Tour de Romandie "Spoiler"

rick_chasey

Either a late start or slow race, or both. My feed says 51km to go!

rick_chasey

Cav is on the front, doing some work ! :shock:

iainf72

Rick Chasey wrote:

Cav is on the front, doing some work ! :shock:

Trying to shift some weight maybe?

jonginge

Rick Chasey wrote:

Either a late start or slow race, or both. My feed says 51km to go!

Late start I think. Cav and Wiggins were still tweeting away at 11:30

frenchfighter

greasedscotsman wrote:

I like Emma Pooley speaking in French. Hmm, Emma...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgPdXa9cn_g

Wow, lovely voice. Tks for posting.

hommelbier

Breakaway group of five (Brammaier (Omega), Smukulis (Katusha), Howard (GreenEdge), Van der Sande (Lotto-Belisol) y Lund (Saxo Bank) being slowly reeled in 13km to finish; gap down to 1.52

hommelbier

Garmin and Rabobank leading the chase

hommelbier

Smukulis going solo has 17 secs on the other 4, peloton at just over 1 min. 5km to finish

hommelbier

Wiggins looking comfortable behind Porte. 4km to finish

rick_chasey

Can't see Sanchez anywhere.

rick_chasey

LL Sanchez wins

Art Vandelay

Woop. LL Sanchez. On a roll.

jibberjim

Wiggins useless - perfect lead out and he didn't even manage to start his sprint... Just sort of rolled over the line.

hommelbier

LL Sanchez wins, Meersman second. Tiralongo 3rd, Talansky 4th and Mollema 5th

hommelbier

Wiggins still in Yellow - but only 1 sec ahead of LL Sanchez

ddraver

jibberjim wrote:

Wiggins useless - perfect lead out and he didn't even manage to start his sprint... Just sort of rolled over the line.

Isn't that all he has to do? :?

Or does one flat win make him lead sprinter now?

jibberjim

ddraver wrote:

jibberjim wrote:

Wiggins useless - perfect lead out and he didn't even manage to start his sprint... Just sort of rolled over the line.

Isn't that all he has to do? :?

Or does one flat win make him lead sprinter now?

I thought that was what was decided Cavendish had to spend the day carrying water and pacing along on the flat which doesn't sound like a sprinter.

afx237vi

Give me a rampy, twisty Spanish or Italian climb with crap roads any day of the week. Curse those Swiss and their precision engineering!

KentPuncheur

Art Vandelay wrote:

Woop. LL Sanchez. On a roll.

Is this guy likely to be a serious tour contender? I read an article earlier in the year where he was talking himself up...

afx237vi

KentPuncheur wrote:

Art Vandelay wrote:

Woop. LL Sanchez. On a roll.

Is this guy likely to be a serious tour contender? I read an article earlier in the year where he was talking himself up...

Not a hope.

KentPuncheur

afx237vi wrote:

KentPuncheur wrote:

Art Vandelay wrote:

Woop. LL Sanchez. On a roll.

Is this guy likely to be a serious tour contender? I read an article earlier in the year where he was talking himself up...

Not a hope.

Haha, fair enough!

Art Vandelay

Finished 10th* in TDF 2010 but no hope to get top 5. Good TTer and stage hunter but always loses big time somewhere in the 3 weeks. I'd rather see him stick with stage hunting than riding conservatively for a low GC.

LangerDan

Whatever about Wiggo's slender lead at the top of the GC, Cav has taken clear control of the laterne rouge classification with a solid, 4-minute lead over Geraint Thomas, with Danny Pate a further 2 minutes behind.

Is Cav's form really that poor?

avoidingmyphd

afx237vi wrote:

KentPuncheur wrote:

Art Vandelay wrote:

Woop. LL Sanchez. On a roll.

Is this guy likely to be a serious tour contender? I read an article earlier in the year where he was talking himself up...

Not a hope.

Was the article definitely him and not Samuel Sanchez?

Cyclingnews says Wiggins blew chasing down late attacks and couldn't respond to Sanchez. Is that right? Or did he just play safe and roll over the line waiting for the TT?

inkyfingers

It looked to me like Wiggins was just up front to stay safe and when it got into the last 300 metres he just eased up knowing he wasn't going to lose any time (other than bonuses), he didn't look "cooked" but who knows. We'll soon find out.

LL Sanchez has a decent TT in him, but Wiggins would have to have a proper off day to lose to him in the TT. A few other decent TTers within 20 secs...Rogers, Zabriskie, Van Garderen, Kloden, Brajkovic, Evans at 21 secs...but don't think any of them would beat Wiggins on a normal day so they'll need to try and crack him tomorrow.

Today was a bit a a wet fish, tomorrow looks interesting, but with 24KM downhill/flat to the finish it will be hard to make anything stick. Anybody know what the descent is like?

saintdracula

LangerDan wrote:

Whatever about Wiggo's slender lead at the top of the GC, Cav has taken clear control of the laterne rouge classification with a solid, 4-minute lead over Geraint Thomas, with Danny Pate a further 2 minutes behind.

Is Cav's form really that poor?

Ha, Team Sky are dominating the bottom of the GC. Half their team is in the bottom 6.

But the TT is just about a 10 miler - not sure how much time Wiggins will put into the others. Be an interesting benchmark though.

EKIMIKE

Hmm the TT and it's 1st Cat climb... is that a true 1st Cat climb or just a TT 1st Cat climb? S'pose it'll have the same effect?

RichN95.

LangerDan wrote:

Whatever about Wiggo's slender lead at the top of the GC, Cav has taken clear control of the laterne rouge classification with a solid, 4-minute lead over Geraint Thomas, with Danny Pate a further 2 minutes behind.

Is Cav's form really that poor?

The man's just had a baby. He's just getting the miles in. It doesn't really matter if he comes in 10 or 15 minutes down. In the climbs he's always been one to do just enough.

He'll win three Giro stages - just you watch.

LangerDan

RichN95 wrote:

LangerDan wrote:

Whatever about Wiggo's slender lead at the top of the GC, Cav has taken clear control of the laterne rouge classification with a solid, 4-minute lead over Geraint Thomas, with Danny Pate a further 2 minutes behind.

Is Cav's form really that poor?

The man's just had a baby. He's just getting the miles in. It doesn't really matter if he comes in 10 or 15 minutes down. In the climbs he's always been one to do just enough.

He'll win three Giro stages - just you watch.

By that logic, Jens Voigt shouldn't have been able to turn a pedal in anger since the late 1990's

tim000

cav not really racing . only there to get some quallity miles in his legs. im sure he`ll be flying by the time he gets to italy. and looking at the giro team they will be going all out for stage wins.