Stick a fork in Garmin-Cervelo...

[Zinoviev Letter]

Hejsedal helped, but to be honest, I think Thor wins this 9 out of 10 times easy against someone like Boassen-Hagen who is an excellent athlete with a great future but only a fraction of the experience and "cycling smarts" of a veteran like Hushovd.

EBH is younger and faster, Thor is smarter and more experienced. The more other elements there are in play, the more Thor can use his understanding to overcome EBH's speed. One on one I think it's a pretty even battle.

If you look at the sprint, Thor actually used Hesjedal to box in EBH. EBH couldn't accelerate fully to match Thor's kick because he had the barrier on one side, Hesjedal in front of him and Thor on the other side. It was very smart sprinting, as you'd expect from an old hand against a younger rival.

 

[jens_attacks]

they are done.

it looks i was a little bit wrong

 

[ImmaculateKadence]

It's not like Thor is slow. Maybe not as fast as he once was, but he's not slow by any stretch, and EBH is certainly not as fast as people giving him credit.

 

[kurtinsc]

it looks i was a little bit wrong

Yep... especially since Danielson may still get their yearly top 10 anyway, despite the 1:55 deficit.

And oddly enough... the 1:55 doesn't look like it would matter. He's still be in 9th even if he finished with the lead time on that stage.

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

It's not like Thor is slow. Maybe not as fast as he once was, but he's not slow by any stretch, and EBH is certainly not as fast as people giving him credit.

You are right that Thor is by no means slow and the EBH doesn't have the speed of the very best sprinters either. But if you put the two of them in separate lanes and made them race for 250 metres in a straight line, with no obstacles, no tactics, no opportunity to use experience and understanding, I'm of the view that EBH wins pretty much every time. Fortunately for Thor, bike races aren't like foot sprints and knowing your onions counts for a lot.

That's why I like the guy. He's smart enough to adapt, both in terms of his overall riding style and in an individual race.

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

Vaughters on twitter seems to be hinting that Thor may sign up for longer with Garmin.

 

[The_Z_man]

Vaughters on twitter seems to be hinting that Thor may sign up for longer with Garmin.

He can hint all he wants. I'm not holding my breath.

 

[Cobblestones]

He can hint all he wants. I'm not holding my breath.

Maybe he finally paid out Thor's WC bonus? Was that ever settled btw.?

 

[Sleimas]

Is it fair to say that Garmin missed an opportuninty to win green jersey with Thor? Or other teams wouldn't let him to get into a break if he'd be a treath?

 

[Cobblestones]

Is it fair to say that Garmin missed an opportuninty to win green jersey with Thor? Or other teams wouldn't let him to get into a break if he'd be a treath?

It's pretty much either or.

 

[Jamsque]

HTC has chased down Gilbert mercilessly, I am sure they would have done the same for Thor if he was in contention for green. They might struggle to hold Thor in the mountains, though.

 

[jobiwan]

HTC has chased down Gilbert mercilessly, I am sure they would have done the same for Thor if he was in contention for green. They might struggle to hold Thor in the mountains, though.

Even today, on a non Cav stage, you saw how fast HTC made the race due to Rojas being in the break. Hushovd simply can't cut it with the flat sprinters, but his acceptance of it has made him a better rider.

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

Is it fair to say that Garmin missed an opportuninty to win green jersey with Thor? Or other teams wouldn't let him to get into a break if he'd be a treath?

A week in Yellow and two stage wins is much better than Green. If he was seriously chasing Green, he'd never have been allowed away for his two wins and he probably wouldn't have been able to hold onto Yellow for so long either. Plus, chances are he wouldn't have won Green anyway.

That's from Thor's point of view. From Garmin's point of view, Hushovd going for Green would have cost the team the above plus also hindering Farrar's chances of a stage win without the great lead out Thor gave him.

 

[roundabout]

Let's give a shout out to Thor. There have been 4 stages won by 'early' breaks (even if today wasn't that early) and he was in 2 of them. Simply being in the right moves is impressive.

 

[Mambo95]

Is it fair to say that Garmin missed an opportuninty to win green jersey with Thor? Or other teams wouldn't let him to get into a break if he'd be a treath?

I think Hushovd will probably admit that Vaughters was right on that one.

Rojas is probably about the speed Hushovd is as sprinter and he's now unlikely to win the GJ and has a couple of 3rd places otherwise. How many breaks have Rojas and Gilbert got into? None - nor would Thor if he was going for green.

Meanwhile, Thor has won two stages, with great style and panache, helped in two more, been in yellow for a week and generally been seen as one of the stars of the show (and a good World Champ).

 

[luckyboy]

Garmin have been utterly dire this Tour. Where have they been? They've had a Katusha-esque performance so far.

 

[spanky wanderlust]

Uhhh... they won the TTT and Farrar won a stage. 2 stage wins and 1 Top 10 GC. Still a great tour.

am i the only one who saw those stages?

thor crushing the leadout for farrar: no way he wins without that. imho

thor smashing the ttt: no way they win without thor's effort. imho

ryder was great today. no question. but he was working for thor. who would he be working for if no thor?

anyway, it looks like vaughters might be taking my advice. it's funny how winning always improves everyone's mood.

 

[Mambo95]

am i the only one who saw those stages?

thor crushing the leadout for farrar: no way he wins without that. imho

thor smashing the ttt: no way they win without thor's effort. imho

ryder was great today. no question. but he was working for thor. who would he be working for if no thor?

Hushovd played a part in those stages, but he didn't win them on his own. Farrar still had to beat the others in the sprint and Julian Dean did the lead out too.

Do you really think that the likes of Millar and Zabriskie didn't make a big difference in the TTT?

And today, without Hushovd, Hesjedal may have won solo. EBH did most of the catching, but he may not have made it on his own.

If you spout a load of old cobblers and people point it out, it's best not to persist.

 

[maltiv]

Hushovd didn't do a single pull so of course EBH would've won without Hushovd there.

 

[spanky wanderlust]

Hushovd played a part in those stages, but he didn't win them on his own. Farrar still had to beat the others in the sprint and Julian Dean did the lead out too.

Do you really think that the likes of Millar and Zabriskie didn't make a big difference in the TTT?

And today, without Hushovd, Hesjedal may have won solo. EBH did most of the catching, but he may not have made it on his own.

If you spout a load of old cobblers and people point it out, it's best not to persist.

maybe. there's a lot of maybes in what you said, which is cool. this is a forum for speculation.

but we do have some facts that are not open to speculation: thor has two stage wins, has worn yellow for jeepers knows how many days, and played a major factor in garmin's two other stage wins.

my overall point is really hard to refute: take thor out of g-c and you have one top ten contender, a big maybe on the ttt win, and a really big maybe on the farrar win(i'm not taking away from what farrar did, i think it's great, btw.)

for those following along at home: i like all the garmin guys and think they are riding really great. especially tommy d.

 

[spanky wanderlust]

Garmin have been utterly dire this Tour. Where have they been? They've had a Katusha-esque performance so far.

noone can compete with the katusha juggernaut!

iirc, vladimir karpets has had a major impact on this race.

 

[Anonymous]

EBH is younger and faster, Thor is smarter and more experienced. The more other elements there are in play, the more Thor can use his understanding to overcome EBH's speed. One on one I think it's a pretty even battle.

If you look at the sprint, Thor actually used Hesjedal to box in EBH. EBH couldn't accelerate fully to match Thor's kick because he had the barrier on one side, Hesjedal in front of him and Thor on the other side. It was very smart sprinting, as you'd expect from an old hand against a younger rival.

This..............

 

[Anonymous]

Even today, on a non Cav stage, you saw how fast HTC made the race due to Rojas being in the break. Hushovd simply can't cut it with the flat sprinters, but his acceptance of it has made him a better rider.

Not to mention the fact that with the new format, you have to dedicate riders to pull much more, and you wear out your team for a jersey that will likely go to someone else anyway. The new format benefits Cav, and it should. He is the best sprinter in the race, and the best sprinter should win the green jersey. Thor is showing a lot of new skills, and I love his wins, but he is not in the top 5-7 sprinters in the tour. The team shouldn't have dedicated effort to win something they had no chance of winning anyway.

 

[jobiwan]

3 Riders in the Top 12 today!

This thread keeps getting better!!

 

[pastronef]

beauties

from the Garmin Cervelo facebook page

oh, the one on the right!

http://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.ph...33403015.75888.196412260391280&type=1&theater