Paris-Nice 2012 - Stage 5; Onet-le-Chateau - Mende (178.5 km)

[cineteq]

1 Lieuwe Westra (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM 4:52:46 [wtf?]
2 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team 0:00:06 [not as strong as expected]
3 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Sky Procycling [exhausted, not a good sign]
4 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Omega Pharma-Quick Step [waiting game, will kill them all on last TT]
8 Sylvester Szmyd (Pol) Liquigas-Cannondale [should be Giro leader instead of Basso]
10 Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Team Europcar [back to TdF form?]
19 Fränk Schleck (Lux) RadioShack-Nissan [what can I say?]
31 Jens Voigt (Ger) RadioShack-Nissan [what is he doing here?]
55 Eros Capecchi (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale [looking good for TdF]
56 Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Spa) Movistar Team [green jersey at TdF?]
63 Tony Martin (Ger) Omega Pharma-Quick Step [better than expected]

 

[taiwan]

Was watching Eurosport,and Harmon totally ignored the winning attack to continue talking about Wiggins and Leipheimer.

 

[Fetisoff]

Was watching Eurosport,and Harmon totally ignored the winning attack to continue talking about Wiggins and Leipheimer.

And you are surprised about it . . . why exactly?

 

[Fetisoff]

8 Sylvester Szmyd (Pol) Liquigas-Cannondale [should be Giro leader instead of Basso]
[/B]

Basso had a pretty hard fall earlier. Definitely not in top shape.

Too early to call stuff like that anyway, or I might as well call for Spilak leading Katusha's TDF effort instead of the Enigmatic Pope

 

[Mambo95]

I strongly suspect that the only thing going through his mind was something along the lines of: "Please let me win... Please let me win... Please let me win... Oh my God I'm going to win!... I'm going to win!... Yes! Yes!" etc etc etc.

If he does that again in his career, I'll be ready to call him a halfwit. But surely a rider taking his first big win is entitled to one brainfart.

The last time I saw Westra celebrating a win it was in the 2010 Tour of Oman. However, he'd miscounted the laps and there was still one to go. So today seems to be a distinct improvement.

 

[insideout leadout]

His head was probaby "Who the hell is that? Let's talk about Wiggo instead to mask my ignorance"

 

[theyoungest]

Was watching Eurosport,and Harmon totally ignored the winning attack to continue talking about Wiggins and Leipheimer.

Welcome to the world of trying to follow non-Anglophone riders while listening to Anglophone commentators.

 

[halamala]

Tour de France 1995, La Croix Neuve (~3.1 Km, 10.1 %)

Pantani, Indurain, Riis : 8:40 (record time)

Stage winner's time might be over 60 secords slower tomorrow (~9:50).

Lieuwe Westra : 9:52
Valverde, Wiggins, Leipheimer, Spilak : 9:58

Sorry, stage winner's time was 2 seconds slower than I expected.

We could continue discussion -> The Clinic...

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

If you're human you might do something else in very emotional situations, unless you are a robot

only after you won you can do that. not during a fight.

 

[roundabout]

His head was probaby "Who the hell is that? Let's talk about Wiggo instead to mask my ignorance"

To be honest had it not been for his 3rd place in the sprint yesterday, I also would have considered Westra attacking a mirage.

 

[insideout leadout]

only after you won you can do that. not during a fight.

He did it after he realised he had won. Fighters celebrate before the judge declares the winner if it's won by points, don't they?

 

[Epicycle]

To be honest had it not been for his 3rd place in the sprint yesterday, I also would have considered Westra attacking a mirage.

Hasn't he attacked at the end of every road stage so far?

 

[killswitch]

Westra has shown glimpses before. Isn't this the first time he is riding for GC?

Jens Voigt (Ger) RadioShack-Nissan [what is he doing here?]

Before Jens! was babysitting the Schlecks he was a very good allrounder and has nice palmares.

 

[hrotha]

Welcome to the world of trying to follow non-Anglophone riders while listening to Anglophone commentators.

On Spanish TV, it wasn't Porte making the selection and driving the group for most of the climb. It was Urán.

 

[BillytheKid]

1 Lieuwe Westra (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM 4:52:46 [wtf?]
2 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team 0:00:06 [not as strong as expected]
3 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Sky Procycling [exhausted, not a good sign]
4 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Omega Pharma-Quick Step [waiting game, will kill them all on last TT]
8 Sylvester Szmyd (Pol) Liquigas-Cannondale [should be Giro leader instead of Basso]
10 Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Team Europcar [back to TdF form?]
19 Fränk Schleck (Lux) RadioShack-Nissan [what can I say?]
31 Jens Voigt (Ger) RadioShack-Nissan [what is he doing here?]
55 Eros Capecchi (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale [looking good for TdF]
56 Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Spa) Movistar Team [green jersey at TdF?]
63 Tony Martin (Ger) Omega Pharma-Quick Step [better than expected]

lol on Basso for sure. He seems a little out of it.

Voigt suffering with the rest. PN a very brutal stage race-very cold and very wet. It not so bad with a classic.

Tony Martin-didn't see today yet...better on the climbs?

Leipheimer-does not have another card to play? Or that's his best card. Everyone hates it though. But I don't blame him for doing it in SR that ends in a ITT.

 

[roundabout]

Hasn't he attacked at the end of every road stage so far?

Yeah, but this wouldn't have normally been the stage to see him attack in the last km when there were probably less than 10 people in the group.

So in a way it's understandable that Harmon decided to pretend that what he is seeing isn't actually happening.

 

[maltiv]

On Spanish TV, it wasn't Porte making the selection and driving the group for most of the climb. It was Urán.

On Norwegian TV, it was Zandio

 

[Velo_vicar]

Has this stage finished? i have just looked at latest GC and Valverde is not leading. i was reliably informed that he would put a lot of time into Wiggins on this stage. So i can only conclude that the stage is still going. If it has finished then i might have to start believing that people on this board don't know what they are talking about, which would be a shattering conclusion.

 

[theyoungest]

Has this stage finished? i have just looked at latest GC and Valverde is not leading. i was reliably informed that he would put a lot of time into Wiggins on this stage. So i can only conclude that the stage is still going. If it has finished then i might have to start believing that people on this board don't know what they are talking about, which would be a shattering conclusion.

Bike races can't be predicted with absolute certainty. Shocker...

 

[cycladianpirate]

Has this stage finished? i have just looked at latest GC and Valverde is not leading. i was reliably informed that he would put a lot of time into Wiggins on this stage. So i can only conclude that the stage is still going. If it has finished then i might have to start believing that people on this board don't know what they are talking about, which would be a shattering conclusion.

Actually, it's rather worse than that. Not only did Wiggins not lose time to Valverde (save for 2" of bonification), there are suggestions that he wasn't very impressive....

On the CN forum, you can eat as much cake as you like and it never gets any smaller!

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Has this stage finished? i have just looked at latest GC and Valverde is not leading. i was reliably informed that he would put a lot of time into Wiggins on this stage. So i can only conclude that the stage is still going. If it has finished then i might have to start believing that people on this board don't know what they are talking about, which would be a shattering conclusion.

So would you have predicted a guy like Westra dropping Wiggins like he stood still and take time back?

Cycling is not to be predicted. So don't be a wise guy

 

[insideout leadout]

Valverde was too big of a fav for this stage. People seem to think he's as good as Contador or J-Rod at these steep hills, but he's not.

 

[cycladianpirate]

Cycling is not to be predicted. So don't be a wise guy

You've just dismissed 90% of the posts on this forum then!!

 

[Frosty]

10 Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Team Europcar [back to TdF form?]

TV actually only lost 20 seconds to Contador when they went up this two years ago, coming fifth on that day. Sometimes wonder if that performance and some of his decent climbing towards the end of the Giro that year gave him the encouragement to train harder or something. Still a good performance today though.

 

[taiwan]

And you are surprised about it . . . why exactly?

Not really surprised, but I wondered how he could possibly miss the fact that there was a Vacansoleil rider conspicuously riding off the front of the race: out of the saddle, taking glances back, in shot.