Friday, March 29, 2024

Ride London 2016 Goes to Tom Boonen

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HomeRaceRace ReviewsRide London 2016 Goes to Tom Boonen

The worst thing about going to the Tour?

Coming back.

‘Cold turkey’ is tough – Dave and I used to go to a kermis on the Monday after the Tour finished to ease our ‘crash.’

Ride London
Chris Froome. Photo©Ed Hood
Ride London
Peter Sagan. Photo©Ed Hood

And last year Callum and I went to the post Tour crit in Aalst.

Not this year however because we flew home from Geneva.

But our man Callum found another solution; he got himself down to the ‘Ride London’ race; whilst we had to watch it on TV – with no coverage of the crucial last few K.

But Callum let us have some pictures – we hope you like them.

Ride London 2016
Photo©Callum MacGregor

It’s a whole weekend of cycle sport with the ladies racing on the Saturday then sportivs on the Sunday before the pros take the stage.

Distances were 46 and 100 miles, as I recall.

Ride London 2016
Photo©Callum MacGregor

It’s ‘all in a good cause’ with many riders getting themselves sponsored for charity to do the ride.

Ride London 2016
Photo©Callum MacGregor

But just because you can afford a nice machine and the entry fee for a sportive it doesn’t mean you know anything about bikes…

Ride London 2016
Photo©Callum MacGregor

The Johns Ambulance were there for the inevitable ‘fingers in the chainrings’ – that’s not so bad on gears, I did it once with a fixed and almost chopped my thumb off.

I can still hear the ‘crunch!’

Ride London 2016
Photo©Callum MacGregor

There could be no complaints about the parcours, taking in some of London’s most famous landmarks.

Ride London 2016
Photo©Callum MacGregor
Ride London 2016
Photo©Callum MacGregor

The main event was always going to be a glitzy affair with Christopher and the Sky boys just back from sorting out Johnny Foreigner.

And team cars don’t get much glitzier this one …

Ride London 2016
Photo©Callum MacGregor

It’s not like Brad to get upstaged but…

Ride London 2016
Photo©Callum MacGregor

We were a tad surprised at how low key Adam Blythe’s British Champion’s jersey was.

Adam is a boy for the bling and we’d expected sequined or maybe LED bands on the jersey – but it was actually very ‘trad.’

We did spot the white shoes with red and blue flashes though.

An improvement on those leopard skin jobs he wore in the British a year or two ago.

Ride London 2016
Photo©Callum MacGregor

He didn’t disappoint with the shades, though.

Ride London 2016
Photo©Callum MacGregor

The man they’d all come to see was there – a three time Tour de France winner, you’d have got long odds on that back in his Barloworld days.

Ride London 2016
Photo©Callum MacGregor

His right hand man – well, one of them – was there too.

Ride London 2016
Photo©Callum MacGregor

The Commonwealth Games champion bridged up to the break was joined by Ian Stannard then attacked the croup with around 50 K to go.

Riding solo along the Thames and putting on a great show for the crowd.

Even though he had a good lead coming in to the last 20k or so we were reminded of how gaps shrink when a lone rider is battling hard to do 40+ kph whilst the peloton is rampaging at 60 kph.

Ciao Geraint!

Ride London 2016
Photo©Callum MacGregor

But Lefevre’s boys don’t mess about – not when Tom’s on form and there’s a huge first prize.

They closed it down then set it up for the big chap.

Ride London 2016
Tom Boonen takes the win. Photo©Eddie Keogh/Silverhub

Boonen explained after that race that he hadn’t had it easy, getting caught in a split and having to fight back after a puncture.

At the finish he was lengths clear – just like the old days but let’s not forget how impressive he was in Paris-Roubaix this spring.

Ride London 2016
Photo©Eddie Keogh/Silverhub

Not a bad finale, I thought – but then I always love a Boonen win.

When Tomeke hangs up his wheels it’ll leave a huge gap in the sport – proper charismatic champions are getting thinner on the ground…

With thanks to Callum for the images.

Ed Hood
Ed Hood
Ed's been involved in cycling for over 50 years. In that time he's been a successful time triallist, a team manager and a sponsor of several teams and clubs. He's also a respected and successful coach and during the winter months was often working in the cabins at the Six Days for some of the world's top riders. Ed remains a massive fan of the sport and couples his extensive contacts with an inexhaustible enthusiasm for the minutiae and the history of our sport. In February 2023 however, our dear friend and beloved colleague Ed suffered a devastating stroke and faces an uncertain future; Ed has lost his ability to speak, to read, and has lost movement on the right side of his body. He's working with speech and physical therapists on rehabilitation, but all strokes are different and each patient responds differently, so unfortunately recovery is one day at a time. Ed ran his own business installing windows, and will probably not be able to work again. Please consider joining us to make a contribution to Ed's GoFundMe page to help stabilise and secure his future.

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