Velochimp: Astrochimp on Cycling

Tom Boonen was one of the favorites going into the World Road Race Championship Sunday. But all eyes were mostly on Alessandro Petacchi, who had a squad that was his personal leadout train. Boonen timed his sprint perfectly as the peloton caught the breakaway containing Vinokourov and Bettini in the last few meters to take the win. Going into the last lap a powerful breakaway had a margin that could have lasted the distance. It nearly did. However Alexadre Vinokourov, burst out of the pack and joined the break. Once up front he mercilessly pummeled the break by launch attack after attack. This move splintered the lead break badly and wore down some of the riders up front. Paolo Bettini looked very strong as he played his cards on the final break, and was able to match several counter attacks by Valverde and others. The Cricket was badly out numbered as three spanish riders and at least two dutch riders were part of the break. Paolo was not resigned to lose, and was looking for every chance to get ahead. In the final meters the Vino and Bettini animated the last lap, but needed the course to be just a few hundred meters shorter to take the win.

Some quick thoughts:
–I did not see it, but American Saul Raisin was in a day long break that had a lead of 5 minutes.
–Petacchi finished 35th, 25 seconds back, while McEwen was 25th.
–What mishap will befall on Boonen next year? The Curse of the World Champion has caused havoc to almost every rider to wear the jersey in some form. Let’s hope Boonen manages to avoid the perils next year.

Yahoo! Sports - Cycling - Belgium’s Boonen wins World Championship men’s road race