Criterium International Stage 1 *spoiler*

moray_gub

Blazing Saddles wrote:

deal wrote:

Armstrong Lost 4:51

Even with four "team mates" pushing.
He's way behind and carrying too much weight.

His team mates in the lead group were not pushing for him though that was obvious when he was dropped they were still working away. You are right though too podgy by far.

pb21

Dull

Despite the amazing scenery I fell asleep.

:oops:

squired

Very disappointing racing. If someone was turning on for the first time to watch a cycle race I doubt they will bother again.

micron

Impressed by the way Fedrigo easily dropped Machado - shame he can't TT. Surely this is now Sanchez's to lose?

Still RS are leading the team classification - funny how that has automatically become the classement to win whenever RS are in a race - far more important than the overall

Sanquer says they are 'tranquille' and will analyse what happened later - seems AC had the legs but the allergies weren't willing.

Will we see Vino go off on one tomorrow? He was an exemplary teammate today and Fofonov was a beast. Nice to see the team doing what it said it would and developing the Kazakh riders - there are 5 in the Astana team here.

iainf72

Cadel reckons it's between him, Sanchez, Millar and Horner.

http://www.bmcracingteam.com/uploads/me ... it_Int.mp3

Not sure you can discount our Portuguese friend, but he's probably about right.

rick_chasey

pb21 wrote:

Dull

Despite the amazing scenery I fell asleep.

:oops:

Watched the wrong race :P

http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtop ... t=12690063

moray_gub

micron wrote:

Impressed by the way Fedrigo easily dropped Machado - shame he can't TT. Surely this is now Sanchez's to lose?

Still RS are leading the team classification - funny how that has automatically become the classement to win whenever RS are in a race - far more important than the overall

.

You said the same about Catalunya now the Crit Int so who is actually saying this ?

frenchfighter

Shame about Contador...he actually had hayfever which prevented him breathing properly so told Vino to ease up and he calmly rode to the finish. Even with that problem he didn't role in too badly at 23rd. If he was able to breathe then he would have likely won.

Armstrong shit as usual...nothing new there. Shouldn't even be racing a bike, go home.

Nice job Fedrigo. The boy has style.

Lots of people HD - wish I was in to watch. Nice to see Martin up there. Lots of exciting riders in the top 30 or so.

frenchfighter

Stephen Roche: But prove a point to who? Who genuinely believes that, on a one to one, Armstrong can beat Contador? People know that Armstrong has it up against him this year again. We all know that Contador will beat Armstrong in time trials, he will beat him in mountains. The only way Armstrong can beat Contador is through injury, maybe, or missing out on the good breaks. But if he missed out on a break, that will be one minute, two minutes, three minutes. Yet in the time trials and the climbs, that will be brought back very quickly.

VN: Are you impressed that Contador has done two stage races this year and won both of them?

SR: It is good. It is good to see the Tour de France riders showing so early and being so consistent, Valverde and Contador doing well. It is good because sometimes the big stars hide away and only come out when the sun shines in July for the Tour.

It is definitely a good thing – it is good for cycling, for fans, for sponsors and events. While you have good fights on the bike, when everybody has big riders coming to these races, it will only enhance the profile of cycling.

-Velonation
http://www.velonation.com/News/ID/3611/ ... ntest.aspx

frenchfighter

Last few km
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkL0chZ2m9k

I note the tv men are grilled to Lancey as usual...who wants to see an old fat man going backwards on a bike so often. Please show the head of the race where the action is.

frenchfighter

Btw, Machado was a pro for five years with a few Portugeuse teams prior to joining the Whack Shack.

I wonder why he hasn't been snapped uop earlier...

He has a blog too:
machadotiago.blogspot.com

moray_gub

frenchfighter wrote:

Shame about Contador...he actually had hayfever which prevented him breathing properly so told Vino to ease up and he calmly rode to the finish.

Strange that he waited until the race broke up 2kms from the finish before he told Vino to ease up surely if he had hayfever as he claims he would not have had Vino near the front setting the pace. No Vino was setting the pace for one reason to set up a Bertie attack and he didnt have the form simple as that.

rockmount

Moray Gub wrote:

frenchfighter wrote:

Shame about Contador...he actually had hayfever which prevented him breathing properly so told Vino to ease up and he calmly rode to the finish.

Strange that he waited until the race broke up 2kms from the finish before he told Vino to ease up surely if he had hayfever as he claims he would not have had Vino near the front setting the pace. No Vino was setting the pace for one reason to set up a Bertie attack and he didnt have the form simple as that.

Shootin' blanks I reckon ...

Arkibal

Moray Gub wrote:

frenchfighter wrote:

Shame about Contador...he actually had hayfever which prevented him breathing properly so told Vino to ease up and he calmly rode to the finish.

Strange that he waited until the race broke up 2kms from the finish before he told Vino to ease up surely if he had hayfever as he claims he would not have had Vino near the front setting the pace. No Vino was setting the pace for one reason to set up a Bertie attack and he didnt have the form simple as that.

yup, and what is wrong with that? He can't win 'em all, but at least he was trying.
Bad days happen even to the best ones.

And he did look like he was suffering today, badly.

moray_gub

Arkibal wrote:

Moray Gub wrote:

frenchfighter wrote:

Shame about Contador...he actually had hayfever which prevented him breathing properly so told Vino to ease up and he calmly rode to the finish.

Strange that he waited until the race broke up 2kms from the finish before he told Vino to ease up surely if he had hayfever as he claims he would not have had Vino near the front setting the pace. No Vino was setting the pace for one reason to set up a Bertie attack and he didnt have the form simple as that.

yup, and what is wrong with that? He can't win 'em all, but at least he was trying.
Bad days happen even to the best ones.

And he did look like he was suffering today, badly.

Nothing whatsoever but maybe he should spare us the hayfever yarn .

deejay

Funny how hayfever starts when armstrong goes out the back door. !
Hayfever must start when you loose interest.

Pross

frenchfighter wrote:

Shame about Contador...he actually had hayfever which prevented him breathing properly so told Vino to ease up and he calmly rode to the finish. Even with that problem he didn't role in too badly at 23rd. If he was able to breathe then he would have likely won.

Armstrong shoot as usual...nothing new there. Shouldn't even be racing a bike, go home.

Nice job Fedrigo. The boy has style.

Lots of people HD - wish I was in to watch. Nice to see Martin up there. Lots of exciting riders in the top 30 or so.

He didn't look like he calmly rode to the finish to me, he was well and truly dropped. If his hayfever is giving him problems in March he's going to struggle come July.

The Shack showed they have plenty of riders capable of supporting Armstrong on the hills, problem is he's going to have to improve drastically in the next few months to justify them. That was quite a tough hill in places though!

iainf72

Pross wrote:

He didn't look like he calmly rode to the finish to me, he was well and truly dropped. If his hayfever is giving him problems in March he's going to struggle come July.

Oh absolutely, because hayfever isn't seasonsal at all! I mean, there is no way that the wind on the final climb was chucking up something which irritated him.

:roll:

SpaceJunk

Moray Gub wrote:

frenchfighter wrote:

Shame about Contador...he actually had hayfever which prevented him breathing properly so told Vino to ease up and he calmly rode to the finish.

Strange that he waited until the race broke up 2kms from the finish before he told Vino to ease up surely if he had hayfever as he claims he would not have had Vino near the front setting the pace. No Vino was setting the pace for one reason to set up a Bertie attack and he didnt have the form simple as that.

So you calling Contador a liar Moray? You're not taking his word as being true??

Well I'm fine with that. As long as you don't get your knickers in a knot when a certain Texan is cross examined on everything he says in this forum.

You wouldn't want to appear as a hypocrite would you?

frenchfighter

OT slightly as the haters comments don't need to be addressed - the results speak for themselves.

I like GC riders that don't go into every race apart from their one objective saying they are not going to try and win, they are in training, they are out of form, I lost 5-10 mins but I am where I want to be, or some other stupid defensive comment.

Real champions race not ride all year round.

deal

frenchfighter wrote:

Last few km
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkL0chZ2m9k

I note the tv men are grilled to Lancey as usual...who wants to see an old fat man going backwards on a bike so often. Please show the head of the race where the action is.

i dont know...i quite enjoyed watching a fat old man going backwards :twisted:

inkyfingers

For once I agree with you FF, though if they really aren't racing to win why don't they just say they are racing to help one of their team mates rather than saying they are just there to rack up the training miles.

calvjones

frenchfighter wrote:

OT slightly as the haters comments don't need to be addressed - the results speak for themselves.

I like GC riders that don't go into every race apart from their one objective saying they are not going to try and win, they are in training, they are out of form, I lost 5-10 mins but I am where I want to be, or some other stupid defensive comment.

Real champions race not ride all year round.

Contador now has haters? Beginning of the end, that.

Pross

Note to self - must never make a post that could in any way be deemed to suggest Contador is anything less than superhuman

So, he didn't get dropped then - he just took it easy. Must remember that one! I don't doubt he had hayfever but the suggestion he then decided to sit up and take it easy looked a long way off the mark to me. It was poor tactics by Astana which resulted in them doing too much work, by time the racing started Bertie was already looking tired.

FF, you are contradicting yourself again. You said Bertie told Vino to ease up and calmly ride to the finish then you say

Real champions race not ride all year round

. Or are you accussing Bertie of not being a real champion?

frenchfighter

Are you serious?! You obviously don't understand what bad hayfever can do to you.

Pross

No, other than suffering from it myself to the extent that I get spontaneous nose bleeds on the bike I have no idea what it is like

The fact remains that Contador is the only cyclist in history that has never been dropped. In Paris - Nice it was because "he hadn't eaten enough", in the Tour he was "in the wrong place when the bunch split" and now it's because of his hay fever. Incidently, does anyone know what type of pollen he is allergic to?

frenchfighter

Oh so you are basically a pessimist, a cynic etc etc. Fine that would explain things.

I tend to be of the opinion that people do not lie all the time. A brighter outlook that sees the good in people rather than always trying to pick holes and look for negatives.

And if you are so familiar with hayfever, then your comments are even more odd.

Nothing more to say.

dave_1

Tony Rominger, for those with long memories, played the hay fever card too..it's nothing new to use it...TR claimed that once he'd got that under control he could ride may-july-had nothing to do with Dr Blood and also just coincidence the EPO appeared in 1992 when he started winning GTs.

frenchfighter

So one man's lie (if it is indeed that) makes another man's comment also a lie. I've never been a believer in this logic.

Why do you think Contador would want to lie? If he had a bad day, ie/. didn't have the legs to torch the others who aren't exactly the best climbers in the world, he would have likely said it as he has before.

Pross

frenchfighter wrote:

Oh so you are basically a pessimist, a cynic etc etc. Fine that would explain things.

I tend to be of the opinion that people do not lie all the time. A brighter outlook that sees the good in people rather than always trying to pick holes and look for negatives.

And if you are so familiar with hayfever, then your comments are even more odd.

Nothing more to say.

Really? :shock: You'd better check your internet security then as someone appears to have hacked your account.

1. Alex Rasmussen (Saxo Bank) 12:59
2. Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky) 13:04
3. Tony Martin (Columbia) 13:06
4. Michael Rogers (Columbia) 13:11
5. Jens Voigt (Saxo Bank) 13:24
6. Hayden Roulston (Columbia) 13:24
7. Gustav Larsson (Saxo Bank) 13:27
8. Paul Martens (Rabobank) 13:27
9. Gregory Henderson (Team Sky) 13:29
10. Maxime Monfort (Columbia) 13:33

Just for the record, Wiggins is a TT specialist, he is current GB National TT champ and he soft pedalled majorly in comparison to 80% of the other riders in Stage 1, and it is only 11k @ 50km/hr so should have done much better.

WTF! Why? That is super lightweight. A long way for him to go before he can start playing with the big boys.

That's just two comments I could remember from one race!

For the record I don't doubt he had hay fever and may well have struggled because of it but ultimately he got dropped for whatever reason. It's the suggestion he just decided to stop trying and ride "calmly" to the finish I have a problem with, he looked like he was trying to stay with the leaders to me.