Pais Vasco Stage 6: Zalla-Zalla 24 KM (ITT)

[Dekker_Tifosi]

The TTs Gesink has done this year has really not been much better than what he has done earlier on short hilly TTs and in Oman he closed a gap to his competitors simply by it not being on TT bikes. I don't think he will be massively better at those windy, flat 40 km TTs than he used to be. He will probably gain some time on Andy but not enough.

They are different if you looked at where he actually gained time. Also note the 9km flat Tirreno ITT please.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

All TTs suit Gesink.

I'll be making a serious judgment on Gesink's all-round progression after Liege this year. In 2008 he finished pretty high despite being subordinate to both Thomas Dekker and Freire, in 2009 he was nursing an injury and last year he was sick.

Barring a crash or the like, I'll be expecting around a 4-7th from him, which would be acceptable progress for a major classic.

Yeah for different reasons he never did quite well in Liege. Reasonable (10-15th) but never super.

Still has something to prove there.

 

[Chef_Vodnik]

Gesink seems to have improved his technique, yes - remember that TTs often aren't all about power or acceleration (prologues are) and more about aerodynamics.

IIRC I predicted a pretty close TT result between Andrew and Bertie in the last TT of the Tour last year because of this. Okay, I might have been helped in this by a fading Contador (he looked wrecked, but so looked Andrew tbqh), but these sorts of improvements are feasible by all riders if they manage to go as aero as possible without being in pain.

So...

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Gesink already had the power... i mean if it comes to power, his wattage and other physical tests (vo2max etc) are phenomenal.
That's why it was baffling he couldn't ride a decent ITT in 2010 (he did nice time trials in 2009 and 2008)..

Now he has the right position. Or at least, better than his old one.

 

[El Pistolero]

Gesink has shown improvement yeah, but Andy certainly has not. It only became a close battle because like you said Contador was a total wreck at that point. For his doing, that was a really bad time trial. He can do better and has already shown that this season by once again beating Menchov for example.

 

[Cobblestoned]

Bram Tankink has earned himself a 2nd price

Most graceful rider

"Een prijs der elegantie. Geen idee waaraan ik die te danken heb", lacht hij. "Maar wel leuk!"
http://www.wielerflits.nl/nieuws/13295/tankink-pakt-twee-prijzen-in-het-baskenland-(video).html

 

[offbyone]

I really enjoyed this race as I do every year. So many top competitors fought it out and every day was exciting. My only complaint is the lack of summit finishes. I mean come on, this is suppose to be a climber's race. By the way, I was also disappointed with cyclingnews.com **** poor coverage? They almost seemed to ignore it.

 

[gregrowlerson]

I think I'm going to change my Tour prediction.
Forget about Andy and Alberto.

It's all about Chris, Jani, Andreas and Levi, with the amazing TT specialist Gesink as number 5

HAHA!!

Such a shame though (as I keep mentioning ) that there isn't at least a 2nd ITT at the TDF. If there was another 40km one at the end of week one then the parcours would be near perfect. And Gesink could maybe slug it out with the Schlecks while Kloden fights for third or fourth.

But a great ride today by Klodi, and a wonderful victory overall. A nice little closer to his career even if the rest of the season doesn't go well.

 

[movingtarget]

I don't know why Gesink's time trial ride is so surprising to some people. He has been making steady progression and as others have noted, he looks better, technique wise on the bike. Kloden still has the goods to win these types of races and his time trialling seems to be back to previous levels. But I don't expect this form to mean much at the Tour. I think Horner could finish ahead of him again. Still, good to see some of the veterans getting results.

I expect Martin to start narrowing the gap between him and the Swiss whiner in future time trials. To me, Gesink is a much better all round rider than he was two years ago. It will be very interesting to see how he and VDB perform in this year's TDF. I think it is possible for one of them to make the podium. Who knows what Evans, Sanchez and Basso will do ? Most people seem to think Schleck and Contador are certainties for the other two places depending on appeals of course. I admired Sanchez's ride last year. He tried his heart out even though I think he was ill at some stage of the race. I also hope Evans does well. His last attempt maybe ?

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

This.

Finally someone who's not over analyzing things and over worrying.
I do wonder though if the pre-oman training might have made him peak a little too early. And he is doing al this at base level. That would be encouraging. To be 2nd at Tirreno and 3rd at Pais Vasco at base level....

edit: what's unbelievable to me, is that Gesink only lost 9 seconds on Tony Martin in the second, flat/downhill part. Which means again he lost most of the time uphill!\

edit2:
times of GC men on the flat part

Gesink: 12,53
Kloden: 13,05
Horner: 13,07
SamSan: 13.16
Vino: 13,19
Intxausti: 13,23
Tondo: 13,26
A. Schleck: 13,40

LOL!

yeah I mentioned pre-oman too, he just doesn't seem to have top form.
oh well.

lol at the figures above. never thought I'd see that.

 

[Granville57]

It's that time again...

I've avoided this thread entirely until now to prevent any spoilers for me. And I desperately need some sleep for Roubaix!

But...this was one of my favorite races last year, however scheduling made it very difficult for me to keep up this week. I caught some clips online and some delayed Universal Sports coverage.

But there's no way I'm letting Cayman-Cervelo off the hook quite yet!

What fantastic results were on display this time around from these hard men of the Caribbean? (Tough as pirates, I tell you!)

9th Ryder Hesjedal (Can)
36th Christophe Le Mevel (Fra)
42nd Christian Vande Velde (USA)
80th Thomas Danielson (USA)
96th Murilo Antonio Fischer (Bra)
98th Andrew Talansky (USA)
99th Thomas Peterson (USA)
(Nearly a straight sweep of the lower nineties!)

A respectable showing from Ryder, but that’s to expected considering his supplemental training in the off-season.

You see, it wasn’t enough to have endured the harsh and unforgiving surroundings a tropical paradise. After completing that particular suffer-fest—Ryder, Christian and Tyler soon set off for a more punishing environment: Hawaii. Maui, to be precise. Talk about sacrifice! It’s probably best to think of it as a self-imposed exile, of sorts, to yet another remote island. Hard men.

http://mauicyclingcamps.com/
I didn't even know that water could be that blue!

As far as CVV: he’s an old guy. No need to over exert or peak too early. He’s gonna save it all for the Tour, just like Horner and Klöden.

But tomorrow at Paris-Roubaix should most likely bring redemption to the squad. I’ve placed some serious money on a podium sweep with Thor, Heinrich and Sep. I shall be sleeping like a baby for a few hours.

I know the boyz won’t let me down.

 

[hrotha]

Well, Talansky did another great TT, it's something. If the kid remembers how to climb he could become a threat in all kinds of stage races.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

I really enjoyed this race as I do every year. So many top competitors fought it out and every day was exciting. My only complaint is the lack of summit finishes. I mean come on, this is suppose to be a climber's race. By the way, I was also disappointed with cyclingnews.com **** poor coverage? They almost seemed to ignore it.

Thing is, though the Basque country is filled with leg-busting climbs, there isn't much in the way of super-long climbs, and many of the climbs don't have room for the whole race caravan at the top (eg the climb on Monday's stage to Zumarraga); the Alto de Aia similarly is like Montelupone but harder; but it's not easy logistically to sort out a finish there.

Urkiola's probably about the best they could do with a genuine summit finish after a proper hard climb - the top part of the climb is 6,1km @ 9,2% and hosts the finish of a late-summer one-day race, the Subida a Urkiola.

 

[craig1985]

Was the matter with Levi Leipheimer? He rode with a sack of bricks in his back pocket.