Stage 9 - St Gaudens > Tarbes SPOILER

Kléber

Another mountain stage but without a summit finish. Like yesterday the final climb of the day comes too far from the finish to offer a set piece battle for the GC but who knows. It's likely we get a repeat of yesterday with some going clear and staying away but who knows. Maybe Armstrong will attack? I doubt it though.

Some will say it's a shame there's no summit finish and I know the feeling. But at the same time it means the GC competition isn't done and dusted, a finish on the Tourmalet today would be fun but it might well mean the next two weeks become a procession for Contador. Prudhomme seems to have designed it so three weeks might all come down to one hour's climbing on the Ventoux.

It was interesting to watch the Astana team yesterday. As soon as Evans was caught there was some finger-wagging at riders in the bunch trying to escape. LL Sanchez was the last to go clear before this happened so it'll be interesting to see if Astana can get a lock-down on the race again.

I hope there are some more GC attacks. I think yesterday's move by Andy Schleck wasn't about winning the race, it was more a chance to drop Nocentini and thereby put Contador in yellow. This would have then stopped all help from AG2R to protect the race and put the burden on Astana for several days.

It's a rest day after, the riders finish the stage and then climb on board a charter flight and the rest of the race entourage will hit the road. Some tired legs already.

jimycooper

i think its a great shame that such a prestigious mountain is used, but so far from the finish and not used on a summit finish. would of been fantastic to see the big boys fight it out on the tourmalet...

Cumulonimbus

I think there will be some attacks. We could well see some attacks on the Aspin to see who is strong and then see more attacks on the Tourmalet. However, unless people can really blow the race apart then the attacks will stop and Astana will take over again... The Tourmalet was where Voigt did a lot of damage last year and maybe he will try and do the same this year? Teams could try and put riders down the road to help on the top of the Tourmalet/on the run in to the finish. Personally i think that, despite whatever plans there are out there, that it will come back together. The odd person may drop away on GC but the big favourites will all maintain position.

Breakaway candidates could be Dessel, pellizotti, Chavanel, Moncoutie, Euskaltel. Whether they are caught or not may well depend on how much the GC guys go for it. If they are caught then it could be quite interesting on the run-in seeing lots of riders try to break away and cover attacks, etc, but without one guy being the big stage favourite. Could Freire try to go in the break and hope to be with the GC people at the end?

jimycooper

just watching the race now, and the brakaway are trying to form.

but they are being chased heavily, my question is why? wouldnt it benifit astana to let a brake go and not have to worry about riding on the front the whole day.

blazing_saddles

WTF are Astana chasing this lot? Not exactly a group of contenders. All stage chancers...

kerryman

maybe because jens voight is in it?
he could perhaps be there later to help andy schleck if andy made a break on the tourmalet?

Cumulonimbus

Maybe they were planning to put someone in there as a policeman and they've missed it? Euskaltel have also missed the break and are working on the front too.

Jez mon

I know that too many consecutive mountain finishes would probably open up too bigger gaps, but couldn't they reduce the gap between the finish and the summit. Surely this would strike a balance and allow these stages to have an effect on GC without tying up the yellow jersey with two weeks of the race left.

geoff_ss

I don't think the Tourmalet is a very good place for a finish for practical reasons. It's a while since I was there (at least at the summit) but IIRC there isn't a lot of space for all the paraphernalia that attends a Tour finish. However there are a few ski stations in the area that would be fine and, I think, would make a better race of the day's stage.

But what do I know?

Geoff

Eau Rouge

Cumulonimbus wrote:

Maybe they were planning to put someone in there as a policeman and they've missed it? Euskaltel have also missed the break and are working on the front too.

Can someone explain just what a "policeman" is supposed to achieve by being in the break? With radio's etc these days the teams hardly need someone in the break to know exactly where it is and how it's working, which was the only reason I've managed to come up other than sitting at the back all day then winning the sprint for the stage win if they stay away.

Cumulonimbus

Is this Astana's way of saying that they arent going to allow anyone else to form plans to attack them? They arent that far short of the Aspin at the moment,

dave_1

is it worth going to a pub to watch the stage today? boring stage?

kerryman

i agree with the finish being too far from the top of the tourmalet.
it makes for dull racing as none of the major contenders are likely to do anything and they will most likely all finish together

kerryman

also having the only mountaintop finish of the pyrenees on the first day of the mountains was a bad move as all the riders were reluctant to do much attacking, they were just checking each other out, apart from bertie in the last kilometre it was pretty ordinary stuff.

it would be better to have the mountaintop finish today perhaps after a few days in the mountains and with a rest day to come some guys could go really hard

Philip S

Geoff_SS wrote:

I don't think the Tourmalet is a very good place for a finish for practical reasons. It's a while since I was there (at least at the summit) but IIRC there isn't a lot of space for all the paraphernalia that attends a Tour finish. However there are a few ski stations in the area that would be fine and, I think, would make a better race of the day's stage.

But what do I know?

Geoff

Yes., it would be impossible to have a summit finish at the Tourmalet - there is no space on the top of the Col at all, but I think there is enough space at La Mongie on its Eastern slopes - you'd need to climb from the West and then have a short, sharp drop off the summit to La Mongie... I'd certainly like to see that.

blazing_saddles

No, I reckon it was having Ag2r's policeman at only 3'-28" down.
Settles down as per usual, for the plod to Tarbes.

DaveyL

Have I missed the Eugene Christophe story yet?

I bet Carlton Kirby has a better one!

DaveyL

Here we go...

blazing_saddles

Popovych off the back on the Aspin.
Was he having his evening meal at his old team's place last night? :P
Davy's called it!

DaveyL

It's a fair bet the words "St. Marie de Campan" will be followed by the good old Eugene Christophe anecdote.

His exploits at one of the early Milan - San Remos are even crazier (by a long way).

finchy

Eau Rouge wrote:

Can someone explain just what a "policeman" is supposed to achieve by being in the break? With radio's etc these days the teams hardly need someone in the break to know exactly where it is and how it's working, which was the only reason I've managed to come up other than sitting at the back all day then winning the sprint for the stage win if they stay away.

Yeah, it helps to discourage overly aggressive riding from the breakaway riders if they're just going to be giving somebody else a free ride up to the finishing line.

Moomaloid

I do hope Jens can keep that diesel engine stoked.. dropped now but hopefully he can come back on further along..

Kléber

Last year Voigt was towing the leaders over the summit.

rokkala

Can somebody let me know a few mins before the start descending the tourmalet then? Watching the Grand Prix at the moment and don't wanna keep flicking until then

Jez mon

Robert Millar is still emailing the Eurosport team, now there is a man that knows his mountains in detail!

Kléber

Pellizotti is probably stronger than Fedrigo on the hill but the Italian would do well to keep the Bouygues rider with him as there's a headwind in towards the finish. But Fedrigo is a clever and powerful finisher who loves these sorts of finishes.

afx237vi

Pretty boring stuff, but it's encouraging to see Popovych, Rast and Muravyey all dropped when the speed isn't that high.

Moomaloid

yeah the previous stages have flattered the route planning. Can not believe the finish today. Its a bit of an insult to the Tourmalet.

Philip S

Jez mon wrote:

Robert Millar is still emailing the Eurosport team, now there is a man that knows his mountains in detail!

Clearly Millar knows a lot more about the Tourmalet than me, but was he not describing the ascent from the other side past Bareges rather than La Mongie?

afx237vi

I just saw Jesus at the top of the Tourmalet :shock:

emadden

Philip S wrote:

Jez mon wrote:

Robert Millar is still emailing the Eurosport team, now there is a man that knows his mountains in detail!

Clearly Millar knows a lot more about the Tourmalet than me, but was he not describing the ascent from the other side past Bareges rather than La Mongie?

eh...certaintly