2012 Tour Down Under Stage 6: Adelaide Street Circuit, 90km, 2.WT

[AussieGoddess]

Would love him to make it ... But sadly don't think he will

 

[BillytheKid]

Nobody guessed that one.

Well worth the try.

 

[AussieGoddess]

Greipel again.

 

[Ferminal]

Greipel was in front before 10m to go for once!

 

[Waterloo Sunrise]

Good GC win for Greenedge, but they need to be worried about the future.

They're not going to win any more worthwhile GC's this year, and they haven't yet displayed any stage winning capability.

 

[hfer07]

 

[hoolaparara]

So did we find out why Valverde pulled out today? I mean he wasn't in the race was he?

 

[Waterloo Sunrise]

Just woke up - how has Dennis manage to lose time today?

 

[Ferminal]

Good GC win for Greenedge, but they need to be worried about the future.

They're not going to win any more worthwhile GC's this year, and they haven't yet displayed any stage winning capability.

It will be a reversal of roles in future races, fairly obvious that they were purely GC focused here.

 

[BillytheKid]

So did we find out why Valverde pulled out today? I mean he wasn't in the race was he?

He was in the thick of a bloody battle.

 

[Afrank]

So did we find out why Valverde pulled out today? I mean he wasn't in the race was he?

He probably wouldn't have gotten any of the final time bonuses anyway, not with Greipel
, Petachhi, and Renshaw up there.

 

[hoolaparara]

It will never cease to amaze me how cyclists can make exciting possibilities into endless boredom.. not even close to a fight for the race overall.

 

[auscyclefan94]

Liggett couldn't work out that Valverde wasnt going to try for the overall after the 2nd sprint shows how daft he is.

 

[Waterloo Sunrise]

It will be a reversal of roles in future races, fairly obvious that they were purely GC focused here.

OK, but more broadly, I just don't think they're good enough. If Goss & Gerrens are the 2 main spearheads this year, victories will not be particularly frequent, IMHO.

 

[wirral]

In what position did Valverde and Gerrans cross the line?

 

[stefank]

OK, but more broadly, I just don't think they're good enough. If Goss & Gerrans are the 2 main spearheads this year, victories will not be particularly frequent, IMHO.

Fixed the spelling for you.

 

[Waterloo Sunrise]

Fixed the spelling for you.

Cheers .

 

[Ferminal]

OK, but more broadly, I just don't think they're good enough. If Goss & Gerrens are the 2 main spearheads this year, victories will not be particularly frequent, IMHO.

Absolutely. The only other WT stage races they have a GC chance in are ENECO and Beijing. Goss will win some stages but there's no way he can dominate a race like Cav. They have said that they are all about the classics, so unless they take a couple of big wins in March/April they will be staring down the barrel of a very average season.

 

[Afrank]

In what position did Valverde and Gerrans cross the line?

Valverde 25th
Gerrans 27th

 

[auscyclefan94]

Tweet from brian Nygaard

Thanks to @_GreenEDGE_ for reminding me that you can actually have a ton of fun working in cycling. I almost forgot that last year

 

[Boeing]

How about that Michael Matthews flock of seagulls hair cut?

 

[craig1985]

I wasn't able to watch the stage today, I noticed 4 guys DNF, was there a big crash?

 

[CobbleStoner]

so Greenedge back into their first WT win and they are acting like that was the plan from the start. I don't buy it. A national team of mostly sprinters couldn't do **** in a big sprint, lead out train needlessly overworked prior to a leadout, no stage wins, Valverde BEAT Gerrans on the decisive stage.
a win is a win, but not sure how much of a confidence builder doing it that way really is

 

[woodie]

again, no highlights anywhere, anyone got any?

 

[Wilba60]

so Greenedge back into their first WT win and they are acting like that was the plan from the start. I don't buy it. A national team of mostly sprinters couldn't do **** in a big sprint, lead out train needlessly overworked prior to a leadout, no stage wins, Valverde BEAT Gerrans on the decisive stage.
a win is a win, but not sure how much of a confidence builder doing it that way really is

Did they have to win in their first ever race and win all stages to keep the knockers happy? How are they mostly sprinters, Goss, McEwan and Howard....are O'Grady, Durbridge, Gerrans and Meyer sprinters as well? The only time they prepared any sort of lead out train was in Stage 1 and the whole team except for Gerrans was caught behind the crash. Stage 3 they decided to let McEwan have a go on his own once it was clear that Gerrans was safe and after a late call, no lead out and some off road riding in the gravel he sneaked up for 5th behind some very good sprinters. I thought their tactics today were great, Durbridge protecting the first intermediate sprint and doing the brunt of the work, then Meyer doing the same at the second sprint, plus going alone and trying to pinch a stage win against the other sprinters.
Probably 15 other teams need dissecting before the new boys. Plus it would seem like a very logical strategy to protect Gerrans since he won the National Championship the week before against a very good field. I think it was great and I enjoyed seeing their gun rider Goss taking on a leadership role and working for the team.