Friday, june 15th - Tour de Suisse, stage 7: gossau- Gossau 34km ITT

[Trofinios]

Strange that Sky riders are so good at tt'ing yet Lovkvist's performances have got worse since he joined?

He has done some good prologues this year. One reason why he haven't performed that well in the longer ITT could be that he has mainly been a domestique this year, id est he has not had strong reason to give it all in the longer ITT.

But in Tour de Suisse it is different, Lofkvist is Sky's GC-rider in the race. He seems to be in good shape and that's why I strongly believe that he will do a strong ITT today. At least top 15, might even be top 10.

Go Lofkvist!

 

[greenedge]

Just hope bottle doesn't win this.

I'll go out on a bit of a limb, and say that after this stage 1-2-3 in GC will be Costa-Gusev-Kreuziger

I doubt Gusev will get that much time/ Leaprfrog both Levi, Fuglsang and Danielson.

 

[Mellow Velo]

A lot of Costa confidence around here.
Normally, I would expect Fuglsang, Danielson and Leipheimer to gain more than enough time to jump him in the GC.
I agree that Moser will probably move up a number of places, too.
Will be interesting to see which Bobby Gesink turns up.
Hard to forget the 2010 Swiss Tour.

 

[dlwssonic]

Fuglsang is a big favourite for this one.

 

[dlwssonic]

I wonder how cummings will do.
But he hasn't fully recovered from all those injuries.

 

[SafeBet]

Let's not se the bar too high for Moser.
He has yet to show anything in a semi-long TT like this.

 

[Bushman]

Well, he was 8th i pais vasco in a hilly tt also, which was around 20 k. I Hope he will get a decent placing.

 

[GazelleFormula]

What do you guys think of Kruijswijk today? He did quite well (7th) in a comparable (albeit 10k shorter) ITT in Romandie last year. So top 10 shouldn't be too far-fetched?

 

[Hugo Koblet]

This time trial is tailor made for Fuglsang. I expect him to do very well here and I wouldn't be surprised if he won and took the leader's jersey.

Tour de Suisse is a good race for someone like Fuglsang to go all-out in and is probably quite a big target for him. And, as someone mentioned, this is his chance to show that RSNT should make him a co-leader for the Tour - whether he'll do well there or not is a different matter.

 

[theyoungest]

What do you guys think of Kruijswijk today? He did quite well (7th) in a comparable (albeit 10k shorter) ITT in Romandie last year. So top 10 shouldn't be too far-fetched?

He had some luck there with the wind (although to be fair, so did the top 4, and he was only half a minute behind them). I think top-20 would be a more realistic expectation.

This time trial is tailor made for Fuglsang. I expect him to do very well here and I wouldn't be surprised if he won.

As someone mentioned, this is his chance to show that RSNT should make him a co-leader for the Tour - whether he'll do well there or not is a different matter.

Why should they? The guy has never done very well in a GT, and certainly not in the Tour. That's not a problem for this Tour de Suisse though, he'll certainly do a good TT.

 

[Hugo Koblet]

Why should they? The guy has never done very well in a GT, and certainly not in the Tour. That's not a problem for this Tour de Suisse though, he'll certainly do a good TT.

Whether they should or not isn't really the question. Personally I agree with what you say about Fuglsang's GT capabilities, but for Fuglsang himself, the fact that RSNT's leader for the Tour isn't there anymore, probably gives him a boost as he now eyes a possibility to be a protected rider for the Tour.

Edit:

That said, I don't think we've seen what Fuglsang really is capable of in a GT as I don't think he's been given the chance to do so.

Yes, he was joined leader in the Vuelta last year, but it wasn't like his whole season was build around the Vuelta. He had to help Schleck in the Tour and didn't have optimal preparation for a GT.

 

[theyoungest]

That said, I don't think we've seen what Fuglsang really is capable of in a GT as I don't think he's been given the chance to do so.

Yes, he was joined leader in the Vuelta last year, but it wasn't like his whole season was build around the Vuelta. He had to help Schleck in the Tour and didn't have optimal preparation for a GT.

But he did have an optimal preparation for the Tour, and he wasn't much help for Schleck there. The first time he showed up was on the Alpe d'Huez.

He was very good in his first Dauphiné, I really thought Denmark had found a new GT contender. But he never reached that level of climbing anymore.

 

[Hugo Koblet]

But he did have an optimal preparation for the Tour, and he wasn't much help for Schleck there. The first time he showed up was on the Alpe d'Huez.

He was very good in his first Dauphiné, I really thought Denmark had found a new GT contender. But he never reached that level of climbing anymore.

Yeah, I agree that he wasn't good last Tour. Don't know what happened, but I think we can both agree that he wasn't at his best there?

Anyway, I don't think that we, Denmark, have found our "new GT contender" in Fuglsang, although he probably thinks so himself

 

[Trofinios]

It will be hard to look past Cancellara today. He only came 2nd in the prologue and should therefore be highly motivated to win today and build confidence for important tasks ahead. After a tough beginning with some climbing up to the first intermediate checkpoint at 11.3k he will have 23k left more to his liking and where I reckon he will take at least a minute on his rivals. I can only see a Levi in great shape threatening Canc today, but Leipheimers form doesn't seem super at the moment.

 

[cineteq]

Yeah, I agree that he wasn't good last Tour. Don't know what happened, but I think we can both agree that he wasn't at his best there?

Anyway, I don't think that we, Denmark, have found our "new GT contender" in Fuglsang, although he probably thinks so himself

He will not be a Tour protected rider, and guess who'll be?
This was Bruyneel today:
@andykloedi @f_cancellara - good luck today! #dressrehearsal

 

[Trofinios]

Yeah, I agree that he wasn't good last Tour. Don't know what happened, but I think we can both agree that he wasn't at his best there?

Anyway, I don't think that we, Denmark, have found our "new GT contender" in Fuglsang, although he probably thinks so himself

Didn't Kim Andersen say that Fuglsang must lose weight to be able to challange for the GC in the Giro? Guess he would say the same about Fuglsangs chances in TDF, even if the climbs are steeper in the Giro.

With Andy out RSNT doesn't have a clear captain in my view. Maybe the should keep their options open and wait until the last week to see who might be the strongest. In my view Fuglsang can be one of the options beside Klöden, Fränk and Horner. I know it didn't work out last year for RS, but they sure did have some bad luck.

 

[Trofinios]

From ‏Vaughters twitter:

@stefano87 I think Costa will be very good, actually. Lovkvist and Danielson will be good as well. Cancellara, obvious..

Hope he is right about Lovkvist.

 

[Catwhoorg]

He has done some good prologues this year. One reason why he haven't performed that well in the longer ITT could be that he has mainly been a domestique this year, id est he has not had strong reason to give it all in the longer ITT.

But in Tour de Suisse it is different, Lofkvist is Sky's GC-rider in the race. He seems to be in good shape and that's why I strongly believe that he will do a strong ITT today. At least top 15, might even be top 10.

Go Lofkvist!

I'm pretty certain that he got the riot act read to him over his performances, and told to buck up. He only got a 1 year extension. I don't think its beyond the realm of possibility that he is riding for his future as a GC leader at Sky over the next 3 days.

They may keep him even if he doesn't do well, but he will likely be a pure domestique.

Time to shine for him, and I really hope he flourishes.

 

[Trofinios]

And the first rider has started. It will take about 50 minutes to timetrial the course.

Live-ticker here:
http://www.tourdesuisse.ch/en/live/news_ticker/

Cancellara will start 14:18 already.

 

[Trofinios]

I'm pretty certain that he got the riot act read to him over his performances, and told to buck up. He only got a 1 year extension. I don't think its beyond the realm of possibility that he is riding for his future as a GC leader at Sky over the next 3 days.

They may keep him even if he doesn't do well, but he will likely be a pure domestique.

Time to shine for him, and I really hope he flourishes.

Honestly, I don't think it matter how he performes, he will not get an extension or be a domestique. He has already had enough chances and hasn't delivered. And with Wiggins, Porte, Froome, Rogers, Henao, Uran, Kennaugh and Nordhaug on the team, his GC-days are more or less over, at least with Team Sky. Team Sky has also raised the bar, they are not content with top 10 positions any longer, only wins counts. Sure, I hope I'm wrong and that Lovkvist can take the next step and be up there, but I'm not confident that it will happen.

Still, as a swede, I will of course root for him. Go Lovkvist!

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

The Pfannenstiel... wasn't that the main climb of Züri metzgete?

 

[hatcher]

At this point I think Lofkvist is what he is. A good enough climber to hang around the top 10 in some good stage races, and either stay there or fall out based on the usual end of race TT. Recently his longer TTs have been very poor, and he's been dropping out.

He could still force his way into the Sky Tour squad with a good ride over the next 3 days, so time to shine Tommy.

 

[Trofinios]

Urtasun and Boily tied at first intermediate at 21:44. Average speed is 32.2 km/h, so it seems like a fairly hard first section of the stage.

 

[El Pistolero]

I hope Costa can maintain his lead, but if Kreuziger has a good day he'll be dangerous.

 

[la.margna]

The Pfannenstiel... wasn't that the main climb of Züri metzgete?

Yes, indeed! Just 'round da corner...