- Aug 12, 2009
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Zen Master said:Are we talking about Cadel Evans who also said this:
The thing with this Giro is that is that there have been so many hard stages, even the transfer stages have been difficult. It's not that the break goes or the sprinters' teams ride: it's been hot or with crosswinds, or something was going on. How many days in a row did we have above 200km? I've never raced that long in a three-week stage race
Indeed we are talking about the same Evans. His tune changed halfway through the Giro. Hence why I made the distinction that it is still a hard race, but the pelotons pace is a little slower. Not much, but still slower. I also noted the GC boys went full throttle all the way. Take into consideration that Evans said he was sick from stage 11 onwards and his yo-yo-ing performances compared to Basso, Nibali, Scarponi and Vino are explainable.
ergmonkey said:Liquigas will bring a strong team--but not the best team--to the Tour. If they do well in the Tour, I think it will be, in part, because they don't have to control the race like they controlled the Giro. At the Tour, the weight of expectations will be on Astana, Radioshack, and Saxo Bank to dictate the pace on the big stages. I would hate to be a domestique for those squads as Basso, Nibali, Kreuziger and (maybe) Pellizotti take it in turns to attack, maybe with Szymd already up the road in a breakaway. Similarly, Liquigas at the Tour can focus on protecting Basso and/or Nibali/Kreuziger (i.e. keeping them up front and out of the wind) without also having to be at the very front, chasing down the breaks. I see no reason for Liquigas to try and drill it at the front all the time like they did in this Giro, though.
Dude, people said the same rubbish last year. I thought they might put up a fight and it never eventuated. What makes this year any different? Pellizotti will not race barring a miracle. If he races, so does Valverde. The thing about drilling it at the front of the peloton is that at the Tour, no matter what happens, Liquigas won't be able to do it, even if they wanted to. They will burn off too many domestiques and they have too many roosters in the hen house. Even if a Liquigas rider tries to make a move, the Schlecks and Contador can easily reel them back in. It will be just like Evans move in the Pyrennees after Arcalis last year. Ballsy, but futile. Won't amount to anything of real importance.
@Luckyboy. They really do need to fix this Valverde mess up. Either ban him or let him race. AC needs the competition. Valverde can put up a fight.