Boonen!!!

Tom Boonen has won the Paris-Roubaix for the 4th time. This man is a hard man of hard men. And the way that he did it was classic. Boonen is well known for his sprinting ability, but over the last few years he has let it be known that he was not going to get involved in the sprints as much. This was because he feels that the sprints have become too dangerous. I think it was because he wasn't winning. This year he has been mixing it up just fine and seems to have changed his mind.

Boonen's win today was off the front and on his own though. He attacked a small group with a teammate and never looked back. He was even too strong for his own teammate to hang on and left him in his dust. It looks like Tom is a brand new man.

A friend of mine has a theory on why Boonen is doing so well and I like what he said. He thinks it is because Boonen is back on a Specialized bike. In my opinion specialized makes the best bikes. Now I have not been on a lot of bikes in my life, (Scott, Trek, Pinarello, Cannondale, Giant, Specialized) but so far they are the best I have ever been on. Also just look at the wins and the number of elite athletes that ride their equipment. I know that Lance and his crew all road on Trek, but after he left Astana I dont think anyone has won the TdF on a Trek. (I could be wrong, I didn't look it up)

I also like to look at all the great riders who have stopped riding Specialized, and don't seem to be doing as well as they did before. For example Fabian Cancelara, who is one of my favorite riders. Since leaving Saxo Bank it seems that he is just missing out in every race. His attempts to blow up the field and power away just don't have that extra 1% that they had a few years ago. Could be he is getting older but I don't think so. More likely everyone knows his tactics and are ready for him. Another rider is Mark Cavendish, I am probably jumping the gun on this one as Mark doesn't generally kill it until the TdF. He is having another lack luster early season, could it be because he is no longer on his beloved McLaren Venge? My Pinarello was not as snappy as my SL4 is, granted it was only an FP3 and not a Dogma 2, but I bet that McLaren Venge was like racing on a hot knife going through butter.

The thing that I really like about Specialized is that they seem to put a lot of work into research and development. They claim they invest more than anyone else, I have no idea if that is true, but with the amount of excellent products it appears that it might be. I am sure that they farm out most if not all of their production of bikes, but it is nice that they are an American company.

It is exciting to see Boonen back to his winning ways. It has been pretty cool that over the last few years there has been a Classics super star just killing everyone else. Two years ago was Cancelara, last year Gilbert, this year it is Boonen's turn to carry the flame. There are only a couple of the Spring Classics races left in the year, I hope Boonen can keep his momentum going and give us all a good show.

That lady wants to know what Tom's favorite color is.

Drool