TdF Stage 9 *Spoiler*
Comments
-
donrhummy wrote:TakeTheHighRoad wrote:Does Andy really need 3 minutes in the TT? The comparative differences is the same as 2008 with Sastre and Evans, probably 2007 with Contador and Evans too, and they only had around 2 minutes.
Last year, the final TT was 40km and Andy lost 1'45".This year, while he's supposedly worked on his TT, he had a very bad prologue TT. So maybe he'll do a little better, but this year's final TT is 51km and flat as a pancake, which isn't good for Andy. So unless he really did improve, he's likely to lose more than 2 minutes.
That's what I mean. There were all of these kinds of calculations done in 07 and in 08 to see based on past performances how much each person could lose, and each time the poorer TTer (Contador and Sastre respectively) pulled a time out of the bag, due in no small part to the fact they had yellow on their backs and three weeks racing in their legs.0 -
Yes superb coverage from Eurosport, no ad breaks and amazing pictures in HD.
Loved the look on Casar's face when he suddenly realised the breakaway were being caught within metres of the line....0 -
Evans has fractured elbow.
Hard.Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.0 -
iainf72 wrote:Evans has fractured elbow.
Hard.
Indeed - elevates his ride into yellow on Sunday as something very special. Great fighting performance today as well.0 -
TakeTheHighRoad wrote:afx237vi wrote:How amazing was Eurosport today? When was the last time they had an ad break? About 2 hours ago I reckon.
Don't tell me, due to internet issues I had to watch ITV until the top of the Madeleine.
However, it did feature a classic P+P fool-up.
"It just shows that Armstrong is only where he is on GC due to bad luck, he's got the form"
*10 seconds*
"And Armstrong's been popped"
Was gonna make exactly the same comment.
Ligget is getting very old. Once again he was confused which Col they were on and which rider the camera was looking at. He even called Samu Sanchez a duff descender until corrected by Sherwen.
May be time to put him out to grass.It's a little like wrestling a gorilla. You don't quit when you're tired. You quit when the gorilla is tired.0 -
DaveyL wrote:Top 10 on GC, hurrah for clean cycling!
1 Andy Schleck (Lux) Team Saxo Bank 43:35:41
2 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Astana 0:00:41
3 Samuel Sánchez Gonzalez (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 0:02:45
4 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank 0:02:58
5 Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto 0:03:31
6 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Team Radioshack 0:03:59
7 Robert Gesink (Ned) Rabobank 0:04:22
8 Luis León Sánchez Gil (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 0:04:41
9 Joaquin Rodriguez (Spa) Team Katusha 0:05:08
10 Ivan Basso (Ita) Liquigas-Doimo 0:05:09
ok... not quite what I meant
more closer to terrestrial body language
wasn't post rest day superchargevilleamondoshackalacattack"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 pm0 -
Great racing today! Action all over the place from the final climb onwards.
Good day for my tour bets too! Got three; 40/1 each way (top three, quarter odds) on menchov, 5/2 on van den broeck to finish top ten and 11/2 on rodriguez to finish top ten.
Schleck looked fantastic again today. The pyrenees will be epic!0 -
FJS wrote:So, because Evans and Armstrong have blown, everyone will blow?
I don't think it's over yet at all - Sammy Sanchez is in a pretyy good position still, with a much better TT than Andy Schleck, and so is Menchov.
That's right. That's exactly what I said :roll:
Or alternatively - Armstrong has had a bad day, Evans has had a bad day, there are still a lot of racing days left, finishing 5min down doesn't necessarily make you a wanker (or seeing as he is in 16th even mean you ain't gonna finish top 10/5). I will happily concede that a podium looks like a massive long shot though.
Gonna be v interesting watching Schleck and Contador duking it out though....http://www.georgesfoundation.org
http://100hillsforgeorge.blogspot.com/
http://www.12on12in12.blogspot.co.uk/0 -
I'm less certain. The race looks cooked already, the risk is we only watch repeats of today's stage across the PyreneesAbdoujaparov wrote:The pyrenees will be epic!0 -
Kléber wrote:
I'm less certain. The race looks cooked already, the risk is we only watch repeats of today's stage across the PyreneesAbdoujaparov wrote:The pyrenees will be epic!
Third week is always different.0 -
quietly glad caisse got mugged in the end"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 pm0
-
Millar took a packet today coming in over 7 minutes behind the bus at 42.45.0
-
Millar was last man across the line, 42 minutes down. Ill or injured?
McEwen did well to finish, seeing as he was out the back on the first climb of the day.0 -
BikingBernie wrote:Millar took a packet today coming in over 7 minutes behind the bus at 42.45.
got dropped on the colombiere
eliminated...?"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 pm0 -
Kléber wrote:
I'm less certain. The race looks cooked already, the risk is we only watch repeats of today's stage across the PyreneesAbdoujaparov wrote:The pyrenees will be epic!
I can see 50% of the top 10 falling away a bit.
But it might be a wet blanket.Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.0 -
A daring attempt at the lantern rouge?It's a little like wrestling a gorilla. You don't quit when you're tired. You quit when the gorilla is tired.0
-
It was clear today that Andy tried to go hard on the climb several times to try and drop Contador.
He didn't manage to.
Contador covered all very easily.
Also, note very importantly that Contador has not attacked.
Andy is worried so needs to go on the offensive.
Contador has confidence and experience.
We will see what happens when Contador attacks. I expect him to and when he does I think Andy will struggle. I would imgaine Contador will be in the yellow jersey come the start of the TT.
At the moment it looks like a two horse race but the battle for the podium, top 5, top 10 etc will be interesting. Hopefully Andy and Contador will battle it out all Pyrenees.Contador is the Greatest0 -
I have to admit I didn't survey the route profile as closely, week 3 looks hellish, absoultely hellish...the race is far from over and am not even willing to say its only between AS and AC. The TDF should be won in the last week normally...and we may see a lot of normal0
-
Kléber wrote:
I'm less certain. The race looks cooked already, the risk is we only watch repeats of today's stage across the PyreneesAbdoujaparov wrote:The pyrenees will be epic!
The main protagonists might stay the same, but the supporting cast will change.
And the key duel should be great.0 -
Geraint Thomas appears to have lost another 20 minutes today :shock:
0 -
Kléber wrote:
I'm less certain. The race looks cooked already, the risk is we only watch repeats of today's stage across the PyreneesAbdoujaparov wrote:The pyrenees will be epic!
+1ish
somebody needs to take it on tomorrow and perhaps the mende stages and shake up the GC
if andy cant drop contador you could well be looking at the race as is
the one avenue of hope is that saxo will find it hard to control so the door may open for some daring do...
or contador cracks... you never know..looking stressed but riding smarter"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 pm0 -
delContador is the Greatest0
-
Rick Chasey wrote:McEwen has abandonned I believe.
It seems he didn't. He finished OK in the autobus.Twitter: @RichN950 -
The trouble is now we're getting into the "if the favourites crack" and the old "use the transition stage to mix up the overall". Both are long shot propositions. A lot of guys are going to start defending their top-10 places already knowing they're not going to make the top-5.mididoctors wrote:somebody needs to take it on tomorrow and perhaps the mende stages and shake up the GC
if andy cant drop contador you could well be looking at the race as is
the one avenue of hope is that saxo will find it hard to control so the door may open for some daring do...
or contador cracks... you never know..looking stressed but riding smarter0 -
Kléber wrote:
The trouble is now we're getting into the "if the favourites crack" and the old "use the transition stage to mix up the overall". Both are long shot propositions. A lot of guys are going to start defending their top-10 places already knowing they're not going to make the top-5.mididoctors wrote:somebody needs to take it on tomorrow and perhaps the mende stages and shake up the GC
if andy cant drop contador you could well be looking at the race as is
the one avenue of hope is that saxo will find it hard to control so the door may open for some daring do...
or contador cracks... you never know..looking stressed but riding smarter
I agree. Gesink, VDB, Ryder et al will be looking to defend their spots. This COULD end up being a rather average TdF.0 -
Congratulation to Andy today for his first yellow jersey of his career. Also credit to him for pulling hard on the last section.
Again congratulations to Navarro for shelling absolutely everyone except Andy.Contador is the Greatest0 -
It would be really nice for someone who may place 5-15th to try and go for as many stage wins as possible or the KOM. To me that would be better and they will certainly be remembered more for it.
They are never going to beat the top two barring an accident, major defaillance or some other rarity.Contador is the Greatest0 -
Kléber wrote:
The trouble is now we're getting into the "if the favourites crack" and the old "use the transition stage to mix up the overall". Both are long shot propositions. A lot of guys are going to start defending their top-10 places already knowing they're not going to make the top-5.mididoctors wrote:somebody needs to take it on tomorrow and perhaps the mende stages and shake up the GC
if andy cant drop contador you could well be looking at the race as is
the one avenue of hope is that saxo will find it hard to control so the door may open for some daring do...
or contador cracks... you never know..looking stressed but riding smarter
I don't think Andy had an all or nothing attack on the Madeleine today, considering there was the long descent following. I do believe both Ax and Tourmalet still offer good opportunities for an attack from Andy that will test Bertie a bit more.
But I agree fully with the risk that behind them riders will start to protect their podium/top-5 positions, with, say, Euskatel or Radioshack helping Astana and Saxo to neutralize a ,say, Gesink or Basso attack. That I think is the real risk of a duller race.0 -
Kléber wrote:
The trouble is now we're getting into the "if the favourites crack" and the old "use the transition stage to mix up the overall". Both are long shot propositions. A lot of guys are going to start defending their top-10 places already knowing they're not going to make the top-5.mididoctors wrote:somebody needs to take it on tomorrow and perhaps the mende stages and shake up the GC
if andy cant drop contador you could well be looking at the race as is
the one avenue of hope is that saxo will find it hard to control so the door may open for some daring do...
or contador cracks... you never know..looking stressed but riding smarter
yeah I know
however a lot of teams here could have a pop....
plus and this is kinda of interesting
the mountains GC is wide open inviting long range attacks by french teams who can aide such efforts..who knows who will tag on for the ride
i predict furious battles on these transition stages where points mean prizes..."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 pm0 -
Menchov is only 2.58 down which is nothing with the number of hilly stages in store. Don't think it can be declared a two horse race yet...some riders will have bad daysSpaceJunk wrote:Kléber wrote:
The trouble is now we're getting into the "if the favourites crack" and the old "use the transition stage to mix up the overall". Both are long shot propositions. A lot of guys are going to start defending their top-10 places already knowing they're not going to make the top-5.mididoctors wrote:somebody needs to take it on tomorrow and perhaps the mende stages and shake up the GC
if andy cant drop contador you could well be looking at the race as is
the one avenue of hope is that saxo will find it hard to control so the door may open for some daring do...
or contador cracks... you never know..looking stressed but riding smarter
I agree. Gesink, VDB, Ryder et al will be looking to defend their spots. This COULD end up being a rather average TdF.0
