Bettini and Van Petegem?

No. Such talk would make sense if they were neutralising
each other while decisive breaks take off (like Astarloa
last year..) . But we see races remaining closed for a long
time and then it is played at the very end with everybody
still there.

Van Petegem shaked "no" on the Muur in the Ronde. In Roubaix
he had bad luck at a bad time. He seemed unusually strong in
the AGR and LBL. So his peak seemed to have come just after
his most fitting races.

Bettini was simply not good enough in the very final of the
races he aimed for. In MSR he was the strongest on the
Poggio but unable to make a gap. In the other races not good
enough to be a contender.

"Van Hoorebeeck Bart" <[email hidden]> wrote in
message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

No. Such talk would make sense if they were neutralising
each other while decisive breaks take off (like Astarloa
last year..) . But we see races remaining closed for a
long time and then it is played at the very end

with

Quoted message said:

everybody still there.

Van Petegem shaked "no" on the Muur in the Ronde. In
Roubaix he had bad

luck at

Quoted message said:

a bad time. He seemed unusually strong in the AGR and LBL.
So his peak

seemed to

Quoted message said:

have come just after his most fitting races.

Bettini was simply not good enough in the very final of
the races he aimed

for.

Quoted message said:

In MSR he was the strongest on the Poggio but unable to
make a gap. In the

other

Quoted message said:

races not good enough to be a contender.

Thanks. I have only been able to read Cyclingnews' live
reports the past two Sundays. I had the feeling from what I
read that Bettini and Van Petegem kind of let Boogerd and
Rebellin go up the road rather than these two counter-
attacking and decisely dropping Bettini and PVP. -Mike

"Van Hoorebeeck Bart" <[email hidden]> wrote in
message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

No. Such talk would make sense if they were neutralising
each other while decisive breaks take off (like Astarloa
last year..) . But we see races remaining closed for a
long time and then it is played at the very end

with

Quoted message said:

everybody still there.

Van Petegem shaked "no" on the Muur in the Ronde. In
Roubaix he had bad

luck at

Quoted message said:

a bad time. He seemed unusually strong in the AGR and LBL.
So his peak

seemed to

Quoted message said:

have come just after his most fitting races.

Bettini was simply not good enough in the very final of
the races he aimed

for.

Quoted message said:

In MSR he was the strongest on the Poggio but unable to
make a gap. In the

other

Quoted message said:

races not good enough to be a contender.

From what little I saw it looked to me like Bettini had a
bad case of Hincapie disease - he was always up on the front
showing everyone how strong he was while everyone else was
planning all sorts of strategies to tire him out and make
him screw up.

Van Hoorebeeck Bart said:

Bettini was simply not good enough in the very final of the
races he aimed for. In MSR he was the strongest on the
Poggio but unable to make a gap. In the other races not
good enough to be a contender.

Paolo told to an Italian TV interviewer that he simply
wasn't at top level form, but something between 80% and 90%
ot his peak level. He said that maybe in other
circumstances, with different competitors, this would have
been enough (and it almost was on Amstel). But this time
around there were a couple of riders there were simply too
strong for his present shape.