Congrads to Dom

Congrads to Dom for the 100% per class show today ! As noted on one commentary imagine being chased by Hincapie for 10km.
Dave Butler, 21 février

Dom rode well but, to play the devils ad, you had to be 10 mins back for that pony to run the other day or else the dog wasn't hunting. To compare it to a ONE DAY win like Tuft at Virgina last year is a pale comparison. Just putting it in its place. I know as Canadians we take what we get but that's maybe part of the problem. The icing was ya he drove away from a guy like Hincapie who is only 6 weeks out from top form. I give it a 8.5 out of 10. Hincapie crashed hard in the early stages of TofC so if you've ever crashed at high speeds you know your not right for a few days.
Shane Lavell, 23 février

I disagree with the above comment. Everyone is talking about Dom's ride under the most miserable conditions after being out in the break all day. Both Levi and George H. have complimented Dom in press conferences, and Pat McQuaid pointed to his ride as "the emergence of a new talent".
Rob Jones, editor, The Canadian Cyclist, 23 février

Rob, I mean no disrespect to Rollin, but my point is this. If he is to be the next big thing, which he clearly has the TALENT to be, then these type's of efforts, must become not outstanding but routine, do you see what I'am saying ?

If those conditions where presented upon the field in a one day event, motivation for everyone would have been clearly different thus my stance why I believe Rollin won Thursday, remember he entered the day 22 mins down with Hincapie best of the break at 7 mins behind. Now it was the day before the T.T and save for the big headwind, a perfect day for piano riding. Now with Hincapie crashing I believe last Monday (don't quote) those crashes zap the body of energy in the recovery. Do I feel confident in saying that Rollin caught Hncapie at the best opportunity all things considered, YES that's what I am saying. Rollin is a excellent rider, however I feel where making a huge deal out of this. I think he has better efforts to hang his hat on and if I was mentoring him my message would be, don't hang your hat on this, enjoy it today but tomorrow forget it ever happened and move forward and this is how you advance forward on your abilities. If you drink two nights to a effort then that's the best it's going get. Rollin can be great but not if he is comfortable with rides like Thursday. A hungry dog hunts best !!!
Shane Lavell, 24 février

Well, I'm sitting next to Casey Gibson, who was on a moto behind the riders in each race. He says that Svein's effort was extremely strong, but it was 3.5 hours in a one day race, and Rollin was out for 7 hours, working hard in a break all day and that the conditions were, honestly, much worse (it really was unbelievably horrible out there). So, that is from someone who was front and centre for both races. Take your pick...
Rob Jones, 24 février

No doubt it was A HARD DAY. 31 (mid) KM/HR on the ave overall speed. I am not knocking Rollin's ride I just don't think it is on par to say Dionne's wins in SF or Tuft's US Open victory. The kid is a awesome talent and I'am hoping he can maintain that 3-pt lead he has over JJ and take the sprint comp. Will be tough. CSC has a alot of engines left in the race, Toyota-United is down to only 3 including Rollin, will be tough but I hope the kid can pull it off. Today he'll be on a lot shorter lease then Stage 4.
Shane Lavell, 24 février

No argument with you Shane because, honestly, you've demonstrated you have absolutally no idea what type of performance that was.

Seriously, the guy is a couple of days into a stage race, pulls through in the pouring rain all day, makes sure he wins the two sprints and than when everyone looks like they are toasted, he decides to drill it (SIX hours and he still drills it). Awesome. Even if he was caught awesome ride. The win justs backs up the display of talent.

Dom is getting better and his results over the years have shown that. He's still young.

Anyways Shane stop while you're well behind before you end up in the gutter.

Dom's ride could easily compare (or was better) with anything anyone else has done in the past few years.
Dave Butler, 24 février

Dominique is truly awesome. Not only did he win that epic stage, he won the sprinter's jersey. That's more than a one-stage performance. And it was against some top European pros--like Boonen ! While I expect to hear, "it's early for Boonen but Dom peaked for this" and that may be true, but Boonen is peaking for events only a month or so away and he just finished dominating in Qatar, so he may not be at his best, but he's in great form, and these were Belgian conditions, and he's Boonen ! So I think it's a huge performance for Dominique Rollin ! Great work... can't wait to see what else he does this year.
Sedras, 24 février

Great to see a few folks with perhaps "slightly" more experience and knowledge, shut Mr Lavell down.

Shane - fold your tent, you are clearly out to lunch on this one !
Phil, 24 février

I guess you can't have an opinon other then the norm in here. I guess if everyone says its blue then its blue. Wasn't knocking Rollin, think I said that more then once. It was a awesome ride but if you look at the dynamics of who was up there and why breaks are allowed to roll, the situation presented a awesome situation for him. I am wanna save my Rollin's the man chant for when he wins a big one which I believe will happen. Just saying Canadian ride of the year maybe, its only February. Ride of history ? Far from it. If it happened in a one day where the end result is everything I would feel different.
Shane Lavell, 25 février

Shane, you're right one race doesn't make a career, but if you had been following Dom's development over the years you would realized that Dom does stand a very good chance of becoming a big name on Pro-Tour.

His performances at the Tour of Missouri, the RAS and now the Tour of California probably has gained the attention of some of the Pro-Tour squads. I am willing to bet that he will get a offer from one of the pro-tour teams in the near future. Great performances at the TdeC have secured other riders Pro-Tour rides, look at JJ Haedo. I for one would love to see Dom hammering some of the spring classics.
Coach, 25 février

One thing Shane hasn't adressed is that Dom was the only rider to feature in breakaways that also contested the field sprints- 4th one day, massive breakaway and then lead out the sprint the next. Other than big hills the guy is an all-around weapon, he can sprint, tt and is generally brick hard.

Shane claims it is not as impressive a performance at Svein's win at the US Open- which while it was a one day race, was also a first year event without any real protour riders- just look at the results with McCarthy 2nd, Pinner was 5th- most of Symmetrics was top 20. ToC is starting to gain momentum and is attracting a really top flight field.

I would say Dom's performance as a whole this week was one of the better rides by a Canadian in recent years (Svein last year, and Barry in '03 are two others that stick out- with Barry being the best of the three), with a stage win and a jersey to show for it.

Perhaps most importantly Rollin performed in from of the right audience, I suspect more than one pro-tour manager noticed just who he rode off his wheel. It's how JJ got on CSC a few years back.

As an aside, Ryder's podium earlier this spring is also a good sign for Canada's road men- maybe he is finally learning how to read a race.
David Brent, 25 février

End this bullS**t ! Svein and Rollin both rode their asses off to fantastic victories !

You reduce the greatness of both wins by trying to compare them. In short, who cares ?

Short of a few vocal "pundits", who hijacked this thread of congratulations by interjecting their own opinions and "race experience", I think the vast majority applaud Rollin - which was I think the intent of this thread.

Rollin rocked !
Phil, 27 février

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