Official thread: le Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré

[Parrot23]

WWWWelll, he was dropped on yesterday's climb, so wwwwwwattt gives....?

 

[tifosa]

Sure, mock those who stutter!

 

[Parrot23]

LOL, my twitter's broken-hearted

Okay, folks, I'll stop. Will try to watch this cycle-touring race, until now.

 

[tifosa]

It's Cadel's you should worry about!

 

[Parrot23]

Methinks the podium gals are safe, but I'll be careful not to step on his dog.

 

[Jasper]

Evans attacks!

 

[Jamsque]

Now we're racing.

 

[Zoncolan]

Evans goes again!

 

[Jamsque]

I wonder how much more of this Valverde can take.

 

[powderpuff]

Why wouldnt the DS send van den Broeck back to help Cadel?
He must have read my mind

 

[Zoncolan]

I wonder how much more of this Valverde can take.

Looks to be on his limit.

 

[Jamsque]

Van Den Broeck is out of gas.

 

[powderpuff]

AC still has Dyachecnko up the road?

 

[Jamsque]

Cadel just cannot shake these lazy damn spaniards.

 

[Jasper]

Valverde griding that awfully big gear isn't a good sign. But he still hangs on so far...

Good work by Vandenbroeck as well, he'll be of very good value to Evans in the Tour.

 

[Zoncolan]

Cadel should give it another dig.
Nice ride by Moncoutie.

 

[Jasper]

Wow, Evans is hitting Valverde and Contador over and over again. Excellent show from the Aussie, he's really trying to work on his racing image

 

[53x11 in DC]

AC still has Dyachecnko up the road?

perhaps, but even as a Contador fan, I find this a little annoying. I understand his goal is the tour, but at least ride side-by-side.

 

[Zoncolan]

Well, Cadel had them both on the ropes. A few more jabs, and both AC and ValvPiti would have gone down.
Shame, nice effort by the Aussie. Looks promising for the Tour.

 

[powderpuff]

Well you can't say Cadel didn't give it a go. Also great to see Lloyd and vdB there at the end

 

[Jasper]

Well you can't say Cadel didn't give it a go. Also great to see Lloyd and vdB there at the end

Yup, with Wegelius, Dekker and maybe Lang as well, it looks like Evans will finally have a decent mountain team around him. Gesink will be a tremendous asset for Menchov as well.

 

[Captain Kirk]

fantastic from Cadel, he left it all on the road.
Valv' looked completly toast after the line and Bert lost another 15s on the line, must a loss of pride there.

Did actually have team tactics from Lotto, and they came together

 

[msjett]

It seemed that Cadel ran out of road....Valverde looked spent...but alas...he had it in him for a little sprint to the finish...oh well maybe there is potential for Cadel and his team yet.

And was it my tired eyes or was Contador weaving across the road when he came up to near the finish line??

 

[Parrot23]

Great to see Evans attacking repeatedly--but from the front each time? (Backstedt says he's going to have a chat with Damiani, his ex DS, and Evans' current DS in the car).

Guess it's a training race to Alberto C., but it didn't look too bad to me (not a la Menchov vs. di Luca on every hill but one at the Giro, even if this was tactically the right thing to do). Agree on riding side by side, manno a manno, at least occasionally, if going for the win.

Surprised Valverde was toast at the finish; good poker face on the climb, because it sure didn't look it when he was climbing. But gee, he likes to climb in a big gear.

 

[Rechtschreibfehler]

Wonderful victory for Moncoutié!
His form looks really promissing for the Tour.

Nice ride by Evans, he has really become much much more agressive over the last two years or so.
Bad for him it didn't work out though.