2012 Tour of California May 17 stage 5: Bakersfield ITT 29.6 km

[Rocksteady]

TJ looks slim... Hope that means good things for his climbing form... did well enough on in Romandie.

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

It will be interesting to see how much effort Garmin put into protecting Zabriskie's jersey tomorrow. Before the race Vaughters was saying that this year everything else would be secondary to trying to win the GC, but this is the biggest race on their home soil so it's hard to see them not working for the race leader.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

TJ looks slim... Hope that means good things for his climbing form... did well enough on in Romandie.

Romandie...
You mean that race were there was hardly any serious climbing and every 'mountain' stage ended in 40 man group sprints won by LL Sanchez?

 

[theyoungest]

Romandie...
You mean that race were there was hardly any serious climbing and every 'mountain' stage ended in 40 man group sprints won by LL Sanchez?

And in the only stage that involved some actual climbing he was taken out by a tree

What I like most about the TT result is that none of the American pundits or riders even mentioned Gesink as a contender. Literally none.

 

[Rocksteady]

Romandie...
You mean that race were there was hardly any serious climbing and every 'mountain' stage ended in 40 man group sprints won by LL Sanchez?

But TJ was one of those 40...

And Big Bear and Baldy aren't exactly the Alps.

 

[El Oso]

Whats the profile for tomm?

Although the scaling on the map is off. This one is a little more to scale:
http://app.strava.com/events/atoc-2012/Stage6

As theyoungest said when they did it in 2010 it was a huge fail as it ended with Sagan winning the sprint from a group of 21. It fell in the no man's land of being too shallow for climbers but too much climbing for sprinters or the domestic teams

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

But TJ was one of those 40...

And Big Bear and Baldy aren't exactly the Alps.

Baldy was more than enough to create big gaps last year.

 

[Califootman]

It will be interesting to see how much effort Garmin put into protecting Zabriskie's jersey tomorrow. Before the race Vaughters was saying that this year everything else would be secondary to trying to win the GC, but this is the biggest race on their home soil so it's hard to see them not working for the race leader.

I think the only way Zabriskie keeps the jersey tomorrow is if the stage becomes a stalemate tempo ride up to Big Bear, with all the favorites keeping their powder dry for Mount Baldy... but I don't think some of them (Horner, especially) can afford to wait until Saturday.

Dave Z lost 14 minutes on Baldy last year, so if he can't keep up tomorrow Garmin will let him swing to preserve Talansky and Danielsons chances.

 

[Rocksteady]

Baldy was more than enough to create big gaps last year.

The cause of those gaps (Levi and Horner) are a bit off the pace, but yes, Baldy will break things up.

Still want TJ, Talansky and Danielson to do well...

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

But TJ was one of those 40...

And Big Bear and Baldy aren't exactly the Alps.

Did you see the Baldy result last year?
That climb is harder than anything you face in Romandie. It's even by far harder than Mende in Paris Nice, where Van Garderen already dropped as a stone by such bad@ss climbers as Lieuwe Westra

 

[Race Radio]

But TJ was one of those 40...

And Big Bear and Baldy aren't exactly the Alps.

Baldy is much harder then it looks on paper. Some very steep sections and a ton of climbing. It is a very hard day

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Baldy is much harder then it looks on paper. Some very steep sections and a ton of climbing. It is a very hard day

I remember last year when Baldy&Baldy were owning so hard on Mt.Baldy they looked like a bunch of testicles teabagging the sky. (© the guy who made the days-of-our-Lance videos)

 

[El Oso]

It will be interesting to see how much effort Garmin put into protecting Zabriskie's jersey tomorrow. Before the race Vaughters was saying that this year everything else would be secondary to trying to win the GC, but this is the biggest race on their home soil so it's hard to see them not working for the race leader.

I don't see them putting in too much tomorrow, their best cards are both Talansky (0:48) and, gasp, Tommy D (1:07). As much as I love DZ, he won't be able to hold off TJVG, Gesink or Velits on Baldy. I would think they should keep the status quo tomorrow and drop the gloves on Saturday.

 

[Spine Concept]

I remember last year when Baldy&Baldy were owning so hard on Mt.Baldy they looked like a bunch of testicles teabagging the sky. (© the guy who made the days-of-our-Lance videos)

That made me lol.

 

[El Oso]

Baldy is much harder then it looks on paper. Some very steep sections and a ton of climbing. It is a very hard day

+1. I was at the very top last year and everybody except the Baldies and autobus looked spent.

 

[Zam_Olyas]

today's from kittel camera.

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

Still want TJ, Talansky and Danielson to do well...

I was up for Talanksky followed by TJVG, as it would be a breakthrough win for them, but I hadn't actually realised that it would also be the biggest win of Gesink's career.

 

[Spine Concept]

I was up for Talanksky followed by TJVG, as it would be a breakthrough win for them, but I hadn't actually realised that it would also be the biggest win of Gesink's career.

I actually rate Talansky higher than TJVG in terms of potential. Hope he goes well the coming days.

 

[patrick767]

Take that bet against Horner. Give you even 1:3 odds

heh heh... no way. I asked just to see if anyone thought Horner could do it. I think he blew it too badly today and almost certainly took himself out of GC contention.

 

[Don Johnson]

Beautiful ride by Gesink, and with a strong team could win this GT, Gesinks' first. Really really good to see Gesink and Rabobank do well, big sponsors of cycling and growing banking concern in agricultural California.
Hoping Robert wins overall.

 

[Spine Concept]

heh heh... no way. I asked just to see if anyone thought Horner could do it. I think he blew it too badly today and almost certainly took himself out of GC contention.

Don't think anyone in their right mind would take that bet.

 

[Havetts]

Beautiful ride by Gesink, and with a strong team could win this GT, Gesinks' first. Really really good to see Gesink and Rabobank do well, big sponsors of cycling and growing banking concern in agricultural California.
Hoping Robert wins overall.

Ok.. whoever you are reveal yourself..

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

I actually rate Talansky higher than TJVG in terms of potential. Hope he goes well the coming days.

They are interesting to rate against each other: Just a couple of month apart in age, both very strong TT guys who can also climb. There has been more hype about TJVG but there's very little to choose between them at this point.

Garmin did well to get Talansky as a stagiare in 2010. I suspect that he costs them a lot less than BMC are paying TJVG. Vaughters has been predicting big things for him.

 

[Don Johnson]

Ok.. whoever you are reveal yourself..

Serious, Robert is a great guy, I saw him riding around here a while back, riding with his Rabo banks, he speaks English well, and they all come around even Kuiper, Pedro Horrillo, Boom etc.
About GT, just a pun. But, I thought the Europeans watched this race seriously.
About time that a European whose team has business concerns here wins, great for the sport.

 

[Havetts]

Serious, Robert is a great guy, I saw him riding around here a while back, riding with his Rabo banks, he speaks English well, and they all come around even Kuiper, Pedro Horrillo, Boom etc.
About GT, just a pun. But, I thought the Europeans watched this race seriously.
About time that a European whose team has business concerns here wins, great for the sport.

I was just kidding . Gesink likes riding in America, no press bothering him and he can just have fun and ride, I personally hope he can pull it off too. Its been a while since us Gesink fans have had something to be "proud" about .