Stage 9 - St Gaudens > Tarbes SPOILER

kerryman

pretty boring 3 days in the pyrenees....the only change between the contenders is contador's 19 seconds gained on the first day... they need to change the route to liven up the racing

may as well have bypassed the pyrenees

kerryman

having the finish so far from the top of such a great climb is pointless as the main contenders will not attack with so far to go to the finish, it just makes for dull racing

Kléber

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.

A perfect example right now is Voeckler who is with the chasing group with Moncoutie and Martinez. Voeckler can watch the group try to chase down the leading pair but he can sit on the wheels as the policeman for Bouygues. Should the pair get caught, Voeckler will have fresh legs for the finish.

Moomaloid

idiots waving to their mates on camera nearly smacked Franco in the face... god u wish they'd respect the effort these guys are putting in...

afx237vi

LOL @ Harmon implying TV hadn't been invented when Sean Kelly was racing?! SK hasn't noticed.

afx237vi

Is the Tourmalet where Pereiro went off the side of the road with a sandwich in his mouth, then reappeared a few seconds later till eating the sandwich?

emadden

Black socks and shoes.... almost as taboo as wearing a short pants and sandals with white socks

Eurostar

It's tough to decide which is the least boring today - the Tour or the Grand Prix.

afx237vi

Eurostar wrote:

It's tough to decide which is the least boring today - the Tour or the Grand Prix.

The Ashes.

emadden

Eurostar wrote:

It's tough to decide which is the least boring today - the Tour or the Grand Prix.

Yeah... and can you imagine how boring the "transition" stages will be... The next "mountain stage" is to Verbier... and the climbs on that day (including the Col des Mosses) are pretty easy.... By way of illustration, the Tour de Romandie went up the Col des Mosses last year on the last day and they did it at speed... AND Cav went over the top in the top 30 !! Kirchen won up to Verbier in last years TdS... ANd then the second rest day...

So chaps, we have to wait through two rest days to get to the next ball breaking stage .... crap

afx237vi

Holy shite, Laurens Ten Dam looks like Wile E Coyote after the Roadrunner has just blown him up with a stick of dynamite.

blazing_saddles

Jeez! L Ten Dam's in a bit of a mess. There is nothing as tedious as a huge climb, when you know nobody is going to attack.
100 riders in a bunch at the finish?

emadden

afx237vi wrote:

Holy shite, Laurens Ten Dam looks like Wile E Coyote after the Roadrunner has just blown him up with a stick of dynamite.

Hahahah such a perfect description

Eurostar

On reflection things might have been more interestng if Lance had been trying to defend the yellow jersey for the last few days.

emadden

Franco Pellizotti pictured at the race start this morning... He clearly has eye on an escape

afx237vi

^ LOL, harsh but fair.

Columbia leading the bunch... for who?

blazing_saddles

Cav...? :roll:
The Columbia "Mean Machine" train, preparing to screw over another break.
The icing on this stale cake of a stage.

afx237vi

Blazing Saddles wrote:

Cav...? :roll:
The Columbia "Mean Machine" train, preparing to screw over another break.
The icing on this stale cake of a stage.

I really doubt Cav is there. He was waaaaaay off the back at the start of the Aspin with Renshaw and Eisel.

Maybe Thor is working his way back and Columbia are trying to make it more difficult.

emadden

Blazing Saddles wrote:

Cav...? :roll:
The Columbia "Mean Machine" train, preparing to screw over another break.
The icing on this stale cake of a stage.

Geez.. can you imagine if Cav did win today.. the organisers would have more than egg on their face. No disrespect to Cav

Cumulonimbus

Maybe they think that Kirchen or Hincapie could win the stage if it comes down to a bunch sprint?

afx237vi

Now Caisse d'Epargne. Rojas.

geoff_ss

I love the Pyrenees (we rode the Aspin last year) they're just a bit quieter than the Alps and not so severe to this enfeebled rider However this year's route insults the terrain IMO. The flat stages were more interesting, sadly. It's either that or Armstrong's reappearance has made the race boring. No-one seems to want to give him a hard time.

I remember seeing Hinault attacking on the Aspin (1985?) on his own well ahead of the peloton. I suppose it didn't do him any good as he died on the climb to the finish but it made it exciting. It was the year of Lemond's first victory.

Geoff

SpaceJunk

Pellizotti out of uniform:

geoff_ss

afx237vi wrote:

Blazing Saddles wrote:

Cav...? :roll:
The Columbia "Mean Machine" train, preparing to screw over another break.
The icing on this stale cake of a stage.

I really doubt Cav is there. He was waaaaaay off the back at the start of the Aspin with Renshaw and Eisel.

Maybe Thor is working his way back and Columbia are trying to make it more difficult.

According to the diagramatic illustration on the official web site Cav is with the main peloton. It shows Hushovd as being off the back but doesn't say by how much. Perhaps Cav is hoping to reacquire the green jersey?

Geoff

kerryman

racing back in the days of hinault, lemond, kelly was way more exciting, no race radios either, i definitely think they contribute to the dull racing nowadays

afx237vi

Geoff_SS wrote:

afx237vi wrote:

I really doubt Cav is there. He was waaaaaay off the back at the start of the Aspin with Renshaw and Eisel.

Maybe Thor is working his way back and Columbia are trying to make it more difficult.

According to the diagramatic illustration on the official web site Cav is with the main peloton. It shows Hushovd as being off the back but doesn't say by how much. Perhaps Cav is hoping to reacquire the green jersey?

Geoff

Maybe, but I'm still sceptical. I've seen Kirchen, Monfort, Martin, Rogers, Hincapie... but no Cav.

Mettan

Oscar Freire around ? - looking like an interesting finish.

Le Commentateur

Cav's there or why would the Columbia riders be grouping near the front ready to work once they catch the breakaway at 20kms to go.

kerryman

bunch sprint finish to a 'mountain' stage = ridiculous

Cumulonimbus

The graphic says there are 168 riders in the group with the favourites. I dont see that information as being reliable.