SPOILER: today's ventoux stage

[Climb01742]

wow. what a stage. gotta give it to andy for trying, to lance for hanging, to rabo for_finally_getting a stage, and to wiggo for gutting it out to stay in 4th. those crowds were amazing, eh? exciting day.

[caleb]

Meh. They designed the entire course to prevent conservative riding by the leaders at the end which is exactly what we saw today. Course designer: fail.

That said, Andy Schleck will dominate the Tour. Probably sooner than later.

[Jason E]

Caleb, that was chess on bikes. What race were you watching?

[Steve in SLO]

Wiggins really dug deep at the end...great grit. Est 0.5-1 million on the slopes of Ventoux? Wow, but I guess that was the place to be in this decade of racing.

[joelh]

I agree. It was up to the Andy, Frank, and Bradley to attack and improve their position. It was up to AC and Lance to try and cover. Very exciting racing! I was pulling hard for Bradley!

Andy is a beast! Was he smiling on some of those attacks?

[caleb]

Caleb, that was chess on bikes. What race were you watching?

Sure, it was a good stage. But, if keeping it close for the Ventoux was the justification for cutting out the earlier mountain top finishes, I'd rather have had a solid week in the Alps.

It was a good stage, but not good enough to compensate for the dumbed down route.

[cadence90]

I kind of agree with caleb.
(Except I think Contador is the dominant rider...but I'll be happy to see better battles among the several now-proven young riders next year and after.)

Today's stage was good, with all the various Schleck bros/Lance/Wiggins/Nibali/Garate v. Martin v. Pellizotti storylines, but overall the Tour disappointed.

I don't think any of the stages in the Pyrenees or the Alps will go down in history as great rides...too many weird downhill finishes, I guess.
I don't know, the whole thing just didn't catch fire for me.

When the most heated story is one of team politics, rather than of the road, it leaves something to be desired.



I sure did learn a whole lot about how many kgs of lavender it takes to make one liter of lavender oil from Paul, though....

[davep]

That said, Andy Schleck will dominate the Tour. Probably sooner than later.

Why? Contador is only two years older and he is a better climber and a better time trialer. Andy could be the Ulrich to Alberto's Lance.

[jlwdm]

Today's stage was good, with all the various Schleck bros/Lance/Wiggins/Nibali/Garate v. Martin v. Pellizotti storylines, but overall the Tour disappointed.

I don't think any of the stages in the Pyrenees or the Alps will go down in history as great rides...too many weird downhill finishes, I guess.
I don't know, the whole thing just didn't catch fire for me.



+1 I love watching the tour, but the minimal HC finishes was a disappointment. I would have liked to see Alberto and Andy duke it out for an entire climb like Ventoux. Unfortunately today there was no reason for AC to go for the win so we just got to see him protect his lead. AC is a great climber we just did not get to see how great. They needed to give him an 7 minute penalty yesterday to really make it exciting today.

Jeff

[fjaws]

+1 to those who thought over-all the tour was less than impressive this year. What was with all the finishes after long downhills? I thought there were several stages that they should have finished on the last big climb but instead they descended (everybody caught back on) to the next quaint village for the finish. Just didn't have me riveted to my chair watching.

Wiggins was a revelation, Evans a bit disappointing but can't help but wonder if he'd have been any better if his team had paid to keep his "Lt in the mountains", Horner around.

Not a horrible tour but hopefully next year will be better.

[xjoex]

Today's stage was great!

I was just hoping Pelozzati was going to win.

-Joe

[jlwdm]

I don't think anyone could have helped Cadel.

He just did not have the legs.

Jeff

[Marcusaurelius]

I thought it was a good tour not a great tour. As someone mentioned more HC finishes would have been nice. Also I never saw any weakness in Alberto Contador and the contenders couldn't challenge him on any of the stages.

[gearguywb]

My hats off to Andy, Lance, AC, Frank, Bradley....they either did exactly what they needed to do, or gave every effort trying today. The only downside today was there were another 150+ riders who really didn't care and it's a shame to waste a stage like Ventoux. It needs to come earlier in the race.

[mike p]

Didn't care! Maybe after 3 weeks of racing they had nothing left!

Mike




My hats off to Andy, Lance, AC, Frank, Bradley....they either did exactly what they needed to do, or gave every effort trying today. The only downside today was there were another 150+ riders who really didn't care and it's a shame to waste a stage like Ventoux. It needs to come earlier in the race.

[benji]

I loved todays stage. I was nervous to watch Lance, I didn't think he could keep up. Hats off to AC for riding to win and being a good team mate today.

[regularguy412]

All the top 20, or so, finishers had great rides. I think the ride of the day (and maybe of the Tour) was Tony Martin's. It's his first Tour de France and he finishes 2nd on one of the hardest stages at the end of 3 weeks of racing. I'm not a huge Columbia fan, but I gotta give credit where it's due. Just think of how many eventual great Tour winners never even finished their first Tour.

Mike in AR:beer:

[Ray]

I agree with the basic sentiment that it wasn't a great tour, but it was pretty riveting even if mostly because of the obvious tension on Astana. There weren't enough mountain finishes, but the race stayed exciting through the Alps and today, at least as far as who'd nail down the last podium spot. But I gotta hand it to the old guy. I don't much like him and I wouldn't have bet a damn nickel on his chances of staying with Frank Schleck today and holding onto that podium finish. But damned if he didn't pull it off. I hope Alberto kicks his ass even harder from a different team next year, but finishing third in this race is no small thing and he deserves big props for it.

-Ray

[rbtmcardle]

the look on Tony Martin's face over the last 8k or so, wow.

[soulspinner]

The Cannibal or Hinault would have won the stage as well as GC instead of following Schlecks wheel. I cant warm up to Contador...

[OtayBW]

Thirteen mi to climb up Ventoux with AC, LA, FS, BW, etc. in tow, and what kind of breakaway are you expecting???? Maybe it's better not to be chased down and blow up to make us all happy with a more exciting race, but instead do what you can and keep 2nd place.

[Bob Ross]

the look on Tony Martin's face over the last 8k or so, wow.



ZOMBIE ATTACK!

[chuckroast]

I was worried that poor fellow was going to keel over. I half expected his eyes to roll back into his head.

[paczki]

I was worried that poor fellow was going to keel over. I half expected his eyes to roll back into his head.

They did actually. High point of the Tour. That boy was born to suffer. I have a friend who rides a Madone and I joke that it's called the Madone because it's made for the climbs where the Madonna appears to you. I think Tony Martin was seeing the whole heavenly choir.

I could have done without his drooling on the ITT though, but I guess it's all one package.