[rocco]

Today's finally was great show of how much Steegmans has been such a huge help to McEwen. Steegmans and Boonen have had a rivalry since they were kids and you could see today how much he enjoys helping McEwen beat Boonen. Because of Steegmans' performance Boonen didn't have a chance by the 150 to 100 meter mark. Steegmans' positioning, timing and speed/power were the main ingredient in McEwen's win. QS is wasting too much energy too soon with the lead out and Boonen keeps on finding himself going too soon, boxed in and forced to re-accelerate when it's too late. It was as if Boonen and Steegmans were sprinting against each other to the 100 meter line and Steegmans won.
Meanwhile McEwen catapulted off of Steegmans wheel with a wide open lane against the left side barriers.

Note how McEwen and Freire each won sprints during the last two days when they had clear lanes on either side of the road near the barriers. They had wide open defenceable space.

 

[Gripped]

Today's finally was great show of how much Steegmans has been such a huge help to McEwen.

Robbie explicitly credited Steegmans for the win today in post races comments. He went on to say that he doesn't want a train because he's such an opportunist. Just wants one guy who he can talk to who will position him to take opportunities.

Today it was Steegmans.

 

[atpjunkie]

and considering Steegman

is standing in for the injured Fast Freddie he's done a smashing job. Mistimed it yesterday, Robbie was very unstressed and non-chalant "oh well we didn't get it right today, we'll get it tomorrow' considering what a jerk he's supposed to be he's had the best interviews and attitude all tour.

 

[SilasCL]

Could Boonen's train get any worse? They disintegrated again with 600 meters...

If I were his DS, I would have Pozzato sit next to Steegmans in the finale, with Boonen on his wheel. Follow Robbie or launch just before.

Why the F did QS lead out Boonen right against the barriers?!?! They are terrible.

Silas

 

[snowman3]

Robbie was very unstressed and non-chalant "oh well we didn't get it right today, we'll get it tomorrow' considering what a jerk he's supposed to be he's had the best interviews and attitude all tour.

Yeah, no kidding. Robbie is nice and Al Traut is tollerable. It's a strange tour this year! Robbie just has an awesome setup. All Phil and Paul talk about during the last 600m is how Robbie is hidden, but we'll see him in a second. They expect him to win every sprint stage.

 

[atpjunkie]

do you blame them?

out of 5 sprint finishes he has 3 firsts a close second and a 5th.
Robbie hides like no other and explodes to the line behind a single leadout. quite impressive

 

[rocco]

Could Boonen's train get any worse? They disintegrated again with 600 meters...

If I were his DS, I would have Pozzato sit next to Steegmans in the finale, with Boonen on his wheel. Follow Robbie or launch just before.

Why the F did QS lead out Boonen right against the barriers?!?! They are terrible.

Silas

QS wastes too much energy controlling the tempo up front/working to reel in the break away. They need to force others to do more up front during the heart of the stage so they have enough left in the tank to do their job during the finally.

 

[rocco]

is standing in for the injured Fast Freddie he's done a smashing job. Mistimed it yesterday, Robbie was very unstressed and non-chalant "oh well we didn't get it right today, we'll get it tomorrow' considering what a jerk he's supposed to be he's had the best interviews and attitude all tour.

Steegmans loves to beat Boonen any way he can. He's a big and fast object for the much smaller McEwen to hide behind. The two man combo makes for a much simpler plan than the full on train. Sometimes the simple plan is the best plan... less is more.

McEwen has always been all right by me.

 

[T-shirt]

McEwen certainly found form at the right time. He is owning these sprints. It even sounded like he was too far back and out of it today. But the cloak of invisibility sure is working.

Kudos as well to the break-away. Those guys did not sit up even in the last meter before being caught. They were die-hard. It seems pointless to keep fighting, but I respect them anyway and ejoyed seeing their effort.

My question is about yesterday's sprint, why did Boonen cross from far left to far right? Was he caught up in a 'hunter' mentality trying to catch Freier? He added distance to his race. Do you think he could have won if he had held a straight line?

Thanks,
Tshirt

 

[rocco]

McEwen certainly found form at the right time. He is owning these sprints. It even sounded like he was too far back and out of it today. But the cloak of invisibility sure is working.

Kudos as well to the break-away. Those guys did not sit up even in the last meter before being caught. They were die-hard. It seems pointless to keep fighting, but I respect them anyway and ejoyed seeing their effort.

My question is about yesterday's sprint, why did Boonen cross from far left to far right? Was he caught up in a 'hunter' mentality trying to catch Freier? He added distance to his race. Do you think he could have won if he had held a straight line?

Thanks,
Tshirt

The basic way to say it is that he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. ...or in other words, he was in a bad position/location.

 

[T-shirt]

The basic way to say it is that he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. ...or in other words, he was in a bad position/location.

rocco,

:thumbsup: Thanks for the info. Seeing these races on tv (non-highlite form) is new for me. It's nice to see all of the action and watch an event, like a sprint, unfold. I'm learning to understand it better. This year I'm having a lot more fun.

Thanks again,
Tshirt

 

[SilasCL]

[My question is about yesterday's sprint, why did Boonen cross from far left to far right? Was he caught up in a 'hunter' mentality trying to catch Freier? He added distance to his race. Do you think he could have won if he had held a straight line?

Thanks,
Tshirt

He added distance, but was hoping to get in Oscar's draft and then slingshot past him.

A valid tactic, but played out too late to be of any value,

Silas

 

[atpjunkie]

quick breakdown of a flat stage

small breakaway gets away with hopes of glory but will settle for TV time (puts their sponsors logo all over the tele for an hour plus: job #1)
Yellow jersey's team is responsible for early control of break,not letting breakaway get too far ahead. After about half the race is done, sprinters teams will take over pacemaking. You will see alliances between QS, Lotto, Credit Ag and Lampre as their riders keep gap close but don't catch them too soon. (to do so would give time for a counter attack)
Catch is made and sprint teams start to wind it up. If you have a dominant team (not in this years tour) they'll stretch it out and the other sprinters will be scratching for the wheel of their guy (Petacchi and fassa or now Milram was classic) watch the bumping and fighting as sprinters try to get the wheel of whoever they think is the fast man.
Final K sprinter will be behind his leadout who will hopefully slingshot him to victory at about 200 m (changes depending on finish parcourse)

 

[atpjunkie]

Freire got a monster jump

and Boonen was hoping to ctach that train and pass it. Too late. Awesome run by Oscar.

 

[T-shirt]

He added distance, but was hoping to get in Oscar's draft and then slingshot past him.

A valid tactic, but played out too late to be of any value,

Silas

Ahhh, like he would use his lead-out man, I see. Thanks.

Poor Boonen,
Tshirt

 

[rocco]

rocco,

:thumbsup: Thanks for the info. Seeing these races on tv (non-highlite form) is new for me. It's nice to see all of the action and watch an event, like a sprint, unfold. I'm learning to understand it better. This year I'm having a lot more fun.

Thanks again,
Tshirt

Watching the slow-mo replays of the sprints is very interesting and informative. ...and yes a straight line would be better but it seems to me he's been hitting full sprint/speed too soon or too far from the line all week.

 

[T-shirt]

atpjunkie,

Excellent analysis. Thanks atpjunkie. I'll have to look for this stuff as the race goes on.

Thanks again,
Tshirt

 

[rocco]

He added distance, but was hoping to get in Oscar's draft and then slingshot past him.

A valid tactic, but played out too late to be of any value,

Silas

It just seems like nothings working for him right now. That yellow jersey on his back probably doesn't help much. ...Let's see McEwen try to hide in that thing.

P.S. Why the hell does Liggett keep calling McEwen "The Pimpernel"? What am I missing here?