* spoiler * What the plan for tomorrow's stage should be...
OK, so we all know Andy lost time. We know he's only got two days. We know that tomorrow, even if he takes time on the ascent, if he's alone on the descent, he's gonna be pulled back (he's way too tentative of a descender). And we all know Lance wants to win a stage, and that Lance hates Contador. So here's the plan:
1. Have Lance go ahead in a breakaway
2. Have Andy ride his arse off to catch Lance near the middle of the last climb
3. Lance/Andy work together to gain minutes
4. On the ascent, Andy follows Lance
5. Andy lets Lance take the stage
(Of course all unofficially)
1. Have Lance go ahead in a breakaway
2. Have Andy ride his arse off to catch Lance near the middle of the last climb
3. Lance/Andy work together to gain minutes
4. On the ascent, Andy follows Lance
5. Andy lets Lance take the stage
(Of course all unofficially)
0
Comments
-
Sounds good to me.0
-
I think the plan falls apart on Number 1.0
-
Lance doesn't look capable of attacking going over a bridge at the moment. He hasn't helped his own team mate and last year actively worked against a team mate so why would he work for Andy even if physically capable of it? Tactic for today should be sit on Bertie and don't lose time, it's too far from tyhe last climb to make any difference, and then go all out on the next stage to put a couple of minutes into him. If Andy doesn't at least try that he could miss out on the podium altogether. My hunch though is he'll just mark Bertie, perhaps go for the stage late on but try to conserve enough to hold onto his second place in the TT.0
-
Today's stage is a duplicate of the one Merckx won in 1969, with him going away on his own with 140 km still to go and putting almost 8 minutes into the next rider on the road by the finish. What worked for Merckx...
0 -
and I'm sure you wouldn't raise an eyebrow if that happened today? 0
-
Everyone will want to be in the break today.
I've had punts on Armstrong and Wiggins.
Nothing will happen in the GC.
0 -
Good point.Pross wrote:and I'm sure you wouldn't raise an eyebrow if that happened today?
We live in a different era these days, what with the 'parameters' of many of the riders still being 'normalised' to just under the UCI's 50% limit, so levelling out the natural variations that made for more open racing. Similarly, as Ferrari has pointed out, the name of the game these days is short-term power output with the contenders often only going 'head to head' for the final few km of summit finishes, with old-style endurance being almost an irrelevance. This is a style of racing that is bound to lead to small time gaps between the favourites.0 -
I think today could be a "sportive" day as they a save it for the day after tomorrow. Can't see any time being gained by AC or AS. Unless someone has a mechanical
0 -
tomorrow is a rest day :oops:
0 -
perhaps Andy needs to do a 'Floyd' today. By the way, AC says sorry on Youtube according to Cycling NewsM.Rushton0
-
How is this thread a spoiler if you're chrystal balling things in the future. Jeez, PCness gone wild. Special needs cry babies need a something to suck on.
Back to racing: today's stage is a head-scratcher because of the 35 kms of flat undulating road between Laruns and Pau. Andy would need a group of riders with him on this stretch to help him put time onto AC or at least keep any time he had over the Aubisque. In short he'd need:
- other top 10 GC riders (maybe Menchov or Sanchez) plus Andy to *all* drop AC on the Aubisque- won't happen - no way.
- a bunch of riders way down GC (or someone strong like Hesjedal) to be up the road, maybe 2+ mins on the Aubisque. Andy would then have to drop AC and bridge up to this strong group and use them to TTT to Pau. To me that's more likely.
I reckon today won't see a lot of change. Andy will realize that his matches are better spent on the Tourmalet finish. That'll be fireworks.When a cyclist has a disagreement with a car; it's not who's right, it's who's left.0 -
Today is a good one for everyone to try to get away, so I am expecting a crazy first hour or two. It would be nice to see either Roche or Wiggins get into the break.
The ideal scenario would be to allow a decent sized break away and keep them at a reasonable distance before the final climb. Ride across, dropping Contador, then power home. Unlikely though. The most likely scenario is that absolutely nothing will happen today and it will all go down to the Tourmalet on Thursday.0 -
FransJacques wrote:How is this thread a spoiler if you're chrystal balling things in the future.
First sentence of the thread: "OK, so we all know Andy lost time. "0 -
domhopson wrote:
that seemed actually really nice of Contador. who knows how heartfelt it was, could be just PR and learning from Lance.
but it "seemed" nice. however, the damage was done and AC didn't exactly say he'd give the 38 second back. so to Andy it'll be just words. might serve to even wind him up more.
i'm not sure how strong he really is - he passed a lot of guys after fixing his chain but he was goobering a la JF Bernard up the Ventoux TT in '87. He was at his limit and didn't exactly drop the Hesjedal/Gesink bunch. Maybe the climb ended too quickly?When a cyclist has a disagreement with a car; it's not who's right, it's who's left.0 -
If Jens and/or Spartacus can get into a break with no Astanas in there it would make it interesting. Otherwise, it will be dull, hopefully piano over the Aubisque so that JJ Rojas can take the win thus proving my fiver on him for the green jersey was a good idea 0
-
Well, it's panning out as some expected (not including me) with a lot of the names mentioned involved :shock:0
