Stage 7 spoiler

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Comments

  • Mettan
    Mettan Posts: 2,103
    Average grad 7 % finish - should be good.
  • Pokerface
    Pokerface Posts: 7,960
    edited July 2009
    NapoleonD wrote:
    sportbilly1976 wrote:
    NapoleonD wrote:
    :shock:

    This is amazing!

    Stunning HD pictures and a masterclass in ludicrous descending!


    You watching & taking notes on how to go downhill then?/ :):)

    1 - Don't use back brake

    2 - Don't use front brake

    3 - repeat rules 1 and 2

    Don't forget rule 4: replace standard testicles with ones made from steel. :)
  • donrhummy
    donrhummy Posts: 2,329
    Alan14 wrote:
    This has to be the best scenery I've ever seen on the TdF. Absolutely stunning.
    Agreed. I thought the homes on that mountain line with the huge wall of stone behiind them looked like an amazing place to live.
  • blazing_saddles
    blazing_saddles Posts: 22,725
    Starting to look like no yellow for Astana.
    Nocentini, Pineau and Guti are all with 4 minutes of the lead.......
    "Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,667
    Colin, it wasn't a matter of bottle, well, it was, it was a matter of too much bottle for my ability and the road!!!
  • DaveyL
    DaveyL Posts: 5,167
    Why would they want to take the yellow today?
    Le Blaireau (1)
  • Mettan
    Mettan Posts: 2,103
    9 men lead - 12 mins 11 secs over peleton.
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,667
    This is simply stunning!
  • Pokerface
    Pokerface Posts: 7,960
    DaveyL wrote:
    Why would they want to take the yellow today?

    'Cause you look so much nicer riding along in yellow instead of pale blue/white/dark blue. :wink:


    It's one thing to let one of the break take yellow - but letting them take yellow PLUS a 4 minute lead could be dangerous.
  • pb21
    pb21 Posts: 2,171
    Would the ideal scenario for Astana be to have either Contador or Armstrong with a comfortable lead over the main GC riders i.e. around a minute but not in the Maillot Jaune?

    Could work out that way if the break stays clear by enough and also Contador or Armstrong attack hard a few Ks from the finish.
    Mañana
  • mididoctors
    mididoctors Posts: 18,908
    this is starting to remind of how Banesto use to race in the Indurain era.
    "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
  • singlespeedexplosif
    singlespeedexplosif Posts: 1,564
    Would the ideal scenario for Astana be to have either Contador or Armstrong with a comfortable lead over the main GC riders i.e. around a minute but not in the Maillot Jaune
    well at the start of today they're both already around 2 mins ahead of the other main GC contenders, so are you suggesting they should lose time? ;)
  • Mettan
    Mettan Posts: 2,103
    Wonder if Cav's enjoying the day :D
  • sportbilly1976
    sportbilly1976 Posts: 524
    I cant see Astana letting the break finish with this gap - Nocentini would hold the yellow by around 9 minutes..... :shock:
  • chriskempton
    chriskempton Posts: 1,245
    Grrr...

    Trying to watch on Eurosport Player (subscribed this morning) but I can't sign on - it just has a timer cursor going and won't shift. Has anyone else had this? It was working fine earlier.
  • ednwireland
    ednwireland Posts: 85
    Mettan wrote:
    Wonder if Cav's enjoying the day :D

    surely he'll be ssprintingto the front as we speak going for the internmediate sprints :lol:
  • Pokerface
    Pokerface Posts: 7,960
    I love watching the domestiques stuffing 15 water bottles into every crack and crevice and carrying them back to the team!
  • jackhammer111 - banned
    jackhammer111 - banned Posts: 245
    Here is the last 10k of the climb. It flattens a bit at the top.

    http://cdn.media.cyclingnews.com/2009/0 ... tkms07.gif
  • drenkrom
    drenkrom Posts: 1,062
    My oh my the Versus coverage is awful!

    Lance, Lance, Lance, Astana, commercials, Lance, explaination of some super-basic cycling concept, commercials, breakaway, Lance, Garmin, Lance, commercials with Lance, Lance, Commercials, a graphic about Lance, Astana, Lance... aaaaaaargh!

    Very nice with the sound off, though. Great scenery, today.
  • heavymental
    heavymental Posts: 2,091
    Remind me what the general rule on chasing down breakaways that the commentators quote? Is it that they need a minute for every 10k or something? I forget. Guess its different in the mountains to some extent?
  • Pokerface
    Pokerface Posts: 7,960
    Heavymental wrote:
    Remind me what the general rule on chasing down breakaways that the commentators quote? Is it that they need a minute for every 10k or something? I forget. Guess its different in the mountains to some extent?

    That is correct. The length of the stage and the fact it's uphill at the end will cause some of the leading group to drop back more dramatically than others.
  • Kléber
    Kléber Posts: 6,842
    Chapatte's Law: Formulated by former racer and Tour commentator Robert Chapatte, it states that in the closing stages of a race a determined peloton will chase down a break and close in at the rate of 1 minute per 10 kilometers traveled. If a break is 3 minutes up the road the peloton will need to work hard for 30 kilometers to catch it. TV race commentator Paul Sherwen regularly uses Chapatte's Law to come up with his often surprisingly accurate predictions of when a break will be caught. It's now calculated by computer on French television.
    It's a good rule of thumb but it doesn't work in the mountains, a lead of five minutes can evaporate with 10km to go on a summit finish.
  • mididoctors
    mididoctors Posts: 18,908
    sportbilly1976 wrote:
    I cant see Astana letting the break finish with this gap - Nocentini would hold the yellow by around 9 minutes..... :shock:

    he will probably lose upto 30 secs a KM on the final climb...maybe less..maybe more

    so even if he ends up in yellow it will be by about 3 mins or so
    "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
  • Mettan
    Mettan Posts: 2,103
    9 leaders - 11:43 with 37 km to go
  • heavymental
    heavymental Posts: 2,091
    Thanks Pokerface/Kleber.

    11.43 is a good gap with 36 now to go though. Should be interesting.
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,667
    edited July 2009
    Defo a break away win today.

    Wonder who'll be in yellow...

    That lidl Milram guy looks handy in the hills, as long as he gets to the finish line before his parents come out looking for him because it's past his bedtime.
  • Mettan
    Mettan Posts: 2,103
    Andorra's a country? - thought it was a principality - I've no idea.

    (think we played them in Football recently though).
  • will3
    will3 Posts: 2,173
    Mettan wrote:
    Andorra's a country? - thought it was a principality - I've no idea.

    (think we played them in Football though).

    Wales is a principality
  • Mettan
    Mettan Posts: 2,103
    edited July 2009
    Headwinds for majority of "upcoming" climb - tough - 7 % average gradient.
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,667
    That 1 minute for 10km is a little out IMO, I think it's more like 10 seconds per 1Km.

    But I'm not a cycling commentator.

    I'm not very good at cycling either.

    So make of my comment what you will.

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