“Where hacks come to spew nonsense” – B2B
If you have not yet seen it, you can observe Hincapie’s Paris-Roubaix style here.
(If you get this bunk “Because of licensing restrictions, Cyclingnews Spring videos are only available to readers in certain territories..” just go here and click on New! 2006 Spring Classics videos listed under Features on the right side of the top page and click on the Paris-Roubaix video.)
This weeks video is the final of the 1996 Flèche Wallonne.
La Flèche Wallonne (the Walloon Arrow) takes place in the Ardenne hills near Liège Belgium. The climbs of the Ardennes are highlighted with both the Flèche Wallonne and the Liège-Bastogne-Liège classic races taking place this week. These climbs are not long and not high as compared to the famous climbs of the Alps and the Pyrenees, but they are unbelievably steep and brutal. This makes the courses suited for a different type of rider as compared to the Flemish climbs used in the Tour of Flanders.
The 202km Flèche Wallonne starts in Charleroi and heads east to the city of Huy where the riders are directed up the Mur de Huy (the Wall of Huy). The Mur is slightly under one mile in length and has an average gradient of 15%. Towards the top of the climb riders are wishing they were on the average gradient as the road pitches up to a gradient of 25%. I rode this climb in 1990 and it’s incredible to ride your bike up a 25% slope. You truly fight the bike as you don’t have enough gear to turn the pedals smoothly and you can really feel the bike tilting up due to incline of the road. One slip of your rear wheel and down you will go.
Upon reaching the top of the Mur de Huy the riders are then directed on a circuit around the outskirts of the city of Huy before coming back into town and climbing the Mur again. But two climbs isn’t enough and after an additional circuit the riders have to climb the Mur once more, with the finish of the race being at the top of the climb.
It’s a real bear of a race and it’s never won by a true mountain climber. The champion in Huy has to be a rider that can drive on the flat road of the circuit while still being strong enough to get up the climb in the lead. In 1996 Lance Armstrong and Didier Rous pried themselves off the front off the race on the final circuit and entered Huy alone. Armstrong proved too tough for Rous up the Mur and soloed across the finish line.
Who will win tomorrow? CSC is on a tear this spring with victories in Paris-Roubaix and this team has a number of riders that could do well including Karsten Kroon, Peter Luttenberger, Fränk Schleck and Tour de France contender Ivan Basso. Last years winner Danilo Di Luca will be at the start. Quick•Step rider Paolo Bettini is well suited for this race. Even American Chris Horner, riding for Davitamon/Lotto has a chance in this race. We shall see.
Is Bjarne Riis playing psychological games with his former team mate Jan Ullrich? From ProCycling:
Speaking to Danish daily BT, CSC team manager Riis described Ullrich’s state of form as “absolutely catastrophic” based on observations made when the T-Mobile team leader crossed paths with CSC leader Ivan Basso during a recent training camp in Tuscany.
“It’s clear that he doesn’t like riding his bike, and for that reason I don’t understand why he wants to be a cyclist, it’s a waste of his talent,” Riis stated. “He needs to wise up right away. My belief in him is dwindling.”
Riis added that he thought Ullrich’s form probably wasn’t that far off that of many of his potential Tour rivals, but was well below Basso’s level, who he claimed was “a very long way ahead” of the rest. Riis also said he was “more sure” of Basso’s Giro d’Italia prospects this year than he was in 2005.
I picked Ullrich to beat Basso in the Tour de France this year. It seems like Ullrich is annually fighting his weight (sound familiar?) before he gets into shape just before the start of the Tour and this year may be no exception. But if Ullrich has lost the desire to ride it is going to be difficult for him to commit to the intensive hours of training that is still to come in May and June during the build up for the Tour.
Stay tuned for the Smithers Tour de France pool coming your way June 1.
Paul wins the 2006 Smithers Weight Challenge!
He is soon the be the owner of a brand new Banjo Brothers gear bag.
Want to lose weight? Start a website and send everyone you know a link to your site. Then put your current weight on the site where everyone can then see what a lard butt you are. That’s all the motivation that you need. It worked for me, I lost 19 pounds since the first of the year.
The challenge is over but the weight loss will continue now that I am riding outside and burning more calories. I just don’t have to update that damn weight chart all the time. I’ll leave the chart up for the rest of the week.
Your next opportunity to win one of these great bags is to sponsor me in the June 3 Tour de Cure. Everyone that sponsors me in this event will be entered in a drawing to win the bag. The winner will be announced on June 2. Good luck!
