Thinking about the Post-PR thread and the what we learned on the cobbles thread, I worked up some historical stats from Paris-Roubaix for us to mull over. I grabbed the finishing places for certain favorites from 2000-2009. Then I calculated how many times they finished, their average finish (does not include dnf/dns), and a few other things.

The riders are ranked by order of their average finish, which I think sums things up quite well. This ranking probably slights Ballan and others who would have scored better for dropping out rather than finishing w/ the main group, but you can see the number of finishes and the number of podiums to help balance that out.

What I learned: Flecha deserves more props, Guesdon and Knaven were much more impressive than I gave them credit for, and Tom really does deserve a place in history with DeVlaeminck, Van Looey, Merckx, and Museeuw. Also, Hincapie has earned a place in history, if he were Belgian, he'd be a national hero.

Alternately, view it here:

The Spreadsheet is shared here. It would be cool if more info were added for riders such as Zabel, Wesseman, Hoffman, or anyone else that I'm neglecting. I mined the data from: http://www.the-sports.org/cycling-paris-roubaix-2009-results-men-s2-c0-b0-g22-t43-u255-m59190-v1.html.

*Edit: I've added another column for podiums-per-finish which is another useful way to rank PR success. Results:

1. Johan Museeuw .6 podiums per finish
2. (tie)Tom Boonen & Peter Van Petegem .5 podiums per finish
3. Juan Antonio Flecha .4 podiums per finish
4. Fabien Cancellara .33 podiums per finish

Sadly, the former kierin WC has passed on.

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To go along w/ the beer poll above, y'all can help me choose my Flanders beers for tomorrow morning. I'm heading to Belmont Station tonight to lay in a cache, and your votes will determine (in part) what I'm drinking in the morning. This week's in-stock bottle list is available here: http://www.belmont-station.com/bottle_css.html

As Lombardia/Veulta/Worlds approach and the action switches from the road to the contract negotiations, this is when rumors start to fly.

Two really good places to keep track of who is riding where next year are:

http://www.wvcycling.com/transfers.php

and

http://www.velo-club.net/article.php?sid=32287

Apart from that, post  your transfer rumors here!

I've been way too busy to hang out on the PC lately, which is unfortunate. But because I'm a librarian and really geek out on sharing new information tools, I had to post this:

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Not to steal Scott's thunder, who posted the link to Mags' Pez diary on the stage 18 live thread, but if you haven't read it, do so. http://www.pezcyclingnews.com/?pg=fullstory&id=5156

Anyway, call it an impulse, but I responded so positively to Mag's outburst, that I shelled out 27 bucks and change for a pound (500g) of Mags' coffee. Almost half of the $ goes to shipping, but the $ helps out young cyclists, and that is the point.

I've posted before that while I really, really want to see the sport clean itself up, I still am inspired by what riders who have cheated accomplished. I can't turn my back on heroes from past and present who have used PEDs. I don't approve of their methods or how they handle themselves in the press, but I don't want to throw them under the bus completely. Still, change in culture is happening and needs to happen. Change means what was let go last year or 10 years ago can no longer be let go.

I want the next generation to have a better chance of being able to push the envelope of their abilities and explore their physical and psychological limits without resorting to the pharma crutch. So I'm buying some expensive coffee from Mags. I encourage y'all to do the same.

Link: http://www.magnusbackstedt.com/MB/store.cfm

(I hope ads like this aren't against the PdC bylaws, apologies if my blatant shill is out of line.)

I got a good chuckle out of the PC's "I support the Chinese Wristband Industry" marketing bracelets.

But Stuart O'Grady and CSC came up with a better one.

http://velonews.com/tour2007/details/articles/12785.0.html

He had black wristbands made with the inscription "Harden the Fuck Up." I'd buy one of those, even if I am a big Yank softie.

[editor's note, by chris] In case you missed it, this was an original Podium Cafe product...

A lot of folks don't want to read the latest cycling books published. For good reason! If the Landis book or the latest Walsh book leave you cold, there is great news for fans of cycling literature!!!

Dave Shields, author of The Race and The Tour helped Raisin to write his story. They are publishing it as Tour de Life: From Coma to Competition. The book is slated for release in September, but Shields has a limited number of copies available now on his web site. Some of the copies will be autographed by Saul, and all by Dave.

They run about thirty bones, which isn't cheap, but I'm happy to pay for good writing, a great story, and hope to boot! It is especially nice to have something about cycling not related to the all-pervasive sleaze of the summer's other cycling book releases.

*edit* I noticed that the copy I bought sends some $ back to the Daily Peleton, where I read about the book being available. I wonder if the PC can swing a similar deal? Original DP Forum posting by Dave Shields.

Tomorrow is a new day. A day where the sun will rise over a 21km climb and a stage where the escape could make it all the way and the favorites are going to have to burn some matches to keep their place on the top of the ranking.
So my advice is to forget whatever ugliness that threatens to overwhelm the sport and think about the climb tomorrow. Think about the breaks, think about who will try to go early, who will work to bring the breaks back, and who will risk all by sitting on and forcing others to do the chasing.

My pick is for riders like Nibali and Ricco to go before the big climb and try to make it to the finish. Maybe opportunists like Mazzanti or Garzelli was well. Certainly somebody wearing Tinkoff yellow will go on the attack.

Anyway, they are racing in the Italian mountains tomorrow. That is what I choose to think about.

image from la gazzetta:

I haven't done one of these before, but I believe it is possible to set up a group Skype conversation. Is there interest in setting one up for the Ronde on Sunday?

More below the fold...

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