Recent content by 2wheels

Hey, I just checked-- bless the Internet! Coefficient of friction for rubber on dry asphalt is 0.5-0.8; for rubber and wet asphalt the range is 0.25-0.75. So it's not my imagination.

That may depend. If it's truly raining, yes; on the other hand, if rain stops and there's a damp road, times may be quick. It may be my imagination, but it always feels a wee bit quicker and smoother to me when the road is damp. Any physicists out there? Maybe it's just my imagination. . .

The best comparison I can find is last year's final ITT. Andy and Contador had both ridden hard for three weeks, and Contador is a really good time triallist. That TT was about 50 KM, as I recall, and Andy lost less than a minute. This TT is 8km shorter. That, plus the fact that he'll have...

I think Andy had more like two minutes at the top of Izoard. Plus, why do people discredit all of the great work that the Leopard domestiques have done this whole tour? By the top of the Izoard, riders like Jens and Stuey had shredded a lot of potential helpers away from Evans, Basso, et al...

+1 to this. Another chapeau to Bertie for the classy way he handled today's disappointment-- no whining or blaming, just said I've gotta rest and get ready for any options left tomorrow, even as he's admitting that yellow is now probably impossible. It's hard to dislike a quiet, tough rider who...

I agree with much of 95 RPM's analysis above. Knowing that long attacks have often worked out well for Cunego, I could see a convenient alliance that has Frank (or Andy) working with him. Schleck benefits by getting precious time, Cunego benefits by getting the stage win and a podium place in...

Disagree strongly! Those few seconds advantage might allow a racer to start the final ITT after his rival, rather than before, and knowing your opponent's splits in any TT is a big advantage. Now granted, this is Frank and Cadel we're talking about, who have very different abilities in that...

Thank you for the links to some actual objective data-- interesting stuff on this website. But there was also the following observation from their energy guru: "The Izoard and the Galiber were much more casual for Flecha as he rode at his endurance and tempo pace up each climb and saving energy...

Definitely this. The turbo bottles were the single biggest help Flandis had that day.

It almost seems like the time triallists were looking ahead today and taking a rest: Millar, Cancellara, Lang, Leipheimer, Martin, Boasson Hagen, Van Garderen, Vandborg, Fuglsang, Gerdemann, Gerrans, L.L. Sanchez etc. all finishing HD? These are all guys who can climb well enough when they have...

That would be their choice, but there could be plenty of opportunists who wouldn't sit around and wait. Imagine if one team had to pace their sprinter back from a two-minute deficit while other green jersey candidates were off and running towards an intermediate sprint. Plus, this might cure...

Here's one possibility for a rule change: If you miss a time cut, you can stay in the race-- BUT, however much you miss it by, you start the next day's stage at that same exact time disadvantage. So tomorrow we'd have 88 guys starting two minutes or so behind the field, and they'd have some...

Mods-- can we either direct innuendo posts like this to the proper forum, or at least send these folks some rotten cheese to go along with the sour grapes they're drinking?

I actually hope Andy attacks first again tomorrow, and from a good distance out again. Evans isn't worried about Frank; he can safely give him 60 to 90 seconds. He'll just be looking to mark Andy and then try to steal 30 sec. or so at the end. But if Andy goes early, it's really going to hurt...