Pais Vasco Stage 2: Zumarraga - Lekunberri 163km

[Jamsque]

I didn't see a single Sky rider in that lead group, I'm very impressed that Cummings made it.

 

[hatcher]

I didn't see a single Sky rider in that lead group, I'm very impressed that Cummings made it.

He was actually in that 5 man lead group that Kiryienka won from. Another good ride from him.

 

[maltiv]

According to procycling.no, Horner was asked after the stage how he could be so good at almost 40. His answer was apparently "I like fruit." Sounds very, uhm, clinic-material.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Tomorrows climb doesn't look so hard. But after that there is an uncategorized climb, 1km at 10%. Just before the finish...

Seems ideal terrain for Rodriguez and Horner, but the latter won't attack his own teammate

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

fruit?? is this something like tomacco

Well, in his defence, Rai Sport 2 and no less Davide Cassani, I think it was, called Joachim Rodriguez; Kolobnev, throughout yesterday's attack.
Hard, considering Kolobnev was in champs jersey.

lol. I'd really love to see some CN members commentating.

Can you imagine;
Ryo: duarte attacks, we'd get a lecture about how the Colombians are on the verge of taking over the cycling world.
ACF: Evans attacks. We'd hear some odd moaning sounds for a while....
Cobblestoned: We'd get the luxury of hearing a non-functioning sentence, resulting into something white-noise.
The possibilities would be endless.... I of course would be practically perfect

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

amazing performance by duarte who had crashed hard yesterday and had barely slept from the pain he said. after he was taken back he could easily follow the rhythm of the first guys as he was in 3rd position all the time. menchov better break something soon so he can really shine in the giro.

 

[Rocksteady]

Tomorrows climb doesn't look so hard. But after that there is an uncategorized climb, 1km at 10%. Just before the finish...

Seems ideal terrain for Rodriguez and Horner, but the latter won't attack his own teammate

Having Klodi in the jersey could be really bad for Horner. I hope he maintains a free role (I think he will, this isn't the old radioshack team) in case Klodi has a bad day.

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

Cummings the Sky rider in the first group

Uran seems to have blown himself by going with the early attacks. Losing 26 seconds.
I find LL Sanchez dissapointing too. This is a climb that should have suited him..yet he finishes int he 26s group

as I said before the beginning of the year ll sanchez will be another horrible transfer by rabo just like breschel. they clearly have no idea what talent is except matthews, but I think everyone saw him

 

[cineteq]

Tony Martin is taking it too easy
Just came to this tour to win the TT?

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

Tony Martin is taking it too easy
Just came to this tour to win the TT?

and to help out tvg who is again failing miserably in the climbs.

 

[The Hitch]

Menchov better break something soon so he can really shine in the giro.

You do not hold back do you

Having Klodi in the jersey could be really bad for Horner. I hope he maintains a free role (I think he will, this isn't the old radioshack team) in case Klodi has a bad day.

Welll they are at the same time arent they? so Klodis jersey is mostly ceremonial at this point.

fruit?? is this something like tomacco

ol. I'd really love to see some CN members commentating.

Can you imagine;
Ryo: duarte attacks, we'd get a lecture about how the Colombians are on the verge of taking over the cycling world.
ACF: Evans attacks. We'd hear some odd moaning sounds for a while....
Cobblestoned: We'd get the luxury of hearing a non-functioning sentence, resulting into something white-noise.
The possibilities would be endless.... I of course would be practically perfect ;

I would talk about other races during the boring points. Or use the twitter thing for more than just getting questions from fans. Maybe talk back and forth with them or play some sort of cycling knowledge games.

And try to spice it up with Spanish style going mad whenever someone attacks.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

going mad? like ACF?

I see it now... The Hitch commentating during the Tour of Poland, and then... NIEMIEC IS DOWN, I REPEAT NIEMIEC IS DOWN, OH THE AGONY

 

[Ferminal]

Having Klodi in the jersey could be really bad for Horner. I hope he maintains a free role (I think he will, this isn't the old radioshack team) in case Klodi has a bad day.

The tactics shouldn't change. They are still on the same time, Horner is more responsive on the climbs, but Klöden probably better in the ITT (form depending). They should stick to what has got them good results the first two days.

Horner - Attacking or actively responding
Klöden - Riding his own pace
Leipheimer - Fetching the bottles until he falls away with 30km to go.

There will be gaps on stage 4, and if Klöden falls way he would lose 20-30s, which is probably more than the difference between them in the ITT. They should keep their options open.

 

[The Hitch]

going mad? like ACF?

I see it now... The Hitch commentating during the Tour of Poland, and then... NIEMIEC IS DOWN, I REPEAT NIEMIEC IS DOWN, OH THE AGONY

I would just be shouting the same one word the whole time like my comrades here

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxnQZEu5UrE

 

[boomcie]

lol. I'd really love to see some CN members commentating.

Can you imagine;
Ryo: duarte attacks, we'd get a lecture about how the Colombians are on the verge of taking over the cycling world.
ACF: Evans attacks. We'd hear some odd moaning sounds for a while....
Cobblestoned: We'd get the luxury of hearing a non-functioning sentence, resulting into something white-noise.
The possibilities would be endless.... I of course would be practically perfect

hilarious.

You forgot some:


El Pistolero in a race without Gilbert: *sound of someone eating chips*

El Pistolero in a race with Gilbert: non stop tirade about how great Gibert is, only to be interupted by him giggling because someone crashed.

Dim: repeatedly telling the audience to tune in on teamskyfans.com and watch the live streams there. Now that's what I call a vicious circle.

Dekker_T: would encourage the audience to beat up or kill riders who do not perform to his liking. Would also massacre most of his colleagues.

 

[Cobblestoned]

fruit?? is this something like tomacco



lol. I'd really love to see some CN members commentating.

Can you imagine;
Ryo: duarte attacks, we'd get a lecture about how the Colombians are on the verge of taking over the cycling world.
ACF: Evans attacks. We'd hear some odd moaning sounds for a while....
Cobblestoned: We'd get the luxury of hearing a non-functioning sentence, resulting into something white-noise.
The possibilities would be endless.... I of course would be practically perfect

And it would sound like this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDxn0Xfqkgw

 

[hrotha]

I kind of like Klödi for some reason I can't quite comprehend but it's still quite hilarious that he only bothers when he has to sign a new contract.

 

[theyoungest]

as I said before the beginning of the year ll sanchez will be another horrible transfer by rabo just like breschel. they clearly have no idea what talent is except matthews, but I think everyone saw him

LLS crashed before the beginning of the stage, and had a very painful shoulder as a result. BTW, when your hyped up Colombians have won half as much as LLS at this point in their career, get back to me.

LLS is rarely among the best riders in a race, but you can win races by being smart as well. You know, a bit like Vino.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Rabo DS Van Houwelingen said they knew the climb wasn't hard enough to make a difference, and such a power climb is not demanding enough for Gesink.
They expect the stage to Eibar-Arrate to be deciding, together with the time trial.

Also, LL Sanchez crashed on the way to the start. He had to evade a little girl crossing the road and crashed into the Euskaltel team car. He had hurt his shoulder and the after effects of that bothered him during the stage...

 

[Christian]

Anyone else having the problem that the youtube video is loading EXCRUCIATINGLY slow?!

 

[The Hitch]

Dekker_T: would encourage the audience to beat up or kill riders who do not perform to his liking. Would also massacre most of his colleagues.

DT would make very few comments that didnt involve Dutch riders.

I remember when in the moments after Geelong finished everyone was saying "well done thor" and commenting ont he sprint, but Ruben comes out with something along the lines of "Niki Terpsta"

 

[Jamsque]

Lovkvist is having a shocker, even by his modest standards. I'm surprised that his form has fallen away so much since Tirreno.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Nah, Boomcie, me as commentator would mean I'd end up in an endless discussion with my co-commentator over how much Fränk Schleck sucks, while we totally miss the final.

 

[hrotha]

By the way, Duarte is a former u23 world champion who is having little to no trouble adapting to Europe and who's already shown a couple of glimpses of his climbing talent this season. For him, attacking on a not very tough climb and staying away for a short while is an interesting performance, but not amazing by any stretch of the imagination. As has been noted repeatedly today, he's not Ardila.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Is Vasil Kiryienka the new Jens Voigt? He can climb, he can TT, he can do well in the Criterium International. He was a ridiculously aggressive rider back with Tinkoff who has metamorphosed into one of the strongest domestiques in the world (he was charged as Valverde's personal minder and the only non-Spaniard in the Caisse squad in the '09 Vuelta), and now he comes off the leash he can get on the move consistently and get good results in hilly races.

A guy like Kiryienka is worth his weight in gold to a team.

Klöden looks a solid bet for this race. I wonder if Horner may be using up slightly too much energy since he's been on the move in both stages so far, but then over six days that should be no problem.

5 Movistar riders in the front group today... that's a motivated team.