Well...
dagger said:
Hoste has won 2(oops that is 2 stages..I counted his 2nd place TT last week as a win) and several 2 and 3 places, and The over all at De Panne. So your wrong about him. Disco said the MSR was not on their list of priorities so your wrong on that. You're correct on the QS juggarnaut for one day races. Fortunately Boonen is not a stage race winner. Disco leads the Pro Tour standings so that says something about their performance for the year. Take the blinders off and leave the dark side behind you.
Well, if people tell you that they aren't targeting MSR, that's silly. First of all, it's the first monument of the season, and also ranks in there with being one of the more prestigious races on the calender every single year. A win there can make someone's entire career actually. George said it was not a priority for him, so he didn't take place, but I don't remember anyone from the team saying that. If you don't send your best to MSR, you shouldn't even show up for the rest of the Spring Classics. But they did send a good team to MSR, but not their best, which in my opinion, was silly.
De Panne is not a big race. It's more like a prelude to this coming week of racing in the Ardennes and Belgium. It's a good quality win for Hoste, but it still doesn't rank up there with winning any one of the 3 races coming up this week. Flanders. GW. And Paris Roubaix.
I didn't say anything bad about Disco, I merely said that they have had good outings so far this year, but have not won big races. This is true. The ProTour rankings mean that they have finished people consistently in the top 10 or top 30 actually of any race that they've been in. That's it. They still haven't won a big race. You my friend should take the blinders off and realize that I was highly complimentary of their efforts so far this year, and hope to see them throw down this week with Quick Step and battle it out.
So I say to you, take the blinders off and realize that they are not dominating right now. They have a good shot at doing something this weekend, but this season they have yet to win any big races. Also, Boonen cannot be stopped. That man alone has won more races so far this season than Disco as a team. Just so you don't cry in your pudding, remember, I didn't disparage your beloved Disco team, and I respect them as a team, and would love to see them do well this coming week.