TDF Stage 9 - Tuesday, July 13 2010, Morzine-Avoriaz - Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne, 204 k

[DenisMenchov]

That's what she said.

Who is she?

 

[Moose McKnuckles]

Too easy

Yeah, I get no points for that one. Far too easy of a setup.

 

[Ninety5rpm]

Who is she?

Well, this is perplexing. If you got the joke, this is just stupid. Did you really not get it? That's difficult to believe.

 

[kurtinsc]

Does anyone know why the Col de La Madeleine is uncategorized?

Since I think you may not know...

uncategorized climbs are the hardest in the tour. It basically means that it's tougher then the toughest category.

Since it's the last climb on the stage, it's worth 40 points in the climber's competition. For comparison, the current leader in the mountains classification has 44 points.

 

[DenisMenchov]

Well, this is perplexing. If you got the joke, this is just stupid. Did you really not get it? That's difficult to believe.

I admit that I don t known all cyclingnews forum members gender, OK?

 

[Moose McKnuckles]

I admit that I don t known all cyclingnews forum members gender, OK?

Has nothing to do with that. It's just a joke.

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=that's what she said

 

[Ninety5rpm]

Lance just tweeted that he and Levi were just tested. Now they are free to "recover". Wouldn't be surprised to seem some renewed vigor in the old guys tomorrow.

With his big deficit in time, will Lance try, and be allowed, to get in a break? Give the old guy a chance to go for a stage? Or will he stay back to "help" Levi, who'd be lucky to finish Top 5 at this point? I say he goes for the stage and as a result wins back enough time to be back in contention.

 

[Moose McKnuckles]

Lance just tweeted that he and Levi were just tested. Now they are free to "recover". Wouldn't be surprised to seem some renewed vigor in the old guys tomorrow.

With his big deficit in time, will Lance try, and be allowed, to get in a break? Give the old guy a chance to go for a stage? Or will he stay back to "help" Levi, who'd be lucky to finish Top 5 at this point? I say he goes for the stage and as a result wins back enough time to be back in contention.

Naturally, the were notified of today's test 2 days ago. Testers sipped on cappucinos and ate bon-bons for 3 hours before Lance and Levi permitted any testing to occur.

 

[DenisMenchov]

Has nothing to do with that. It's just a joke.

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=that's what she said

Ok now I get it , but I never was in country where english is used as primary language, so I never saw this joke.

 

[Barrus]

I'm going for Sammy Sanchez to do the same as Nibali did in the giro. It would really be nice to see Sammy win a stage in this tour and he is looking really good. The only problem is that he is too close in the GC.

If not Sammy, I still think a Spanish rider will win this one, perhaps LL Sanchez

 

[Kwibus]

If Denis survives on stage 9, he's the one to watch out in the 3rd week. in my opinion, he didn't look very good on stage 8.
Gesink, well, for a moment, it looked like he'll drop out on Avoriaz, but he managed to finish in the top group.

it's a good chance for a breakaway, maybe someone like LLS or some of the french guys. As for the favourites, i think we gonna see a repeat of what we've seen yesterday, they gonna be together on top of Madeleine, maybe Sanchez will break away on the descent.

Gesink and Menchov intentionally were in the back of the leading group all day to stay out of the wind as much as possible. I wonder tho how much energy it takes to pass the riders that lose the wheels of the leaders all the time. Anyways that's why Gesink seemed to come out of nowhere to attack at the end. He wasn't as wasted as he seemed to be the entire climb.

 

[old_bram]

Well, i've just had a look through the route on google earth, and a peek at the weather forecast - it's going to be a grand day out

Could be some more big time losses if the likes of Vino and LA can't keep the water flowing.

http://www.weatheronline.co.uk/cgi-app/tourdefrance

 

[Kwibus]

I'm going for Sammy Sanchez to do the same as Nibali did in the giro. It would really be nice to see Sammy win a stage in this tour and he is looking really good. The only problem is that he is too close in the GC.

If not Sammy, I still think a Spanish rider will win this one, perhaps LL Sanchez

If Sammy is with the favourites at the top he can win actually. He is great at descending so he certainly has a chance tomorrow.

 

[Kwibus]

Well, i've just had a look through the route on google earth, and a peek at the weather forecast - it's going to be a grand day out

Could be some more big time losses if the likes of Vino and LA can't keep the water flowing.

http://www.weatheronline.co.uk/cgi-app/tourdefrance

Oh no! I fear for Gesink descent in the rain ( Please stay up Robert!

 

[Moose McKnuckles]

I do not want rain/bad weather. It affects the TV transmission.

 

[Barrus]

If Sammy is with the favourites at the top he can win actually. He is great at descending so he certainly has a chance tomorrow.

It'll probably be too far to go from the top to do that

 

[Michele]

I thought from top to the finish line there were around 30kms and I guessed it was something like 20k of downhill.
Isnt it?

 

[Liquigas]

I'm the only one who thinks that Menchov will drop on the descent of la Madeleine if someone like Samu sets the pace, even if it's dry?

 

[jaylew]

With his big deficit in time, will Lance try, and be allowed, to get in a break? Give the old guy a chance to go for a stage? Or will he stay back to "help" Levi, who'd be lucky to finish Top 5 at this point? I say he goes for the stage and as a result wins back enough time to be back in contention.

I certainly wouldn't be surprised to see him try to get in the break, though he should probably just work for Levi. It would be interesting to see if the bunch let him and if so, how much leeway they would give the group.

My two likely scenarios:

1) the group pushes hard on the Madeleine and the final group is small and fairly similar to the one we saw yesterday. They split up a bit on the descent and two separate groups hit the finish. Sanchez or Evans win the stage.

2) the group doesn't go too hard and there are 15-25 guys at the top of the climb. One or more riders who aren't true GC threats attack on the descent or on the false flat. Someone like LL Sanchez, Vino, or Hejedal wins. Would love to see one of the Footon duo do it.

What I'd like to see is some really hard attacks on the Madeleine and riders come over the top in one's, two's, and three's. Then there is mayhem as riders try to bridge on the descent and on the flat. Unlikely, though.

 

[BroDeal]

Somebody will lose big time, I would say wiggans,...

Ayup. This is the type of stage that I have been expecting Wigans to die on. If the last climb is raced hard, Wigans could get dropped well before the summit. The other contenders would go over the top with a large gap from him, and he would never make it up on the descent. The riders he would hook up with on the flatish part after the descent would not care much to limit their losses since they are not in the GC hunt, so they would not chase hard. End result would be a massive time loss.

Of course the race could just turn into a procession over the last climb as Tour stages often do...

 

[theyoungest]

Since I think you may not know...

uncategorized climbs are the hardest in the tour. It basically means that it's tougher then the toughest category.

Since it's the last climb on the stage, it's worth 40 points in the climber's competition. For comparison, the current leader in the mountains classification has 44 points.

No, uncategorized climbs aren't categorized because they're too easy. The Madeleine (and the Tourmalet and Mont Ventoux etc.) is hors catégorie, which means "beyond categorization", i.e. the toughest climbs.

 

[Nickbeam]

I do not want rain/bad weather. It affects the TV transmission.

i dunno why u think he's going to lose there. he is not that bad on descents, he had no problems with them in the last years Giro. i dunno what happened to him on stage 16 in the 08 Tour, but since then his descents were absolutely normal.

 

[Nickbeam]

I'm the only one who thinks that Menchov will drop on the descent of la Madeleine if someone like Samu sets the pace, even if it's dry?

i dunno why u think he's going to lose there. he is not that bad on descents, he had no problems with them in the last years Giro. i dunno what happened to him on stage 16 in the 08 Tour, but since then his descents were absolutely normal.

 

[Moose McKnuckles]

You have me confused with another poster. I wasn't commenting on Gesink, only on my fear that the TV transmission will be adversely affected by the weather.

 

[Nickbeam]

You have me confused with another poster. I wasn't commenting on Gesink, only on my fear that the TV transmission will be adversely affected by the weather.

ye, my mistake, i've corrected it