A.Schleck

RichN95.

Gazzetta67 wrote:

Nonsense - We internet forum people are making an observation that Shrek has over a 90sec advantage over contador. Take the other day at Super Besse Contador put in a dig and what does shrek do follow the wheel when he could have counter attacked ...you say what's the point of only gaining a few seconds.Well given the fact that shrek is a shyte time triallist you would think any extra few seconds would be of help. The two shreks ride as if they are told to by teacher.

He's also not a particularly explosive climber, so a cat 3 climb doesn't do much for him. He'll bide his time until the proper mountains. It's best to make the big efforts when there is the most to gain.

markwb79

Andy is there to win, and whilst they are on cat 2 and 3 hills all he needs to do is stay with the others.

He could attack and try and get some time like Vino did, oh wait a second, he blew up and finished behind them all!

Far more time to be had from Thursday onwards.

rick_chasey

Odds today:

11/10 for Andy. Pfft.

Outright
11/10
Andy Schleck
7/4
Alberto Contador
7/2
Cadel Evans
28/1
Ivan Basso
28/1
Frank Schleck
28/1
Andreas Kloden
40/1
Robert Gesink

ddraver

Gazzetta67 wrote:

.Well given the fact that shrek is a shyte time triallist

This old chestnut - AS was only 32secs behind AC over a longer distance in the ITT last year - so if all stays the same he wisn the tour by 58 seconds - done! There is NO reason for AS to attack AC until he has a good chance at making something count!

iainf72

L'equipe reporting Bertser will quit if his knee stays as is.

Andy is panicking because he's planned to follow that wheel.

ollyridesfirst

Strange that people are having a go at AS sucking AC's wheel.......after chaingate last year (where AC was left behind until the incident) - isn't that exactly what AC did to AS? I think so...

I would personally like AS to win (i'm not a fan of AC at all), it would have been interesting to see how Wiggo would have done - it's all good saying he's in the form of his life once he's out of the race. Wouldn't mind Evans winning, but i don't know if i could take the sheer amount of tears that would follow! Paris would be on flood alert if he starts the last stage in yellow...

Chris James

ddraver wrote:

Gazzetta67 wrote:

.Well given the fact that shrek is a shyte time triallist

This old chestnut - AS was only 32secs behind AC over a longer distance in the ITT last year - so if all stays the same he wisn the tour by 58 seconds - done! There is NO reason for AS to attack AC until he has a good chance at making something count!

AS really is a shyte TTer.

Last year, despite the coverage at the time, the story wasn't how great AS tested, it was that AC put in a poor performance (in fact he was off form most of the race). Despite that AC still took 32 secs out of AS.

Contador finished the TT 5 mins 43 down on Cancellara in 32nd position. Normally he would TT much better than that.

However, for this year I agree that Contador looks cooked already and that Evans looks a a danger given he can climb and TT well.

RichN95.

Chris James wrote:

Contador finished the TT 5 mins 43 down on Cancellara in 32nd position. Normally he would TT much better than that.

That was a wind issue. A strong headwind picked up for the last riders to go. Of the top 50 on GC, only Wiggins made the top 10, and he even was three and half minutes down on Cancellara.

When it's mattered (ie three Tours and one Giro), Andy Schleck has a pretty solid record in time trials. Nothing special, but he doesn't lose too much time. He's not his brother.

milton50

Contador finished the TT 5 mins 43 down on Cancellara in 32nd position. Normally he would TT much better than that.

Actually, if I remember correctly, there was no significant wind for the early riders like Cancellara but by the afternoon quite a significant headwind had developed. I'm pretty sure that of all those who started in the second half of the day barely any got into the top 10. So AS and AC were probably on more of a level footing than was suggested.

I'd be willing to bet that if Schleck had to be within 40 seconds of Contador in the final TT to win the Tour then he would pull it out the bag.

milton50

Great minds Rich...........

Pross

The Schleck brothers are in a perfect position and if they had any tactical nous it should be quite easy to work the old 1-2 on the other contenders but history suggests they won't do that. They also have Fuglsang up there on GC so if he were to attack the others would need to respond. I suspect that the brothers may be aiming to have the first ever tied race as other than the stage where Franck gained a few seconds they have come in holding hands most days, they just need to engineer Andy to regain the 8 seconds in the TT.

skylla

frenchfighter wrote:

For reference, Andy Schleck has won....no races this year.

Contador has won...eight times.

Contador is leading the CQ rankings (Gilbert 2nd).
Contador is 2nd in the UCI rankings (Gilbert 1st).

LA hardly ever won / rode any races in the TdF run up....

skylla

jerry3571 wrote:

I do worry that some people here might have posters of bike riders on thier walls with Love and Hate written above each; seems a little freaky. It's not about the riders; only good racing that counts.

+1

Bakunin wrote:

Last I checked it was the riders that do the racing.

Sorry, imho it's just a football-fan-mentality to focus on one sportsman in particular. Less tears if you're in it for the spectacle rather than a single rider.... right?

Chris James

Milton50 wrote:

Contador finished the TT 5 mins 43 down on Cancellara in 32nd position. Normally he would TT much better than that.

Actually, if I remember correctly, there was no significant wind for the early riders like Cancellara but by the afternoon quite a significant headwind had developed. I'm pretty sure that of all those who started in the second half of the day barely any got into the top 10. So AS and AC were probably on more of a level footing than was suggested.

Fair do's, I can't recall it all, although a quick google shows Menchov finished 11th on the stage and put 2 mins 23 into Schleck.

Sammy Sanchez was also faster than Schleck.

Perhaps 'shyte' is a bit harsh on Andy, but he could reasonably expect to lose quite a bit of time to other GC contenders, so would want a buffer after the mountains. At the moment the strategy that seems to be working well for him is to wait for his rivals to crash out!

morstar

Fwiw I fully accept that AS has not had to attack up until and there was no clear gain to be had were he to do so.
My worry is that there seems to be a very real possibility that in 12 days time, he'll have won the tour and we'll still be waiting for him to attack. Not his fault if he's the strongest and everybody just falls by the wayside but potentially it really could be the most boring tour ever for GC.
I think this whole leaving key stages till later in the race was an idea worth a try but is proven not to be working.
2009 and the Ventoux was supposed to all about fireworks right before Paris.
2010 and it was all supposed to happen on the last climb.
2011 and all the key stages are loaded at the back end. It does keep us guessing but I don't think it's working in creating a great race. Loads of crashes at the front as jesreys are up for grabs and whoever comes out of the pyrenees strong will likely be unasailable. There is no recovery time for a climber to come back strong in the Alps.
I stand to be proven wrong but it doesn't look promising right now.
If AS is cruising to a win, I at least expect a tour de force on one mountain stage.

ms_tree

We could get the scenario that AS/FS &AC all look at each other and those riders (under the radar) take off and do a Sastre on them. (Yes please she says - lots of attacks!).

Doobz

from Andy's twitter

Our cook put together what each rider in our team eats a day during a day in the TDF

RichN95.

^^^ I hope they don't drink a whole bottle of olive oil.

inkyfingers

No wonder he hasn't won the TdF if he necks a whole bottle of olive oil each day!

luckao

Rhubarb Activia. Out of all of the flavours... yuck.

Mr Wookie Man

The olive oil is "bio-diesel" for the engine in Cancellara's bike.

frenchfighter

http://twitter.com/#!/f_cancellara/stat ... 1245534208

Doobz

He needs to be careful with that bin-bag. They are full of plasticizers..

jerry3571

That Olive Oil is for lubrication for the enema dinner; nice.

Just on whether AS will attack, well his advantage is almost a similar advantage as Cunego had on Leiphiemer in the Swiss Tour and we know how that ended up. The final TT did give the Commentator a good chance to do his Ligget impersonation of the Lemond/Fignon Champs Elysees thing-
"3, 2, 1 second....oh my GOD Cunego has lost the Tour of Switzerland; AAAGGGGHHHHH!!!!; call the men in white Jackets; I'm just shouting too much, I can't stop; AAAGGGHHHH!!!!!"
Bless those Commentators

In the Tour a 3-4 minute gap to second place is the minimum to defend the jersey; any less then it's still a punch up. Time is needed in case of punctures, crashes, minor bonks, bad day and a mulititude of other bad things.

Also, also below is a photo of Cuddles himself having a moment in the Vuelta which stuffed him up for a possible win. Notice he was not going mad but waiting pateintly for his team car which was stopped in a layby having a siesta. It is Spain after all!! VENGA! VENGA!

NicFrance

A nice video from danish tv on Andy Schleck's tour-preparation. (most of it in english). I liked it.
http://www.dr.dk/nu/player/#/andy-schlecks-tour/12745/00:08

and by the way: half an hour of Jens Voigt at his best (in german)
http://www.ardmediathek.de/ard/servlet/content/3517136?documentId=7647150

Monty Zoncolan

I hope Andy knows where that steak came from.

In other news, is it just me seeing a marked change in his attitude this year compared to last? Las summer he came across as a bit shy/goofy/self-effacing whereas there's a bit more (dare I say it) steel about him now? Not quite raw aggression á la Armstrong but certainly a bit more assurance and determination.

RichN95.

Monty Zoncolan wrote:

I hope Andy knows where that steak came from.

I'm pretty sure it came from a tuna.

ollyridesfirst

RichN95 wrote:

Monty Zoncolan wrote:

I hope Andy knows where that steak came from.

I'm pretty sure it came from a tuna.

tuna steak then