Stage 4 Spoiler

[firerescuefin]

Kudos for the organizers putting that finish it....nice change of pace to the usual first week flat sprint stages.

Cadel is the man....and gaining confidence by the minute. I am pulling hard for him.

Before the first stage of the tour, I think many riders had conceded victory already to AC.With 90 to 120 seconds in hand...some of those same riders now think they have a chance. AC is going to have to battle for every second...and those are going to be harder to come by. Psychology in sport is everything.....and the Giro took more out of AC that people realize...He has said it, and his face today confirmed it.

Cadel and Thor were awesome to watch. Thor's lead out of Tyler yesterday was under-heralded and speaks to the class of the man, and his ability to hang at today's finish...AMAZING...truly a worthy world champion/yellow jersey holder. :beer:

[Joachim]

If you share a name with the god of thunder, there is no way you can't be awesome.

[FlashUNC]

Two years of riders actually representing the rainbow stripes rather than disappearing after winning 'em.

I'd say the curse is a thing of the past.

[e-RICHIE]

Before the first stage of the tour, I think many riders had conceded victory already to AC.With 90 to 120 seconds at hand...some of those same riders think they have a chance. AC is going to have to battle for every second...and those are going to be harder to come by. Psychology in sport is everything.....and the Giro took more out of AC that people realize...He has said it, and his face today confirmed it.




cadel is going well atmo but let's not forget that today's last 1.5km was a bump not some climb that lasts 35 minutes. alberto lost a chunk 8km out on the first day but i would not call his condition effed nor his chances effed either. the real battle for time splits starts at luz, not today. i'd like to see him do well but i would hardly count him out due to the current gc standing. and ps where was he quoted as saying, "...the Giro took more out of AC that people realize...He has said it,"?

ps

arrange disorder

:) :) :)
:) :) :)
:) :p :D

[firerescuefin]

Atmo,

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/contador-says-giro-tour-double-will-be-difficult

Quite a few articles cited that and I viewed an interview with him on Eurosport right after the Spanish TT National Champ where he said the same thing. (About 10 days ago)

I was not trying to compare todays stage to a grand climbing stage. My point is that those type of accelerations usually look easy(er) for him....and that guys are going to fight him for every second, where they may have conceded victory in the past. They think they can win IMO.

I am not discounting him or his chances, but I am very excited to watch it play out.

[thwart]

Good stuff to watch when you've got Evans, Contador, Vinokourov, Hushovd and Gilbert among the top 6 finishers.

[MattTuck]

no offense, as cadel is a solid rider.

but Thor's ride today was the ride of a champion... he knows yellow is eventually going elsewhere, and he dug DEEP to stay with the leaders.

Look at those that finished around him, contador, evans, gilbert.... c'mon! Thor is the man. I think Thor's left thigh may be bigger than contador's waist.

[Dave B]

fun stage and I would love to see Cadel win, but it is a long race.

Gilbert is so fun to watch. I hope he goes well and does a bang up job.

I also would love to see Horner do an awesome ride. I love his take on stuff.

[I Want Sachs?]

I don't understand why people think AC did not have it today. He attacked a few times, including gunning for the finish. Not really a sign of defeat or trouble. He was looking back during the attacks to mark out who has it, so i think it was a test rather than a true dig to gain back time. Besides, how much time can he really gain by successfully going off on such a short climb? It was interesting that Schleck did not immediately react to AC and needed Gilbert to bring up.

It is going to get exciting when the real mountains start.

[firerescuefin]

I don't understand why people think AC did not have it today. He attacked a few times, including gunning for the finish. Not really a sign of defeat or trouble. He was looking back during the attacks to mark out who has it, so i think it was a test rather than a true dig to gain back time. Besides, how much time can he really gain by successfully going off on such a short climb? It was interesting that Schleck did not immediately react to AC and needed Gilbert to bring up.

It is going to get exciting when the real mountains start.


AC is an awesome rider, but he is either a great actor...or he looked smoked.....what I am trying to say is that he is relatively (for him) less than what he was in other Tours, understandable after doing the Giro basically weeks ago. Take a look at his face compared to the others in that last group. That's not AC's style. He is usually stoic...looking like he is stretching his legs, while everyone else is shattering in his wake. He is a great champion and having him spot the field 90-120 seconds as well as a little tired makes for a better spectators' race IMO.

[jamesau]

I don't get Evans' tactics. He goes all out for the win in stages 1 and 4 (he could barely speak in the post-stage 1 interview). His job is to win the GC and do that by staying out of trouble and reserving himself for when it matters; in this sense he'd nothing to gain by his efforts. (And would he ask his team to defend yellow for 3 weeks?) :confused:

[firerescuefin]

I don't get Evans' tactics. He goes all out for the win in stages 1 and 4 (he could barely speak in the post-stage 1 interview). His job is to win the GC and do that by staying out of trouble and reserving himself for when it matters; in this sense he'd nothing to gain by his efforts. (And would he ask his team to defend yellow for 3 weeks?) :confused:

He just won a stage of the TdF. That's a big deal. He would not be forced to defend it and probably would give it back. He'll most likely have plenty of days in the peleton riding behind all of the BMC team. If an effort like that today cooked him for the GC, then it's not his to win anyway.

[bicycletricycle]

i like watching the tour every day on the web, I dont have to wake up early anymore.

It is nice to see an awesome rider like Thor in yellow for a while. If AC doubles it will be pretty amazing. Makes me think of Pantani.

[1centaur]

I agree that AC is unlikely to get his top form back in this Tour. He looked somewhat like he did last year, good but not great. He would not have won last year with a 1:40 deficit. If he had it today, he should have tried for 20 seconds today; he lacked snap against a grinder. Getting 8 off Andy (and Tommy D) is scant payback for the effort. The only big positive was that the climb must have been mighty hard or Gilbert would have crushed the competition again. AC has the desire but he does not have the legs. Nor the team, BTW - get a load of where his teammates finished today.

[echappist]

I agree that AC is unlikely to get his top form back in this Tour. He looked somewhat like he did last year, good but not great. He would not have won last year with a 1:40 deficit. If he had it today, he should have tried for 20 seconds today; he lacked snap against a grinder. Getting 8 off Andy (and Tommy D) is scant payback for the effort. The only big positive was that the climb must have been mighty hard or Gilbert would have crushed the competition again. AC has the desire but he does not have the legs. Nor the team, BTW - get a load of where his teammates finished today.

Gilbert accelerated once in response to AC's initial attack. That must have taken something out of him.

A Classics like stage 1 and a TTT the next day, i think his legs might be a bit toast.

Then again, he did hold onto the leader's jersey for quite a few days in the Vuelta last year

[ultraman6970]

There are a few things people is not seeing.

1 - this super short climb is not the type of climbs AC likes, in a matter of fact in all the climbs like this AC loses them. Give him a 20 km climb like all the ones in the Giro and the guy will crush you big time.

2 - The idea for cadel was to take some time off AS, and he got time out of him and take some time out off the actual leader, the bad news was that the actual leader suck it up and climbed with them, on paper he shouldn't have done it, but he did.

3 - AS has the same problem than contador, this small climbs doesnt fit him, whats the bad news for him? The bad news is that he should have been with them and he wasn't, so it could means that his form is pretty bad, some people think that AS is speculating and is part of a plan, well the plan is pretty dumb and I'll explain why.... Now cadel took some time off of him, the issue with this is that even tho AS could take those seconds back from evans in the mountains it might not be enough because evans will kick his a$$ in the ITT, easily cadel can take 2 minutes from AS in the TT. The same than AC, so today was an aweful day for AS, AC is coming close and Evans is leaving him behind with the posibility of taking even more time in the ITT. AC can recover 1:30 to 2 mins off of AS in the ITT, so pretty much AS is hearing the theme song of JAWS very very quietly.

4 - BMC did terriffic today. Vino is getting closer but who knows with him now. The only thing for sure is that he will fight as usual does.

5 - Horner had bad luck today.

6 - tomorrow is an up and down stage again, big chance that some teams that have people in the top ten are smelling that AS is not as good as everybody thought and the next few stages became a demolition derby and AS lose even more time before getting to the mountains, so far as long as AC doesnt lose more time he is ok because he could TT better or equal to evans, For me the tour is between those two.

[firerescuefin]

There are a few things people is not seeing.

1 - this super short climb is not the type of climbs AC likes, in a matter of fact in all the climbs like this AC loses them. Give him a 20 km climb like all the ones in the Giro and the guy will crush you big time.

2 - The idea for cadel was to take some time off AS, and he got time out of him and take some time out off the actual leader, the bad news was that the actual leader suck it up and climbed with them, on paper he shouldn't have done it, but he did.

3 - AS has the same problem than contador, this small climbs doesnt fit him, whats the bad news for him? The bad news is that he should have been with them and he wasn't, so it could means that his form is pretty bad, some people think that AS is speculating and is part of a plan, well the plan is pretty dumb and I'll explain why.... Now cadel took some time off of him, the issue with this is that even tho AS could take those seconds back from evans in the mountains it might not be enough because evans will kick his a$$ in the ITT, easily cadel can take 2 minutes from AS in the TT. The same than AC, so today was an aweful day for AS, AC is coming close and Evans is leaving him behind with the posibility of taking even more time in the ITT. AC can recover 1:30 to 2 mins off of AS in the ITT, so pretty much AS is hearing the theme song of JAWS very very quietly.

4 - BMC did terriffic today. Vino is getting closer but who knows with him now. The only thing for sure is that he will fight as usual does.

5 - Horner had bad luck today.

6 - tomorrow is an up and down stage again, big chance that some teams that have people in the top ten are smelling that AS is not as good as everybody thought and the next few stages became a demolition derby and AS lose even more time before getting to the mountains, so far as long as AC doesnt lose more time he is ok because he could TT better or equal to evans, For me the tour is between those two.


Good post! Agree about Andy and Cadel. After watching Andy today,his poor form leading up to the Tour, and his inability to TT...it's hard to see him beating AC or Cadel right this second...but perhaps he was sandbagging in the TdS or will ride himself into form...Should be fun to watch.

[Gothard]

All this, then AC gets grilled, cooked and dumped by the TAS. Or he accidentaly receives a cobllestone square on the helmet by accident in a high spectator area.

[soulspinner]

cadel is going well atmo but let's not forget that today's last 1.5km was a bump not some climb that lasts 35 minutes. alberto lost a chunk 8km out on the first day but i would not call his condition effed nor his chances effed either. the real battle for time splits starts at luz, not today. i'd like to see him do well but i would hardly count him out due to the current gc standing. and ps where was he quoted as saying, "...the Giro took more out of AC that people realize...He has said it,"?

ps

arrange disorder

:) :) :)
:) :) :)
:) :p :D
I think we wont find out how much the Giro took out of him till the ITT...

[verticaldoug]

We are all lucky AC was unlucky. We went from having a TdF which may have been as boring as the GIRO to one which can potentially be a real classic.

Stage 18 Pinerolo-Galibier-Serre Chealier (mountaintop)
Stage 19 Alpe-d'Huez (brings a smile to my face)
Stage 20 ITT

I am keeping my fingers crossed that AC makes up time to be in the hunt for GC on the ITT. Potentially, Wiggins, Evans, AC could all be close enough that the ITT is a true test of a champion.

My two favorite TdF moments are the Hinault-Lemond 1986 Alpe d'Huez
and the Fignon-Lemond ITT in Paris.

I am hoping for a classic race on both stages this time.

[rustychain]

Contador will not win this Tour

[Climb01742]

a wide open tour, with many teams willing to work, is a fun tour to watch. like stage 4, in the last 2km, who the heck knew who was going to surge next? just flat out fun to watch.

[echappist]

We are all lucky AC was unlucky. We went from having a TdF which may have been as boring as the GIRO to one which can potentially be a real classic.

Stage 18 Pinerolo-Galibier-Serre Chealier (mountaintop)
Stage 19 Alpe-d'Huez (brings a smile to my face)
Stage 20 ITT

I am keeping my fingers crossed that AC makes up time to be in the hunt for GC on the ITT. Potentially, Wiggins, Evans, AC could all be close enough that the ITT is a true test of a champion.

My two favorite TdF moments are the Hinault-Lemond 1986 Alpe d'Huez
and the Fignon-Lemond ITT in Paris.

I am hoping for a classic race on both stages this time.

+1.

Last year i d/l over ten stages of the giro. It was that exciting. This year i d/l none...

[johnnymossville]

Thor would've won if he wasn't carrying the big hammer, just to make it fair.

:beer:

Great ride by Cadel. He showed a lot of grit there at the end.