2012 Tour Down Under Stage 5: McLaren Vale - Old Willunga Hill 151.5km

[wirral]

Bonus marks to whoever figures out the count first

Gerrans postions, 35, 3, 20, 17, 2
Valverde positions, 58, 4, 54, 33, 1

 

[Random Direction]

Gerrans: 35, 3, 20, 17, 2 = 77 total places
Valverde: 58, 4, 54, 33, 1 = 150 total places

Valverde either needs to gain seconds in sprints, or 73 places

Edit - Ragerod first, then wirral, then I went off on a random road to nowhere

Edit 2 - caught that Ragerod - see what happens when I do numbers too fast...

 

[Ragerod]

gerrans: 35, 3, 20, 17, 2 = 77 total places
valverde: 58, 4, 54, 33, 1 = 150 total places

valverde either needs to gain seconds in sprints, or 63 places

150 - 77 = 73

 

[Ruudz0r]

Come on Moreno Bazan 1 time!

Close enough nice ride sir!

 

[hfer07]

what matters today is that VALVERDE IS VICTORIOUS, specially when he's 2 years in disadvantage with the rest of the peloton- It really doesn't matter at all if he wins the overall race-he has already achieved a more deeper victory here-a physiological victory against his contenders in the coming races which are now forced to pay attention to him as a serious contender for the Ardennes.....

can't wait for what is ahead

 

[Geraint Too Fast]

I was one place off, I blame sleep deprivation...

 

[clipperton]

great stage. patriotism aside it was great to see piti take the win and at least gerrans got the consolation prize.

one thing though, what happened to cam meyer? he looked to have made the split and then just wasn't there before the climb proper started.

 

[BroDeal]

one thing though, what happened to cam meyer? he looked to have made the split and then just wasn't there before the climb proper started.

The climb happened.

 

[movingtarget]

Can't see it happening for Valverde even though great comeback win for him today. Green Edge will stack the sprints and can't see Valverde getting bonus points in the final sprint either. I think he would be happy either way after being out for so long.

 

[BillytheKid]

Twitter messages from other people


What I was saying was they they were getting dangerously close.

Sorry, bad post on my part. I was just agreeing with you and I like the race this year. No hard edge intended.

 

[skidmark]

Can't see it happening for Valverde even though great comeback win for him today. Green Edge will stack the sprints and can't see Valverde getting bonus points in the final sprint either. I think he would be happy either way after being out for so long.

not sure how greenedge is supposed to 'stack the sprints'. A proper sprint takes jumping off a lead wheel, and even if Greenedge have more than 1 rider who could beat Valv (which they couldn't, I think, in their current form), it's hard to synchronize to that degree. All Valv has to do is finish in the top 3 in the intermediate sprint and beat Gerrans. Not implausible.

 

[clipperton]

The climb happened.

perhaps, but it looked like he got dropped before that.

 

[auscyclefan94]

It seems Kohler is out of the top 10. Oh well. He did pretty well imo. Lasted a lot better than many other renowned climbers. Good learning experience.

 

[auscyclefan94]

perhaps, but it looked like he got dropped before that.

He was dropped on the 1st climb. GreenEdge really faded on Wilunga.

What happened to Wilco, Timmy?

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

Nearly Timmy, nearly....thought my smokey was going to make it. Hope he goes to GE.

yep as i said yolk on my face.

i was under the impression GE were full tho. anyway he's done more at the tdu then he did at rabo conti all year.

 

[wirral]

not sure how greenedge is supposed to 'stack the sprints'. A proper sprint takes jumping off a lead wheel, and even if Greenedge have more than 1 rider who could beat Valv (which they couldn't, I think, in their current form), it's hard to synchronize to that degree. All Valv has to do is finish in the top 3 in the intermediate sprint and beat Gerrans. Not implausible.

They could do a deal with UNI SA to have a break, etc. just leaving the final dash and counting on Greipel, Hutavorich, Bennati to take up the first 3.

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

He was dropped on the 1st climb. GreenEdge really faded on Wilunga.

What happened to Wilco, Timmy?

I never actually expected anything from wilco, was just a gag. The gag being he is letting his rivals think they can beat him obviously.

I don't expect much this year, maybe a couple decent rides and some good prologue results.

 

[auscyclefan94]

Sorry, I should of made it clear I was kidding around with you.

 

[Spider1964]

erm, how is gerrans top of gc when valverde has a stage win?

UCI Rules maybe?

well that ****ed on greenedge's fireworks

Aahh.. I see what you're doing here Dim.. Glossing over the fact that Sky failed! Lol

Great stage anyway, lots of fun on the hill. Go Gerro, Go Greenedge.

 

[jens_attacks]

mollema was a gag too and look at him now,conquering the world of cycling.

 

[auscyclefan94]

UCI Rules maybe?



Aahh.. I see what you're doing here Dim.. Glossing over the fact that Sky failed! Lol

Great stage anyway, lots of fun on the hill. Go Gerro, Go Greenedge.

Dim does the same thing I do. I like to bag Sky unnecessarily like many others do and now he feels the need to bag GreeEdge because Sky are not the number 1 'whipping boy' of the forum or in general.

 

[movingtarget]

not sure how greenedge is supposed to 'stack the sprints'. A proper sprint takes jumping off a lead wheel, and even if Greenedge have more than 1 rider who could beat Valv (which they couldn't, I think, in their current form), it's hard to synchronize to that degree. All Valv has to do is finish in the top 3 in the intermediate sprint and beat Gerrans. Not implausible.

It's obvious what they will do. They will send riders up the road before the sprints so there are no points on offer. Just because Valverde beat Gerrans
in an uphill sprint doesn't mean he will beat bunch sprinters on flat stages. Of course Valverde has a chance but I think Gerrans will hang on if his team and others take away the opportunities for Valverde. And of course Valverde's team have breaks to worry about that could also take all the points. Many riders still want to win a stage like Sutton and Matthews. I think it will be hard for Movistar to control the race to favour Valverde. Either way it should be interesting.

 

[Spider1964]

Dim does the same thing I do. I like to bag Sky unnecessarily like many others do and now he feels the need to bag GreeEdge because Sky are not the number 1 'whipping boy' of the forum or in general.

Yeah, I know. Sky and Greenedge are similar creatures, so always going to cop it from the 'tradionalists' who are far more knowledgeable than you or me.. You anyway.. (joking Joyce!) looks like Dim is going to spend the year sweating on every Greenedge error or (alleged) fail.

Even though the interwebs warriors have this as an important race for Greenedge, I'm not so sure the team management share that view?

 

[auscyclefan94]

The host of the TDU coverage is following me on twitter. I guess I cant bag channel 9 anymore

 

[BillytheKid]

It's obvious what they will do. They will send riders up the road before the sprints so there are no points on offer. Just because Valverde beat Gerrans
in an uphill sprint doesn't mean he will beat bunch sprinters on flat stages. Of course Valverde has a chance but I think Gerrans will hang on if his team and others take away the opportunities for Valverde. And of course Valverde's team have breaks to worry about that could also take all the points. Many riders still want to win a stage like Sutton and Matthews. I think it will be hard for Movistar to control the race to favour Valverde. Either way it should be interesting.

The Shack will try to keep Tiago on the podium so I imagine they'll do the same. Plus they have Bennati to throw out there. I think Gerrans is in a good position.