KingRene

Tom Boonen week continues.

Discovery, CSC and Rabobank need to do something here but it will be tough considering the likelihood of a sprint finish. Some wet, windy weather can break things up but the big kid looks scary right now.

Here's the official site:

https://www.gent-wevelgem.be/index.php?cont=home

gcasillo

If Boonen doesn't have it in him for Gent, then Nuyens should get the green light, and I think he'll be a contender. O'Grady will be there at the end with Eeckhout.

Dark horse: Filippo Pozzato.

sat_cycle

it's also live and free on cycling.tv for US and Canadians

lotek 

eekhout looked fairly good for the Ronde until he crashed.
Devolder and Van Heeswijk for Discovery should be in
the mix also.
The way Boonen rode on Sun I'd say with the
same form he is a shoe in, although no one is
gonna doubt him if he jumps 2 - 3 k before the
finish.

Marty

Smoothie104

Be nice for Hincape to win this race again.

Devil

I'm going to say Boonen, but I'd like to see Van Peet get the win.

I'd like to see Boonen win Paris-Roubaix as well, but we'll see...

Laggard

Hincapie abandons. What a hack.

Smoothie104

damn, I just read that.....

Devil

It is Boonen's to win..

fight or flight

i'll go for Thor..

fight or flight

Poor Magnus..

Laggard

What an amazing burst of speed from Mattan. Made it look like Flecha was standing still.

lotek 

scared me there for a second. . .

sat_cycle

It seemed he was helped out quite a bit by the support vehicles. At least I think . . . the latency was super bad towards the end of the race.

lotek 

I didn't see it but Cyclingnews reported:
"Flecha drives it up the last straight, but Mattan puts in a massive surge,
using all the motorbikes to his advantage"
Sounds kind of like he wouldn't have won without them?

Marty

Bruco

From what I saw on the live coverage, Mattan surely benefitted from the cars and motorbikes. But I wouldn't say that the vehicles were decisive. After all, Mattan bridged most of the gap separating him from Flecha by himself. The vehicles came into play when Mattan already had a visual on the leader, which also does a lot to make riders pump harder.

Mattan did not work when the breakaway group was still intact, though. As if Lotto's stale orders were to wait for one of his teammates (who?).

jkoman

Congrats to Mattan...to the others like Hushovd,Cooke,Steels,O'Grady,Backstedt,Hunter etc. What a bunch of HACKS...along with the other 113 pack fodder like Hincapie who just don't have it.

Laggard

Hey, at least they finished the race.

Gustaf

I wouldnt be suprised of Fassa files a complaint, i was watching on cycling.tv and mattan was RIGHT on that car for a good 4 seconds which slingshotted him up to Flecha. Those cars should not have been in the gap between the two riders, but I dont think they thought mattan would be able to come back so they just left them in there.

Csson

Exactly, what was the commisaire doing there? It didn't look good considering Mattan is belgian.. The commentators on Eurosport were less then pleased about it, even though Mattan could have won anyway. It just didn't look good .

/Csson

timmhaan

from BBC cycling website, regarding Mattan's finish:

"...But chief judge Roberto Ariznavaretta defended the decision.

"The result stands," he said. "We ordered the cars to get out of the way but, if they don't listen what can we do? That's cycling."


seems like an odd thing to say...not sure though, i hadn't seen it myself.

don d.

tricky niki showed them...if the cars aren't supposed to be there, how can he be penalized for riding near them? Nico is a hard core pro who finally has his day.

Cheers.

gcasillo

Mattan rode very strong today, but it was a botch job by the race officials. No other way to put it.

Who's at fault? Mattan for drafting or the commisaire for being in the wrong spot? I thought riders were prohibited from drafting the motorbikes and other neutral vehicles.

don d.

That's just it...Nico is claiming he didn't draft the vehicles, they got in his way and he rode behind them until he could pass them. So...what can they do if the vehicles aren't supposed to be there?

In an ideal world, riders would never grab jerseys, switch sides of the road in a sprint, or refuse to take a pull in a break. Thomas More, were are you when we need you?

gcasillo

Agreed. It wasn't a great day for motorbikes and neutral support vehicles. Get well, Andreas Klier.

Thomas More probably got cuffed and locked away during a CM ride.