Early Stage 16 "Spoiler"

124

Comments

  • Quite Frankly
    Quite Frankly Posts: 386
    Astana had a right old mare there. Not only did Levi crack but Popo went pop and didn't get the stage win.

    Good day for Menchov and an impressive win for Sastre.
  • iainf72
    iainf72 Posts: 15,784
    Is Lance going to apologise for calling Lionel Birnie a "foolish man" now?

    So, Wednesday I expect we'll see Franco P launched off the front.

    Sastre is a great rider, for sure. Gauged his effort perfectly. Basso certainly softened them up for him though.
    Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.
  • GroupOfOne MkII
    GroupOfOne MkII Posts: 1,289
    After yesterday I thought there were some more 'interesting' examples of team tactics today. Like Pauwels going absolutely hell for leather onto the final climb, for no apparent reason.

    Can't imagine he was trying to thin the field down, as it seemed more like an quick raising of the pace to allow his teammate to attack. Shame nobody had told said teammate, Sastre. Obviously worked out alright in the end, but does make you wonder if CTT know what they're doing all the time.

    Also nice of Lance to help Levi to the finish. Shame he chose the moment when arguably Leipheimer was struggling most to bridge the gap over to Di Luca, Menchov & co. Would have loved to have seen a domestique do that in the Tour to Lance a few years ago, he'd have probably shot him :lol:
  • Fastlad
    Fastlad Posts: 908
    Levi must be ready to top himself now!! jeez, i thought at one point, lance was going with the fast guys until he realised levi was breathing out his arse!! Just how capable is LA? :?
  • pb21
    pb21 Posts: 2,170
    Fastlad wrote:
    Levi must be ready to top himself now!! jeez, i thought at one point, lance was going with the fast guys until he realised levi was breathing out his ars*!! Just how capable is LA? :?

    Not good enough to stay with the top guys, at the moment...

    Very impressive, I am seriously starting to think he could be a match for Contador in a few weeks time.
    Mañana
  • avoidingmyphd
    avoidingmyphd Posts: 1,154
    Also nice of Lance to help Levi to the finish. Shame he chose the moment when arguably Leipheimer was struggling most to bridge the gap over to Di Luca, Menchov & co. Would have loved to have seen a domestique do that in the Tour to Lance a few years ago, he'd have probably shot him :lol:

    indeed - the difference between LA as a (super?) domestique, and what he always expected of his own domestiques is massive. there's a true example of hypocrisy.

    i got the impression that di luca/menchov and basso closed up on sastre towards the top so the gaps were smaller than they might have been.

    is it another encouraging sign that basso is now clean that he got caught by the two pink jerseys?
  • andyp
    andyp Posts: 10,070
    iainf72 wrote:
    When is Levi going to attack?
    :roll:
    :lol:
  • Trev36
    Trev36 Posts: 92
    iainf72 wrote:
    This is a bit more frickin' like it
    I saw him attack that bottle of water pretty good :P
  • Trev36
    Trev36 Posts: 92
    Menchov is not even breathing.
    That's pretty normal though.
    I've thought on other occasions he was looking pretty comfortable and then bango! he takes a sharp turn onto struggle street.


    Now levi has gone, will Lance pack his bags?

    discuss.....
    I originally thought Armstrong was likely to pull the pin at some stage, but now I think he'll ride to the finish.
    He looked 100% better today and now that Levi's chance of a podium is pretty much shot, I reckon Armstrong will have a crack at a stage win. The BlockHaus or Mnt Vesuvio? (which has the most prestige?)
  • avoidingmyphd
    avoidingmyphd Posts: 1,154
    Trev36 wrote:
    Menchov is not even breathing.
    That's pretty normal though.
    I've thought on other occasions he was looking pretty comfortable and then bango! he takes a sharp turn onto struggle street.

    yeah, menchov has one of the best poker faces in the peloton. he either looks OK, or disappears.

    it's good for mind games too - like yesterday he claimed he let basso go, and people think it's true because he didn't look in trouble. let's see if he says he let sastre go today, and if people pop up saying it must be true because he didn't look in trouble.

    alternatively, there's a positive spin on this. he's a diesel. so he doesn't get in trouble unless he gets too aggressive. so it's true that he's riding comfortably and lets these attacks go. but it's also true that if he responded, he'd be in the red sharpish.
  • frenchfighter
    frenchfighter Posts: 30,642
    Trev36 wrote:
    Menchov is not even breathing.
    That's pretty normal though.
    I've thought on other occasions he was looking pretty comfortable and then bango! he takes a sharp turn onto struggle street.

    yeah, menchov has one of the best poker faces in the peloton. he either looks OK, or disappears.

    it's good for mind games too - like yesterday he claimed he let basso go, and people think it's true because he didn't look in trouble. let's see if he says he let sastre go today, and if people pop up saying it must be true because he didn't look in trouble.

    alternatively, there's a positive spin on this. he's a diesel. so he doesn't get in trouble unless he gets too aggressive. so it's true that he's riding comfortably and lets these attacks go. but it's also true that if he responded, he'd be in the red sharpish.

    I agree somewhat but did you see him cover Di Luca's attack?! Out the saddle going a bloc. Then at the end he put 20m into Di Luca.
    Contador is the Greatest
  • avoidingmyphd
    avoidingmyphd Posts: 1,154
    good point. just because he has a good poker face doesn't mean that he's always in trouble! (moral of the story? it's v. hard to tell from the sofa I guess!)

    if you look at the GC this evening, Menchov's claimed tactic (cover only di luca regardless of his ability to cover the others) still looks reasonable anyway!
  • blazing_saddles
    blazing_saddles Posts: 21,741
    Have to say Armstrong looked ominous, today. (sorry MG)
    Leipheimer? You can't make a silk purse out of an organic, top quality sow's ear.

    Liquigas?
    How can you have two men, at this stage of the Giro, hovering just off the podium, but within a couple of seconds of eachother?
    Daft team set up, needs to be rectified now, in favour of Basso, but I fear it's already too late.
    "Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.
  • Quite Frankly
    Quite Frankly Posts: 386
    How far down do people think Armstrong would have finished today if he hadn't had to pace Levi up the climb?

    I reckon he may have come in with the likes of Garzelli and Pellizotti at 1.20 down on Sastre. If that's right then it's a good sign for him and I'm definitely expecting him to try something either on Blockhaus or Vesuvio.
  • Quite Frankly
    Quite Frankly Posts: 386
    Simoni lost 20 minutes.

    Lovkvist lost 25 minutes :shock:
  • Quite Frankly
    Quite Frankly Posts: 386
    Kessiakoff, who was 18th in GC before today's stage, lost 48 minutes and finished in the gruppetto. He's now 39th overall.

    Seeldrayers is now the best young rider after Lovkvist's troubles. Astana look to have sewn up the Fastest team classification in today's stage.
  • afx237vi
    afx237vi Posts: 12,630
    48 minutes for the autobus... 8 hours of riding!
  • DaveyL
    DaveyL Posts: 5,167
    Armstrong, Leipheimer, Hunter and Rogers all tweeting to say it's the hardest GT stage they've ridden.

    Just as well there aren't any proper mountan stages in this Giro...
    Le Blaireau (1)
  • iainf72
    iainf72 Posts: 15,784
    Does anyone think yesterday's attack might have been the reason Basso couldn't catch Sastre? It's plain he's going to go for it again on Wednesday - I expect to see Leakygas on the front from the start.

    Poor the Levi sounds dejected

    http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/Lei ... 83215.html
    Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.
  • blazing_saddles
    blazing_saddles Posts: 21,741
    DaveyL wrote:
    Armstrong, Leipheimer, Hunter and Rogers all tweeting to say it's the hardest GT stage they've ridden.

    Just as well there aren't any proper mountan stages in this Giro...

    One stage, does not at GT make.

    Besides, the weather +35C, was exceptional.
    Not even the Tour in July would suffer such extremes, as the climbing was roughly at a level 1000 metres below the norm.
    It probably was the hottest GT mountain stage any of them has ever ridden.
    "Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.
  • iainf72
    iainf72 Posts: 15,784
    Just read some comments the Liquigas DS made before todays stage and he said Levi was on the verge of cracking.

    Sometimes those chaps know what they're talking about, eh?
    Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.
  • andyp
    andyp Posts: 10,070
    One stage, does not at GT make.

    Besides, the weather +35C, was exceptional.
    Not even the Tour in July would suffer such extremes, as the climbing was roughly at a level 1000 metres below the norm.
    It probably was the hottest GT mountain stage any of them has ever ridden.
    That's a very good point, the heat today had a major effect, and the cooling effects of altitude were not a factor.

    I knew today's stage would be tough, having ridden in the area and up the Monte Nerone myself, but the heat made it tougher still. Sastre's winning time was 7:10:00 or so, with the grupetto coming in nearly 50 minutes later, so the best part of 8 hours in the saddle for them. Ouch.
  • mididoctors
    mididoctors Posts: 16,646
    How far down do people think Armstrong would have finished today if he hadn't had to pace Levi up the climb?

    I reckon he may have come in with the likes of Garzelli and Pellizotti at 1.20 down on Sastre. If that's right then it's a good sign for him and I'm definitely expecting him to try something either on Blockhaus or Vesuvio.

    further back than people think...

    he went backwards when sastre took off

    I think he got a rush of blood to the head and thought he could hang in until the big lads gave it a good go

    possibly hung on to gazelli
    "If I was a 38 year old man, I definitely wouldn't be riding a bright yellow bike with Hello Kitty disc wheels, put it that way. What we're witnessing here is the world's most high profile mid-life crisis" Afx237vi Mon Jul 20, 2009 2:43 pm
  • Rhods
    Rhods Posts: 400
    Thoroughly enjoyed that! Got to feel for Popovych - a valiant effort. But also nice to see Sastre hitting form. Looking forward to Wednesday's stage now!

    I reckon Armstrong looked far stronger today and thought he may have even followed Menchov and Di Luca. Will be interesting to see what level he's actually at - as said above, may get to see what he's got now that Levi's blown it. Shame - was really hoping he could at least show he was able to respond to attacks.
  • afx237vi
    afx237vi Posts: 12,630
    I loved the look on Popo's face as Sastre flew past him. A mixture of surprise, resignation and disgust all rolled into one :lol: Either his radio wasn't working or someone wasn't giving him correct time gaps!
  • plectrum
    plectrum Posts: 225
    How far down do people think Armstrong would have finished today if he hadn't had to pace Levi up the climb?

    I reckon he may have come in with the likes of Garzelli and Pellizotti at 1.20 down on Sastre. If that's right then it's a good sign for him and I'm definitely expecting him to try something either on Blockhaus or Vesuvio.

    further back than people think...

    he went backwards when sastre took off

    I think he got a rush of blood to the head and thought he could hang in until the big lads gave it a good go

    possibly hung on to gazelli

    Hi all - 1st post. (UK based part time cyclist)

    Anyhow ... that is not how i saw it, Sastre left and Lance initially hesitated as it is more the job of Levi to follow, when Levi didn't budge then Lance went to bridge gap and hope that it sparked Levi into life. It became rapidly clear that Levi was just strolling and no more and Lance had to return to duty.
  • teagar
    teagar Posts: 2,100
    iainf72 wrote:
    Just read some comments the Liquigas DS made before todays stage and he said Levi was on the verge of cracking.

    Sometimes those chaps know what they're talking about, eh?

    They really do.
    Note: the above post is an opinion and not fact. It might be a lie.
  • avoidingmyphd
    avoidingmyphd Posts: 1,154
    afx237vi wrote:
    I loved the look on Popo's face as Sastre flew past him. A mixture of surprise, resignation and disgust all rolled into one :lol: Either his radio wasn't working or someone wasn't giving him correct time gaps!

    i saw that too, he was gutted. It's nice to see some emotion though.

    I think he had been getting wrong time gaps - shortly before that the TV ones were all wrong anyway, as the moto shots were showing sastre coming up behind popo and the on screen graphic was showing a lot longer (30secs or so). [I don't think, and I don't think afx237vi thinks, this made a difference. just interesting to see popo's reaction]
  • Quite Frankly
    Quite Frankly Posts: 386
    Armstrong was asked this question on Twitter:

    ''Do you think you could've sat with Menchov and the others to the top today if you didn't have to pull levi to the top?''

    His response:

    ''It's not important. I'm here to help Levistrong.''


    Oh but it is important, it's very important.
  • afx237vi
    afx237vi Posts: 12,630
    afx237vi wrote:
    I loved the look on Popo's face as Sastre flew past him. A mixture of surprise, resignation and disgust all rolled into one :lol: Either his radio wasn't working or someone wasn't giving him correct time gaps!

    i saw that too, he was gutted. It's nice to see some emotion though.

    I think he had been getting wrong time gaps - shortly before that the TV ones were all wrong anyway, as the moto shots were showing sastre coming up behind popo and the on screen graphic was showing a lot longer (30secs or so). [I don't think, and I don't think afx237vi thinks, this made a difference. just interesting to see popo's reaction]

    No I don't think it made a difference. He was already well into the red by then... but he was definitely not expecting to see Sastre so soon.