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

[auscyclefan94]

If you think that Evans couldn't have stuck with Samu than you are deluding youself sorry to tell you. He is measuring his efforts and has no problem letting him gain some seconds, given the current GC situation and the fact that he will beat Samu in the time trial.
Sounds like you are becoming a bit depressed that for all his efforts all Samu could gain was 40 odd seconds.
Lets see how easily Samu pulls away from the top climbers when they are holding nothing back in the Alps.

The Hitch is becominga blind fanboy...just let him.

samu was popped out the back many times and the fac that they let him go away on the stage to Luz and Plateau de Beille says that he is not a worry because he is so far down. They'll have to watch him in the alps.

 

[yell4cadel]

If you think that Evans couldn't have stuck with Samu than you are deluding youself sorry to tell you. He is measuring his efforts and has no problem letting him gain some seconds, given the current GC situation and the fact that he will beat Samu in the time trial.
Sounds like you are becoming a bit depressed that for all his efforts all Samu could gain was 40 odd seconds.
Lets see how easily Samu pulls away from the top climbers when they are holding nothing back in the Alps.

I can see you have been drinking,, again...

Evans could not have gone with him, he pushed hard just to stay with Vockler!

 

[on3m@n@rmy]

Look at the headlines:
"Schleck brothers lament a lack of aggression from GC contenders" Lolwhat?
"Basso critical of Schleck tactics on Plateau de Beille"



Well, I guess that Andy's attack on last 118m and their 0,5s jumps count as "aggression"

pretty much my thoughts too.

 

[on3m@n@rmy]

Evans responds to Schlecks criticism and talks about the day - Cycling Central

Cadel's nicknames for Hincapie and Burghardt are amusing.

your posted video clip of Evans' response to the criticism is not viewable in my area. Can you maybe give a short summary of what Evans said? Or at least the nicknames?... thanks.

 

[dlwssonic]

your posted video clip of Evans' response to the criticism is not viewable in my area. Can you maybe give a short summary of what Evans said? Or at least the nicknames?... thanks.

I think its something like burghy and georgy. and for schar is michy. LOL

 

[slim charles]

tvh therew was only one serious attack by Andy of hwich he got a gap and spread everyone out a bit but the others gradually responded to it.

Evans responds to Schlecks criticism and talks about the day - Cycling Central

Cadel's nicknames for Hincapie and Burghardt are amusing.

this is what i get when clicking on that link:

http://www.sbs.com.au contains malware. Your computer might catch a virus if you visit this site.
Google has found malicious software may be installed onto your computer if you proceed. If you've visited this site in the past or you trust this site, it's possible that it has just recently been compromised by a hacker. You should not proceed, and perhaps try again tomorrow or go somewhere else.
We have already notified http://www.sbs.com.au that we found malware on the site. For more about the problems found on http://www.sbs.com.au, visit the Google Safe Browsing diagnostic page.

 

[auscyclefan94]

your posted video clip of Evans' response to the criticism is not viewable in my area. Can you maybe give a short summary of what Evans said? Or at least the nicknames?... thanks.

The main part was that Andy was telling him to do some work and he said no. He said he wasn't going to pace them all the way to Paris to victory and that leopard Trek and Europcar have the advantage over him on gc so they should take responsibility.

 

[on3m@n@rmy]

The main part was that Andy was telling him to do some work and he said no. He said he wasn't going to pace them all the way to Paris to victory and that leopard Trek and Europcar have the advantage over him on gc so they should take responsibility.

Thanks. But do you agree with that? The yellow jersey's team only has responsibility to control the race. But in a situation like the MTF of Beille the yellow jersey never has responsibility to attack, but instead many times just needs to follow wheels. And if anyone wants to gain time on their rivals who are ahead of them on GC, then whoever is lower on GC should be looking to attack if they think the time is right. Maybe what Cadel meant is he did not think the time was right based on how everone was looking. Then in that case I'd agree with Cadel to not make it easy for the Schlecks. Especially since Cadel had no teammates with him.

 

[jens_attacks]

pathetic day for pro cycling that was.with all due respect to andrey zeits(which is one of my favourite youngsters),when this guy attacks you on a legendary climb,him being the most diesel rider i've ever seen,i just can say son i am disappoint.you disrespected plateau de beille big time.
hats off to vanendert and sammy and that's it.
until now,this tour is the worst i've ever seen,2002 and 2008 don't come even close.

 

[No_Balls]

pathetic day for pro cycling that was.with all due respect to andrey zeits(which is one of my favourite youngsters),when this guy attacks you on a legendary climb,him being the most diesel rider i've ever seen,i just can say son i am disappoint.you disrespected plateau de beille big time.
hats off to vanendert and sammy and that's it.
until now,this tour is the worst i've ever seen,2002 and 2008 don't come even close.

+1

This is a shameful Tour. I cant even speak about how bad this Tour is.

 

[Oldman]

If you think that Evans couldn't have stuck with Samu than you are deluding youself sorry to tell you. He is measuring his efforts and has no problem letting him gain some seconds, given the current GC situation and the fact that he will beat Samu in the time trial. Sounds like you are becoming a bit depressed that for all his efforts all Samu could gain was 40 odd seconds.
Lets see how easily Samu pulls away from the top climbers when they are holding nothing back in the Alps.

He's been smart and hasn't panicked; Samu gaining time actually helps him. For those that suggest he couldn't respond he looked capable of quickly closing any gap that concerned him.
The issue for everyone better start being Voeckler...if he can climb a steep hill he will get tougher to dislodge. Cadel might be able to take his lead out of him in a TT but that's job #1 for the Schlecks at this point.

 

[Oldman]

pathetic day for pro cycling that was.with all due respect to andrey zeits(which is one of my favourite youngsters),when this guy attacks you on a legendary climb,him being the most diesel rider i've ever seen,i just can say son i am disappoint.you disrespected plateau de beille big time.
hats off to vanendert and sammy and that's it.
until now,this tour is the worst i've ever seen,2002 and 2008 don't come even close.

You guys are bearing witness to the closest thing to Natural Racing (see how I avoided a ban flirtation there?). Fans should get used to it if they want to see the real thing instead of NHRA-style nitro-methane racing.

 

[goggalor]

There has been some very entertaining racing this Tour. In that regard I think it's been the best Tour in years. There just hasn't been a proper GC shake up yet (not as a result of the racing, anyway). Hopefully it will come in the Alps.

The worst Tour ever was 2009, by the way. Last year's came close. And I thought 2008 was actually pretty exciting.

 

[El Pistolero]

You guys are bearing witness to the closest thing to Natural Racing (see how I avoided a ban flirtation there?). Fans should get used to it if they want to see the real thing instead of NHRA-style nitro-methane racing.

Nonsense. The favorites are just little pussies. Contador in top shape was still sprinting up those mountains at the Giro this year. What? Did cycling all of a sudden get cleaner in that one month? Yeah right. All GC favorites(except Samu and Vanendert) are just pathetic losers and only Contador has a decent excuse since he already did the Giro and already has 10 victories this season. What's the Schleck bros excuse? Or Ivan I'm boring Basso? I can understand why Cuddles doesn't attack though, he has his time trial. Although I'm sure he'll stuff up when he's under peer pressure as always.

I'm fairly sure the race will explode on the Alps and Voeckler won't even make it to the top 5.

Otherwise this will be a Tour de Farce.

 

[hrotha]

pathetic day for pro cycling that was.with all due respect to andrey zeits(which is one of my favourite youngsters),when this guy attacks you on a legendary climb,him being the most diesel rider i've ever seen,i just can say son i am disappoint.you disrespected plateau de beille big time.
hats off to vanendert and sammy and that's it.
until now,this tour is the worst i've ever seen,2002 and 2008 don't come even close.

Haha, Zeits's attacks were hilarious. "Here I go! Hmph, damn, got the outer side of the turn, oh god I barely gained half a second, this is embarrassing. Nevermind, I'll try again. Oh gods I can't do it, and everyone saw it on TV".

 

[armchairclimber]

Great take on yesterday's stage on the Science of Sport site.

http://www.sportsscientists.com/

I loved it myself. A good close battle, not a procession led by someone who hasn't been found out yet. Great to see the rider with most heart was in the MJ, riding as though it meant something.

 

[Boeing]

What exactly was Vande Velde doing pulling? timing was odd. JV directive?

looked like my 40 seconds of fame leading Old Man Como to the regrouping point...

 

[hrotha]

What exactly was Vande Velde doing pulling? timing was odd. JV directive?

looked like my 40 seconds of fame leading Old Man Como to the regrouping point...

Well, Danielson has explained that he felt great so he wanted to give it a try (what exactly "it" is, I cannot say). Then he began to have cramps. But don't worry, Danielson said there's this big climb coming up, the Gallibière or whatever, and he'll be fine there.

 

[El Pistolero]

Vanendert: I don't know any of these climbs that are yet to come, don't ask me about it!

Lol

 

[spanky wanderlust]

Well Spain act as if winning that thing was the greatest feat in the history of mankind.

Just a few days ago there were articles marking the 1 year anniversary of it saying its the most important event in Spains history.

Shouldnt be too long now before Madrid is renamed Cuidad iker casillias.

So some of us just like to remind you that it was one of the weaker world cup winning teams. Probably the weakest ever.

Really off topic though.

grrr!!! meet me in the footie forums so i can destroy you properly!

 

[Oldman]

Nonsense. The favorites are just little pussies. Contador in top shape was still sprinting up those mountains at the Giro this year. What? Did cycling all of a sudden get cleaner in that one month? Yeah right. All GC favorites(except Samu and Vanendert) are just pathetic losers and only Contador has a decent excuse since he already did the Giro and already has 10 victories this season. What's the Schleck bros excuse? Or Ivan I'm boring Basso? I can understand why Cuddles doesn't attack though, he has his time trial. Although I'm sure he'll stuff up when he's under peer pressure as always.

I'm fairly sure the race will explode on the Alps and Voeckler won't even make it to the top 5.

Otherwise this will be a Tour de Farce.

Yes, one month can make a difference and the Giro looked suspect to me. As for the rest of the guys being "pussies" I'm sure you have the perspective of attacking at 6,000 ft of elevation to back up your opinion. It takes a little extra blood to do that and if that's what you want to see; just say it.

 

[red_flanders]

Great take on yesterday's stage on the Science of Sport site.

http://www.sportsscientists.com/

I loved it myself. A good close battle, not a procession led by someone who hasn't been found out yet. Great to see the rider with most heart was in the MJ, riding as though it meant something.

Hey, good read. Thanks for that link.

 

[auscyclefan94]

There has been some very entertaining racing this Tour. In that regard I think it's been the best Tour in years. There just hasn't been a proper GC shake up yet (not as a result of the racing, anyway). Hopefully it will come in the Alps.

The worst Tour ever was 2009, by the way. Last year's came close. And I thought 2008 was actually pretty exciting.

I agree, 2008 was an attacking race. People judge 2008 harshly because of a weaker field even though it was a far more attacking and exciting Tour de France than many other Tour's in the past 10-15 years.

Thanks. But do you agree with that? The yellow jersey's team only has responsibility to control the race. But in a situation like the MTF of Beille the yellow jersey never has responsibility to attack, but instead many times just needs to follow wheels. And if anyone wants to gain time on their rivals who are ahead of them on GC, then whoever is lower on GC should be looking to attack if they think the time is right. Maybe what Cadel meant is he did not think the time was right based on how everone was looking. Then in that case I'd agree with Cadel to not make it easy for the Schlecks. Especially since Cadel had no teammates with him.

Yes but the Yellow jersey (in voecklers situation) has the responsibility to defend the jersey and the Schlecks who are 2nd in line for the jersey need to ride and set the tempo because they need time.