Radioshack powerhouse

[maikel]

their big guns sucked it up but Machado, Horner, Martens all top 10.

Martens? He is from rabobank...

 

[altark123]

Martens? He is from rabobank...

Hermans, my apologies.

 

[karlboss]

this is the common response that i just don't get. at least not entirely. and i'm not sure etiquette really applies here. there are times when it does, but not here.

i mean, it's not like they're taking tea with the ladies in the salon with emily post. it's a bicycle race. and the queen stage of the tour at that! a two up, mano a mano, vale tudo cage match between two terrific riders on form at the highest level of the sport. someone will get pummeled!

the onus was on pereiro and his ds to make a choice between three options. one, attack and try to get away, which he did not for whatever reason. fine. two, sit up and threaten to kill the break altogether if george doesn't pull (this is the nuclear option and happens all the time). three, let it play out to the finish and try to outsprint gh. he chose option 3 for better or worse and got beat by a stronger sprinter. that's bicycle racing.

as for george, i think he wins in this scenario even if he were taking regular pulls (i suspect he was directed not to). watching it live i wasn't calculating any possible wins for oscar unless he dropped george, which he didn't.

ok, sorry. back on topic.

George was under no obligation to pull in the break as his man was in yellow. However as the climb progressed and all others fell away, there is an expectation that george acknowledge his fortunate position and not sprint for the win. Though few would have held it against him had he broken with 2km to go and soloed for the win.
maybe it's silly, just like don't attack if a rival crashes, don't take yellow if its for a crash, don't attack through a feed station, don't attack during a natural break, but these are the unwritten rules.

 

[BroDeal]

George was under no obligation to pull in the break as his man was in yellow. However as the climb progressed and all others fell away, there is an expectation that george acknowledge his fortunate position and not sprint for the win. Though few would have held it against him had he broken with 2km to go and soloed for the win.
maybe it's silly, just like don't attack if a rival crashes, don't take yellow if its for a crash, don't attack through a feed station, don't attack during a natural break, but these are the unwritten rules.

The truth is that it is just not stylish to win like Hincapie did. Someone like Voight, who has a lot of wins, can afford to do the honorable thing and give the victory to the guy who did all the work. Anyone else who has the chance of winning his first and maybe only TdF stage is going to take that win.

 

[karlboss]

The truth is that it is just not stylish to win like Hincapie did. Someone like Voight, who has a lot of wins, can afford to do the honorable thing and give the victory to the guy who did all the work. Anyone else who has the chance of winning his first and maybe only TdF stage is going to take that win.

That seems a more fair/accurate assessment.

 

[ImmaculateKadence]

Whilst I basically agree with your overall assessment, can you honestly tell me when a Boss Hog team have ever animated a race? I don't mean launched their team leader to a win but actually enlivened a race - sent riders on the attack either on flat or mountain stages? They don't ride to animate - they ride to establish a lead and then defend, a far cry from what I, at least, understand as 'animating' a race.

Fair points, but I have seen it in the past. Have no specific examples, but it's happened. I could see some guys like Machado, Brajkovic or Beppu going on some breaks, but overall, Bruyneel's teams ride to win: "Might as well win" right?

IMO it is a waste to have a team that is so grand tour and stage racing focused and do only one grand tour. I believe they will definitely do the Vuelta after their decision to pass up the Giro for the ToC. Plus, after what I hope is their less than successful Tour performance, I agree that they will send a squad to the Vuelta likely with Brajkovic and Machado as anchors or as you say, in support of Leipheimer. I think Horner's hopes of grand tour glory and a top ten finish are beyond him.

Agreed, if they send a squad hoping to compete for the GC, it would have to be Levi or Kloden, but I honestly don't see either of them getting a top 5.
Maybe they could edge a top 10.

 

[mr. tibbs]

Fair points, but I have seen it in the past. Have no specific examples, but it's happened. I could see some guys like Machado, Brajkovic or Beppu going on some breaks, but overall, Bruyneel's teams ride to win: "Might as well win" right?



Agreed, if they send a squad hoping to compete for the GC, it would have to be Levi or Kloden, but I honestly don't see either of them getting a top 5.
Maybe they could edge a top 10.

I've been thinking this for years about Leipheimer, but he always produces. I don't know how, but he keeps getting better with age. I wouldn't mind seeing Kloden ride as a captain, but I think it will be Leipheimer.

 

[cyclopeon]

IMO it is a waste to have a team that is so grand tour and stage racing focused and do only one grand tour. I believe they will definitely do the Vuelta after their decision to pass up the Giro for the ToC. Plus, after what I hope is their less than successful Tour performance, I agree that they will send a squad to the Vuelta likely with Brajkovic and Machado as anchors or as you say, in support of Leipheimer. I think Horner's hopes of grand tour glory and a top ten finish are beyond him.

Doesn't that make Leipheimer the anchor?! (Just kidding (mostly), I don't mind the guy although he is unexciting and may be starting into decline)

 

[auscyclefan94]

Doesn't that make Leipheimer the anchor?! (Just kidding (mostly), I don't mind the guy although he is unexciting and may be starting into decline)

Hasn't showed much form at all!

 

[hfer07]

After all the racing we've seen so far from the shack, I only hope they get real and work hard for Kloden. in July.(sadly won't be the case) he's the only one IMO whose chances & fitness are in check.

 

[BroDeal]

"Alain Gallopin, one of the team directors at Armstrong’s RadioShack team, took satisfaction from Contador’s uncomfortable day in the saddle on Saturday. “The fact that Lance wasn’t up among the leaders isn’t a surprise for us,” said Gallopin. “The chief memory to take out of this race is the failure of Contador, which no one could possibly have predicted.”

 

[auscyclefan94]

Can anyone tell me what is up with american slang on the versus site?
What is..."Pick a side", "Fire it up", "Start talking smack" and "heating up"?

What is with the septic tanks slang?

 

[BroDeal]

Can anyone tell me what is up with american slang on the versus site?
What is..."Pick a side", "Fire it up", "Start talking smack" and "heating up"?

What is with the septic tanks slang?

Just a thought, but it's an American channel. If they used aushole slang then no one would understand it.

 

[auscyclefan94]

Just a thought, but it's an American channel. If they used aushole slang then no one would understand it.

It's ***......our's is not that bad.

 

[rides like a girl]

It's ***......our's is not that bad.

It is really bad. They changed it this year. I guess having a full blown forum wasn't working in Lance and Radio Shack's favor. They couldn't have people forming their own opinions after reading posts that didn't mesh with the line of crap Lance and RS was throwing out there. I was one of the people who learned about this site from the old Versus forum. Found it when someone mentioned it in a post during Lance's first races back last year and stayed.

So now Versus will stick with questions that are shallow and only allow shallow answers. They also only have blogs that spoon feed the RS line. Very cult like. I watch just to see how fortunate I am that I escaped the cult and am living the good life on the outside.

 

[peloton]

"Alain Gallopin, one of the team directors at Armstrong’s RadioShack team, took satisfaction from Contador’s uncomfortable day in the saddle on Saturday. “The fact that Lance wasn’t up among the leaders isn’t a surprise for us,” said Gallopin. “The chief memory to take out of this race is the failure of Contador, which no one could possibly have predicted.”

Gallopin was in the car when Contador bonked at P-N 2009, now that was a failure.

 

[ImmaculateKadence]

I've been thinking this for years about Leipheimer, but he always produces. I don't know how, but he keeps getting better with age. I wouldn't mind seeing Kloden ride as a captain, but I think it will be Leipheimer.

I know what you mean; he has gotten better, but I think he's reached a plateau and hasn't really improved much in the past year or two. He still lacks that aggression in the mountains necessary to gain significant time. Instead he just grinds his way through mountain stages and relies on TTs to gain time. You can't win a GT that way. If the 2011 Vuelta has more TT kms. I would like to see him go for it. If he can maintain form until then, it's not totally out of the question; I'd love to see him win a GT.

 

[Ripper]

I've been thinking this for years about Leipheimer, but he always produces. I don't know how, but he keeps getting better with age.

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.

JB's 'clinical influence'

 

[auscyclefan94]

This is funny...


Edited by mod Please put in the link and not the cartoon.

 

[karlboss]

Just put Kloden in a break on a tough day and tell him its not to win, it's to force astana to burn themselves chasing, tell him he has to ride hard so that Astana has to burn themselves to catch the break so lance will have a chance the day after. If for one second he thinks he's riding for himself it's over.

 

[Big GMaC]

This is funny...
***

can you post the link and not the jpeg?

 

[Ferminal]

Just put Kloden in a break on a tough day and tell him its not to win, it's to force astana to burn themselves chasing, tell him he has to ride hard so that Astana has to burn themselves to catch the break so lance will have a chance the day after. If for one second he thinks he's riding for himself it's over.

Klöden never rides for himself.

 

[Bicicleta]

Gallopin was in the car when Contador bonked at P-N 2009, now that was a failure.

Always wondered why Gallopin did'not stay with Contador this year. He had not been with Bruyneel that long.

 

[Publicus]

Always wondered why Gallopin did'not stay with Contador this year. He had not been with Bruyneel that long.

My guess is stability. At the time he moved over, what exactly did AC have to offer? A potential lawsuit and a lot of speculation. That doesn't pay the bills.

 

[bianchigirl]

Hilarious how they're really pushing this 'Contador failed, Armstrong didn't' line. Like you say bicicleta, P-N was a failure - losing a 2 day event with no ranking points but having the satisfaction of watching Armstrong slide backwards down the hill is a blip, and the site of Old Tex grinding his back teeth as he was hauled home by half his team must have been priceless.

Since they have a wildcard entry without achieving anything, I presume RS don't actually give a shit about winning - but since they won't win in July you wonder how long it will be before RS pull the plug on what is no more than an expensive vanity project.