2011 Criterium du Dauphine - Stage 1: Albertville - Saint-Pierre-de-Chartreuse 144 km

[Anonymous]

I think it was a wrong reuslt with Thomas. It defintely wasn't Thomas British champion Jersey in Top 10. Looked like Uran more like. But surprised Sky got 2 in top 10 in such a stage. good result for them.

Ive just watched the replay. Thomas definately not in the top 11, but two sky riders were. Certainly EBH, Wiggins i think.

 

[ak-zaaf]

link to his twitter please

@ACycling_fan
ACF

Gesink rather dissapointing. Annoyed than van den Cock won. Can't stand him.

29 minutes ago via web

Van den 'Cock'. Wow.

 

[Kwibus]

My only concern about Gesink is that we were becoming concerned about his climbing, back at Tirreno/Pais Vasco.
Has he adopted the Andy Schleck, climb once a year method, or has improving his trialing taken his mountain edge?

I don't think so. He has adopted the Andy Schleck tactic for the Dauphine though. During Tirreno and Pais Vasco he simply couldn't climb better. Fact is those races didn't have very long climbs which favour Gesink. Allthough Gesink didn't climb as well in Pais Vasco compared to the previous year.

 

[Kwibus]

Great that VDB2 won. I certainly didn't expect much of him in the Dauphine as he's an TDF only rider.

EBH should really stop focusing on sprints. He should focus on getting allround and together with his natural sprint he should be able to win a lot of races.

 

[kjetilraknerud]

86. MARTIN Tony 21 HTC - HIGHROAD 3h 45' 57" + 02' 48"

Maybe he'll win the tour after all.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

1 31 Jurgen VAN DEN BROECK OMEGA PHARMA - LOTTO 03:36:42
2 141 Joaquim RODRIGUEZ OLIVER KATUSHA TEAM 00:00:06
3 71 Cadel EVANS BMC RACING TEAM 00:00:07
4 11 Alexandre VINOKOUROV PRO TEAM ASTANA 00:00:07
5 61 Nicolas ROCHE AG2R LA MONDIALE 00:00:07
6 124 * Edvald Boasson HAGEN SKY PROCYCLING 00:00:07
7 157 * Thibaut PINOT FDJ 00:00:13
8 216 * Rob RUIJGH VACANSOLEIL-DCM 00:00:13
9 131 Thomas VOECKLER TEAM EUROPCAR 00:00:15
10 1 Janez BRAJKOVIC TEAM RADIOSHACK 00:00:15
11 121 Bradley WIGGINS SKY PROCYCLING 00:00:15
12 3 * Ben HERMANS TEAM RADIOSHACK 00:00:22
13 138 * Pierre ROLLAND TEAM EUROPCAR 00:00:23
14 163 * Rui Alberto COSTA MOVISTAR TEAM 00:00:25
15 87 Luis-Leon SANCHEZ RABOBANK CYCLING TEAM 00:00:25
16 26 Kanstantsin SIVTSOV HTC - HIGHROAD 00:00:25
17 197 Chris SORENSEN SAXO BANK SUNGARD 00:00:33
18 136 Christophe KERN TEAM EUROPCAR 00:00:35
19 66 Jean-Christophe PERAUD AG2R LA MONDIALE 00:00:35
20 37 Jelle VANENDERT OMEGA PHARMA - LOTTO 00:00:53

25 116 * Daniel MARTIN TEAM GARMIN - CERVELO 00:00:54
38 101 Samuel SANCHEZ EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI 00:00:58
43 127 * Rigoberto URAN SKY PROCYCLING 00:01:19
48 81 * Robert GESINK RABOBANK CYCLING TEAM 00:01:31
52 74 Steve MORABITO BMC RACING TEAM 00:01:35
54 51 * Rein TAARAMAE COFIDIS LE CREDIT EN LIGNE 00:01:40
82 83 Lars BOOM RABOBANK CYCLING TEAM 00:02:27
93 21 Tony MARTIN HTC - HIGHROAD 00:02:40
117 91 Ivan BASSO LIQUIGAS-CANNONDALE 00:03:09

 

[Parrulo]

@ACycling_fan
ACF

Gesink rather dissapointing. Annoyed than van den Cock won. Can't stand him.

29 minutes ago via web

Van den 'Cock'. Wow.

lol talk about being rude . . . and rather pathetic tbh

 

[Winterfold]

If Wiggo is 11" down on Vino in GC then that means he was only 9s down on the stage - so must have been with Voeckler and Brajkovic.

It is a bit confusing though. Lost Eurosport Player as they hit the climb

EDIT Actually he was 3s down on Vino and 4s up on Cuddles after prologue so must have been with Voeckler at 15s

 

[boomcie]

Great that VDB2 won. I certainly didn't expect much of him in the Dauphine as he's an TDF only rider.

VDB still is a TDF only rider, so was Armstrong in his later years (won the Dauphiné twice). It's not such a huge surprise that VDB does well though, he ended 4th in the GC last year.

Nevertheless, it is very surpising that he wins.

 

[Anonymous]

86. MARTIN Tony 21 HTC - HIGHROAD 3h 45' 57" + 02' 48"

Maybe he'll win the tour after all.

lol.. he might

 

[meandmygitane]

Eddy was raised on 8 hour training rides, and all his best results are from long stages - don't buy in to this utterly unevidenced myth that he likes things short.

What do you characterize as a "long stage" and how do you come to the conclusion that "all his best results are from long stages"?

My guess is that if you really looked at the numbers you'd find he podiums at least as much on ~160km as on 200km+.

 

[Cobblestoned]

Great to see LL Sanchez performing better.
Hope he will be back to old class soon and in attack-mode again.

 

[meandmygitane]

Sky...time to realize that EBH is not a sprinter.

Please say what he is then. Valverde number 2?

But of course SKY only acquires talent to throw it away don't they? They surely don't try to get their monies worth of their riders?

 

[Waterloo Sunrise]

What do you characterize as a "long stage" and how do you come to the conclusion that "all his best results are from long stages"?

My guess is that if you really looked at the numbers you'd find he podiums at least as much on ~160km as on 200km+.

His best results = his giro stage win, and 2nd place, in the 2 longest stages (240km+) of that year's giro.

Of course he doesn't require long distances to win, but there is equally no evidence that he can't cope if it is long, although that myth persists on this forum.

 

[El Pistolero]

VDB still is a TDF only rider, so was Armstrong in his later years (won the Dauphiné twice). It's not such a huge surprise that VDB does well though, he ended 4th in the GC last year.

Nevertheless, it is very surpising that he wins.

^ This, but unlike Armstrong and Schlecklett, VDB probably just can't do any better. He's a Dauphiné/Tour guy and I don't think that will ever change. Although I hope he does good at Paris-Nice one day. Suits him more because they usually don't have a long time trial.

 

[maltiv]

Great that VDB2 won. I certainly didn't expect much of him in the Dauphine as he's an TDF only rider.

EBH should really stop focusing on sprints. He should focus on getting allround and together with his natural sprint he should be able to win a lot of races.

Indeed. Yet he was told by Sky to increase his upper-body strength in the offseason in order to improve his sprint, which definitely is a huge disadvantage for climbing (yes, this annoys me a lot!). As a sprinter he will never be anything else than just another guy to get constantly beaten by Cavendish.

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

VDB still is a TDF only rider, so was Armstrong in his later years (won the Dauphiné twice). It's not such a huge surprise that VDB does well though, he ended 4th in the GC last year.

Nevertheless, it is very surpising that he wins.

it's actually surprising how little he has won. I mean, I didn't realize he had no professional win until earlier this year.

 

[Kwibus]

Indeed. Yet he was told by Sky to increase his upper-body strength in the offseason in order to improve his sprint, which definitely is a huge disadvantage for climbing (yes, this annoys me a lot!). As a sprinter he will never be anything else than just another guy to get constantly beaten by Cavendish.

That's such an incredible waste of talent.

 

[MisterX]

I'm sorry to break it to you Dutchies, but Gesink seems like a rider that won't win much in his career. Sure he is consistent, but consistency itself doesn't win many prizes. In my eyes he lacks the explosiveness a Contador, Schleck has. He's pretty bland and dull rider. That wouldn't be much of a problem if he could time trial or be explosive on the hills, but in almost every department he lacks....something. And the fact there's enough talent that is just as good or even better than Gesink, will make sure that Gesink's resumé will be very empty at the end of his career.

 

[El Pistolero]

He's been training more seriously last couple of years. For example this year he did 8000 height meters more compared to last year. He's stronger now.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

@mister x Gesink so far has picked up a win every year, and 3 wins last year and 3 this year.

Btw, watch this video and tell me Gesink can't attack/doesn't have any explosivity
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHKXcVmwfQc

kthx bye

 

[Waterloo Sunrise]

That's such an incredible waste of talent.

This sprinter angst is just skating around the real issue - he needs to get through an April without tendonitus to show what he's really capable of in races which suit him - I expect him to be a top draw cobbled rider, and very possibly at the Ardennes too, but until his knees let him ride during the spring he's going to be very limited.

 

[El Pistolero]

@mister x Gesink so far has picked up a win every year, and 3 wins last year and 3 this year.

Btw, watch this video and tell me Gesink can't attack/doesn't have any explosivity
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHKXcVmwfQc

kthx bye

Apparently victories in the fall season don't mean anything here because no cyclist cares about those races.

 

[meandmygitane]

His best results = his giro stage win, and 2nd place, in the 2 longest stages (240km+) of that year's giro.

Of course he doesn't require long distances to win, but there is equally no evidence that he can't cope if it is long, although that myth persists on this forum.

Which explains his glorious results in Milan-San Remo this far
But I really think the "myth" was that he don't do well in really, long one-day races, to which I agree. It's the only one I seen on Cyclingnews forum in recent years.

That he got two podiums (one was a win obv.) from a breakaway group and a reduced bunch I think has to do that he is a sprinter that can climb a bit, but he got a second place on a 211km stage as well. And two third placings in le Tour when it was 150 and 180's of km's.

I agree that he don't necessarily suffer from 240km but when the distance gets longer and the racing harder, I think he struggles still.

 

[Bavarianrider]

van den Broek is in trouble. He peaks way to early. Tour is more or less already finished for him.
Hagen
If he can keep this form he'll give Gilbert a run for his money in the first Tour week.