I started Sunday morning with one of my favorite spring rituals, watching a European classic race simulcast on the web, in this case the Tour of Flanders. Of course I am a big fan of the major tours, watching the daily variety of sprint stages and mountaintop finishes, along with the struggle of the team leaders for overall victory, but I really enjoy watching the one-day classics. Perhaps in my dream world I see this as the type of race in which I could excel - the cobbled roads and hilly terrain of the Low Countries require a little more powerful body type than those possessed by the mountain goat-type flyweights like Alberto Contador and Andy Schleck.
European sports network SPORZA coversed the whole six-hour race, but I saw no need to get up at 5:00AM, so I picked up the action around 8:00. SPORZA’s coverage is regional throughout the continent, and therefore also broadcasts in several languages. I started off listening to coverage in Flemish, which sounds like a blend of French and Dutch. I changed over to British EuroSport when their coverage started around 9:30, so that I could actually understand what was being said as the race neared its conclusion. An added bonus was the color commentary by one of my all-time favorite cyclists, Sean Kelly, but more on him later.
I found myself frustrated at the end of the race, because of some stupid crashes that took out strong contenders for victory. One involved a spectator and Sebastian Langeveld, who was sent flying when his front wheel hit the leg of the panicking man as he tried to jump out of the road. The other accident occurred when Fabian Cancellara tangled up with another cyclist in a feed zone and went down hard on his side. Cancellara and Langeveld both suffered broken collarbones and will likely miss the rest of the classics races this year. Fabian seemed to be in such great form this spring, and I will particularly miss watching his dominating style off the front of the peloton.
Another frustrating aspect of this and some other recent races has been the tactics by individual riders as they near the finish line. A couple weeks ago during Milan-San Remo, Simon Gerrans (pictured right, edging out Cancellara for victory) responded to an attack by Vincenzo Nibali on the race’s final climb. When Fabian Cancellara went by both of them, Gerrans and Nibali just sat on his wheel and were effectively towed to the finish line. Nibali is a poor sprinter and was always going to finish third, so I don’t know why he didn’t try to get away from his breakaway companions, but perhaps he had nothing left. Gerrans really only took one turn at the front in the three person breakaway, setting the stronger Cancellara up to do most of the work to keep the trio away from the quickly-closing pack, and keeping himself fresh for a sprint victory. To his credit, Gerrans acknowledged Fabian’s efforts as the “strongest rider of the day”.
In Flanders, Alessandro Ballan broke away on one of the final climbs, with only Filippo Pozzato and Tom Boonen able to catch on. Ballan (pictured left, with Pozzato, then Boonen, trailing) was the weak sprinter and really had no choice but to attack, and Boonen, being a Belgian on his home turf and pre-race favorite, would have to chase any move. This left Pozzato to just follow Boonen and save himself for the last dash. Well, Ballan didn’t try nearly enough, and ended up leading out the sprint for the line. Pozzato sat on Boonen’s wheel until the last few meters and couldn’t come around him. The two Italians explained later how they discussed (in their native Veneto dialect, no less) their options in trying to shake Boonen, who has won the green jersey for top sprinter at the Tour de France. Well, I can imagine their plan didn’t involve neither of them winning!
I know that the riders may not use the best of judgment when fatigue sets in after riding 150 miles, but in this age of race radio, team directors should be giving some helpful tips into their cyclist’s earpiece. The Italians would have found more success wearing out Boonen by taking turns attacking; he wouldn’t be able to cover every move! At the very least, Pozzato should have positioned himself behind Ballan in the sprint and forced Boonen to come around both of them. Sean Kelly, winner of several Classics and scores of sprint finishes during his career, even commented on a similar strategy - his advice would be GOLD!
I’ll leave you with a humorous excerpt from the race coverage, following Fabian Cancellara’s unfortunate exit from the Tour of Flanders – not that his crash was in any way funny! SPORZA’s English language ticker, which accompanies the Flemish broadcast for the benefit of us Yanks, has the term “Lost in translation” immediately coming to my mind:
Cancellara is the game seems over for Cancellara. During the supply smacking hard against the Swiss champion the asphalt. The big favorite is long down, the rate was beheaded.
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