Samuel Samu Sanchez official awesomness thread.

[on3m@n@rmy]

I was just wondering what would have happened had VIno been here.

I think he would have gone with Sammy and Jelle, then attacked 3k from the end, and Samu would follow him and then it would be 50 50 for the stage win.

I was really disappointed to see Vino crash out on stage 9. At the time he was there with the main GC rivals, he was only about 30 seconds out of the lead, and Vino adds a bit of, um, unpredictability or spontaneity that can really make an interesting battle. At THAT time on stage 9, I though okay, now who's going to be the next Vino. Maybe now we have that element in Samu.

But back to your question, at first I thought Vino could have gone with Sammy. But then if Vino had finished stage 9 still 30 seconds back he would have been on a much shorter leash. The remaining group might not have let him get away. Too bad we could not have found out first hand.

 

[Oldman]

Attacking tomorrow would add to his Pyrenean lore. But he has to be sensible about it. If the break is within a reachable distance, and Euskaltel can get a rider in the break to assist him, he would become even more of a legend to the Basque faithful than he already is.

I so hope he goes for it tomorrow, but if not, I'll eagerly be lickin' my chops for the stage to Pinerolo.

He rode like a pro champion today. I would wager he goes for a long attack when he's got help if he can improve his GC. He'd be nuts to kill himself too soon and be forgotten.

 

[Oldman]

By the way: that was one of the smartest finishes I've seen a rider pull off in awhile. Nice to see.

 

[auscyclefan94]

I think Samu is definately stronger than Cadel and Basso.

Really? Samu was given a lot of freedom yesterday on the descent and then on the climb until the last two km's where over half his gap was wiped out. I personally don't see Samu stronger than Evans or Basso.

 

[Arnout]

Really? Samu was given a lot of freedom yesterday on the descent and then on the climb until the last two km's where over half his gap was wiped out. I personally don't see Samu stronger than Evans or Basso.

He had an advantage of 15-20 seconds at the base of the climb. At the finishing line he had 30 on the group behind him, even though he did more work than the group.

 

[Oldman]

He had an advantage of 15-20 seconds at the base of the climb. At the finishing line he had 30 on the group behind him, even though he did more work than the group.

Given that the group had some pauses that looked like a matched sprint it would be more relevant to guage how quickly Frank closed on them-damn fast. Sammy played it tactically well and didn't panic because he knew he wanted to win while Frank was burnt making up time. If he goes for serious GC time he'll need to play it differently and hold the gap he establishes.

 

[auscyclefan94]

He had an advantage of 15-20 seconds at the base of the climb. At the finishing line he had 30 on the group behind him, even though he did more work than the group.

Well Szmyd was setting a false tempo on the front and the gap just continued to go out until the attacks went on the front.

 

[kjetilraknerud]

Basso was just using Szmyd to test to others, he probably has much more in the tank. Expect him to rip it apart on Galibier and Alpe d'Huez.

 

[El Pistolero]

Really? Samu was given a lot of freedom yesterday on the descent and then on the climb until the last two km's where over half his gap was wiped out. I personally don't see Samu stronger than Evans or Basso.

He wasn't given freedom. They just can't descend.

 

[jens_attacks]

and hitch please stop the whining.your boy is fresh as a peach,winning a pyreenean stage in awesome style,looking great for the podium while my boy is laying in a hospital bed with a broken femur watching le tour at tv.and other's guys favourite riders too.
you have to enjoy every moment.

 

[The Hitch]

Really? Samu was given a lot of freedom yesterday on the descent and then on the climb until the last two km's where over half his gap was wiped out. I personally don't see Samu stronger than Evans or Basso.

Of course you dont

He had an advantage of 15-20 seconds at the base of the climb. At the finishing line he had 30 on the group behind him, even though he did more work than the group.

Given that the group had some pauses that looked like a matched sprint it would be more relevant to guage how quickly Frank closed on them-damn fast. Sammy played it tactically well and didn't panic because he knew he wanted to win while Frank was burnt making up time. If he goes for serious GC time he'll need to play it differently and hold the gap he establishes.

Sammy rode with a weaker climber Jelle Vandedert all the way up the climb. Now Jelle seems to me like an awesome climber maybe even one of the top 10 in this TOur but hes not quite Samus level.

Samu was in front for 3/4 of an hour while Frank Schleck hid in the Szmyd Basso train.

When Frank Schleck attacked he got to Samu and Jelle quite quickly. He had 6 seconds going into the final km and about 3 a few metres later.

This is the crucial bit. Samu and Jelle looked back, saw Frank Schleck was just behind them, and.

Dropped him.

Jelle put on the pace, Frank began to fade, and then Samu launched his Pantaniesque attack.

Half a minute later Samu had a good 13 seconds on Frank, even though Frank Schleck was by far the fresher, or at least should have been. He stupidly lost a few of thsoe seconds looking around and celebrating, but Frank Schleck was clearly way closer to Samu at the Flame Rouge than he was at the finish.

But it wasnt just Frank. The Gaps going into Flame ROuge had Andy Basso Evans Contador at 25 seconds to Samu.

They were not taking it easy because they managed to drop Contador.

But yet...

At the finish Samu was 33 seconds in front of them (-3 for celebrations).

This shows that despite being in front for almost an hour Samu did not go all out and had enough strenght to put seconds in quite comfortably on all the climbers once he decided to drop Jelle.

While adrelaline might count for some of it, Samu didnt look one bit tired at the finish either.

Looking pretty strong to me.

 

[The Hitch]

Interesting words from Samu at the finish.

On the one hand he says his and EEs tour is made now, anything else would be a bonus, so maybe hes not going for GC or wont have the motivation for it.

On the other hand he said he knew he was stronger than Frank Schleck, proved it, and says hes prepared for this Tour like never before.

Come on Samu. Your one of the strongest here. GC is calling.

 

[nesocip]

You got to be happy for him, but with what he showed in the tour so far, and from what he showed in terms of recovery in previous GTs he has races, im also slowly falling into "what if" depression.

Contador injured...
Andy not looking sharp...
Basso and Frank inferior TTers...
Evans gonna crack sooner or later...
Lots of dangermen out with injuries...

blah

I think next year (IF he does the tour) Samu will be just as strong as this year, but im sure he wont have this set of circumstances to make the way to victory easier.

 

[The Hitch]

You got to be happy for him, but with what he showed in the tour so far, and from what he showed in terms of recovery in previous GTs he has races, im also slowly falling into "what if" depression.

Contador injured...
Andy not looking sharp...
Basso and Frank inferior TTers...
Evans gonna crack sooner or later...
Lots of dangermen out with injuries...

blah

I think next year (IF he does the tour) Samu will be just as strong as this year, but im sure he wont have this set of circumstances to make the way to victory easier.

Samu probably wont do the Tour next year.

He says for him the Tour is not the only race in cycling, (he avoided it for most of his career) wants to try the Giro once in his career while hes still on peak and says he wants to try it next year.

Also he says that even though the course doesnt suit him, he wants to be on tip top for his Olympic defense.

 

[nesocip]

Samu probably wont do the Tour next year.

He says for him the Tour is not the only race in cycling, (he avoided it for most of his career) wants to try the Giro once in his career while hes still on peak and says he wants to try it next year.

Also he says that even though the course doesnt suit him, he wants to be on tip top for his Olympic defense.

In his place id target the Vuelta, GT win is still a GT win.

Olympics course is ****ty as i heard, i dont see the point in defending it.

 

[spanky wanderlust]

saaaaaammmmmmuuuuu!!!!!!!!!!

hey. did you guys realize that sammy sanchez won the tour stage to luz ardiden yesterday and is now officially the greatest cyclist of all time. just wondering if you knew that.

because many have not yet realized that sammy is the greatest.

did i mention i am in love with sammy sanchez and want to have his babies?

 

[spanky wanderlust]

in all seriousness, it really does make the tour boring when such a dominant rider just rides away like this on EVERY mountaintop finish. he could at least make it look like he is struggling. sheesh!

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Interesting words from Samu at the finish.

On the one hand he says his and EEs tour is made now, anything else would be a bonus, so maybe hes not going for GC or wont have the motivation for it.

On the other hand he said he knew he was stronger than Frank Schleck, proved it, and says hes prepared for this Tour like never before.

Come on Samu. Your one of the strongest here. GC is calling.

More it's that the pressure is now off him. Euskaltel will have been pushing for something to take home from this race, and a good GC from Sánchez is goal #1. When he lost time, that then put pressure onto him because he was having to fight from behind to get that position that was demanded of him.

Now, however, he's won a stage. And not just any stage, but the most important one for the team - the closest one to their people, their terrain, their land. Euskaltel have got something important to them from the Tour, enough that sponsors and management will be satisfied, and now they're no longer demanding performance of Sánchez because they don't need to - he's already performing.

 

[roundabout]

Of course you dont

Sammy rode with a weaker climber Jelle Vandedert all the way up the climb.

<Snip>

Looking pretty strong to me.

Obviously you're a fan so some slight exaggerations of actual events are forgivable but you're setting the bar pretty high for Samu tomorrow.

 

[Angliru]

Well Szmyd was setting a false tempo on the front and the gap just continued to go out until the attacks went on the front.

Szmyd's "false tempo" sure resulted in a whole slew of folks that were hanging on when the Leopard domestiques were setting the pace, to be dropped immediately. If anything Szmyd's tempo lessened the distance between the elite chase group and Sanchez.

 

[Angliru]

Of course you dont






Sammy rode with a weaker climber Jelle Vandedert ---
Edited for brevity

While adrelaline might count for some of it, Samu didnt look one bit tired at the finish either.

Looking pretty strong to me.

True dat. Sammy and Vandedert each saving something to battle each other for the sprint. As you said once they saw Frank closing in they had a whole 'nother gear, otherwise Frank would've reeled them in and battled them for the stage win.

 

[kurtinsc]

Szmyd's "false tempo" sure resulted in a whole slew of folks that were hanging on when the Leopard domestiques were setting the pace, to be dropped immediately. If anything Szmyd's tempo lessened the distance between the elite chase group and Sanchez.

Initially he closed the gap down and rode guys off the group.

But then his tempo settled down a bit and Sanchez started stretching it again.

 

[Angliru]

Interesting words from Samu at the finish.

On the one hand he says his and EEs tour is made now, anything else would be a bonus, so maybe hes not going for GC or wont have the motivation for it.

On the other hand he said he knew he was stronger than Frank Schleck, proved it, and says hes prepared for this Tour like never before.

Come on Samu. Your one of the strongest here. GC is calling.

He's not done. He'll be in the mix on every mountain stage, advancing through the gc.

 

[Arnout]

Seriously Hitch, I am happy with every supporter of the great Euskaltel case but you are whining a bit too much.

No-one cares about a 3rd place, even me not that much. And some Dutch people can confirm I'm a bit mad in my Basque support sometimes.

When you ask me about the Giro and if I rather would have seen Anton on the podium or the stagewin by Nieve in that fashion (after all both things happened on the same stage) I would choose for Nieve without a shadow of a doubt. Standing on a podium is just like that: standing there. Winning on a mountain is a battle that is watched over and over again in the next few years, every time we touch Luz Ardiden for sure.

 

[The Hitch]

Seriously Hitch, I am happy with every supporter of the great Euskaltel case but you are whining a bit too much.

No-one cares about a 3rd place, even me not that much. And some Dutch people can confirm I'm a bit mad in my Basque support sometimes.

When you ask me about the Giro and if I rather would have seen Anton on the podium or the stagewin by Nieve in that fashion (after all both things happened on the same stage) I would choose for Nieve without a shadow of a doubt. Standing on a podium is just like that: standing there. Winning on a mountain is a battle that is watched over and over again in the next few years, every time we touch Luz Ardiden for sure.

Your post would have been more appropriate 2 days ago. Today i was just talking about Samus chances, not complaining.

Though that doesnt mean i wont complain again in the future as every time i see Samu i am reminded of the MontdesAlouettes screwjob.

Anyway its not just about the podium. Samu on this form could have contended.

Schleck A doesnt seem to have hit that superform yet, Contador is tired, Evans and Basso are beatable, all those guys that crashed out werent going to challenge for the top step anyway, had Samus opponents not been given a head start then all those no nothings who said Samu isnt a yellow jersey cotnender would be eating their words.

With 2 descent finishes and a tt, Samu could have been at the centre of the Tour EVERY DAY.

Instead, even with the stage win they continue to portray him as a decent climber who only got let go because hes a nobody.

And I dont thing Samus win will necessarily be remembered.

I mean how many people will remember Voeckler or Ribblons wins from last year.

Or if it has to be a hc mountain, how many people will remember Garates Mont Ventoux win?

Not saying that Samus wasnt more impressive, but if you see the "favourites GC" from first week with Nicholas Roche listed but not Samu, or people saying Evans is the favourite but Samu isnt a yellow jersey contender, or the so called voice of cycling not knowing who he is, then you get the impression that most people see Samus victory in the same light.

And if you dont care about 3rd place, what about 2nd. I mean the 3rd was on the assumption that Contador would own which he clearly is not.

So 3rd best stage racer becomes 2nd in this years Tour.

Anyway, all thats left now is to hope that Basso and especially Evans fail spectacularly tomorow. I dont care how, just hope they fail. Add an Andrew failure somewhere between now and Paris and were back on.