Weather Gods To Test Resolve of Flanders Hard Men
Weather gods to test resolve of Flanders hard men
by Justin Davis
BRUGES, Belgium, April 5, 2008 (AFP) - The possibility of chaos on the ‘Koppenberg’ and mayhem on the ‘Muur’ lies in store for the more ambitious hard men of the peloton during the Tour of Flanders here on Sunday.
If, as predicted, the rain, wind and hail hit the race it could, according to local media, lead to “apocalyptic” scenes not witnessed on the race since 1985.
Belgium’s biggest one-day bike race is considered one of the toughest classics in the world because the latter part of the 264 km which leads the peloton from Bruges to Meerbeke is littered with 17 steep climbs.
Some of them are cobbled, most of them are steep and narrow, and just about all of them will be thronged with beer-swilling, flag-waving Belgian cycling fans.
This year organisers have opted to add spice to the usual drama by including the Koppenberg, a climb whose maximum gradient is a whopping 22 percent - just one of the reasons it has regularly been on and off the race menu.
At the 195km mark, the peloton will hit the bottom and those caught in the mayhem behind the leaders will likely be forced off their bikes and left to run up to the Koppenberg summit.
Even in perfect conditions, the race’s big contenders - like Tom Boonen, Fabian Cancellara, Leif Hoste and Alessandro Ballan - have to make sure they, or their teammates, are up at the front to react to opportunist attacks or accidents involving rivals.
In perfect conditions last year Ballan attacked on the Grammont, the day’s last climb, to leave his rivals, except for Hoste, in his wake before securing victory.
In 2006 it took only one rider to fall on the Koppenberg to help shape the outcome. As mayhem unfolded in their wake, Boonen and most of his Quick Step lieutenants escaped the carnage to go on and secure victory.
Throw in the inclement weather expected on Sunday, and the race takes on a whole new dimension.
The Tour of Flanders in 1985 is regarded as an epic edition. With wind, rain and even snow on the menu the race witnessed its worst weather in 25 years.
Belgium’s Eric Vanderaerden rode home to victory drenched and battle-weary ahead of Australian Phil Anderson. The scenes of chaos on the slippery cobblestones of the Koppenberg played a major part in the final outcome, as only 24 riders made it across the line.
Before then, inclement weather played a major role when Belgian legend Eddy Merckx rode off to secure the first of his two victories, ahead of Italian great Felice Gimondi in 1969.
More recently, the 2003 edition of the popular, but much flatter Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne one-dayer, saw only 26 riders finish due to the weather
- one of whom was Hoste.
It might not reach the proportions of 1985 on Sunday, but adverse conditions - along with the demands of the Koppenberg - are likely to prove decisive in creaming off more than a few race favourites.
Ultimately, it could be the race’s penultimate climb, the Muur-Kapelmuur at the 249 km mark, that has the final say. Along with the Koppenberg, it is the only one awarded a five-star difficulty rating by organisers
Chavanel given shock chance of Flanders triumph
by Justin Davis
BRUGES, Belgium, April 5, 2008 (AFP) - Frenchman Sylvain Chavanel will saddle up for his first Tour of Flanders one-day classic on Sunday and find himself in the unexpected position of being a potential race winner.
Alongside two-time winner Tom Boonen, Swiss hard man Fabian Cancellara, and three-time runner-up Leif Hoste, Chavanel - on paper - looks to have little chance of winning Belgium’s biggest one-day classic.
However two victories in the space of 10 days on the muddy, cobbled roads of northern Belgium have hoisted the 28-year-old Cofidis rider in with the big favourites.
Chavanel’s lack of experience on the race which leads the peloton from Bruges over a tight, winding 264km, that is littered with 17 treacherous climbs, towards Meerbeke west of Brussels is likely to be his biggest handicap.
Yet no lesser than the legendary Eddy Merckx, the winner in 1969 and 1975, believes Chavanel could spring a surprise to become the first Frenchman since Jacky Durand in 1992 to win the race.
“The past few days of racing in Flanders he’s given me the impression that he’s on a new level altogether, athletically speaking,” Merckx said in L’Equipe newspaper on Saturday.
“So we have to put him in with the favourites. And I don’t think the fact that he is not used to races bordering on 270km will be a big problem for him.”
Two-time winner Peter Van Petegem believes Chavanel, who caused a minor sensation becoming the first Frenchman to win the A Travers les Flandres one-dayer last week and followed up with victory in the Fleche-Brabanconne in midweek, can also cause an upset.
“On paper, you automatically think of Boonen, Cancellara, Ballan and Hoste, but I would put Chavanel in with that lot too,” said the Quick Step rider, also a former winner of the tough Paris-Roubaix one-day classic.
“Not knowing the race course or having raced it before won’t be too big a handicap for him.”
Boonen, of Quick Step, will start as the locals’ favourite although the Belgian will meet some stiff competition.
CSC’s Cancellara showed his early season form by soloing to victory in Milan-San Remo two weeks ago, days after he had secured victory at the Tirreno-Adriatico stage race in Italy.
One-day specialist Hoste will be determined to finally get the ‘Ronde’
monkey off his back.
And there will be a few Italians, including Filippo Pozzato of Liquigas, mindful of Alessandro Ballan’s feat last year when he escaped late in the race to hand Italy their first win on the ‘Ronde’ in five years.
It remains to be seen how Lampre rider Ballan - who excels in dry conditions - copes with the rain, wind and hail that have been predicted by the local weather men.
Boonen would be forgiven for hoping the weather men get it right.
“It doesn’t matter to me what the weather is like, but if it’s bad it could be good for the Belgians,” said Boonen, the winner in 2005 and 2006.
As for Chavanel, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist, according to his Cofidis team-mate Nick Nuyens, to explain the Frenchman’s recent success.
“Sylvain totally reviewed his training methods this winter. He did a lot of mountain biking and worked a lot on his speed and his strengh,” said the Belgian.
“Now he’s as strong as an ox.”
List of climbs on the 264 km one-day classic Tour of Flanders which is held here Sunday:
Kluisberg - 99km
Nokereberg - 118km
Molenberg - 157km
Wolvenberg - 167km
Oude Kwaremont - 185km
Paterberg - 189km
Koppenberg - 195km
Steenbeekdries - 200km
Taaienberg - 203km
Berg Ter Stene - 213km
Leberg - 216km
Berendries - 222km
Valkenberg - 227
Tenbosse - 233km
Eikenmolen - 239km
Muur - Kapelmuur - 249km
Bosberg - 252km
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