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emorydptt
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by emorydptt

Way to go Niki Terpstra! What a classics campaign!
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HillRPete
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by HillRPete

Agreed Wiggins was very solid, but the way he had talked himself up, everything short of a podium was going to be a bit underwhelming. (He did back down slightly, the closer the race came, though)

Terpstra was simply amazing, perfect blend of strength and tactics. He knew that if he got the gap, all the hotshots would probably not pull for each other. Now he joined their ranks ...

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xnavalav8r
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by xnavalav8r

Wiggins in the top 10 at Paris-Roubaix. I would never have predicted that. New respect for the man. Maybe he's not the diva I believe him to be.

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stella-azzurra
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by stella-azzurra

Wiggins has the abilities just doesn't have the focused mind set all the time.
I would not have picked Wiggins to be in the top 10 in Roubaix.
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by DartanianX

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ayrej2
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by ayrej2

I'm really pleased for Terpstra but I still can't believe no one even tried to cover his attack until he was gone!

Solid ride from Wiggins, but I must admit I'm surprised Thomas wasn't down as a leader for this. He said in an interview he was working for EBH and Wiggo, but he was surely one of the strongest there? He was the only one properly working with Boonen until Thor turned up and chipped in. I'd like to see G get a big result sometime soon.

Antoine
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by Antoine

yes, disapointing that nobody could or wanted to go with Terpstra, it would have been great if Wiggins did.

Maybe Vanmarcke and Langeveld didn't want to chase a fellow dutchman ? Most of the season is over for them though.

Great panache for Boonen and Sagan (who had several mecanicals) considering the wind (3/4 front most of the time),
but Cancellara not so, another podium is good but he had nothing to lose.

Boasson Hagen apparently can't stand more than 200 kms, with a third man Sky could have done better.

Seems like FDJ riders punctured a lot, they rode tubeless before but not anymore with their Shimano carbon wheels

alpinestar
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by alpinestar

Great win for Niki, but as others commented a bit odd they could not match him. Must have been a high entering the velodrome alone.. :)
I like his twitter post:
On our way home.finally some time to sit relax and realize YEAH I WON PARIS-ROUBAIX!!!

ph
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by ph

It may have been a function of what the camera caught but going into the last 40km, Cancellara, Vanmarcke and Sagan seemed to have the ability to close or make gaps more rapidly than anyone else. I thought they were going to form the podium but was glad to see my pick, Degenkolb, podium. I'm no Wiggo fan but I was super impressed with his riding. Been following Phinnery's career for a while and was hoping to see him in the mix with the big guns in the last 30km. We're probably due to for a wet PR soon...

KWalker
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by KWalker

Wiggins not focused?

Lets see he has been basically one of the best at the world in:
-individual pursuit
-team pursuit
-madison
-Road TT
-stage racing
-climbing
-and now the cobbled classics

If that doesn't represent focus I don't know what does. The whole not wanting to repeat the Tour thing sounds a lot more like he didn't really like what went into the objective in terms of the dieting, media hype, the necessary perfection of every step along the way, and the pressure.
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tymon_tm
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by tymon_tm

all the guys appeared extremely fatigued in the end - hence no one followed Terpstra. maybe it was the headwind, maybe just the fact a lot was going on, i don't know, but they all had those depressing faces when it turned out they're gonna sprint for the second place only.

Boonen did helluva job trying to escape - his determination was just glowing on the tv screen. i was never a big fan of him, but yesterday he showed some cojones. same with Sagan - changed his bike few times, but still managed to enter the Carrefour segment on the first place - impressive. Cancellara clearly wasn't at his best, although he had some rapid accelerations. but tough to say he made any difference on sunday. a feel for Kristoff, too much bad luck to be there in the final kms. Thor - man i'd love him to win all the time, but let's face it - his best days are over. nevertheless, massive respect for fighting and going 100% :thumbup: .

and the Wheelsucking Award goes to Belkin - at one point they had like 3 or 4 riders in the front.. err, that is - in the back of the front groups. Wynants did some work (like 20%?) escaping with Sagan, but that was basically it.

as for Wiggins - his top 10 place is impressive indeed, but i'd hold my horses predicting a bright future in classics for him. first of all, there's a bunch of strong contenders already. much more determined, focused and arguably talented than him. besides that, just how many transitions during a career can one possibly make? although he has the stamina, he lacks the punch, and unless there's some magic pill availible, i just can't see him winning the P-R :noidea:
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AGW
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by AGW

I don't know, a top 10 his first time out is pretty telling. His range over the years obviously play to his strengths, but that shouldnt rule him out of a classics win. He's got a pretty good sprint and there's no question about his ability to put out gobs of power over a long course. He may just need to tailor his tactics to the race.

KWalker
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by KWalker

Much more talented? Are you serious? There are maybe 3 riders who have accomplished as much and I doubt most of those guys have his actual raw power. You don't need to have a massive sprint to win Roubaix, but if Sky could get 2 or 3 guys in the front group fresh and working smartly to control the group there is no reason why he couldn't do what Terpstra did. A win depends on a lot, but a podium is realistic if things go right.
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tymon_tm
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by tymon_tm

KWalker wrote:Much more talented? Are you serious? There are maybe 3 riders who have accomplished as much


uhmm, i disagree, there's a lot more riders, much more consistent over the years. and arguably more successfull too. yes, he's won the Tour, after few years of 'transition process' but in my eyes (and i'm not alone in my opinion) he's achieved that exclusively thanks to Froome and the US Postal... i mean SKY train.

KWalker wrote: and I doubt most of those guys have his actual raw power.


i bet some of them do have raw power, how else would they win races?

KWalker wrote:You don't need to have a massive sprint to win Roubaix,


if you escape like Tepstra you don't need to sprint at all! c'mon :lol:

KWalker wrote:but if Sky could get 2 or 3 guys in the front group fresh and working smartly to control the group there is no reason why he couldn't do what Terpstra did.


ah yes, if he has those 2 or 3 guys. or maybe 4. correct me if i'm wrong but the majority of great wins in classic races are not due to relentless team effort - it's the sheer power and determination of one single rider - that's how Boonen won in 2012 (50km escape), or Museuuw in 2002 (~30-40km escape). does Cancellara need his team to deliver him to the finish line? nope. does Sagan*? NOPE. although (arguably) any good rider would benefit from having a strong team at his disposal. so did Terpstra - though given nobody bothered to chase him, even without his teammates he would've escaped.

KWalker wrote:A win depends on a lot, but a podium is realistic if things go right.


of course it is. but i'd be far from praising Wiggins for his single top ten finish. could've been a pure coincidence as well. i must admitt i don't understand the phenomenon of Wiggins', neither his Tour win (which didn't seem... erm, never mind) nore the expectations and hopes people have about his future results. as i said, there are more promising riders to expect great results from, like Sagan, Kwiatkowski, Kristoff, Degenkolb, etc. if Wiggo actually makes it to the top, that's cool, but (based on his career on the road) i feel it's nothing short of speculation.

*EDIT: ok, sometimes he does 8)
kkibbler wrote: WW remembers.

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ayrej2
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by ayrej2

Just my opinion but the Sky doping insinuations detract from your argument.

Terpstra attacked and got away. Whether this was luck or great timing can be debated. But the reason he got away was everyone else was waiting for someone else to cover it. Soon enough the gap was too big and it became a race for second.

Wiggins had also previously attacked, but was chased down. I doubt Niki's attack was significantly stronger than Wiggo's, just timed better for whatever reasons. Had Wiggo got some daylight between him and the chasers, I doubt he would have been seen again before the velodrome.

Interestingly, most of the post race interviews seem to suggest the headwind played quite a bit part in those closing km's.

Degenkolb was definitely a revelation though (well, to me at least).

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