E3-prijs Vlaanderen

Very dynamic race. Plenty of action.
Cancellara did it again, convincingly.
It looked like continuance of his Flemish karma with two mechanicals and 17 km. solo ride. He looked very determined when he started bridging gap to the group in front of him, then led the chase to leading group while riders following him looked like they're giving their best just to keep up with him.
O'Grady buried himself when he dropped to Cancellara to help him and Cancellara didn't disappoint. When he launched attack Tankink and Haussler could just try to look like they were chasing him. In first three kilometers of solo ride he gained half a minute, by the tenth kilometer to the finish his advantage was 50 seconds. And group of 12-15 was chasing him.
He is in top form. I'd even dare to say Boonen escaped embarrassment by opting for Gent - Wevelgem.

Overall, the race was dress rehearsal for Flanders. Teams were obviously trying some tactical options. Garmin was the most obvious example with Vanmarcke in top group (group which attacked furthest from the finish), Haussler in group behind and Hushovd in bunch. Quickstep tried Terpstra and Van Impe to see how they can help Boonen, but I doubt they're satisfied.
Leopard's rehearsal was most successful. Mechanics were on top level, with wheel and bike changes which will remind Belgians on last year's rumors. O'Grady did perfect tactical job, followed first group, then helped his leader. And Cancellara's timing, or should I say placing, of attack is indicative. It's distance from Kapelmuur to the finish in De Ronde. Real dress rehearsal. Top of the hill is perfect launching pad for solo ride if he doesn't ride off his rivals on the hill like last year.

I can't wait next Sunday.

2011 E3-prijs Vlaanderen Results
1 Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Leopard Trek 4:34:49 2 Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto 0:01:00 3 Vladimir Gusev (Rus) Katusha Team 4 Sep Vanmarcke (Bel) Team Garmin-Cervelo 5 Bram Tankink (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team 6 William Bonnet (Fra) FDJ 0:01:01 7 Heinrich Haussler (Ger) Team Garmin-Cervelo 0:01:06 8 Sébastien Hinault (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 9 Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Leopard Trek 10 Serguei Ivanov (Rus) Katusha Team 11 Vincent Jerome (Fra) Team Europcar 12 Gustav Larsson (Swe) Saxo Bank Sungard 13 Svein Tuft (Can) Team Spidertech Powered By C10 14 Niki Terpstra (Ned) Quickstep Cycling Team 15 Steve Chainel (Fra) FDJ 0:02:26 16 Tomas Vaitkus (Ltu) Pro Team Astana 0:04:24 17 Nico Sijmens (Bel) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne 18 Dennis Van Winden (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team 19 Klaas Lodewyck (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto 20 Jérôme Baugnies (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator 21 Alexandre Pichot (Fra) Team Europcar 22 Staf Scheirlinckx (Bel) Veranda's Willems - Accent 23 Rony Martias (Fra) Saur - Sojasun 24 Michael Morkov (Den) Saxo Bank Sungard 25 Bert De Backer (Bel) Skil - Shimano 26 Lloyd Mondory (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 27 Bert De Waele (Bel) Landbouwkrediet 28 Arnoud Van Groen (Ned) Veranda's Willems - Accent 29 Bert Scheirlinckx (Bel) Landbouwkrediet 30 Koen De Kort (Ned) Skil - Shimano 31 Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Team Europcar 32 Kristof Goddaert (Bel) AG2R La Mondiale 33 Joost Posthuma (Ned) Leopard Trek 34 Martin Elmiger (Swi) AG2R La Mondiale 35 Maxime Vantomme (Bel) Katusha Team 36 Maarten Neyens (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto 37 Maxim Iglinskiy (Kaz) Pro Team Astana 38 Nick Nuyens (Bel) Saxo Bank Sungard 39 Tom Stamsnijder (Ned) Leopard Trek 40 Kevin Van Impe (Bel) Quickstep Cycling Team 41 Kevyn Ista (Bel) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne 42 Sander Armee (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator 43 Koen Barbe (Bel) Landbouwkrediet 44 Jos Van Emden (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team 45 Davide Malacarne (Ita) Quickstep Cycling Team 46 Matteo Tosatto (Ita) Saxo Bank Sungard 47 Bjorn Leukemans (Bel) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 48 Simon Spilak (Slo) Lampre - ISD 49 Leif Hoste (Bel) Katusha Team 50 Stijn Devolder (Bel) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 51 Simon Clarke (Aus) Pro Team Astana 52 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Team Garmin-Cervelo 53 Johan Vansummeren (Bel) Team Garmin-Cervelo 54 Dries Devenyns (Bel) Quickstep Cycling Team 55 Jurgen Vandewalle (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto 56 Cyril Lemoine (Fra) Saur - Sojasun 57 Lars Boom (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team 0:04:29 58 Sebastian Langeveld (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team 59 Geert Verheyen (Bel) Landbouwkrediet 60 Aliaksandr Kuschynski (Blr) Katusha Team 61 Dominique Cornu (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator 62 Geert Steurs (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator 63 Mathieu Claude (Fra) Team Europcar 64 David Boucher (Fra) Omega Pharma-Lotto 65 Pieter Ghyllebert (Bel) An Post - Sean Kelly 66 Maxim Gourov (Kaz) Pro Team Astana 67 Pieter Serry (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator 68 Evert Verbist (Bel) Veranda's Willems - Accent 69 Ronan Van Zandbeek (Ned) Skil - Shimano 70 Thomas Degand (Bel) Veranda's Willems - Accent 71 James Vanlandschoot (Bel) Veranda's Willems - Accent 72 Rob Ruijgh (Ned) Vacansoleil-Dcm Pro Cycling Team 73 Robert Retschke (Ger) Team Netapp 74 Robin Chaigneau (Ned) Skil - Shimano 75 Vladimir Isaychev (Rus) Katusha Team 76 Grischa Niermann (Ger) Rabobank Cycling Team 77 Coen Vermeltfoort (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team 78 Tom Veelers (Ned) Skil - Shimano 79 David Tanner (Aus) Saxo Bank Sungard 80 Kevin Lacombe (Can) Team Spidertech Powered By C10 81 David Veilleux (Can) Team Europcar 82 Tomasz Kiendys (Pol) CCC Polsat Polkowice 83 Romain Matheou (Fra) Saur - Sojasun 84 Sylwester Janiszewski (Pol) CCC Polsat Polkowice 85 Anthony Delaplace (Fra) Saur - Sojasun 86 Martin Mortensen (Den) Leopard Trek 87 Kasper Klostergaard Larsen (Den) Saxo Bank Sungard 88 Yohann Gene (Fra) Team Europcar 89 Wouter Weylandt (Bel) Leopard Trek 90 Gabriel Rasch (Nor) Team Garmin-Cervelo 91 Roger Hammond (GBr) Team Garmin-Cervelo 92 Daniel Lloyd (GBr) Team Garmin-Cervelo 93 Jonas Aaen Jörgensen (Den) Saxo Bank Sungard 94 Andreas Klier (Ger) Team Garmin-Cervelo 95 Dimitri Claeys (Bel) Team Netapp 96 Sven Vandousselaere (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto 97 Dominic Klemme (Ger) Leopard Trek 98 Alessandro Bazzana (Ita) Team Type 1 99 Baptiste Planckaert (Bel) Landbouwkrediet 100 Timon Seubert (Ger) Team Netapp 101 Gediminas Bagdonas (Ltu) An Post - Sean Kelly 102 Mark Mcnally (GBr) An Post - Sean Kelly 103 Hugo Houle (Can) Team Spidertech Powered By C10 104 Ryan Roth (Can) Team Spidertech Powered By C10 105 Debusschere Jens (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto

Quoted post said:

Originally Posted by Andrija [IMG]/img/forum/go_quote.gif[/IMG]

I'd even dare to say Boonen escaped embarrassment by opting for Gent - Wevelgem.

Nice way to put it [IMG]/img/vbsmilies/smilies/wink.gif[/IMG] Cancellara is going to be almost impossible to beat over the next two weekends.

Vaughters was impressed too. He was mentioning negative tactics in order to beat Cancellara next Sunday. I'd say majority of directors is thinking similar to Vaughters. That kind of racing could bring the most unexpected outcome.
If breakaway gets over Bosberg without Cancellara, he can be beaten. But Leopard has O'Grady too.

Quoted post said:

Originally Posted by Andrija [IMG]/img/forum/go_quote.gif[/IMG]

If breakaway gets over Bosberg without Cancellara, he can be beaten. But Leopard has O'Grady too.

O'Grady seems to be getting better with age, like a good red wine [IMG]/img/vbsmilies/smilies/biggrin.gif[/IMG]

Quoted post said:

Originally Posted by steve [IMG]/img/forum/go_quote.gif[/IMG]

O'Grady seems to be getting better with age, like a good red wine [IMG]/img/vbsmilies/smilies/biggrin.gif[/IMG]

Or trappist beer. I doubt it was trappist during Vuelta, but obviously he knows himself very well.
I wonder if Boonen will try to respond to Cancellara tomorrow. Whatever, he should have been in Harelbeke today.

thanks for posting the videos 😉
this man is dropping people from his wheel on the flats... unbelievable to see that in the PRO ranks,
(2010 was also impressive, dropping Boonen and Flecha on their noses)

anybody else get the feeling that fabu would really like to set the mark for most paris-roubaix victories?

have to say, watching the vidi's is the equivalent of seeing baby harp seals getting bonked. he truly destroyed the field.

Quoted post said:

Originally Posted by slovakguy [IMG]/img/forum/go_quote.gif[/IMG]

anybody else get the feeling that fabu would really like to set the mark for most paris-roubaix victories?

have to say, watching the vidi's is the equivalent of seeing baby harp seals getting bonked. he truly destroyed the field.

I don't know. He needs three more victories. That is, realistically, 5 editions. He's thirty and wants to complete Monument victories. It's more likely he'll equal Gipsy's record. And even chances of equaling it will decrease if he doesn't win this year keeping in mind his intention to peak for Liege in future.
He once said he's not chasing records. He's setting new goals in order to motivate himself.

Thanks for posting the E3 and Wevelgem updates. I was away for a few days so the video highlights have been a great help as I could not access Eurosport where I was.

What can anyone say about Cancellara? The man is a machine.

A race committee car knocked into Leopard Trek's Robert Wagner during the E-3 Prijs, breaking his leg and putting an end to his Spring season. He must now wait four to six weeks before racing again.

During the race last weekend, the German gave eventual race winner Fabian Cancellara his rear wheel after the Italian puncture. On his way back to the peloton, a race committee car hit him. “He knocked me off my bike,” Wagner told Radsport-News.com. He had to abandon, as “the pain made it impossible to continue.”

However, he still got back in the saddle the next day at Gent-Wevelgem, but had to abandon there too, after only 20 km.
Subsequent medical exams showed that he had broken the upper shinbone. He will not need surgery, team doctor Andreas Gösele said on the team website: "I have recommended a straightforward treatment for Robert. When treated with care, he will completely recover from the fracture.”

cyclingnews.comwagner out of classics with broken shinboneOpen ↗

Hey guv'nor, I need a new wheel and a new leg. Hurry up mate!
[IMG]cyclingforums.com500Open ↗[/IMG]