webvan said:
I was referring to that finish in my previous post. I didn't miss it. It's a short, steep climb which plays to his strength. It's hardly Onion Valley Rd
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I was referring to that finish in my previous post. I didn't miss it. It's a short, steep climb which plays to his strength. It's hardly Onion Valley Rd
The Plediadian
BANNED
18-Valve. (pithy) said:
Onion Valley Road has been ommited from the Tour of California, it is just to tough for the Europeans, excepting of course Andy and Andraes Kloden/Jens.
If they had to ride the man roads of California, there would be major complaints of "to hard" to the UCI.
The Plediadian said:
Complaints from the Americans who also want to peak for the Tour maybe.
It's not too hard if you use it as a training ride and don't contest the stage or the overall.
airstream
BANNED
I should admit Horner is the best climber in the world when it comes to ToC.
I'm looking forward to the Tour to see Bruyneel's tactics. Very likely, Kloeden will fight for top-3 himself, without working for Andy untill the Pyrenees at least. He never gives up his chances at the Tour. Even towing Vino on Tigne stage, he saved his own position primarily and dropped the teammate on several occasions. However Klodi was strong, doubtfully he's able to drill the peloton up to 6-7 best, that's why i guess it would be foolish to kill him with such a work. Clearly, it would be magnificent if they repeated Col du Romme escape three together on the stage 17, for example...
I'm looking forward to the Tour to see Bruyneel's tactics. Very likely, Kloeden will fight for top-3 himself, without working for Andy untill the Pyrenees at least. He never gives up his chances at the Tour. Even towing Vino on Tigne stage, he saved his own position primarily and dropped the teammate on several occasions. However Klodi was strong, doubtfully he's able to drill the peloton up to 6-7 best, that's why i guess it would be foolish to kill him with such a work. Clearly, it would be magnificent if they repeated Col du Romme escape three together on the stage 17, for example...
The Plediadian said:
Yup, that's the reason they won't do it, because the European pro péloton has no chance on a road as hard as Onion Valley Road. They've never seen a climb of such statistics. The US domestic pros would wipe the floor with them.
After losing his climbing legs in previous years, Klodi now seems to have lost his ITT legs -> http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/volta-ao-algarve-2012/stage-5-itt/results
The Plediadian
BANNED
webvan said:
do you think that this small race in Portugal was an objective for Andreas or Andy?
If your logic is correct what is happening with Gustav Laarson?
I don't think he's lost them. It's still pretty early in the season. And isn't this his first race of the year?
Pink As A Pig - Part One
In 2012 Andreas Kloden would fly.
And at the Giro d’Italia he would be singing, “Ain’t no mountain high enough, to keep me from getting to you babe.”
That’s in reference to the pink jersey. La, la, la la, la.
He wasn’t one of the main contenders. Not in this high mountains heavy, time-trial lite grand tour.
The start was simple enough. A prologue. And Klodi produced a reasonable result. Fourth placing; fifteen seconds in arrears of team mate Fabian Cancerella. Andreas had performed better than all the rated GC riders.
Little happened over the next two stages and so it was the stage 4 team time trial that had the next major say. And when the smoke cleared the splits were all in favour of the RSN (or whatever they’re called – actually I’ll go with Leopard-trek) boys. Largely thanks to the work done by the big Swiss, the team now held the top four positions in the overall standings. But all the mountains were still to come.
There was a pleasant early surprise for Kloden. With Cancerella unable to hang on during the modest stage 6 parcours into Porto Sant’Elpidio (an elp rather than an alp), Andreas moved into the pink jersey. It was an extra proud day for the German considering that this was the first leaders jersey he had ever worn at a Grand Tour.
Kloden had no problems holding onto his jersey on the following stage, which saw the first mountain top finish at Rocca di Cambio, though whether 17.5 kms @ 4.5% should be termed a mountain is debateable. The only rider of note to crack was Brajkovic. His supporters continued to say that night that Jani would strongly contend in a grand tour…one day.
Stage 8 was a little more interesting as the riders tackled the Colle Molella in the run in to the finish. 9.7 kms @ 6.1% wouldn’t scare most GC riders not named Jani, but with a couple of kms at around 10% late on the climb, attacks were likely. And so it was that Rujano accelerated and gained a gap near the top. The Italians Scarponi and Basso were the best responders, and working together on the flat 4 km finish, they were able to reel the Venezuelan back in. Kloden clearly was dropped, but kept his cool, reducing his thirty second deficit at the top to only twenty at the finish, arriving at the line with Gadret and Kreuziger for company.
Andreas continued to ride well in pink, comfortably keeping with the climbers on the seven km hilltop finish to Assisi on stage ten, and then handling the Valico La Mola with no problems during stage twelve.
Stage 14 saw the first test for the GC men, though not necessarily a great deal was expected to happen on the final climbs of the Col De Joux (which was a little plainer than its namesake) and Cervinia, given the rather shallow gradients. But Basso turned back the clock, and Robot-Basso was reborn.
It may not have been steep, but over the final 67kms of the stage, 50 were uphill. Slowly but surely the peleton became smaller and smaller as the pack made its way up the 22km penultimate climb. By the ascent, approximately thirty riders remained in contact.
And then on Cervinia Basso took control. It was fairly early on during the 28km @ 5.1% challenge that Ivan lost his final teammates, but over the final 17kms he simply drilled it.
He didn’t distance every rider, but a good many fell by the wayside; including the pink jersey. Kloden was not on a great day, and even with Jacob Fulgsang offering some support, he would lose the lead of the race by a mere two seconds, which meant that he’d lost 1:25 on the stage. Ivan had made up virtually all of the lost time of the prologue and team time trial on a single mountain top finish.
And the three that were scheduled to come were considered much tougher.
When Basso took over there were seventeen riders in his slipstream. At the top there would be just two. Rujano stuck, but he was over two minutes back after a poor first week. Only Scarponi – now third on GC after taking the stage victory – appeared to be a serious threat.
Stage 15 featured climbing and descending for almost the entire final 100kms, including another MTF on Piani dei Resinelli. Like the previous stage, it was a bit more Touresque than Girolike (not that cycling social commentator The Hitch liked the comparison to the hills of France – he refused to call them mountains), with the climbs being long, but not torturously steep. But once again Basso was able to do the damage, and this time he distanced everyone, gaining twelve seconds on Scarponi. Kloden put in a solid ride, limiting his losses to twenty-nine seconds and remaining second in the overall classification.
In 2012 Andreas Kloden would fly.
And at the Giro d’Italia he would be singing, “Ain’t no mountain high enough, to keep me from getting to you babe.”
That’s in reference to the pink jersey. La, la, la la, la.
He wasn’t one of the main contenders. Not in this high mountains heavy, time-trial lite grand tour.
The start was simple enough. A prologue. And Klodi produced a reasonable result. Fourth placing; fifteen seconds in arrears of team mate Fabian Cancerella. Andreas had performed better than all the rated GC riders.
Little happened over the next two stages and so it was the stage 4 team time trial that had the next major say. And when the smoke cleared the splits were all in favour of the RSN (or whatever they’re called – actually I’ll go with Leopard-trek) boys. Largely thanks to the work done by the big Swiss, the team now held the top four positions in the overall standings. But all the mountains were still to come.
There was a pleasant early surprise for Kloden. With Cancerella unable to hang on during the modest stage 6 parcours into Porto Sant’Elpidio (an elp rather than an alp), Andreas moved into the pink jersey. It was an extra proud day for the German considering that this was the first leaders jersey he had ever worn at a Grand Tour.
Kloden had no problems holding onto his jersey on the following stage, which saw the first mountain top finish at Rocca di Cambio, though whether 17.5 kms @ 4.5% should be termed a mountain is debateable. The only rider of note to crack was Brajkovic. His supporters continued to say that night that Jani would strongly contend in a grand tour…one day.
Stage 8 was a little more interesting as the riders tackled the Colle Molella in the run in to the finish. 9.7 kms @ 6.1% wouldn’t scare most GC riders not named Jani, but with a couple of kms at around 10% late on the climb, attacks were likely. And so it was that Rujano accelerated and gained a gap near the top. The Italians Scarponi and Basso were the best responders, and working together on the flat 4 km finish, they were able to reel the Venezuelan back in. Kloden clearly was dropped, but kept his cool, reducing his thirty second deficit at the top to only twenty at the finish, arriving at the line with Gadret and Kreuziger for company.
Andreas continued to ride well in pink, comfortably keeping with the climbers on the seven km hilltop finish to Assisi on stage ten, and then handling the Valico La Mola with no problems during stage twelve.
Stage 14 saw the first test for the GC men, though not necessarily a great deal was expected to happen on the final climbs of the Col De Joux (which was a little plainer than its namesake) and Cervinia, given the rather shallow gradients. But Basso turned back the clock, and Robot-Basso was reborn.
It may not have been steep, but over the final 67kms of the stage, 50 were uphill. Slowly but surely the peleton became smaller and smaller as the pack made its way up the 22km penultimate climb. By the ascent, approximately thirty riders remained in contact.
And then on Cervinia Basso took control. It was fairly early on during the 28km @ 5.1% challenge that Ivan lost his final teammates, but over the final 17kms he simply drilled it.
He didn’t distance every rider, but a good many fell by the wayside; including the pink jersey. Kloden was not on a great day, and even with Jacob Fulgsang offering some support, he would lose the lead of the race by a mere two seconds, which meant that he’d lost 1:25 on the stage. Ivan had made up virtually all of the lost time of the prologue and team time trial on a single mountain top finish.
And the three that were scheduled to come were considered much tougher.
When Basso took over there were seventeen riders in his slipstream. At the top there would be just two. Rujano stuck, but he was over two minutes back after a poor first week. Only Scarponi – now third on GC after taking the stage victory – appeared to be a serious threat.
Stage 15 featured climbing and descending for almost the entire final 100kms, including another MTF on Piani dei Resinelli. Like the previous stage, it was a bit more Touresque than Girolike (not that cycling social commentator The Hitch liked the comparison to the hills of France – he refused to call them mountains), with the climbs being long, but not torturously steep. But once again Basso was able to do the damage, and this time he distanced everyone, gaining twelve seconds on Scarponi. Kloden put in a solid ride, limiting his losses to twenty-nine seconds and remaining second in the overall classification.
Pink As A Pig - Part Two
There had been one major implementation just prior to the Giro, as far as doping procedures were concerned. As a result of the fall out from the Alberto Contador case, where the Spaniard had claimed to have digested clenbuterol whilst eating meat, the radical measure was taken to ban all meat products, as they (the Giro organisers) believed Contador’s story, and thus wanted any other such rider to avoid such hardluckship. AC fangirl LaFlorecita was the first to second this motion. Numerous vegetarians also managed to raise a smirk.
Most of the incline on the final climb of stage 16 made the Rocca di Cambio look like the Zoncolan. However, the final 5kms were a test and had numerous riders dangling off the back; many of which succumbed – again to the relentless work of Robot-Basso – and lost even more time. But Andreas Kloden was not one of those. And in a fitting place for such a milestone, it was Kloden who sprinted to the stage victory, his first in a grand tour.
And why was it so fitting? Well the start town of Limone sul Garda was known for its long living population, with approximately 1.2% of its population have clocked up a century, so that may have given Grandpa Klodi an extra boost of good feeling, with the delusion of grandeur that he really wasn’t that old. And then there was the finish in Pfalzen, where despite being located in Italy, 95% of the people spoke German as their first language. And Kloden is happy to speak to people in German, so long as they’re not reporters.
Stage 17 threatened to blow the race to smithereens, with multiple of climbs on the menu, and many of these were real Giro mountains. Basso was expected to seal his victory in Cortina D’Ampezzo. The theory was that the final Dolomite stages would simply be dessert, or perhaps only an after dinner mint.
The final sections of the stage saw three brutal climbs come in quick succession. There was the Passo Duran; 12.5kms @ 7.9%. Then the Forcella Staulanza; 12.4kms @ 6.8%. Finally came the feared Passo Giau; 9.8kms @ 9.4%! And there were just 17kms of descending to the finish.
But that would be where part of the controversy came in.
The earlier climb of the day – the Valparola – was ascended without incident. However, on the lengthy descent there was drama. Leopard-trek rider Jacob Fulgsang, who was still a contender for a coveted top ten GC finish mind you, came crashing down. He didn’t seem particularly hurt, bouncing back up and onto his bike in virtually no time, but later it would be revealed that he had gone through almost an entire packet of band aids, and after lengthy communications between the heads of Leopard-trek (who were also in contact with their own riders) and the Giro organizers, it was decided that the stage should be neutralized….you know, for the safety of the riders. Such a descent finish was just far too dangerous. It seemed that Fabian Cancerella had had a great say in proceedings, and after catching up to the peleton at the bottom of the Forcella – he had of course been dropped on the Duran – he rode to the front and put up his hands in a stop sign motion. And that was that. Because as we all know, nobody argues with Fabian.
Many riders shook their heads in disgust at the finish line, but one who gave a tremendous smirk was Mark Cavendish. He simply couldn’t resist this opportunity to win an actual mountain stage, and so he went against the wishes of Fabian and sprinted to the victory. But again there was a showing that Cancerella rules, for after a protest by Leopard-trek, it was announced by the Giro that there was no winner of the stage, and that all results were invalid.
There were some curious comments made by certain riders post stage too. In the aftermath of all the soft pedaling, Andreas Kloden declared; “I am disappointed in today’s outcome, for it was my grand plan to attack on the Giau and destroy my rivals. I love climbs of real substance.” A German reporter wouldn’t let him off that easily, saying, “but didn’t you crack on the Giau in 2008?” Kloden of course refused to even acknowledge him.
But following stage 17 there was a far bigger bombshell dropped. For it was revealed that pink jersey wearer Ivan Basso had tested pozitive in Falzes.
He was the victim of what would become known as Operation Pig-out. He’d succumbed to a piece of pork – enjoyed with a knodel, which is kinda like a dumpling – during dinner after stage sixteen. Basso did not hold back at the press conference.
“I may be a pig, but at least I am not a phantom.”
Who knows who he was talking about.
And the reason for why Ivan had taken the meat was never revealed, so numerous rumours did the rounds of the cyclingnewsforum. The most popular of these were as follows: Some felt that an overconfident Basso had taken onboard too much beer during the festivities and lost his faculties, whilst others felt the opposite, and posed the question, how could a rider possibly be confident after being out sprinted by Andreas Kloden? These fans felt that Ivan may have therefore been concerned that he was weakening in the final week, and thus digested the pork as a last resort.
Remember that this was a new age of cycling, where blood doping was a thing of the past, but where pigs could make you fly.
Or so the story went.
There had been one major implementation just prior to the Giro, as far as doping procedures were concerned. As a result of the fall out from the Alberto Contador case, where the Spaniard had claimed to have digested clenbuterol whilst eating meat, the radical measure was taken to ban all meat products, as they (the Giro organisers) believed Contador’s story, and thus wanted any other such rider to avoid such hardluckship. AC fangirl LaFlorecita was the first to second this motion. Numerous vegetarians also managed to raise a smirk.
Most of the incline on the final climb of stage 16 made the Rocca di Cambio look like the Zoncolan. However, the final 5kms were a test and had numerous riders dangling off the back; many of which succumbed – again to the relentless work of Robot-Basso – and lost even more time. But Andreas Kloden was not one of those. And in a fitting place for such a milestone, it was Kloden who sprinted to the stage victory, his first in a grand tour.
And why was it so fitting? Well the start town of Limone sul Garda was known for its long living population, with approximately 1.2% of its population have clocked up a century, so that may have given Grandpa Klodi an extra boost of good feeling, with the delusion of grandeur that he really wasn’t that old. And then there was the finish in Pfalzen, where despite being located in Italy, 95% of the people spoke German as their first language. And Kloden is happy to speak to people in German, so long as they’re not reporters.
Stage 17 threatened to blow the race to smithereens, with multiple of climbs on the menu, and many of these were real Giro mountains. Basso was expected to seal his victory in Cortina D’Ampezzo. The theory was that the final Dolomite stages would simply be dessert, or perhaps only an after dinner mint.
The final sections of the stage saw three brutal climbs come in quick succession. There was the Passo Duran; 12.5kms @ 7.9%. Then the Forcella Staulanza; 12.4kms @ 6.8%. Finally came the feared Passo Giau; 9.8kms @ 9.4%! And there were just 17kms of descending to the finish.
But that would be where part of the controversy came in.
The earlier climb of the day – the Valparola – was ascended without incident. However, on the lengthy descent there was drama. Leopard-trek rider Jacob Fulgsang, who was still a contender for a coveted top ten GC finish mind you, came crashing down. He didn’t seem particularly hurt, bouncing back up and onto his bike in virtually no time, but later it would be revealed that he had gone through almost an entire packet of band aids, and after lengthy communications between the heads of Leopard-trek (who were also in contact with their own riders) and the Giro organizers, it was decided that the stage should be neutralized….you know, for the safety of the riders. Such a descent finish was just far too dangerous. It seemed that Fabian Cancerella had had a great say in proceedings, and after catching up to the peleton at the bottom of the Forcella – he had of course been dropped on the Duran – he rode to the front and put up his hands in a stop sign motion. And that was that. Because as we all know, nobody argues with Fabian.
Many riders shook their heads in disgust at the finish line, but one who gave a tremendous smirk was Mark Cavendish. He simply couldn’t resist this opportunity to win an actual mountain stage, and so he went against the wishes of Fabian and sprinted to the victory. But again there was a showing that Cancerella rules, for after a protest by Leopard-trek, it was announced by the Giro that there was no winner of the stage, and that all results were invalid.
There were some curious comments made by certain riders post stage too. In the aftermath of all the soft pedaling, Andreas Kloden declared; “I am disappointed in today’s outcome, for it was my grand plan to attack on the Giau and destroy my rivals. I love climbs of real substance.” A German reporter wouldn’t let him off that easily, saying, “but didn’t you crack on the Giau in 2008?” Kloden of course refused to even acknowledge him.
But following stage 17 there was a far bigger bombshell dropped. For it was revealed that pink jersey wearer Ivan Basso had tested pozitive in Falzes.
He was the victim of what would become known as Operation Pig-out. He’d succumbed to a piece of pork – enjoyed with a knodel, which is kinda like a dumpling – during dinner after stage sixteen. Basso did not hold back at the press conference.
“I may be a pig, but at least I am not a phantom.”
Who knows who he was talking about.
And the reason for why Ivan had taken the meat was never revealed, so numerous rumours did the rounds of the cyclingnewsforum. The most popular of these were as follows: Some felt that an overconfident Basso had taken onboard too much beer during the festivities and lost his faculties, whilst others felt the opposite, and posed the question, how could a rider possibly be confident after being out sprinted by Andreas Kloden? These fans felt that Ivan may have therefore been concerned that he was weakening in the final week, and thus digested the pork as a last resort.
Remember that this was a new age of cycling, where blood doping was a thing of the past, but where pigs could make you fly.
Or so the story went.
Pink As A Pig - Part Three
Stage 18 was flat and unadventurous. There were no stalemates, and Andreas enjoyed his day back in pink with aplomb. TV cameras caught he and Fabian sharing many a laugh along the way.
But the giggling couldn’t last long – surely – as the next two stages were brutal MTF’s, and Michelle Scarponi was less than a minute behind on GC.
The final climb of stage 19 – the Alpe di Pampeago – was ridiculously steep.
7.7kms @ 9.9%. Oh yes indeedy.
But the riders would awake to freezing conditions, and it would soon be revealed that the stage would be cut 75kms short, as a result of too much snow at the peaks of the final three climbs. And so the stage would finish on the Passo Manghen; tough at 20.5kms @ 7.4%, but the short stage may give the ‘dodgy’ climbers a chance to limit their losses.
From the Leopard-trek team bus, Klodi was heard to be singing, “I’m dreaming of a white Christmas.”
Rujano spiced the race up on the Manghen, while Scarponi did his best to keep in contact. The rest of the pack splintered, including Kloden. Nevertheless, he did a good job to reduce the damage to 1:44 to Jose at the finish, and 1:34 to Scarponi, but one wonders just how much time Andreas would have lost if the stage had been run as originally planned. The German placed ninth on the stage and slipped to second in the general classification, with the Italian now forty-seven seconds to the good, and with more mountains to come tomorrow.
So it was all but over. The best that Klodi could hope for was a spot on the podium. Or was it?
Stage 20 was a nightmare, with the Mortirolo (11.1kms @ approximately 10.5%!) and Stelvio (24.3kms @7.4%) coming inside the last seventy kms.
And on the Mortirolo it was goodbye to Andreas Kloden. Halfway up the climb he could stick no longer, and pop he went. By the top of the climb he was seventy-five seconds in arrears.
Some daredevil descending – which is what Andreas is of course best known for – did regain him contact with the leaders, but with the Stelvio on the horizon he was set to lose multiple minutes.
But a surprise would await the riders before the commencement of the climb. As they arrived in Le Prese they were greeted with the grandest of gifts. Another shortened stage due to the snow whitening out the Stelvio, but this time without warning. Boom! The stage was over after 177.3kms, and sixteen riders were given the same time.
For Klodi it was very sweet. And in the team bus in the stages aftermath, Andreas could be heard singing a beautiful duet with Johan Bruyneel.
“Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.”
So now all that was left was the 31.5km ITT through the streets of Milan. During it Fulgsang endured a horrendous crash on a particularly sharp corner, but after Jacob had been flown by helicopter to the nearest hospital Fabian declared that, “it is quite clear that the man has a pulse, so it is obviously in the best interests of the race that we continue racing. Cancerella had of course set the fastest time earlier in the day and was all set for the stage win. And meanwhile Andreas Kloden was setting the next best fastest times at every split.
And he took back the 1:34 that he lost to Scarponi on the Manghen, and with it he collected his first ever grand tour victory! Had any win ever been more deserved?
Oh, and the final day contained perfect sunshine….
Oh yes indeedy.
Stage 18 was flat and unadventurous. There were no stalemates, and Andreas enjoyed his day back in pink with aplomb. TV cameras caught he and Fabian sharing many a laugh along the way.
But the giggling couldn’t last long – surely – as the next two stages were brutal MTF’s, and Michelle Scarponi was less than a minute behind on GC.
The final climb of stage 19 – the Alpe di Pampeago – was ridiculously steep.
7.7kms @ 9.9%. Oh yes indeedy.
But the riders would awake to freezing conditions, and it would soon be revealed that the stage would be cut 75kms short, as a result of too much snow at the peaks of the final three climbs. And so the stage would finish on the Passo Manghen; tough at 20.5kms @ 7.4%, but the short stage may give the ‘dodgy’ climbers a chance to limit their losses.
From the Leopard-trek team bus, Klodi was heard to be singing, “I’m dreaming of a white Christmas.”
Rujano spiced the race up on the Manghen, while Scarponi did his best to keep in contact. The rest of the pack splintered, including Kloden. Nevertheless, he did a good job to reduce the damage to 1:44 to Jose at the finish, and 1:34 to Scarponi, but one wonders just how much time Andreas would have lost if the stage had been run as originally planned. The German placed ninth on the stage and slipped to second in the general classification, with the Italian now forty-seven seconds to the good, and with more mountains to come tomorrow.
So it was all but over. The best that Klodi could hope for was a spot on the podium. Or was it?
Stage 20 was a nightmare, with the Mortirolo (11.1kms @ approximately 10.5%!) and Stelvio (24.3kms @7.4%) coming inside the last seventy kms.
And on the Mortirolo it was goodbye to Andreas Kloden. Halfway up the climb he could stick no longer, and pop he went. By the top of the climb he was seventy-five seconds in arrears.
Some daredevil descending – which is what Andreas is of course best known for – did regain him contact with the leaders, but with the Stelvio on the horizon he was set to lose multiple minutes.
But a surprise would await the riders before the commencement of the climb. As they arrived in Le Prese they were greeted with the grandest of gifts. Another shortened stage due to the snow whitening out the Stelvio, but this time without warning. Boom! The stage was over after 177.3kms, and sixteen riders were given the same time.
For Klodi it was very sweet. And in the team bus in the stages aftermath, Andreas could be heard singing a beautiful duet with Johan Bruyneel.
“Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.”
So now all that was left was the 31.5km ITT through the streets of Milan. During it Fulgsang endured a horrendous crash on a particularly sharp corner, but after Jacob had been flown by helicopter to the nearest hospital Fabian declared that, “it is quite clear that the man has a pulse, so it is obviously in the best interests of the race that we continue racing. Cancerella had of course set the fastest time earlier in the day and was all set for the stage win. And meanwhile Andreas Kloden was setting the next best fastest times at every split.
And he took back the 1:34 that he lost to Scarponi on the Manghen, and with it he collected his first ever grand tour victory! Had any win ever been more deserved?
Oh, and the final day contained perfect sunshine….
Oh yes indeedy.
gregrowlerson said:You mean Landis?
Don't know about landis...I always though it was his majesty.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fddOcE4zYXI
big man, pig man, ha ha, charade you are
u well heeled big wheel, ha ha, charade you are
and when your hand is on your heart
you're nearly a good laugh
almost a joker
you're nearly a good laugh
almost worth a quick grin
you like the feel of steel
you're hot stuff with a hat pin
and good fun with a hand gun
you're nearly a laugh
you're nearly a laugh
but you're really a cry.
hey you Whitehouse, ha ha, charade you are
you house proud town mouse, ha ha, charade you are
you're trying to keep our feelings off the street
you're nearly a real treat
all tight lips and cold feet
and do you feel abused?
Zam_Olyas said:Greg do i smell pink floyd?
Well I was thinking that losing eight minutes on La Toussierre could equal the devastation of being out sprinted by Klodi. And both after stage 16!
If Cancerella had had any interest in the '06 proceedings than that stage 17 would have been neutralised due to the dangerous descent into Morzine.
webvan said:
What on-form elite grand tour contenders was he competing against in that race and on that climb? That is an odd choice to use as supporting evidence of Horner's climbing prowess.
The Plediadian said:
Epic??? You are really exaggerating Horner's performance. On what scale would anyone consider it "epic"? It still remains to be seen if Horner can live up to his statement that "only Contador can drop me". He has an entire season to live up it.
airstream
BANNED
lol, great reading, Greg. thanks. in my view, optimism with infinite faith in a favourite rider is a real support, unlike blind fanboysism and degrading of someone's opponents. chapeau
gregrowlerson said:
And then he is going to win overall and two stages at the Tour with 9'09" infront of second place.
Thanks guys for the positive comments about my story.
As for Klodi's early season form, I think that Algarve went okay. Remember how done for he looked at last years Vuelta, riding with the autobus on a daily basis. Now he is at least semi competitive and about 70% improved to the level that he wants to get back to. I don't see him being a chance to win Paris-Nice, but a top 10 there would be nice, and with further training he could be ready to put in a good Giro, or if he goes the other route than the target would be victory in the Tour Of The Basque Country followed by a strong showing at the TDF.
I think there is a good chance that either Kloden or Frank will go to Italy with Fulgsang.
As for Klodi's early season form, I think that Algarve went okay. Remember how done for he looked at last years Vuelta, riding with the autobus on a daily basis. Now he is at least semi competitive and about 70% improved to the level that he wants to get back to. I don't see him being a chance to win Paris-Nice, but a top 10 there would be nice, and with further training he could be ready to put in a good Giro, or if he goes the other route than the target would be victory in the Tour Of The Basque Country followed by a strong showing at the TDF.
I think there is a good chance that either Kloden or Frank will go to Italy with Fulgsang.
Nicely written Greg. great to see such support and dedication for a rider ( not named Andy, Alberto Phil cadel or cav)
A real cycling fan.
I hope klodi doesn't do the giro cos he's suited for the tour and want to see him give it a real go.
Frank otoh would be great to see at il giro
A real cycling fan.
I hope klodi doesn't do the giro cos he's suited for the tour and want to see him give it a real go.
Frank otoh would be great to see at il giro
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