San Sebastian Predictions

Valverde.

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

Valverde.

Quite possibly.

B. Lafferty said:

1. Basso

Basso can't sprint to save his life and there's just too much distance
between the top of the Jaizkibel and the finish line.
This is race for riders with a good combination of climbing and sprinting
skills: Astarloa, Bettini, Perdiguero, Rebellin, Valverde. Cunego may be
the underdog, it depends on his present state of form.

B. Lafferty said:

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

Valverde.

Quite possibly.

Hmmmm. Just statistically, Dossard No. 1 has a fair chance of a repeat

YEAR WINNER
2003 Paolo Bettini, ITA
2002 Laurent Jalabert, FRA
2001 Laurent Jalabert, FRA
2000 Erik Dekker, HOL
1999 Francesco Casagrande, ITA
1998 Francesco Casagrande, ITA
1997 Davide Rebellin, ITA
1996 Udo Bolts, GER
1995 Lance Armstrong, USA
1994 Armand De Las Cuevas, FRA
1993 Claudio Chiappucci, ITA
1992 Raul Alcala, MEX
1991 Gianni Bugno, ITA
1990 Miguel Indurain, ESP
1989 Gerhard Zadrobilek, AUT
1988 Gert-Jan Theunisse, HOL
1987 Marino Lejarreta, ESP
1986 Inaki Gaston, ESP
1985 Adri Van Der Poel, HOL
1984 Niki Ruttimann, SWI
1983 Claude Criquelion, BEL
1982 Marino Lejarreta, ESP
1981 Marino Lejarreta, ESP

--
le Vent a Dos, Davey Crockett
Six Day Site: http://members.rogers.com/sixday/sixday.html

"B. Lafferty" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
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Quoted message said:

1. Basso
2. ??
3. ??
4. Hincapie ;-)

Simeoni will attempt a break and will be pulled back by Postal and CSC.

It certainly is a great course for the kind of form Basso has to win alone
or for Hincapie to sprint from a small break (has he ever finished alone
over such a selective course?)

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B. Lafferty said:

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

Valverde.

Quite possibly.

Hmmmm. Just statistically, Dossard No. 1 has a fair chance of a repeat.

A lot of those winners were fresh from strong Tour performances but not all
of them. I think Casagrande missed the '99 Tour (for just one exception).
Gosh, I might count up the winners that had just come from winning a stage
that year...I think in 1992 (or '91?) there were several stages in Spain and
one stage was the same as the course for San Sebastian. That was the year
Virenque broke away with someone else to win the yellow jersey for a few
stages (for RMO) before handing it over to another Frenchman on RMO...I
can't remember his name right now, only his face. Anyway, this is a great
course and because of that and the time of year there always seems to be a
worthy winner. It was Armstrong's first professional race where he finished
DFL in 1992 (IIRC). He was fresh from finishing about 15th in the Olympics
Road Race as an amateur (also in Spain).

Quoted message said:

YEAR WINNER
2003 Paolo Bettini, ITA
2002 Laurent Jalabert, FRA
2001 Laurent Jalabert, FRA
2000 Erik Dekker, HOL
1999 Francesco Casagrande, ITA
1998 Francesco Casagrande, ITA
1997 Davide Rebellin, ITA
1996 Udo Bolts, GER
1995 Lance Armstrong, USA
1994 Armand De Las Cuevas, FRA
1993 Claudio Chiappucci, ITA
1992 Raul Alcala, MEX
1991 Gianni Bugno, ITA
1990 Miguel Indurain, ESP
1989 Gerhard Zadrobilek, AUT
1988 Gert-Jan Theunisse, HOL
1987 Marino Lejarreta, ESP
1986 Inaki Gaston, ESP
1985 Adri Van Der Poel, HOL
1984 Niki Ruttimann, SWI
1983 Claude Criquelion, BEL
1982 Marino Lejarreta, ESP
1981 Marino Lejarreta, ESP

--
le Vent a Dos, Davey Crockett
Six Day Site: http://members.rogers.com/sixday/sixday.html

Chris said:

A lot of those winners were fresh from strong Tour performances but not all
of them. I think Casagrande missed the '99 Tour (for just one exception).
Gosh, I might count up the winners that had just come from winning a stage
that year...I think in 1992 (or '91?) there were several stages in Spain and
one stage was the same as the course for San Sebastian. That was the year
Virenque broke away with someone else to win the yellow jersey for a few
stages (for RMO) before handing it over to another Frenchman on RMO...I
can't remember his name right now, only his face.

Pascal Lino

Davide Tosi said:

Basso can't sprint to save his life and there's just too much distance
between the top of the Jaizkibel and the finish line.
This is race for riders with a good combination of climbing and sprinting
skills: Astarloa, Bettini, Perdiguero, Rebellin, Valverde. Cunego may be
the underdog, it depends on his present state of form.

Well done DT. Best RBR predictions I've seen in a WC race so far this
year. We should have a better format for these pics though, to make
judging the results more objective.

1 Miguel Angel Martin Perdiguero (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir
2 Paolo Bettini (Ita) Quick.Step-Davitamon
3 Davide Rebellin (Ita) Gerolsteiner
6 Ivan Basso (Ita) Team CSC
12 Igor Astarloa (Spa) Lampre
21 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Saeco
61 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana-Kelme

--
My bike blog:
http://diabloscott.blogspot.com/

"Davide Tosi" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
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Quoted message said:

Chris said:

A lot of those winners were fresh from strong Tour performances but not

all

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

of them. I think Casagrande missed the '99 Tour (for just one exception).
Gosh, I might count up the winners that had just come from winning a

stage

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

that year...I think in 1992 (or '91?) there were several stages in Spain

and

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

one stage was the same as the course for San Sebastian. That was the year
Virenque broke away with someone else to win the yellow jersey for a few
stages (for RMO) before handing it over to another Frenchman on RMO...I
can't remember his name right now, only his face.

Pascal Lino

Exactly right, thanks. I forget his name a lot because he almost seems like
a composite of other French riders. He was supposed to be a big talent and I
can't recall anything he did other than borrow the yellow jersey that year.

Chris said:

"Davide Tosi" <[email hidden]> wrote in message

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Pascal Lino

Exactly right, thanks. I forget his name a lot because he almost seems like
a composite of other French riders. He was supposed to be a big talent and I
can't recall anything he did other than borrow the yellow jersey that year.

He looked really good on a bike. Much better than Virenque.

JT

"John Forrest Tomlinson" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
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Quoted message said:

Chris said:

"Davide Tosi" <[email hidden]> wrote in message

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Pascal Lino

Exactly right, thanks. I forget his name a lot because he almost seems

like

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

a composite of other French riders. He was supposed to be a big talent

and I

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

can't recall anything he did other than borrow the yellow jersey that

year.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

He looked really good on a bike. Much better than Virenque.

JT

Oh yeah, he had a lot going for him. He really did. Unfortunately for him
that was back in the days when there were still a lot of French fans that
expected the "next Hinault" to emerge at any moment. I don't recall that
Virenque was ever favored or placed under that kind of pressure. That may be
partly why Virenque was driven to get the attention at all costs. First to
go through that meat grinder was Jean-Francois Bernard and Chas Mottet, then
Jalabert, Gilles Delion, Lino and at least another dozen guys I can't think
of right now. I suppose even Fignon can be put in this category but since he
achieved some success, things are different for him. He brought that
pressure to himself by winning the Tour so very young and then repeating all
before Hinault even earned his 5th Tour. Things may have been so different
for Fignon if Hinault or Lemond never lost time to injuries. Guimard would
have likely got a lot more out of him if he had been allowed to grow in to
the status that came (too early) with those first 2 wins. Please note I am
not attributing virtual wins to anyone...

Chris said:

Things may have been so different
for Fignon if Hinault or Lemond never lost time to injuries.

Or if Fignon hadn't been suffering from debilitating maladies himself,
maybe things would have been different for Hinault and Lemond. That's
definitely a sword that would cut both ways.

Curtis L. Russell
Odenton, MD (USA)
Just someone on two wheels...

Chris said:

"John Forrest Tomlinson" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Chris said:

"Davide Tosi" <[email hidden]> wrote in message

Quoted message said:

>
> Pascal Lino

Exactly right, thanks. I forget his name a lot because he almost seems

like

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

a composite of other French riders. He was supposed to be a big talent

and I

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

can't recall anything he did other than borrow the yellow jersey that

year.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

He looked really good on a bike. Much better than Virenque.

JT

Oh yeah, he had a lot going for him. He really did. Unfortunately for him
that was back in the days when there were still a lot of French fans that
expected the "next Hinault" to emerge at any moment. I don't recall that
Virenque was ever favored or placed under that kind of pressure. That may be
partly why Virenque was driven to get the attention at all costs. First to
go through that meat grinder was Jean-Francois Bernard and Chas Mottet, then
Jalabert, Gilles Delion, Lino and at least another dozen guys I can't think
of right now. I suppose even Fignon can be put in this category but since he
achieved some success, things are different for him. He brought that
pressure to himself by winning the Tour so very young and then repeating all
before Hinault even earned his 5th Tour. Things may have been so different
for Fignon if Hinault or Lemond never lost time to injuries. Guimard would
have likely got a lot more out of him if he had been allowed to grow in to
the status that came (too early) with those first 2 wins.

If it wasn't for lenticular wheels and aero-bars he would have scored 2
Giro/Tour doubles and would be now ranked among the top GT riders ever.
A bit of it was just bad luck and a bit of it was Guimard not being
technologically up to date.

"Davide Tosi" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
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Quoted message said:

Chris said:

"John Forrest Tomlinson" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

On Mon, 9 Aug 2004 10:38:11 -0700, "Chris"
<[email hidden]> wrote:

>
>"Davide Tosi" <[email hidden]> wrote in message

>>
>> Pascal Lino
>
>Exactly right, thanks. I forget his name a lot because he almost seems

like

Quoted message said:

>a composite of other French riders. He was supposed to be a big talent

and I

Quoted message said:

>can't recall anything he did other than borrow the yellow jersey that

year.

Quoted message said:

>

He looked really good on a bike. Much better than Virenque.

JT

Oh yeah, he had a lot going for him. He really did. Unfortunately for him
that was back in the days when there were still a lot of French fans that
expected the "next Hinault" to emerge at any moment. I don't recall that
Virenque was ever favored or placed under that kind of pressure. That may

be

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

partly why Virenque was driven to get the attention at all costs. First

to

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

go through that meat grinder was Jean-Francois Bernard and Chas Mottet,

then

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Jalabert, Gilles Delion, Lino and at least another dozen guys I can't

think

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

of right now. I suppose even Fignon can be put in this category but since

he

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

achieved some success, things are different for him. He brought that
pressure to himself by winning the Tour so very young and then repeating

all

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

before Hinault even earned his 5th Tour. Things may have been so

different

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

for Fignon if Hinault or Lemond never lost time to injuries. Guimard

would

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

have likely got a lot more out of him if he had been allowed to grow in

to

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

the status that came (too early) with those first 2 wins.

If it wasn't for lenticular wheels and aero-bars he would have scored 2
Giro/Tour doubles and would be now ranked among the top GT riders ever.
A bit of it was just bad luck and a bit of it was Guimard not being
technologically up to date.

Plus a podium finish in Paris-Roubaix.
-Mike