tombeej Posted March 31, 2015 Posted March 31, 2015 (In 2008 they returned the Koppenberg to the race after a major repair process. Before that, it was virtually unrideable, even by the pros.) "I told the organisers it wasn't a race but a war game. It's hard to explain what the Koppenberg means to a racing cyclist. Instead of being a race, it's a lottery. Only the first five or six riders have any chance: the rest fall off or scramble up as best they can. What on earth have we done to send us to hell now?" Bernard Hinault
tombeej Posted March 31, 2015 Posted March 31, 2015 "Only those who are in top condition can say that the Ronde is not hard. For everyone else, it's the Way of the Cross." Andrea Tafi
tombeej Posted March 31, 2015 Posted March 31, 2015 "Many great names of Flemish cycling live on the route of the race. This closeness doesn't exist in any other country. That's what gives our identity." Nico Mattan
Escapee.. Posted March 31, 2015 Posted March 31, 2015 Pictures from 2014 http://cdn.velonews.competitor.com/files/2014/04/SPTDW029-660x440.jpg
Escapee.. Posted March 31, 2015 Posted March 31, 2015 http://cdn.velonews.competitor.com/files/2014/04/SPTDW021-660x440.jpg
Escapee.. Posted March 31, 2015 Posted March 31, 2015 http://cdn.velonews.competitor.com/files/2014/04/SPTDW020-660x440.jpg
Escapee.. Posted March 31, 2015 Posted March 31, 2015 http://cdn.velonews.competitor.com/files/2014/04/SPTDW009-660x440.jpg
Gen Posted March 31, 2015 Posted March 31, 2015 http://cdn.velonews.competitor.com/files/2014/04/SPTDW009-660x440.jpg aye Fabulous.. I wonder if that was his the last spring classic win. damn. man.. this aging thing. His mind can still win them all, but the body not so willing.
ScottCM Posted March 31, 2015 Posted March 31, 2015 I really hope that MTN has better luck this time around. Although having the odd rider in the break or near the front every race , when it came down to crunch time something always seems to happen and then they are nowhere to be seen during the spring classics. The highlight of the year for them so far has come from Louis and not the big names they signed at the end of last season, who would have predicted that? Luckily there is still plenty of races to go in the year for the big names to come good. Personally I hope they make the full use of all these wild card entries they have been given this year.
Gen Posted March 31, 2015 Posted March 31, 2015 Speaking of MTN.. is it just me, or are they really doing a lot of races atm.. will these guys have anything left come TDF time.? *how many hours till Flanders again..http://pix.iemoji.com/sbemojix2/0070.png
Nibali Posted March 31, 2015 Posted March 31, 2015 I still have goose bumps after reading those quotes tombeej... Man I'm excited for Flanders!
tombeej Posted March 31, 2015 Posted March 31, 2015 I still have goose bumps after reading those quotes tombeej... Man I'm excited for Flanders!
Escapee.. Posted March 31, 2015 Posted March 31, 2015 Gen will enjoy this http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/latest-news/bradley-wiggins-will-not-win-paris-roubaix-says-allan-peiper-163513 Allan Peiper, the Australian who is now the manager of BMC Racing and who was an accomplished cobbled Classics rider himself, believes Sir Bradley Wiggins has the firepower to perform at the Hell of the North, but told Cycling Weekly that he believed the combined might of the opposition would stop him from doing so.The race is set to be Wiggins’s final outing for Team Sky.“I think he’s got what it takes, but no I don’t think he can pull it off,” Peiper said.“It’s just for the simple reason that there are so many specialists there: Fabian Cancellara, Niki Terpstra, Sep Vanmarcke. There are so many guys who have had years and years of experience in Roubaix and know how to ride that race.“I’m not going to say it won’t happen, but I don’t think it will.”Read more at http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/latest-news/bradley-wiggins-will-not-win-paris-roubaix-says-allan-peiper-163513#jeqbmcH19EumUQld.99
tombeej Posted March 31, 2015 Posted March 31, 2015 The notorious Koppenberg - before and after the repairs a back in 2008. Certainly rideable by a competent amateur on a sunny day without anyone else in the way (different story in the rain at that mad gradient, I'm sure). And then some of the carnage of the old days....
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