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2011 Tour de France Stage 18 - Pinerolo - Galibier Serre-Chevalier 200.5km

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Jul 12, 2010
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ok so in hindsight, sanchez and contador were really pretenders last night and didn't have it. so what was all this.. lets stop and change our bikes. lets have a tactical chat for '90 seconds' (thanks phil) and lets use each others cars to pull ourselves back into the peleton???

now, lets hypothesise - what could they possibly have discussed for 90 seconds seeing that neither could put in a turn for more than 3 seconds on the flat, and nil on the climb?

..."oh well Al... steak at my place for dinner??"
 
Jul 12, 2010
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... i actually laughed when Contador pulled for all of 10 seconds with Cadel at the bottom of the last climb only to immediately drop straight to the back of the peleton... it was like 'woah to much for me'..
 
Bennyl said:
ok so in hindsight, sanchez and contador were really pretenders last night and didn't have it. so what was all this.. lets stop and change our bikes. lets have a tactical chat for '90 seconds' (thanks phil) and lets use each others cars to pull ourselves back into the peleton???

now, lets hypothesise - what could they possibly have discussed for 90 seconds seeing that neither could put in a turn for more than 3 seconds on the flat, and nil on the climb?

..."oh well Al... steak at my place for dinner??"

Sanchez did not seem too interested. The Sanchez teammates did not add much to the chase. They tried but the gap did not reduce even with BMC and one rider from Saxo helping. Trouble was, most of those riders were cooked already hence Evans frustration.
 
Mar 26, 2011
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Wait, so many people just said Evans won the tour today?? Can I have these drugs you are ingesting??

Andy is going to make Cadel cry like a little baby, I can't believe these fanciful hallucinations you guys are into!

Cadel will fail on the Alpe tomorrow.
Andy will kill the Alpe.
And BTW Andy's TT has improved.:cool:
 
Wow

what a stage

Huge kudos to Leopard Trek ... I honestly didnt think they had the tactical know how to pull off a move like that. Sending Any up the road so early was a great, great move. From the moment he went, they couldnt lose.

Great riding by Andy to stay away ... and by Frank to sit tight and follow.

Fantastic riding (and no panic) by Evans. I thought he left it a tiny bit late to decide to go - but his tactics and decisions were the right ones.



jobiwan said:
Was reading through the thread again, found this, and actually that was me! :D

And here's a link for proof! I'm so close to being psychic!
http://forum.cyclingnews.com/showthread.php?p=576832#post576832

and kudos to you jobiwan ... both for your awesome vision :p and your support for Andy and Frank. Glad you are now unashamed. :)
 
AussieGoddess said:
Wow

what a stage

Huge kudos to Leopard Trek ... I honestly didnt think they had the tactical know how to pull off a move like that. Sending Any up the road so early was a great, great move. From the moment he went, they couldnt lose.

Great riding by Andy to stay away ... and by Frank to sit tight and follow.

Fantastic riding (and no panic) by Evans. I thought he left it a tiny bit late to decide to go - but his tactics and decisions were the right ones.

Under the circumstances, Evans could not have done much better. He is still in with a chance with three mediocre time triallists in front of him. It's all about recovery and fatigue now and not losing any more time to Voeckler and AS on the next stage.


and kudos to you jobiwan ... both for your awesome vision :p and your support for Andy and Frank. Glad you are now unashamed. :)

Under the circumstances, Evans could not have done much better. He is still in with a chance with three mediocre time triallists in front of him. It's all about recovery and fatigue now and not losing any more time to Voeckler and AS on the next stage.
 
Jul 28, 2009
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Bennyl said:
... i actually laughed when Contador pulled for all of 10 seconds with Cadel at the bottom of the last climb only to immediately drop straight to the back of the peleton... it was like 'woah to much for me'..
Evans looked a little perplexed too, that was a real wtf? moment.
 
I haven't been following this thread, but have an interesting observation.

When Andy Schleck took off, Laurent Jalabert said that it was a stupid thing to do and was doomed to fail. This is the same Jalabert (like many commentators) who consistently complain that there are no attacks and no GC riders with the panache to take the race into their own hands.

To be fair to Jalabert, he fairly quickly acknowledged that Schleck's move was a courageous one, though still insisting that it would likely fail (too much headwind in the "valley").

By the end of the stage he was in agreement that it was a great ride.

I relate this because it is interesting that while many commentators lament the lack of panache and attacking from the favorites, they also acknowledge that defensive riding up to the very end of the stage is good strategy.
 
Ramira said:
While that might be true, I do always find a rider to cheer on no matter what race. In the TDS I was cheering for Cunego to hold on and win it, in the Giro I was cheering for Nibali and in last year's vuelta it was Fränk and Andy. However when Fränk wasn't good enough to win it and Anton crashed out I found someone to cheer on in his stead (Velits) rather cheering against any of the others. My point is that I always look for my favourite in any sporting event I watch and cheer them on rather then find the one I like least and cheer against them.

And don't forget just a day ago I didn't believe Andy had a shot at winning it (and I gave very little for Fränk's chances either) however that didn't mean I suddenly wanted Evans or Contador to lose it. I wish for a Schleck to win this tour, but if they lose it I couldn't care less to whom it is.

Edit: And this isn't only about Andy Schleck, I think the whole anti Contador thread and the Evans hate is absurd too. I just wished people could focus more on those riders (and now that I think about it those things) they love and less on those riders (and things) they hate. I think it would make this forum (and heck the world) a better place for it in my opinion. But hey that's just me ;).

I am a Contador fan, but now he can no longer win, I'm cheering for Cadel and Tommy. Yes, I dislike Andy, so isn't it completely logical I'd rather have someone else win it?
 
Jul 21, 2011
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LaFleur said:
Sorry for doubleposting this, but surely, there must be atleast 1 picture of Taaramäe in white, surely??? Sad to see this getting ignored.
570-IMG_3228a.jpg
 
auscyclefan94 said:
They had Paul Evans (Cadel's father) on the radio this morning. He wasn't too happy with BMC...
Unfair then. BMC did everything they could. In fact, they did more than they could when I look at the team before the Tour.

many classics riders did what they do best, keep Evans out of the problems on the flat/hilly stages.
The few climbers they have did what they do best, stay with Cadel until the foot of the final climb.

BMC haven't failed in any way. He just lacks 1 super domestique, someone like Heras in the Armstrong era.
 
Jul 7, 2009
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Dekker_Tifosi said:
Unfair then. BMC did everything they could. In fact, they did more than they could when I look at the team before the Tour.

many classics riders did what they do best, keep Evans out of the problems on the flat/hilly stages.
The few climbers they have did what they do best, stay with Cadel until the foot of the final climb.

BMC haven't failed in any way. He just lacks 1 super domestique, someone like Heras in the Armstrong era.

Yep, BMC have been super for Cadel at this tour, with the exception of the high mountains. He lacks a Heras, Szmyd etc....

Not many GC contenders have a guy like that though.
 
Great stage and a great tour.

Yes, it seemed baffling at the time when Cadel got no one to help in chase, but by the top the reason was clear. NO ONE had both the legs and a reason to do so!

Europcar : Kudos for strategy, if not necessarily the sportsmanship. Rolland had strength to help, but Cadel had already pushed Voeckler on limit. Maillot Jeune would have been hurt, not helped if Rolland participated in pace-setting 'cause any extra pace or aceleration would have probably cracked Tommy.

Cadel saved the jersey for them and Tommy's two main challengers (AS and Cadel) ended just as deep in a red-zone as he himself. There is a STRONG possibility those two will not have energy in Alpe d'Huez to do more than defend... FS will probably go, but he needs to take close to two minutes out of TV, AS & CE to be secure of winning. Especially if others can rest a bit tomorrow while Fränk burns his matches...

For EVERYone criticising Rolland. He was doing a PERFECT race yesterday and was immensely strong! It was obvious that Tommy V expected himself to lose contact with contenders at some point. Rolland was saving himself to shepherd MJ up and LIMIT the losses. When his captain did actually enter the final km intact and with a chance of saving the jersey, Rolland immediately went to work - BUT was cried off by exploding lungs of Voeckler as he found out inside 10 secs he couldn't match Pierre. PERFECT helper.

Outside Rolland, Europcar never had anyone to help in pace-making in the valley. Was even Charteau there at that point anymore? Even if he did reach the MJ group for a while, he had nothing left.

Maybe a bit disappointed that Szmyd couldn't/didn't pull at least for a solid km, but maybe he just didn't have legs or maybe Basso didn't feel strong enough.

Conti & Samu didn't have it. Simple. Remember that Samu f ex had to let VDV, Zubeldia etc go in the end and lost a full minute to them! Just holding Haimar's wheel would have kept him in competition for top-5 finish.

Prognosis for today : F.Schleck goes for a rampage and may be joined by some stage-hunter like Jeannesson, Uran (if he recovers) or possibly given a big hand by Arroyo (who could work to eliminate/further penalize Cav).

Others who may feel brave are Contador (stage win would salvage a bit), Samu, Vanendert (KoM race + stage honours). Basso and Cunego are in unfortunate situation of not really contending overall anymore, but still too close to be let go...

My feeling is that after totally knackering themselves yesterday and with a long TT looming, the trio of AS, Cadel & TV will ride defensively. The latter two don't want to let Fränky-boy to win the Tour today, but neither will any of them want to risk the legs for TT for a small gain.

Voeckler MAY crack completely, but we have been waiting for that for a week already... Besides, he has the best domestique in his service.

So, Maillot Jeune to finally change shoulders today to Fränk Schleck, but overall title only to be decided in TT.

GC after Stage 19 :
Fränk Schleck
Thomas Voeckler +37
Andy Schleck +44
Cadel Evans + 1.41
Ivan Basso + 3.55
Alberto Contador +4.11
Damiano Cunego +4.19

The rest (including S.Sanchez) upto 7 minutes down.
 
Apr 1, 2009
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Dekker_Tifosi said:
Unfair then. BMC did everything they could. In fact, they did more than they could when I look at the team before the Tour.

many classics riders did what they do best, keep Evans out of the problems on the flat/hilly stages.
The few climbers they have did what they do best, stay with Cadel until the foot of the final climb.

BMC haven't failed in any way. He just lacks 1 super domestique, someone like Heras in the Armstrong era.

This.
Maybe not Heras-like, but a really good climber.
 
Jun 16, 2009
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hrotha said:
What did he say?

Dekker_Tifosi said:
Unfair then. BMC did everything they could. In fact, they did more than they could when I look at the team before the Tour.

many classics riders did what they do best, keep Evans out of the problems on the flat/hilly stages.
The few climbers they have did what they do best, stay with Cadel until the foot of the final climb.

BMC haven't failed in any way. He just lacks 1 super domestique, someone like Heras in the Armstrong era.

He said it on a morning radio show on a station called Triple M. Paul's an interesting character to say the least.:cool:
 
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