Gerrans

[rcnute]

If this is true, that's a pretty shabby way to win.

Martínez rues missed opportunity
By Monika Prell

Martínez was left behind in the final sprint
Photo ©: Roberto Bettini
Spaniard Egoi Martínez was left wondering what might have been after spending all day in the break on stage 15 of the Tour de France and then losing the final sprint to Australian Simon Gerrans. Martínez was widely tipped as the strongest of the quartet that escaped on the road to Prato Nevoso, but the seventh year professional couldn't shake Gerrans or American Danny Pate on the final climb.

The Euskaltel rider was given the most aggressive award for the stage, but after descending from the podium with tears in his eyes claimed that Gerrans had said he would not contest the victory if they arrived in Prato Nevoso together. "Fifty kilometres before the finish Gerrans began to say that he was not in good form, that he lacked strength, and that he would not be able to fight for the stage victory," Martínez told Spanish newspaper Marca.

"Gerrans said that he would settle for reaching the finish line with me and being second. So when he was not able to follow on the ascent to the Prato Nevoso, we waited for him."

Regardless of whether any deal existed between the breakaway riders, as Martínez claimed, the Spaniard realised that such a great chance to win a Tour de France stage was unlikely to come his way again. "I committed a fatal error, and I have paid for it very dearly," he said.

[cmg]

kind of explains why at the end of the stage Ligget says they should of drop him. Martinez learned a lesson, no presents.

[paczki]

That cute little guy with braces and the high voice? Killers come in all shapes and sizes!

[Fixed]

did he get a signature ?
cheers :beer:

[El Chaba]

Euskaltel will make sure that Credit Agricole doesn't get another break for quite a while.....

[Ozz]

wheelsucking aussie.......that's racing I guess. :cool:

[EDS]

Euskaltel will make sure that Credit Agricole doesn't get another break for quite a while.....

Euskaltel doesn't have the horses to chase down a break.

[girlie]

Someone help me....
Why would Martínez care if Gerrans was at the finish or not....especially if he was no use to him in any shape or form.
I'd of dropped him especially with the lead they had......if he couldn't hold his own position. NOT MY PROBLEM.
I'm calling B.S.

[goonster]

How good is Martinez' English, and how good is Gerrans' Spanish and Euskadi?

I don't understand why Martinez and Pate "waited" for Gerrans ~3 km from the top when it was clear they wouldn't be caught, especially if it was clear that Gerrans was dragging.

I feel for the guy. Both Gerrans and Pate admitted that Martinez was the strongest in the break.

[Steve in SLO]

Rope-a-dope variation #658...

[goonster]

Why would Martínez care if Gerrans was at the finish or not

To hold off Arrieta, presumably. Arrieta was dropped with 7.5 km to go, but was riding very strongly previously.

Gerrans clawed his way back several times after that. It didn't look to me like they were waiting, but the TV coverage was mostly on the GC group by this point.

[girlie]

To hold off Arrieta, presumably. Arrieta was dropped with 7.5 km to go, but was riding very strongly previously.

Gerrans clawed his way back several times after that. It didn't look to me like they were waiting, but the TV coverage was mostly on the GC group by this point.

Still sounds like b.s. to me.......they were finishing UP....not on a flat. This was for a win - in the TOUR. If he was thinking that well he really messed up.

I agree I don't think they waited either and Martínez saying that makes him look even worse than the fact he didn't win.

[goonster]

Martínez saying that makes him look even worse than the fact he didn't win.

I don't think he looks bad. Does Pate "look bad"?

They rode a monster breakaway that succeeded. They are crazy disappointed that they didn't win, but that's racing.

[girlie]

I don't think he looks bad. Does Pate "look bad"?

They rode a monster breakaway that succeeded. They are crazy disappointed that they didn't win, but that's racing.

Martínez looks a little bit bad...beautiful breakaway but to not pull it off then talk....and to have not left Gerrans when he had a window. Pate was holding on....and did a great job of it.
Basically - Speaking out about loosing usually makes one look bad...well most of the time imo.

[Darrell]

Martinez would have had to make a deal with Danny Pate as well!and it would have taken a wheel barrow of Euros to seal it
If he could ride away, then he would have!
because he had two to worry about.
More like he may have tried to buy the stage and it farted in his face.
Do people really think that Simon asked him to ease up for him?
and Martinez thought, "Oh he is such a nice fella, I will wait for him"
beacuse the chasers will not come from behind as we stagger up the climb and
Danny WILL ALSO let ME win a STAGE OF THE TOUR DE FRANCE
because he is such a caring and understanding fella.

Cheers from many years in the team car Dazza

[Simon Q]

Yeah, right. So Martinez waited for Gerrans on the final climb when the rest of the field was not going to catch them and Gerrans is a punchier rider? It didn't look like it: it looked to me like he tried several attacks to try to drop Gerrans and Pate.

[Chief]

wheelsucking aussie.......that's racing I guess. :cool:

+1

Pate, who was obviously very disappointed, admitted that he just didn't have it at the end. I feel the same was true of Martinez. I think what looked bad was the way aussie crossed the line--as if he had done it all on his own--but those are the breaks in racing.

[girlie]

+1

Pate, who was obviously very disappointed, admitted that he just didn't have it at the end. I feel the same was true of Martinez. I think what looked bad was the way aussie crossed the line--as if he had done it all on his own--but those are the breaks in racing.

:confused:
I think he was more like **** I won! SWEET!
And hell he wasn't on vacation.

[Charles M]

I wouldn't mind having people speculate over my tour stage win :D

[thinpin]

+1

Pate, who was obviously very disappointed, admitted that he just didn't have it at the end. I feel the same was true of Martinez. I think what looked bad was the way aussie crossed the line--as if he had done it all on his own--but those are the breaks in racing.
Is their an icon for sour grapes :D !

[rustychisel]

+1

Pate, who was obviously very disappointed, admitted that he just didn't have it at the end. I feel the same was true of Martinez. I think what looked bad was the way aussie crossed the line--as if he had done it all on his own--but those are the breaks in racing.


Do the two of you know anything about cycle racing at all? Oh, and it wouldn't be the first time a rider has tried to cover a disappointment by making up a tale for their DS or interviewer.

[andy mac]

i think at that level everyone knows the rules.

you begin at the start line with your bicycle, you pedal the little cranks around as fast as you can, up and down the hills, around the corners and then try and cross the finish line before all the other people.

if someone has martinez's email could you please forward this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racing

[cadence90]

Simoni/Basso Giro catfight redux. He said/she said.

Martinez should have known better.

[Simon Q]

Are we going to next get stuck into Hincapie's win over Pererio in the 2005 Tour? I watched the whole stage 15 Gerrans did a power of work in the break whereas Hincapie did nothing at all and was hardly running over to thank Pererio at the finish.

I am not opening the Hincapie debate, I am just making the point that let's not make Gerrans some kind of monster when it isn't warranted.

[girlie]

some of the language in this thread is weird (had to use some kind of word, this is what I came up with)......imo.
Use the terrain and the logic of the stage to figure it out or speculate.
This is a competition not a law room.
This is the TOUR.
Everyone wants to win.
No one is selling wins at lease in this event...imho.
Maybe Martinez did or didn't hear Gerrans say something about being tired.....either way he made a bad call to either listen or talk publicly about it.

That was stage 15 and everyone is tired and a bit out of it...look at their faces and see their eyes at the end of each day.
Pate looked like hell and not just cause he was deeply disappointed.

[soulspinner]

He is trying to save face with his team and or the public. Hes been around long enuff to know he should have dropped them at some point.

[El Chaba]

How good is Martinez' English, and how good is Gerrans' Spanish and Euskadi?

I don't understand why Martinez and Pate "waited" for Gerrans ~3 km from the top when it was clear they wouldn't be caught, especially if it was clear that Gerrans was dragging.

I feel for the guy. Both Gerrans and Pate admitted that Martinez was the strongest in the break.

Egoi speaks English pretty well

[girlie]

It don't mean a thing..... (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDQpZT3GhDg&feature=related)

[BumbleBeeDave]

Maybe Martinez did or didn't hear Gerrans say something about being tired.....either way he made a bad call to either listen or talk publicly about it.

Martinez statement makes him look either incredibly naive or just full of sour grapes. It's the Tour, not kindergarten song circle.

BBD

[El Chaba]

I'm sure there was a deal. There is ALL MANNER of wheeling and dealing in a breakaway in a race like the Tour. Riders rarely admit it. Martinez is pretty p!ssed to publicly state that Gerrans dishonored the deal. Of course, it could be that Martinez had a HUGE payday....and had to do a little whining in public to get his DS off his back....

[Samster]

sorry. it's all excuses. not buying this one. the guy who crossed the line first is the guy who won. period.

who _cares_ what they 'talked' about before the line. irrelevant. your job is to cross the line first.

this 'honor' stuff is bs. if you want to be honorable, don't do shoot up.

[girlie]

I'm sure there was a deal. There is ALL MANNER of wheeling and dealing in a breakaway in a race like the Tour. Riders rarely admit it. Martinez is pretty p!ssed to publicly state that Gerrans dishonored the deal. Of course, it could be that Martinez had a HUGE payday....and had to do a little whining in public to get his DS off his back....

Maybe I just don't know about the tour....????
But in smaller races there can be buying and selling.....if a sponsor is present.....everyone knows it's best to keep the $ in the sport. So sometimes it's best to let one slide for a little side $ and to save a teams ass in front of a sponsor. Or for a rider to make a bit of $$$ on the side. But not at the cost of his teammates and management. No one would touch him later if he betrayed them.....and no teammate would ride for him again. He did it with permission or it never happened....at least with the $.....cause imo the blacklist potential is too great. But frankly that is just opinion.

[Ozz]

sour grapes...sure. And what I know about bike racing can fit in a thimble...but,....

in the race I watched, Gerrans sat on Pates and Martinez's wheels for the last 45+ minutes of the race and didn't work a lick other than to keep up...then it decides to turn it on at the end.

Good for him for winning....but he looked like a schmuck doing it.

See Maradona and "Hand of God" for similar comparison.... :cool:

And "yeah", Martinez should keep his mouth shut..... :beer:

[handsomerob]

sorry. it's all excuses. not buying this one. the guy who crossed the line first is the guy who won. period.

who _cares_ what they 'talked' about before the line. irrelevant. your job is to cross the line first.

this 'honor' stuff is bs. if you want to be honorable, don't do shoot up.

I couldn't disagree more.

It is a competition and therefore anything goes is BS. Honorless bastards like him are the same people that are cutting unmarshalled corners in a cross race. I would rather lose with honor than win like he did. Some people have class and some people don't... a competition like this doesn't blur any lines for me.

Our controller at a company I used to work for always had to throw in a little saying when talking about business ethics at our annual meetings.

"When you're gone, they will put a gravestone over you as reminder of your time on earth for generations to come. The one thing you will have left will be your name written in big letters on that marker... make damn sure it is a good one."

before I get flamed... if there was no agreement or it was a misunderstanding, then my position is completely different. Although, I think it is pretty ugly to suck a wheel for 45 minutes only to sprint for the win... that IS racing. The line is drawn on whether there was a broken agreement.

[Darrell]

I couldn't disagree more.

It is a competition and therefore anything goes is BS. Honorless bastards like him are the same people that are cutting unmarshalled corners in a cross race. I would rather lose with honor than win like he did. Some people have class and some people don't... a competition like this doesn't blur any lines for me.

Our controller at a company I used to work for always had to throw in a little saying when talking about business ethics at our annual meetings.

"When you're gone, they will put a gravestone over you as reminder of your time on earth for generations to come. The one thing you will have left will be your name written in big letters on that marker... make damn sure it is a good one."

before I get flamed... if there was no agreement or it was a misunderstanding, then my position is completely different. Although, I think it is pretty ugly to suck a wheel for 45 minutes only to sprint for the win... that IS racing. The line is drawn on whether there was a broken agreement.

Mark Cavandish sat on for how many stage wins ? :p

[soulspinner]

Mark Cavandish sat on for how many stage wins ? :p


LOL :p

[andy mac]

I couldn't disagree more.

It is a competition and therefore anything goes is BS. Honorless bastards like him are the same people that are cutting unmarshalled corners in a cross race. I would rather lose with honor than win like he did. Some people have class and some people don't... a competition like this doesn't blur any lines for me.

Our controller at a company I used to work for always had to throw in a little saying when talking about business ethics at our annual meetings.

"When you're gone, they will put a gravestone over you as reminder of your time on earth for generations to come. The one thing you will have left will be your name written in big letters on that marker... make damn sure it is a good one."

before I get flamed... if there was no agreement or it was a misunderstanding, then my position is completely different. Although, I think it is pretty ugly to suck a wheel for 45 minutes only to sprint for the win... that IS racing. The line is drawn on whether there was a broken agreement.


an honourless bastard? wow. you judge and jury?

[handsomerob]

Mark Cavandish sat on for how many stage wins ? :p

Cavandish is a sprinter... that is what they do. It is to be expected and again the line is drawn with a broken word, which wasn't the case for his podiums.