Samuel Samu Sanchez official awesomness thread.

[nvpacchi]

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.

Different circumstances.

Sanchez won in front of the Basque faithful, attacking from the peloton (not surviving from the break like Riblon y Voeckler).

Everyone still remembers Laiseka's victory in 2001, and now that Sanchez has won on the Luz in 2011 they will constantly be paired together for years to come as people reminisce about the Pyrenees.

He can certainly do more in the coming days, but to me if his Tour ended today it would be a success for him and Euskaltel. 1st Tour victory since 2003 Mayo (unless you want to count Astarloza), doing so in front of an enormous Basque sea of orange.

 

[auscyclefan94]

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.

Well then why did the gap go out so much when Szmyd was on the front?

 

[on3m@n@rmy]

I have to admit I am guilty of Hitch's claim that some here did not think that Samu's a contender for yellow. 3 to 4 weeks ago that was my position largely because of the TTT. But in keeping with this thread, Samu's made me a believer that he can contend, even now in this Tour, especially if he can do a descent TT later.

One thing about this Tour, anyone of the major contenders is beatable this year it seems. Making this one of the more interesting Tours. Can you imagine if the other GC contenders had not crashed out?

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Well then why did the gap go out so much when Szmyd was on the front?

Quite possible that Szmyd deliberately hammered out an inconsistent tempo - the same as you might do in a long distance running race to dislodge those hanging on - they can grind a consistent tempo but are unable to deal with consistent shifts up and down tempo. But while he's doing that the favourites are looking at one another. Szmyd got rid of all the chaff who had just been hanging on, while simultaneously not catching the guys up front.

 

[The Hitch]

Sanchez the best climber in the Pyranees.

I was tipping Samu for the podium because thats what he was saying, but i always thought deep inside that Samu could challenge for GC.

His performance shows that that was correct, even if outside circumstances destroyed the actual dream.

 

[Anonymous]

He will podium

 

[luckyboy]

He would be doing really great if it wasn't for the ****ty first week

 

[kjetilraknerud]

Taking a few seconds every day. Will we see attacks on the final descend on stage 16 and 17?

 

[El Pistolero]

Sanchez the best climber in the Pyranees.

I was tipping Samu for the podium because thats what he was saying, but i always thought deep inside that Samu could challenge for GC.

His performance shows that that was correct, even if outside circumstances destroyed the actual dream.

Vanendert close second. Will Samu ride the Vuelta? He needs to win a GT. And he would be my favorite now for the win if he didn't lose time in stage 1 and 2.

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

Vanendert was basically the best actually.

Anyway thank god for samu and Vanendert (also I liked that basso tired, he needs steeper stuff tho).

 

[The Hitch]

He will podium

If he finishes within 2 minutes of the winner, then that will be for me anyway, very small consolation.

Vanendert close second. Will Samu ride the Vuelta? He needs to win a GT. And he would be my favorite now for the win if he didn't lose time in stage 1 and 2.

I highly doubt hell ride the Vuelta. I would be shocked if he did.

 

[Michielveedeebee]

I highly doubt hell ride the Vuelta. I would be shocked if he did.

Why ? he hasn't ridden the giro

 

[Arnout]

Why ? he hasn't ridden the giro

I can't remember if he ever did two grand tours in a season. Maybe before his good years.

Its ok, leave the Vuelta to Igor. Euskaltel will continue animating the mountain stages and many other stages for that matter in the Vuelta too.

 

[jens_attacks]

i told you hitch that he's in top shape.podium for sure.

 

[Oldman]

i told you hitch that he's in top shape.podium for sure.

We haven't hit the Alps yet and he's been given a fair amount of freedom. I think that will end soon.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Because the Vuelta is Antón's plaything.

 

[phanatic]

I was hoping Samu might gain a minute of his time back, but the way he was breathing for a moment, he may have almost overdone it on his attack. Basso seemed to be a bit stronger today than on Thursday also, which helped limit Samu's gain on the others. That Sestrieres descent looks pretty good for him on the profile. I'd love to see him and Evans cut loose on that stage, with a late attack on Sestrieres.

 

[The Hitch]

I was hoping Samu might gain a minute of his time back, but the way he was breathing for a moment, he may have almost overdone it on his attack. Basso seemed to be a bit stronger today than on Thursday also, which helped limit Samu's gain on the others. That Sestrieres descent looks pretty good for him on the profile. I'd love to see him and Evans cut loose on that stage, with a late attack on Sestrieres.

Sestrieres is 62km out, and its descent is 45km which includes flat sections and open roads.

Only Hoogerland and maybe Vino would be stupid to attack from there.

If hes going to attack on a descent it will be the descent of the little climb towards the end - Pramantino. Theres 8k of descending from there, so if he can make it over the top of that with the favourites then maybe just maybe he can try something.

But last year on a similar descent in Bagneres de Lucheon, he never attempted to drop Menchov on the descent so im not too sure hell try it this year.

 

[jsem94]

I REALLY hope he tries on the descent to Pinerolo. He needs to take back some time.

 

[nesocip]

Sestrieres is 62km out, and its descent is 45km which includes flat sections and open roads.

Only Hoogerland and maybe Vino would be stupid to attack from there.

If hes going to attack on a descent it will be the descent of the little climb towards the end - Pramantino. Theres 8k of descending from there, so if he can make it over the top of that with the favourites then maybe just maybe he can try something.

But last year on a similar descent in Bagneres de Lucheon, he never attempted to drop Menchov on the descent so im not too sure hell try it this year.

This year he seems much stronger then last year, and he is riding like a guy who has nothing to lose.

And im loving it.

I agree about Sestriere being a suicide attack though.

 

[mr. tibbs]

I originally posted this in the Leopard-Derp appreciation thread. Kinda silly to do that. So I'm re-posting here as it seems more appropriate:

Thomas Voeckler: “When I saw how windy it was in the valley prior to climbing to the Plateau de Beille, I thought my chance would be to hide from the wind as much as I could"
That could explain defensive tactics and really small time differences at the end.
Exposing yourself to 45km/h headwind to gain 30- 45 sec doesnt sound like a good deal. And you may pay for that later. Hope not for Sammu!
After all Tour de France is a war and today was just another battle

The same was said about Contador's attack to Arcalis in 2009. Too windy, not worth the effort. I hope (like you) that this kind of riding pays off again in contrast to the silliness of The Brothers Schleck.

Samu's gains:

Stage 12: + 0:30
Stage 14: + 0:25 on Andy; + 0:27 on everyone else

These are the favorites now (sorry, Cunego )

0:00 Cadel Evans 0:02:06
0:09 Andy Schleck 0:02:15
1:10 Ivan Basso 0:03:16
1:38 Samuel Sanchez 0:03:44
1:54 Alberto Contador 0:04:00

We're out of the Pyrenees now, and Samu has gained back a total of 0:55 on Andy and 0:57 on Basso and Evans. Plus, he's leap-frogged Contador. There are three more stages of climbing, one of which features a Samu-favoring descent before the finish: Wednesday's stage (Gap - Pinerolo).

I doubt Andy and Evans will let Samu off the front again so easily, but he's showing good enough form that they may not have a choice. And if he gets away on either of the two last climbs...

Samu is my dark horse to surprise everyone for the win now. Hitch, if I'm right, you can come over to Austin and buy me a beer.

 

[The Hitch]

I originally posted this in the Leopard-Derp appreciation thread. Kinda silly to do that. So I'm re-posting here as it seems more appropriate:



The same was said about Contador's attack to Arcalis in 2009. Too windy, not worth the effort. I hope (like you) that this kind of riding pays off again in contrast to the silliness of The Brothers Schleck.

Samu's gains:

Stage 12: + 0:30
Stage 14: + 0:25 on Andy; + 0:27 on everyone else

These are the favorites now (sorry, Cunego )

0:00 Cadel Evans 0:02:06
0:09 Andy Schleck 0:02:15
1:10 Ivan Basso 0:03:16
1:38 Samuel Sanchez 0:03:44
1:54 Alberto Contador 0:04:00

We're out of the Pyrenees now, and Samu has gained back a total of 0:55 on Andy and 0:57 on Basso and Evans. Plus, he's leap-frogged Contador. There are three more stages of climbing, one of which features a Samu-favoring descent before the finish: Wednesday's stage (Gap - Pinerolo).

I doubt Andy and Evans will let Samu off the front again so easily, but he's showing good enough form that they may not have a choice. And if he gets away on either of the two last climbs...

Samu is my dark horse to surprise everyone for the win now. Hitch, if I'm right, you can come over to Austin and buy me a beer.

Yes, your post makes good reading, even if im haunted by the ever present what ifs, as i look at those times.

1.38 isnt too much on Evans, and if Samu cant take back 28 seconds on Basso then he wasnt going to win the Tour anyway, 1.29 to Andy is very frustrating because its just too much. Its just too much.

Also Frank is what, 2 minutes to Samu? thats a lot too.

Still I can feel it. I can feel a glimmer of hope enter the hearts of the people around the world, that Samu could yet shock the world.

I dont think it will happen, but if he did, it would be the greatest victory in Tour de France history.

 

[goggalor]

Help us, Samuel Sanchez, you're our only hope.

 

[jsem94]

I've always, and will continue to root for Samu.

Make this a tour to remember.

 

[El Pistolero]

You know what I like most about Samuel Sanchez?

His sunglasses.