Official Thread Stage 21 Montereau-Fault-Yonne - Paris Champs-Élysées 164km

[Publicus]

if armstrong was intelligent, he would have taken MJ on the TTT.

He tried. Very hard. Unfortunately he was the fifth man across the line and allowed a small gap to form between himself and the person in front of him (I think it was Contador, but it was a couple of weeks ago). He didn't and now the rest is history....

 

[groverjones]

It was the most disrespectful commentary I've ever seen. He said that Contador doesn't have Lance's intelligence . . . then he said that Contador and Schleck don't have the intelligence to form a team so next year advantage Armstrong.

Just pathetic.

Perhaps it's a nail in Phil's coffin, and we'll get more of Matt Keenan, who I must say has done an awesome job at the Tour this year. I had hoped we would only get Matt rather than the switch for the criterium.
Cheers.

 

[saphblue]

What the hell did Phil just say? Something about Contador's intelligence?? I wish I had DVR.....

He said that Contador and "the Shleck family" don't have the intelligence to put together good teams to rival Lance. I thought it was a crappy thing to say, but there you go.

 

[Amsterhammer]

It was the most disrespectful commentary I've ever seen. He said that Contador doesn't have Lance's intelligence . . . then he said that Contador and Schleck don't have the intelligence to form a team so next year advantage Armstrong.

Just pathetic.

I really pity those of you who have no alternative to stupidity like that. The Dutch commentators echoed my own hope for next season, namely that all the 'big guns' should be on different teams.

 

[Cobber]

I really pity those of you who have no alternative to stupidity like that. The Dutch commentators echoed my own hope for next season, namely that all the 'big guns' should be on different teams.

I need to learn Dutch and move!

 

[lostintime]

Maybe Phil is right, maybe not . . . but I suspect he knows a whole lot more than any of us do about them.

It may not have been a "nice" thing to say ..... but he's not paid to be objective either.

 

[dgodave]

well somehow contador has managed to win 4 Grand Tours.

i hope contador goes to caisse d'epargne next year.

Me too. Hopefully a weaker team for Contador will make for a bit tighter race.
.

 

[Cobblestones]

I also feel a little verklempt at the end of each Tour, the closing music of the Vs coverage makes me a little wistful. I'm really excited about the future and all of these young guys making their mark. I'm ready for some new blood, new faces. Can't wait to see where Contador ends up.

Clinic

 

[Publicus]

Maybe Phil is right, maybe not . . . but I suspect he knows a whole lot more than any of us do about them.

It may not have been a "nice" thing to say ..... but he's not paid to be objective either.

He knows Lance, he doesn't know Contador. He's talking out of admiration for Lance, not knowledge of Contador.

 

[Publicus]

Me too. Hopefully a weaker team for Contador will make for a bit tighter race.
.

Radio Shack will be a weaker version of Astana. Saxo Bank will still be a powerhouse. The question is does Garmin step up and sign Contador, or does Caisse. Let the bidding war begin . . . NOW!

 

[ThisFrenchGuy]

He tried. Very hard. Unfortunately he was the fifth man across the line and allowed a small gap to form between himself and the person in front of him (I think it was Contador, but it was a couple of weeks ago). He didn't and now the rest is history....

To be honest it wouldn't have that big of a difference in the end results. Armstrong would have been unable to defend it against A.Schleck, his climbing was already at max as it is.
I suspect Contador would have attacked at one point, under the guise of following an Astana rival maybe. He would have taken more flak maybe (but considering what happened even he wore the MJ...), but was Astana only hope.
Or he could have wait for the ITT, although I guess you could say his time would have been different without the motivation.

That's basically what he did in Verbier: he attacked to make sure there was no gap with Armstrong.

I guess Lance would have been happy to wear it once more though.

 

[Hugh Januss]

I need to learn Dutch and move!

My TV has a volume control and I'm not afraid to use it!

Maybe Phil is right, maybe not . . . but I suspect he knows a whole lot more than any of us do about them.

It may not have been a "nice" thing to say ..... but he's not paid to be objective either.

No, but that is what he should be paid to be.

Me too. Hopefully a weaker team for Contador will make for a bit tighter race.
.

I don't know about that his portion of this years team didn't look all that strong to me. Not in terms of numbers anyway.

 

[Publicus]

My TV has a volume control and I'm not afraid to use it!

No, but that is what he should be paid to be.


I don't know about that his portion of this years team didn't look all that strong to me. Not in terms of numbers anyway.

You know I thought it interesting that NO ONE ever did any pace setting for him. Not a la Discovery Channel. Saxo always managed to blow it apart before it could happen, so I don't know if that was ever the plan (though I highly doubt Armstrong would be setting tempo for him).

He basically won on his own to the extent you could ever say such a thing in this day and age.

 

[Bala Verde]

I need to learn Dutch and move!

I did both, but I still ended up with VS!

 

[ThisFrenchGuy]

I don't know about that his portion of this years team didn't look all that strong to me. Not in terms of numbers anyway.

While not dedicated to him, and rife with soap-drama, Astana was clearly a very strong team and it had benefited Contador in some ways. On the flat roads, Astana was dictating the pace and controlling the race. The Astana win in the TTT helped him as much as Armstrong. The struggle for third place between some of his rivals maybe diverted some of the attacks.

Of course, he also had to cope with the whole drama thing which was detrimental.

But as everyone said, it would be better to have all the GC contenders more evenly distributed in slighty weaker teams.

 

[Amsterhammer]

Radio Shack will be a weaker version of Astana. Saxo Bank will still be a powerhouse. The question is does Garmin step up and sign Contador, or does Caisse. Let the bidding war begin . . . NOW!

Don't laugh at me, it wasn't my idea....the Dutch commentators were getting excited by their own logic, which led them to think that Rabo might actually have a chance of signing him - Garate and Flecha are already a Spanish colony, Breukink speaks the language and so on. I have no idea if Rabo could even afford him.

 

[Hugh Januss]

You know I thought it interesting that NO ONE ever did any pace setting for him. Not a la Discovery Channel. Saxo always managed to blow it apart before it could happen, so I don't know if that was ever the plan (though I highly doubt Armstrong would be setting tempo for him).

He basically won on his own to the extent you could ever say such a thing in this day and age.

I thought Saxo set him up really well a couple of times. Maybe Astana didn't want to bother with riding around Saxo on the front just to do the same thing. Astana as a whole certainly did do a bunch of tempo on the front both before and after AC got the yellow. Before the advent of the Postal final climb power lead-out that is mostly what leaders teams did.

 

[ggusta]

Hmm ... I just turned on the TV. Did AC and Andy withdraw from the race? Versus is treating it like LA won the race!

Dude, versus has been treating Lance like it is coronation for 3 weeks. He can do no wrong, AC is like something stuck to the bottom of Bob Roll's shoe.

 

[ggusta]

Correct, edited my post.
Lapsus révélateur I guess

So nobody wants to entertain the idea of F.Schleck taking 3" to Wiggins for a 4th place upset, thus making the stage interesting against all odds?

Frank Schleck ain't Lance Armstrong.

 

[andrew_s]

Wiggins was probably at the back with Contador and all, making sure to not be involved in a crash... Can't blame him.

Wiggins was marking Frank Schleck.
It wouldn't have done to peel off the leadout train at 500m to go and then find himself the wrong side of a split in the bunch. Hincapie came in in 75th today, as an example of how far back peeled off leadout men finish.

 

[ggusta]

According to Phil, lance got 2nd overall. Thats news to me. Man, Phil just gets worse every year.

Saw that too, my wife was startled that Lance was 2nd, had to remind her that she was listening to the ravings of a demented lance-a-holic.

Lance will always be first in Phil's heart.

 

[ggusta]

They went around that last corner at ieast 5 kph faster than the rest. It looked too easy, they must be on something.

I have given up hope that some of them AREN'T on something. Some just get caught. And no, I don't want to really open up that argument for the millionth time. It's my opinion, and I would love to be wrong.

Hincapie set up that win. Nice effort for a dude with a broken clav.

 

[ggusta]

And Cav just complained in his interview that he would have won green without the disqualification - he won 6 stages and he still complains...

A cyclist? Complaining? Alert the media!!

 

[Hugh Januss]

I have given up hope that some of them AREN'T on something. Some just get caught. And no, I don't want to really open up that argument for the millionth time. It's my opinion, and I would love to be wrong.

Hincapie set up that win. Nice effort for a dude with a broken clav.

Oops, sorry my bad. I guess I forgot to put that little eye rolling doohicky on that last post.

 

[ThisFrenchGuy]

Wiggins was marking Frank Schleck.
It wouldn't have done to peel off the leadout train at 500m to go and then find himself the wrong side of a split in the bunch. Hincapie came in in 75th today, as an example of how far back peeled off leadout men finish.

Makes sense he would mark him (since I pointed myself the mere 3" between them), but where was F.Schleck? At the back? (Honest question).

I guess the conclusion is the same: Wiggins was not gonna play wagon at the front for his sprinter.