The professional cycling thread

[Johnny]

Ouch! That looked painful!

[Rouleur]

Great finish, Canc is just a machine.
Drinking beer too!

Edited by Rouleur on Sunday 6th April 15:55

[Dr Imran T]

Superb race from start to finish. Belgium classics really are punishing.

Good work by geraint t to finish in the top ten.

Obviously, a master class by fab! Looked a free for all at 300m to go.

[okgo]

He is a beast. That is all.

[Rouleur]

He was so cool, when the two Belgians attacked he did nothing and let Vanmarcke drag him back to them. Class.

[V-spec]

Alex Langheck said:

Ouch - out after hitting an old woman. What is she doing in the road? Too many speccies standing in the road - when will they learn?

Video of the crash.
http://www.lalibre.be/sports/cyclisme/tour-des-fla...

She was on a traffic island. Not ideal but not "in" the road. She's in a critical condition.

[mcelliott]

Brilliant race, the last 30km were epic. Sparticus proving he's got superb tactical nouse (as if there was any doubt), and when it matters, he's the best sprinter in the world! The master.

[okgo]

fking hell. Hadn't seen JVS hit that woman. Some crash. The people there don't even realise. Shocking.

I have to say, as far as races go. This one looks dangerous as fk. Very few marshalls, lots of hazards, and the sheer nber of crashes was incredible. That all said. The hitters seems to make it through year on year.

[Dicky88]

Was a great race and awesome finish by Canc. He looks like he'll be hard to beat at Roubaix next week.

That was a nasty crash with Vansummeren hitting the woman, she's said to have life threatening injuries so let's hope she pulls through and is ok.

[matt-ITR]

That video is really shocking.
Spectators should never stand in the middle - traffic island or not. It's not for her to know though, it's for the safety officials to tell her.

I hope they are both OK.

[ewenm]

Should have been a policeman with a whistle and flag on the island, not unprotected spectators.

[Rocksteadyeddie]

That was nasty. Although what on Earth made the spectators think that was a good place to stand.

In brighter news what a cracking race. Cancellara outthought and out rode the Vans. Kristoff rode very well again, and 8th place for G is a cracking result particularly bearing in mind he'd spent time on the deck again.

[Dr Imran T]

To be fair, I don't think the spectator thought she'd be standing in harms way.

Hope she makes a full recovery. Quite a nasty hit to take for a 65 year old..

Man of the day for me was the Belgian rider that kept getting back on his bike.. He was off about 5 times and looked down and out each time(bah) :-)

[Alex Langheck]

That was Stijn Devolder....Mr Indestructible... And twice winner of the Ronde.

OPQS must have egg on their faces; seemed to have lots of card to play... And still couldn't complete the job. Will be interesting to see what they do next week at Roubaix.

[Highway Star]

Great race, slightly spoilt by Carlton Kirby's 'commentary' on Eurosport. David Harmon, come back, all is forgiven!

[Rocksteadyeddie]

Alex Langheck said:

That was Stijn Devolder....Mr Indestructible... And twice winner of the Ronde.

OPQS must have egg on their faces; seemed to have lots of card to play... And still couldn't complete the job. Will be interesting to see what they do next week at Roubaix.

OPQS made a right old horlicks of it given their numerical advantage.

[Johnny]

Stonking ride by Bertie today!

Edited by Johnny on Monday 7th April 16:35

[Jimbo.]

V-spec said:

Video of the crash.
http://www.lalibre.be/sports/cyclisme/tour-des-fla...

She was on a traffic island. Not ideal but not "in" the road. She's in a critical condition.

But between the barriers and therefore "in" the course. Silly, silly idea. You wouldn't do the same with motor racing, horse racing etc, etc...so why here?

[okgo]

Johnny said:

Stonking ride by Bertie today!

Edited by Johnny on Monday 7th April 16:35

He is a big hitter huh.

[anonymous-user]

Mrspablo may let me name pablo junior after Sunday's winner....