TdF Spoiler - Sunday's mountain stage

[saab2000]

Rasmussen has a very dangerous lead.

[Fat Robert]

and he'll lose it


as a point of honor, evans or somebody will make sure that the Tour isn't won by a guy who couldn't take a punch from a twelve-year-old girl

[saab2000]

He will probably lose it. But it is very dangerous for a super climber to have such a big lead at the beginning of the mountains.

He might lose it on Tuesday. When is the first TT?

But he might be a better bike racer now than he was a few years ago.

I am pulling for the Cindarella story Moreau. Aging French champion who can still turn on the burners in the hills! Alright! :banana:

Vino and Kloden are both working hard to limit their losses. They are not out of it, but have their work cut out for them.

[stevep]

i thought it odd that they kept kloden w/ vino.
he obviously lost another minute ...
just seems odd to hold a guy like that back on a critical stage.
cheers for moreau.

too bad that was good for evans...whose face never faced the front that i saw.
too cautious to win.

same w/ leipheimer.

[mdeeds71]

I can feel the burn!!!

If I weigh only 120 wet I could climb really well...I just love my food and wine to much.

[saab2000]

I can feel the burn!!!

If I weigh only 120 wet I could climb really well...I just love my food and wine to much.

WORD!

And those 1:30 AM Blue Moons after a long day in the seat and too wired to go to sleep! Not a recipe for good legs the next day..... :D

[old_school]

i thought it odd that they kept kloden w/ vino.
he obviously lost another minute ...
just seems odd to hold a guy like that back on a critical stage.

Reminded me of '04 when he began as Ulrich's domestique - ultimately finished second as Jan dropped to forth.

[Climb01742]

felt very sad for mick rogers. imagine the emotional rollercoaster of t-mobile the last 24 hours.

nice to see mayo riding well.

levi isn't exactly inspiring confidence.

regardless, all way fun to watch.

[72gmc]

what a lousy day for Aussie fans. Rogers and O'Grady in the same stage.

Either Leipheimer is fooling me with his strategy, or he is only aiming for top 10.

[Fixed]

bro imho somebody has got to be bold and go... maybe gamble all or nothing
cheers

[Dekonick]

O'Grady - taken off with a cervical collar and full spinal immobilization. That does not look good - it isn't used as often in Europe, unlike the USA with our starving personal injury lawyers...

Hope he is ok.

Is there something in the water? There sure seem to be alot of crashes this year... :bike:

This tour is a blast to watch! Just what the TDF needed. :D

[Ray]

i thought it odd that they kept kloden w/ vino.
he obviously lost another minute ...
just seems odd to hold a guy like that back on a critical stage.
cheers for moreau.

too bad that was good for evans...whose face never faced the front that i saw.
too cautious to win.

same w/ leipheimer.
It's Vino's team, with a Kazak sponsor who want's Vino's face on their literature. Kloden's probably not worth much to them, even if he could place higher than Vino, which he appears able to do. I'd love to see Moreau do it, but it seems unlikely. Chicken seems really unlikely too, despite his lead - I guess we'll see after another day in the mountains and then a TT where he's likely to wind up. Levi seems to think he'll be better in the Pyranees. We'll see. I still sort of like Valverde, but it's so wide open that I don't honestly have a clue. First year in a while where there wasn't a guy who was obviously strongest. Lance for many years and Floyd last year - he almost lost it but he was clearly the strongest guy except for that one real bad day. This year....who the hell knows?

Lots of fun.

-Ray

[paczki]

Moreau was brilliant and it was great to see Ibn Mayo ride so well. And Contador has incredible climbing legs. I think he's going to scare a lot of people in this TdF.

[1centaur]

Va;verde may have a problem - he wants to repeat his LBL winning style, which is get to the finish and sprint for victory. That means he needs his top rivals to tow him up to the finish, which means he will stay close to at least some of them. Unless he can find breakaway endurance, he's not a great choice for winning on GC, since his time trialing will never be better than it is now. Contador has better prospects because he is willing to just GO.

Levi - he knows what he can do. He knows it's not enough.

Still, wide open Tour...anybody's guess.

[Len J]

in the break were awful.......if Valverde, Moreau and a couple of others has worked together for most of that time, they all would have gained much more time. As it was, Vino/Kloden/Levi came within 20 sec of catching them without Levi burning any real matches. Instead, they attacked each other constantly and killed each other. What am I missing?

And Contador was amazing....but I think he forgot it's a 3 week tour. It will be interesting to see what he has in week 3.

The Chicken isn't going to win......

Discovery seemed to have great tactics....Popo & Contador in the break, Kloden & Vino doing all the work to catch them w/ Levi tucked in , if they can't catch the break, it still tires 2 strong competitors, Levi can attack and pick up 1 or 2 teammates up the road, if they do catch the break, Levi has 1 or 2 teammates and can set up a counterattack.....only problem was Levi couldn't/wouldn't attack. Then Contador flats, is off the back of the vino/Levi chase group, repairs, comes all the way through the vino group and levi still doesn't go. Either he is being cagey and saving his effort for the TT & the pyrennees or he just doesn't have it. He was in the perfect tactical position, it seemed to me.

I don;t think the key contenders are overly worried about either the chicken or Mayo.

What a fun stage to watch.

Len

[Moosedryvr]

I'm with you S2K, I keep finding myself cheering for Moreau. I'd love to see the current tricolor wearer do something spectacular in his home tour. Geez, the French would go nuts!!
I also kept shaking my head at the tactics of the 1st chase group, if any of those guys would have worked with Moreau, Vino'd be out of it. I think they were all afraid that Moreau would drop them at the end and they are more afraid of him having a big lead than Rasmussen?
Fun day to watch. It'll be interesting to see how things go after the rest day. I think Vino is very much still in this after the break/chase passed on the opportunity to nail his coffin shut today. We'll see.

Shawn G.

[znfdl]

I vowed off watching the Tour this year, but this stage was bewitching and brought back the joy of watching the Tour.

[Simon Q]

I vowed off watching the Tour this year, but this tage was bewitching and brought back the joy of watching the Tour.

Yes, it was an amazing stage to watch and this Tour is just what the sport needs. When was the last time you had so many potential winners at this stage?

Felt sorry for Rogers as he could have had a really good Tour.

[72gmc]

Exactly, Len. Why not take advantage of Vino's weakness and Astana team orders shackling Kloden? Levi could have minimized his losses, maximized his gains... and just didn't.

That, and the director's decision to mercilessly hound Rogers as he fell apart, were two disappointments in an otherwise great day.

[skyflash]

what a lousy day for Aussie fans. Rogers and O'Grady in the same stage.


I believe McEwen did not make the time cut at the end, so I think that's three Aussies gone in one day.

[pdxmech13]

While watching today all i could think was "what a bunch of babies". Other than Moreau and Rasmussen the others have no punch and deserve to loose this race. Contrador was amazing as this was the first time that I had the pleasure of watching him race. All the others missed out on a big opurtunity to distance themselves from Astana. Podium will go as follows atmo

Kloden
Rasmussen
Vinokourov
Moreau
Contrador

[BBB]

A bad day for the Aussies.

O'Grady out with 8 broken ribs, a punctured lung and a broken shoulder.

Rogers found himself in a terrific tactical position and was heading towards the race lead before taking a tumble and dislocating his shoulder.

McEwen was eliminated after finishing an hour outside the time limit.

Evans finished 6th and did a good job...of following wheels. Easy to say as an arm chair spectator, but the race is usually only ever won by attacking. Evans is good enough to be up there, just not good enough to ride away, or so it would seem.

[Ray]

Rogers found himself in a terrific tactical position and was heading towards the race lead before taking a tumble and dislocating his shoulder.
I agree that it was a major drag for Rogers and he was clearly going well. BUT, I wouldn't assume too much about what he would have done the rest of the stage or where he'd have ended up at the end of the day. Remember, everyone but Chicken got caught before the end. Rogers could climb, but he's not a pure climber of the sort that Rassputin is and I don't have any reason to believe he wouldn't have been absorbed by the end of the stage as well.

-Ray

[Ray]

Contrador was amazing as this was the first time that I had the pleasure of watching him race.
Go find a tape (or cycling tv hilites) of the last stage of this year's Paris-Nice. Frickin' incredible ride to take the race from Rebellin.

-Ray

[Too Tall]

GREAT stage :) TDF this yr. is the best in memory. Holy cr@p there is drama every min. as it should be. 'Bout time.

*** happened to Levi's rear mech.? Anybody?

Let's wait and see who recovers after a rest. That is going to speak volumes.

[sspielman]

While watching today all i could think was "what a bunch of babies". Other than Moreau and Rasmussen the others have no punch and deserve to loose this race. Contrador was amazing as this was the first time that I had the pleasure of watching him race. All the others missed out on a big opurtunity to distance themselves from Astana. Podium will go as follows atmo

Kloden
Rasmussen
Vinokourov
Moreau
Contrador

Interesting that the primary offenders for not working in that break were Spanish. I believe that it is because they are waiting for the Pyrenees....and are most familiar with their difficulty....

[soulspinner]

GREAT stage :) TDF this yr. is the best in memory. Holy cr@p there is drama every min. as it should be. 'Bout time.

*** happened to Levi's rear mech.? Anybody?

Let's wait and see who recovers after a rest. That is going to speak volumes.

The problem was it was Shimano. :D

[darylb]

While watching today all i could think was "what a bunch of babies". Other than Moreau and Rasmussen the others have no punch and deserve to loose this race.



This assessment might make more sense if this were a one day race but it is a 3 week monster of a race. The proven recipe has been to stay with the true contenders, conserve as much as possible, attack once, and ride good time trials. If Vino and Kloden are the favorites, they make the determiniation of who they will chase and who they wont. It doesnt mean they, or Levi or any of the others in that group dont have any punch. They may have chosen not to use the punch yet. There are a lot of very hard stages to come. I dont think you could attack to win ever mountain stage and win.

Of course, they may not have punch when the time comes but the tactics yesterday looked like typical tour racing.

[Samster]

why do they call him the "chicken"? the poor guy doesn't have much mass appeal.

[BoulderGeek]

Wow, I would have really enjoyed watching the race and tactics on this stage.

However, I was busy riding this stage.

OK, so I only rode half as many miles in the same time the Pros rode the full stage. But, the GPS says that I did 7500 feet of climbing yesterday, 60 miles, from my hotel in Les Arcs/Bourg St. Maurice to Tignes and back. My hotel was 3400 feet up from town, at the end of a 55 mile day.

I was ~60 yards/meters from the spectator that got whacked at the end. The Astana boys were tired and tweaked that their bus was back at the base of the hill, so they rode fast the opposite direction, on a live course, before the balais came. No one was expecting it. Then the other leaders started returning, as well. Moreau hit the hand of a guy I was talking to, turned and gave the spectator the finger.

A crying 24 year old woman said that she was right there when the spectator was hit, and judging from the blood and impact, she assumed he was dead. Today's L'Equipe said the spectator was in a coma.

As I, and a thousand of my closest cycling pals descended, we, too, were surprised that it was still a live course. Yeah, I hadn't seen the balais, and I even asked a Gendarme if the balais had been by yet. But, I figured that maybe I missed it in all the insanity. So, thousands of people were jamming down the hill.

I had been descending for half an hour when McEwen came by. I stopped and shouted encouragement to him, but he had long popped, and was just trying to stay upright. I was four feet from his vacant stare.

No photos just yet, because my camera ran out of batteries just as I snapped Rasmussen coming by. You tend to take lots of pictures when you wait for five hours. I do have some pink sunburn to show for the day (through 30 and 50 sunblock!).

I just got home an hour or so ago. I had to spend the day having lunch in Bourg St. Maurice, and riding, because the first train home was at 3:10PM. It's always fun riding after a steak with grilled shallots, pommes frites, mini bottle of chilled rosé, salad savoyard and créme brulée.

I was bummed to have gotten home just as today's live stage was ending, so I don't even know what happend on the Galibier or who is in yellow. Where is my TiVo?

[chakatrain]

+1

Va;verde may have a problem - he wants to repeat his LBL winning style, which is get to the finish and sprint for victory. That means he needs his top rivals to tow him up to the finish, which means he will stay close to at least some of them. Unless he can find breakaway endurance, he's not a great choice for winning on GC, since his time trialing will never be better than it is now. Contador has better prospects because he is willing to just GO.

Levi - he knows what he can do. He knows it's not enough.

Still, wide open Tour...anybody's guess.

[Fixed]

why do they call him the "chicken"? the poor guy doesn't have much mass appeal.
skinny legs like a chicken .bro I think he looks better than years past imho
cheers

[Ray]

skinny legs like a chicken .bro I think he looks better than years past imho
cheers
Not just his legs Fixed, its the whole package. I think they call him chicken because they're too nice to call him plucked chicken. I hate to judge anyone on their looks (not exactly being Brad Pitt myself), but this guy is just too friggin' ugly to win the Tour de France. Waaaaay.

-Ray

[Fixed]

bro have you seen him with his wife?
cheers

[sspielman]

bro have you seen him with his wife?
cheers
I'll bet she's hot....Is she?...He probably has some Lyle Lovatt thing going on and the chicks crawl all over him....

[goonster]

I was ~60 yards/meters from the spectator that got whacked at the end. The Astana boys were tired and tweaked that their bus was back at the base of the hill, so they rode fast the opposite direction, on a live course, before the balais came. No one was expecting it. Then the other leaders started returning, as well. Moreau hit the hand of a guy I was talking to, turned and gave the spectator the finger.

A crying 24 year old woman said that she was right there when the spectator was hit, and judging from the blood and impact, she assumed he was dead. Today's L'Equipe said the spectator was in a coma.

I haven't seen this reported anywhere.

Who hit the spectator?


I was bummed to have gotten home just as today's live stage was ending, so I don't even know what happend on the Galibier or who is in yellow.

Monday is/was a "rest" day. Iseran and Galibier are tomorrow.

[swoop]

rasmussen's name doesn't come from his legs resembling a chicken (at least not direrctly so). its from his mountain biking days... and a danish tv show called, "Bamses Billedbog". The show was about a chicken and a bear.. Rasmussen's roomate was named 'the bear', and as they were together all the time.. they started calling him the chicken... as the the chicken and the bear.


popular media picked up the nickname and made the obvious link.. it just happens to be more compelling than the facts...

[zeroking17]

I haven't seen this reported anywhere.

Who hit the spectator?



Sinkewitz hit a 78-year-old Luxembourger. Reportedly it was a head-on-head collision.

The former has a broken nose (likely) and other contusions. Will abandon Tour. The latter was airlifted to a Geneve hospital. Is expected to survive.

[Ray]

bro have you seen him with his wife?
cheers
He doesn't look quite as bad with clothes on and when he's not suffering on a bike. Even a bit of a smile.

-Ray

[goonster]

The former has a broken nose (likely) and other contusions. Will abandon Tour. The latter was airlifted to a Geneve hospital. Is expected to survive.

OK, now I see it.

German media is reporting that Sinkewitz sustained a "Mittelgesichtsfraktur", which is a broken face, and "Shaedel/Hirn Trauma", which sounds like a fairly severe head injury. The fan's condition is reported to be critical. Yikes.

[Fixed]

rasmussen's name doesn't come from his legs resembling a chicken (at least not direrctly so). its from his mountain biking days... and a danish tv show called, "Bamses Billedbog". The show was about a chicken and a bear.. Rasmussen's roomate was named 'the bear', and as they were together all the time.. they started calling him the chicken... as the the chicken and the bear.


popular media picked up the nickname and made the obvious link.. it just happens to be more compelling than the facts...
swoop is one smart cat .imho
cheers

[BoulderGeek]

I haven't seen this reported anywhere.

Who hit the spectator?

L'Equipe says it was Patrick Sinkewitz. Apparently there was some irritation with the accomodations and the security of the gendarmerie.

All I know is, it was a hairball crazy descent. No shortage of coming through a hairpin at 35MPH and facing two blue gendarme BMW R1150RS Police Specials doing 80 up the other way. I had three ambulances coming up slope at full bore as hundreds of cyclists of all ability levels dropped down.

My GPS said I kept it to 41MPH (with a loose spoke, making my wobbling wheel a definite danger to myself and others). I had some cyclists passing me like I was a Cat 4 with a slipped chain. And I don't know where they found the room, because I was waaay over the center line, passing cars. :-D



I
Monday is/was a "rest" day. Iseran and Galibier are tomorrow.

Oh, great! Yeah, I was so bummed to have thought that I missed the stage. So, I am glad to know it didn't exist. Must have been a promo that was finishing. I thought the rest day was Tuesday. Thanks for the correction. I'm still a tad wiped from my weekend and all of today's wine.

Wow, i could be in that picture. I would be behind the oncoming car (Seat?) at about the 10 o'clock position, obscured. But it was close. I briefly thought about wandering over, but my presence wasn't going to help anything. I was wearing one of the free Champion (grocery stores) polka dot t-shirts, like the fan in the picture. So, just assume that was me.