Roubaix

Wow.
I got up at four to start looking for live feeds on the nets. Around five, a couple of links showed up, so I settled in to watch my favorite race. The commentary was in French, which I didn't really mind. As long as I'm being shown the right pictures, I don't generally find I need someone to explain what I'm seeing. I guess this is a big reason why I have such a hard time watching the big US sports. The stupid TV coverage cant get out of the way of itself, but I digress...

Sitting with my coffee, watching the early km's of the race, all was good. The peloton had a nervous look to it as they cleared the first few cobbled sections. Then came the Trouée d'Arenberg, and the race was on. It's been said that you can't win PR here, but you can certainly lose it. Occurring with 100 km still to race, it's very unlikely someone could drive a break that far. But Arenberg = crashes, and if you get stuck behind a big enough one, you'll lose minutes and your race hopes are over.

This year most of the big names made it through Arenberg in good position but not many others.

One of the reason I like Roubaix so much, is that every year, I know that a rider I like will win. It's a bit of a cause/effect paradox. I like riders that win PR, because they win PR. But mostly it's the type of riders that the course favors. Tom Boonen, Thor Hushovd, Fabian Cancellara... guys that I root for throughout the year, but guys that really shine in the Spring Classics (and who will do impressive things through the Grand Tours, but not come close to winning the overall).

Watching breaks form, get absorbed, form again, etc, was really fun to watch. Seeing the look of panic on Hincapie's face when he wrapped a spoke around his derailler was tragic. Another mechanical problem = another PR shot to hell. But up the road the big guys were battling. Mostly Boonen was battling and everyone else was following and trying to hang on. Lot's of guys looked strong, but no one looked *as strong*. In the end his strength proved too much, many riders couldn't handle his accelerations on the cobbles, and others couldn't match his bike handling. So he won, it really was that simple. Maybe that's why I like PR so much. It's a simple race and the strongest/smartest rider usually wins.