Andreas Kloden's Final Bid For Another Coveted Top 10 Tour Finish, 'Official' Thread

[gregrowlerson]

Best of luck to Klodi as he kicks off his 'final' bid tonight at 11:48pm Melbourne time. Go Cadel too - last man off the ramp. I believe Sagan will take the first two stages. This guy is awesome. But mostly looking forward to the great succession of GC stages from 7-11

 

[SHAD0W93]

In the pre tour show on Versus they actually mentioned Kloden and said that he was a contender.

 

[Rechtschreibfehler]

Jan Ullrich recently claimed Klöden was in excellent shape and only tested himself in the TdS.

 

[Goldberger]

So, today was the end of Klödi's chances of doing a good Grand Tour GC.

We kind of knew it, that he didn't have it in the mountains anymore, but I did think he would manage to do a kind of Menchov type ride, but he imploded almost immediately.

A sad moment for me personally as a big Klöden fan. I wonder what the rest of the tour holds for him. I think he will find it hard to motivate himself.

 

[webvan]

Yep, that's the end of an odd GT career, been a big fan since 2004 but that recent article put a bit of a dim view on his career...mostly money driven it seems.

 

[Kokoso]

If Zubeldia finishes in the top 20 I will eat all of my clothing. He should only lead at the Vuelta. Even though I do like the guy.

So now what you say (and other guys who don't believe him)?

 

[SHAD0W93]

So now what you say (and other guys who don't believe him)?

I say I am prepared to eat my clothing.

Hopefully Kloden can get a stage win.

 

[gregrowlerson]

Very disappointing performance from Klodi last night; confirmation that he no longer has what it takes in the mountains. I still shall hope for a good result in Mondays ITT. As another said, a stage win somewhere would be nice.

 

[webvan]

And another bad day in the office for Klodi, time to retire it seems...

 

[gregrowlerson]

A better ride in the ITT. Top ten still a possibility, but if he continue to climb as he has, he will lose more time on next two stages.

 

[Kokoso]

Diferrence between Klöden and Zubeldia in ITT 11 sec. My statement maybe was shocking and nobody agreed, but it begins to look like it was right also.

 

[Squire]

A better ride in the ITT. Top ten still a possibility, but if he continue to climb as he has, he will lose more time on next two stages.

At most Tours, he has improved his climbing in the third week. Remember how Menchov, Leipheimer and Landis destroyed him on the first MTF in 06?

 

[webvan]

Well...he brought it upon himself with the high tempo by Kessler (O. Ludwig was pretty vocal about it) and he wasn't really "destroyed" as he only finished 1'21" behind if memory serves. Then he struggled for the remainder of the race too, barely hanging on in Joux Plane with a lot of help from Guerini and Mazzolini. I seem to recall he was only really on the attack on the Alpe d"Huez with Landis in tow.

 

[roundabout]

At most Tours, he has improved his climbing in the third week. Remember how Menchov, Leipheimer and Landis destroyed him on the first MTF in 06?

He wasn't fully prepared because of his shoulder(?) injury in 06. Maybe it's the same now, but I am not really counting on it as he has barely been top 30 on the climbs so far instead of top 10ish that year.

 

[Squire]

Well, I would say that 1'31 (which was the gap) + time bonuses is quite a huge loss, all things taken into consideration. On the stage to Morzine (Joux Plane), he finished ahead of Menchov and Evans and only lost significant time to Sastre.

Not saying Klöden will rocket up La Toussuire, but I'm pretty confident that he can improve from what we've seen so far, and get that final top 10.

 

[SHAD0W93]

He could still top 10 if his form improves.

Hopefully RSNT get Kloden, Monfort, and Zubeldia the top 10.

 

[SHAD0W93]

Another mountain stage gone by and this time no time lost. So in 3 days we can conclude he will put minutes into everyone else.

 

[webvan]

Not too shabby today, sitting on 11th in GC and it looks like he IS going to make the TOP 10 (9th or 10th at best though) after all, not really up to his past standards, but better than nothing, eh...and look at where Menchov is today...

 

[gregrowlerson]

Not too shabby today, sitting on 11th in GC and it looks like he IS going to make the TOP 10 (9th or 10th at best though) after all, not really up to his past standards, but better than nothing, eh...and look at where Menchov is today...

Yeah, and Monfort cracked badly too. I thought that Kloden would be one of them when he went off the back quite early on the second climb, so was very happy when he got back on during the descents, and I thought he rode pretty well on La Toussierre. A top 10 would be very satisfying to me, and I'm sure to all Klodists

 

[webvan]

So no TOP 10 for Kloden this time around, not that he deserved it with a completely anonymous race...except when the cameras caught him passing Zubeldia without even looking at him.

 

[gregrowlerson]

Considering the season he has had I am happy with Klodi's 11th placing in the Tour. He seemed to get a little stronger as the race went on. Less than a minute from 10th and three minutes from 6th is not too shabby for a 37 year old. Now I would like him to ride the Vuelta

 

[SHAD0W93]

Considering the season he has had I am happy with Klodi's 11th placing in the Tour. He seemed to get a little stronger as the race went on. Less than a minute from 10th and three minutes from 6th is not too shabby for a 37 year old. Now I would like him to ride the Vuelta

I dont think he could do well for the Vuelta. But if he does ride it he is in my top 10.

 

[gregrowlerson]

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/report-german-doping-investigation-of-freiburg-doctors-ends

 

[gregrowlerson]

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/ger...kloden-sinkewitz-and-kessler-for-blood-doping

Now the Freiburg Phantom is back on the ropes!

 

[gregrowlerson]

Surprising and good to see him racing in America though, and doing pretty well.