Monday, April 03, 2006
Mystique, Aura, and the Boys of Quick Step
A funny thing happened on the way home from the world championships: instead of being outfitted with the regular rainbow jersey complete with the Curse imbued in its very essence, Boonen apparently had one fashioned out of Kevlar, making him bullet proof. And taking a break from the storied Yankees Stadium, Mystique and Aura have taken up residence in the team car of the Quick Step squad, leading the boys on their shock and awe campaign unleashed in the one day classics against the pro peloton.
Over at Cyclocosm.com, Cosmo’s ranting about Discovery Channels’ apparent satisfaction with riding for second place against Boonen. It seems a common affliction these days – notice Ballan’s surrender without a fight in Harleberke. And Hincapie’s perfection of futility at Roubaix started off the Hincapiesta movement here (read especially the comments, and the follow-up here).
It is certainly easy to make the case that Boonen’s (and Quick Step’s) success has been infectious – that is that each successive victory simply wears down the opposition’s willingness to resist. After all, Boonen has shown he can beat you in all situations – field sprints, solo attacks, counter-attacks. And pressure is obviously not a concern, after all it is hard to imagine more pressure being put on the rider than Sunday, where even second place would have been regarded as failure to a large portion of his fan base. But for all the so-called pressure, Tommy Boy seed to actually be relishing the hard run through the Flemish countryside. Similar to Lance’s run though the Tour, finishing second to Boonen in a Classic seems accomplishment enough – a fact that seems reflected on the faces and cadences of the ranks of the also-rans.
Certainly the mental aspect of the game is huge, especially in the Classics, and certainly Boonen’s unbelieveable run of success of late is due in large part to his own mental preparations. But focusing only on this dimension sells short another crucial aspect: Quick Step is simply decimating the field. No quarter at all is given by the squad, and not the smallest vulnerability is being shown by this team. In Milan-San Remo, they made sure that Alessandro Pettachi’s Milram squad had to spend its energy chasing early breaks by ensuring that a dangerous Quick Stepper went with each one. And while Disco managed to put two of its top one-day men in the final Flanders break, Quick Step ruled that bunch with no less than four riders. Based on the pure numbers alone, it is perhaps no wonder that the American squad was content with the sloppy seconds for Hoste and the extra bonus of taking the “field” sprint with Hincapie.
Cosmo may be right that the Quick Step team riders weren’t necessarily outclassing the other riders in the field. Peter Van Petegem cannot be ruled out in Flanders, and Alessadro Ballan, Andreas Klier had to be taken seriously, and even Hincapie himself had to at least be reckoned with. But Quick Step had three additional riders policing these guys, basically negating the possibilities of a break that wouldn’t be covered.
But what else are we to expect from a super squad that has had dominance in cycling’s single day prizes as its near exclusive focus since its inception. Again, like Lance’s USPS and Discovery Channel Team’s, there was a singularity to their focus and a precision in implementation that quite simply left everyone else in their wake, scrambling for second place. If anyone is to emerge to seriously challenge Quick Step on a regular basis, they will have to similarly emulate this commitment to the perfect one day race. Because even stopped once – after all, racing is racing, and even one lapse in a one-day race and victory is lost – the same Quick Step team with the same focus and the same dedication, will be on the start line at the next event on the calendar.
And once again Erik Zabel and the rest will have a “problem.”
Over at Cyclocosm.com, Cosmo’s ranting about Discovery Channels’ apparent satisfaction with riding for second place against Boonen. It seems a common affliction these days – notice Ballan’s surrender without a fight in Harleberke. And Hincapie’s perfection of futility at Roubaix started off the Hincapiesta movement here (read especially the comments, and the follow-up here).
It is certainly easy to make the case that Boonen’s (and Quick Step’s) success has been infectious – that is that each successive victory simply wears down the opposition’s willingness to resist. After all, Boonen has shown he can beat you in all situations – field sprints, solo attacks, counter-attacks. And pressure is obviously not a concern, after all it is hard to imagine more pressure being put on the rider than Sunday, where even second place would have been regarded as failure to a large portion of his fan base. But for all the so-called pressure, Tommy Boy seed to actually be relishing the hard run through the Flemish countryside. Similar to Lance’s run though the Tour, finishing second to Boonen in a Classic seems accomplishment enough – a fact that seems reflected on the faces and cadences of the ranks of the also-rans.
Certainly the mental aspect of the game is huge, especially in the Classics, and certainly Boonen’s unbelieveable run of success of late is due in large part to his own mental preparations. But focusing only on this dimension sells short another crucial aspect: Quick Step is simply decimating the field. No quarter at all is given by the squad, and not the smallest vulnerability is being shown by this team. In Milan-San Remo, they made sure that Alessandro Pettachi’s Milram squad had to spend its energy chasing early breaks by ensuring that a dangerous Quick Stepper went with each one. And while Disco managed to put two of its top one-day men in the final Flanders break, Quick Step ruled that bunch with no less than four riders. Based on the pure numbers alone, it is perhaps no wonder that the American squad was content with the sloppy seconds for Hoste and the extra bonus of taking the “field” sprint with Hincapie.
Cosmo may be right that the Quick Step team riders weren’t necessarily outclassing the other riders in the field. Peter Van Petegem cannot be ruled out in Flanders, and Alessadro Ballan, Andreas Klier had to be taken seriously, and even Hincapie himself had to at least be reckoned with. But Quick Step had three additional riders policing these guys, basically negating the possibilities of a break that wouldn’t be covered.
But what else are we to expect from a super squad that has had dominance in cycling’s single day prizes as its near exclusive focus since its inception. Again, like Lance’s USPS and Discovery Channel Team’s, there was a singularity to their focus and a precision in implementation that quite simply left everyone else in their wake, scrambling for second place. If anyone is to emerge to seriously challenge Quick Step on a regular basis, they will have to similarly emulate this commitment to the perfect one day race. Because even stopped once – after all, racing is racing, and even one lapse in a one-day race and victory is lost – the same Quick Step team with the same focus and the same dedication, will be on the start line at the next event on the calendar.
And once again Erik Zabel and the rest will have a “problem.”
