Fabian Cancellara took the top spot, crossing the finish alone.
After watching him bring the meat-rack and diesel it up proper, I will hereafter attempt to refer to him only as either C-Store or Big Oil for the balance of 2011. Just because I can.
Dude brings it like a full display of Slim Jims and a big bag of chips. With the dip. God damn right.
Source: http://www.dakotanationgaming.com/dcc/cstore.htm.
Why “Big Oil”? Well, if this picture of a gas truck doesn’t bring to mind what the backside of a rapidly disappearing Fabian Cancellara might have looked like to the boys who ended up racing for second today, I don’t know what would. A big, huge draft behind a frigg’n diesel rig that you just cannot seem to hold on to. Yep. Must have been fun. They will undoubtedly tell their children about it.
Source: http://www.csnews.com/article-for_better_or_worse_-1535.html.
There were some great lines from the Cyclingnews.com live feed this morning:
15:18 GMT (17km remaining from 222km)
Incredible scenes. Cancellara came through to do a turn and pulled so hard that Tankink simply had to sit up. It seems as though he suffered a cramp.
Cancellara is free and clear now with 16km to go and a sizeable gap.
Haussler is trying to bridge with Tankink for company, but it’s a big, big ask now.
15:21 GMT (14km remaining from 222km)
Cancellara is just cruising to the win here. He already has 30 seconds on the chasers, and barring a miracle, they won’t see him before he crosses the line in Harelbeke.
. . .
5:30 GMT
Cancellara has already said he will not race again before the Tour of Flanders. He doesn’t need to. His form is already amazing.. . .
15:35 GMT (2km remaining from 222km)
Cancellara is wearing number one as last year’s winner. He’ll also be wearing number one at the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix.
He pretty much can do whatever he wants. Impressive to say the least.
Full reports:
http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/e3-prijs-vlaanderen-harelbeke-1-hc/results.
http://velonews.competitor.com/2011/03/news/fabian-cancellara-wins-2011-e3-prijs-harelbeke_165512.
C-Store Spartacus Big Oil cometh. (Note: I’ve apparently already violated my own aforementioned new rule regarding how I would refer to the Artist Formerly Known as Spartacus. It didn’t last five minutes.)
Update: Video now showing up on Youtube. Embedded below.
E3 Prijs Harelbeke 2011 – (1/2) Cancellara attacks
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOZCXiaaSpU[/youtube]
muthafucker’s from another planet.
no shit brother…no fucking shit.
Seriously, the guy put 9 seconds on the chase group in 2 km, impressive.
…all that & still one of the classiest guys in the bunch…
Fabian! That video sample is AWESOME. Time trial resting his arms on a road handlebar. Gotta watch that one again. The man. Cancellara the destroyer.
the guy could crush it in cyclocross as well from the looks of that dismount switching bikes, holy sh*t!
somewhere in the commentary it sounded like, “his speed is righteous”. I’m obviously hearing things but, what the hell, it fits.
Fucking beast.
Must be all that extra room in the Trek seat tube; they can fit a bigger motor than he used last year, right?
Seriously now, here’s to many more successes for Leopard this year!
I’d be willing to bet that’s not a TREK he is riding. It is a handmade bike, built by some master living in the Alps, who lives to wrap carbon, and then they affix TREK upon it. However, the Big Swiss Time Machine may have the new miniaturized, seat post insert-able Flux Capacitor version installed.
They’ve also improved the battery technology by leaps and bounds, so that combined with the larger tubes and I bet he’s holding another ten-thirty watts in the tubes alone! Goddamn cottage of wattage.
I’m waiting for him to crack open a beer on his way through the last K in one of these races.
but what would he crack? La Fin du Monde? Bud Light?
editors note: are you fucking kidding me? doper.
AWESOME!!!….just one question after watching this video….does Bob Roll ever say…”Ooh La La”
my wife left a wet spot on the couch after watching the race.
…didn’t i read somewhere recently that besides having the motor in the seattube that he’d also painted is balls gold ???…
…“…cottage of wattage”…bwahahaha !!!…i’d pay to hear phil ligget use that on a broadcast…
Give me my +1 BGW!!!!!!!
Fabian, is the man. Hands down.
GW is going off right now, and it’s looking like another good edition.
He would crack open a Chimay and crush some Frites w extra mayonaise…..man child.
Monstah.
Sweetie and I watched the replay of Milan-San Remo (we’re cheap-asses who won’t pay for cable, so we wait for things to show after the fact at Universal Sports # 3), where Fabian was his smooth, strong self.
Sweetie, who is new to watchin bike racing but who really likes the stage races (sigh), watched her first classic and when she saw Fabian her jaw dropped. He didn’t win, but he came awfully close; and Sweetie had a new Sexy Bike Racer To Watch In 2011.
..::relax, I’m not jealous::..
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this is classic journalism, big kitchen, and excellent nicknamery.
It goes without saying I’ll be glued to the computer webcasts the next couple of weekends.
And BGW hits the nail on the head – the guy is all class and humble as they come.
I do think Boom Boom has a chance as long as he can hold on while Spartacus, Gilbert, et. al. beat the shit out each other (like Goss did in MSR) in the final 25km.