TDF 2011 - Stage 14 Spoiler
Comments
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Today was one of those typical Tour stages with plenty of valley before the final climb, meaning nothing would happen until then. It is fine for them to wait for the remaining mountains, but someone feeling good today may well be feeling rough in the second half of next week.
I can't help but think how different this race might have been looking now if some of the guys like Wiggins were still in the race, or Gesink hadn't been off the back thanks to his crashes (or at least so we are to believe).
I'm expecting nothing to happen on Alpe D'Huez, as it generally seems to end with a small group, so that leaves one mountain finish for people to get a gap on. If only more riders were willing to go for broke like Gilbert.0 -
inkyfingers wrote:I'm actually with Dave Harmon on this, i'd like to see how Schleck brothers get on if they weren't on the same team.
+1
I don't know about anyone else but I'm really competitive with my younger brother and hate loosing to him. So if we were in the positions of the Schlecks I would certainly be making sure I was on a team built around beating him..0 -
I enjoyed it.
Had I known up front that the climb would unfold the way it did, I wouldn't have enjoyed it. But I didn't know that, so I was able to enjoy the moment-to-moment anticipation of something happening, regardless of what actually happened.0 -
I would have enjoyed it too if I hadn't of known that this was exactly what was going to happen. It was very very predictable. One only has to flick back a tour or three and extrapolate. That is part of what makes up a prediction, historical data....it is a stuck record...0
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Some people have very short memories, this race is almost a carbon copy of the 2008 Tour.0
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If the Schlecks could TT, then maybe others would attack.
Given they'll lose time on the TT, the onus is on them to make up that time in the mountains. I suggest they stop whingeing about others not attacking and find a way to make up the time they'll lose in the TT.
When Andy had only one other guy (Evans?) on his wheel, why didn't he go? Surely better to make time on all GC contenders apart from 1?
Cogidubnus - the Schlecks are unfortunately not like you & your brother. ee Lux RR and most mountain stages where thy're there.0 -
andyp wrote:Some people have very short memories, this race is almost a carbon copy of the 2008 Tour.
WORD!
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andyp wrote:Some people have very short memories, this race is almost a carbon copy of the 2008 Tour.
hmmmm not quite
leopard trek are attempting a re-enactment..."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 -
Im sure we would all like to see Voekler win, but he has slim chance...or does he? Depends on what numbers you look at surely?
Id be interested to see his power output levels because he is lighter than i thought he might be, Wiki has him at 66kg, lighter than the schlecks, Evans and Basso. Presumably his power to weight ratio is pretty damn good, because there is no denying he is a strong rider. I'm thinking we will see him attack hard in the alps.
It all hinges on how hard contador attacks really..0 -
ddraver wrote:It's easy to blame the Schlecks but I have to point out that no one else did anything either....why is it up to them to entertain us? They actually were the most entertaining!!
I don't think any of the others are capable of attacking. Basso isn't an explosive attacker, Contador is shattered from the giro, Voekler was on the edge and could have blown, Evans is hanging on.
I just don't get why Andy, rather than 4 small attacks, didn't just go for it with about 7km left of the mountain. Especially when Contador was dead and buried off the back.
Same with Frank. He dropped everyone but sat up? It's like they are both trying not to win the tour.0 -
At the moment, if everything stayed about the same until the TT, and that went the same as the other year, Evans would win the Tour by about 40 secs in front of AC.johnfinch wrote:
+1. I think that this is Evans' year.gsk82 wrote:i think the shlecks are so obsessed with contador they're forgetting they each need a minute or so on evans before the tt.
But if it really did turn out like that, I think it would be disappointing, a victor who never really showed his face at the front or took the initiative in the critical mountain stages.
There was one moment on the last climb today, when Evans suddenly found himself a bike length ahead of everyone, and he immediately dropped back, almost as if he felt out of place. Maybe he didn't feel so, but a less conservative approach would be more welcome.
Anyway, Evans used to often have an off-day, and maybe one's yet to come.0 -
“It’s under control,” Evans said. “Everyone says that no one attacks and so on... but they also need to consider the wind and the closeness of the racing. The Schleck brothers were there and they’ve got the yellow jersey to gain and then they look at me to pull for them. I joke with them, ‘I’m not here to tow you to Paris.’”
“I tried to keep things under control. It was a long, but not a steep climb. It's at this point in the race that the GC contenders are pretty evenly matched,” he said. “So it's really hard to make a big difference. Like so many cycling experts have said, we wasted a lot of energy as a team to put ourselves into a good position coming into the mountains. It's a little bit of conservative racing, but these stages are hard.”
“They’ve been saying that whoever wins here today will be the winner of the Tour. Maybe I need to break away to win... I don’t know. As long as it’s on consistency and being there every day, it’s okay for me…”Contador is the Greatest0 -
I enjoyed today's stage and yesterday's and.... Plenty happened, Mr Cavendish had a very good day, no sprint points for anyone significant; a mountain stage won by a mountain specialist and so many GC contenders still duking it out. Lots to savour.
I am sure that people would complain if a three week race was done & dusted before the second rest day, like the Giro this year. Relax, it's the TdF! The longer the foreplay, the greater the climax.The older I get the faster I was0 -
. i would thought this was obvious to everybody.........no ?ddraver wrote:FFS!!!
he's not waiting for his brother he stops because someone else (TV, CE or IB today) has bridged the gap and he doesnt want to tow them up the hill.Is it that hard to understand? Why do you think Chris Hoy does nt Hare off the line straight after the gun in a Sprint race?Gasping - but somehow still alive !0 -
I'm surprised Frenchie has missed this one.
"Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.0 -
I was interested in Magnus and Rob Hayles did not want to comment on Voeckler's apparent sudden rise to GC contender. They gave eachother that knowing smile and laugh.
I have been watching with my eyes wide open; it's F**king crazy to be honest. I guess his Hotel isn't that far from the place where AC got his dodgy Beef from. Bonkers!
-Jerry“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving”- Albert Einstein
"You can't ride the Tour de France on mineral water."
-Jacques Anquetil0 -
Blazing Saddles wrote:I'm surprised Frenchie has missed this one.
Respect. Hope he can get to Paris.It's a little like wrestling a gorilla. You don't quit when you're tired. You quit when the gorilla is tired.0 -
Blazing Saddles wrote:I'm surprised Frenchie has missed this one.
:shock:
These guys are unbelievable resilient.
Jens and Ten Dam crash:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22825103/vp ... 1#43779081Contador is the Greatest0 -
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Blazing Saddles wrote:I'm surprised Frenchie has missed this one.
I missed his crash what happened?
Hes got some guts to make it to the finish after that0 -
Cogidubnus wrote:I missed his crash what happened?
He overshot a corner on a descent, went onto the grass verge, tried to control it, but then did a flip over the handlebars straight on to his face.Twitter: @RichN950 -
These guys are fuking nails0
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RichN95 wrote:Cogidubnus wrote:I missed his crash what happened?
He overshot a corner on a descent, went onto the grass verge, tried to control it, but then did a flip over the handlebars straight on to his face.
Ouch. Id be crying like a baby if i did that, not carrying on riding over mountains. Respect0 -
It's just Cycle Racing. I've seen stuff like this a fair bit before. I crashed at 45mph and stuffed myself up for 2 weeks. I have no teeth from going back in to the back of a car and various other scars.
My mate had such bad road rash once he popped a stone out of his shoulder a year after the crash. I saw him go over a car before and land on his feet at the end of it; amazing stuff!
I heard a about a guy who was doing a Race Training type thing and he landed on his face at 30mph and had about 3 bike wheels ride across his face. I live about 30 miles from this place and overheard someone in the Pub who was a Dental Nurse who was helping put some kids teeth back together after a cycle incident. She said his head was like a fat Gopher. I asked whether this kid had tyre marks across his face and she said he had 3 big lines. Same kid.
I also remember there was a woman bike rider at a Barnsfield Heath night who looked the Carrie woman (Horror Film) as she ran in to the bushes screaming her head off; mad as hell. She was ok a week later; minor scratches.
Nasty business.
-Jerry“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving”- Albert Einstein
"You can't ride the Tour de France on mineral water."
-Jacques Anquetil0 -
RichN95 wrote:Timoid. wrote:Respect. Hope he can get to Paris.
If it's just his face, he should be OK.
(I wish I could find the picture I took of when I got my face smashed up - worse than that, but I felt OK the next day. I didn't climb the Plate of Bees straight after though)
Bad luck seems to follow Laurens around last year he was taken to hospital with wrist and back injuries sustained in Ruta Del Sol then he broke his wrist and two vertebrae in the Tour de Suisse and missed the Tour de France. Then while recovering from that he was in a car crash where he hurt his back again now this.........i like him as a rider so hope he can continue the rest of the week.Gasping - but somehow still alive !0 -
I say it was a great day for him. He seems to have located the branches of the Ugly Tree that he somehow missed on his pre-natal fall...
Fair Play...
I am of course joking, these guys are indeed nails of course...in my non TDF environment, that is probably the comment I am getting the most...so at least we are getting somewhere with people just being introduced to the sport...lycra poofters...non!0 -
Back to the whole negative racing thing.
For me, Andyp and ddraver make the two pertinent observations and I think reduced doping is a major factor. 2008 was extremely similar. When riders attacked the elite group, they could only sustain it for about 30 seconds before getting pegged back. At the time, it seemed this was a physiological limitation of non-boosted blood. It is slightly different this year in that the riders seem to sit up the second it hasn't worked. Is this because they know they cannot sustain it so shut down quickly when it doesn't get the gap they want.
I am very wary of being too critical about it being boring as I personally want a clean(er) sport. Slagging them off for not being Pantani would be hypocritical of me.
So where does this leave us? A large group of riders are in serious contention and will stay in contention if they stay in that group. If they try something totally different tactics wise, they may fail and no longer be in contention. However, they do need to try something very different. Tactics need to evolve to suit a cleaner race. This is where they are being negative. Somebody needs to have the conviction that they are the best rider and ride hard at the front for a sustained period destroying all (or most) others behind them.
Is the reality of the cleaner tour that all the riders are more closely grouped and this is why classic riders or grimpeurs are still in touch? If so, it favours more dynamic racing as break aways can influence GC. I now wish we did have 3 rolling transitional stages so that well placed grimpeurs could attack GC.
Tactics do need to evolve.0 -
I hope the guy can get to paris - Been impressed with him in the races ive watched Rabobank seem to have found a good few up and coming stage racers.
P.S. He looks the double of the round the world cyclist Mark Beaumont ?
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morstar wrote:Back to the whole negative racing thing.
For me, Andyp and ddraver make the two pertinent observations and I think reduced doping is a major factor. 2008 was extremely similar. When riders attacked the elite group, they could only sustain it for about 30 seconds before getting pegged back. At the time, it seemed this was a physiological limitation of non-boosted blood. It is slightly different this year in that the riders seem to sit up the second it hasn't worked. Is this because they know they cannot sustain it so shut down quickly when it doesn't get the gap they want.
I am very wary of being too critical about it being boring as I personally want a clean(er) sport. Slagging them off for not being Pantani would be hypocritical of me.
So where does this leave us? A large group of riders are in serious contention and will stay in contention if they stay in that group. If they try something totally different tactics wise, they may fail and no longer be in contention. However, they do need to try something very different. Tactics need to evolve to suit a cleaner race. This is where they are being negative. Somebody needs to have the conviction that they are the best rider and ride hard at the front for a sustained period destroying all (or most) others behind them.
Is the reality of the cleaner tour that all the riders are more closely grouped and this is why classic riders or grimpeurs are still in touch? If so, it favours more dynamic racing as break aways can influence GC. I now wish we did have 3 rolling transitional stages so that well placed grimpeurs could attack GC.
Tactics do need to evolve.
Saucy?
http://bikeraceinfo.com/tdf/tdfstats.html0
