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

This stage is tomorow, but the its a big stage, so worth discussing it now.

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The queen stage of the alps. The Col de la madeline. The second hardest climb of this years tour, and more difficult even than alp de huez. Last time Lance was here, Flandis dragged him all the way up and most of the way down.


The summit is 30 k from the finish and then 20 k down before 10 k flat. Kind of like the monte grappa in the giro. There Nibali worked with Basso. If the pace is pushed on the madeline, we will likely see Basso with Kreuziger this time at the top, Geskink with Menchov and if yesteday is any guide, the whole Astana team with Contador (though vino will be the go 2 guy for the descent). Favourites like Schlecklet and Cuddles will no doubt be on their own. Will team work play a part. Could be interesting.

still, team mate or no team mate, im liking Samu for this. He showed he can climb with the best, and boy can he descend. Thats providing he doesnt fall off (which riders from a certain team are known to do).
 
25.5 km at 6.2% on Col de la Madeleine.
This mean long breakaway will be taken back there I think.
Some team will set a strong pace on Madeleine, but with 30 km to go (and 10 flat) who will have the courage to attack?
Someone could possibly attack on the descent.
The stage come after the rest day and someone could feel bad legs, it happens all the time.
I hope to see an exciting day!
 
Jul 7, 2009
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Insanely hard day that is easily over looked since it isn't a MTF.

I like basso and kreuziger to try to get a minute back. I think evans, contador, menchov, and schleck will come in together.

Vino will try to bridge to kreuziger and basso, catch them with 3k left. He will hang on the back so he doesn't aide them at all. Then he will out sprint them for the win :)

Somebody will lose big time, I would say wiggans, but he never had a chance of surviving this stage. Maybe Levi cracks and kloeden becomes the new chief at RS.

This stage really is unpredictable!
 
sometriguy said:
Insanely hard day that is easily over looked since it isn't a MTF.
Agreed. Been looking forward to this one.

I like basso and kreuziger to try to get a minute back. I think evans, contador, menchov, and schleck will come in together.

Vino will try to bridge to kreuziger and basso, catch them with 3k left. He will hang on the back so he doesn't aide them at all. Then he will out sprint them for the win :)

Somebody will lose big time, I would say wiggans, but he never had a chance of surviving this stage. Maybe Levi cracks and kloeden becomes the new chief at RS.

This stage really is unpredictable!

I cant see contador and schleck letting basso and kreuziger go. Besides, even if basso can take back a minute on the ascent, it sure as hell wont be a minute once they finish the descent.
 
Jun 21, 2010
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Kreuziger, Samu Sanchez and Joaquim Rodriguez to attack on the hard last km of Madeleine, and runaway from the others on the descend.

Sanchez likely to win and Kreuziger will get the yellow jersey.
 
I don't think we'll see much happening in terms of GC shakeups, probably the same guys who were in front yesterday will finish in a group, with Sanchez taking the win. Basso won't get away, this is not the Giro where he can ride everyone save one or two riders off his wheel. There are 5 or 6 Bassos in this race.
 
Jun 21, 2010
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Dekker_Tifosi said:
Wow Rodriguez is so overrated.
You do know he dropped at the end right?

He said that he needs a steeper climbs than the last part of Avoiraz, that's why he dropped there, and the last 3 km of Madeleine are definetly steeper.
 
theyoungest said:
I don't think we'll see much happening in terms of GC shakeups, probably the same guys who were in front yesterday will finish in a group, with Sanchez taking the win. Basso won't get away, this is not the Giro where he can ride everyone save one or two riders off his wheel. There are 5 or 6 Bassos in this race.

Sure as hell he can't outrun nothing on descent alone! :D
 
Liquigas said:
He said that he needs a steeper climbs than the last part of Avoiraz, that's why he dropped there, and the last 3 km of Madeleine are definetly steeper.
He's not the only one who likes his climbs to be steeper than that. So do Schleck, Contador, Sanchez, Gesink, Basso... all the true climbers, basically. It's just a sign of weakness that he couldn't follow, perhaps partly due to wasting his energy in a pointless attack.
 
Jan 31, 2010
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LA to miracly rise again by being the only RS guy left on top of the madeleine to avoid working for LL in the pyrenees :p.

LLS wins this imo.
 
Jun 4, 2010
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sometriguy said:
Menchov = yes
Gesink = not even close

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.
 
Nov 17, 2009
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Nickbeam said:
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.

I don't think Menchov looked bad.

Yes, he was at the back... but he was just chugging along and never seemed to be in any trouble. I didn't see anything to worry about.

At 1:10 back, he's avoiding notice but is sitting in a strong position. With his TT, he's one of the few riders that potentially could make up the 9 seconds he's back on Contador at the moment. If he can hang on for the rest of the mountains, he's got a chance at actually winning.
 
Apr 1, 2010
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I think RS has to change plans and try something. LA or Horner in a breakaway for KOM on the Madeleine for a stage?? LA had a bad day yesterday and gave up, but I don't think anyone can say he is a bad climber, even at his old age.

Unfortunately, looks like too much climbing for Hesjedal. He will lose more time. I like the guy alot, but he isn't a 3-week stage racer.
 

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