Paris-Nice '12: Stage 1 Dampierre-en-Yvelines - Saint-Rémy-lès-Chevreuse (ITT), 9,4 k

[jens_attacks]

I can see him win on Mende, but I'd be surprised if he still managed to win the overall now. I think it's going to be a battle between Wiggo and Leipheimer. Don't think I've ever seen a one on one battle between 2 wheelsuckers

yes it will be probably too hard for him.only if he drops everybody on mende which i seriously doubt.

 

[Froome19]

Good fight his chances of defending his title.

Anyway...

Real winner of the day: Gustav Larsson
Moral winner of the day: Bradley Wiggins
Loser of the day: Alejandro Valverde

Hows Valverde the loser? 30 seconds behind Wiggins is easily gettable if you consider time bonuses and the upcoming stages and Valverde will probably be really happy he decided to go early and miss the rain.
Today was just about limitting his losses which he managed to do reasonably well.

 

[El Pistolero]

No, losing 30 seconds in a prologue is awful. Especially because Valverde said he improved his time trial during his ban. Trust me, this will be a blow to him. Unless he lied in his interviews, but why would he lie about that?

 

[cineteq]

Hows Valverde the loser? 30 seconds behind Wiggins is easily gettable if you consider time bonuses and the upcoming stages and Valverde will probably be really happy he decided to go early and miss the rain.
Today was just about limitting his losses which he managed to do reasonably well.

Exactly so. Pistolero is doing his usual round of bluffing comments, without having much support behind his thoughts or agenda.

 

[Froome19]

No, losing 30 seconds in a prologue is awful. Especially because Valverde said he improved his time trial during his ban. Trust me, this will be a blow to him. Unless he lied in his interviews, but why would he lie about that?

Well from what we saw in Andalucia and now here it very well seems like he lied or misjudged himself.
Edit: possibly he was only referring to the longer TTs rather than prologues but that would be difficult to understand as climbers like him should be better at prologues than long TTs

 

[El Pistolero]

Exactly so. Pistolero is doing his usual round of bluffing comments, without having much support behind his thoughts or agenda.

Because it wasn't awful when Andy lost 42 seconds in a prologue right

I'm not bluffing, no way Valverde is glad with this result.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Valverde can't possibly be glad. Pre-suspension he was very good in short flat prologues and short time trials with hills. And especially short prologues with hills. This is the last type. And he was nowhere near his old level in this type of test.

 

[The Hitch]

i'd expect sky scientists to know better when is gonna rain.

They probably knew but Wiggins wanted to start 3rd to honour his podium last year.

Just a guess though.

 

[maltiv]

They probably knew but Wiggins wanted to start 3rd to honour his podium last year.

Just a guess though.

Wiggins started 3rd to last followed by Klöden and Tony Martin, so yeah, they clearly had to start according to last year's podium.

 

[cineteq]

Because it wasn't awful when Andy lost 42 seconds in a prologue right

I'm not bluffing, no way Valverde is glad with this result.

He clearly said the difference today was no a decisive one.
http://forum.cyclingnews.com/showpost.php?p=805565&postcount=384

Leipheimer is the guy he should be worry about, not Wiggins.

 

[El Pistolero]

They didn't have to.

 

[El Pistolero]

He clearly said the difference today was no a decisive one.
http://forum.cyclingnews.com/showpost.php?p=805565&postcount=384

Leipheimer is the guy he should be worry about, not Wiggins.

We'll see if it proved to be decisive or not Andy said the same after his prologue

 

[jens_attacks]

Valverde can't possibly be glad. Pre-suspension he was very good in short flat prologues and short time trials with hills. And especially short prologues with hills. This is the last type. And he was nowhere near his old level in this type of test.

yes but something drastic happend with his physique.look better at him.that's the reason.
he lost lots of muscle,the punchy valverde? forget him.i think he improved his endurance a lot so this should help maybe on the 40-50 kms itt at the end of a grand tour.also on the big cols of tour de france.
this is not just a guess,he's a changed rider now.

 

[Froome19]

Because it wasn't awful when Andy lost 42 seconds in a prologue right

I'm not bluffing, no way Valverde is glad with this result.

He may not be glad with his result but he is definitley glad with the outcome it could have been so much worse if he had gone out in the rain and for example Wiggins had gone out in the dry.
So he's not that big a loser when you consider everything that could've happened

 

[The Hitch]

Wiggins started 3rd to last followed by Klöden and Tony Martin, so yeah, they clearly had to start according to last year's podium.

Don't have to. Cancellara took Andy's 2nd to last place in Rotterdam 2 years ago for example.

 

[cineteq]

Andy said the same after his prologue

Andy is just being Andy, he should be worry about Anton and Cunego instead.

 

[Froome19]

They probably knew but Wiggins wanted to start 3rd to honour his podium last year.

Just a guess though.

It was probably a double bet so they decided to keep Wiggins where he was and then they could play 2 cards so if it did rain Porte would miss it and if it didn't then Wiggins had the advantage of starting last.
Similar to OMQS just they had 3 riders to play with and they got it right with their better 2.

 

[El Pistolero]

It was probably a double bet so they decided to keep Wiggins where he was and then they could play 2 cards so if it did rain Porte would miss it and if it didn't then Wiggins had the advantage of starting last.
Similar to OMQS just they had 3 riders to play with and they got it right with their better 2.

Richie Porte has been ill recently, so that can't be the case

They probably expected an "average" result from him today.

 

[Richeypen]

I can see him win on Mende, but I'd be surprised if he still managed to win the overall now. I think it's going to be a battle between Wiggo and Leipheimer. Don't think I've ever seen a one on one battle between 2 wheelsuckers

The wheel sucking Wiggo who led everyone up La Covatilla and the stage to Estacion de Montana Manzaneda last year and attacked the likes of Armstrong, Evans etc on the Verbier in 2009. Wiggo doesnt wheelsuck unless he is struggling. He prefers to ride tempo at the front of a group, keeping the pace constant to avoid explosive accelerations which is the best way to drop him.

Comparing him to Levi who is notorious at sitting on someones wheel all the way up a climb before jumping them in the last few hundred metres is unfair.

 

[El Pistolero]

No it's not. Wiggo is suffering 95% of his career then. Leipheimer also had a great Vuelta once where he led Contador on the Angliru Says nothing.

 

[Richeypen]

No it's not. Wiggo is suffering 95% of his career then. Leipheimer also had a great Vuelta once where he led Contador on the Angliru Says nothing.

If you say so. However its wrong along with 99% of the other rubbish you post on this forum.

Im presuming you are trolling because I fail to believe that you couldnt understand the difference between wheelsucking and being a diesel climber.

 

[Froome19]

If you say so. However its wrong along with 99% of the other rubbish you post on this forum.

Im presuming you are trolling because I fail to believe that you couldnt understand the difference between wheelsucking and being a diesel climber.

+100
I think he's just rolled them into one, while most Time trial GC contenders are roleurs effectively and just diesel their way up a climb (menchov, evans, wiggins, leipheimer) effectively all good GC TTlists besides Contador and Froome
In no way do they wheelsuck, just look at Wiggins in the vuelta last year, he just kept riding at the tempo which was right for him, if on the easier mountains he would high and ride at the front and drop everyone and if very steep (angliru) he would his own high tempo just not good enough and he would be at the back.

 

[DominicDecoco]

What a joke of a term 'wheelsucking' is.

 

[goggalor]

What a joke of a term 'wheelsucking' is.

It's certainly overused. Wiggins isn't a spectacular rider, but he's a TT specialist who can hang on on the climbs, so he "wheelsucks" when he has to, and rides tempo when he can. It's not fair to criticise someone for riding within their limits.

I'd like to see him a proper go at the classics, though. He has nothing to lose there so he could ride more aggressively. But I'm not sure he's good enough.

 

[theyoungest]

What a joke of a term 'wheelsucking' is.

It's a good term for some riders, but not for Wiggins. Don't know what Pisti is on about (nothing new there)