With a few more days like Stage 2, it will be hard to deny him the opportunity.

That said, it was great to see Garmin's organization for the sprint. Farrar was perfectly placed for the win; he seemed to have a good complement of riders working on his behalf. Columbia was just too strong though.

Tom Boonen popped-in with a few km left to go, but was conspicuously absent from the final romp to the line. It seems like the time off has affected the cohesion of his lead-out, otherwise he might have been better placed to avoid a crash before the line. Could Stage 3 be his day?

Frank Schleck can’t be feeling too confident right now. He hit the deck again and then was almost hit by his team car while trying to get back to the group. While this doesn't bode well for Frank, it does perhaps play into Andy's favor by taking him one step closer to "undisputed leader" status within Saxo Bank. Andy rode a respectable TT and must be still be considered with the rest of the GC favorites.

And finally, did you notice that an Euskaltel rider was involved in just about every crash? They're beginning to remind us of Kelme.

Stage 3 is even flatter than Stage 2. Expect another long, hot day for the riders ending in a sprint. Will Cavendish add to his total? Will Boonen win one for Belgium? And what about Thor and HH from Cervelo?

Share your comments with the rest of us.

Tour de France - Stage 1 Haiku Wrap-up

Haiku reporting.
Small efforts can speak loudest.
Mirrors Stage 1 rides.

Cancellara
Dominating ride.
Could hold yellow for long time.
If team supports him.

Contador
Second is a win.
Team should be his for good now.
Trade dots for yellow?

Evans
Where he wants to be:
Lurking, but can still shadow.
Waiting for mountains.

Kreuziger and Nibali
Have they earned respect?
Maybe they're still dark horses?
Do not ignore them.

Armstrong
Contador beat him.
Kloden and Leipheimer too.
Is 4th worse than 10th?

Menchov
No one’s afraid now.
Lackluster effort at best.
Shooting for stage wins?

Garmin
Four in top twenty.
TTT is theirs to win.
But for Astana.

Stage 2
Bumpy ride today.
But will anyone get dropped?
Hushovd gets the stage.

Please share your comments.

Haikus would be fun to read,
But all thoughts welcome.