Official thread - Stage 13 • Vittel - Colmar• 200 km

[Wergeland]

In the break: Heinrich Haussler (Cervelo), Christophe Moreau (Agritubel), Jens Voigt (Saxo Bank), Juan Manuel Garate (Rabobank), Reuben Perez (Euskatel-Euskadi), Sylvain Chavanel (Quick Step) and Rigoberto Uran (Caisse d'Epargne)

Some good riders there.

 

[Amsterhammer]

Today's (first) escapees are Juan Manuel Gárate, Cristophe Moreau, Sylvain Chavanel, Heinrich Haussler, Ruben Pérez, Jens Voigt en Rigoberto Urán.

There must be some mistake as there is no mention of Moncoutie.

 

[The Barb]

There must be some mistake as there is no mention of Moncoutie.

Cofidis chasing the break though ....

 

[Parrot23]

So Haussler for Sastre (is that the first break Haussler has been in this Tour, i.e. unusual?) and Voigt for Schlecks....Hope both teams are planning something....

 

[msjett]

Silence have come to the front...apparently they have yet another plan....or not! lol

PS. It's raining....now I know why silence are on the front.

 

[Ten Percent Grade]

Terrible news about Levi - That's really too bad. Today's stage is going to be very interesting.

 

[Parrot23]

Double post, but here goes:

Tough for Levi.

This sure does break up the Astana diesel/train. Score one prob. for a more attacking style (re Contador) and opponents:

1) Will make it harder for Lance to sit on a potential lead out of ITT (disruptive for his plans perhaps).

2) Makes it more likely opponents' attacks can stick if they can drop Popo and Zubel.

Popo is totally loyal to Lance, but I could see Kloeden shifting here.

Wasn't he sitting on the plane with Contador to or from (forgotten, LOL) Limoges the other day, while Lance sat up at the front with Bruyneel? Kloeden will be thinking of next year: Astana with Vino; Caisse etc. with Contador; or Nike/Livestrong with Bruyneel.

 

[stefank]

Why does the official tour site tell us (at the beginning of each stage) that there are four riders representing Australia? Which two out of Evans, Lloyd, Lancaster, O'Grady, Renshaw and Rogers don't count? Perhaps they think Evans and Lloyd are representing Wales.

 

[Parrot23]

Repeating, but think real issue now for Cervelo, Silence, Saxo is can they drop Popo and Zubel?

Then they have a chance to isolate Lance and Alberto. But Kloeden will be tougher to drop. Astana has so many matches to burn

 

[The Barb]

Looks like this breakaway is toast. We'll start again shortly and this time I'm SURE Moncoutie won't miss the boat ...

 

[sometriguy]

It may just be the drama from levi dropping out, but I have a feeling in my gut that this could be a very exciting today. Hope it pans out.

Jens trying to get in the break of the day tells me that Saxo is up to something

 

[Danilot]

47 km/h in the first hour of racing. If they keep on like this, today may well be the day Contador cracks - he's never been a "sustained effort" kind of guy, he likes to keep his legs fresh for the final climbs.

 

[sometriguy]

47 km/h in the first hour of racing. If they keep on like this, today may well be the day Contador cracks - he's never been a "sustained effort" kind of guy, he likes to keep his legs fresh for the final climbs.

Not trying to argue with you, but I can only think if about 2 bad days that Contador has had in the last 3 years and 1 of those had to do with hunger.

I hear people say this a lot, is there an real evidence to support it, or is it really the only strategy that you can employ against Alberto?

 

[Mellow Velo]

47 km/h in the first hour of racing. If they keep on like this, today may well be the day Contador cracks - he's never been a "sustained effort" kind of guy, he likes to keep his legs fresh for the final climbs.

So, he's excatly the same as Armstrong, then?
I was going to say that, "climbing is in his blood", but thought people might take it the wrong way.

 

[Publicus]

Not trying to argue with you, but I can only think if about 2 bad days that Contador has had in the last 3 years and 1 of those had to do with hunger.

I hear people say this a lot, is there an real evidence to support it, or is it really the only strategy that you can employ against Alberto?

No there isn't much evidence to support. My guess the other time is the 2007 Tour when he was constantly attacking Rasmussen. Never seen him bonk other than those two times.

 

[Bala Verde]

They are going so fast because they want to be home before the rain.

 

[Danilot]

Not trying to argue with you, but I can only think if about 2 bad days that Contador has had in the last 3 years and 1 of those had to do with hunger.

I hear people say this a lot, is there an real evidence to support it, or is it really the only strategy that you can employ against Alberto?

Contador is a fantastic rider, so he rarely has bad days; but look at previous GTs and you'll see that he has less good days when the stages are fast from the beginning. Of course, because he's so good, that usually means he only puts 10 seconds into the chasing group instead of 40.

On the other hand, I have no idea of how Contador can handle rain. Do you think that can be a factor today?

 

[lostintime]

I wish they'd have started TV coverage earlier today. What else do they have to show?

Does the British Eurosport Audio feed work for anyone lately, I can't seem to get anything from them.

 

[Publicus]

Tough break for Levi. Was just watching the climb to Angliru last night on You Tube. He did some great work for Contador on that stage. Astana is going to miss him on the upcoming stages.

That being said Zubeldia is a pretty good climber. The question is which Popo is riding with this team....

And I have to believe that Lance is going to react like a cornered animal from here on out. Things are going to get interesting real fast.

 

[sometriguy]

No there isn't much evidence to support. My guess the other time is the 2007 Tour when he was constantly attacking Rasmussen. Never seen him bonk other than those two times.

Yeah, that is what I was thinking about. I mean, the guy won every multi stage race he entered for like 2 straight years... he obviously doesn't know how to sit in the peloton.

Another thing, whenever I look at the "rider data" they put out, the numbers never make any sense at all. Is the communication with the devices really that bad or do ya'll think that the teams make sure that any riders giving out data have machines that are so miscalibrated that no sense can ever be made of them? I have a hard time believing they would allow the real data to be released.

 

[msjett]

Considering noone is giving Contador anything to attack....I can't see him cracking..just yet anyway.

 

[Publicus]

Considering noone is giving Contador anything to attack....I can't see him cracking..just yet anyway.

The peleton has slowed way down. Now just 32 kmh. We'll have to wait until Baby Schlecklett throws down the gauntlet to see if there are any cracks in any of the GC guys' armor.

 

[msjett]

The peleton has slowed way down. Now just 32 kmh. We'll have to wait until Baby Schlecklett throws down the gauntlet to see if there are any cracks in any of the GC guys' armor.

We can live in hope...the breakaway is out to 5 mins....

 

[sometriguy]

The peleton has slowed way down. Now just 32 kmh. We'll have to wait until Baby Schlecklett throws down the gauntlet to see if there are any cracks in any of the GC guys' armor.

I know everyone hates on Frank for his bike handling skills, is Andy any better?

It will be interesting to see which team (astana or saxo bank) tries to control the climbs and the descents. I truely believe there is an internal struggle with Alberto and Lance and with Levi missing, I have to wonder if Lance has about as much confidence in his team as Contador had before Levi dropped out. I think the entire dynamic of the team is changed.

Additionally, if Saxo is worried about Andy and Frank falling down, are they really going to be in a rush to set tempo and push the pace downhill?

Does this open it up for a big attack from cadel or menchov or sastre?

The rain today could be the huge X factor, man I am excited, come on tv coverage!

 

[sportzchick]

Additionally, if Saxo is worried about Andy and Frank falling down, are they really going to be in a rush to set tempo and push the pace downhill?

Does this open it up for a big attack from cadel or menchov or sastre?

The rain today could be the huge X factor, man I am excited, come on tv coverage!

my hope is that saxo and astana are too busy arguing amonst themselves they may not notice
Cadel

although he cant even sneeze without either being noticed or critisized or both