Polish said:
Oh FFS.... all the riders did this... the team buses were parked 1km down the road - before the finish area!!!... geez.... You fanboys are so clueless about the sport
Oh FFS.... all the riders did this... the team buses were parked 1km down the road - before the finish area!!!... geez.... You fanboys are so clueless about the sport
Libertine Seguros said:
i dont like wheelsucking myself too but i have to say that we actually dont know how good of a climber is LL that day...if he is sitting on menchovs wheel he just cant attack coz he s already on the limit,im sure you have friends that are better cyclist than you,i know i have and they can drop me on the climb if they want but when im sitting on their wheel im just happy to be there,if i attack i will fall off my bike
i d love to see more attacks on the final climbs or even before,but sometimes riders are on the limit just to be there with contador and schleck they cant attack...if they attack it would be what daniel navarro is doin...killing himself for few kms for contador and schleck
i really wondered why ppl used to bash cadel evans for wheelsucking before,somehow they dont understand that if you dont have legs you cant do anything but to wheelsuck
- Jul 23, 2009
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Libertine Seguros said:
+1. It's hard to enjoy watching Levi race even though he is very talented. I'd rather see him try to get on the podium, even if he burns out and fails, than sit on wheels and hope that others burn out. If he's saving himself for the ITT, well he really can't expect to move up more than one or two spots. He's boring to watch.
- Mar 10, 2009
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Levi has podiumed three times (3rd 01 Vuelta, 2nd 08 Vuelta, and 3rd 07 Tour), and including those has 6 top ten GT finishes. In the past 6+ GT's, Van Den Broeck, Rogers and Kreuziger each have one top ten; Gesink and Rodriguez have two; Vino has three including his 06 Vuelta win; S.Sanchez has five including two podiums; Cadel Evans has 6 including three podiums; Basso also has six including two Giro wins and two Tour podiums; Sastre has eleven including two seconds and a third at the Vuelta and a first and third at the Tour.hrotha said:
Other than Van Den Broeck and Sanchez, all the rest sit behind Levi as of today. The other three guys in front Levi have seven GT wins and eleven top tens. Other than Menchov's 5th in the 06 Tour*, all have been podiums.
The world of difference is not where you see it.
The only way Levi gets over AC or AS is if either blows up (and levi doesnt). He could beat Menchov in the ITT, but not by much and both have been finishing together on all the mtn stages. He can beat both VDB and Sanchez by a fair bit in the ITT but will likely lose time to SS in the Pyrnees. VDB's riding strong now, but it is not known if he can hang these next 4 stages. Thus, the most realistic expectation has him moving from 6th to 5th, but in order to do that, he has to watch his back.
_____
The other issue that many seem to be poo-pooing is winning the team race. There is one photo that any sponsor covets - the one with the most famous backdrop. Now, while we are all nuts (cycling nuts that is), your average Joe doesnt know, or couldnt care who finishes 2nd or 3rd in the Mtn, Point, or Youth jersey, nor do they care who finished 4th to 10th on the GC. But if a sponsor can get any member of its team standing with arms raised in victory in front of the Arc de Triump, now that is bankable. If Team Radio Shack is good enough to win that title, I have no doubt that we will see a reproduction of a signed photo in every single Radio Shack store. In fact, in terms of visual impact, I suspect that team photo is better than one where the sponsored rider is not center-stage.
*Yes, two of Mechnov's high standings have been because of drug DQ's. The 05 Vuelta when Heras was removed from the top spot, and the 08 Tour where he took Kohls 3rd.
- Aug 3, 2009
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saganftw said:
Ok, now I'm confused.
According to Scribe, the fact that they are leading the team competition was the sign that they are a strong team, and that would send a message to those dumb Spaniards that RS shouldn't have been stiffed for the Vuelta...
- May 15, 2010
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Polish said:
I definitely wanted him to NOT start the race. But at this time, I was so wrong it's not even funny. Their 'contributions' along with Versus coverage has been the feelgood comedy SMASH hit of the summer. It's like the 3 stooges entered the Tour DAY France with 6 other stooges.
When crappy things happen to crappy people, how can you not like it. Day after day after day after day......
It's like watching Scooby Doo when they unmask the villain at the end and Lance says he could have gotten away with it if it weren't for these meddling kids as Shaggy Landis pours himself another shot of whiskey.
- Jul 22, 2009
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pedaling squares said:
Should all survive the Pyrenees, he can't be expected to get past both Sanchez and Menchov in the ITT. Best he can hope for at this point is 4th, but 5th is more likely. It is very unlikely both Sanchez and Menchov will smoke out in the Pyrenees. I think one of them will, with an additional likelihood that LL will as well.
- Jun 10, 2010
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benpounder, I was talking about the TdF, not GTs in general. My point is, Levi shouldn't be content with a top 10 anymore, and so he should ride more aggressively to improve his standing, because he can afford to take more risks. If he can't defeat the guys above him head on, Bruyneel should cook some team tactics instead of burning out his whole team in a minor battle. That's all I'm saying.
MacRoadie said:
strong team doesnt mean they have strong individuals...3 good guys can make better GC than winner with two domestiques,in fact 3 good guys are boring,winners and bad guys is what ppl like thats why they werent invited to vuelta...though in my opinion brajkovic was scheduled to ride vuelta,he could be GC candidate,it depends who will get in instead of RS,if its like footon against vacansoleil then it kinda suck
- Jul 9, 2009
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MacRoadie said:
Oh you are dense. Retirement Shack is strong enough to win the team GC but not strong enough to be good helpers in the mountains like oh say Astana for example. It's a different type of strong, you probably wouldn't understand.
- Oct 26, 2009
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saganftw said:i dont like wheelsucking myself too but i have to say that we actually dont know how good of a climber is LL that day...if he is sitting on menchovs wheel he just cant attack coz he s already on the limit,im sure you have friends that are better cyclist than you,i know i have and they can drop me on the climb if they want but when im sitting on their wheel im just happy to be there,if i attack i will fall off my bike
i d love to see more attacks on the final climbs or even before,but sometimes riders are on the limit just to be there with contador and schleck they cant attack...if they attack it would be what daniel navarro is doin...killing himself for few kms for contador and schleck
i really wondered why ppl used to bash cadel evans for wheelsucking before,somehow they dont understand that if you dont have legs you cant do anything but to wheelsuck
Ah, I think most of us understand why LL does what he does. Our frustration is he's doing the same thing over and over again and the outcome is usually always the same--he loses time to the elite GC contenders. He's basically HOPING for something bad to happen to a competitor instead of CREATING circumstances for something good to happen for him.
If he could actually wheelsuck to the finish with the elite GC contendors, we wouldn't be having this discussion--he'd be able to make up time in a TT.
ManInFull said:
so what do you want throw him out of TdF for being passive?
i dont like watching him but if its his style the best i can do is watch other guys,hes what 35+ if hes racing like that since his teens he wont change,i agree its boring but what can we do? nothing
- Aug 3, 2009
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scribe said:
Sort of like this?
Tour de France: War of words continue as Bruyneel criticizes Contador
Leading the team race is a minor prize but if its all you can get fine. But its not all they could get. Levi so far is doing pretty well, at best he is top 10 tdf material. He might be boring but he is still up there. Doing far better than I expected. Shack should be totally looking after him even if he is likely to be screwed in the next stages.
So instead the shack waste effort chasing down Astana moves? And then the Hog makes a special point of pretty stupid criticism of Contador!
Hilarious.
It looks like now that LA is showing his age and lack of bloods (or perhaps this year they did not work so well) the Shack have no other agenda than settling old LA feuds. Despite all the team talk its only about LA - Levi does not seem to count even if he gets a good finish - maybe Levi is getting above himself beating LA in his rainbow tour.
Lets see how supportive LA and the team commitment is for Levi in the next stages.
So instead the shack waste effort chasing down Astana moves? And then the Hog makes a special point of pretty stupid criticism of Contador!
Hilarious.
It looks like now that LA is showing his age and lack of bloods (or perhaps this year they did not work so well) the Shack have no other agenda than settling old LA feuds. Despite all the team talk its only about LA - Levi does not seem to count even if he gets a good finish - maybe Levi is getting above himself beating LA in his rainbow tour.
Lets see how supportive LA and the team commitment is for Levi in the next stages.
Lance sure blows as a team mate.
Looks like he has totally given up.
Finishing 5 minutes down on a midlevel stage.
Sure isn't supporting Levi on the climbs.
Good thing he doesn't care about the team comp. Good thing he isn't top five on the team.
Looks like he has totally given up.
Finishing 5 minutes down on a midlevel stage.
Sure isn't supporting Levi on the climbs.
Good thing he doesn't care about the team comp. Good thing he isn't top five on the team.
MacRoadie said:
my god, what an utterly vile man JB is, going so far to carry on criticising Contador for being better than his beloved last year, hoping to put him off. Vino would never have won he stage yesterday,l mainly asthere was always going to be attacks. Conti clearly realised that, and his attacks pre-empted others, who couldn't follow and allowed Vino to get the 3rd. He then repaid him by slowing the peloton down when Vino attacked , and made sure he got his win I call that good tactics.
And on the issue on the team classification - it seems like RS are the only team that are actually trying for this competition again. Maybe it's like a tramp fighting itself? CDE are only up there as they are able to actually go fo the win, and with a "weaker" team (no real genuine GC contenders vs 3/4 for RS) to be doing better than RS must really sting for their fanboys.
As for why ~RS aren't invited to the Vuelta - maybe its because they are absolutely mediocre, and would have struggled to get a top *30* in the GC, especially as most of the old guys won't want to continue after the TDF preparing for the Vuelta. Vacansoleli are a *FAR* better team for somehting like the Vuelta where people watch for good attackiong riding rather than mediocre sponsorship, as are Footon (for the person, proabably scribe, who was saying they would be boring). And it would only take half a poor day for LL to drop out the top 10, as within 3 mins of him are Gesink, Sanchez, Rodriguez, Kreuzegir and Basso, amongst others. ALL of whom should be able to outclimb LL if LL isn't in his absolute best form. If he does start dropping down in the Pyrenees, then it is entirel due to the tactics that JB has used of being defensive and burning out his guys chasing down CDE guys who are in breaks in case they overtake them in the GC, rather than trying to set up a break, or whatnot for LL, on the flatter stages that will suit *him* insterad of the aforementioned riders.
- Jun 10, 2010
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http://blog.oregonlive.com/horner/2010/07/tour_de_france_stage_13_chris.html
Okay, at least it seems Levi has not been completely forsaken, but seriously, two teammates with Armstrong? What the hell?
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