George was strong yesterday, but Hoste was simply stronger, and rode away with the strongest man in the break. George, to his credit, had great legs, so he said, and you could tell in the group sprint for 3rd, as he took it easily from the others. Also, he played the perfect teammate. He of course had his own ambitions for this race, but once Boonen went away with Hoste, and Bettini started riding herd, that was all she wrote, and George put in some help as well making sure nobody started to bridge up to the leaders. They way I read his interview post race is that he was angry that he had such good form, and didn't have a chance to use it. If Hincapie had gone with Boonen and Hoste though, I think there would have been a Disco rider standing on the top step yesterday, because when and if you can 2 on 1 someone, well, there is no way that you shouldn't win, but then again, Boonen, never know what he's capable of so far this year. What I think is surprising is that everyone is saying on here at least, how Hoste wasn't as strong as Hincapie. Did I miss something in the races leading up to Flanders where Hoste has proven himself the strongest Disco rider in the Spring thus far? I'm just wondering. George looked good, and I think it bodes well for him this coming weekend of PR, and also for maybe a repeat of GW during the mid-week? Then again, he might not burn the matches to win GW and save it all for a Sunday in Hell of next weekend.
Some are wondering why Hoste didn't try to attack Boonen before the finale. Well, if you've never been in a breakaway in a bike race, and have not been riding on the limit for kilometer after kilometer, you'd know that it is almost impossible to throw in an attack that would split the break. Also, you have to read your breakaway companion, see how he's feeling, throw it down a little bit, see how he reacts, and I think I read somewhere where Hoste did a little larger effort, and Boonen was matching him easily. If Hoste attacks, at the worst, he gets shelled from the breakaway, falls back through the chasers and finishes a disappointing 20th or something like that. At best, of course, he cracks Boonen, and wins the race, but looking at Boonen's exploits on the bike leading up to Flanders, who in the world would think that you could crack him. It just didn't, and still doesn't, seem very likely or possible. And when you get into a break like that, you don't start attacking immediately, first you've got to establish a good sized gap between you and the chase group, once this is done, then you can start attacking one another. If you attack each other too early, you will both get caught by the chase, and therefore ruin your chances of winning no doubt. So you work with one another, establish a good sized gap, try a few things, if they don't work, you back off, and keep working, and wait for the sprint. Hoste, had a good sprint win last week, so I'm sure he was thinking it is possible to take Boonen in the finale, mostly because they were both going to be tired as all get out, but as we know now, Boonen made it look easy.
Anyway, Sunday is another race.