Declaraciones de De Vlaeminck previo a la Paris-Roubaix 2011. Realizado por cyclingnews

Four-time winner criticises the current generation of ‘spoilt’ riders

Tom Boonen could win Paris-Roubaix for a fourth time on Sunday, equalling the record of Belgian classics legend Roger De Vlaeminck. But that is where the similarities between the two Flemish riders go, according to De Vlaeminck in an interview with Gazzetta dello Sport, who predicts that Fabian Cancellara, rather than Boonen, could be the first to match his record.

Just like during his career in the 1970s, De Vlaeminck is not afraid to speak his mind about the current generation of ‘spoilt’ riders. He described Filippo Pozzato as ‘too good looking to be a rider’ and revealed he prefers French-speaking Philippe Gilbert to fellow Flandrian Boonen.

“It’s about time, considering the record has lasted for 34 years,” De Vlaeminck said bluntly about Boonen’s chances of winning a fourth Paris-Roubaix.

“But I think Cancellara will beat the record before Boonen does. He can win on Sunday by dropping Boonen. I like Cancellara, he attacks and races with panache. Everyone rode against him at Flanders, even the mechanics of the other teams who wouldn’t give him a bottle. That was scandalous. But he was the strongest. Boonen is a good rider but he’s not as strong as he once was.”

De Vlaeminck refutes the idea that he and Boonen are very similar as riders.

“How can you say that? He can’t climb and can’t time trial. Cancellara is good at time trials but can’t climb, so neither of them are like me. I was more like Merckx…

“I was a bandit. If Boonen is the God of Belgian cycling, then I’m the devil.

“Our generation was classier, too. Look at Saronni? He won the Giro at just 21. We always raced to get a result and me and Merckx fought even for the criteriums. These days they use 50 races a year as training. We were more complete and could win in a sprint, on a climb or in a time trial. And there were far stronger rivals. At Roubaix I was up against Moser, Maertens, Kuiper, Raas and Hinault. Today, apart from lucky cases like Nuyens at Flanders, there’s just Cancellara and Boonen.”

Despite being Flemish to the bone, De Vlaeminck admits he’s a fan of Philippe Gilbert, from the French-speaking Walloon part of Belgium, even if the Omega Pharma-Lotto rider always avoid the cobbles of Paris-Roubaix.

“I like Gilbert far more than I do Boonen. He’s a nice guy, kind and not at all big-headed. He races all year, right up to Lombardy and can win alone. I wish he’d try Paris-Roubaix. I’ve nothing against Boonen but you can’t be a fan of both of them in Belgium and I’m not going to change my mind.”

Gazzetta also asked De Vlaeminck about Filippo Pozzato. He dismisses the Italian with some hard truths and blunt criticism about owning a Ferrari.

“Pozzato was a champion when he was young and had more class than Boonen. I don’t know his problem but he’s lost a lot of time. He should be able to easily win Paris-Roubaix. His problem is that he’s too good looking to be a rider.”

“A Ferrari is not the car for a rider, it’s for a footballer. The boss of Brooklyn (Giorgio Perfetti) gave me a Ferrari when I won Milan-San Remo but I couldn’t get my bike in the boot and had to take the saddle off, which I then forgot at home. I sold it after a year.”

De Vlaeminck won 249 races during his 16-year career. He won all five monumental Classics but dismisses the idea that Cancellara can pull off the same achievement. He also has some choice words for modern-day directeur sportifs. His only involvement in cycling was as a mentor for some rider from Zimbabwe but watched the Tour of Flanders at home, claiming he had not been invited by the organisers.

“Cancellara better hurry up because he’s already 30. I think it’ll be hard for him, especially at Lombardy and I don’t think he can beat Gilbert at Liege,” De Vlaeminck said.

“I’m not interested in the ‘’politics’ of cycling and I was tired of driving a team car a30km/h behind the riders. I’m against race radio because the races are better without all the tactics but perhaps the directeur sportifs are scared of falling asleep.”

Fuente: Cyclingnews.com

La Paris - Roubaix 2009. Pletorica, Historica.

Johan Museeuw fue un joven belga sprinter que inicio su carrera de una manera desapercibida en el año 1988, conforme pasaban los años ganaba carreras, asi logro un total de 104 carreras, un campeonato del mundo y 3 Paris-Roubaix. Apodado como el Leon de Flandes por sus victorias en esta region.
Tom Boonen, con sus 21 años fue podium en su primer "Infierno del Norte", fue tercero con el equipo USPS, aprovechando que su jefe de filas el gran George sufriera una caida que lo dejaba fuera de competencia. Ese fue uno de sus primeros indicios de su familiaridad e igualdad a las caracteristicas de Musseuw. Actualmente Boonen cuenta con un Campeonato del Mundo y acaba de igualar el record de Musseuw con 3 Paris-Roubaix ganadas... poco a poco Boonen se convierte en Clasicomano... aunque su velocidad permanece, no como el quisiera, pero permanece. La diferencia es que es mas grande el Palmarés de Boonen que su popularidad con las masas, en cambio Musseuw era tan popular como sus victorias.

En la Foto Boonen en su primer Paris-Roubaix (tercero), en el año 2002


Paris-Roubaix 2009

Ahora muestro algunas entrevistas y videos del "Infierno del Norte" de este año. Recordemos las caracteristicas de esta clasica: 260 km, 28 secciones de adoquines, mas de 50 kms de adoquines en total, siempre se rueda con un promedio que ronda los 45 km/h.

Arenberg, 2.5 kms de recta adoquinada.... el temor de todos los que aspiran a la victoria. Los desperfectos mecanicos suceden aqui con frecuencia



Atropello de la Moto:

CUATRO PERSONAS TUVIERON QUE SER EVACUADAS EN HELICÓPTERO
Un accidente de moto causa dieciséis heridos en la París-Roubaix
Un motorista de la organización perdió el control por causas desconocidas

Una accidente causado por una moto de la organización de la clásica ciclista París-Roubaix provocó dieciséis heridos entre el público que asistía a la prueba, según informaron los servicios de socorro.

El suceso ocurrió hacia las 15:45 horas locales a la altura de la localidad de Orchies (norte), a unos sesenta kilómetros de la meta, cuando el motorista, por razones que se desconocen, perdió el control de la moto, que seguía al grupo de cabeza en la prueba.

Fuentes de la gendarmería local informaron de que cuatro de los heridos fueron evacuados por helicóptero hacia un hospital de la ciudad de Lille. La emisora de radio France Info aseguró que todos los heridos pertenecen al "mismo círculo familiar" y que habían salido a la carretera a ver el paso de los ciclistas.



Caidas de Flecha y Hushovd: (Lastima, Hushovd podia disputarle a Boonen)



Final, gana Boonen sin necesidad de sprint



Entrevistas:

Pippo Pozatto:
"Tom was going strong and there was nothing to do. Clearly, if I had been able to stick on his wheel it would have changed the whole story. It would have been a good duel"

"The Belgian fans were not very polite out there, I got spat on by someone. Whatever, it's nothing. You have to consider all those police and photographer motorbikes protecting Boonen, he might have had a little bit of slipstream, but I only had one bike on my side"

Leif Hoste:
"Flecha better not come near me. I'm furious since we are the suckers"

"Flecha ruins my race first of all when he wasn't pulling and acting stupidly. Then he was able to attack, and in the end it turned out he wasn't even able to steer. If someone like that slips away there's not much you can do but to ride over him; I couldn't avoid him. The fact that we're finishing fourth and fifth boosts the morale, but personally I'm sick of it"

Juan Antonio Flecha:
"I felt like I was having my best legs ever in Roubaix. I had a good feeling because I was focused and did not even think about my condition.I was not thinking about any plan, just to get out of the Carrefour sector and then decide after that point"

"Those corners are bad corners, I just slipped way. Then after the bike was damaged. I could not get back because the rings were bent and the chain would not hold"