Favorite pro-cycling quotes of the week: on the Classics Monuments and style on and off the bike

As this is the season of cobblestones for pro-cycling, the Classics lead off favorite cycling quotes from last week. The theme of style follows, featuring Taylor Phinney and Peter Sagan.

Two big days, The Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix

“The Tour of Flanders is more than a national holiday for us. It’s one of the most important days in Flanders in the year.” Flanders Classics event coordinator Stijn Vermoere, speaking to VeloNews in an interview about cyclosportives that give the public a chance to trace the routes of Classics like the Ronde van Vlaanderen.

“Cancellara will be hard to beat at Paris-Roubaix, but you can’t go into a race thinking you’re beaten already.” Sylvain Chavanel (Omega Pharma-QuickStep), speaking to Cyclingnews about racing against Fabian Cancellara (RadioShack-Leopard-Trek) this coming Sunday at Paris-Roubaix.

Stuey O’Grady (Orica-GreenEDGE), former Paris-Roubaix winner, seconded Chavanel’s sentiments in a quote cited by John Wilcockson in his column on Peloton online: “In talking about that race, but applicable to both of these upcoming cobbled classics, O’Grady says, ‘Experience is priceless in Paris-Roubaix. There’s probably only 10 guys in the peloton thinking they can win. A lot of guys are just happy to finish, a lot of guys are happy to get to the first feed zone. And if it’s raining, a lot of guys will have already lost the race before the start…‘”

Even for a rider like Geraint Thomas (Sky) who thinks he can win a cycling “monument” like the Tour of Flanders after having focused on the race for months, results can still slip through his fingers.

“It was five-and-a-half hours of concentrating, being in the right place at the right time but it can all go in 10 seconds.” Geraint Thomas speaking to the U.K. outlet CyclingWeekly about his Ronde van Vlaanderen experience; he crashed during the race and expended a lot of energy chasing back onto the lead group.

Style on and off the bike

Before he became famous for pinching a podium girl’s behind at the Tour of Flanders on Sunday, Peter Sagan (Cannondale) was better known for his displays on the finishing line. Like wheelies. It turns out not all pro-cyclists can balance on one wheel.

Tom Boonen in Santa Rosa, CA

“If I could do a wheelie, I would do it as well. I dream about it sometimes, that I’m very good at it, even if I’m not.” Tom Boonen in a CyclingWeekly interview about racing against Sagan.

Taylor Phinney (BMC Racing Team) should start Paris-Roubaix this coming Sunday. But he’s most recently received media attention about launching a fashion line with the Italian designer Dolce & Gabbana. As reported in VeloNews, the fashion line products are to include a signature perfume and watches.

The story details the watch design with a large face: “The signature model, the ‘T,’ will include a bi-directional rotating bezel, which can be used to figure simple mathematical equations such as watts per kilogram and lactate threshold.

‘Yeah, with this I thought it would be cool to bring a bit of bike racing into the stores,’ he [Phinney] said. ‘You’ll notice [many pro riders] all wear big watches. I have no idea why we started doing it, really, but now that I’ve started, I can’t stop. And you shouldn’t, either.'”