Levi Wins Tour de Suisse???

[cyclist0411]

I got a feeling radioshack is doping.because levi isn't a good tt rider their were better guys who should have beat him.

 

[JRTinMA]

yeah like the suisse are gonna bust him

You gotta believe in something.

 

[Benotti69]

You gotta believe in something.

for sure i believe Cunego was robbed.

 

[compete_clean]

Nice to see the sport has cleaned up.

 

[roundabout]

for sure i believe Cunego was robbed.

Even though Leipheimer is who he is I found it a bit difficult to feel sorry for Mr 'dope-free' who suddenly decided that he can be a GC contender again.

 

[roundabout]

Levi is about the same age now as Lance was when he finished 3rd in the Tour in 09.

Shack does seem to be riding better as a whole this year and not only in TTs. They have 75% of last season's points total already according to CQ.

 

[hrotha]

When LA was Levi's age, he podiumed at the Tour. And Levi didn't "suddenly" come into his own or anywhere else. Yes, RadioShack are silly, but Levi, by himself, as an isolated rider, without further context, is not the problem.
edit: partially ninja'd.

 

[Stingray34]

^ this.

Even his Lance-ness didn't rub everyone's faces in it at almost 40.

A guy like Levi is suddenly coming into his own and finding his place at almost 10 years older than most of the others in the race.

It's a farce, if people can't see this by now they are being willfully blind.

There is no hope at all for this sport the way it is structured currently.

Shut it down.

I sympathise. I am so disappointed at Cunego losing, but kudos to LL for his smart ride where he grabbed a few seconds the other day. Smart if uninspiring riding. Damn it.

Lolz at 'Shut it Down': I instantly thought of Gordon Ramsey's 'Hell's Kitchen'.

 

[VeloCity]

^ this.

Even his Lance-ness didn't rub everyone's faces in it at almost 40.

A guy like Levi is suddenly coming into his own and finding his place at almost 10 years older than most of the others in the race.

It's a farce, if people can't see this by now they are being willfully blind.

There is no hope at all for this sport the way it is structured currently.

Shut it down.

That's a bit much. There wasn't much depth at this TdS - look at the final top ten on GC, not exactly a list of world-beaters. And even then Levi only beats Cunego - not the most consistent GC rider - by 4 seconds.

 

[barn yard]

Lolz at 'Shut it Down': I instantly thought of Gordon Ramsey's 'Hell's Kitchen'.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFxnBhURO_c

 

[The Hitch]

^ this.


A guy like Levi is suddenly coming into his own and finding his place at almost 10 years older than most of the others in the race.

Levi has been a contender for years. Rabo signed him as their gc leader, hes podiumed 2 gcs including the tour, top 10d all 3. and won countless stage races and tts.

How is that "suddenly coming into his own". This isnt even his best season or anything.

 

[Moose McKnuckles]

Levi has been a contender for years. Rabo signed him as their gc leader, hes podiumed 2 gcs including the tour, top 10d all 3. and won countless stage races and tts.

How is that "suddenly coming into his own". This isnt even his best season or anything.

He's 37. Of course it's not his best season.

That said, I don't think Levi's victory is particularly surprising. Cunego is hardly a GC rider. He obviously cannot TT. The Schlecks are a joke when it comes to a time trial.

 

[ricara]

That said, I don't think Levi's victory is particularly surprising. Cunego is hardly a GC rider. He obviously cannot TT. The Schlecks are a joke when it comes to a time trial.

Just as weight is one of the most critical factors for climbing, an aero position is one of the most critical factors for time trialling. Here's Levi:

And Fabian:

Both looking very good. The key here is a low, flat back. As the wind hits your shoulders, you want as little wind as possible going below your chest where it will hit your hips and slow you down. Here's Cunego:

You can see that he is a bit more upright. Certainly enough to lose four seconds! Here's Rojas, who lost 2:30:

I wish there were some pictures of the Schlecks. Their TT position is worse than anyone else pictured here. A good coach could fix that and make a huge improvement in their TT abilities.

 

[Lajeretta4Ever]

I seem to recall that Levi gets Lance's cockpiece in one of those Xtranormal episodes. That ca explain his renaissance.

 

[D-Queued]

Just as weight is one of the most critical factors for climbing, an aero position is one of the most critical factors for time trialling. Here's Levi:

...

And Fabian:

...

Both looking very good. The key here is a low, flat back. As the wind hits your shoulders, you want as little wind as possible going below your chest where it will hit your hips and slow you down. Here's Cunego:

...

You can see that he is a bit more upright. Certainly enough to lose four seconds! Here's Rojas, who lost 2:30:

I wish there were some pictures of the Schlecks. Their TT position is worse than anyone else pictured here. A good coach could fix that and make a huge improvement in their TT abilities.

For you kids at home, Having paid for wind tunnel time so you wouldn't have to:

NEVER put the water bottle behind your ****. This is a big no-no.

And, NEVER look down with an aero helmet.

ALWAYS wear shoe covers.

Also:

Levi & Fabian wearing long sleaves. Fabric is faster than skin.

Levi has frame-fitted water bottle.

Unless you have really good drugs, pay attention to these details.

Word has it that Eki thought holding your feet in the 12 o'clock and six o'clock positions was as fast as holding them at the 3 and 9 o'clock positions when coasting/descending. He was WRONG. But, he may have had a better supplier than you.

Thus, if you have really good drugs, and the other guys do too, you should also pay attention.

Dave.

 

[bc_hills]

32 km tt in 41 mins? What's that, 48 km/hr? Off topic, but is that the pace of a doped time trialist? I'm not being facetious here.

 

[D-Queued]

32 km tt in 41 mins? What's that, 48 km/hr? Off topic, but is that the pace of a doped time trialist? I'm not being facetious here.

Good question & observation. The pictures looked like there was a strong tailwind as well.

Maybe they rode most of it against that wind.

Excuse what must seem like cynicism, but I cannot believe that would be a clean field so there must be some other explanation for 48 kph.

Dave.

 

[python]

like most posters here, i was rooting for cunego. i also admit that i was wrong, like the majority on this forum, predicting that cunego's almost 2 mins will suffice...drugs aside for the moment, where did cunego screw up ?

i think ricara and dave nailed 90% of his problems.

to add, after watching cunego in action, he really did not look comfortable. he was rocking a lot, his cadence was visibly slow. he almost looked as if his seat was too high. i can only conclude that damiano needs to work on his itt position. also, was it just me who noticed that damiano looked a bit thinner than in previous years ? i would not discount he lost some horse power attempting to improve his climbing...

 

[hrotha]

I imagine Cunego hasn't really trained his time-trialing all that much as of late. When was the last time he expected to feature in a stage race? Last year's Giro?

 

[movingtarget]

The message might be "learn to time trial." No one who considers themselves to be a GC type rider should lose two minutes in a time trial of that length. It was a just a mediocre performance by Cunego and LL did what he often does in the TT.

 

[joe1265]

Bigger story than Levi winning is just why the Schlecks stunk so bad.

I hope I'm wrong cause I like these guys, but for me they didn't really show the form that will be necessary to win the TdF. I liked Evans much better in the Daphine.

Can't wait for July

 

[ManInFull]

like most posters here, i was rooting for cunego. i also admit that i was wrong, like the majority on this forum, predicting that cunego's almost 2 mins will suffice...drugs aside for the moment, where did cunego screw up ?

i think ricara and dave nailed 90% of his problems.

to add, after watching cunego in action, he really did not look comfortable. he was rocking a lot, his cadence was visibly slow. he almost looked as if his seat was too high. i can only conclude that damiano needs to work on his itt position. also, was it just me who noticed that damiano looked a bit thinner than in previous years ? i would not discount he lost some horse power attempting to improve his climbing...

It was the 9 seconds he lost when he didn't stay on Levi's wheel at the end of stage 6.

 

[MacRoadie]

It was the 9 seconds he lost when he didn't stay on Levi's wheel at the end of stage 6.

Exactly. Cunego never stood a chance against Levi's superior TT and wheel sucking skills.

He needs to work on both aspects of his game, and Levi is the perfect model.

 

[9000ft]

Always nice to get the perspective of the true cycling fans.

 

[skippy]

@cyclist0411, welcome to the mushroom farm . LL winning yesterday demonstrated that cycling needs MORE THOROUGH SCREENING of racers !

Remember my thread about LL going home when all he had to do was let "pistolera " be sanctioned by CAS to take the victory although he would miss standing on the top step .

Spoke with Eki at Hutwill , he got out of the vehicle so i could take his photo , he still awaits his 3rd Olympic Gold but is not holding his breathe for early delivery .

Damiano looked little different to earlier years but obviously his mindset is now improved as he is feeling more confident about his ability in Grand Tours , hopefully a top 5 is on the cards for the TDF !