Dauphine Libere Chat

Julspro

The Prologue has come and gone and we now have GC standing for the <font face="Arial"></font id="Arial">Dauphine. Bradley Wiggins with a fine ride puts him in the leaders jersey for tomorrow's sprint stage, but more importantly, it should secure his spot on Cofidis's Tour team. Well earned.
All the riders are within 45 seconds of each other, and that should not change much for tomorrow's stage.
I love this race. I love that everyone brings their strongest teams - with a few riders just trying to prove to their DS's that they are ready for the Tour.
Tough luck for the front half of the riders as a bit a of a storm blew through making the roads very wet. But that is racing!
So, what does everyone think so far?
Cyclingnews.com and velonews.com will have live coverage on their websites. Coverage is pretty good - I usually go back and forth between both sites.
I still haven't found anywhere you can watch the race live - but that is okay as I will be at work all week anyway.
Have a good week - Juls

Caribbean Soul

campagchris

Juls I too like the Dauphine and the tour of switzerland.It lets you see who is going to be up there in the TOUR.Theres live coverage on eurosport(hopefully no tennis)don't know if you can get that in the states though.I fancy Denis Menchov to do a good ride in the Dauphine,and Vladimir Karpets in tour of switzerland,Kloden might win that though.

OffTheBackAdam

Just caught the last hour live on Eurosport, usual suspects going for the sprints, Boonen just lacking a little zip after his lay off.
Vino was always hovering near the front, keeping out of trouble, Hincapie still showing his Giro form, also up there.

Remember that you are an Englishman and thus have won first prize in the lottery of life.

campagchris

What happened to Leipheimer today.He was 2nd at 1 second but not listed today,did he puncture/crash outside last kilometere

Echappee

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Arial, Helvetica, Verdana" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by campagchris</i>

What happened to Leipheimer today.He was 2nd at 1 second but not listed today,did he puncture/crash outside last kilometere
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

Finished safely in the bunch in 107th and still 2nd overall.

OffTheBackAdam

Now the old man of the mountains (Or Alpes) has hit the front again, can we expect another round "Moreau's going to win La Tour" from our French cycling fans?

Remember that you are an Englishman and thus have won first prize in the lottery of life.

drenkrom

hehehe... every year is "Moreau gagne le Tour" year. He did put in a gutsy move today, but you can bet the French hyperbole machine is in full force right now.

Julspro

And here I thought there wouldn't be much shake up on the GC today. Maybe the French can pretend it is Bastille Day and enjoy that their countryman won the stage and took the lead - because the stage on the real Bastille Day is the Col de la ColombiŠre. The first real mountain pass. I don't think Moreau will be anywhere around the top finishers.

Tomorrow is a long time trial. If Levi hopes to gain control of this race he needs to have WAY better time trial tomorrow than he did in the Tour last year.

Caribbean Soul

Stark.

I like the Dauphine too and, for my sins, I've got a sneaking respect for Moreau as well. He raises the hopes of the French fans, then falls away in the Tour, only to recover and doggedly slog his way to a top ten finish, thereby salvaging some Gallic pride. At his age, he must be thoroughly sick of still having to fulfill the role of Great French Hope.

campagchris

Wonder if his goat(tee) beard is to help him climb better[:)] He's a gutsy rider and he might be after the points jersey.Today(wednesday)and tomorrow should be "hold on to your hats" day he says tapping his nose[:0]

Echappee

Astana 1-2 in the TT today. Is it just me or does anyone else have nagging doubts about this team?

I've been following cycling since 1989 and like to think I've taken a level headed view towards doping over the years but if ever there has been a set-up that has screamed 'systematic doping' to me then its Astana. Of course, I might be very wrong.

grimpeur

Sort of agree Echappee...

Astana is home to some of the riders formerly on the doped up T-Mobile team. Furthermore a gap of nearly 40 seconds on one of the best TT riders in the world and then more so on David Millar.

Then there was Mazzolini's amazing climbing ability in the Giro....

Hmmmmm...

vinocough

I think they are a great team,and Vino hasnt been implicated in any drug use.Its no surprise to me they are going so well look at the class they have.Vino has been consistent in time trials and climbing throughout his career.Kash is a strong young rider,mazzoleni has also done well in the past as has Kloeden,+Savoldelli.Ok klody was mentioned in the past but cant remember any of the other riders being implicated.Just because they do well doesn't mean they dope.Look at DiLuca in the Giro he couldn't climb the high mountains last year but he won one of the hardest Giro's this year(did he dope)or just train better and be more prepared.Both Kash and Vino do 3 days a week Time Trial trainingThe Kazakh led all the intermediate timings. "I found my rhythm straight away," he said. "I was informed about the times and I did it flat out with a good confidence because I knew I was doing well. Since the beginning of the year, I've worked on my time trialling three times a week. That's what makes the difference."

Julspro

I agree with all of you. The thought of doping does creep in to my thoughts even when I try to block the thought. I knew Vino had been training for this TT. I knew he wanted to win today. I also know he plans on winning the Tour - a single focus for him this year (even with Kloeden as 'co-captain'). So, today's result does not surprise me.
But, I must confess...I am a bit disappointed with Zabriskie's and Leipheimer's times. I didn't see the race - only followed cyclingnews.com, so I couldn't tell who looked like they were riding well (and who was suffering).
Was Vino that dominate? Did Zabriskie just get edged out? Was he suffering?
Leipheimer - disappointing, but not surprising. He lost 8 minutes in last years TT in the Tour. Although, I was hopeful after seeing him win the TT at the Tour of California and Tour de Georgia. He looked tough. Unbeatable. I guess I was wrong.
Well, we'll see how much time can be made up in the mountains. I have a feeling the current leader will be the leader this Sunday.

Happy Dauphine!

Caribbean Soul

campagchris

Juls I try not to think about the doping as its depressing.Vino is a great rider and attacks all the time which is great for cycling.Kashechkin is improving all the time.I wouldn't worry about leipheimer as I read he hasn't peaked yet and he peaked too early last year.Vino looked like he was coasting it smooth and strong it was a hard course,Hushovd finished on his road bike not his time trial one.I think Menchov looked quite strong and expect to see him attack on ventoux stage,but I think Kasechkin will win now as Vino is going to help him for favours during the tour.

OffTheBackAdam

Now it's really getting interesting. Will "L'homme vieux" win or will it be "Le garcon nouvieux" instead. Is my French even as good as that heard in "'Allo 'allo"?


Remember that you are an Englishman and thus have won first prize in the lottery of life.