****Stage 15 Spoiler****

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Comments

  • blazing_saddles
    blazing_saddles Posts: 22,725
    afx237vi wrote:
    Wow, can't believe Christophe Brandt finished that stage. He looked as if he could barely turn the pedals halfway up the first climb. Chapeau.

    According to France 2, he also crashed on the decent of the Agnello. :shock: I can't see him lasting the next two stages, let alone being of any help to Evans.

    I wish to goodness Sastre would be a little more adventurous. I know the aim was to get Schleck into yellow, but after one attack, he was yet again happy to follow the right wheels and do nothing. He even manage to pick Kohl to go with.
    I, know, I know....I'll be told he's waiting for the really tough stuff...
    "Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.
  • Kléber
    Kléber Posts: 6,842
    Evans has lost time to Schleck on Hautacam and Prato Nevoso. With Schleck taking it slowly, testing Evans, it's quite possible to take two minutes on Alpe d'Huez alone. Or to send Sastre up the road on the Bonnette on Tuesday's stage, to tear the race up. Menchov is looking better and better, if he hadn't crashed whilst riding uphill, things could be different.
  • Cumulonimbus
    Cumulonimbus Posts: 1,730
    Great stage :) Really looks good for the next couple of stages too. I dont think that Evans will mind losing the jersey but if he suffered that much on that climb then how much time might he lose in the coming stages? All still to play for. I think that it will end up with the TT deciding things though. Sastre, Schleck and Kohl will have to pull out as much time on evans, vandevelde and menchov as possible while both sets will also be racing each other (apart from the two CSC guys).
  • andyp
    andyp Posts: 10,549
    6 guys within 49 seconds of the maillot jaune with a week to go? If you haven't already booked Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons off then get to it.
  • iainf72
    iainf72 Posts: 15,784
    andyp wrote:
    6 guys within 49 seconds of the maillot jaune with a week to go? If you haven't already booked Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons off then get to it.

    I've already got a sodding meeting from 15:30 to 18:00 on Tuesday.

    I guess it's cyclingnews live and my shiney new phone then....
    Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.
  • ms_tree
    ms_tree Posts: 1,405
    afx237vi wrote:
    Terrible luck for Pereiro.
    And I seem to remember him running out of road on a long descent (Tourmalet?) in his Phonak days too. quote]

    Yes he did - he was eating his lunch! but he has been a cyclo-cross champ in his time so he could cope. That crash made me feel sick! :(
    I was hoping he'd do well in this last week.
    'Google can bring back a hundred thousand answers. A librarian can bring you back the right one.'
    Neil Gaiman
  • Van_Heerden
    Van_Heerden Posts: 128
    Awesome work by CSC!

    The two Schlecks working great. My Pick for the GC is starting to look better. Just seen the interview with Cadel on Eurosport.co.uk You can see he is now very worried!!! Kept stating that is is 3 on 1 so it is to be expected.

    Should make for an excellent last few days!
    "The grass is always greener on the other side - unless Jens Voigt has been riding on the other side in which case it's white with the salty, dried tears of all the riders whose souls he has crushed."
  • andyp
    andyp Posts: 10,549
    iainf72 wrote:
    I've already got a sodding meeting from 15:30 to 18:00 on Tuesday.

    I guess it's cyclingnews live and my shiney new phone then....
    Pull a sickie! :twisted:

    Or, do what I do and despatch your boss to the USA for the next 3 days and promise to keep him up to date with the Tour whilst he's travelling. :wink:
  • GroupOfOne MkII
    GroupOfOne MkII Posts: 1,289
    Ahh the benefits of working in an office where we can have the Tour (and audio) on the tv 8) Tues and Wed really could be quite good, can't wait to see the race crossing the Bonnette.

    On the downside trying to watch the highlights of today through the ITV website it keeps dying :(
  • Coriander
    Coriander Posts: 1,326
    GroupOfOne MkII wrote:
    On the downside trying to watch the highlights of today through the ITV website it keeps dying :(

    Mine won't even load. Have been away for work for three days, need to catch up. V v annoying. :evil:
  • Coriander
    Coriander Posts: 1,326
    Coriander wrote:
    Maybe I´m just a wimp (no, I am a wimp), b :oops: ut how can you ride a bike with a broken shoulder, but more to the point, with a broken leg?????????

    Duh!! I was at a conference in Barcelona and can only assume the heat had got to me - was following today's stage on my phone and was sure they'd said Pereiro had got back on his bike. :oops:
  • LangerDan
    LangerDan Posts: 6,132
    Was it just the yellow shorts or did Evans have a bit of a "Boonen" moment today? They looked decidedly dark underneath.
    'This week I 'ave been mostly been climbing like Basso - Shirley Basso.'
  • Coriander
    Coriander Posts: 1,326
    Do I dare ask what a 'Boonen moment' is?
  • skavanagh.bikeradar
    skavanagh.bikeradar Posts: 1,097
    I was wondering if he'd had a Boonen/Lemond too. FYI Coriander - it's bottom trouble.
  • Kléber
    Kléber Posts: 6,842
    Yep, so bad it leaks out of your shorts and your shoes fill up...

    I think Evans was just riding in the rain. If he was struck with the runs, he would not be able to ride properly.
  • skavanagh.bikeradar
    skavanagh.bikeradar Posts: 1,097
    Yep, I decided it was the weather he wasn't looking bad enough to be suffering from stomach problems. Genuine stomach problems I mean, not 'stomach problems'.
  • ridgerider
    ridgerider Posts: 2,852
    Quickly moving on to a front view (upper) of Evans, I thought he was riding a bit crocked yesterday as if his shoulder was resticting neck/upper body movement, or has he always ridden like that?
    Half man, Half bike
  • GeorgeShaw
    GeorgeShaw Posts: 764
    On another, more sporting, note, did I see right yesterday? That after Menchov fell, the pace eased a little to let him catch up, before "normal service" was resumed?
  • afx237vi
    afx237vi Posts: 12,630
    Yeah, you could see Andy Schleck having a word with the others and they eased off the gas a bit.
  • ridgerider
    ridgerider Posts: 2,852
    I would like to think that Denis would also be useful to CSC in the destruction of Evans, so there were other "un-sporting" reasons to wait for him as well...
    Half man, Half bike
  • ms_tree
    ms_tree Posts: 1,405
    Found this on another forum - bit gruesome I know

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbAmWuOQ0v0
    'Google can bring back a hundred thousand answers. A librarian can bring you back the right one.'
    Neil Gaiman
  • Coriander
    Coriander Posts: 1,326
    That's a bit morbid - thankfully, the guy's not dead; it looks more like a memorial tribute.

    I have sympathy with poor old Pereiro though - I was knocked off my bike by a police car last summer and fractured my shoulder and upper arm and boy did that hurt...

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