Categories: AwardsAwesome Belgian GuysThe Hardmen

2012 V-Moment of the Year: Boonen Goes Long

Boonen goes long. Photo via Cycling Weekly

Yes, I know, I have a major thing for Boonen. But come on, wouldn’t you? Look at those guns. Look at that position on the bike. He even makes that ugly Specialized helmet look good. He even makes that ugly Specialized Roubaix look good, come to think of it. And those White Ladies? Kill me now.

Picking the V-Moment of the year is always a tough one, especially in a year when there were so many great moments. In fact, that I’m glad I didn’t get saddled with the Anti-V Moment of the Year Award because it won’t be easy to pick out a loser for that one.

Some of the greatest instants of the season were Johan Vansummeren continuing on after he went through the meat grinder at the Tour. Or Hesjedal hanging tough on the Stelvio to stay close enough to J-Rod to take the win for the first Canuckian Grand Tour at the Giro. Faboo gritting his teeth to finish the Olympic ITT in tears despite a moronic but devastating crash in the Road Race. Gilbert coming back to take a decisive win in the Worlds Road Race after a disastrous season.

Maybe its my man-crush on Boonen, maybe its the fact that we were at the roadside for both events, but two moments stand out as what must have been two of the hardest moments in racing – with the most at stake. One was Boonen riding the Paterberg at the back of the three-man breakaway with Ballan and Potato during the Ronde van Vlaanderen; his gears were jammed and he couldn’t get into his lowest gear on that brutally steep climb. As the group got to the top, Boonen was overgeared and losing ground. Standing in a Flemish field not more than 1000 meteres (as the crow flies) from the Paterberg, I could almost hear his bike cry out in agony as he scraped the bottom of the V-Barrel to hold onto the back of the group.

But that’s not the V-Moment of the year because, in the end, there was only something to be gained by holding on – he had nothing to lose. If he got unhitched from the group, he would have called it training for Roubaix, and gone home feeling good about his chances in the Queen of the Classics.

The V-Moment of the year was instead a moment that wasn’t captured on camera; it was a solitary moment that echoed inside only one man’s heart. It was a moment that must have fluttered through his mind as he came off the secteur of cobbles about 55k from Roubaix, looked around, and noticed that no one was with him. At that moment, he had everything to lose. A wiser man would have sat up and waited for the group, knowing he could conserve his energy and pick his moment later, when the risks were more manageable.

But The V isn’t about sensibility. The V isn’t about planning. The V isn’t about calculation. The V is about making your own luck. The V is about bending the odds to your vvill. The V is about making the race beg you to relent. The 2012 V Moment of the Year was the moment Boonen decided to carry on to Roubaix, alone.

frank

The founder of Velominati and curator of The Rules, Frank was born in the Dutch colonies of Minnesota. His boundless physical talents are carefully canceled out by his equally boundless enthusiasm for drinking. Coffee, beer, wine, if it’s in a container, he will enjoy it, a lot of it. He currently lives in Seattle. He loves riding in the rain and scheduling visits with the Man with the Hammer just to be reminded of the privilege it is to feel completely depleted. He holds down a technology job the description of which no-one really understands and his interests outside of Cycling and drinking are Cycling and drinking. As devoted aesthete, the only thing more important to him than riding a bike well is looking good doing it. Frank is co-author along with the other Keepers of the Cog of the popular book, The Rules, The Way of the Cycling Disciple and also writes a monthly column for the magazine, Cyclist. He is also currently working on the first follow-up to The Rules, tentatively entitled The Hardmen. Email him directly at rouleur@velominati.com.

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View Comments

itburns says:

Dec 26 2012 at 2:21 pm

@windy rider

The Man looks a giant on that bike. I note the comment of "ugly Specialized Roubaix" and can only comment that beauty is in the eye of the beholder or should that be owner. I am Specialized I am Roubaix.

Many are the Specialized Roubaix riders in the Velominati ranks. We are the chosen so have no need to put down lesser frames and so suffer the slings and arrows of those that compensate for their subconscious desire for something better.

Or some such nonsense.
brett says:

Dec 26 2012 at 3:25 pm

@windy rider

@itburns

I wouldn't worry about what Frank says about ugly bikes; he rides a Cervelo after all.
Jay says:

Dec 26 2012 at 4:15 pm

@brett

@windy rider

@itburns

I wouldn't worry about what Frank says about ugly bikes; he rides a Cervelo after all.

I too ride a Roubaix and find it to be an exceptional bike. Don't disparage another's ride unless you have ridden in their shoes, so to speak. If we all thought the same way, there would only be one choice of bike (or at the very least a much more limited selection). So long as the bike is compliant with the Rules does it matter otherwise?
Rodolpho says:

Dec 26 2012 at 4:18 pm

Very nice! But even before looking around and seeing nobody, he had the company of his team mate - I can't recall whom it was - who stood on his wheel for some time before giving up. At that moment, Boonen just looked back and thought "So sorry buddy, but I have to finish this myself now".
brett says:

Dec 26 2012 at 5:40 pm

@Jay

@brett

@windy rider

@itburns

I wouldn't worry about what Frank says about ugly bikes; he rides a Cervelo after all.

I too ride a Roubaix and find it to be an exceptional bike. Don't disparage another's ride unless you have ridden in their shoes, so to speak. If we all thought the same way, there would only be one choice of bike (or at the very least a much more limited selection). So long as the bike is compliant with the Rules does it matter otherwise?

I owned two Roubaixs. And I didn't write the article. And Cervelos are ugly.
scaler911 says:

Dec 26 2012 at 5:42 pm

@brett

@windy rider

@itburns

I wouldn't worry about what Frank says about ugly bikes; he rides a Cervelo after all.

Well now, the gloves are off:
Marko says:

Dec 26 2012 at 5:47 pm

Saying something is ugly and that it's a piece of shit (i.e. disparaging it) are two different things. The Subjective vs. the Objective really, no? I hardly doubt Boonen would be winning, much less racing, on a bike that wasn't world class. But who says world class has to look good?
Dan_R says:

Dec 26 2012 at 6:06 pm

Boonen makes me wish I was an underage girl at a Belgian rave.

Pure V moment.

However, on that Sunday in May, I had to pull over the car en route to my own road race, to weep. A holy and reverent weep.
Dan_R says:

Dec 26 2012 at 6:09 pm

Oh, and TSN in its top ten count down of the year included the Reasoned decision, but not our nation's first Grand Tour. WTF. I may emigrate
DerHoggz says:

Dec 26 2012 at 6:17 pm

@Marko

Saying something is ugly and that it's a piece of shit (i.e. disparaging it) are two different things. The Subjective vs. the Objective really, no? I hardly doubt Boonen would be winning, much less racing, on a bike that wasn't world class. But who says world class has to look good?

You have to wonder if the pros want to ride the Roubaix, or if it is a sponsor obligation deal? Cancellara did rock the Domane all year, but that is more aesthetically pleasing.