Official Thread: Stage 16 TdF Martigny - Bourg-Saint-Maurice

[benpounder]

Seriously man, Dave Z bridged back up. That does not an impressive catch make.

I may be mistaken - will have to wait for the re-broadcast - but it looked like Sastre was the driving element to the regrouping. But you are right, seems the lead pack took the foot off the gas when LA bridged (perhaps before???).

 

[Parrot23]

If you pause the video at 10 seconds you can see a broken fork.

Wonder if it's before or after the crash (pre or post-impact). Could be weakened then crack on the bump (Jens is heavy and a sudden bump in pavement at high speed will stress his carbon fork MUCH more than other riders'--critical threshold stuff--hence some other guys ride over the bump no problem).

Maybe that's it. Sort of the inverse to the Wiggo weight argument.

 

[OKRider79]

Ha, ha. I wouldn't want to be their tyre supplier right now; bit like Van Velde's fork never been explained. Teams will be very hush hush about this stuff, not to enrage the team supplier.

Could be the wheels causing the punctures as well. Or the combination of the two. Either way, it seems that Saxo has a major supplier issue.

 

[Parrot23]

Like Hincapie's steering column breaking at Paris Roubaix when he was in contention 2-3 years ago. Double ouch.

 

[benpounder]

I'm sorry, where did those guys finish compared to Armstrong Sunday? Today? Easy answer, behind and with.

Yup. He clearly isnt as strong as either Andy or Alberto, but it not so clear that he is weaker than the others you listed. That was my point...

...and to tweak you for your other comments Good on you for your quick retraction - its something fanboys dont do.

 

[benpounder]

I have to say, Pelizotti in that KOM is just a total color clash between the red and white polka dot, and that lime green.

I was thinking the same thing. Interesting how certain teams build their kits to match with the jerseys they expect to hold.

 

[Sophistic]

well, the question really is 'why would an endurance cyclist lose power when losing weight'? That really doesn't make much sense to me since muscular strength isn't a determinant of power output in efforts longer than a minute or so. He appears to have lost both body fat and some muscle mass--but outside of his pursuit starts, I'm not sure why that should have an effect on his power output.

If someone can explain 'why', I'm all ears.

BTW, what happened to Voigt?? Was I getting coffee or something when he went down or was the crash not on Versus? Hope it's not as bad as it sounds...

max power is important in endurance events, how should you be able to push 450 watt efficiently if you have no leg power.Guys like Cancellara or Grabsch can push high gears with much more ease than say the Schlecks->less oxygen consumption->better results in flat TTs.

 

[gjdavis60]

Could be the wheels causing the punctures as well. Or the combination of the two. Either way, it seems that Saxo has a major supplier issue.

With a sponsored activity like motorsport or bike racing when the sponsor pulls a bunch of product for a team, chances are it comes from the same lot or production run. Unfortunately, manufacturing defects tend to occur within lots, too, so if you find one bad item in a shipment there's a good chance other items will have the same defect. This is more common than finding design or engineering problems, although with prototype stuff that is also a possibility.

 

[Anonymous]

A bit premature there.

Dude, shit or get off the pot. You post like you are not a fan, but then on several occasions have quoted my posts and written references sympathetic to Mr Armstrong. Just admit you want to have his babies and quit pretending...or maybe you want to have mine?

 

[benpounder]

Dude... Just admit you want to have his babies and quit pretending.

I'd have his money

If I could be considered a fanboy of anyone, it would be Levi.

[my edit]No I'd not have yours. I just appreciate the honesty in your distain for Mr. Armstrong.

 

[dgodave]

Dude, shit or get off the pot. You post like you are not a fan, but then on several occasions have quoted my posts and written references sympathetic to Mr Armstrong. Just admit you want to have his babies and quit pretending...or maybe you want to have mine?

Yeah, man. you are either with us, or you are with the terrorists.
.

 

[jaylew]

I'm happy for Astarloza. I was really rooting for him in that breakaway(and hoping the 4 chasers didn't catch on). First "on the road" victory in a very solid career.

I hope Jens is ok. He's one of those riders that's hard not to like.

Nice performance from Lance. Looked like they had called off the dogs at the front which made it easier for him but showed he's still got some fight in him and that he might be the next strongest guy in the field after AC, the Schleck bros, Nibali, Kloden, and Wiggo. Still, him getting dropped doesn't bode well for his final podium chances with tomorrow's stage and Ventoux on the way.

 

[Mellow Velo]

There are some pictures, here
For anyone with a strong stomach.

 

[Parrot23]

Contador quoted in New York Times:

"“Lance did some great work today, but I didn’t really need his help,” Contador said after retaining the leader’s yellow jersey. “I’m really satisfied with his performance.”

 

[frizzlefry]

There are some pictures, here
For anyone with a strong stomach.

OUCH man not good.

 

[fulcrum]

Great win by Mikel Astarloza. Euskaltel has been trying and being aggressive for most of the Tour's mountain stages. They spice up the race quite a bit. Nice to see they've got the reward to the effort. Very good tactics at the end with 2 km to go.

Basques must be celebrating tonight.

 

[Cobber]

There are some pictures, here
For anyone with a strong stomach.

Ouch! ...but I was expecting him to look a lot worse off to be honest. From those pictures, it looks like he kept most of his skin on his face. Hopefully he has a speedy recovery. I agree with Jaylew, Jens is just one of those riders that is really hard to not like.

 

[slowoldman]

Looks like it might have been a flat tire too. The bars and steerer look to be fine in the picture where you can see his bike and the tire looks square like it is flat. Hope he heals quickly.

 

[fulcrum]

Contador quoted in New York Times:

"“Lance did some great work today, but I didn’t really need his help,” Contador said after retaining the leader’s yellow jersey. “I’m really satisfied with his performance.”

Not quite...

"Ha sido un gran campeón y lo sigue siendo y hoy lo ha vuelto a demostrar. Por primera vez hemos hablado en carrera. No le he necesitado, pero estoy seguro de que si hubiera estado en problemas me habría ayudado", afirmó. "Cuando ha dicho que se pone a mi servicio demuestra todavía más grandeza", agregó.

Translation:

Regarding Lance...

"He's been a great champion and he still is as he's shown today. For the first time, we've talked during the race. Today I didn't need his help, but I am sure that if I were in trouble, he would have helped me." Contador stated.
"By saying he is willing to help me, he shows his greatness."

Looks like the New York Times guys need to step their game up.

 

[131313]

max power is important in endurance events, how should you be able to push 450 watt efficiently if you have no leg power.Guys like Cancellara or Grabsch can push high gears with much more ease than say the Schlecks->less oxygen consumption->better results in flat TTs.

first off, 'max power' is not important in timed endurance events.

Secondly, you seem to be confusing 'power' and 'strength'. No endurance cyclist is limited by leg strength unless they have an injury or infirmity.

Cancellar and Grabsch TT better than the Schlecks because they have a higher W/Cda ratio, period. It has nothing to do with leg strength.

I bet Grabsch can out-dead-lift Levi and Contador, but he's not a much better TT rider.

 

[131313]

OUCH man not good.

I doesn't look like his front tire is flat though? Boy, that's a tough one to figure out. I don't think the pavement cause the crash. That would be really unfortunate if it was equipemnt failure (well, unfortunate either way).

I watched it a bunch of times and don't really seem a broken fork prior to him going down. The front wheel went sideways almost immediately, which could have caused the broken fork.

Sad to see any way you look at it.

 

[dadoorsron]

When I saw Jens crash and saw his head bounce on the road I pretty much thought the Tour would be building a memorial for him somewhere on the climb. What a horrific crash! I hope he makes a quick and full recovery.

I think Cadel Evans had another bad day! Can we say It's Over! Sastre will be someone to watch on Ventoux! Andy Schleck doesn't have it in him to get away from Contador. He will fall another 2 minutes behind him possibly at the end of the tt. Armstrong will finish on the podium. Very impressive move for him I thought. 30 second lead and wiped it out in a 1.5-2K(It might be something like 1K though). Wiggins still is a very surprising! Maybe the Garmin bus should of been searched by the swiss guard instead of Astana!

 

[dadoorsron]

I doesn't look like his front tire is flat though? Boy, that's a tough one to figure out. I don't think the pavement cause the crash. That would be really unfortunate if it was equipemnt failure (well, unfortunate either way).

I watched it a bunch of times and don't really seem a broken fork prior to him going down. The front wheel went sideways almost immediately, which could have caused the broken fork.

Sad to see any way you look at it.

They went over some sort of hump in the road. the rider in front of jens you can see kind of jumped and then Jen hooped and didn't hold it.

 

[frizzlefry]

They went over some sort of hump in the road. the rider in front of jens you can see kind of jumped and then Jen hooped and didn't hold it.

Yea I see what you are saying. Could be he wasnt expecting the hump, and when you hit something like that on a bike, and are not expecting it, your handle bars go away from you. that looks like what happened. The fork most likely broke after the wheel turned sideways.

 

[Publicus]

Not quite...

"Ha sido un gran campeón y lo sigue siendo y hoy lo ha vuelto a demostrar. Por primera vez hemos hablado en carrera. No le he necesitado, pero estoy seguro de que si hubiera estado en problemas me habría ayudado", afirmó. "Cuando ha dicho que se pone a mi servicio demuestra todavía más grandeza", agregó.

Translation:

Regarding Lance...

"He's been a great champion and he still is as he's shown today. For the first time, we've talked during the race. Today I didn't need his help, but I am sure that if I were in trouble, he would have helped me." Contador stated.
"By saying he is willing to help me, he shows his greatness."

Looks like the New York Times guys need to step their game up.

Thanks for clarifying that mistranslation. I was going to say that was the first bad statement I've heard from Contador before you clarified.