2011 Tour de France, Stage 12: Cugnaux - Luz-Ardiden, 209 km

[TeoSheva]

what was the time cut?

i.e. how close was Galzilliamov (sp?) to making the cut.

how big does a group have to be to ensure that it can't be eliminated via time cut?

the time cut was 43min.

 

[Parrulo]

I dunno for sure but it might be 'babes on bikes'.. hehe

this one has passed it now. even tho the babes on bikes thread number of viewers would put this thread to shame

 

[DenisMenchov]

http://forum.cyclingnews.com/showthread.php?t=5724&page=682


This one leads in number of posts and views by far.

 

[on3m@n@rmy]

I'm happy for Samu (& the Hitch) that Sumu took the stage. And good for Voeckler for keeping yellow another day. I predict TV will keep it several more days.

Now if Samu is really out of contention for the overall, as I think Hitch might think, then that makes Samu all that more dangerous. So it will be interesting to see how far up the GC ladder he can climb.

 

[VeloCity]

Who still has a realistic chance of winning? I see it as a battle between (in no particular order):

F Schleck - has looked strong so far, but can't TT.
A Schleck - still a bit of a question mark re: his form.
Evans - equally strong to Frank, and a much better TT'er, but historically inconsistent - wouldn't be surprised to see him crack completely on one of these mountain stages.
Basso - looked good today but also still a question mark and not the TT'er he used to be.
Contador - the biggest question mark of them all, but if he can hold his losses through the mountains, he might have a shot in the TT.

...with a couple of long shots:

Sanchez - too far behind the favorites and would need to have at least 2 minutes going into the final TT, which means making up ~4-5 minutes over the remaining mountain stages. Not likely.
Cunego - same as Sanchez, but who'd have thought that Cunego would be ahead of Contador after the first mountain stage?
Danielson - could be the wild card, and a good TT'er, but I can't see him making up the 3-4 minutes he'd need in the mountains to have a realistic shot at winning (and personally I think he will slip back in the third week anyway - but then again, who'd have ever thought we'd even be considering Danielson as having a shot at winning this Tour??).

...and barring a major upset a la Pereiro, that's about it. I know it's the nature of the sport that riders crash out or are injured, but can't help but wonder how interesting this Tour might have been if Leipheimer, Kloden, Horner, Brajkovic, Gesink, Wiggins, Van Den Broeck, and Vino were still around/healthy to shake things up a bit - with both AC and AS not looking to be their best, could've been a free-for-all. Now, really, it's basically down to 4-5 riders with a realistic shot at winning.

 

[lancaster]

I dunno for sure but it might be 'babes on bikes'.. hehe

that one is worth a read.

very good ratio of worthwhile posts to trolling.

the highlight was the strength the community found when that thread was under threat

 

[Dedelou]

I'm happy for Samu (& the Hitch) that Sumu took the stage. And good for Voeckler for keeping yellow another day. I predict TV will keep it several more days.

Now if Samu is really out of contention for the overall, as I think Hitch might think, then that makes Samu all that more dangerous. So it will be interesting to see how far up the GC ladder he can climb.

I bet Samu and AC will have a long talk tonight from their respective hotel. This two have a habit to share impressions, I was told

 

[thehog]

i do hope "Contador is underdone." ...meaning he is still recovering. i'd love to see him go on a couple of his epic attacks.

and i spoke too soon. frank looks to be in great climbing form but i forget his ITT is so dismal. it's too bad something can't be done to get the schlecks to be better ITT'ers.

The Shleck’s woeful TT abilities makes for an interesting dynamic. They have to gain time on Cadel. They have no choice. They also would feel they’re not far enough in front of Contador either. By underdone yes I mean he’s still recovering. This race will be won in the Alps not here. Attacking now won’t bring much for Contador as the other riders are much more fresher than he is. Come the Alps then they’re be just as tired or close to as tired as Alberto.

For Contador to win he has to take the jersey at the last possible moment. Contador is still the same time behind he was after stage one. Today he cancelled out the 8 seconds in gained on stage 4. But he has to remain calm to the Alps. Then I think he will have them. I would expect him to attack further out to gain the time he needs rather that his normal bunch 3km to go job. He will also needs to place riders up the road.

 

[etymology]

this is how i see, contadoristically speaking:

contador sure wasn't on best form, though i don't think he looked all THAT bad. when the heads of state reached into their bags of courage....ooops. sorry. had a p&p moment.

when the big attacks started, contador covered most all of them. it was not until the final 500 meters that he could not maintain pace with the guys who *didn't*n cover most of the atttacks. can't say it's a *good* thing to lose time to evans and the schlecks and basso, but at the same time he did not lose massive amounts of time.

i wouldn't be writing contador's tdf maillot jaune obituary just yet - still plenty of racing to go.

 

[No_Balls]

The Shleck’s woeful TT abilities makes for an interesting dynamic. They have to gain time on Cadel. They have no choice. They also would feel they’re not far enough in front of Contador either. By underdone yes I mean he’s still recovering. This race will be won in the Alps not here. Attacking now won’t bring much for Contador as the other riders are much more fresher than he is. Come the Alps then they’re be just as tired or close to as tired as Alberto.

Very good, sir. Alberto speaks about the same subject in the interviews afterwards:

"I felt the consequences of falls in the early days, my pedal stroke was not as good, but I'm sure I'll improve," he said. "It's hard to start the engine, but now everyone is with fatigue and that goes for me," he said.

http://www.marca.com/2011/07/14/ciclismo/tour_francia/1310662333.html

He also said he felt suffering due to his knees today. But still pleased after:

"It was the first mountain stage and I'm happy with the outcome. I felt really bad knee, was bothering me and I'm happy with the result although I have given a few seconds more I could not do," he said. Contador lost 33 seconds over Frank Schleck and 13 with his brother Andy and Australian Cadel Evans.

 

[Escarabajo]

...
He also said he felt suffering due to his knees today. But still pleased after:

"It was the first mountain stage and I'm happy with the outcome. I felt really bad knee, was bothering me and I'm happy with the result although I have given a few seconds more I could not do," he said. Contador lost 33 seconds over Frank Schleck and 13 with his brother Andy and Australian Cadel Evans.

He doesn't have that much time to heal his knee. that's the problem.

 

[montagna lunga]

pfft. After all the hype, the "big GC contender move" comes what, 3 k from the finish??! I think since they banned testosterone, we've gradually wound up a peloton that has NO collective balls and no real stars, no cannibal, no monster, no badger, no pelota, no pirata...let alone a campionissimo, Mr. Chrono, zonzon, or bricklayer...

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Sanchez - too far behind the favorites and would need to have at least 2 minutes going into the final TT, which means making up ~4-5 minutes over the remaining mountain stages. Not likely.

Why would Samu need that much time? You've put him in the same bracket as Cunego. Samu is a good ITT rider, in fact he out-TTed Evans around Spain in 2009, and though he lost 3rd in the ITT last year, not only was he injured but Menchov was the only GC man to put in a good ITT in that stage.

 

[Dedelou]

Very good, sir. Alberto speaks about the same subject in the interviews afterwards:

"I felt the consequences of falls in the early days, my pedal stroke was not as good, but I'm sure I'll improve," he said. "It's hard to start the engine, but now everyone is with fatigue and that goes for me," he said.

http://www.marca.com/2011/07/14/ciclismo/tour_francia/1310662333.html

He also said he felt suffering due to his knees today. But still pleased after:

"It was the first mountain stage and I'm happy with the outcome. I felt really bad knee, was bothering me and I'm happy with the result although I have given a few seconds more I could not do," he said. Contador lost 33 seconds over Frank Schleck and 13 with his brother Andy and Australian Cadel Evans.

that says a lot and the least of it is : We have a bike race going on with many contenders still hoping for the win.

 

[roundabout]

I got the impression that Samu is TTing slightly worse this year. But ok, the Tour is a different thing.

 

[Waterloo Sunrise]

Why would Samu need that much time? You've put him in the same bracket as Cunego. Samu is a good ITT rider, in fact he out-TTed Evans around Spain in 2009, and though he lost 3rd in the ITT last year, not only was he injured but Menchov was the only GC man to put in a good ITT in that stage.

Yup.

If he can recover tomorrow and ride with the top guys Saturday, then take a bit of time 16/17 he'll be right in the mix when it gets decided.

 

[Chef_Vodnik]

I got the impression that Samu is TTing slightly worse this year. But ok, the Tour is a different thing.

On this course I'm pretty certain he'll impress.

 

[Angliru]

Hey, just because Andy Schleck is a tactical buffoon doesn't mean he's not capable of blowing everyone out of the water.

Andy's going to block you from his twitter page, revoke your Frandy Club membership and repo your Schleck Bros decoder ring for such sacrilege.

 

[The Hitch]

Who still has a realistic chance of winning? I see it as a battle between (in no particular order):

F Schleck - has looked strong so far, but can't TT.
A Schleck - still a bit of a question mark re: his form.
Evans - equally strong to Frank, and a much better TT'er, but historically inconsistent - wouldn't be surprised to see him crack completely on one of these mountain stages.
Basso - looked good today but also still a question mark and not the TT'er he used to be.
Contador - the biggest question mark of them all, but if he can hold his losses through the mountains, he might have a shot in the TT.

...with a couple of long shots:

Sanchez - too far behind the favorites and would need to have at least 2 minutes going into the final TT, which means making up ~4-5 minutes over the remaining mountain stages. Not likely.
Cunego - same as Sanchez, but who'd have thought that Cunego would be ahead of Contador after the first mountain stage?
Danielson - could be the wild card, and a good TT'er, but I can't see him making up the 3-4 minutes he'd need in the mountains to have a realistic shot at winning (and personally I think he will slip back in the third week anyway - but then again, who'd have ever thought we'd even be considering Danielson as having a shot at winning this Tour??).

...and barring a major upset a la Pereiro, that's about it. I know it's the nature of the sport that riders crash out or are injured, but can't help but wonder how interesting this Tour might have been if Leipheimer, Kloden, Horner, Brajkovic, Gesink, Wiggins, Van Den Broeck, and Vino were still around/healthy to shake things up a bit - with both AC and AS not looking to be their best, could've been a free-for-all. Now, really, it's basically down to 4-5 riders with a realistic shot at winning.

Why would Samu need 2 minutes on the tt? He can take 2 minutes from Schlecks on the tt and is about the same as Evans.

 

[hrotha]

I think Samu has lost much of his ITT powers. And when he still had them, they applied to short ITTs.

 

[Angliru]

You might be right but it became kinda stupid the amount he was looking at AC.

I think that is his idea of playing headgames with AC. It was obvious that he (Contador) was struggling, so the constant looking at him was maybe to emphasise that. Or maybe he's been watching too many old Tour video's and he thinks he's emulating a moment in cycling history that has become so ridiculously over-hyped to the point of nausea.

 

[jens_attacks]

Velits fastest rider in last climb, faster than 2nd Sanchez there.Finally, he's still only 1min behind TOP 10 a he made 5 mins to T. Martin today...

hmmm source?
the average speed was crazy high anyway,35 km/h!!!
the stage was really great,sammy,europcar,omega pharma,basso,schlecks.contador will be back i'm sure.

 

[jobiwan]

Andy's going to block you from his twitter page, revoke your Frandy Club membership and repo your Schleck Bros decoder ring for such sacrilege.

Nah, I already traded in my decoder ring for one of those "fashionable" Leopard Trek scarfs.

That's right. Be jealous.

(For the record I think these might be the most horrible things known to man)

 

[Benotti69]

is that the chimney sweepers team from Mary Poppins???

 

[rides like a girl]

Nah, I already traded in my decoder ring for one of those "fashionable" Leopard Trek scarfs.

That's right. Be jealous.

Not so worried about the scarf....PLEASE tell me I am not seeing Andy wearing pants seemingly up to his shoulders! (slight exaggeration) the top of his pants sure look weirdly high on his body.