Astana 2010

[soulspinner]

Have they put the hammer down in the heat too early, or will this team continue to punish all the way to Paris? VN reported the average speed yesterday was 3-5 k/hr faster than normal and it has been hotter than usual. Will they have anything left for the Pyrennes?

[johnnymossville]

Have they put the hammer down in the heat too early, or will this team continue to punish all the way to Paris? VN reported the average speed yesterday was 3-5 k/hr faster than normal and it has been hotter than usual. Will they have anything left for the Pyrennes?

must have found some new stuff to ingest/inject/inhale to keep them going.

[BillG]

must have found some new stuff to ingest/inject/inhale to keep them going.

You're forgetting "insert". And "adhesively plaster".

[thegunner]

You're forgetting "insert". And "adhesively plaster".

a suppository of sorts. BRILLIANT.

[johnnymossville]

LOL. Suppository.

[JMerring]

Have they put the hammer down in the heat too early, or will this team continue to punish all the way to Paris?

They will continue to punish till the very end. They know exactly what they're doing. There was an interesting article (http://www.cyclingnews.com/blogs/greg-lemond/surviving-off-days-and-racing-to-paris) in Cyclingnews today, by LeMond, to the effect that much as we may think we know what's going on, we're actually pretty clueless.

[Marcusaurelius]

They will continue to punish till the very end. They know exactly what they're doing. There was an interesting article (http://www.cyclingnews.com/blogs/greg-lemond/surviving-off-days-and-racing-to-paris) in Cyclingnews today, by LeMond, to the effect that much as we may think we know what's going on, we're actually pretty clueless.


Well I always thought Lemond was clueless and I don't believe a word he says.

I don't think Astana is that strong and Contador may loose more time to Schleck later in the tour.

[Lifelover]

They will be kicked ont before they reach Paris.

[TAW]

VN reported the average speed yesterday was 3-5 k/hr faster than normal and it has been hotter than usual.

Those speed increases are due to advances in modern bikes. ;)

[JMerring]

Well I always thought Lemond was clueless and I don't believe a word he says.


He was sufficiently un-clueless to win 3 tours and 2 world championships, not to mention many other important race wins and high placings. I would submit that he knows more about bike racing than we do.

[mschol17]

I'm pretty sure that Saxo Bank is going to be doing the majority of the work at the front now that Schleck is in yellow. Astana is sitting pretty.

[William]

Did Paul Sherwin say Alberto had a "Scintillating" attack?????




William

[jlwdm]

Astana did not have to work hard yesterday, other teams did.

But the Pyrennes are the real test this year. As Contador said before the tour started the Alpes would not be decisive. What they really did was weed out some riders.

Jeff

[Waldo]

Well I always thought Lemond was clueless and I don't believe a word he says.

I don't think Astana is that strong and Contador may loose more time to Schleck later in the tour.

Read the article before casting aspersions. The piece is quite insightful. Clueless was the word used by JMerring and appears nowhere in Lemond's blog. Learn to spell lose while you're at it, unless they spell it with an extra O in Canada.

[SamIAm]

I'm pretty sure that Saxo Bank is going to be doing the majority of the work at the front now that Schleck is in yellow. Astana is sitting pretty.


Question from someone who does not realy follow professional cycling, why does the yellow jersey team have to do the work at the front? What if they didn't?

[false_Aest]

a suppository of sorts. BRILLIANT.


integrated seat mast?

[BillG]

Question from someone who does not realy follow professional cycling, why does the yellow jersey team have to do the work at the front? What if they didn't?

You can give up the yellow jersey and your team can not do work and sit further back in the peloton, but it usually only makes sense if you are a strong and consistent TT rider and there is a reasonably long time trial well-suited to your skills later in the race (or if you have a weak team). It's hard to be sure you won't have a bad day in the mountains, unless you are really confident in your doping program, and consequently it's hard to be certain you will be able to make up the time you lost giving up the yellow jersey. This could be true for even a few seconds.

The yellow jersey team doesn't do all the work, the sprinter's teams cooperate on sprint stages as do other teams with their own agendas. But the yellow jersey team often wants to do the work at crucial moments because they can control the tempo, avoid crashes, and react to breakaways. If they know that their rider is strong they can raise the tempo to either drop or isolate a competitor who's having a bad day, or to drop off the rest of their competitor's team and then attack them. If their GC rider is middling they can keep a moderate tempo. From the front of the peloton they also can chase potential GC competitors as they come by, and they can allow their GC rider to attack when he or she (go Mara Abbott!) feels strong and support them with a group (almost impossible to do if you're not sitting on the front). It's a huge advantage.