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

[Maxiton]

I too believe on Saturday the Schlecks will try to expose or bury AC. They'll test Evans as well.

Basso looking surprisingly dangerous.

Agree with all of the above.

 

[patrick767]

On this Schleck 1-2 punch....if Andy is really not as in form & starts to hurt as well can he keep up with frank to be this effective?

All Cadel has to be equal footin by the time the ITT - not ahead

Well, even if Andy is off and they decide to ride for Frank, Andy Schleck would make one heck of a super-domestique. Plus as long as it remains unclear which one is the yellow jersey threat, they can do like they did today only they need to start sooner. Frank took off and Contador had to work to close the gap while Andy hung on his wheel, saving his strength. They could do the same to Evans.

IMO the Schlecks have yet to use their double threat to its full potential in any grand tour.

 

[Anonymous]

I too believe on Saturday the Schlecks will try to expose or bury AC. They'll test Evans as well.

Basso looking surprisingly dangerous.

I agree. I think Saturday will be a much harder day for Contador.

 

[Dedelou]

By the way, reports of Contadors demise are premature.

This aint over.

I say ditto to that Hitch. The fat tire riders have not yet sung. Le't see what plateau to Beille has to offer for the big boys

 

[HL2037]

Thanks for the commentary everyone, great for those of us who can't watch the race live. Except, of course, for the personal battle that would be nice if kept to pm's. No need for the rest of us to suffer through that ka-ka.

Agree x 100

 

[Gingerale]

might be some giro fatigue ? but contador for sure has a right knee injury. again i wait to see what he has to say about the knee today. for me, he's not done until he says so. losing more seconds is not a good sign.

should have put money on samu! i guessed he'd win

nice ride by frank schleck and tommy voeckler!

 

[Jamsque]

very happy with cadel...gave it a good go!

He looked great today, as good as he has ever gone uphill I think. I don't know why people were predicting he would lose minutes today.

 

[woodie]

Im not saying other people cant enjoy Samus success, just that I dont get too much pleasure out of it myself.

If you think its selfish of me to hold my have my own opinion rather than take the one you suggest to me, then i suggest you take a look in the mirror.

How dare i hold my own opinion and not enjoy the stage result when woodie tells me to.

Yep, so selfish.

I just don't get how you can be disappointed when your favourite rider just won a stage, but whatever man, you wanna look at the glass half empty go for it, your entitled to your opinion.

 

[jobiwan]

jobiwan, do you still think Frank can't do a top 5?

I always thought he could top 5 in the Tour. Just didn't have him as a favorite today. Proved me wrong though, and I'm quite happy.

Contador's still a MAJOR PLAYER in this Tour. But maybe not the man to beat anymore.
The Schlecks need to start thinking about how to beat the Szmyd/Basso machine, and especially how to distance Cadel.

Attack like crazy, because they'll need a BIG gap. I think now that they know Contador's not completely there, they can attack full blast.

If they can do that, I could see Frank getting on the Podium.

 

[Kazistuta]

I dont really care what makes Samu happy. Im a fan of the cyclist not his life partner. My hope was for GC contention.

He went full out from the start 100%, probably tired himself out for the remaining Pyraneen stages and got a grand total of 5 seconds on Frank and 27 seconds on Baso ANdy and Cuddles.

It looks like he wont even beat Cuddles this year, so a stage win - a relatively minor thing in the world of cycling in my opinion, isnt going to cheer me up.

Come on, man!

 

[The Hitch]

Are you crazy? So, one of your favorite cyclists just won on Luz-Ardiden, some kind of holy place for the Basque supporters since Laiseka won there, one of the biggest wins of his career, one of the biggest wins of the team ever, and you still manage to be unhappy with his performance? Moreover, he will wear the polka dot jersey tomorrow, he jumped from 20th to 8th on GC, and now Contador doesn't look great, this Tour is far from over. As you might have noticed, Samu finished ahead of all other contenders today. Get a grip.

Im not unhappy with Samus performance, im unhappy with the situation that hes in - 2.25 minutes back to Frank Schleck.

I dont care much for stage wins, maybe ALpe d huez since its the last mountain stage, but other than that i care far more for GC.

My complaint is not with Samu but rather with the events of stage 1 and 2 which still make me sad, but i cant say anything about that because everytime I do people keep calling me names.

Unfortunately when i see Samu raise his arms in glory i can only think to myself - What might have been.

What might have been

 

[Anonymous]

Too bad for Hoogerland. I hope he finishes. (the Tour, obviously he finished the stage)

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

very happy with cadel...gave it a good go!


Where is Timmy loves Rabo ?

see my post in cuddles thread.

Tho he did do well.

 

[Descender]

He looked great today, as good as he has ever gone uphill I think. I don't know why people were predicting he would lose minutes today.

He won't lose them today, he'll lose them in the Alps.

 

[kjetilraknerud]

Hoogerland, well done!

 

[trevim]

All of above

Yeah maybe I just wonder if he can't handle the Giro-Tour

 

[Jamsque]

The ITV pundits are going crazy about Geraint's ride today. Gary Imlach suggested that if he had not been in the breakaway he would have been up there with the GC guys on the final climb...

 

[Kwibus]

Proving yourself to be the biggest phony ever. No relevance, even with your 8000 posts. Laughing harder than ever.

For those that know les hautes Alpes, they know I just slid some good info along. You can actually call the hotel to get your space. I happened upon it watching the luc alphand cyclosportive a few days ago.

Seriously, TFF, if you want to dance, dance offline with me, cuz you are a freaking joke.

Enjoy your stay there. Make sure not to run along the riders once they pass ok?

Oh and that last line was so unneccesary and childish.

 

[hrotha]

By the way, all the drama in the last 4 km, and all the balls exhibited by Samu, can't change the fact that the stage sucked.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

One Pereiro escape and Gesink wins the Tour

 

[VeloCity]

My opinion is it stems from their pathological hate of Armstrong. Because of their hate of Armstrong they love Contador which of course makes them hate the Schleck's. If not for Armstong they would likely hate Contador just as much as they now hate the Schlecks.

BS. We're equal opportunity pathological haters.

 

[auscyclefan94]

The ITV pundits are going crazy about Geraint's ride today. Gary Imlach suggested that if he had not been in the breakaway he would have been up there with the GC guys on the final climb...

They are all dickheads (being the ITV guys).

Still a good ride by Geraint Thomas.

 

[Sea The Stars]

I always thought he could top 5 in the Tour. Just didn't have him as a favorite today. Proved me wrong though, and I'm quite happy.

Contador's still a MAJOR PLAYER in this Tour. But maybe not the man to beat anymore.
The Schlecks need to start thinking about how to beat the Szmyd/Basso machine, and especially how to distance Cadel.

Attack like crazy, because they'll need a BIG gap. I think now that they know Contador's not completely there, they can attack full blast.

If they can do that, I could see Frank getting on the Podium.

Thank you for your reply jobiwan. I hope he wins too.

Contador does not look good to me. If the Schlecks can lose Evans on Saturday, one of them should win the Tour. But they have put a minute and a half into him.

Evans will be inspired with Contador struggling and think this is his best chance.

 

[auscyclefan94]

They are all dickheads (being the ITV guys).

Still a good ride by Geraint Thomas.

I feel sad for Gesink, I hope he goes to la vuelta with fresh legs and wins. I have become fond of his riding style over the past 12 months.

 

[The Hitch]

I just don't get how you can be disappointed when your favourite rider just won a stage, but whatever man, you wanna look at the glass half empty go for it, your entitled to your opinion.

As ive explained its because stage wins mean far less to me than the GC. I havent been hyping up Samu for a year because i felt it was possible that he could get that earth shaking once in a lifetime - TDF stagewin.

GC is my concern.

Its like telling me i should be dancing in the stree because he won GP MIG, which by the way i see as a bigger victory than this.