Paris-Nice: STAGE 4 - Maurs -Mende 173.5 km

[Mellow Velo]

Is there now a lantern rouge team competiton that the Shack have got their eye upon?
Nice rear end grouping they had going there.
A hard fight between The Men in Grey and Rabobus.

 

[sandman]

bet you big boss is mighty ****ed in south africa right now

 

[reyan12]

Contador as expected.

Sammy Sanchez again with a weird comeback climb. How come Sanchez can never is any good at the start of a climb?

Vandenbroeck, Leipheimer, Martin, Hoogerland dissapointed me.

Samuel is indeed amazing!

 

[luckyboy]

what happened to dim? banned?

He left yesterday I think. Read this thread - http://forum.cyclingnews.com/showthread.php?t=6347

He didn't like people arguing over Wiggins and all the stuff that happened the other day (trolls, gangs etc.). He asked to be banned so that he didn't come back.

 

[Race Radio]

Levi's excuse

“It’s just really cold. I guess before it was amusingly cold, but this isn’t very fun," Leipheimer said. "It’s our job. Like any professional, we have days that we’re just going through the motions and that’s kind of where I am right now. I am not riding that great and this is obviously miserable weather. It’s good training, that’s what I keep telling myself."

 

[theyoungest]

Contador as expected.

Sammy Sanchez again with a weird comeback climb. How come Sanchez can never is any good at the start of a climb?

Vandenbroeck, Leipheimer, Martin, Hoogerland dissapointed me.

VDB2 has stomach problems, and Hoogerland is bruised and battered from 3 falls in the past days. But Johnny will have to step up, because this ain't gonna gain them a Tour invitation.

 

[sandman]

Levi's excuse

38 celsius in France during July won't be fun either

nor will the talk that lance is gonna have with the team be

 

[luckyboy]

VDB2 has stomach problems, and Hoogerland is bruised and battered from 3 falls in the past days. But Johnny will have to step up, because this ain't gonna gain them a Tour invitation.

Heh. They've done more than BMC have.

 

[BroDeal]

Is there now a lantern rouge team competiton that the Shack have got their eye upon?
Nice rear end grouping they had going there.
A hard fight between The Men in Grey and Rabobus.

Rabobus!!! That is classic.

 

[Francois the Postman]

Scary that he can take the win that easily when he isn't at his best. He does look vulnerable at times to me, yet it seems no-one can get at him in that state either. Just wow.

Great day for Spain. Super day for Jens. Frank Schleck is having an awful start to the year so far. Vacansoleil almost as absent as the absent BMC here.

A shame that a few of the other TdF names aren't here. Would love to have seen how they squared up this early in the season. Just Valverde, Sanchez and Rodriguez isn't enough to trouble him it seems, even at this stage in the season.

 

[Moose McKnuckles]

How did Tiago Machismo do?

 

[franciep10]

How did Tiago Machismo do?

nothing, macho man lost the macho and just became a man

 

[Big GMaC]

nothing, macho man lost the macho and just became a man

@ 1'01. 3 seconds behind Sagan. s.t as Dave Millar

 

[Jamsque]

Frank Schleck is having an awful start to the year so far.

Did you see him cross the line? He wasn't even breathing hard. I am pretty sure he is just here for the racing miles, he hasn't looked like he is trying at all.

 

[Mellow Velo]

How did Tiago Machismo do?

Hey, he was top Radio boy, today, 23rd, only a minute and a bit behind Contador.
Nipped in before Levi, so he could get his wooly blanket, pipe and slippers ready, for his dwarfship's afternoon nap.

 

[Anonymous]

Levi's excuse

So he had a bad day in the, ahem, mountains?

 

[fuggles]

... nor will the talk that lance is gonna have with the team be

Im sure the team will enjoy that talk, considering how much **** he is kicking in Mursia (sp?). That was a mean TT he threw down the other day...

 

[Frosty]

Big surprise for me today was Voeckler in fifth. Had been wondering about him doing quite well, using the penultimate stage of last year's giro as a guide

http://autobus.cyclingnews.com/road/2009//giro09/?id=results/giro0920

but didnt think 5th was on the cards against this opposition.

The ex-mountain biker, Peraud, did creditably in 14th, following Voigt over the line and beating Van den Brouck. Looks like being a strong rider although nothing too special. Maybe Omega-Lotto should be targetting the polka-dot jersey come July?

 

[Ferminal]

That's quite steep...

I agree that Contador didn't look his best, but he was good enough today.

 

[Frosty]

A shame that a few of the other TdF names aren't here. Would love to have seen how they squared up this early in the season. Just Valverde, Sanchez and Rodriguez isn't enough to trouble him it seems, even at this stage in the season.

Dont think it would have made much difference IMO. When it comes to a shortish steep climb like that, i would have thought that today's 2nd, 3rd and 4th would be pretty much the best of the rest or at least be on a similar level. Andy Schleck would be in there too and would have had a good claim to be second - but then again he isnt on form anyway.

Looking at the results, Sagan did well, losing less than a minute. Tony Martin had a disappointing time losing almost 4 minutes. Maybe suffering the effects of his crash?

 

[Susan Westemeyer]

what happened to dim? banned?

He has not been banned. He was deleted as a user at his own request.

Susan

 

[jonjungel]

Did you see him cross the line? He wasn't even breathing hard. I am pretty sure he is just here for the racing miles, he hasn't looked like he is trying at all.

Yeah, I saw that. He didn't look like he had given 100% at all.

What I don't understand, though, is this: Even if he is just there for training, why doesn't he just go all in? I don't know much about sports physiology, but I can't see how a short 100% effort will affect any form later on.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

In all fairness, without Mollema it was known Rabobank would be fairly lost in the hilly stages. You can't possible expect Moerenhout or Tankink to suddenly finish anything beyond top 50
The few days in yellow with Boom was already more than enough to call this pn a succes for Rabo.

As for Vacansoleil, they showed themselves nearly everyday in the attacks. The only thing dissapointing is the GC men, there are none. Hoogerland not quite as good as he hoped for after that fall. Mind you, he was 5th on the Mont Faron a month ago...

 

[Moose McKnuckles]

Small wonder we didn't see Pharmstrong at Paris-Nice. He'd have to build a shoe closet in his a$$ courtesy of Contador.

 

[Big GMaC]

All points towards my belief LA ain't gonna be seen anywhere near France in July