The Annual Lanterne Rouge Thread
Comments
-
http://tdflr.blogspot.co.uk/
Apologies for not posting this link before- it's the first time I've checked it this year (hardly been near a 'pooter tbh) but it's fascinating.
The extract from the interview with Brice is, well, you can do nothing other than respect him.0 -
Stage 10- The Euskies won today with another Gorka, this time Gorka Izaguirre Insausti. I have carefully typed out his name.
Johan is in third, with Seb Langeveld in second place, but they all came in together in a huge group of 37 riders.
Brice came in 67th. He's clearly Given Up.
GC- Jimmy Engelbert retains the lead, with the Garmin-Sharp duo of The Buddhist and Van Summeren in a 2/3 behind him, which should concern him. I suspect that JV is playing a long game here- to bring home the Lanterne Rouge on the Champs Elysee would surely be a huge success for Garmin, the publicity in Belgium would be immense, and they could drive their shiny big bus to all the lucrative post-Tour crits.0 -
Mad_Malx wrote:Tusher wrote:Stage 10- The Euskies won today with another Gorka, this time Gorka Izaguirre Insausti. I have carefully typed out his name.
Can't help thinking both he and Benat Intxausti have unfortunate names for cyclists.
Surely it gives them an advantage though. Lone leader is told that someone is behind him and asks who it is. With all the heavy breathing and a bad line he hears the answer 'the guy behind is exhausted.' Result is that the leader eases up thinking he will win while the crafty Spanish rider nips past.0 -
"safety of the coach bus latrine", "a quick trip into the woods" and "no natural breaks during time trials". This is not only a fabulous read but educational, too! this thread is a gorka.0
-
But all I'm doing is stringing together a few words each night! I'm lucky if I manage to construct a sentence, never mind one that makes sense.
This evening, I actually managed to see the race on ITV4 (which I'm still calling Channel 4, and it's been on ITV 4 for yonks now). Every year, I forget to cancel July in my diary. Strange how you can follow every news report on Cycling News and Cycling Weekly for 49 weeks, but in what is arguably the most important three weeks of the year, it can all run away from you unless you close the curtains, stock up on provisions, tell the neighbours you're away, and sit in front of the TV/computer all day stuffing your face with grapes, crisps and anything that may be lurking in the fridge.
Today's stage was one for the sprinters to excel in- their main adversary is the time cut. Despite whatever shenanigans their testosterone may cause them during and immediately after bunch sprints, the sprinters will huddle together in the autobus fairly early on in a high mountain stage. They all know there is absolutely zero advantage in doing anything else as they'll only knacker themselves in pointless and solitary misery grinding up the steep stuff. Typically, the autobus is a civil affair, as they've all got to work together, and I would argue that the sprinters spend far more quality time with each other than the mountain goats.
And so it was today on Stage 11, with the main autobus of 60 riders coming in at 33' 20" but our hero Kenny van Hummel (hurrah!) came from nowhere to take today's Lanterne- he'll have the honour of being interviewed by France TV 2 this evening. Ah, the memories that his win must bring to him. He had a good winning margin as well- a clear 1' 40 " over Katusha's onomatopoetic Kuchynski. Barnaby Riis's favourite sprinter, J.J. Haedo was 4 seconds behind.
7 riders came in at 33' 35", with Kenny leading home another 9 who must have been racing for the finish as they all came in at different times. The other largish groups were at 14' 15" (led by JV's favourite Brummie Irishman, Daniel Martin) one at 23' 58" and then at 29' 32". The rest came home mainly in largish groups- survival is the order of the day. In total, 167 riders remain in the race, and only 22 arrived within 10 minutes of M. Rolland. Far more riders are involved in an average sprint.
In the overall GC, the Buddist quietly made his move to grab the Red Jersey, but he's only got 5 seconds over Jimmy Engelbert, who is the meat in a Garmin-Sharp sandwich*, with Johan van Summeren in third place. It's a long way to Paris...................
*I may have spent too much time listening to Paul and Phil.0 -
Stage 12- Christophe Kern of Europcar is today's Lanterne with a magnificant 19' 15", arriving a lonely 7' 16" after the second placed Karsten Krooner, with Michael Morcov in third and our very own Manx sex-pot in fourth. To be honest though, Kern's victory is even more heroic when I noted that 49 riders all came in the same time as Krooner, Morcov, Cav et al. He's showing the stuff of a true Lanterne.
GC-The Buddist has extended his winning margin to 3' 33" over Jimmy Engelbert with Johan in 3rd place at 8' 5". I'm beginning to think that Tyler could go all the way to Paris- The Flying Scot (double hurrah!) has bagged Garmin a stage win, and they've got nothing else to aim for now at this Tour, so they may as well throw their weight behind Farrarar.0 -
Bah Humbug! Riders find fame and fortune by becoming the Lanterne- ask Wim Vansevenant. And let's face it, he's not going to find much fame as a sprinter, is he?
He's be the first American Lanterne though.0 -
He may be American, but he comes across more Flandrian than most Flemish.
Good for him. The Dutch are pussying out and this yank is is showing them up.
I'm going to get all romantic here but this effort he's putting in is what the laterne rouge is all about.0 -
Rick Chasey wrote:
I'm going to get all romantic here but this effort he's putting in is what the laterne rouge is all about.
Exactly. Bravery when there's no TV cameras around. Keeping on keeping on when others (35 to date) have abandoned.
Today was a pretty good TV day for previous contenders however- Morcov in a sole breakaway in honour of his Dad, Kerne also in a breakaway and........um, there was someone else, but I've forgotton. It may have been Engelbert.
Stage 13's Lanterne is Christophe Kern.
(I was certain he was in today's breakaway, but I could have been imagining it. Old age y'see. My menopausal brain cells are dying off in such numbers there's barely enough left to function and I was watching the stage whilst dotting back and forward to the kitchen to make three huge pots of soup for the soup lunch tomorrow.)
Still, enough of my exciting life.
Kern is the only rider worth noting today, because he arrived alone, 8 seconds after a group of 47 riders.
The Flandrian Buddhist remains the GC Lanterne, still with an advantage of 3' 33" over Jimmy Engelbert with his team-mate Johan Van Summer's End in third. Johan is clearly Tyler's domestique in Garmin-Sharp's bid for the trophy.0 -
Never been a big fan of Farar. But really enjoying him fighting on when he can easily walk away without any shame. Seriously impressive seeing him stick through the tour. Afew more hard days to come for him.0
-
For anyone else with money on him, Kenny's scraping into the top-10. It's not looking good for a payout though, especially as he was in the group (with Farrar) that "lost" 90 secs to the group of 470
-
Forgive me- my computer kept freezing yesterday, but I've spoken nicely to it, so here are the tardy results of Stage 14-
Europcar are unfortunately not telepathic and therefore did not dump Pierre Rolland in a ditch sans velo, but they did put in a good show- Christophe Kern took the Lanterne, a good 3' 23" seconds ahead. I like it when a Lanterne crosses the line alone, it shows bottle. His team-mates Vincent Jerome and Yohann Gene crossed the line with SunnyHolidays' Kris Boeckmans, 28' 30" after Luis Leon. 66 riders rode in at 28' 18", and 56 at 18' 15".
Due to some muppet mimicking the Etape Caledonia, this stage was full of potential, a Lanterne could have ambled home after using up the entire supply of Mavic's inner tubes and still not been time excluded. But they don't appear to have done that- too easy, and the Lanternes never choose the easy route.
In GC, no change- The Flandrian Buddist, Humperdinck and Summer's End.0 -
The Stage 15 Lanterne is Alessandro Vanotti of Leekygas. Often it's the same names who keep popping up as Lanternes, but I've never heard of him before. He's been with them for 5 years and is 31 with one victory to his name, so I'm deducing he's a loyal and dependable domestique. I don't know what happened to him today, but he arrived at the finish line alone, 2' 54 " after Seb Langeveld, who was 2" after Christophe Kern, who arrived in the same time as Vino. Apart from that, 139 riders all arrived in the same time (11' 50").
The GC is frankly boring, with no change, and I can't be bothered to type it all out again, but all credit to the Buddhist for hanging on in there.0 -
And the only other news of note is that Kenny has retired- and I had such high hopes for him this year. Yauheni Hutarovich, a sprinter who is not unfamiliar with the small red lamp, also packed his bags today.
I'm beginning to wonder if there will be any sprinters left on the Champs this Sunday.0 -
Stage 16- and today's Lanterne, Jurgen Roelandts was featured on the ITV4 show! Just briefly, but he was shown riding over the finish line just ahead of the Broomwagon, and Ned, or Gary, said that the commissars had agreed to keep him in the race even although he was 3 seconds over the cut-off time. Oddly though, the official tour list shows him arriving in the same time as Sebastien Hinault-No-Relation. He was definetely riding alone on TV so perhaps this is his 'shiny new' time. Kristeen Kroone is shown as third, although he was merely the last rider across the line in a groupetto of 27.
Credit to previous Lanterne, the poorly Brice Feillu who showed sterling form in today's breakaway, finally arriving fifth over the finishing line. The first week must have been a hellish, fevered misery for him, and simply getting through the Tour should earn him an award of some kind as riders have been dropping like the proverbial flies, some because their wives were about to go into labour, and some because they've broken bones, but other because, well, just because. But not Feillu- he stuck in there, and all credit to him. Worth noting that he could easily have spent his recuperation coming in last each day, and, with a few lessons in acting from countryman M. Voeckler, he could have attained the sort of fandom which came so naturally to Kenny and Wim. Not to mention the amount he could have earned in the post-Tour criteria, especially in a year when many of the big names will be flying over Belgium and not stopping en route to London. But this is not Brice's way- he's clearly an honest sort who just gets on with it. Hat.
And guess what's happened in the GC?
Yup, nothing at all- still The Buddhist, Engelbert and Summer'sEnd.0 -
We have a new Lanterne!! Jan Ghyselinck of Cofidis, who has 1' 21" over the Buddhist. This is not good news for the Flandrian Fighter- he's a sprinter and they're genetically programmed to Believe In Themselves, so he'll aim to be at the front on the Champs whilst others can afford to gain vast amounts of time. After battling through the Tour, I do hope that somehow Tyler can win this.
In today's stage, three riders arrived together in the same time- Mr Darcy, his wingman Bernie and Alessandro Vanotti. Technically, Vanotti took the honour of being visited by French TV 2 this evening.0 -
Tusher wrote:We have a new Lanterne!! Jan Ghyselinck of Cofidis, who has 1' 21" over the Buddhist. This is not good news for the Flandrian Fighter- he's a sprinter and they're genetically programmed to Believe In Themselves, so he'll aim to be at the front on the Champs whilst others can afford to gain vast amounts of time. After battling through the Tour, I do hope that somehow Tyler can win this.
In today's stage, three riders arrived together in the same time- Mr Darcy, his wingman Bernie and Alessandro Vanotti. Technically, Vanotti took the honour of being visited by French TV 2 this evening.
He's cutting it fine.
Was over the limit yesterday.
I was worried the police confiscating his secret stash of muffins during the cofidis raid would put pay to his lantern rouge efforts.0 -
I hear they were targeting them Rick, but someone ate the evidence.0
-
The Flandrian Buddhist was 4th today - does that spoil his record?
Have to say Chapeau to Van Summeren who winced over the line after the Metz stage but is still there too.'Google can bring back a hundred thousand answers. A librarian can bring you back the right one.'
Neil Gaiman0 -
I hope Ghyselinck loses the 45 seconds necessary tomorrow to finish 153rd 0
-
I would love Tyler Farrar to win this year, I think he deserves it, but I also think he doesn't want it. And with so much suffering involved, it's better that the Lanterne goes to someone who will appreciate it (and be able to mop up in the post-Tour crits). The GC standings are presently-
The Buddhist 3hr 43' 58"
Giselda 3hr 48' 24"
Engelbert 3hr 49' 09"
I reckon it's now a straight battle between Jan and Jimmy, although a catastrophic mechanical for someone in the time trial might just produce a surprise winner. Although that rider would probably have to be riding a mountain bike with training shoes.
Mr Farrar finished today in 6th place behind Mr Darcy, a position he is not unfamiliar with.
Today's Lanterne was Seb Lagerfield, who arrived 37" after Christophe Kern and one of the Euskie Gorkas. Gorka is, incidentally, the Basque name for George.0 -
Jimmy Engoulvent has already tasted the 'pleasure' of Lanterne Rouge and I doubt he'll willingly let it go now - in the TT in the Jura he was last, so tomorrow he could even extend his 'lead'.
Only danger is, he may be too slow and get eliminated; he came close to this in the Jura.
The cut-off is +25% of the winner's time.0 -
Rick Chasey wrote:Tusher wrote:We have a new Lanterne!! Jan Ghyselinck of Cofidis, who has 1' 21" over the Buddhist. This is not good news for the Flandrian Fighter- he's a sprinter and they're genetically programmed to Believe In Themselves, so he'll aim to be at the front on the Champs whilst others can afford to gain vast amounts of time. After battling through the Tour, I do hope that somehow Tyler can win this.
In today's stage, three riders arrived together in the same time- Mr Darcy, his wingman Bernie and Alessandro Vanotti. Technically, Vanotti took the honour of being visited by French TV 2 this evening.
He's cutting it fine.
Was over the limit yesterday.
I was worried the police confiscating his secret stash of muffins during the cofidis raid would put pay to his lantern rouge efforts.
I was on the Peyresourde, and he was pushed most of the way up (a few metres by me
). We were quite near the bottom and he was already WAAAAAY behind the rest. Some basque fella put in an excellent 150m effort. 0 -
Stage 19's Lanterne is Kristeen Kroon, who arrived 6 seconds after Tour Downunder hero Arthur Vichot. The Buddhist was 8 seconds behind again. Very tricky, a time trial.
GC- Jimmy Engelbert at 3hr 57' 45"
Jan Ghyselinck 3hr 57' 04"
The Buddhist 3hr 54' 54"
Not sure I would take bets on this one, but it's not going to be The Flandrian who wins the Red Lanterne in Paris.
Interesting little article here- http://www.theroar.com.au/2012/07/22/la ... -the-wire/
I think it was Bernie Eisel who was lying in second place to Wim in 2007 or 2008, but Bernie made a point of coming up to Wim before the stage started and told him that he wouldn't be challenging him for the Lanterne.
That's not going to be the case tomorrow.0 -
Thanks Richard! One day I'll figure out how to post photographs.
Anyway, here are a couple more links for anyone interested-
http://bicycling.com/blogs/sittingin/20 ... eing-last/
(from 2008)
http://www.bicycling.com/garmin-insider ... erne-rouge0 -
Engoulvent is the first Frenchman for 8 years to ‘win’ the Laterne Rouge, the last being sprinter Jimmy Casper.
So, a good Tour end for France!0 -
Ladies and Gentlemen, Mesdames et Monsieurs, it is my great pleasure to present the Lanterne Rouge of the 2012 Tour de France.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6gWg-VJ ... re=related
All the way from Le Mans, and representing Team Saur-Sojasun..............
JIMMY ENGOULVENT0
