2011 Tour de Suisse, Stage 6: Tobel-Tägerschen - Triesenberg/Malbun, 157.7 km

[jens_attacks]

oh man that's just horrific news.

 

[kurtinsc]

He doesn't race the same way. That's the problem. Sure, BigMig didn't ride like Contador, but he put the work in to chase when necessary. He had the Banesto train, but also led the chase after Pantani on one stage (I seem to recall it finished at an airport). He, Rominger, and the Motorola climber from Colombia (can't recall his name at the moment) ran away up the Galibier. Indurain instigated the charge into Liege where Bruyneel Leipheimer'd his way to a win. He was much more aggressive than LL even when in yellow.

When all he had to do was limit his losses and make it up in the TT, he actually did put his nose to the front and work to limit the loss.

If he were isolated I would have felt confident that Indurain would have chased hard. If LL is isolated, I have a feeling he would soft pedal until a teammate catches up to give him a wheel.

The difference is Indurain was actually in the lead in these scenarios.

The few races where Levi is leading the GC or is acknowledged as among the best clibersr, he DOES actually work and attack. Granted... that's limited to the Tour of California and Utah... but that's his level at the moment. He is somewhat aggressive in races like that.

But in GT's, he's never among the best climbers. Even in his best he was maybe 2nd tier. If you aren't GOOD enough to attack... you should wheel suck.

 

[jaylew]

sooooo glad I watched today. I doubt Ill ever see a bottle "attack" again. Who would've thought it possible?

Give Levi a break. He attacks. Too bad it's only in domestic races.

 

[boomcie]

I hear Soler has several more bruises and fractures aside from the cranial fracture.

Poor guy, sounds really horrible.

 

[kurtinsc]

Soler is in medical induced comma

Not what I was hoping to hear.

 

[Kwibus]

At least you recognize that opinions vary, and that yours is no better and no worse than anothers.

I was bored stiff during Indurain's reign, and yet when Levi races the very same way, I root for him. I could say it is because he is a fellow ski racer, but in honesty, it is because he is a fellow Yank...
and a nice guy. (unlike another Yank whom I've always known to be a jerk.)

(Maybe I ought to change my screen name to YankeeCyclingFan...)

You are absolutely right to cheer for Leipheimer. If he was dutch I'd probably cheer for him too. He's just not an entertaining rider, but I don't think he's able to attack very often anyways.

 

[Moondance]

The fact that Vacans is in 5th speaks volumes about this ranking. I'm sorry, but I attach less and less importance to it.

Well, about 1300 of Vacansoleil's points in the current Ranking come from Ricco and Mosquera, who are still on their Vacansoleil books according to CQ. The 'current' system from CQ has its flaws, for instance Robert Gesink still gets points from the 2010 ToS, and this year's Dauphine, even though the two cannot be combined in a single season.

But even with the inflation Vacansoleil gets in the 'current' team ranking, in the 2011 year-to-date ranking they're 7th, so its not like they're stinking up the joint (they just don't show it a lot in WT races )

 

[kurtinsc]

Well, about 1300 of Vacansoleil's points in the current Ranking come from Ricco and Mosquera, who are still on their Vacansoleil books according to CQ. The 'current' system from CQ has its flaws, for instance Robert Gesink still gets points from the 2010 ToS, and this year's Dauphine, even though the two cannot be combined in a single season.

But even with the inflation Vacansoleil gets in the 'current' team ranking, in the 2011 year-to-date ranking they're 7th, so its not like they're stinking up the joint (they just don't show it a lot in WT races )

Yeah, the rolling year ranking doesn't work well for teams since they change riders.

THe 2011 ranking is:

1. HTC - Highroad PRT 5439
2. Team RadioShack PRT 5124
3. Rabobank PRT 4982
4. Team Garmin - Cervélo PRT 4864
5. Sky Professional Cycling Team PRT 4273
6. Movistar Team PRT 4207
7. Vacansoleil - DCM PRT 4141
8. Leopard - Trek PRT 3970
9. Lampre - ISD PRT 3889
10. SaxoBank - Sungard PRT 3804

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Yeah, the rolling year ranking doesn't work well for teams since they change riders.

THe 2011 ranking is:

1. HTC - Highroad PRT 5439
2. Team RadioShack PRT 5124
3. Rabobank PRT 4982
4. Team Garmin - Cervélo PRT 4864
5. Sky Professional Cycling Team PRT 4273
6. Movistar Team PRT 4207
7. Vacansoleil - DCM PRT 4141
8. Leopard - Trek PRT 3970
9. Lampre - ISD PRT 3889
10. SaxoBank - Sungard PRT 3804

In other words, it's nearly the same.

The rolling ranking is just fine

 

[hfer07]

Just praying Soler's injuries aren't life threatening

on the Stage-Congrats to Kruijswijk
It's a shame to the sport to have that Leech called Leiphaimer finishing second in today's stage

 

[Damiano Machiavelli]

I hear Soler has several more bruises and fractures aside from the cranial fracture.

Poor guy, sounds really horrible.

Someone explain to me how some pros can be such bad bike handlers. What is it? Bad position on their bikes leading to balance issues? Oblivious to their surroundings? What? Put them in armor and have them ride cyclocross during winter.

I was looking forward to seeing Soler in the Tour de France.

P.S. Forza Cunego!

 

[lancaster]

Ginger girls are the best.

"I really love the red haired girls,
I'm just another boy from Texas"

 

[Frosty]

Baden Cooke was apparently just behind Soler as he crashed

http://twitter.com/#!/badencooke

Was behind Soler today as he smashed through a spectator into a fence doing 50kmh. It was truely sickening to see. I hope he can recover ok.

 

[taiwan]

Yup

Ginger girls.

 

[taiwan]

It's a shame to the sport to have that Leech called Leiphaimer finishing second in today's stage

Overreact much?

 

[kurtinsc]

In other words, it's nearly the same.

The rolling ranking is just fine

Nearly the same? Rabo having a swing of 620 points to HTC is "nearly the same" to you?

That's only slightly less then Gesink's entire point total for the season so far.

The rolling ranking is stupid for teams. It gives teams points for riders who weren't on their team when they EARNED the points. If it were reasonable, Rabo would be getting Menchov's considerable points from the Tour, but not have the points from what Breschel did at the worlds.

 

[The_Z_man]

Someone explain to me how some pros can be such bad bike handlers. What is it? Bad position on their bikes leading to balance issues? Oblivious to their surroundings? What? Put them in armor and have them ride cyclocross during winter.

I was looking forward to seeing Soler in the Tour de France.

P.S. Forza Cunego!

Did you see what happened? Do you know for a fact that the fan didn't step out in front of Soler before he could react? I don't, so I'm not going to get on his case for it.

Like you I was looking forward to seeing Soler at The Tour.

 

[Publicus]

Velonews has a more detailed account of where things stand with Soler.

http://velonews.competitor.com/2011/06/news/soler-crashes-out-of-suisse-tour_178763

 

[Damiano Machiavelli]

Did you see what happened? Do you know for a fact that the fan didn't step out in front of Soler before he could react? I don't, so I'm not going to get on his case for it.

Like you I was looking forward to seeing Soler at The Tour.

Certain pros have so many crashes that it cannot be attributed to bad luck. Regardless of how Soler crashed today, he is not known as a great bike handler. Why does a team for riders like this not force the riders to improve their skills? Missing important races while recovering from crashes costs the teams a lot of money. The teams are not getting what they paid for.

 

[kurtinsc]

Certain pros have so many crashes that it cannot be attributed to bad luck. Regardless of how Soler crashed today, he is not known as a great bike handler. Why does a team not for riders like this to improve their skills? Missing important races while recovering from crashes costs the teams a lot of money. The teams are not getting what they payed for.

I think they are getting what they paid for.

They gave the contract to a rider with a history of crashes. They knew what they were buying.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Kruijswijk, gonna like this guy more and more.

I translated the following interview from Rabo's website:

Frans Maassen said after the stage he didn't dare to dream of you winning this stage. What did you think of it?

“During the team meeting they told us the final 3km got steeper and steeper. I remembered that well for the race. But I didn't start thinking of the win until the final climb.Leopard Trek made the pace and more and more riders had to let go, but I could follow the pace really well and felt good. II had excellent legs and decided to wait until those heavy final kilometers. In that final I wanted to give everything. It went great, but it was really tough! Only at the finish did I realise how great of a win this was.Before that moment it's give everything you got and nothing else.”

It's also suprising because at the beginning of the week you said you felt your tired legs from the Giro

“But that was at the start of this tour. After the Giro I had a bit of a rest period, I did train, but I had no real race tension. In the prologue and on Crans Montana I really felt my legs indeed. I had a good condition at the start of this stage-race, but not the fitness to do something.I had to get used to the effort again. But I had confidence that I would get better during the race. I knew I would grow. That's the experience you take from earlier stage-races. I'm especially happy that I have shown that a stage-race doesn't have to take 3 weeks for me to be good.”

Your attack was pretty explosive, even Cunego couldn't follow. Were you suprised by that?

“Actually not. Cunego accelerated pretty fast, but I could ride right up to him. Then you know you have to pull through, because riding to the finish with Cunego is stupid. I knew I really had to pull hard right away. 'He's probably at his max as well', I thought and that was right because he couldn't follow me. The rest couldn't either. For me it was clear then that I was the best of the group. After that it was a matter of giving everything right until the finish line. In the last kilometre the climb became really really steep, but I felt strong still. Winning here is great, but the terrain and the strong opposition make it even better.”

And now? Frans Maassen said that the team would try something tomorrow because Lampre is weak in support for Cunego

“I agree, we should use our combined power in the mountains. We should not be happy with what we have now. A stage win and two riders in the top three is great, but when you're so close, you should battle for final victory. Dropping Fuglsang and Van Garderen was good today as they are very good time-trial specialists. Leipheimer however is still dangerously close. But friday waits another hard mountainstage. And then we really should try something and not wait for the final kilometre.
The first "Kruijswijk should go to the Tour"-cries have been heard. Ofcourse that won't happen, but how about the Vuelta, is anything known yet?

"No not yet. After the Tour de Suisse me and the team will see what my programme will be. But first I want to finish this joband then we'll see. We shall discuss my program in all quietness and then the team will decide what my next races will be.

 

[Publicus]

Kruijswijk, gonna like this guy more and more.

I translated the following interview from Rabo's website:

Frans Maassen said after the stage he didn't dare to dream of you winning this stage. What did you think of it?

“During the team meeting they told us the final 3km got steeper and steeper. I remembered that well for the race. But I didn't start thinking of the win until the final climb.Leopard Trek made the pace and more and more riders had to let go, but I could follow the pace really well and felt good. II had excellent legs and decided to wait until those heavy final kilometers. In that final I wanted to give everything. It went great, but it was really tough! Only at the finish did I realise how great of a win this was.Before that moment it's give everything you got and nothing else.”

It's also suprising because at the beginning of the week you said you felt your tired legs from the Giro

“But that was at the start of this tour. After the Giro I had a bit of a rest period, I did train, but I had no real race tension. In the prologue and on Crans Montana I really felt my legs indeed. I had a good condition at the start of this stage-race, but not the fitness to do something.I had to get used to the effort again. But I had confidence that I would get better during the race. I knew I would grow. That's the experience you take from earlier stage-races. I'm especially happy that I have shown that a stage-race doesn't have to take 3 weeks for me to be good.”

Your attack was pretty explosive, even Cunego couldn't follow. Were you suprised by that?

“Actually not. Cunego accelerated pretty fast, but I could ride right up to him. Then you know you have to pull through, because riding to the finish with Cunego is stupid. I knew I really had to pull hard right away. 'He's probably at his max as well', I thought and that was right because he couldn't follow me. The rest couldn't either. For me it was clear then that I was the best of the group. After that it was a matter of giving everything right until the finish line. In the last kilometre the climb became really really steep, but I felt strong still. Winning here is great, but the terrain and the strong opposition make it even better.”

And now? Frans Maassen said that the team would try something tomorrow because Lampre is weak in support for Cunego

“I agree, we should use our combined power in the mountains. We should not be happy with what we have now. A stage win and two riders in the top three is great, but when you're so close, you should battle for final victory. Dropping Fuglsang and Van Garderen was good today as they are very good time-trial specialists. Leipheimer however is still dangerously close. But friday waits another hard mountainstage. And then we really should try something and not wait for the final kilometre.
The first "Kruijswijk should go to the Tour"-cries have been heard. Ofcourse that won't happen, but how about the Vuelta, is anything known yet?

"No not yet. After the Tour de Suisse me and the team will see what my programme will be. But first I want to finish this joband then we'll see. We shall discuss my program in all quietness and then the team will decide what my next races will be.

Hard not to like a guy like this. TASK suits him perfectly.

 

[krismtb]

TDF 2010: Bordeaux - Pauillac ITT (52km)
41. Leipheimer +5'59"
162. Cunego +10'40"

GIRO 2009: Roma ITT (15.5km)
26. Leipheimer +53"
47. Cunego +1'11"

VUELTA 2008: Ciudad Real ITT (42.5km)
1. Leipheimer 50'57"
79. Cunego +3'52"

The final TT will be 32.1km. Looks like it could be another stage race messed up by the TT.

disagree. I think there's too much focus on skinny boys and climbing and not enough time trialing. while i like the mtf and climbing, it just seems to give the advantage to skinnyboys, climbers and probably contributes to more cheating.
yeah, i'm exaggerating of course but as a 185 pound guy, thats my opinion

 

[lancaster]

really hope he's ok. dangerous sport but not nice seeing serious crashes and injuries.

thoughts with him and his family

 

[luckyboy]

Velonews has a more detailed account of where things stand with Soler.

http://velonews.competitor.com/2011/06/news/soler-crashes-out-of-suisse-tour_178763

Thanks. It sounds terrible, but we can be thankful that it wasn't as bad as we know it could've been.