Critérium du Dauphiné Stage 3

[Jamsque]

Before the race I do recall him indicating that he would be going all-out in the TTs to test out his new bike, but the plan may have changed.

 

[luckyboy]

Wonder where in relation to Menchov he would've finished if he was going all-out. Thought Menchov might've done a little better tbh.

Brajkovic did well.

 

[WinterRider]

He would have won by 4 points. That's hardly an easy win

And Hushovd could have made more of an effort on the Champs if he needed another 5 points.

So give it a rest already, Hushovd won the Green Jersey and that's that. If Cav wants one maybe he should learn how to ride over a mountain

 

[Moondance]

Contador has said over and over that he's not targeting this race. Does anyone think that this TT represented a full-tilt AC?

Before the race I do recall him indicating that he would be going all-out in the TTs to test out his new bike, but the plan may have changed.

I was under a similar assumption to Jamsque...

Even if Bertie isn't riding the race to win, you still want to always push yourself in a TT (especially a long one) to see where you're at form wise. If some of the lesser deities want to go all out and duke it out in the mountains FTW you can let them and ride reserved, like Bertie did last year with Valv, Evans and Gesink. I'm sure Berto wasn't targeting the Spanish TT Champs last year either, but he still went hard there as a last barometer for the Tour. Even then, it's still a reasonably big gap between him and Menchov if you keep in mind that the Russian hasn't been form either going into this race (his last effort was a Stage 1 abandon 40kms into the Tour of Belgium when he couldn't stay with the peloton's pace).

 

[hfer07]

wow -Brajkovic did very well indeed-& I don't want to star some speculations around, but are there any prior results from him as a ITTist at all?...
I always get skeptical when someone unknown in that discipline wins with that margin.......
anyways, I would've liked to see either Millar or EBH taken the Stage, but pretty much all the contenders came close together..

 

[menlo_guy]

May have been mentioned earlier, but I read that Brajkovic had a bike change during the middle of the ITT. This makes his win even more impressive.
Here's a paragraph from an article by the Guardian

Brajkovic, who is set to make the RadioShack squad aiming to help Armstrong win an unprecedented eighth title in the Tour, told reporters: "I had to change bike after the climb and I lost some 30 seconds. I was upset but [sports director] Alain Gallopin told me I was the fastest so I continued to go full gear."

 

[Moondance]

Wonder where in relation to Menchov he would've finished if he was going all-out. Thought Menchov might've done a little better tbh.

Brajkovic did well.

Lucky..... Valv-Piti as your avatar? Have you drunk some Jekyll and Hyde-like potion and turned into your evil self?

 

[Publicus]

I was under a similar assumption to Jamsque...

Even if Bertie isn't riding the race to win, you still want to always push yourself in a TT (especially a long one) to see where you're at form wise. If some of the lesser deities want to go all out and duke it out in the mountains FTW you can let them and ride reserved, like Bertie did last year with Valv, Evans and Gesink. I'm sure Berto wasn't targeting the Spanish TT Champs last year either, but he still went hard there as a last barometer for the Tour. Even then, it's still a reasonably big gap between him and Menchov if you keep in mind that the Russian hasn't been form either going into this race (his last effort was a Stage 1 abandon 40kms into the Tour of Belgium when he couldn't stay with the peloton's pace).

I think this is right. His focus was on going hard and testing the new TT bike. I think he will be (rightly) disappointed in his effort, even if he wasn't going for the overall. I'm curious as to what he has to say about his performance.

EDIT: AC's first quotes from CN wrap up:

"I couldn't get into the right rhythm. I tried to take the pace, especially at first," said Contador. "It was an extremely rough road and although I thought to push a little at the end, it was a not super day".

Contador reiterated that he's treating the Critérium du Dauphiné as training for the Tour de France and that he chose not to take any risks on the corners once he knew he was well off the pace of Brajkovic. "As I said since the first day, the goal here is to get ready for the Tour and, as in previous years, the way I have been preparing is ideal. The fight for the general classification is for other riders, in my case I will dedicate myself to see a little from behind, as a spectator".

 

[peloton]

May have been mentioned earlier, but I read that Brajkovic had a bike change during the middle of the ITT. This makes his win even more impressive.
Here's a paragraph from an article by the Guardian

Brajkovic, who is set to make the RadioShack squad aiming to help Armstrong win an unprecedented eighth title in the Tour, told reporters: "I had to change bike after the climb and I lost some 30 seconds. I was upset but [sports director] Alain Gallopin told me I was the fastest so I continued to go full gear."

And much more suspicious.

 

[ttrider]

well that is an awesome and surprising result considering he had to change bike!

 

[Lance Armstrong]

wow -Brajkovic did very well indeed-& I don't want to star some speculations around, but are there any prior results from him as a ITTist at all?...

2009:
6th at UCI World Championships
4th in that 60km TT at Giro

This is hardly surprising. He's one of the best TT-ist in the world.

 

[maltiv]

I still dont think he should ride the tour.. A good TT performance after two days of rest is a long way from completing a 3 week road race.

If the team is serious about getting a gc position for wiggins, I really dont see how a not fully fit EbH is that much of a benefit. They dont have the squad to do a succesful leadout for sprint wins, I cant see them beating columbia. I dont think he will have the strength for winning the green jersey.

But i think over that first week, the combination of stannard and flecha could be a better option for stage wins and do a better job of protecting brad.

If they want ebh to win green, then great, if they want brad to get a good gc, then great, but they cant do both, and EbH cannot do it on his own.

I stand by that. After his injury this year i would rather see him do smaller tours, maybe the vuelta and focus on the tour next year.

EBH is more helpful for Wiggins than almost anyone else in the team. He can get over tough climbs when he needs to, and is Sky's only realistic chance at getting a stage win. But do not worry, according to Lars Petter Nordhaug, Geraint Thomas will be there at the tour...and obviously win overall, right?

And you're talking like he hasn't completed a GT before. He completed the giro last year, coming 3. on the last TT so it's not like he doesn't have what it takes to compete in a 3 week race.

 

[kurtinsc]

wow -Brajkovic did very well indeed-& I don't want to star some speculations around, but are there any prior results from him as a ITTist at all?...
I always get skeptical when someone unknown in that discipline wins with that margin.......
anyways, I would've liked to see either Millar or EBH taken the Stage, but pretty much all the contenders came close together..

According to the site I go to look at results:

2010:
7th in 23.4 km ITT in Romandie.
2nd in 15.1 km ITT in Castilla y Leon.
11th in 8 km prologue in Paris-Nice

2009:
6th in 49.8 km ITT in Worlds
1st in 38 km ITT in Slovenian Nationals
11th in 15.2 ITT in Giro
4th in 61.7 ITT in Giro

2008:
8th in 43.7 ITT in Worlds

2007:
(looks like he missed a bit of time in 2007 and 2008... few results in any races either year).

2006:
20th in 28km ITT in Vuelta
18th in 33km ITT in Vuelta
3rd in 12.6 km ITT in Volta Ciclista a Catalunya

2005:
Not sure what the "militairs" ITT world championships are... but he won it. (and in 2008 as well)

2004:
1st in 36.7 km ITT in U23 Worlds (beat Dekker and Nibali).
some other U23 TT results that may not mean much.

Finishing 8th, then 6th at worlds the last 2 years has shown that he's slowly moving up the TT result lists. This probably still is his best ITT result yet.

 

[Anonymous]

And you're talking like he hasn't completed a GT before. He completed the giro last year, coming 3. on the last TT so it's not like he doesn't have what it takes to compete in a 3 week race.

Oh i know, Im not dissing Ebh in any way.. i just have doubts about his true fitness level at the moment. But I trust the sky doctors to know what they are doing. There are just other riders I think should ride the tour instead. Im actually a bit confused about stannard, I was half expecting him to ride the giro but i guess his classics work left him worn out.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Tjallingii had some serious bad luck.
He was only 10 seconds behind Menchov on the 2nd chrono. But then flatted and he had to change the wheel himself since there was no reserve bike. Only reserve wheels.
It cost him at least a minute and a certain top 10 spot.
damn

 

[Jamsque]

Tjallingii had some serious bad luck.
He was only 10 seconds behind Menchov on the 2nd chrono. But then flatted and he had to change the wheel himself since there was no reserve bike. Only reserve wheels.
It cost him at least a minute and a certain top 10 spot.
damn

Why didn't the chase car have a spare bike for him? That seems unusual.

 

[MagnusW]

But to be fair, cav would have won easily if not for a dodgy DQ

He would have won by 4 points. That's hardly an easy win

That's right. Probably a dodgy DQ, but as kjetilraknerud says it would have been with 4 points. Hushovd would anyway have been close to Cav without much help from his team. And Cav really had/have a great team to help him get in front before the sprint.

Point beeing, you can do much on your own but it helps to have a good team around you.
Also, I'm not saying I believe EBH can take the green jersey. But I think Eddy can do well for Sky and win a stage (or two) on a good day.

 

[Anonymous]

May have been mentioned earlier, but I read that Brajkovic had a bike change during the middle of the ITT. This makes his win even more impressive.
Here's a paragraph from an article by the Guardian

Brajkovic, who is set to make the RadioShack squad aiming to help Armstrong win an unprecedented eighth title in the Tour, told reporters: "I had to change bike after the climb and I lost some 30 seconds. I was upset but [sports director] Alain Gallopin told me I was the fastest so I continued to go full gear."

Interesting choice of words...

 

[Waterloo Sunrise]

Before the race I do recall him indicating that he would be going all-out in the TTs to test out his new bike, but the plan may have changed.

I think it clearly did.

The knock on bertie is he won't like longer TTs, but you'd still expect him to be good at the first check point, especially given the hill. That he wasn't stellar at that point makes it pretty clear he wasn't going full bore, or was working on some awkward technical issues with the new bike.

 

[tgsgirl]

Awesome picture of Geraint Thomas by Tim de Waele

 

[luckyboy]

Great pic above.

May have been mentioned earlier, but I read that Brajkovic had a bike change during the middle of the ITT. This makes his win even more impressive.
Here's a paragraph from an article by the Guardian

Brajkovic, who is set to make the RadioShack squad aiming to help Armstrong win an unprecedented eighth title in the Tour, told reporters: "I had to change bike after the climb and I lost some 30 seconds. I was upset but [sports director] Alain Gallopin told me I was the fastest so I continued to go full gear."

It is literally unbelievable that he won by that much with a bike change.

Lucky..... Valv-Piti as your avatar? Have you drunk some Jekyll and Hyde-like potion and turned into your evil self?

Haha, I just thought he looked pretty dismayed in the picture. Seemed appropriate Probably change it back soon though.

 

[hektoren]

I still dont think he should ride the tour.. A good TT performance after two days of rest is a long way from completing a 3 week road race.

If the team is serious about getting a gc position for wiggins, I really dont see how a not fully fit EbH is that much of a benefit. They dont have the squad to do a succesful leadout for sprint wins, I cant see them beating columbia. I dont think he will have the strength for winning the green jersey.

But i think over that first week, the combination of stannard and flecha could be a better option for stage wins and do a better job of protecting brad.

If they want ebh to win green, then great, if they want brad to get a good gc, then great, but they cant do both, and EbH cannot do it on his own.

I stand by that. After his injury this year i would rather see him do smaller tours, maybe the vuelta and focus on the tour next year.

EBH for the green jersey just isn't a likely scenario. A stage win or two, AND a big steam engine to pull Bradley to the front whenever that might be necessary may be his ticket....
EBH has been doing lots of alternative training of late. Remember the early Tour of Quatar and Oman? Eddy had done lots of cross-country skiing in a wintery Norway right until then. The TT today shows his engine to be more or less intact.
I'd also be hard pressed to agree that the monsterpull yesterday at high speed for 1.5 km qualifies as a day of rest. He alone pulled the peloton into single-file.

 

[TourOfSardinia]

May have been mentioned earlier, but I read that Brajkovic had a bike change during the middle of the ITT. This makes his win even more impressive.
Here's a paragraph from an article by the Guardian

Brajkovic, who is set to make the RadioShack squad aiming to help Armstrong win an unprecedented eighth title in the Tour, told reporters: "I had to change bike after the climb and I lost some 30 seconds. I was upset but [sports director] Alain Gallopin told me I was the fastest so I continued to go full gear."

Of course, Brajkovic wouldn't have been so stupid to have started on a motorized bike - not with all the videos speculation going round (oops sorry wrong forum!)

 

[ttrider]

i think ebh is either not as bad as we thought or coming into form a bit slower than he would like for the tour but either way you look at it because with the troubles hes had 3rd in that field is an excellent result and i imagine he would hav preffered pan flat when racing GC climers so it reli is ride of the day for me. He should definitely go to the tour i think this is a place saving ride in that respect. He s a really useful guy as hes a genuine all rounder and i would agree with him being Wiggins most important domestique.

I talked about place gaining rides i think JM Soler put in a place losing ride! i mean thats embarassing wasnt he 20 + mins down! Back to columbia for him if it was a trouble free ride! Did he better Rasmussen display of acrobatics and rubishness from the 2005 tour tho?!

 

[Joey_J]

wow -Brajkovic did very well indeed-& I don't want to star some speculations around, but are there any prior results from him as a ITTist at all?..

Your first clue might be the jersey he's wearing during the TT