The Broom Wagon

Cleaning up after the weekend's events.

Anticipation was palpable Saturday morning as the Wiskota Fantasy Cycling season began in earnest; two semi classics, two opportunities to score points. 

Omloop Het Nieuwsblad:

“The Circulation” lived up to the hype in every way.  Despite coverage in Dutch or Flemish or whatever it was, the Omloop was extremely fun to watch.  Punchy cobbled climbs, windmills and cool looking towns made for an enjoyable morning of entertainment.  As predicted the race was animated by breakaways.  When the early breakaway was caught the real action began.  Ultimately, the win went to a relatively unknown upstart named Sep from team Garmin.  But the real question is how our riders did.

Patrick’s team was the big winner on the day.  Boonen was his only rider but he didn’t need anybody else.  Boonen was the one who started the winning breakaway and he was often at the front doing the work, pulling his small group free from the peloton.  As the approached the finishing line Boonen found himself in a group of three.  Perhaps he started his sprint too early, perhaps Sep has a kick that we don’t know about or perhaps the Omloop is destined to be one of the few races Tom never wins.  Anyway Boonen came in a strong second and that earned Patrick 70 points.  Maybe more importantly, Boonen looked good and he will be a force to be reckoned with later this spring…or has he peaked too early? Discuss.

My pre-race predictions had Flecha, Boonen and Thor animating the race.  This proved to be true as they were all in the break.  However, it was the move by Sep that dislodged Thor and created a more selective break of himself, Flecha and Boonen.  Mike missed out on some major points as Thor was unable to finish in the top ten.  I was disappointed that Flecha only came in third, but he is not known for his kick at the end.  This tough effort earned me 40 points.  Flecha looked good on the cobbles.  He demonstrated the cycling awareness that he has honed over the years as a veteran of the peloton.  Can he continue this form and make the breaks that count earning me some serious points this spring.  I say yes.  Discuss.

As I predicted Gilbert was not a factor.  He later stated that he didn’t have the legs, but also complained of a lack of communication.  Whatever the reason he and Voekler earned Greg as many points as Bill the neo pro, zero.  The difference is Bill didn’t have any riders in the race.  Is BMC a bust?  Too many cooks? Discuss.

Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne

Well, I was too hung over to watch this one live, but I didn’t miss much.  After the action of Omloop, Kuurne seemed a bit boring.  But boring sprints controlled by team Sky are good for one guy, Cavendish.  The Manx Mouth got his first win in his first try for Mike, earning him 80 fat points.  

I predicted Greipel, Farrar and Boonen would be involved in this one, thinking that Cav would miss a break.  I should have known that Sky wouldn’t let that happen.  Farrar and Boonen had a break away, but just like everybody else they were swallowed up by the Sky train.  Greipel was in a good position at the end, or so he says, before he was swamped.  Renshaw blamed team Spidertech.  There were too many riders there at the end, if you don’t like that then do something before that.  That is a note for Greipel by the way, not for Cav.   Greipel ended up in 10^th earning me a whopping 6 points.  If bunch sprints are like that all year Cav will rack up some serious points.  Cav for Milan San Remo? Discuss.