Ok I admit it I didn't pick him to win, I always pick Juan Antonio Flecha. Juan is Spanish and always in the thick of things. Is it a surprise that Van Summeren won, well not to me. When he attacked out of the Arenberg and the favorites let him go I told Kathy that is a mistake as he has done very well here before (5th and 8th to be exact). Anyone who has finished in the top 10 has to be considered a favorite. He is from Belgium, he is strong. Back when Carlos Sastre won the Tour and Evans was second remember all the talk about the Lotto team being too weak to help Cadel. Who took Cadel to the bottom of the Alpe it was Johann Van Summeren. Over the Alps over the Croix de Fer. Johann was there when needed. No it was not a surprise but it was special. I think Garmin, after a poor tour of Flanders, knew more than we did. Thor was on all he needed was a team mate capable of winning in the break. That way he didn't need to work. I think Garmin felt Cancellara would bridge and Thor would win, but Cancellara is human and Van Summeren came through. Cancellara did prove he was the strongest human after dropping his group riding up to the chase and then out sprinting all of them. With that showing you can see why Garmin was sure he would bridge.
Fabio Cancellara has to come to terms with himself though. He is so strong he can drop almost any rider at will. There is no incentive to work with him on long breaks. It is not about honor but about suicide. Drafting is usually the great equalizer but Cancellara has proven he can drop the strongest of the strong by just accelerating. We all know that so the only defense is to stay on his wheel and do no work, and in Garmin's case have a card up your sleeve like Johann Van Summeren. The photo is from when he was fifth in the Paris Roubaix in 2009.
Thanks for reading.
don
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