TDF Stage 17 - Thursday, July 22 2010, Pau - Col du Tourmalet, 174 km

[Ten Percent Grade]

Sastre, lol

 

[Ferminal]

Looks quite interesting... Go Sastre.

Hope Kolobnev can get a stage win (I know it's still early).

 

[indurain666]

That makes a whole lot more sense.

I looked up some old pictures of the chicken doing a TT and put them next to pictures of andy....

the chicken looks a little plump...

we just haven't gotten the bike tan shirtless pictures of schleck yet

Found something:

http://www.pezcyclingnews.com/photos/races10/cura10/cura10-aschleck1.jpg

Although I am a big fan of AC and AS, some of those vacation pictures of the Schleck brothers and AC almost gang-banging some poor dolphin look a little bit weird...lol

 

[sometriguy]

Not really....
Time Trialling is like climbing, in that regardless of power outputs and weights of the riders, some can do it better than others. Practice obviously makes perfect, but at this level, the differences in TT bike are not that great.

From experience, some riders are more able both physically and mentally to hold a threshold pace over a given distance. Others need the competeive element of a road race to get the best from themselves.

My guess is all of these guys know how to "push" themselves with no outside help....

I think a lot of guys just can't get into a comfortable position and create power when horizontal... it requires a slightly different physiology... if you lose 5 percent of your power from inefficiency then you could be losing boat loads of time

 

[Bala Verde]

finally, the word is out on Sporza :

Sastre chasse patat!

edit> ps anyone seen/played this cycling boardgame before?

chasse patat

 

[CatsNK]

Since Versus want a commercial free last climb, to allow that we will spending the next 2 hours in a constant state of going in and out of commercial.

They had to do that fascinating bike ride that Bob took yesterday, too. Riveting!

 

[Ten Percent Grade]

Where can I find the picks of a rail thin Barredo?

 

[alberto.legstrong]

Found something:

http://www.pezcyclingnews.com/photos/races10/cura10/cura10-aschleck1.jpg

Although I am a big fan of AC and AS, some of those vacation pictures of the Schleck brothers and AC almost gang-banging some poor dolphin look a little bit weird...lol

uhhh...thanks for the vizh. I'll never watch another re-run of Flipper. (That s1ut)

 

[Dedelou]

way early.. but hopes makes for hard pedaling

 

[Francois the Postman]

Oh come on Mr Postman...Carlton only knows the names of a dozen riders... he is utterly(UTTERLY) clueless

Once you've gone to "utterly clueless" you don't have many words left for the hordes of the utterly clueless. Once you call Carlton utterly clueless you don't even have many words for those who aren't roughly right most of the time.

He's the one I am stuck with most of the time, and I grew up glued to the BRT (what Sporza is these days), so it's a few levels down to what I would prefer.

But he ain't that bad, has blind spots, but is certainly informative for for the casual-ish viewer. He knows enough and calls enough right to have the words "utterly clueless" make a sharp left into cycling snobbery and internet hyperbole terrain.

 

[andy1234]

While that is definitely partially true it doesn't explain why many time trialists get significantly worse at it when they don't practice it (look at VDB but there have been many time trialists who lost their edge by focusing on other disciplines) It's also being comfortable on the bike. That being said the 'one of' monster TT's that people like Pantani and Sastre have done in their Tour wins does show the importance of the right mindset, but I truly doubt it's because AS can't focus for about an hour going on the limit he can't TT as well as AC especially considering the long explosion he had in LBL.

Agreed on the need to train specificaly for TTs, but these riders spend a huge amount of time and effort perfecting their position for both comfort and power output, so gains between riders specifically from position are minimal.

AS riding solo at the end of a 200k plus road race has little bearing on his threshold time trial ability and more to do with his endurance capability.
Being able to ride at 50kph per hour all day requires a different physiology and psychology to riding at 55kph for up to an hour

 

[Dedelou]

rain rain but mostly in the plains

they won't chase much in the descents

 

[Zoncolan]

Is Saxo going to launch someone off the front?
Schleck surely can't take enough time on the Tourmalet alone?

 

[CatsNK]

Here's a good feed for those who need it:

http://www.fromsport.com/v-0/0/148/v-14923.html

 

[Ramira]

Is Saxo going to launch someone off the front?
Schleck surely can't take enough time on the Tourmalet alone?

I think they would love to do so, but I reckon Astana has about 2/3 (Vino/Navarro maybe Tiralongo) better climbers then the best Saxo has right now so I'm not sure they'll be able to.

 

[Publicus]

Is Saxo going to launch someone off the front?
Schleck surely can't take enough time on the Tourmalet alone?

Andy is supremely confident in his abilities so I am sure he is not convinced that he cannot get enough time on the Tourmalet alone.

 

[Kazistuta]

Why does every race thread has to be overtaken by discussions about commentators that half the posters here can't (luckily it seems) hear?

Yeah, maybe the race itself isn't overly exciting atm, but let's preserve the race threads for what it is....a RACE thread...

 

[andy1234]

My guess is all of these guys know how to "push" themselves with no outside help....

I think a lot of guys just can't get into a comfortable position and create power when horizontal... it requires a slightly different physiology... if you lose 5 percent of your power from inefficiency then you could be losing boat loads of time

Of course they all know how to "push" themselves in a solo situation, but some are better than others.
If it was all about which riders get a better position, then what was happening before specific TT bikes were used?

 

[Ramira]

Andy is supremely confident in his abilities so I am sure he is not convinced that he cannot get enough time on the Tourmalet alone.

Gotta agree with this, I think Andy believes if he has a minute it's in the bag and even with about 30 seconds he has a good chance. He might be utterly wrong on that, we'll see on saturday but it sure seems he believes it.

 

[timmarshall]

Of course they all know how to "push" themselves in a solo situation, but some are better than others.
If it was all about which riders get a better position, then what was happening before specific TT bikes were used?

Hasnt everyone seen the adverts? with new specialized bike geometry testing, Andy is in the perfect position to ride harder, for longer, and stay more comfy while doing so

 

[Publicus]

OT: I hope I never see someone rocking this kit on the road.

 

[Ramira]

Of course they all know how to "push" themselves in a solo situation, but some are better than others.
If it was all about which riders get a better position, then what was happening before specific TT bikes were used?

While this is before my time so I'm going by what I got from people talking about it, I'm sure there are some people here who know a lot more about it. In the old days before TT bikes there weren't real TT specialists, the strongest riders were usually also the best Time Trialists.

 

[Ten Percent Grade]

I say Contador marks every move today.

 

[khodder]

I say Contador marks every move today.

Until he cannot. And that is what this Tour needs a Contador loss of around 90 seconds today.

 

[Lyds97]

What's up with Sastre now? He's gone from a minute and a half back to nearly 4 minutes since the Marie-Blanque.

Has the break or the bunch upped the tempo? Or has he just realised he's not getting anywhere?