TDF Stage 14: Saint-Gaudens - Plateau de Beille 168km

[El Pistolero]

Contador is injured and Evans is already in a perfect position. Now what the hell is the excuse of the Schlecks? Why all those half-arsed attacks instead of giving it a real go? What the hell was that with O'Grady? Why did they have Voigt and Gerdemann in the break to begin with?

QFT.

Cuddles needs to suck wheels now, he can win this. Contador is injured and rode a hard Giro. He's doing good despite all these things.

 

[mr. tibbs]

It sure seems like they would rather stand in Paris, hand in hand, second and third, rather than first and tenth.

At this rate, their joined hands will be just under Cadel's ***.

 

[hfer07]

Indurain never really attacked. He just held on and did an awesome tt. How did it remind you of 2008 when Evans couldn't follow the climbers. This year he is.

Evans isn't Indurain-so the comparison is pointless- the 08 TDF issue is simple: Evans is once again "putting all the money in the ITT" and we already know what happened back then...... not good at all

 

[Sidbike]

I can't wait to watch the stage again tonight. I want to try and see how much of the defensiveness was tactics and how much was fatigue.

On the one hand I want to say they rode slow, marked each other, and that's why Voeckler was able to hold on. (tactics)

On the other hand, they dropped the secondary climbers who are often able to yoyo back and forth between attacks. (fatigue)

Andy looked back toward Frank at least 5 or 6 times and Frank just looked down at his front wheel. Frank made one weak attack, then popped of the back. For that reason I'm leaning toward fatigue. I think all the guys were close to limit.

Granted Danielson did bridge once but then he blew. I'd expect if the guys were holding back in the name of tactics we might have seen Cunego, Danielson, and maybe a few others regaian then lose contact a few times.

I sit down with a pizza and perform a scientific analysis of facial expression and body language tonight!

 

[icefire]

Without the RadioShack captains at the front this TdF has lost it's sparkle -

Not quite. Contador is doing his best Leipheimer impersonation

 

[dlwssonic]

QFT.

Cuddles needs to suck wheels now, he can win this. Contador is injured and rode a hard Giro. He's doing good despite all these things.

I totally agree with you! Im happy to see cuddles suck wheels thats all he has to do. Not attack and just drag along other contenders and risk cracking.

 

[El Pistolero]

Evans isn't Indurain-so the comparison is pointless- the 08 TDF issue is simple: Evans is once again "putting all the money in the ITT" and we already know what happened back then...... not good at all

But this time it's not against Contador, but the Schlecks

And he's not behind them, but in front of them

 

[Arnout]

Well they both have a 2nd and a 1st on a hc climb but Vanenderts first came more recently so probably him.

Samu needs it more though because he needs something to distinguish him from that team which keeps crashing.

Team that keeps crashing? Where? They certainly didn't crash more than the rest of the peloton. And Gorka showed today that their handling skills aren't half bad.

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

....just 10 months to the giro !

 

[Pharazon]

Thanks for posting that. I have really enjoyed watching this stage because none of the GC guys have been looking improbably extra-terrestrial. They all looked right at the limit to me, trying to find that little bit extra to get away from the others. Just like you should look when you're riding as fast as you can up a mountain ...

exactly...

apart from the usual random cyclist coming from nowhere everyone feels cleanish to me

 

[The Hitch]

Everybody more terrified of blowing up, than winning the race.

At the risk of sounding redundant, there was a guy who did try to win the race.

He attacked 3k out and ended up 20 seconds in front.

Everyone keeps acting like hes not in the race.

 

[spalco]

So why were the Schlecks boring but Evans doing literally nothing but follow wheels being praised?

Evans is Evans, nobody except his fanboys praises him. And he has the superior strategic position compared to the Schleckies so he has less urgency to do something.

 

[killswitch]

....just 10 months to the giro !

+1
...................

 

[benpounder]

Yay, Cav in within the time limit

Must've had a discrete car nearby...

 

[dlwssonic]

At the risk of sounding redundant, there was a guy who did try to win the race.

He attacked 3k out and ended up 20 seconds in front.

he wont be given the same oppurtunities in the alps. he will be a marked man now. he wont be able to get away.

 

[auscyclefan94]

Evans is Evans, nobody except his fanboys praises him. And he has the superior strategic position compared to the Schleckies so he has less urgency to do something.

I don't thin it was just his fanboys, some others praised him because he responded well to the attacks of the Schlecks and basso therefore doing what he has to.

 

[sportzchick]

At the risk of sounding redundant, there was a guy who did try to win the race.

He attacked 3k out and ended up 20 seconds in front.

Everyone keeps acting like hes not in the race.

a whole 3 seconds.....its good to attack all the time isnt it???

 

[etymology]

Schleck seems to worry about his brother or being counter attacked too much rather than just going for it. Defeatist attitude.

The only time we have seen him go is last year when his brother was out.

favorite line of the day from eurosport made about 3km from finish. don'tkow who made the comment, though i laughed my **** off:

"andy, stop looking for your brother and GO!"

cadel continues to look fabulous. great day for contador in that did not lose time (well, a whopping 2 seconds to pencil neck #1) to anyone who can time trial near his level - no serious signs of giro fatigue today.

*great* ride by tommy v!

 

[luckyboy]

At the risk of sounding redundant, there was a guy who did try to win the race.

He attacked 3k out and ended up 20 seconds in front.

Everyone keeps acting like hes not in the race.

Vanendert attacked before 3k and got 48 seconds though

 

[yourwelcome]

How dare I not know every single SBS nitwit.

Funny you didn't know if you're into cycling that much.

 

[Arnout]

Basso raced too guys, lets not forget that.

 

[dlwssonic]

my hero

 

[Tuarts]

this asian guy on sbs has no idea what he is talking about

Anthony Tan. Yeah thought he was doing better than he blog crap and twitter spew but then he said Basso is **** at TT because he lost 6mins last year....

SBS post race coverage has been very average this year. Hurried post-race analysis and barely nothing on standings then cut off the presentations. I like the extended coverage this year but c'mon, do some fixing of the edges...

 

[dlwssonic]

Basso raced too guys, lets not forget that.

however he is such a diesel. he doesnt even look like he is racing. he needs harder climbs.

 

[ggusta]

The necks!

+1

Neck the Elder and Neck the Younger