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

[Rocksteady]

video is live 2 hours early, but no commentary.

Showing the women finishes. Kristen Armstrong finished in under 40 mins. Wonder how long that will last with the guys.

Edit: maybe some guy just hacked the tracker with his home video.

 

[iZnoGouD]

Some American wins this. Sagan to do fairly well.

No way Machado wins this, he was crap in all TT's this year.

i believe he will win this one, he very good

 

[cineteq]

1. David Zabriskie (USA), Garmin-Cervélo, at 30:3592
2. Levi Leipheimer (USA), Team RadioShack, at 14
3. Tejay Van Garderen (USA), HTC-Highroad, at 40
4. Peter Velits (SVK), HTC-Highroad, at 48
5. Maarten Tjallingii (NED), Rabobank Cycling Team, at 49
6. Christopher Horner (USA), Team RadioShack, at 51
7. Jakob Fuglsang (DEN), Leopard-Trek, at 53
8. Jeremy Vennell (NZL), Bissell Pro Cycling, at 59
9. Rory Sutherland (AUS), UnitedHealthcare, at 59
10. Christian Vandevelde (USA), Garmin-Cervélo, at 01:01
11. Andrew Talansky (USA), Garmin-Cervélo, at 01:10
12. Danny Pate (USA), HTC-Highroad, at 01:10
13. Tom Danielson (USA), Garmin-Cervélo, at 01:13
14. Peter Sagan (SVK), Liquigas-Doimo, at 01:15
15. Linus Gerdemann (GER), Leopard-Trek, at 01:27

Not so bad performance by Peter Sagan last year ...

He wasn't even motivated for the GC

 

[Zam_Olyas]

AmgenTourofCali ‏@AmgenTourofCali
The 18.4m/29.7km TT course is not a particularly technical but the finishing hill has been described as considerably difficult

we will have to wait and see.

 

[Califootman]

Wow! They should have had Kristin Armstrong start 5 minutes after the previous woman in order to maintain some level of suspense (well, perhaps suspense is the wrong word... more like anticipation). I felt bad for the women finishing after her.

Wish they kept the video going... didn't they have raw video without commentary for entire stages in previous years?

 

[kukiniloa]

I was kind of shocked to learn the TT was in Bakersfield this year...

Perhaps they don't have video because they don't want to show how bad air quality is in Bakersfield?

Having been in and through Bakersfield many times I feel so sorry for the people live there. Of course, the gas is cheap, but the plentiful refineries keep the air kind of muddy most of the time.

Actually, just checked the air quality conditions on weather.gov - it's not too bad, with ozone concentrations of only around 54ppb.

But still, for pro athletes operating at the upper range of VO2, it can't be healthy.

 

[benpounder]

Perhaps they don't have video because they don't want to show how bad air quality is in Bakersfield?.

And we all know that the air quality in London, Paris, and Milan is sooo much better...

 

[Mellow Velo]

AmgenTourofCali ‏@AmgenTourofCali
The 18.4m/29.7km TT course is not a particularly technical but the finishing hill has been described as considerably difficult
we will have to wait and see.

The 2 Pees said something similar, yesterday, but looking at the AToC's terrific profile maps, it looks to be about 70 metres up, over 1.5 miles, which sounds more like somebody put a speed bump on top of another speed bump.

 

[theyoungest]

The 2 Pees said something similar, yesterday, but looking at the AToC's terrific profile maps, it looks to be about 70 metres up, over 1.5 miles, which sounds more like somebody put a speed bump on top of another speed bump.

In fairness, if you look at this video, the final stretch looks pretty hard.

 

[Froome19]

Apparently it is primarily the last 800m which are meant to be hard and apparently they are called the China Grad

This course will suit the exprienced traditional Time triallists who can keep in their saddles and get the most out of their positioning as there are limited corners or bumps. Of course the rider in this field with the best TT position and who logically this course is suited for it Leipheimer yet he is supposedly ill....

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

The 2 Pees said something similar, yesterday, but looking at the AToC's terrific profile maps, it looks to be about 70 metres up, over 1.5 miles, which sounds more like somebody put a speed bump on top of another speed bump.

A hill at the end would be good for Gesink though
Although I should probably not get my hopes up

 

[theyoungest]

A hill at the end would be good for Gesink though
Although I should probably not get my hopes up

From your reactions it seems your hopes are already pretty high.

Personally I think a course with a hill in it doesn't suit him that much anymore.

 

[Froome19]

A hill at the end would be good for Gesink though
Although I should probably not get my hopes up

In all honesty I would be surprised if Gesink does not finish top10 on this stage.

 

[Mellow Velo]

In fairness, if you look at this video, the final stretch looks pretty hard.

Well, I picked Talansky, so I hope so.
Tracker still dead?

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Well, I picked Talansky, so I hope so.
Tracker still dead?

the tracker is as alive as Californian Tarmac. So not so much. There's info but no video

 

[Rocksteady]

the tracker is as alive as Californian Tarmac. So not so much. There's info but no video

Can someone explain the Tarmac joke?? I must have missed it somewhere along the way.

 

[kukiniloa]

And we all know that the air quality in London, Paris, and Milan is sooo much better...

It depends on the weather....particulates, nitric oxides, hydrocarbons, ozone, all are different...air quality could well be worse in the Central Valley - especially near Bakersfield...been there?

but ozone is a nasty irritant, as it is a strong oxidizer, and a real problem in the Central Valley.

 

[Zam_Olyas]

Can someone explain the Tarmac joke?? I must have missed it somewhere along the way.

okay who wants to explain it? i can't because i am on tarmac watch again.

 

[Fetisoff]

Can someone explain the Tarmac joke?? I must have missed it somewhere along the way.

So did I, just had it explained to me today. I guess it started with this instant classic by BR

http://forum.cyclingnews.com/showthread.php?p=866290#post866290

You might go back a couple pages to page 3 just to get a better feel for him drooling all over everything about this race though

 

[Fetisoff]

Where is BR when you need him?

On the tarmac would be my guess

 

[classicomano]

Cyclingnews' forum very own Meme.

 

[Froome19]

Travis Meyer (Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team) finishes with 38:53
He passed 4 riders and it seemed like he pushed hard in the 2nd half.

yet is will very likely be broken very soon as guys like: Kristijan Koren (Liquigas-Cannondale) who was 20 seconds ahead of him at the intermediate.

 

[gatete]

are there any feeds?

 

[Rocksteady]

So did I, just had it explained to me today. I guess it started with this instant classic by BR

http://forum.cyclingnews.com/showthread.php?p=866290#post866290

You might go back a couple pages to page 3 just to get a better feel for him drooling all over everything about this race though

much obliged. Makes much more sense now...

 

[Froome19]

Where is BR when you need him?

Fixing the Live Tracker.