TdF Stage 16 *spoiler*

Pokerface

colint wrote:

BikingBernie wrote:

Blazing Saddles wrote:

Kelly "suggesting" that some in the breakaway might want to gift Lance the stage. Must be a wind up.

Oh the irony.

colint wrote:

Sean Kelly seems to think a lot of the yellow jersey group are "on the rivet", but hey, what does he know

No irony, just your usual contradictions. You said everyone in the YJ group was on a cafe ride, but Kelly didn't agree. Then Kelly says something that corresponds with something you did say, and that's OK.

It's almost as if your one of these kn8bs who selectively pick things out of events to suit their bias, you almost make that other tool Aurelio look intelligent

It's the same person!

colint

I made a jump ? That's something coming from the king of assumption. What he actually said was "a lot of the major contenders are on the rivet already", which kind of blows a hole in your explanation.

BikingBernie

RichN95 wrote:

So you reckon he paid off about six or seven teams to do exactly what they were going to do anyway?

Almost certainly not, but it does take some sort of 'mutual agreement' to be reached if a break is to be allowed to ride away from the strongest riders in the race.

afx237vi

BikingBernie wrote:

RichN95 wrote:

So you reckon he paid off about six or seven teams to do exactly what they were going to do anyway?

Almost certainly not, but it does take some sort of 'mutual agreement' to be reached if a break is to be allowed to ride away from the strongest riders in the race.

Yes, they look at the GC and see who is half an hour down or more. You know, same as every day.

Mettan

donrhummy wrote:

well, looks like thursday is the day. Andy's banking it all on that day. Can he get 2+ minutes on contador?

I'd be over the moon if that happened - as a consolation prize though, I'd be happy with 30 secs and a convincing blow over Contador, regards who's the best going uphill this year (that'd be a nice victory in itself). If Andy would have had a 31 secs advantage going into this stage he'd have felt confident (mentally) even if Contador went with him or attacked (even if the stage ended in a draw) - however, with the unlucky chain-gate yesterday and an 8 sec defecit, if Contador piles the pressure on now (which he probably will do), Andy might just crack (thinking, it's all gone wrong - fook-it) - Hoping that doesnt happen, but I'm a bit worried.

BikingBernie

colint wrote:

I made a jump ? That's something coming from the king of assumption. What he actually said was "a lot of the major contenders are on the rivet already", which kind of blows a hole in your explanation.

If that is what he actually said, then I concede to your point. Well-done sir! Pity you weren't more precise in your reporting earlier on.

Still, it's odd that "a lot of the major contenders were on the rivet" in a group that contained half the race, including many 'non-climbers'.

colint

BikingBernie wrote:

colint wrote:

I made a jump ? That's something coming from the king of assumption. What he actually said was "a lot of the major contenders are on the rivet already", which kind of blows a hole in your explanation.

If that is what he actually said, then I concede to your point. Well-done sir! Pity you weren't more precise in your reporting earlier on.

There is of course the possibility that Lance paid him to say it.......

BikingBernie

colint wrote:

There is of course the possibility that Lance paid him to say it.......

I don't think he would have had to pay Kelly to 'play up' just how hard the chasers were going. After all, from his other comments one might be led to think that if Kelly had been in the break, he would be all for 'gifting' Armstrong the stage.

colint

majorly

Homer J

usually it was LA gifting the stage, I'm sure a few of you remember LA and Pantani

stokepa31

http://www.bikeradar.com/news/article/a ... port-27071

deejay

BikingBernie wrote:

Ha ha, on the line it is Fedrigo, Casar and Molina. Looks like it might have been a straight sprint after all. A win for Fedrigo, a bigger win for the credibility of cycling.

It would be interesting to know if the checkbooks did come out at any point.

Checkbooks are no good when the dumbo leaves it to a sprint and please note it was "French" 1st & 2nd.
They would need a very large checkbook to be able (or allowed) to get home again.
He couldn't sprint before the cancer and although I had him on PTP pick I knew he couldn't sprint now.
I foresaw him making a big attack on the mountains and then able to use this new tool of Time Trialing to the Finish for a Grand Stand farewell. (like Carlo Barredo almost did)
2 teams with 2 men and they leave it to a sprint and as the kilos went by I thought he might lead out Horner.
Well I do try to be fair to the useless dyke but he cannot change.

markmod

Lance always seems to raise strong opinions, this thread is as exciting as the race!!!

FransJacques

rockmount wrote:

FransJacques wrote:

no gifts. weak sprint by lance, although he got up to third he was too tired and sat up.

that's the end of him kids. no more lance. we'll NOT see him show in the TT

Taking delight in the decline of a great champion will never make up for your own short comings !

au contraire, I was just reading his facial & body expressions. This man is a) old and b) tired. Moreau and Horner are the same age but Lance looks oldest by far. The champion had a really painful moment au cours du sprint when realized he didn't have it and the legs had nothing more. That was my analysis from his sit up in the sprint - he had a great leadout and did almost no work in the last 15 kms, and when he wasn't the equal of Fedrigo he realized that was that for him. If he had pushed to the end and still came 5th I would have said "he knows he's not the old Lance but he's mixing it up and 'having fun' in his last tour". Check the replay and look at him - there's not much "fun" going on.

Would have loved to see him take a stage to close out on a (natural) high. Why does he not even have the spark of last year, let alone 99-05?

I appreciate Pantani a little more than Lance, true, but it's mainly b/c my gfriend is Italian and they have a nice mistique that appeals.

moray_gub

afx237vi wrote:

BikingBernie wrote:

RichN95 wrote:

So you reckon he paid off about six or seven teams to do exactly what they were going to do anyway?

Almost certainly not, but it does take some sort of 'mutual agreement' to be reached if a break is to be allowed to ride away from the strongest riders in the race.

Yes, they look at the GC and see who is half an hour down or more. You know, same as every day.

You know i asked kinda tongue in cheek if it was BBs 1st Grand Tour , i think i will now take my tounge out of my cheek and ask it again .

mididoctors

lance was active all day and overestimated himself a tad on the soulor when he tested the break...

if he could of got away with barredo...who knows

Fedrigo played it real cool I thought

if only VDB had made it into that early break... that would have been a day

markmod

Yes Lance is old and this is his swansong tour, he was third at the sprint, yes he didn't have it when it mattered, at the sprint. I thought what he did today was great, the conspiracy theory of him paying for everything, being allowed to form a breakaway etc etc is a little far fetched. Contador, and schleck let him go as they were far too busy playing follow the leader today... He offers no threat as did most of the breakaway today.
I would have loved to see a LA win, but hey ho life goes on.

I would have loved to see a full out attack from Contador or Schleck to settle or force the race but I suppose one of them will wake up on Thursday just as it's too late to make a difference.

rokkala

Armstrong keeping his powder dry for Thursday then.

avoidingmyphd

markmod wrote:

Yes Lance is old and this is his swansong tour, he was third at the sprint

Well, sixth.

Doobz

markmod

Sixth at finish once he sat up... But was third before he did... That is what I actually meant...

Homer J

LA does look tired, but not surprising given his age, absence and luck. I'm sure a few people here would have expected him to quit by now. The fact that he is trying to see this race through to the end is the mark of a great champion showing respect for the race and his fellow racers.

FransJacques

Trouble is, with the cobbles flat and the crash he would have been a lot better off x 10, think of it this way, it he was sitting somewhere in the top 5 or 7 on GC (which, let's face it, was probably the best he was hoping for) he would have basically had a rest day today, following an easy pace in the Group MJ, same as the soft pedalling last year.

He'd have a proper rest day tomorrow, then he'd be able to animate a bit more on Thursday. Thursday was *supposed* to be the equivalent of the Ventoux last year, when he was threatened to be knocked off the podium but held on.

Why isn't he as good as last year? Or are the others better? Or is the course tougher? A lot of guys are thinking that, like Wiggo etc.

Too bad Pellizotti isn't around...

knedlicky

BikingBernie wrote:

It would be interesting to know if the checkbooks did come out at any point.

Probably not - Moreau apart, the others were of another generation with their own ambitions.
Although it did appear at one point on the last climb, that Armstrong said something strongly (thus significant?) to Barredo - I'm guessing from the body language.
Maybe LA only said, 'Stop accelerating on the climbs, I'm fücked'

paulcuthbert

markmod wrote:

I would have loved to see a full out attack from Contador or Schleck to settle or force the race but I suppose one of them will wake up on Thursday just as it's too late to make a difference.

We saw it yesterday from Schleck. That was his attack, Contador was struggling to catch him when his chain came off, and Contador (unfairly) took advantage of that.

I really hope Schleck brings it on the Tourmalet on Thursday. Really don't want Contador to win, especially after yesterday's behaviour

paulcuthbert

Homer J wrote:

The fact that he is trying to see this race through to the end is the mark of a great champion showing respect for the race and his fellow racers.

So what happened at the Tour of Ireland last year??

luckao

paulcuthbert wrote:

Contador was struggling to catch him when his chain came off

No, he wasn't.

gethmetal

Rokkala wrote:

Armstrong keeping his powder dry for Thursday then.

Are you for real? He's p!ssed all over his powder, or whatever he uses these days...

paulcuthbert

Luckao wrote:

paulcuthbert wrote:

Contador was struggling to catch him when his chain came off

No, he wasn't.

He definitely was. Vinokourov bridged the gap easier than Contador. He was slow to respond and wasn't closing the door as quick as he's been seen to before.

It was like watching Rasmussen struggle to catch Contador on those countless attacks in 2007 all over again!

paulcuthbert

gethmetal wrote:

Rokkala wrote:

Armstrong keeping his powder dry for Thursday then.

Are you for real? He's p!ssed all over his powder, or whatever he uses these days...

He's had more rest days than the rest of the peloton this Tour. Seemed to have helped today anyway!

I reckon he's saving it for the time trial on Saturday though. I reckon he'll be third behind Cancellara and Millar.

Andy Schleck 4th, 30 seconds ahead of Contador, after gaining 1:45 on him on the Tourmalet