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

[VeloCity]

Could be a good stage for Garmin to let Danielson take a flyer.

 

[just some guy]

Contador will be worried about his knee and try not to put too much pressure on it, so unless the Schlecks show any weaknesses he will ride defensively I reckon.

the Schlecks will want to test Cadel and Contador's knee so I see their team taking control and keeping on the pressure and in the end one of them will attack. Hopefully Contador and Evans can repond and ideally drop one of the bros.

What would make my day is watching Contador, Basso and Evans riding off on both brothers chasing Sammy who gets the win by 10-15 seconds with Andy and Fränk distanced 1 mini-sh

maybe a dream

 

[Kwibus]

got to love the smiling assassin

I was looking forward to see the smiling redneck as well today, but he's back in Alabama I think

Ofcourse.. thursday is a day were all looking forward too. A day in which huge gaps can be made allready, but I'm not sure it will happen. After stage 1 I certainly expected Contador to attack on the Tourmalet. An early attack making it a fantastic stage, but it looks like Alberto is injured so I think he will mostly try not to lose time.

Like someone else allready said I expect that Andy will make his first step in winning this tour. Allthough... it's his 2nd step. The first one was not falling of his bike like all other GC contenders.

We haven't seen real climbs so far so it's hard to say what will happen. Allthough I'm no Andy hater like most here I hope he won't win a lot of time. I actually hope for a rider like Basso to surprise us, but I don't expect it

 

[Kwibus]

+ Gesink I think.

He's feeling better every day atm. He's a lot more optimistic than a few days ago, but it's hard to predict. If his back is still bruised he won't be able to use it and that will cost him.

 

[Cimber]

What would make my day is watching Contador, Basso and Evans riding off on both brothers chasing Sammy who gets the win by 10-15 seconds with Andy and Fränk distanced 1 mini-sh

maybe a dream

That would be my wettest dream for that stage.

 

[jobiwan]

got to love the smiling assassin

I give in!!

Basso now gets a picture too! Not taking Evans away though, YET!

 

[Angliru]

What would make my day is watching Contador, Basso and Evans riding off on both brothers chasing Sammy who gets the win by 10-15 seconds with Andy and Fränk distanced 1 mini-sh

maybe a dream

This is some Inception type stuff here. I'm dreaming the same dream!

 

[Ramira]

I give in!!

Basso now gets a picture too! Not taking Evans away though, YET!

Now I have to protest . If both Basso and Evans get a picture Fränk deserves one as well, as things stand right now he's as much of a threat as as Basso and Evans, not to mention he'll play a big part in deciding who will win this tour either as a contender or helping Andy.

 

[Parrulo]

This is some Inception type stuff here. I'm dreaming the same dream!

how many layers deep are we?

 

[jobiwan]

This is some Inception type stuff here. I'm dreaming the same dream!

We're just gonna have to wake all ya'll up then!

The Schlecks will give all of you a healthy dose of reality tomorrow!

 

[Ramira]

how many layers deep are we?

At least one to many, better hold on for a mighty big kick this Thursday

 

[jobiwan]

Now I have to protest . If both Basso and Evans get a picture Fränk deserves one as well, as things stand right now he's as much of a threat as as Basso and Evans, not to mention he'll play a big part in deciding who will win this tour either as a contender or helping Andy.

Grrr. You can only put 4 in a post!
And Parrulo below me is right, probably more of a Dark Horse than a favorite.

Here's a picture for you though! Go Frank!

 

[Parrulo]

Now I have to protest . If both Basso and Evans get a picture Fränk deserves one as well, as things stand right now he's as much of a threat as as Basso and Evans, not to mention he'll play a big part in deciding who will win this tour either as a contender or helping Andy.

you mean Mr. i have never even made it to the podium on a GT schleck?

p.s. i really like frank but we have to be realistic

 

[Cimber]

We're just gonna have to wake all ya'll up then!

The Schlecks will give all of you a healthy dose of reality tomorrow!

Tomorrow is a rather flat stage

 

[Ramira]

Grrr. You can only put 4 in a post!

Here's a picture for you though! Go Frank!

Boo! Thanks for the pic though, he looks quite ehm fashionable there

p.s. Where did that picture come from? I don't quite recognise it though it's clearly not that new, then again he hasn't won much recently I guess
p.p.s. What do I have to do to become the 5th member of the Schleck fan club?

you mean Mr. i have never even made it to the podium on a GT schleck?

p.s. i really like frank but we have to be realistic

True he's never been on the podium but he was the 3rd best climber just 2 years ago and I reckon he might have been the same last year had he not crashed out.

I'll admit on his palmares he doesn't deserve to be there but just looking at what people are expecting here and my gut feeling I'm expecting him to play at least as big a role this thursday as Basso and Evans (and if he's really as good as people in Leopard are saying he is there's a chance he'll seriously compete for the win)

 

[jobiwan]

Tomorrow is a rather flat stage

Got ahead of myself a bit.

Contador and Basso should just watch out for Karpets tomorrow then!

 

[Parrulo]

@ ramira the pic is from his alpe d'huez win

jobiwan every1 should watch out for andy. simple as that. he is the main favourite and its his race to lose. there is no other way to see it. just cus i don't really rate frankie boy whom i like very much as top contender doesn't mean i would do the same to andy, because that would be just stupid.

 

[Ramira]

the pic is from his alpe d'huez win

Thanks, figured it had to be from around then.

 

[jobiwan]

p.p.s. What do I have to do to become the 5th member of the Schleck fan club?

All you had to do was say those words!!

We are now up to 5!!!

 

[Ramira]

All you had to do was say those words!!

We are now up to 5!!!

Yay! Just another year or so and we might reach double digits

 

[Midnightfright]

Yay! Just another year or so and we might reach double digits

Sign me up. They deserve a fully fledged fan club to match there stature.

 

[patrick767]

I'll admit on his palmares he doesn't deserve to be there but just looking at what people are expecting here and my gut feeling I'm expecting him to play at least as big a role this thursday as Basso and Evans (and if he's really as good as people in Leopard are saying he is there's a chance he'll seriously compete for the win)

As for his palmares, Frank was 10th at the TdF in 2006, 5th in 2008, and 5th in 2009. Of course he crashed out in 2010. Just based on those results, if he's in good form I don't know how he wouldn't be considered a podium threat.

 

[Ramira]

As for his palmares, Frank was 10th at the TdF in 2006, 5th in 2008, and 5th in 2009. Of course he crashed out in 2010. Just based on those results, if he's in good form I don't know how he wouldn't be considered a podium threat.

Definitely true he has pretty damn good GC pedigree, but if you compare his palmares to the other 4 (Contador 6 GT's, Basso 2 GT's, 2 TDF podiums, Andy and Evans 2 second places in the TDF and a Giro/Vuelta Podium) it doesn't exactly match up. But a great performance this tour might start to change that and he'll be one of my favourite riders no matter what.

 

[hfer07]

What I love about this stage-apart form being the first MTF of course- is the real test that is going to separate the real contenders from the pretenders- the real shape of each of those riders will be finally uncovered, and from now on-is all about the real competition.....

be the best rider the winner.......

 

[theswordsman]

I'm not a big fan of massive leaps in form in July, so on the Tourmalet I'd like to see Andy struggle to keep up with Danielson, just like he did on Mt. Baldy and again at the Tour de Suisse. Twelve days in between Tour de Suisse and Stage 1 of the Tour, with rest days, Luxembourg Road Nationals and presumed easy days before the start - there's no time to transform a guy into one of the top two climber's in the world.

Cadel has been consistently strong since day one, so I wonder just how much longer his peak can last, like the 2010 Giro.

I wish that Contador was overplaying the injury for the media, but the actual photo of the knee with acupuncture needles in it was depressing.

Have some teams pushed too hard in early stages? Has Saxo Bank really been resting, or are Navarro, Porte, Tosatto and Hernandez cooked from the Giro?

I'm excited for the day because all the talk and spin stop on the Luz-Ardiden. This is the Stage Of Truth.