Stage 18: Annecy ITT SPOILER

donrhummy

jackhammer111 wrote:

iainf72 wrote:

Iain points and laughs at Lance.

Lance looks like he'll make the podium. I'm laughing at you.

Why not laugh at Sastra, Evans and Menchov? Last year winner is s bit if a joke no?

I agree. Lance broke his collarbone aand has ridden recently as a good teammate, conceding time so as not to pull Contador's opponents back up to him, yet he's still in 3rd place. And you laugh at that?! Ridiculous.

Earthbound

donrhummy wrote:

jackhammer111 wrote:

iainf72 wrote:

Iain points and laughs at Lance.

Lance looks like he'll make the podium. I'm laughing at you.

Why not laugh at Sastra, Evans and Menchov? Last year winner is s bit if a joke no?

I agree. Lance broke his collarbone aand has ridden recently as a good teammate, conceding time so as not to pull Contador's opponents back up to him, yet he's still in 3rd place. And you laugh at that?! Ridiculous.

Yeuch, I can smell the drippings of you LanceLove from here.

Armstrong and his cohorts will be out of Contador's team next year, good riddance to disloyal bad sports.

Peakraider

Kléber wrote:

Peakraider wrote:

Er, no. No one is. Of course not. It's the cleanest tour ever. Fact.

Just as the Giro was the cleanest ever, eh?

The truth is none of us know. Sadly several riders have big question marks next to them, Frank Schleck claims to have paid Fuentes for "training plans" and we've seen what sort of programmesFuentes has produced for other riders. The same goes for Armstrong, Contador and Kloeden, all have suspicious links for past behaviour. We can speculate for hours, that's what forums are for, but it's hard to go beyond that. I would like these guys to be more open to talk about their past though but that ain't gonna happen.

Exactly.

And the Di Luca test shows that some riders, at least, are still confident enough to keep on the Cera, even though the testers have, we're told, "caught up".

Plus -- how many times was he tested in the Giro. Ten? 12? And yet he only failed two.

Bakunin

jackhammer111 wrote:

iainf72 wrote:

Iain points and laughs at Lance.

Lance looks like he'll make the podium. I'm laughing at you.

Why not laugh at Sastra, Evans and Menchov? Last year winner is s bit if a joke no?

Lance would be riding for second if he wasn't screwed by his teammate needlessly.

Jackhammer should lay off the Jack Daniels.

Contador screwed the Cowboy? Of course, Lance would have number 8 if it wasn't for Contador.

Life as a Lance fanboy...nothing better.

Quite Frankly

Evans was the fastest up the climb. Contador 2nd, Fedrigo 3rd and Kloden 4th.

chriskempton

Quite Frankly wrote:

Evans was the fastest up the climb. Contador 2nd, Fedrigo 3rd and Kloden 4th.

Cadel Evans ???

blazing_saddles

Kléber wrote:

jackhammer111 wrote:

Lance would be riding for second if he wasn't screwed by his teammate needlessly.

:?:

Earth to jackhammer111...Earth to jackhammer111...Earth to jackhammer111

No, actually this makes sense. It explains the logic behind, yesterday mammoth CN fanboy thread.

blazing_saddles

BigSpecs wrote:

apparently Vaughters is questioning Wiggins time...

according to Gary on ITV...

Yes, he went from 1st at the top of the climb, to over 30 seconds down at chrono 3.
One reading has to be out, as they were close together.
Pat Mc on the stop watch? :P

Pokerface

Blazing Saddles wrote:

BigSpecs wrote:

apparently Vaughters is questioning Wiggins time...

according to Gary on ITV...

Yes, he went from 1st at the top of the climb, to over 30 seconds down at chrono 3.
One reading has to be out, as they were close together.
Pat Mc on the stop watch? :P

Perhaps he was going so fast that he caused a small rip in the space-time continuum?

I wish they could find a reason to give him back that time and put him into 1st place. I had my money on him to win a stage!

jackhammer111 - banned

SpaceJunk wrote:

Kléber wrote:

Moray Gub wrote:

yea crap day for Lance only getting to 3rd spot

I think most people would say his ride was below expectations, well can no doubt get His verdict via Twitter soon. That third spot looks vulnerable, Wiggins and Franck Schleck will think about it.

I think Frank is the fav for third. Who knows; if LA can't match the attacks and Klodi has a good day, he might even get third.

Kloden will support Alberto if need be, maybe Lance since Alberto has the big lead.

With Alberto in command I think Lance will be free of team obligations tomorrow. He'll not be forced to sit on being the good teammate, which has probably cost him second place.

Lance will probably stay with Alberto if the Schlecks stay together again tomorrow but if they can drop Frank Lance would be free to go for the stage, not that I think he can beat Alberto and I doubt AC will gift him even though that's exactly what he did did yesterday to Frank.

But on this climb, lots of things can happen. Maybe the unexpected. That's why they race.

Philip S

Blazing Saddles wrote:

No, actually this makes sense. It explains the logic behind, yesterday mammoth CN fanboy thread.

Clearly, Contador's attack was not designed to drop the Schlecks or put further time into Wiggins, or even to do what champions do and demonstrate who is the strongest, but to stab Klodi and loyal teammate LA in the back. Contador is one machiavellian get. :roll:

jackhammer111 - banned

Earthbound wrote:

donrhummy wrote:

jackhammer111 wrote:

iainf72 wrote:

Iain points and laughs at Lance.

Lance looks like he'll make the podium. I'm laughing at you.

Why not laugh at Sastra, Evans and Menchov? Last year winner is s bit if a joke no?

I agree. Lance broke his collarbone aand has ridden recently as a good teammate, conceding time so as not to pull Contador's opponents back up to him, yet he's still in 3rd place. And you laugh at that?! Ridiculous.

Yeuch, I can smell the drippings of you LanceLove from here.

Armstrong and his cohorts will be out of Contador's team next year, good riddance to disloyal bad sports.

Where has Lance errored as a teammate?

chriskempton

jackhammer111 wrote:

With Alberto in command I think Lance will be free of team obligations tomorrow. He'll not be forced to sit on being the good teammate, which has probably cost him second place.

Poor Lance - hamstrung by his slavish devotion to the greater good of his Kazakh backed team...

PBo

donrhummy wrote:

jackhammer111 wrote:

iainf72 wrote:

Iain points and laughs at Lance.

Lance looks like he'll make the podium. I'm laughing at you.

Why not laugh at Sastra, Evans and Menchov? Last year winner is s bit if a joke no?

I agree. Lance broke his collarbone aand has ridden recently as a good teammate, conceding time so as not to pull Contador's opponents back up to him, yet he's still in 3rd place. And you laugh at that?! Ridiculous.

I've got to say, I'm not a Lance fan at all , and I really don't like the political interviews/twitters he gives out - but how can people not be impressed by this performance??? The way he left Brad yesterday shows there's still some attack left in those legs.

Earthbound

jackhammer111 wrote:

With Alberto in command I think Lance will be free of team obligations tomorrow.

Free at last, to put himself first.

jackhammer111 wrote:

Lance will probably stay with Alberto if the Schlecks stay together again tomorrow

I GUARANTEE the Schlecks will attack tomorrow and Contador will stay with them.
Further, I GUARANTEE Armstrong will not be able to stay with the Schelcks.

My hope is Wiggo will be able to go with the Schelcks without having Armstrong sucking his wheel for 95% of the climb.

jackhammer111 - banned

Blazing Saddles wrote:

Kléber wrote:

jackhammer111 wrote:

Lance would be riding for second if he wasn't screwed by his teammate needlessly.

:?:

Earth to jackhammer111...Earth to jackhammer111...Earth to jackhammer111

No, actually this makes sense. It explains the logic behind, yesterday mammoth CN fanboy thread.

Ok.. I admit I overstate this. Alberto's attack in stage 7 was questionable. His second attack yesterday didn't work, dropped his help and isolated him, and may have widened the gap back to Lance.
Lance has clearly lost time marking wheels with Alberto up the road.

jackhammer111 - banned

Earthbound wrote:

jackhammer111 wrote:

With Alberto in command I think Lance will be free of team obligations tomorrow.

Free at last, to put himself first.

jackhammer111 wrote:

Lance will probably stay with Alberto if the Schlecks stay together again tomorrow

I GUARANTEE the Schlecks will attack tomorrow and Contador will stay with them.
Further, I GUARANTEE Armstrong will not be able to stay with the Schelcks.

My hope is Wiggo will be able to go with the Schelcks without having Armstrong sucking his wheel for 95% of the climb.

You really think Wiggo is going to drop Lance?

Let's go racing

jackhammer111 - banned

Lance poised for a podium and the best the Haters can do is "well, he's not winning"

Where are Sastre, Evans, and Menchov?

chriskempton

jackhammer111 wrote:

Earthbound wrote:

jackhammer111 wrote:

With Alberto in command I think Lance will be free of team obligations tomorrow.

Free at last, to put himself first.

jackhammer111 wrote:

Lance will probably stay with Alberto if the Schlecks stay together again tomorrow

I GUARANTEE the Schlecks will attack tomorrow and Contador will stay with them.
Further, I GUARANTEE Armstrong will not be able to stay with the Schelcks.

My hope is Wiggo will be able to go with the Schelcks without having Armstrong sucking his wheel for 95% of the climb.

You really think Wiggo is going to drop Lance?

Let's go racing

The word was hope

Let's go reading

Philip S

jackhammer111 wrote:

You really think Wiggo is going to drop Lance?

Let's go racing

Who knows? It may be Verbier all over again, with Astana boys getting dropped, or it may be a tactical battle with wheelsucking and brinksmanship. The key thing will be the speed of the Schleck attacks, where they are and who can stay with them.

Kléber

No where! But here's the GC:

3 Lance Armstrong (USA) Astana 0:05:25
4 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Garmin - Slipstream 0:05:36
5 Andreas Klöden (Ger) Astana 0:05:38
6 Fränk Schleck (Lux) Team Saxo Bank 0:05:59

I can't see Armstrong keeping that third place once the Ventoux arrives.

calvjones

jackhammer111 wrote:

Lance poised for a podium and the best the Haters can do is "well, he's not winning"

Where are Sastre, Evans, and Menchov?

Well, none of them are twittering snide half-comments about teammates tactics.

Apart from Evans, clearly and I don't think he can help himself!

Earthbound

jackhammer111 wrote:

Ok.. I admit I overstate this. Alberto's attack in stage 7 was questionable. His second attack yesterday didn't work, dropped his help.

Bertie wasn't getting any help from Kloden. It was very noticable how Kloden did absolutely nothing for Contador yesterday, or any other day for that matter. If Kloden was to help Contador he would have been immediately ahead of him setting tempo. Never once did he take up any other position than sitting on Contador's wheel. Never once.

ANY attack Contador makes is never questionable because of 1 overriding thing:

He's the TEAM LEADER, he's the race favourite, he's the yellow jersey, it's his job to attack. Which part of that Merckx-ian approach to cyclying do you not get?

Philip S

It's going to be interesting, that's for sure. Expect a full-on Saxo train to try to launch Frank. Wiggo to follow Lance and let him do the pulling this time?

Quite Frankly

chriskempton wrote:

Quite Frankly wrote:

Evans was the fastest up the climb. Contador 2nd, Fedrigo 3rd and Kloden 4th.

Cadel Evans ???

Yes.

GeorgeShaw

Philip S wrote:

It's going to be interesting, that's for sure. Expect a full-on Saxo train to try to launch Frank. Wiggo to follow Lance and let him do the pulling this time?

+1. The good thing is Frank being so close. If he was another minute or so back, then the Cowboy could just sit on Wiggins wheel like he did up the Colombiere and Bruyneel will keep Kloden under control. Now you can be sure that Frank and Andy will attack, and Pharmo will have to try to follow them. I'm pretty sure Wiggins could sit in on Pharmo's wheel, and then reverse the events at the top of the Colombiere, but he'll have a decision to make if Frank gets away.

blazing_saddles

Has Jokehmmer PM'd anybody to come out to Ohio to have a fist fight with him, yet?
Got banned on the CN forums. Their gain is our loss.

Still, he wasn't alone over there. Here's a typical gem:

there is something about contador I detest. I hope he tests postive. He does have that overly intense look of a druggy. Regardless, I will boycott next year because I dont want to see Contador win again. People seem to forget the massive genocide the spanish committed in South America.

I can see the UN getting involved in the Colombiere's Conflict!

greeny12

Boring Tour anyone?

Serously, when was the last time two podium places were totally up for grabs at this late stage of the race, with no fewer than six riders contesting them (OK, so Nibali is a bit of a stretch, but you never know...).

Fireworks on the Ventoux guranteed, just as the organisers set out for. No battle for Yellow, but they can't help it if Contador is the best rider with the best team.

Will be saying a little prayer for Brad beforehand - he bloody deserves at least to tie Millar's record placing for keeping us Brits so entertained on and off the bike this past couple of weeks...

Philip S

GeorgeShaw wrote:

I'm pretty sure Wiggins could sit in on Pharmo's wheel, and then reverse the events at the top of the Colombiere, but he'll have a decision to make if Frank gets away.

Stay with Lance, until he can't follow Frank, then try to jump onto Frank's wheel himself? Brad's shown a few bursts of speed on the steep stuff, but I don't know if he will have enough to jump from behind LA onto the rear wheel of a departing Schleck. Can't wait to find out though.

mididoctors

GeorgeShaw wrote:

Philip S wrote:

It's going to be interesting, that's for sure. Expect a full-on Saxo train to try to launch Frank. Wiggo to follow Lance and let him do the pulling this time?

+1. The good thing is Frank being so close. If he was another minute or so back, then the Cowboy could just sit on Wiggins wheel like he did up the Colombiere and Bruyneel will keep Kloden under control. Now you can be sure that Frank and Andy will attack, and Pharmo will have to try to follow them. I'm pretty sure Wiggins could sit in on Pharmo's wheel, and then reverse the events at the top of the Colombiere, but he'll have a decision to make if Frank gets away.

if that scenario pans out they will try and one two wiggo with Klodi..

with a bit of luck wiggins finds his legs but i think he is fading.. i suspect armstrong is going to finish stronger given the team support and options he has...

going to be a memorable day...