Thyroxin.

exactly. that right there is two decades worth of wisdom. Pretty textbook stuff insofar as strategy is concerned.

as for Debusschere, i would cut him some slack simply b/c this was a long, arduous break for him, albeit one in which he had an armchair ride for decent part of it.

what i don't understand is why Vanmarcke and Debusschere weren't on the wheel of Thomas/Terpstra and were instead on VdB's wheel most of the time.

so a dude attacks from ~6k out
quickstep has two dudes
why the hell are they looking around at each other?
why is one of those dudes not pulling immediately?

apologies if this has been covered all ready, I am like a child who has just wandered into the middle of a movie

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Kat Hunter reports on the San Dimas Stage Race from inside the GC winning team
Aeroweenie.com -Compendium of Aero Data and Knowledge
Freelance sports & outdoors writer Kathryn Hunter

Well it really makes sense considering the way Etixx have handled the finish of bike races the last couple of weeks ;) Terpstra's comment was that Stijn was too tired to respond, the Sporza commentators were alluding to the fact that maaaaybe Stijn really wanted to ride for his own chances. I'm not entirely sold on that as he basically carried the whole group together with Thomas and Sep until he cracked but that's also one of the only cards he can play even if he did want to go for his own chances as he has about the slowest sprint in that group.

i think that's part of it. He attacked OTF when Stybar had a puncture, and doing so formed the winning break. Footage showed him taking out his ear piece when initiating the attack, presumably b/c his director is shouting at him to get back.

the other part is that they were all knackered and wanted Thomas to contribute.

it is interesting to see the difference in team philosophies. Hire a lot of big guns, maybe you get problems like this. Big guns want to win.

Hire people who want to work as a team, you don't have this problem. But then you don't get 2+ guys in every single winning break either, haha.

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Kat Hunter reports on the San Dimas Stage Race from inside the GC winning team
Aeroweenie.com -Compendium of Aero Data and Knowledge
Freelance sports & outdoors writer Kathryn Hunter

Best race of the year so far.

Etixx have to be disappointed with how they handled it again. Debusschere was frustrating to watch. He didn't do anything whilst Roelandts was ahead, then hardly worked afterwards.

Does anyone know why Sagan didn't make the front group? My coverage seemed to cut that part out.

Why don't they have stages like this in the grand tours? It would be good to see big time gaps that didn't favour climbers so much to give an all rounder a better chance of winning. I guess the huge workload of a day like that could be an issue, but it is more than a big mountain stage?

Wiggins looks in great shape to fulfil his Roubaix ambitions!

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http://www.thedeludedcyclist.wordpress.com

They do sometimes throw cobbles and such in there. Arranging for that kind of wind is hard though =)

The TDF has some cobbles this year.

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Kat Hunter reports on the San Dimas Stage Race from inside the GC winning team
Aeroweenie.com -Compendium of Aero Data and Knowledge
Freelance sports & outdoors writer Kathryn Hunter

It's a shame they can't book the wind.

The TdF stage in 2013 where sky got left behind in the wind was brilliant

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http://www.thedeludedcyclist.wordpress.com

Not sure I saw anyone mention this, but Debusschere was sitting in because his teammate Roellants was up the road. But even so, just trying to sit in in those conditions is hard.

FYI Private Internet Access (aka PIA) is also another good VPN option for getting Eurosport. I use it on my personal laptop to provide a secure connection when using public wifi, but I can also connect to their London POP to connect to Eurosport.

People with up slanting power profiles always get mad at wheel suckers =)

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Kat Hunter reports on the San Dimas Stage Race from inside the GC winning team
Aeroweenie.com -Compendium of Aero Data and Knowledge
Freelance sports & outdoors writer Kathryn Hunter

"Does anyone know why Sagan didn't make the front group? My coverage seemed to cut that part out"


I didn't see watch Gent, but I'm guessing this is why. Kabloowee....same for Stybar maybe. Even the studs need down time.

http://www.steephill.tv/classics/e3-harelbeke/

He was still sitting on after Roellants was long caught and Paolini attacked solo.

Terpstra looked pretty good yesterday and was impressive to sprint for 2nd. He could be a force the next couple weeks.

TK said he got hit in the head by a flying bike. Thankfully that doesn't happen every day, and they have those ridiculous Poc glasses for eye protection.

Debusschere was frustrating to watch. He didn't do anything whilst Roelandts was ahead, then hardly worked afterwards.

Well, "the rule" is, that when a team mate is up the road and you are in a chasing group, you should not really be contributing to the effort of the chase. You just sit at the back. Now there are all kinds of variations of this that can play-out on the road during a race. You might get a few chirps from the others, but they know that those are the informal, "rules".

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

I just watched it. Terpstra looked good. Paolini's ride was amazing. Chasing on, attacking, pulling and then having enough to get away. Jack Bauer heaved his bike into a flooded ditch. Brutal race.

Well I totally get that he didn't have to work with Roelandts up the road, but even when Roelandts was caught he did nothing even though he was the fastest guy in the break. Which means he was either tired despite all the drafting he could do, or he was not willing to work for whatever reason. My guess it is was a mix of both.

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Don't forget to attack!

I appreciate why he wasn't working when Roelandts was out front, I just expected more from him afterwards. I guess he didn't have much left

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http://www.thedeludedcyclist.wordpress.com

It would be cool if they could have a running tally of remaining anaerobic capacity for each rider. So you could tell who was actually tired, and who was faking =)

Of course I would want no such device on me if I was racing.

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Kat Hunter reports on the San Dimas Stage Race from inside the GC winning team
Aeroweenie.com -Compendium of Aero Data and Knowledge
Freelance sports & outdoors writer Kathryn Hunter

I just think he was cooked. Had nothing left. Sure he is a fast sprinter, but after a day like that, he had no legs left.

I think that would make for some interesting viewing.

Did anyone see this video from a few of weeks ago? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bV_Hpj_3pPo
It's Sam Dumoulin in the Drôme Classic showing his power, cadence and speed as he goes to win. It would be great if this was something regularly featured on coverage

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http://www.thedeludedcyclist.wordpress.com

I guess he didn't have much left

"The Rules" are one thing, and us playing arm-chair DS something else. However, if the legs are not there, they are not there! :)

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

Under the conditions they were riding much of the race, there really wasn't a lot of shelter to be found even at the back of the group he was with.

Etixx-Quickstep are in a good position with Terpstra, Stybar and Vanderberg. Strangely, though, they've shown themselves to be incapable of winning when more than one of their top riders makes the front group this year. One of those three will be in the selection for sure this Sunday.

On another note, another flat performance from Sagan. Maybe he spent too much time celebrating his big contract this offseason instead of training.

Very excited for the next two Sundays. With Boonen/Cancellara being out the dynamics could go so many ways. It's going to be fun watching it all play out......unless Sky TTT off the front and crush everyone, then I will just skeptically sip my coffee in disgust :)

Let's hope it doesn't come to that. Would be a shame to ruin a good cup of joe.