2009 Paris-Roubaix!

Eldron said:

I'm so excited I could sh!t myself - I love this race!

The 2009 edition should be wide open and awesome...

Boonen - form is in question.
Hammond - has a much better support team this year.
Haussler/Cav - are they hard enough for PR?
Hincapie - is not riding a Trek ;-)
O'Grady - a dark horse?
Hushovd - in better form than we've seen for a while.

The BBQ is prepped, the friends invited, the eggs procured to distract the kids with an eastr egg hunt, the sleeping pills bought to spike the missus' drink, beer and meat is in the fridge....bring it!

Your excitement is O.K. but information are not.
Boonen is in very good form. And this is the time of year when he should be in best shape.
Hushovd had that fall in De Ronde and always makes tactical mistakes in Roubaix.
Not sure about Hammond.
Anyway, I hope it will be tight race with touch of bad weather.

Eldron said:

I'm so excited I could sh!t myself - I love this race!

The 2009 edition should be wide open and awesome...

Boonen - form is in question.
Hammond - has a much better support team this year.
Haussler/Cav - are they hard enough for PR?
Hincapie - is not riding a Trek ;-)
O'Grady - a dark horse?
Hushovd - in better form than we've seen for a while.

The BBQ is prepped, the friends invited, the eggs procured to distract the kids with an eastr egg hunt, the sleeping pills bought to spike the missus' drink, beer and meat is in the fridge....bring it!

Nappy for Eldron! 😄

Boonen I'm not sure about, he might end up fighting off Devolder's attempts at doing the double.
Hammond I'd love to see do something and he has a strong team, including Hushovd who might suffer with his Ronde wrist injury. Hincapie will end up in a ditch, Trek or no Trek. O'Grady is still out injured I think.
As for picking a winner? I haven't a farking clue. P-R is too unpredictable. I reckon Quik Step, Cervelo and Columbia will all be aiming to get guys in breaks quite early and so the winner could come from a break, and therefore not from an obvious big name favourite.

Columbia and Quick-Step have the strongest squads. Correct me if I'm wrong?Columbia think that sprints are the way to win races at the moment. What Columbia need to do is beat QS at their own game. Pozzato was well controlled by Boonen last week to set up the race for Devolder. Cavendish and Boonen have a fierce rivalry.

Cavendish attacks at crucial moments (providing he is up in the main group). Boonen will have to go with him to nullify it as Boonen won't want him away. Cavendish keeps doing this until both him and Boonen can't do it anymore.

Columbia then start launching Hansen or Eisel to nullify another QS rider. The plan will be to leave big George on Devolders wheel. If George has luck and can get to the finish line with Devolder, then George has a stronger chance. The plan is to wear down Boonen as no one wants Boonen to be there at the end.

They need to be more attacking and beat QS at their own game.

Luck and weather conditions, always play their part at PR.

Agree with Eldon, PR is, for me, the best one day race of the season (closely followed by MSR, Ronde, Lombardia, Zurich).

With that in mind, I think the stronger the team the better chance it has of providing us with the eventual winner.

I expect a strong showing from QS, Saxo and Liqui, in particular.

Who'll win?
Anyones guess.

If Cav is in the shakeup in the last 10kms - he might be the man.
Is Canc riding it?
If he is, I think he will be a definite contender and Boonen will want to avenge
their last meeting at PR.
Can't se Ballan being a threat (he picked up a virus - don't know if he's riding it).

need to look at the start list, before applying the kiss of death!

grates

cav to the cobbled classics

=

mcewen to the Tour de France

ten years time, this will be different.

thunder said:

grates

cav to the cobbled classics

=

mcewen to the Tour de France

ten years time, this will be different.

I know he is no chance. But what's to say he can't be used to try and screw Boonen up? There is no way Boonen will ever let Cav go. What Columbia need to hope for is Cav can stick with the main guys up until half way. Then we might see some fireworks. The idea is for Columbia to be more attacking to ensure Burghardt is with Hincapie for as long as he can be.

Grater said:

I know he is no chance. But what's to say he can't be used to try and screw Boonen up? There is no way Boonen will ever let Cav go. What Columbia need to hope for is Cav can stick with the main guys up until half way. Then we might see some fireworks.

Boonen will laugh at Cav going off the front with any genuine shot at winning

thunder said:

Boonen will laugh at Cav going off the front with any genuine shot at winning

You sure about that? Wouldn't Boonen want to get in Cav's head and wear Cav down pyschologically?

Grater said:

You sure about that? Wouldn't Boonen want to get in Cav's head and wear Cav down pyschologically?

lol

Boonen has bigger things to worry about than Cav.

Thats like worrying about Hincapie at Roubaix. You know Hincapie is just a false flag operation for the Armstrong 1999 fanbois that have come to the sport.

Devolder wins this and Maaskant podiums.

It would be some performance if Devolder did win PR.

I re-watched the Ronde last night again and as races go, Devolder looked really strong at the end of the race.

On TV, having watched the Ronde for years, this years race did not look as difficult (I'm not saying that it was an easy race - no classic is an easy race).
I thought that Devolder wins was less difficult than previous wins - which might suggest that he could be less tired for PR.

Grater said:

Devolder wins this and Maaskant podiums.

I agree. You must be a genius Grater.

limerickman said:

It would be some performance if Devolder did win PR.

I re-watched the Ronde last night again and as races go, Devolder looked really strong at the end of the race.

On TV, having watched the Ronde for years, this years race did not look as difficult (I'm not saying that it was an easy race - no classic is an easy race).
I thought that Devolder wins was less difficult than previous wins - which might suggest that he could be less tired for PR.

I'd love to see Devolder winning Roubaix. But his chances will depend on team's strategy and situation on road. I think Quick Step's first choice is Boonen (like in Flanders, like always), so if Devolder will be given some freedom depends on how Boonen will be marked from Colombia, Saxo, Cervelo and other teams (like it was the case in Flanders).

i think cervelo have the strongest team on paper, how ever not sure if i expect them to pull it off. I fancy hayden roulston or roger hammond could be their strongest riders in this race. im backing cancellera to win thou

with all the numbers rabo has been putting on or near the front these past few weeks, they really could use some podium time to help reward their efforts. someone/anyone from rabo.

slovakguy said:

with all the numbers rabo has been putting on or near the front these past few weeks, they really could use some podium time to help reward their efforts. someone/anyone from rabo.

Flecha

Grater said:

Flecha

Flecha should be there, off course. But, somehow, Rabo doesn't provide good support in Roubaix.

Andrija said:

Flecha should be there, off course. But, somehow, Rabo doesn't provide good support in Roubaix.

Yeah, thats why a Quick-Step rider takes this.

Boonen or Devolder - flip a coin. How will the race work out that one of them wins?

Grater said:

Yeah, thats why a Quick-Step rider takes this.

Boonen or Devolder - flip a coin. How will the race work out that one of them wins?

QS's tactics is very predictable, almost the same every year (in every Classic). The thing is - Roubaix is more risky than De Ronde, so they can not be sure if they'll have enough (strong enough) riders to put them in every break or to keep them in front. That leaves them in position to force the pace to shrink the field for Boonen's attack and final sprint, and if someone makes early(er) move Devolder should follow. They can also send Devolder in front (not to early), if Boonen is heavily marked, to see who will follow and then wait to see outcome of attack (at least some of followers will tire themselves if attack doesn't succeed). Very typical and predictable (that goes for my opinion too), so CSC 2006-2007 tactics could break them, but is there strong enough team?