Critérium du Dauphiné 2012 stage 4, 53.5km, Villié-Morgon-Bourg-en-Bresse, ITT

[Mellow Velo]

Yeah you Brit Posters are the absolute best!!

We all know that the Dutch posters are the best and the German posters, the least biased.

Had to watch that finish delayed and I just knew the result would make WW 3 break out around here.

Tis the Dauphine and only a pointer towards what might take place at the Tour.
2009 Evans was flying around the Dauphine mountains and dying in them, a month later.
Similarly, he was steady, last year in June and ready, come July.

Having said that, it's not a gimme that it will be Evans flying up the Tour hills, with Wiggins hanging on for dear life.
Cadel has had his fair share of collapses on the big cols, in the past.

 

[bassplayer88]

back on topic: I missed the stage as I was out cycling and wondered if anyone had any ideas where I might be able to find videos links in the near future other than cycling fans.com? Sounded exciting for a TT

back off topic: I actually think the TDF should be pretty exciting this year. I hope it is!

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

could you guys chill a little bit? or will have to start distributing some warnings?

you gonna wield that banner hammer ?

 

[Fetisoff]

And maybe Menchov can improve, but how much? he lost a minute to JvdB, Nibali lost even more. Do these guys climb better?

Actually, I'm not so worried about Menchov just yet. He hasn't raced anything coming off that knee injury, looked horrible in the "mountains" before this TT, so this result is clearly not a surprise. He's only going to get stronger. Can someone like Wigans hold the form into the third week of TDF is another question on its own though

 

[CasperVg]

Just sayin'? lol

ugh.

Today he was THIRD of the GC guys. He may have lost nearly as much to Wiggins, but what did he do compared to the others? He improved dramatically compared to last year. He left guys like Brajkovic, Nibali, Menchov, Coppel, Westra, Grabsch, Van Garderen, Vino, EBH... behind him. Guys previously always better at ITT's. Evans took only half a minute. But you're saying his chances did not improve? lol...

And maybe Menchov can improve, but how much? he lost a minute to JvdB, Nibali lost even more. Do these guys climb better?

Moreover, the 2011 ITT was over 10km shorter, so it makes sense he lost comparitively less time on it.

 

[johnnycash]

Most Brits are unrealistically pro-Wiggins, you must know this is how we do things. Anyone following the English football team will know this.

The brits won't meltdown if Wiggo fails in the tour, we'll pin it to something unrealisitic and out of our control. In football the obvious villain is the referee, or perhaps the Germans knocking us out on penalties. In cycling we can probably employ a mechanical disadvanatge, the French cheated us (somehow) or maybe even the 'd' word, "at least our boy was clean", I can see it now.

Plucky Brits finish second (at best usually), a Brit with a real chance of victory is a reare thing indeed, expecially in road cycling, hence everyones gone nuts.

 

[Another_Dutch_Guy]

Yeah, could it be that Wiggins does a 2009 Contador? Going bezerk in the first half year in order to gain support for the Tour? I can imagine he's affraid that Cavendish will took a lot of the team resources. Unlike Cadel, Wiggins seems to me a rider who needs a lot of support in the mountains.

Still, we all know what happened in the '09 tour. But Wiggins is no Contador.

 

[El Pistolero]

VDB lost 2'12" to Wiggo today. Last year he lost just 10 seconds more in the Dauphine TT. Just sayin'.

His Tour prospects haven't improved dramatically or anything. Normally you'd expect Evans and certainly Menchov to make the leap in form that puts them firmly ahead of VDB in the TT department. The Schlecks will probably be around his level. Nibali... maybe, maybe not. Gesink... no idea.

Yeah because VDB2 is going to be the only contender to stop improving after his Dauphiné.

Lol, the Schlecks will be crap like usual. And who says VDB2 was going to be bad at the Tour last year? He was looking very good until he crashed out.

Thing is, Wiggins is a lot better this year than last year.

 

[Fetisoff]

I will do an avatar bet with you so for a bit of banter. I will take a Contador one if Wiggins does'nt win and you take a Wiggins one if Wiggins wins.

Many posters here I am sure will tell you that I am no fan of Contador whatsoever so if you want the offer is on the table.

Lately it's been "hip" around here for the loser to take an Andy Schleck avatar.

Just saying

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

Actually, I'm not so worried about Menchov just yet. He hasn't raced anything coming off that knee injury, looked horrible in the "mountains" before this TT, so this result is clearly not a surprise. He's only going to get stronger. Can someone like Wigans hold the form into the third week of TDF is another question on its own though

Menchov is a great example of a GT rider, gets stronger as the days go by, riding himself into super form. It is why he generally has a good last tt.

Yeah, could it be that Wiggins does a 2009 Contador? Going bezerk in the first half year in order to gain support for the Tour? I can imagine he's affraid that Cavendish will took a lot of the team resources. Unlike Cadel, Wiggins seems to me a rider who needs a lot of support in the mountains.

nah cotador is just a prince. Always rides to wins, and is very hard to beat in a stage race. Wasn't just a 2009 thing.

 

[theyoungest]

Just sayin'? lol

ugh.

Today he was THIRD of the GC guys. He may have lost nearly as much to Wiggins, but what did he do compared to the others? He improved dramatically compared to last year. He left guys like Brajkovic, Nibali, Menchov, Coppel, Westra, Grabsch, Van Garderen, Vino, EBH... behind him. Guys previously always better at ITT's. Evans took only half a minute. But you're saying his chances did not improve? lol...

And maybe Menchov can improve, but how much? he lost a minute to JvdB, Nibali lost even more. Do these guys climb better?

He was 17th last year, now 11th. It's an okay result, but still the TT isn't going to gain him massive time over guys like the Schlecks. Which he will need.

I'm willing to jump on the VDB bandwagon, but the TT isn't where he will make the difference with his direct rivals. He needs to take time on them uphill.

 

[Fetisoff]

Menchov is a great example of a GT rider, gets stronger as the days go by, riding himself into super form. It is why he generally has a good last tt.

Yep. And the only real scare for him to lose time in week one is stage 3. So he should be fine. (Saying should be not will be, cause he's been know to lose time in a really stupid way)

 

[Captain Sensible]

Seen that. The usual insighful analysis by Shearer.

Zam, Don't forget Andy Murray for Wimbledon. So a treble of England for the Euros, Wiggins for the Tour and Murray for Wimbledon is on the cards. Just imagine.

Murray is Scotish not English .

 

[Caruut]

Is it odd that I'm actually veering towards Evans after this? Wiggins is going to need about this much over Evans to win the Tour. Evans I can only see getting better than this (I'm not sure he's racing for GC, either). Wiggins could quite easily lose this much to Evans on a single mountain stage. Maybe he will win it. I'm going to root for everyone else, though.

 

[Another_Dutch_Guy]

nah cotador is just a prince. Always rides to wins, and is very hard to beat in a stage race. Wasn't just a 2009 thing.

That's true, but what about Wiggo? By the way, were you a former member of Sportone?

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

He was 17th last year, now 11th. It's an okay result, but still the TT isn't going to gain him massive time over guys like the Schlecks. Which he will need.

I'm willing to jump on the VDB bandwagon, but the TT isn't where he will make the difference with his direct rivals. He needs to take time on them uphill.

You are looking at how much time he lost on the winner, and at his placing in the stage. I'm looking at the time he took or lost on his immediate competition compared to last year. If you are going for GC, it doesn't matter if you come in 10th or 99th in a ITT, but how much time you won or lost compare to the competition. You can come in 10th and lose 3 minutes on your opponents, or you can be 40th and only lose 20 seconds or maybe even take time. You only have to look at your GC opponents. As for Wiggins, it remains the question: does he crack or not. If he doesn't, i don't know who will beat him. If he does, it's anyones guess.

As for taking time on direct rivals. Which of his direct rivals climb better? Andy Schleck in form, but i don't see him raise the level of his ITT like jvdB did. And the others? Nibali, Menchov, Gesink, Evans...? What you are saying pretty much goes for every rider besides Evans and Wiggins.

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

That's true, but what about Wiggo? By the way, were you a former member of Sportone?

Nah, only other place I was a member at was daily peloton before this place opened. And I was a pretty infrequent there.

 

[jens_attacks]

wow wiggo _O_
show of strength by the uk postal.and just think they let richie take it slow for joux-plane...
i'm very glad froomy is back big time
disappointed by kash...
amador's form is just scary,it won't surprise me to win in morzine at this rate

 

[theyoungest]

As for taking time on direct rivals. Which of his direct rivals climb better? Andy Schleck in form, but i don't see him raise the level of his ITT like jvdB did. And the others? Nibali, Menchov, Gesink, Evans...? What you are saying pretty much goes for every rider besides Evans and Wiggins.

Andy Schleck can only be bothered to time trial decently in the Tour. You can't judge him on any other result (and certainly not today of course).

Menchov and Gesink outclimbed him in 2010, will they do it again? Probably not, certainly Gesink won't, but I'm not sure I see VDB staying with the top guys in the real mountain stages. Because he never has. Nibali is at his level, but I don't see him finishing on the podium either.

 

[El Pistolero]

Even if we take out the cobbled stone stage VDB2 entered in front of Gesink.

 

[Another_Dutch_Guy]

Nah, only other place I was a member at was daily peloton before this place opened. And I was a pretty infrequent there.

Allright, there was also someone who called himself Timmy. But now I see you're from Melbourne. So pretty unlikely that you would visit a Dutch website.

 

[hatcher]

This TT means very little to me. There wasn't a single GC rider who surprised with their performance here positively or negatively. My thoughts onthe tour remain unchanged, Wiggins is in great form, has maybe peaked too early and a 3rd week collapse wouldn't surpries me at all. Evans seems a little off, but getting very close to where he wants to be, I'd love to have seen some footage of Menchov and Nibali(i came home late), did they look to be taking it easy or not? I'm impressed Sanchez is still in the race, and Andy is, well..Andy.
For all those who think Wiggins and Sky will now roll onto tour glory I give you Janez Brajkovic who beat one Alberto Contador by 1:46 over a 49km TT at the Dauphine and went on to win the Dauphine. He finished 42nd in the tour de france while Contador won it, or for those with longer memories Iban Mayo, Leipheimer, and Valverde. Some riders ride to win here other ride to find form and just so happen to win like Armstrong in 02, 03, or lose 99, 00, 04, 05, but the prize is in July.

Cadel was obviously holding back, while Wiggins went all out or at least very close. Who knows the outcome if they both went all out, I suspect still Wiggins but by a very small margin less than 30 seconds certainly.

Congratulations to Wiggins, but I think this performance will hurt more than help him. Peaking too early, pushing too hard too early, not so much as now every other contender has a measuring stick. They know Wiggins was close to his limit and they saw what he can do, as much as Porte, Siustou, Froome, Rogers will be strong domestiques in the mountains, they will pale next to collusion by the other favourites.

So in summary, bad day for Wiggins, good day for everyone else.

 

[patrick767]

Wow... just got caught up on today's stage. Wiggins didn't just win the ITT. He absolutely destroyed his competition. What a display! Only one other rider was even within a minute? Damn. The closest likely TdF GC contender was Evans at 1:43 down. I'm not on the VDB bandwagon. I don't think he has a realistic shot in France. IMO the next contender would be Menchov at over 3 minutes behind today. If Wiggins can hold this form he will be a monster at the TdF.

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

Wow... just got caught up on today's stage. Wiggins didn't just win the ITT. He absolutely destroyed his competition. What a display! Only one other rider was even within a minute? Damn. The closest likely TdF GC contender was Evans at 1:43 down. I'm not on the VDB bandwagon. I don't think he has a realistic shot in France. IMO the next contender would be Menchov at over 3 minutes behind today. If Wiggins can hold this form he will be a monster at the TdF.

A monster in the tt yes.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Andy Schleck can only be bothered to time trial decently in the Tour. You can't judge him on any other result (and certainly not today of course).

Menchov and Gesink outclimbed him in 2010, will they do it again? Probably not, certainly Gesink won't, but I'm not sure I see VDB staying with the top guys in the real mountain stages. Because he never has. Nibali is at his level, but I don't see him finishing on the podium either.

So... by outclimbing... you mean taking back about 12 second? Because that's the time Gesink took on JVDB in all the mountainstages combined in 2010. Menchov outclimbed him, yes. But that was two years ago. He's 34 now, JvdB is 29 now.

And he never has? If you're talking about Contador and an in-form Andy, sure. But if you mean something else, you need to get your facts straight.

PS: and talking about the JvdB "bandwagon". I'm a fan, but that doesn't mean i think he's going to win the tour. But compared to Nibali, Gesink ao. i don't see why he would have less chances for a good GC.