2011 Tour de France Stage 16 (18/7/2011): Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux - Gap, 162.5km

[Ryo Hazuki]

You have to accept that Evans is in great form.

that doesn't matter, he's simply not a climber. I can see him lose some serious time on alpe dhuez and galibier, both he could lose over 2 minutes on contador. evans isn't cut out for real high mountains unless they sofptedal like on plateau de beille

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

please tell me he didn't say that. please.

just when i thought he couldn't fall any lower in my esteem

he is the biggest ******bag I've ever seen

 

[Big Doopie]

For the record I thought it was a great joke

enchante.

(that's with an accent on the last "e")

 

[GroupDK]

andy schlek very angry on danish TV !

"Is this what people wanne see, a tour there is being decided on a downhill where people has to take chances, the riders have familys at home". !

Come on fellow, you were already dropped on the climp. !

 

[SarahDane]

Just heard the Andy Interview. Some excellent points:

"People don't wanna see the riders taking chances." (to be fair, said in regards to the descend, but still, come on...

"Is this really what people wanna see, the race being raced on the downhills and not the mountains." (well, no, we would much rather see it being raced on stage 1 because of a crash and the 3km rule. The pacours wasn't bad then, was it?)

Babbling on and on about the bad pacours...

I must say, Fränk is a MUCH more gracious looser than Andy, wouldn't mind him winning at all, except for the fact that he is Andy's brother, and then his team. But that shouldn't mean too much. RESPECT Fränk.

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

It could be just me, but just like last year I have serious doubt about Rabo's personal trainer Delahaye.

more about gesinks lack of taking pressure, whenever he needs to be there he crashes or fails

pais vasco last year, tirreno this year, spring this year, tour this year, vuelta 2009, tour 2009 and also last year he crashed and almost lost lots of time in final mountainstage. the guy isn't a leader.

 

[frenchfry]

sorry. don't know how to add accents. there's an accent on the "à".
stupid joke on "cyclisme à deux vitesses" and not going all the way to "cyclisme à une vitesse".

don't want to go any further anyway or translate it as further discussion would require the clinic.

just a silly joke.

There you go.

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

Thor never would have been allowed in either of those breaks if he'd have been in the hunt for green. The strategy actually worked perfectly, two stage wins for Thor (and 3 for Garmin). Which is two more than he'd have had otherwise.

Exactly.

Thor is having by far the best Tour of his life. Two stage wins and a week in Yellow is much better than winning Green, even leaving aside the bonus of a share of the TTT and Team classification. And it is certainly much better than coming a distant second or third in the race for Green.

If Hushovd was targeting Green and gathering enough points to be a threat, there is absolutely no way in hell that HTC, OPL and Movistar let him disappear up the road twice, which, given that he can't compete with the best sprinters any more, means zero stage wins. As it is, I suspect that Thor is about as annoyed about Green as he is overjoyed about the Team classification, which is to say he couldn't give a rat's rectum.

Garmin might be very lucky or they might be very smart, I can't really work out which. They are certainly having a dream Tour.

 

[The Hitch]

that doesn't matter, he's simply not a climber. I can see him lose some serious time on alpe dhuez and galibier, both he could lose over 2 minutes on contador. evans isn't cut out for real high mountains unless they sofptedal like on plateau de beille

Ah crap. Ryo is seriously jinxing Contadors and Schlecks chances of dropping Evans.

 

[kanari]

Funny that nobody has mentioned the Panzerwagen fail on the climb. Couldn't follow EBH and Thor.

Also Andy Scleck needs to shut his mouth, he is making a fool of himself with those stupid comments on the parcours...

 

[Scirea]

how so?
cadel rode flat out and the 2 working together couldnt catch him, so they wouldnt have been any faster all together

Wrong. If you are riding by 2 other guys then you can rest a little bit while the others take their turn at the front.

 

[SarahDane]

Danish commentator, and previous tdf stage winner Rolf Sørensen, live, holdning an umbrella in the rain: "By the way, I feel like Andy Schleck right now, I don't wanna do this anymore when it rains."

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

that doesn't matter, he's simply not a climber

Oh come off it.

Evans is not as good a climber as an in form Contador or Andy. That does not translate to being "simply not a climber". There are dozens of specialist climbers who would love to climb as well as Evans. There were precisely two guys in the field who could climb with Contador today. Evans was one of them.

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

andy schlek very angry on danish TV !

"Is this what people wanne see, a tour there is being decided on a downhill where people has to take chances, the riders have familys at home". !

Come on fellow, you were already dropped on the climp. !

pls everyone hate schleck from now on, what a f'n pu**y

 

[jens_attacks]

andy schlek very angry on danish TV !

"Is this what people wanne see, a tour there is being decided on a downhill where people has to take chances, the riders have familys at home". !

Come on fellow, you were already dropped on the climp. !

kind of disgusting stuff.
i wonder how he will look in cancellara's eyes tonight.that was pretty ridiculous.
frank is always wiser,andy is losing respect every second.

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

Funny that nobody has mentioned the Panzerwagen fail on the climb. Couldn't follow EBH and Thor.

That's a good point. EBH and Thor put in quite a climb, when you consider that they came over the top just a few seconds after Hesjedal and well ahead of everyone else in the break.

I have to admit, if I was in a breakaway with Hushovd in a stage with a descent at the end there is absolutely no way I would work with him. If he can't out descend you, and there aren't many people who can claim that, he can outsmart you.

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

Oh come off it.

Evans is not as good a climber as an in form Contador or Andy. That does not translate to being "simply not a climber". There are dozens of specialist climbers who would love to climb as well as Evans. There were precisely two guys in the field who could climb with Contador today. Evans was one of them.

evans is a guy that holds on and bites in your wheel but once dropped loses lots of time, that will happen the next stages

 

[sublimit]

Gesink has a lot of talent but doesn't seem to have the guts and legs for a 3 week race but If he had 50% of his countryman Hoogerlands fighting spirit he would be very good.
I thought he would do well for a couple of weeks and then blow - but he got injured and tired so we will never know what he was capable of.

 

[mr. tibbs]

Just heard the Andy Interview. Some excellent points:

"People don't wanna see the riders taking chances." (to be fair, said in regards to the descend, but still, come on...

"Is this really what people wanna see, the race being raced on the downhills and not the mountains." (well, no, we would much rather see it being raced on stage 1 because of a crash and the 3km rule. The pacours wasn't bad then, was it?)

Babbling on and on about the bad pacours...

I must say, Fränk is a MUCH more gracious looser than Andy, wouldn't mind him winning at all, except for the fact that he is Andy's brother, and then his team. But that shouldn't mean too much. RESPECT Fränk.

That's exactly what sprang to mind.

Andy is just... flaccid. I doubt he'll ever win the Tour. I really liked him up until this year, but damn: He's lost me over the past two weeks. These comments are terrible.

I would like to see him ride the Giro or the Vuelta. I'm not sure why he's so obsessed with the Tour when he could have already won one or two GTs. Hopefully, he redeems himself during the final week, and maybe considers contesting some other races. Perhaps he could find the legs to do a good Vuelta this year.

 

[thehog]

Funny that nobody has mentioned the Panzerwagen fail on the climb. Couldn't follow EBH and Thor.

Also Andy Scleck needs to shut his mouth, he is making a fool of himself with those stupid comments on the parcours...

Where was Cancellera to neutralise the stage?

Also don't rememeber Andy complaining about the cobbles last year - or is that different?

 

[FoxxyBrown1111]

They should have waited for Andy. The TdF shall not be decided on descents.

 

[SarahDane]

That's exactly what sprang to mind.

Andy is just... flaccid. I doubt he'll ever win the Tour. I really liked him up until this year, but damn: He's lost me over the past two weeks. These comments are terrible.

I would like to see him ride the Giro or the Vuelta. I'm not sure why he's so obsessed with the Tour when he could have already won one or two GTs. Hopefully, he redeems himself during the final week, and maybe considers contesting some other races. Perhaps he could find the legs to do a good Vuelta this year.

Nope, that's his beer drinking month, you have to remember.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

He ''dropped'' them in one stage. Factor in the fact that Wiggins and the others had no reason to chase him - if they could - and it wasn't that impressive at all. In the other one he attacked with 1 km or less to the finish. That hardly attests to having great form. An another note, you are one to talk about paying attention, let's not get into that.

It is indeed a matter of opinion, I have based mine on observations since the start of the season. He's just not the same Gesink this year. The truth hurts but I have come to terms with it, maybe you should too.

That's your truth. Again, you express your opinion as if it were a fact.

 

[Spine Concept]

Gesink has a lot of talent but doesn't seem to have the guts and legs for a 3 week race but If he had 50% of his countryman Hoogerlands fighting spirit he would be very good.
I thought he would do well for a couple of weeks and then blow - but he got injured and tired so we will never know what he was capable of.

I think it's pretty clear what he's capable of if you have been following his steady progress closely. He's just lacking the mentality and the luck - unfortunately - to demonstrate it in the Tour. I haven't given up on him because he is still relatively young, though he cannot hide behind that excuse for much longer. However, I have lost faith in him to ever show his true capabilities.

 

[SarahDane]

Where was Cancellera to neutralise the stage?

Also don't rememeber Andy complaining about the cobbles last year - or is that different?

Exactly! Failure on Leopard treks, (and Cancellara's) part.