schleck got to have the weakest climbing team in this tour

[Look381]

LT put the Shlecks exactly where they wanted. Small group of 8 on the final climb. Only Basso had a helper, so Frank adn Andy could put on their show. It doesn't get much better than that. Frank picked up time and Andy got to sit on Evan's wheel as he did all the chasing of Frank. Basso was his typical self, put in an short attack then wheel sucked the rest of the way. Basso wont continue with an attack unless he can get away solo.

Contador look tired as expected from his tumbles. Evans looks strong but has no support, the Schlecks look very hard to beat, and Basso will probably wheel suck onto the podium.

 

[No_Balls]

LT put the Shlecks exactly where they wanted. Small group of 8 on the final climb. Only Basso had a helper, so Frank adn Andy could put on their show.

It wasnt much of a show, really. LT was pretty much burnt out at the feet of Luz Ardiden and the Schlecks looked pretty ragged too after their tempo. Three Saxobanks remained and had them, not dropped moments later, we had discussed about LTs horrible, reckless driving.

It doesn't get much better than that. Frank picked up time and Andy got to sit on Evan's wheel as he did all the chasing of Frank. Basso was his typical self, put in an short attack then wheel sucked the rest of the way. Basso wont continue with an attack unless he can get away solo.

You said it, the guy not supposed to be the best, or the one they aren´t aiming for, inched away while Andy wheelsucked a tired Contador. Not very briliant to say the least.

Contador look tired as expected from his tumbles. Evans looks strong but has no support, the Schlecks look very hard to beat, and Basso will probably wheel suck onto the podium.

Dunno, if this is suppose to continue the Schlecks will get nowhere. They definitively dont look "hard to beat". All those few seconds (supposedly Frank picks up) will be punished come ITT and the other guys hasn´t even started yet.

 

[Parrulo]

LT put the Shlecks exactly where they wanted. Small group of 8 on the final climb. Only Basso had a helper, so Frank adn Andy could put on their show. It doesn't get much better than that. Frank picked up time and Andy got to sit on Evan's wheel as he did all the chasing of Frank. Basso was his typical self, put in an short attack then wheel sucked the rest of the way. Basso wont continue with an attack unless he can get away solo.

Contador look tired as expected from his tumbles. Evans looks strong but has no support, the Schlecks look very hard to beat, and Basso will probably wheel suck onto the podium.

lol some1 who never watched the giro

 

[Sofía_]

you're upset? let it go...

 

[brianf7]

of all the favorites except evans

man did they get exposed today. voigt dropping fuglasang, gerdemann, monfort, pathetic and troublesome to say the leats don't you think?

Two brothers is the final they were not exposed. its exactly what they wanted.

All they wanted was to test Conterdore and they did.

 

[42x16ss]

+1

Besides, who needs a team when you have Jens! Even in the twilight of his career the man is still a monster. I hope he thinks Hoogerland is throwing down the "Hardman" gauntlet by riding on after his crash .

I also suspect that LT didn't want to burn out their mountain doms on the first MTF. I guess we will all find out if that's the case on Saturday.

 

[benpounder]

Is this one of those joke threads that I don't understand?

Yes, but not in the way you think. It is a petty and pointless thread.

 

[auscyclefan94]

Is this one of those joke threads that I don't understand?

It is RyoHazuki, everything is a joke.

 

[rides like a girl]

LeOpard team pacing made Phil and Paul disagree and say anti LT things. I had the TV on while I was getting ready for work. One of them, can't recall exactly which one, stated how strong LT were, named all 7 in the leadout. Camera goes else where, as it comes back, Fabian is already off drifting back. The rapid manner they went thru their mountain guys while not dropping that many other people they were pacing caused the other announcer to disagree and actually say something nice about the mountain teammates of AC. I think an expression used was that LT used quite a few matches, implying they did all that work with little result.

I can't say for sure as I attempted to watch that last 20 k on the train on my way to work, only tonhave my headphones fail and the feed fail. Had to read the last 10k.

 

[auscyclefan94]

Voigt did most of the work on the front as guys like Gerdemann, Monfort, Fuglsang, Poosthuma, O'Grady & Cancellara faded pretty quickly.

 

[2wheels]

The first mountain stage always finds a few guys with blocked up legs, and that's what Fuglsang said was his problem today. Same thing seemed to happen to Tony Martin and some other GC guys. But it's just plain dumb to call this team weak in mountains. Voigt was all they needed today--2/3 of the Tourmalet and the start of Luz Ardiden is a heck of a pull for one guy. He may be riding into some scary form himself-- and that can only mean pain for the peloton.

 

[42x16ss]

Voigt was all they needed today--2/3 of the Tourmalet and the start of Luz Ardiden is a heck of a pull for one guy. He may be riding into some scary form himself-- and that can only mean pain for the peloton.

I hope so, and I doubt I'm the only person here who wants to see the old warhorse go out in style! His efforts over the years deserve a better send off than the last two seasons.

 

[auscyclefan94]

in hindsight they should of saved voigt for later as he dropped guys like monfort, gerdemann and fuglsang pretty quickly.

 

[sublimit]

I expected more from Fuglsang, maybe he will get better as the Tour continues.

 

[Swabian Lass]

Why would they burn them all out on the first real mountain stage? Unlike Voeckler they've got to keep riding through the Alps. I think it's Contador who'll be worrying about his team, not the Schlecks.

 

[danjo007]

the only things leopardtrek did right was go to the front and ride like a team that belonged in the tdf, unlike that useless green-team that at best rode like a sunday training ride. europcar on front = easy attacks (look at frank), dropped riders re-joining up hill!!! and breakaways going out to massive times.

 

[Roninho]

Even though the end result was good for the Schlecks, the plan itself (whatever it was) failed miserably.
I makes no sense for Voigt to do all the work on 2 mountains and then have all other domestiques being killed. If the plan was for Voigt to be the last domestique left then monfort, gerdemann and fuglslang would have done the work at the tourmalet.

When Voigt was finished the pace of the group of 20+ riders including the schlecks actually slowed down considerably, which just made no sense if it was part of the schleck plan. Untill after a few minutes Liguigas started to increase the pace. That actually looked to be exactly what the schlecks where looking for (they want to be in a small group of elite riders so that they can attack after each other), but to me it seemed like fuglslang/linus and monfort where supposed to do what Szmyd did.

Anyhow, if voigt is indeed the strongest of the domestiques, then i would just change the order and have fuglslang and monfort do their work earlier and have voigt set the pace at the last mountain, possibly eliminating everyone except 15 riders.

 

[HL2037]

The human body is unpredictable. I guess they thought beforehand that Fuglsang, Monfort and Gerdemann would be able to hang on longer than Voight, but it turned out different.

 

[AussieGoddess]

actually I think the plan itself was a good one.

Attack on the Tourmelet and make it a real tester for AC when he isnt feeling so great.

It didnt work out perfectly for them - more people managed to stay on, and by the end they didnt get a lot of extra time ..... but by the same token - they exposed Alberto by dropping him at the end, and Frank got some important seconds over the rest.

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

Two brothers is the final they were not exposed. its exactly what they wanted.

All they wanted was to test Conterdore and they did.

they did and andy gained 13 seconds, woopiedoo!

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

The human body is unpredictable. I guess they thought beforehand that Fuglsang, Monfort and Gerdemann would be able to hang on longer than Voight, but it turned out different.

and that's what I mean with they got exposed. they have serous problems in the mountains, only evans support was even worse

 

[Jux1893]

They had Frank coming in 3rd and Andy in 6th.

Either way, they have the best mountain guys, except for Liquigas with Basso and Smyzd. Europcar yesterday was a fluke and after Saturday they won't be seen in the front in any mountain.

 

[King Of The Wolds]

they did and andy gained 13 seconds, woopiedoo!

Useful time, I'd have thought. And for completeness, what did Frank gain?

 

[movingtarget]

Saxo was useless. Leopard tried something and the gains were not big but useful. Contador's position worsened so I can't see Leopard being the losers on the day when their riders did what they usually do anyway. The team was used up as domestiques usually are.

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

Useful time, I'd have thought. And for completeness, what did Frank gain?

frank doesn't matter, he needs 4-5 minutes on Contador so still 2-3 to go. no chance imo