Paris-Nice STAGE 6: Peynie - Tourrettes-sur-Loup - 220 km

[gingerwallaceafro]

Seems like the credibility of Portuguese cycling is highly questionable with the amount of busts recently.

Congrats to Tondo though, he was awesome today.

 

[thehog]

Everyone here knows that RadioShack could ride like sacks of potatoes during the whole season but will have a miraculous resurgence in the Tour and will put on a climbing clinic. Which is where this is headed.

It doesn't matter if Tiago Machismo was with LA-MSS, because Buyneel looked into his eyes and knows he's clean.

Ah. I'm just bitter because I'm here at a stage race, and our crit just got canceled because of driving hail. No joke. Wind just blew down a stop sign.

Agree with all of the above.

Phil and Paul will turn it up also and it will all seem so real to the fans.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Seems like the credibility of Portuguese cycling is highly questionable with the amount of busts recently.

Congrats to Tondo though, he was awesome today.

The top 6 of the Volta last year:

1 - Ribeiro. Bounced from Saíz's Liberty to Liberty Continental for failing the 50% test back in '05. Tested positive at the Volta.

2 - Blanco. Ex-Kelme, ex-Puerto.

3 - Bernabéu. Ex-Kelme, tested positive at Paris-Nice a few years ago. Puerto.

4 - Plaza. Ex-Kelme, 'cleared' from Puerto.

5 - Cabreira. Ex-LA-MSS, sentence for sample tampering hanging over him.

6 - Jiménez. Ex-Puerto, ex-Comunidad Valenciana, signed for Rock, tested positive at the Volta.

Yes, Portuguese cycling has a huge question mark over its credibility.

edit - not that it actually matters per se, but Machado was with Madeinox-Boavista.

 

[gingerwallaceafro]

Didn't realise it was that bad..!

 

[thehog]

Didn't realise it was that bad..!

It's a wateland of dope. Fuentes used to head down there and trial new mixes on young riders.

ProCycling recently did an article on the problem in Portugal.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Well, where did you think my name came from? I'll tell you that it has nothing to with drug-addled musicians...

 

[theswordsman]

What racing were you watching? He looked perfectly fine to me. As for tomorrow, I actually think AC won't play a lot of defense. He knows the final climbs very well. Makes no sense to hope that he can hang on on the descent. I think Caisse blew a golden opportunity today.

I agree. I don't know when it will happen, but if he has "good sensations," I think he'll give it whatever he has left in the tank. A hard effort to finish off the race, a couple of rest days, and he'll be that much fitter for Catalunya or Pais Vasco.

 

[auscyclefan94]

Some Tommy D scores:

Radioshack: 4/7=57%
Astana: 3/7= 42%
Sky: 2/7 = 28.5%

I think Bro's tommy d scoring system is really going to take off!

 

[peloton]

Successful?

http://www.livestrong.com/teamradioshack/news_a-successful-escape/

 

[thehog]

Successful?

http://www.livestrong.com/teamradioshack/news_a-successful-escape/

Very.

What a classic:

Post-race Team Director Alain Gallopin seemed happier with the team’s performance on Saturday.* “Machado and Levi were in the break.* Machado worked hard but Levi is not quite ‘Super Levi’ yet.* Still they did a good job.* But Contador got help from so many teams.* It’s understandable that Caisse d’Epargne and Liquigas chased in order to defend their positions, but why did Garmin chase so hard?* For Millar’s 9th place?* Anyway, it was all good for Contador.* We still have tomorrow left to try something.”

 

[ravens]

Very.

What a classic:

Post-race Team Director Alain Gallopin seemed happier with the team’s performance on Saturday.* “Machado and Levi were in the break.* Machado worked hard but Levi is not quite ‘Super Levi’ yet.* Still they did a good job.* But Contador got help from so many teams.* It’s understandable that Caisse d’Epargne and Liquigas chased in order to defend their positions, but why did Garmin chase so hard?* For Millar’s 9th place?* Anyway, it was all good for Contador.* We still have tomorrow left to try something.”

Bernie Madoff's lawyers gave better spin that that.

 

[Moose McKnuckles]

Successful?

http://www.livestrong.com/teamradioshack/news_a-successful-escape/

Well, it certainly was for Tondo. For RadioShack, not so much. Levi did escape off the back once though.

 

[cyclopeon]

Successful?

http://www.livestrong.com/teamradioshack/news_a-successful-escape/

How did they manage to get a pic of LL leading? Must have been some serious choreography went down moments before...

 

[theswordsman]

Successful?

http://www.livestrong.com/teamradioshack/news_a-successful-escape/

I'll give Cathy Mehl a pass on the title, as it's not meant to apply to Leipheimer and Machado, but as a summary of the stage. I checked the title for the previous day, and it was "Sagan's Surprise".

The lame part, as others have pointed out, was the quote from Alain Gallopin. And he obviously doesn't understand why Garmin would work for a rider in 9th place.

Team RadioShack on General Classification

17 Jani Brajkovic (Slo) 0:01:56

29 Levi Leipheimer (USA) 0:03:57

54 Geoffroy Lequatre (Fra) 0:16:04

60 Tiago Machado (Por) 0:17:49

62 Christopher Horner (USA) 0:18:38

100 Sébastien Rosseler (Bel) 0:36:40

 

[KazakhNeRider]

Very.

What a classic:

Post-race Team Director Alain Gallopin seemed happier with the team’s performance on Saturday.* “...It’s understandable that Caisse d’Epargne and Liquigas chased in order to defend their positions, but why did Garmin chase so hard?* For Millar’s 9th place?* Anyway, it was all good for Contador.”

It reminds me that Tour-09 episode in Astana bus! Bruyneel: "First of all we have to watch - no breakaway for Garmin! Don't laugh Alberto, it's very serious!"

 

[thehog]

I'll give Cathy Mehl a pass on the title, as it's not meant to apply to Leipheimer and Machado, but as a summary of the stage. I checked the title for the previous day, and it was "Sagan's Surprise".

The lame part, as others have pointed out, was the quote from Alain Gallopin. And he obviously doesn't understand why Garmin would work for a rider in 9th place.

What's with the Frenchie Lequatre on the Radioshack team? Will Lance room with him?

 

[thehog]

It reminds me that Tour-09 episode in Astana bus! Bruyneel: "First of all we have to watch - no breakaway for Garmin! Don't laugh Alberto, it's very serious!"

At least someone was brave enough to drop
a comment on the page:

"You all seem to be very forgiving. I'm somewhat disgusted. Stage 5 results are in and it looks like Radio Shack mailed it in again. The highest placed Shack rider is Jani at 17th now. Shack has four guys that should be in the top 10 at this point. Instead we have one guy at 17th. While teams like Liquigas, Caisse and others are colllecting numerous wins, Shack has only a single win by Rossleur to show for their efforts. Everyone was cold out there. But they competed. The Spanish don't have better conditioning for cold weather. I haven't seen a single member of Shack try to make a breakaway. It's like they could care less about winning anything. Does this mean that the Shack will only show up for the Tour, and that they will be tourists for all the other races. If that is the case, then I won't be sticking around as a fan."