Podium Cafe

Morning.

I feel utterly shattered this morning. My weekend late night travel shenanigans have caught up with me. However, a Boonen win would make me very bouncy. Please make it so.

"very bouncy" .... hmmmm, the images you invoke

This has Cav written all over it.

If he's better, yes probably. He was nowhere to be seen yesterday in stage one but we'll see.

I mean two days ago in stage one, obviously ;)

But yesterday, with his team finishing second, he finished in the bunch. He's fit.

They were third, no? But point taken.

Still helping for someone else though…he’s been known to get beaten in Qatar; the early season can be an odd beast ;)

Oops, but I think my point still stands.

Yes, sure

Oh, and I meant hoping rather than helping…told you I was tired!

Galimzyanov FTW.

Bouncy boonen eh

tgsgirl - February 7, 2012 via mobile reply

I meant bouncy as in happy!

This is all too much for me on a Tueaday morning ;)

Greetings.

It was 20 degrees on my car’s thermostat today. Shamefully, still not much in the way of wind.

How can they train for the Classics when the wind refuses to blow?

The Qataris are rich enough

They can build them a few cobbled hellingen. Probably have them done by next year.

Don't know if anyone saw the viddy from yesterday in Mallorca

but Andy Fenn destroyed everyone again…no one came close

He's another young'un who'll be concentrating on the Olympics?

I think fully roadfocused now

CyclingWeekly make it sound that way

If he is selected, he'll just be helping Cav probably

Won’t they all?

tgsgirl - February 7, 2012 via mobile reply

I was under the misapprehension that he was another trackie. Road guys don't count in terms of VDS non-selection.

Talking about someone who probably does count, it's Elia's birthday today!

:)

I hope they can all count.

But I understand that when young, many of them neglect their schoolwork in favor of going on another bike ride.

thanks.

a bit disorganised (trainwise), but Feen looks impressive.

Howdy, and goodbye

Will miss the stage today unfortunately. 1t4i FTW

Go Boonen!

Or Farrar. Or Cav. I’m sort of non-partisan today. How about Cav for the stage, and we’ll leave Tyler and Tommeke to fight it out among themselves for the overall?

Tommeke for everything!

Tommeke for president!

Belgium should have tried building a government around Boonen—surely they all could have agreed on that?

Too flemish

PhilGil probably would’ve worked though.

tgsgirl - February 7, 2012 via mobile reply

Coalition!

and Sven as Minister of Everything Else ?

for Tiffany: Niels as Foreign Minister, so he can come and visit you ;-)

See? Everybody's happy!

Excellent. Belgium, make it so!

I concur!

tgsgirl - February 7, 2012 via mobile reply

With Sep as Secretary of State.

Mr Van P - February 7, 2012 reply

Sepretary?

tgsgirl - February 7, 2012 via mobile reply

touche

Mr Van P - February 7, 2012 reply

Which Sep?

Oh, never mind—he can be the whole cabinet.

It's good if all your cabinet members can be like minded

Also really cheap if you ever

Want to make a movie about them.

tgsgirl - February 7, 2012 via mobile reply

They could form a

Sep-eratist Government..

Off to work now. Go Tommeke!

Mr Van P - February 7, 2012 reply

Heh. Funny :)

tgsgirl - February 7, 2012 via mobile reply

Eeckhout better be the minister of defense

our current minister of defence is nicknamd Rambo too

A natural progression

So was my 5th grade teacher!

Lovely woman.

In Qatar, a breakaway of 4:

antmccrossan Anthony McCrossan
4 riders on the attack in #TourOfQatar , ignatyev, sohrabi, ojavee and lemair. Gap at 50k is 5.20, speed is 44kmh average.
36 minutes ago

Then he said 15 minutes ago the gap was 5:25.

Sohrabi!

It will be interesting to find out how good/bad he really is.

I concur

tgsgirl - February 7, 2012 via mobile reply

There are several interesting 1-pointers this year.

But I convinced myself a year or two ago that 1-pointers are a sucker’s bet.. Haven’t decided yet whether to change that back again…

Basically my strategy at the moment is to work myself down until

I need 1 rider per point I have left and then load up on the single pointers.

Hahahahahahaha, I said I had a strategy.

Oh, I have loads of one pointers

I picked up both keukeliere and Sagan at their cheapest two years ago.

tgsgirl - February 7, 2012 via mobile reply

You were here two years ago?

No

Different game. But the same principle applied.

tgsgirl - February 7, 2012 via mobile reply

Doesn't count.

I had sagan and Porte..

Si

Fuck

Can somebody pass me a beer. I’m dying of thirst.

Here you go...hope Boags is okay. Was it blisteringly hot in Sydney today?

Thanks! Boags is fine. And nah it was very mild today

But I’ve been punishing myself in the gym lately to make up for not being able to ride. It’s been awesome and the recovery’s going better than we first thought it would. I’m hoping to start commuting again by the end of the week.

Well done! It's been really hot here...lucky I'm on holidays :)

Swimming

Riding on the beach, more swimming, beers, sleeping in. I’m not jealous at all.

Not me.

Don't forget reading and cooking good stuff for my friends :)

Oh wow, I actually remember thinking reading

and believing I’d included it on the list… I’m slipping in my old age.

Life's blood my friend, although new releases lately seem to be very lacklustre.

I've actually just finished The Book Thief

Don’t know why I hadn’t read it earlier. Lovely story, annoying narrator.

So, are you taking it back

to the shop you lifted it from now?

Actually the friend I stole it from will be visiting in a couple of weeks.

So I may return it. Or not.

I enjoyed it too. I only realised very recently that the author is Australian...I never expect it with

Holocaust fiction.

and we've got live viddy

well, once they get rid of the tas announcement we will be

someone needs to tell these dudes about the no-doping talk during a live thread rule

hehe

ban them all.

Hi, everyone. Farrarr FTW today!!

I could live with that.

sohrabi wins both intermediates

Lotto Belisol is making a fan of me. Now if only Mark Sargeant doesn't fall for the lure of the TdF.

What a beast!

zabel!!!

Zabel...makes my day :)

Hello, PdC live thread regulars, long-time lurkers and rookie commenters!

yeah, that about covers us

I didn't want to make anyone feel left out.

Then again, maybe a simple “Hey all!” would have sufficed.

nah, yours was much more colorful

And people on lunchbreak

+1

Yay, for people on a lunch break!

I’m having salmon, what about you?

Does this mean you've finished with uni? Because as a student, I seemed to be on a permanent lunch break.

Those were the days, eh? Nah, I'm still very much 'Unified'

Nowadays, you actually have to do stuff at uni. It’s sickening the way they actucally make us, you know, do stuff. Stuff is piling up. Piling up to be done. Hopefully.

I must tell my students how things are done in Norway.

Make sure to add that it's an actual place,

not some dystopian/utopian daydream.

Norway or university?

Tous les deux.

I think university is also a state of mind :)

Wierd to see Zabel working for KAT. Nice smile. :-)

he may help to shift their image...stranger things have happened.

could we, maybe please, have echelons?

I just went outside

Don’t think it’s windy enough.

get off the sand, dudes

Yay! Feed works in the office!

And now, the first Albertina’s work lunch update of the new season: chicken risotto.

Awww! Mark your calendars, folks!

that's a step up..

let's see how long that lasts

I'm a good 5 hours from lunch, but thinking I might have to go out.

Didn’t do a big grocery shop this weekend, and ended up just throwing an omelet together yesterday.

that's what pantries and freezers are for

i’ll be throwing together a few things from each to end up with a tomato, bean, and chicken soup.

Yeah, I just need to plan better.

Gap 1:42, 35.5k left to go.

Someone used the word “desolate” to describe the geography yesterday; it really is!

Ostriches!

It’s not cows, but it will do.

Tommeke look-a-like on the front

Yay Guillaume!

new girlfriend btw

Yes I know.

I don’t read HLN, honest ;)

I read it in another newspaper

Het Nieuwsblad

The belgian media is happy to report

That he’s got a new gf.

tgsgirl - February 7, 2012 via mobile reply

He's too young for me, being honest...

Now camels.

Camels!

Garacuda, LQ and Sky really working hard at the front, gap down to 1:07 now!

A bit of an echelon?

starting to split

Oh, yeah!!!

Echelon!

Nice!

Splits! Echelons!

ECHELONS!!!!

Echelons in the desert, no less.

otherwise a bit of a waste of a desert, iffen you ask me

Big split!

sleeping on the job again

Why is my lunchbreak over already?

Cance makes the first group; hello, big guy!!

Cav, Gilbert, Tommeke & Farrar all in the front group.

Yup. Unless they manage to split it again, will be a heck of a sprint.

Renshaw, Blythe...

Wipe your chin Ruthann...

Gilbert taking care of his soldier

very nice.

+1

Nice try, break boys.

But here they come.

break soon to be caught

Ahh so excited about Guillaume...seems to be first lieutenant for Boonen

I’m going with Boonen ftw

+1

I want Boonen FTW but I fear Cav :(

Well, Cav has been sick...

He has, but he's made the split so can't be feeling too bad...

I know. Logically speaking, Cav is likely to kick Boonen's ass.

But I was trying to offer you some hope.

(Besides, anything can happen in Qatar, especially if the finish is windy.)

Thank you, so kind ;)

There is SOME hope…

He was fine yesterday.

+ new girlfriend

hawt

Very much so

Guillaume=hotter

How big is that first group?

about 43

25ish?

counted 4 OPQSers

hey this is great stuff

I am late to work for this….

The S5 looks made for Summie

a few is on my road

they are not too good for rain, muddy roads with the back wheel clearance

Figures with that design

not a fan of road bikes made to look like TT bikes generally

maybe lower tires are the trick

19 k to go!

Look majope, Dekker!

Degenkolb in there too

Yes, he was taking pulls at the front when I first tuned in.

The pace has slackend a bit

or I am mistaken?

so its snowing outside, and here we are talking about sunny Qatar ..

can we have a CX thread instead please ?
:-)

NO!

Qatar's way of saying "Come visit us! The scenery is boring, but at least it's hot!"

like most supermodels

Speaking of which, Gisele what's-her-name is on TV today,

blaming Brady’s teammates for the Super Bowl loss.

prefer Halle Berry or Liz Hurley to "supermodels" thanks ...

and you can have large areas all by yourself.

are we still talking about supermodels?

Unlikely.

tax free, hot supermodels, all to yourself.

there is a live CX race on?

I wish !!!

Good morning!

Can’t miss Cav’s first win, can I?

always good to see the WC win

he looked strong yesterday

Ha! You said WC, and my brain froze for a sec.

I need coffee!

Gaps?

They haven't posted any times, but there are three groups on the road, in echelons.

I think the first and second groups are fairly close together, but they have allowed cars in the gap. I think the 3rd group is farther back.

Is it really Mouris at the front? It looks too small to be him, and no orange shoes.

Ooo the 'flowing locks of Thomas Dekker' says Harmon :)

The tone of voice was not admiring.

Harmon is bald? Envy?

No, he has hair. It's not very luxurious though.

Think it's disapproval from another source, based on comments yesterday.

Maybe he saw the ad and it's another type of envy?

Ad? There was an ad?

Perhaps I’d better go look…

Let me know if you find one, I'd like something to watch ;)

No, but the image put a smile on my face. I am easily pleased

With this smallish group

I thinking of a Gilbert attack.

And undermine his team mate?

too many, going too fast

I believe Blythe has a better shot

Christ, Rast looks like a Hulk

This is a race with an above average number of cycling 'hulks'.

Oh

Should be easy to spot.

10 mins of racing

I need to go to work!

Gee, traffic is terrible today.

I ride a motor cycle to work

I had a flat…….

KRUoPiS!!1!!

He's going to be very, very good :)

Hurry up boys, I have to go on the enquiry desk in a few minutes

Yeah! hurry up Cav

Only 6.4 to go--will be quick.

That is not what I had in mind

Boonen will do his best, I'm sure.

Boonen looks in absolute excellent form.

He's very skinny already, isn't he?

Lean, toned...

Yes, but it suits him. Possibly a little light for the cobbles?

Can haz Bridgestone jersey?

Are you sure you're still on water?

7.7k to go. There are no LIQ in the first group. 2nd group about 40" back.

6.7 here. You're losing time.

Hee. I'm with you, it just took me a few moments to type.

Phew...

Svein Tuft may never come back to Denmark

Since they insist on calling him Swine Tooooft

That sounds frighteningly like the pronunciation that Australians would use.

splitting again... the front group

Coming back.

Thomas yo-yoing a little

he's worked hard.

They say he has done a lot of work today.

Come on Tom!!!!

Ramunas = Jens 2

Flattering yourself?

i think he forgot an exclamation point

final km

i like the pattern in that roundabout

cav. boonen sits up.

Cav!

Cav then Boonen...Kruopis 3rd, I think

I'm stoked!

Meh. Humph. Boonen still in gold though.

Gotta go.

Cav looks fat and unfit! Totally not VDS material! Totally!

Don't over sandbag ;)

Worst sandbag ever

I am assure you sand is highest quality! Local.

From the Jersey shore? Are you sure? ;)

Hah! I meant local from Qatar. :)

Well, that will make all the difference.

Yeah! Like I said before Cav doesn’t look too good.

And my head is hurts, I jumped a little when he won and……why they build offices with such low ceilings?

He's obviously susceptible to illness

A bad sign this early in the season. Too expensive to take a risk.

sylvan - February 7, 2012 reply

Agree! Too risky!

Oh, Farrar.

All that work your team did on the front…

6th for Farrar. :-(

I think he needs to say 'I'm a Classics man'...full stop, the end.

Chris Fontecchio - February 7, 2012 reply

meh

He never starts off in top form. A lot of sprinters need minimal warmup but Farrar only wins when he’s ready.

Oh, stop it.

I just fired him and replaced him with—ah, somebody else. If I acknowledge you’re right, I’ll have to rehire him again.

Chris Fontecchio - February 7, 2012 reply

Ah

well, there’s an old VDS adage: what happens in February is certain to recur all season.

My team is looking worse and worse...

Who do you got for the Spanish races this year?

Like it matters.

Last year I picked two guys who’d done very well in the Vuelta the year before. Neither one of them raced it. This jinx obviously runs too deeply for me to fight.

Come to think of it, I do have Dekker!

He’s supposed to do Pais Vasco this year, and once upon a time he did pretty well there. But I’m not holding my breath.

He has Klodi to contend with...very dangerous :)

Kinda the story of his last couple of years, no?

Or, more accurately, all that work your team did to with 7-2 km to go.

I'm going out on a limb saying that little british guy can win a race or two

Boonen wasn't far off.

If he was in better position to start off with, MIGHT have been close

Cav can just do this over and over again.

Impressive.

Why on earth did he end up so far back?

He was in a great position, and then he suddenly wasn’t. Good work from Steegmans (?) to bring him back though.

Yeah, Steegmans was a freight train up to the front

I guess this is the time to work out these kinks

“Winning is more fun of course, but losing to Cavendish is no shame”, said Boonen. “The circumstances weren’t ideal either. We were one man down in our train. 3k from the line we had to go full steam ahead with mini-me° and Maes. Which only Steegmans and me for the final kilometer.”

“At 200m from the line I felt Gert was weakening a bit, so I couldn’t wait any longer. With the wind straight in our face that was just a bit too far. My acceleration did have a kick°°, just like Sunday, but the line was 50m too far away.”

“When Cavendish is in your wheel, you know that every kick as to be right and that you can’t make a single mistake, cause mistakes will be punished.”

°this may or may not be what he said
°°the word he uses in Dutch also translates to powder, which is funny

tgsgirl - February 7, 2012 reply

Cav didn’t even turn on an afterburner.

Which is reserved for Kitel, Gorilla and just few others.

Selig, another VDS tempter

Kroupis...another big unit.

Yeah, he is just about 6 foot (1.84 meters) but he weighs 80 kilos...around the same as Boonen

I'm really excited about him.

So am I...definitely one of my favorites

Cookie stuck to him like glue. I think GE know he's a diamond in the rough.

He fought well for position too. He wasn’t afraid to mix it up.

He definitely can fight...read an interview with him the other day

He lives in Belgium permanently and will be a great asset for the sprints…I’m wondering how dimensional he is and if he’ll be able to mix if up on the cobbles at all

I suspect he'' be excellent. the problem may be that at least 20 GE see themselves as 'Classics Men'.

Actually, that's the same as Cancellara...the only rider whose statistics I know.

I met Cance once. he is listed as 6'1".

I am 6’0" and he was clearly taller than me. Not a cyclist build though. More like a tennis pro.

Mr Van P - February 7, 2012 via mobile reply

Kroupis doesn't look like a cyclist either. I think he and Cance look like rugby players.

Commentators: Bernie Eisel worth his weight in gold, isn' he?

Oh, yeah!!

of course, he's Austrian :-)

Farrar still in 2nd overall.

Degenkolb is going to bob his head off in less than a season if he keeps sprinting

They really show off that football stadium

Probably because Sweden’s C-team played there and won a few weeks ago

hope Boonen has good form/luck in PR this year ...

hey TGS – will Sven enter Paris-Roubaix this year ?

I'm not gs, but no

hestopped doing that years ago. He’ll be focussing on MTB after the CX season. He still needs to qualifie for the olympics.

Yeah, what he said

tgsgirl - February 7, 2012 reply

(but with better spelling)

nevah

tgsgirl - February 7, 2012 reply

No wheelsponsor for Sky?