2013 Tour de Suisse, Stage 7: Meilen - La Punt 206 Km

[Kazistuta]

Funny to see Andy and Frank mentioned in the same sentence again regarding a race....oh wait..

Kreuziger, Mollema & Pinot are the obvious names, Pozzovivo if he has anything left in his tired giro legs. Curious to see how Van Garderens role today, if not babysitting Frank he should be able to contend ftw.

 

[theyoungest]

Let's see...

Mathias Frank - Not a real bet at this level.

Roman Kreuziger and Rui Costa - Allround guys likely to suffer in a 30 kms climb.

Bauke Mollema - Puncheur. Lacks endurance, not a stage for him.

Dan Martin - Uphill finisher. He doesn't have the engine. Lost minutes with the favorites in the last kilometers of Port Ainé (Catalunya)

Thibaut Pinot - The only real climber of the Top10. Great recovery at this part of the race and good resistency and climbing skills. So he is the man for the win in spite of the descent.

Why do you keep on mentioning Mollema as a puncheur who lacks endurance? He started out as a pure climber, who later found out he had a decent punch in the hills.

If you give Mollema a good wheel to follow, he'll hold on for hours.

 

[gooner]

Lol, he climbed as fast as Rodriguez and Quintana despite being in the break and going solo from the bottom. How that is proof of not having an "engine" (whatever it means in this context) I have no idea. If he was in that form here he would win comfortably.

I think the context he means is he faded towards the backend of the stage from a stamina point of view. I still don't know how anyone can say that here like you just said. He dropped everyone else in the break on the climb from far out gaining time on the chase and had to do all the work for the remaining part of the stage on his own. It was only to be expected that Rodriguez and Quintana were going to eat into a bit of the gap in the last kms considering the effects of all this.

I wouldn't rule him out for today.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Why do you keep on mentioning Mollema as a puncheur who lacks endurance? He started out as a pure climber, who later found out he had a decent punch in the hills.

If you give Mollema a good wheel to follow, he'll hold on for hours.

effectively we will have the battle of the engine-less GC riders today.....

 

[SafeBet]

I'd like Scarponi to get in the break, he really needs a win to get some confidence back.
As for the GC contenders, I'm not sure Pinot has what it takes to drop everybody else. He's been racing quite conservatively thus far.

Mollema and Roman K have something more I think.

 

[Miburo]

Kreuziger will set up his tds overall win here, don't think he'll win the stage but i doubt frank can hold on to him.

I wonder what andy will do, must be his test day

 

[boringboy]

TST expecting a stong ride by Roman and they are going for the overall victory, so I would say Kreuziger or Mollema

 

[Frosty]

Mollema and Martin did ok on stage 9 of the 2011 Vuelta, finishing 1st and 2nd.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/vuelta-a-espana-2011/stage-9

Andy to go in the break, probably do a bit better than recent form but nothing special at all.

I think Kreuziger will take the stage.

 

[jens_attacks]

expect big things from matthias frank, this is his race to lose. climbs like an angel

also i think today it will be the comeback to life of andy, he will be up front. i don't know if from the breakaway though

 

[Maaaaaaaarten]

TGBM to attack in the last km of the climb and take it home in the descend.

 

[theyoungest]

I'd like Scarponi to get in the break, he really needs a win to get some confidence back.
As for the GC contenders, I'm not sure Pinot has what it takes to drop everybody else. He's been racing quite conservatively thus far.

Mollema and Roman K have something more I think.

Mollema was suffering like a dog on the stage Sagan won. Maybe it's the altitude after-effects, but he'll need to have better legs today.

 

[auscyclefan94]

Frank is being underestimated. He has ridden very strongly in past editions of the Tour de Suisse where in many cases he has outclimbed some very good opposition. Frank will so very well tonight. I don't see why Kreuziger is such a sure thing. I don't rate him at all in the high mountains.

 

[hoerpi]

I forgot about Izagirre Jr., if he can hold on in the climb he'll probably win since he's an excellent decender. Not sure about his climbing atm though...

 

[theyoungest]

Frank is being underestimated. He has ridden very strongly in past editions of the Tour de Suisse where in many cases he has outclimbed some very good opposition. Frank will so very well tonight. I don't see why Kreuziger is such a sure thing. I don't rate him at all in the high mountains.

Kreuziger can do very well for one or two mountain stages, then he tends to fade away. We've had one and a half mountain stage so far, so I think he'll do alright.

 

[Sylvester]

I forgot about Izagirre Jr., if he can hold on in the climb he'll probably win since he's an excellent decender. Not sure about his climbing atm though...

He won't be able to climb with the top guns if he doesn't get a headstart, but from a break he would be a very good bet. Both Izagirre's are great descenders.

But I actually agree with ACF, I can see Frank staying with Kreuziger today and holding on to his leader's jersey.

 

[Kokoso]

Kreuziger can do very well for one or two mountain stages, then he tends to fade away.

Not sure about this, last Giro he recovered pretty well for the epic stage win. And there would be other examples.

I!ve sacrificed a ram for Cyclogod, hope it'll turn to be enough to take GC.

 

[saneguy]

Andy to go in the break, probably do a bit better than recent form but nothing special at all.

I think Kreuziger will take the stage.

+1 - totally agree. Andy has been saying he will put in a fight. But I still dont see that happening (As much as I would love to see that) but reality is its not happening for him yet.

Kreuziger or Rui Costa for should take this stage and maybe the yellow jersey as well. We'll see what Frank is really made up of today...

 

[Netserk]

Mathias Frank is riding for BMC so I will say he will take the win.

Fixed! We all know this is the reason

 

[happytramp]

Dan Martin - Uphill finisher. He doesn't have the engine. Lost minutes with the favorites in the last kilometers of Port Ainé (Catalunya)

Whaa? He'd been a break all day and attacked 13k from the finish. The chasers had all been sheltered in the peloton. If anything I'd say that stage proves he's got a decent chance.

 

[Taxus4a]

Mollema and Martin did ok on stage 9 of the 2011 Vuelta, finishing 1st and 2nd.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/vuelta-a-espana-2011/stage-9

Andy to go in the break, probably do a bit better than recent form but nothing special at all.

I think Kreuziger will take the stage.

It depends of how he go in the break. He was impressive the day he did second behind De Gendt, pulling all day and attaching at the end.
If he just go in a break, but they are catched... nothing special...
he must show strengt in some way today.
I would prefer he did not get the breakaway to compare better with the GC contenders at the end.

Mollema is for me the stronger, but Kreuziger and Dan Martin could do it very well, as well as Pinot.

 

[webvan]

TGBM to attack in the last km of the climb and take it home in the descend.

The Great Bauke Mollema ? ;-)

Pinot FTW, dude's got a big "engine" !

 

[maltiv]

This climb is perfect for Pinot, he should win here. Most of his competitors, such as Martin, Mollema and Kreuziger, are better in shorter climbs. I doubt any of them will be able to keep up with Pinot if he has decent form.

 

[search]

This climb is perfect for Pinot, he should win here. Most of his competitors, such as Martin, Mollema and Kreuziger, are better in shorter climbs. I doubt any of them will be able to keep up with Pinot if he has decent form.

the descent is not too technical, but I think he'd still need about ~half a minute to everyone else for being able to win the stage. I don't think he can do that.

Gesink lost ~20 seconds in the descent when he won the stage, and I would say Pinot is even worse.

 

[Taxus4a]

This climb is perfect for Pinot, he should win here. Most of his competitors, such as Martin, Mollema and Kreuziger, are better in shorter climbs. I doubt any of them will be able to keep up with Pinot if he has decent form.

All of them are good in long climbs. For sure Dan and Bauke are quite fast for small groups, but they are climbers, climbers for long climbs. They are similar to Cunego in that way.

If Pinot beate them is becouse is better today, but not for qualities.

 

[webbie146]

I really really hope to see Andy in action today.