Pieri

"Kurgan Gringioni" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
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Quoted message said:

I'm surprised that no one picked Pieri for the win. Dude looks like he was born to ride the
cobbles.

In the interests of not being a candyass, I'm sticking with my initial

pick

Vandenbroucke Doggy Dogg dropped out.

So now I'm candyassing it with Pieri. Wussy, I know.

Seems the right pick... right now.

"Kurgan Gringioni" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"Kurgan Gringioni" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I'm surprised that no one picked Pieri for the win. Dude looks like he

was

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

born to ride the cobbles.

In the interests of not being a candyass, I'm sticking with my initial

pick

Quoted message said:

Vandenbroucke Doggy Dogg dropped out.

So now I'm candyassing it with Pieri. Wussy, I know.

"Kurgan Gringioni" <[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I'm surprised that no one picked Pieri for the win. Dude looks like he was born to ride the
cobbles.

I am surprised, now lately, no one picked Slava Ekimov!!!!!!!!!!

Postal's been the MAIN PLAYER all day.

Quoted message said:

In the interests of not being a candyass, I'm sticking with my initial

pick

"Ken Papai" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:HRema.441255$L1.125058@sccrnsc02...

Quoted message said:

"Kurgan Gringioni" <[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I'm surprised that no one picked Pieri for the win. Dude looks like he

was

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

born to ride the cobbles.

I am surprised, now lately, no one picked Slava Ekimov!!!!!!!!!!

Postal's been the MAIN PLAYER all day.

That is an exagerration, however, it is kind of crazy that at this time last year Ekimov
was retired.

Did he 'retire' because of $$$ issues with USPS? If so, then why did no other team pick him up?

Or was he just temporarily burnt out?

Regardless, they couldn't have expected this. Hincapie must be dying at home, knowing that had he
been healthy, this could have been his biggest chance.

Whither Quick Step-Davitamon? The Sorcerer of Paris-Roubaix has lost his wand. They looked so
dominant at Het Volk, now this. The sponsors won't be ponying up the extra $$$ for Jan Ullrich.

Finally, Van Petegem. Doing what no one has done in 25 years. With Bettini out, he looks good in
that WC jersey.

Kurgan Gringioni said:

Quoted message said:

That is an exagerration, however, it is kind of crazy that at this time last year Ekimov was
retired.

Quoted message said:

Regardless, they couldn't have expected this. Hincapie must be dying at home, knowing that had he
been healthy, this could have been his biggest chance.

Whither Quick Step-Davitamon? The Sorcerer of Paris-Roubaix has lost his wand. They looked so
dominant at Het Volk, now this. The sponsors won't be ponying up the extra $$$ for Jan Ullrich.

Finally, Van Petegem. Doing what no one has done in 25 years. With Bettini out, he looks good in
that WC jersey.

the whole race (the last two hours that i watched on tv), i was constantly wondering, "what's
happening NOW!!?" people were being dropped, catching back on, taking the lead, crashing,
puncturing... i needed a graphical aid or maybe sock puppets to keep it all straight in my head.

the ekimov thing really threw me. & too bad aldag blew so close to the end, that was painful. i
yelled at him to catch back on but it didn't work.

also, i never heard zabel's name mentioned all day, yet he finished 15th. go old guys!

heather

Kurgan Gringioni said:

Regardless, they couldn't have expected this. Hincapie must be dying at home, knowing that had he
been healthy, this could have been his biggest chance.

Ekimov and van Heeswijk were protected today, allowing them to be at the front near the end. If
Hincapie was healthy they would have been burned off as protectors of Hincapie. Postal's tactics
would have been much different, and probably not as successful.

"Kyle Legate" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Kurgan Gringioni said:

Regardless, they couldn't have expected this. Hincapie must be dying at home, knowing that had
he been healthy, this could have been his biggest chance.

Ekimov and van Heeswijk were protected today, allowing them to be at the front near the end. If
Hincapie was healthy they would have been burned

off

Quoted message said:

as protectors of Hincapie. Postal's tactics would have been much

different,

Quoted message said:

and probably not as successful.

The reason this year would have been his big chance is that he wouldn't have been facing an
overwhelming Lefevere squad as in previous years.

For instance, 2 years ago, Hincapie was very good, but Mapei had 4 out of 6 in the finale. Hincapie
and Dierckxens had no chance. This year was wide open.

"heather halvorson" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
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Quoted message said:

Kurgan Gringioni said:

Quoted message said:

That is an exagerration, however, it is kind of crazy that at this time

last

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

year Ekimov was retired.

Quoted message said:

Regardless, they couldn't have expected this. Hincapie must be dying at home, knowing that had
he been healthy, this could have been his biggest chance.

Whither Quick Step-Davitamon? The Sorcerer of Paris-Roubaix has lost his wand. They looked so
dominant at Het Volk, now this. The sponsors won't

be

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

ponying up the extra $$$ for Jan Ullrich.

Finally, Van Petegem. Doing what no one has done in 25 years. With

Bettini

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

out, he looks good in that WC jersey.

the whole race (the last two hours that i watched on tv), i was constantly wondering, "what's
happening NOW!!?" people were being dropped, catching back on, taking the lead, crashing,
puncturing... i needed a graphical aid or maybe sock puppets to keep it all straight in my head.

the ekimov thing really threw me. & too bad aldag blew so close to the end, that was painful. i
yelled at him to catch back on but it didn't

work.

Quoted message said:

also, i never heard zabel's name mentioned all day, yet he finished 15th. go old guys!

heather

Best race I've seen in a long time but frenetic to keep track of. No one team had a stangle hold. I
wish is had been with longer coverage. Who was that listed as Phil Ligget with Sherwin? It didn't
sound like Phil.......... Did the dust get his voice.

Excellent for Ekimov. Nice seeing the old guy come thru. USPS with the added sponsorship is shaping
up to be more of an all around team that can be competitive in the classics.

Ken S.

Kendall said:

Best race I've seen in a long time but frenetic to keep track of. No one team had a stangle hold.
I wish is had been with longer coverage. Who was that listed as Phil Ligget with Sherwin? It
didn't sound like Phil.......... Did the dust get his voice.

I wondered too, but I think it was Phil, just very hoarse.

Kurgan Gringioni <[email hidden]> schreef in berichtnieuws
[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

The reason this year would have been his big chance is that he wouldn't

have

Quoted message said:

been facing an overwhelming Lefevere squad as in previous years.

For instance, 2 years ago, Hincapie was very good, but Mapei had 4 out of

6

Quoted message said:

in the finale. Hincapie and Dierckxens had no chance. This year was wide open.

Hincapie has often proven that Paris-Roubaix is a bit too long for him. Last year he got tired and
rode into a ditch. The year before he could not sprint anymore (against Domo, not Mapei). I don't
think he could have beaten Van Petegem this year, who looked powerful until the end.

"Jonathan v.d. Sluis" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...>

Quoted message said:

Hincapie has often proven that Paris-Roubaix is a bit too long for him.

Last

Quoted message said:

year he got tired and rode into a ditch. The year before he could not

sprint

Quoted message said:

anymore (against Domo, not Mapei). I don't think he could have beaten Van Petegem this year, who
looked powerful until the end.

Really.

This is what you wrote earlier this year:

"Jonathan v.d. Sluis" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
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Quoted message said:

Cofidis is in my opinion also well suited for Hincapie. I think he can do better than Mattan and
Planckaert. It is a French team without a really strong contender for P-R, so they would have a
good reason for hiring Hincapie.

In article <[email hidden]>, "Kurgan Gringioni"

Quoted message said:

"Ken Papai" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:HRema.441255$L1.125058@sccrnsc02...

Quoted message said:

"Kurgan Gringioni" <[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I'm surprised that no one picked Pieri for the win. Dude looks like he

was

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

born to ride the cobbles.

I am surprised, now lately, no one picked Slava Ekimov!!!!!!!!!!

Postal's been the MAIN PLAYER all day.

That is an exagerration, however, it is kind of crazy that at this time last year Ekimov was
retired.

According to the coverage I watched, taped, and listened to ... Andrea Tafi was the main player all
day ... he was the driving force for most of the race ... not Ekimov or van Heeswijk ... and Cruz
was just the early sacrificial lamb.

--
Steven L. Sheffield stevens at veloworks dot com veloworks at worldnet dot ay tea tee dot net bellum
pax est libertas servitus est ignoratio vis est

"Steven L. Sheffield" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
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Quoted message said:

According to the coverage I watched, taped, and listened to ... Andrea Tafi was the main player
all day ... he was the driving force for most of the race ... not Ekimov or van Heeswijk ... and
Cruz was just the early sacrificial lamb.

Tafi did drive the peloton most of the day, but I never saw him bridge up to the lead group. Cruz
was doing well until he crashed. MvH as well. Ekimov made a great move to bridge up to the leaders
and then kept the hammer down, keeping the chase group at bay. This forced PvP to bridge up,
otherwise it would have been a two man race. The top 3 all did a hell of a job - I was impressed
the way Pieri kept coming back every time he seemed to be dropped. Van Petegem was very decisive in
his move to bridge up to the leaders. Clearly, he was the strongest at the end. I thought Ekimov
might have had a chance at second when Van Petegem pinned Pieri at the top of the track, but other
than that, I don't think he could have ridden a better race. I'm glad the three of them stayed
upright 'till the end. It would have been a shame if one of them had crashed or flatted so close to
the finish.

-T

"Tom Schulenburg" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Tafi did drive the peloton most of the day, but I never saw him bridge up

to

Quoted message said:

the lead group.

Two punctures in the last 50 km can be difficult to overcome - in that ligth a fifth place was
quite OK...

- Mikkel
--
Mikkel Gybel Jensen home.tiscali.dk~mgjOpen ↗ pcarlp.dkpcarlp.dkOpen ↗ rumfart.dkrumfart.dkOpen ↗

I wish is had been with longer coverage. Who was

Quoted message said:

that listed as Phil Ligget with Sherwin? It didn't sound like Phil.......... Did the dust get
his voice.

should come to belgium: 4h30' live coverage (or the last 180km of the race)

Steven L. Sheffield said:

In article <[email hidden]>, "Kurgan Gringioni"

Quoted message said:

That is an exagerration, however, it is kind of crazy that at this time last year Ekimov was
retired.

According to the coverage I watched, taped, and listened to ... Andrea Tafi was the main player
all day ... he was the driving force for most of the race ... not Ekimov or van Heeswijk ... and
Cruz was just the early sacrificial lamb.

I remember reading the live report on cyclingnews, and thinking Tafi was just burning his candle
before the finale. He was working far too hard relative to the others.

(Kenny) said:

I wish is had been with longer coverage. Who was

Quoted message said:

that listed as Phil Ligget with Sherwin? It didn't sound like Phil.......... Did the dust get
his voice.

should come to belgium: 4h30' live coverage (or the last 180km of the race)

Thanks to Eurosport this time was very nearby in whole Europe, they started at 13:15, just before
the first cobbled segment (in fact the first frame they showed was the big crash that took out
Zanini among others)

Mikkel Gybel Jensen said:

Two punctures in the last 50 km can be difficult to overcome - in that ligth a fifth place was
quite OK...

You danish guys did adopt the Gladiator as your hero for the classics?

Quoted message said:

I'm surprised that no one picked Pieri for the win. Dude looks like he was born to ride the
cobbles.

The way Dario Pieri rides the cobbles seems to me he's the next Franco Ballerini. He definitely
should win P-R the next years. I'm glad he confirmed his potential for the classics after the 2nd
place in Flanders 2000 and his win in the E3-Prijs Harelbeke 2002.

However there's one thing. Belgian cycling commentator Michel Wuyts told us the story that Pieri
weigh more than 100kg (over 220 pounds that is) this winter. I don't know how Michel Wuyts knows
this but i guess this is a story that makes Jan Ullrich pretty jealous. :-)