Santos Tour Down Under Stage 2 Mt. Barker to Rostrevor 116.5km

[iZnoGouD]

He basically had the best winter ever

 

[karaev]

he found some Kryptonite or something?

 

[williamp78]

I think a lot of the hype comes from British Cycling as well as Team Sky itself having looked at his numbers in training.

I remember reading that if the individual pursuit was still an olympic event then Geraint would easily have been a world record holder by now. I think there may be excitement about what he can achieve when he dedicates himself to the road but yes the hype/expectation is too high given his road palmares.

 

[maltiv]

he found some Kryptonite or something?

I think the Livestrong wristband he refuses to remove has channeled all its power into Machado, as he's the last person in the world wearing that thing.

One wristband to rule them all!

 

[Christian]

I think the Livestrong wristband he refuses to remove has channeled all its power into Machado, as he's the last person in the world wearing that thing.

One wristband to rule them all!

^^ nice!

 

[greenedge]

1. Ponzi
2. Gilbert
3. Gerrans.

Those are the contenders i see winning.

I think EBH might be dislodged (he might be able to catch up on the descent though)- the climb seems hard and maybe a bit too long for his early season form. Still wish him the best.

Other contenders will be Rojas/Visconti, Slagter, De Gendt, Clarke and the Astana Classic riders. Lloyd and Haas might feature as well and Machado should make the group.

I trust in Andy to do an attack, get reeled back and lose time on the descent.

 

[maltiv]

Does anyone know when the expected finish time is in CET?

...and yes, I'm actually considering getting up in the middle of the night to watch the TDU

 

[iZnoGouD]

me too, i want to see how creative Machado will be today, he always surprises me

 

[stefrees]

Yeah I've got a day off tomorrow so am setting my alarm for 3am gmt, now ill know what the Aussies have to do for most of the year

 

[iZnoGouD]

haha that's true, but i only do this because of Machado xD

 

[Jakob747]

Tom Jelte Slagter. At least I hope so!

 

[taiwan]

Thread is funny as hell today.

 

[kanari]

Does anyone know when one has to set his alarm clock to catch this stage? (CET)

 

[iZnoGouD]

So just to be sure i don't wake up after the race has finished, live video will start in about 3 hours right?

 

[Museeuw]

1. Ponzi
2. Gilbert
3. Gerrans.

Those are the contenders i see winning.

Why do you think that Ponzi could win or be even near? I have pretty much never heard of him, that's why I'm asking.

 

[taiwan]

Why do you think that Ponzi could win or be even near? I have pretty much never heard of him, that's why I'm asking.

http://www.cqranking.com/men/asp/gen/rider_palm.asp?riderid=4746&year=2011&all=1&current=0

He doesn't suck, although his pattern of results is suspect to say the least, and he might have other hints of clinicness about him.

 

[Tigerion]

what is the profile of that final climb?

http://www.sbs.com.au/cyclingcentral/news/41794/Corkscrew-set-to-shake-up-the-TDU

Video of the climb to give you an idea of what it is like.
Downhill all the way from the top so will be decided from the group that goes over the top first. Not a fast decent and the final 3 km only drop about 60m so it does flatten out.

Hoping for a Gerrans victory but the Phil is a huge chance. Expect one of the Uni SA boys to attack from the very base of the climb and start the carnage. Will be very telling to see who has overall ambitions

 

[Tigerion]

So just to be sure i don't wake up after the race has finished, live video will start in about 3 hours right?

Might be too late to be useful but yes

 

[manafana]

as usual im having some bets on this stage.

Saw Velits talkin up his chances he was right up their today which is good sign of his form, anyone feel this race needs a short prologue?

 

[Cancellator]

Will the coverage on Sky Sports start after this football match is over?

 

[Pricey_sky]

Will the coverage on Sky Sports start after this football match is over?

Yes it starts at 2am GMT (40 minutes or so). Ive brought my laptop to work so i can log in to my Sky-Go account and stream it on there. Should be a good last 20k's

 

[biker jk]

Coverage has already started. 68.7km to go.

 

[petiagos]

online coverage: http://cricfree.tv/sky-sports-1-live-stream.php

 

[Tigerion]

Saw Velits talkin up his chances he was right up their today which is good sign of his form, anyone feel this race needs a short prologue?

On the basis the race is usually won or lost on seconds adding a prologue would make it like the first tour of Beijing where a Tony Martin type rider wins the opening and then holds the lead till the end

 

[Unkown]

Apparently Andy was on the front of the peloton chasing the break, good to see him trying to get back in form.