What's with the crashes? At this point, barring some kind of Hincapie-esque mechanical, I think Tom has to win. He has two teammates with him in the break.
One would think, but the gap is closing as no one else in that group is working. Tom is trying to rally them on. EDIT Terpstra sent forward.
I think Pippo has the closing speed to beat Boonen. Honestly though, anyone who can still sprint after this horrorshow deserves to win.
I am going to be honest, I never thought Boonen would ever again get to this level, I thought he was done at the very highest level. Respect to him for proving me wrong. Still don't like him though.
That's about how I feel. He got a huge slice of luck, too, with Cance crashing and a crash behind him on the Kwaremont(?). But he deserved the win either way.
Huge respect to him for overcoming his physical issues from the last couple of years. I would imagine if FC did hurt his collarbone, than he is the odds on fave for next Sunday.
Tom Boonen now has ten victories in real Classics, putting him in elite company amongst one-day race champions. I'm going to be honest, when they anointed him the next big thing all those years ago after he finished 3rd in P-R out of seemingly nowhere, I had never envisioned he would ever be this good.
Even if he doesn't win or even podium at P-R, he's had as good a classics season as anyone I can recall having. Ever.
It will be interesting to see how this has an impact on the tactics next week. I assume many will come into Sunday with a slightly different race plan now that they know Spartacus is out.
I have to say that I didn't like it. Repeating the same climbs three times made it feel more like La Fleche or Amstel Gold than a monument. And seriously, no Muur? Doesn't seem right.
Do not like it. Did not add to the suspense. I think true escape victories will become rare on this route.