#11
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Zabel second
Smokey wrote:
Mike Jacoubowsky wrote: Who'd'a thunk? Too bad. Would have been great to have won the WC and then retire. He certainly deserves it (not saying he deserves to win the WC, as it's not ice dancing, but if he had won it, it certainly would have been a desirable point in time to leave the sport). --Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles www.ChainReactionBicycles.com Agreed. I always thought Zabel was one of the good guys of the sport. Next year the championships are in Germany. I know it's a long shot, but wouldn't it be something if he [Zabel] won there? Smokey That would make him the oldest champ since Cipollini, yeah? |
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#12
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Zabel second
Mike Jacoubowsky wrote:
Who'd'a thunk? Too bad. Would have been great to have won the WC and then retire. He certainly deserves it (not saying he deserves to win the WC, as it's not ice dancing, but if he had won it, it certainly would have been a desirable point in time to leave the sport). --Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles www.ChainReactionBicycles.com I agree. Damn you, Bettini!!! ~bob |
#13
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Zabel second
Keith wrote:
On Mon, 25 Sep 2006 21:10:37 -0400, RonSonic wrote: On Mon, 25 Sep 2006 19:33:07 GMT, Keith wrote: On Sun, 24 Sep 2006 08:27:13 -0700, "Robert Chung" wrote: Who'd'a thunk? yeah, poor guy, the excellent Swiss commentator Bertrand Dubout (I skip France2/3 and Eurosport to watch cycling on TSR now, these guys crack me up) was howling, "Zabel, le Malheureux" in his microphone ! Kinda makes you wonder how Zabel could spoil a chance like that though, Bettini certainly deserved to win after breaking loose twice, but Zabel should be able to beat him in a sprint, same goes for Valverde of course. Everybody underestimates Bettini as a sprinter. The guy has a tremendous acceleration. The only way you're going to beat him is by being a great sprinter yourself and timing it out perfectly so that he can't come around on you. True, wonder where that "punch"comes from though, the guy is so small 1.65m ! I'm not implying he's doping, I'm just wondering where he finds that boost ! It takes less power to move a lighter vehicle. Of course, his technique has to be correspondingly finer than others', just as McEwen's does since he's smaller than Boonen or Hushovd. A small, powerful rider can just easily be an inefficient thrasher - for example, Thomas Voeckler or Iker Flores. |
#14
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Zabel second
In article ,
RonSonic wrote: On Mon, 25 Sep 2006 19:33:07 GMT, Keith wrote: On Sun, 24 Sep 2006 08:27:13 -0700, "Robert Chung" wrote: Who'd'a thunk? yeah, poor guy, the excellent Swiss commentator Bertrand Dubout (I skip France2/3 and Eurosport to watch cycling on TSR now, these guys crack me up) was howling, "Zabel, le Malheureux" in his microphone ! Kinda makes you wonder how Zabel could spoil a chance like that though, Bettini certainly deserved to win after breaking loose twice, but Zabel should be able to beat him in a sprint, same goes for Valverde of course. Everybody underestimates Bettini as a sprinter. The guy has a tremendous acceleration. The only way you're going to beat him is by being a great sprinter yourself and timing it out perfectly so that he can't come around on you. That's true, but I'd add that he's a very strong sprinter at the end of a very long day. Being strong at the end of a moderately long race in the middle of a GT is one thing, but having punch at the end of 265 or more km is another thing altogether. -- tanx, Howard Never take a tenant with a monkey. remove YOUR SHOES to reply, ok? |
#15
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Zabel second
On Tue, 26 Sep 2006 01:48:07 GMT, Keith wrote:
On Mon, 25 Sep 2006 21:10:37 -0400, RonSonic wrote: On Mon, 25 Sep 2006 19:33:07 GMT, Keith wrote: On Sun, 24 Sep 2006 08:27:13 -0700, "Robert Chung" wrote: Who'd'a thunk? yeah, poor guy, the excellent Swiss commentator Bertrand Dubout (I skip France2/3 and Eurosport to watch cycling on TSR now, these guys crack me up) was howling, "Zabel, le Malheureux" in his microphone ! Kinda makes you wonder how Zabel could spoil a chance like that though, Bettini certainly deserved to win after breaking loose twice, but Zabel should be able to beat him in a sprint, same goes for Valverde of course. Everybody underestimates Bettini as a sprinter. The guy has a tremendous acceleration. The only way you're going to beat him is by being a great sprinter yourself and timing it out perfectly so that he can't come around on you. True, wonder where that "punch"comes from though, the guy is so small 1.65m ! I'm not implying he's doping, I'm just wondering where he finds that boost ! He's "the Cricket." See the size of the thighs on that li'l ****er! He is also amazingly tough and as Howard pointed out is very strong at the end of a hard day. Bettini's got so many ways to win it's scary. Few guys who can sprint like him are threats on a small or solo break. Like imagine McEwen taking off with two laps to go, yeah right. Great rider and a fine champion. Ron The final 500 meters were stellar, with the thee champs going clear with the help of the Spanish racer (Sanchez), the cream of the cream ! Splendid. Can't remember the last time I saw that, WC 1981 maybe ? Just as splendid as a good climb in the Alps. Ron Famous Dubout quotes : "Bertrand Dubout, chroniqueur cycliste déjanté, pour: «Ils ont perdu du temps sur ceux qui ont déjà franchi la ligne.» «Il a pris un virage très douloureux dans le mauvais sens du terme.» «Les coureurs passent devant le château de Chillon toujours aussi imperturbable.» «Ah! Il est fort, Laurent Jalabert, c'est certain. Il est capable de tout faire, de gagner comme de perdre.»" |
#16
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Zabel second
in message , Keith
') wrote: Everybody underestimates Bettini as a sprinter. The guy has a tremendous acceleration. The only way you're going to beat him is by being a great sprinter yourself and timing it out perfectly so that he can't come around on you. True, wonder where that "punch"comes from though, the guy is so small 1.65m ! I'm not implying he's doping, I'm just wondering where he finds that boost ! Power to weight ratio. He weighs bugger all, so he needs very little power to accelerate. What impressed me (I am /not/ a Bettini fan) was the way he attacked off the front bout 3Km out, really committed, got pulled back, and still had the strength to go again. Not my preferred choice for World Champion by any means, but he rode a great race. -- (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/ There are no messages. The above is just a random stream of bytes. Any opinion or meaning you find in it is your own creation. |
#17
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Zabel second
in message , Sonarrat ')
wrote: It takes less power to move a lighter vehicle. Of course, his technique has to be correspondingly finer than others', just as McEwen's does since he's smaller than Boonen or Hushovd. A small, powerful rider can just easily be an inefficient thrasher - for example, Thomas Voeckler or Iker Flores. The 'inefficient thrasher' was doing far more than his fair share of work in Sunday's breakaway, and still had it in him to be there or thereabouts until the breakaway group was finally caught. He won't win a bunch sprint, and he's canny enough to know that. The breakaway is his only real hope, and he goes for it. Breakaways usually are doomed, but without the breakaway specialists road racing away from the mountains would be a very dull sport. -- (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/ to err is human, to lisp divine ;; attributed to Kim Philby, oddly enough. |
#18
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Zabel second
He's "the Cricket." See the size of the thighs on that li'l ****er! He is also
amazingly tough and as Howard pointed out is very strong at the end of a hard day. Bettini's got so many ways to win it's scary. Few guys who can sprint like him are threats on a small or solo break. Like imagine McEwen taking off with two laps to go, yeah right. Well maybe he should try that one day, a guy who can outsprint the whole peloton can likely breakaway too ! Great rider and a fine champion. Ron The final 500 meters were stellar, with the thee champs going clear |
#19
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Zabel second
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#20
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Zabel second
Carl Sundquist wrote: "Robert Chung" wrote in message ... Who'd'a thunk? Apparently Zabel and Sean Kelly don't suffer from the same ideology. I think you're referring to Zabels's statement that he was happy with second. You can experience something like this at different levels. On one level it will be the one that got away for the rest of his life. On another level, you can be happy with second. The world isn't just black and white with one perspective. Even more interesting is Zabel's statement that he would have retired if he had won. Who else would have passed up the prestige of riding in the rainbow jersey? On the other hand, it would have pre-empted the curse. Bret |
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