Tirreno - Adriatico Stage 4, Narni -> Prati Di Tivo, 173 kms (09/03/2013)

[El Pistolero]

Some real LOLs to be had in this thread.

When's he celebrating his third victory?

 

[Taxus4a]

I was calculating numers for today.. sorry I put this in spanish, but I did it for other forum...anyway you can understand the numbers, nothing special the perfomance today even it was a CRE, wich increase the numbers over an solo perfomance:

Sobre hoy, 41 minutos la subida, sacado de restar los horarios del live cyclingnews, puede variar medio minuto la cosa, eso da una VAm de:

1501 m/h.. en fin, si una VAM asi, en una CRE, es sospechosa, apaga y vamonos!!

Que han tardado más que en subir Alp Dhuez, y es un puerto si, un poco más largo, pero claramente menos duro.



Traducido al cristiano, han subido a una media de 21,2 km/h, 14,48 Km al 7,2 de desnivel, nada del otro mundo, y eso que ya digo ha sido un esfuerzo colectivo, no invididual

Mirad que medias subian Alp dHuez, con bastante más pendiente (en la parte de abajo)

http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpe_d'Huez



longitud de 13,1 km, con una pendiente media del 8,2%

lunghezza: 14,48 km
pendenza: 7,18%
dislivello: 1040 mt

Contador en puertos como este, hasta 2010 hacía unas VAMs claramente superiores.

Si siguen bajando las VAMs, en 2020 Horner ganará el Tour arri)



Bueno, estas VAMS PoPoViCh y sus amigos se las pasan por la piedra...:burla)

 

[Pentacycle]

When's he celebrating his third victory?

Victories don't have to be taken into account here, you can even come 4th in the Tour twice, even if you only have 1 professional victory.

 

[El Pistolero]

Victories don't have to be taken into account here, you can even come 4th in the Tour twice, even if you only have 1 professional victory.

Ok, how many fourth places does he have in the Tour?

 

[Pentacycle]

Ok, how many fourth places does he have in the Tour?

Should that matter, JVDB is a C-rider for me at least. I still love to watch the Avoriaz stage from 2010 where the Sporza guy says that he's considered a contender. Or when they ask Contador or Schleck what they think of him, and they say he's a really promising young rider, while he's just 3 months younger than Contador. Normally he won't win anything unless he starts targeting other GT's.

Thomas's palmares will grow bigger, he's got plenty of talent. He's won the Bayern Rundfahrt 2011, the Romandie prologue last year, and ofc a stage in the Tour Down Under.

 

[El Pistolero]

Should that matter, JVDB is a C-rider for me at least. I still love to watch the Avoriaz stage from 2010 where the Sporza guy says that he's considered a contender. Or when they ask Contador or Schleck what they think of him, and they say he's a really promising young rider, while he's just 3 months younger than Contador. Normally he won't win anything unless he starts targeting other GT's.

Thomas's palmares will grow bigger, he's got plenty of talent. He's won the Bayern Rundfahrt 2011, the Romandie prologue last year, and ofc a stage in the Tour Down Under.

Are those supposed to be decent races? Because I'd rather win a Dauphiné mountain stage then.

Anyway, overall JVDB is a pretty average rider yes, but still better than GT. How many fourth places does he have in a classic?

Not sure what you're trying to argue, are you saying GT is a D-class rider? Perhaps JVDB should join Sky and we'll see how much he'll improve.

 

[Pentacycle]

Are those supposed to be decent races? Because I'd rather win a Dauphiné mountain stage then.

Anyway, overall JVDB is a pretty average rider yes, but still better than GT. How many fourth places does he have in a classic?

Not sure what you're trying to argue, are you saying GT is a D-class rider? Perhaps JVDB should join Sky and we'll see how much he'll improve.

4th in Omloop and 2nd in Dwars door Vlaanderen, 10th in the Ronde after a brute effort for Flecha.
Concerning top classics, he's only started the Ronde twice, and Roubaix/MSR both once.

Let him prove himself, being a leader for the first time, he can still improve unlike Van den Broeck, who should be at his peak years now. At Sky they'll turn any ex-Barloworld Brit into a top rider, it just takes some patience.

 

[Ruudz0r]

And the best thing is, G has a better shot at podiumming the TDF someday then VDB has.

 

[El Pistolero]

4th in Omloop and 2nd in Dwars door Vlaanderen, 10th in the Ronde after a brute effort for Flecha.
Concerning top classics, he's only started the Ronde twice, and Roubaix/MSR both once.

Let him prove himself, being a leader for the first time, he can still improve unlike Van den Broeck, who should be at his peak years now. At Sky they'll turn any ex-Barloworld Brit into a top rider, it just takes some patience.

Eh, he started Roubaix twice. Omloop and Dwars door Vlaanderen are no classics, I asked for classics. Are you saying he's getting this much hype because of his 10th place in the Ronde?

About your second part of the post, I agree, but that's not something I'll discuss here nor will it change my opinion about GT being average in the classics.

 

[SoLogy]

I think you are mistaken

Omloop and Dwars door Vlaanderen are no classics

Omloop and Dwars door Vlaanderen are certainly classics. They may not be monuments or otherwise known as "the Queens of the Classics," but then again you asked for classics.

 

[Pentacycle]

Eh, he started Roubaix twice. Omloop and Dwars door Vlaanderen are no classics, I asked for classics. Are you saying he's getting this much hype because of his 10th place in the Ronde?

About your second part of the post, I agree, but that's not something I'll discuss here nor will it change my opinion about GT being average in the classics.

Sylvain Chavanel, la Machine, what had he done in the classics until 2008? Did you expect him at the time to contend for the Ronde and win Dwars door Vlaanderen? GT has some similar characteristics, so him becoming classics contender wouldn't surprise me. He doesn't have Boonen's sprint, but he's a strong rouleur.

 

[El Pistolero]

Sylvain Chavanel, la Machine, what had he done in the classics until 2008? Did you expect him at the time to contend for the Ronde and win Dwars door Vlaanderen? GT has some similar characteristics, so him becoming classics contender wouldn't surprise me. He doesn't have Boonen's sprint, but he's a strong rouleur.

The only classic Chavanel is any good at is the Ronde van Vlaanderen and 2008 was the first time he started in it. Besides, he's just a domestique though I expect him to take leadership this year with Boonen's form not looking great.

 

[Pentacycle]

The only classic Chavanel is any good at is the Ronde van Vlaanderen and 2008 was the first time he started in it. Besides, he's just a domestique though I expect him to take leadership this year with Boonen's form not looking great.

The Amstel Gold had prepared him for the hell of Flanders for many years before 2009, so no excuses there. Positioning is most important in both races.
Nikkki Terpstra and Boonen himself will be good domestiques this year then.

 

[El Pistolero]

The Amstel Gold had prepared him for the hell of Flanders for many years before 2009, so no excuses there. Positioning is most important in both races.
Nikkki Terpstra and Boonen himself will be good domestiques this year then.

Lol, that doesn't make any sense.

 

[Escarabajo]

I'm thinking the key to taking down Sky is either going with say about 10km out where all three sky members can't possibly keep up or waiting until the last km to leave it to a last second sprint.

We talked about this ad-nauseaum during the Armstrong-US Postal days. Rogers explained it best last year. If you ride tempo at threshold is impossible to ride away from the train. You just need to have the riders to complete the task. Once you have it it works to perfection.

 

[Carols]

We talked about this ad-nauseaum during the Armstrong-US Postal days. Rogers explained it best last year. If you ride tempo at threshold is impossible to ride away from the train. You just need to have the riders to complete the task. Once you have it it works to perfection.

Is that the same invisible Rogers now that he isn't on Sky???? What happened to his threshold...pooofff!

 

[movingtarget]

Rodriguez and Evans were the obvious disappointments today. Sanchez and Andy racking up some kms. Horner shows his liking for the one week stage races yet again. Sky did what Sky do and Contador is starting to realise that making attacks stick is getting harder. Interesting stage and once again shows the depth of the Sky squad. Winning by attrition with Froome to finish it off.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Is that the same invisible Rogers now that he isn't on Sky???? What happened to his threshold...pooofff!

there are no free passes wrt Saxo, but Rogers will be back to full "capability" when the Tour starts.

 

[LaFlorecita]

there are no free passes wrt Saxo, but Rogers will be back to full "capability" when the Tour starts.

And Alberto will also be pushing the 6.5 W/kg on the climbs again dream on

 

[Dazed and Confused]

And Alberto will also be pushing the 6.5 W/kg on the climbs again dream on

lol, no dreams for me in cycling these days, just reality. Both Contador and Rogers will be at full strength at the tour, just like the Sky train.

edit: I also see signs Schleck will be in top form, but I need one or two more indicators.

 

[phanatic]

Did Froome attack too late? The way he blew past everyone and shattered the race suggests to me that he could have attacked earlier - maybe even going with Contador or Nibali before breaking free in a solo move - and really put a lot of time into his rivals.

 

[Bexon30]

lol, no dreams for me in cycling these days, just reality. Both Contador and Rogers will be at full strength at the tour, just like the Sky train.

edit: I also see signs Schleck will be in top form, but I need one or two more indicators.

Which signs from this stage make you think Andy will be up there at the Tour?(I hope he is).
What happened to JRod? I mean a few weeks back he looked strong either he is waiting to slowly build up or maybe last years form is catching up on him. The Sky train yesterday was an ominous sign of the season ahead.

 

[LaFlorecita]

lol, no dreams for me in cycling these days, just reality. Both Contador and Rogers will be at full strength at the tour, just like the Sky train.

edit: I also see signs Schleck will be in top form, but I need one or two more indicators.

Lol I hope so but no I can't see it happening. 2 months ago in San Luis he was **** and he's still ****. Didn't improve one bit. And it's not like Tirreno is just a training race for him. I'd say that after TDF it's his biggest goal of the season. I feel sad for Alberto, he really wanted to win this. Time is running out, it's not like he has years left. Maybe two at most, IF he improves. If he wants this race on his palmares it should've happened now. He isn't going to get any better over the years, he'll only get worse. I just hope he wins Crit. Int. and pais Vasco and get some confidence back (I could see him losing to someone random though ) and after that he should take a long break and do some serious altitude training and train on maintaining his attacks. Then face Froome in either dauphiné or Suisse to see where they both stand and then create a plan of attack for tdf. That is the only way I can see this season not becoming a total joke.

Edit: Apparently Froome is riding Criterium International so Alberto will only have a chance in Pais Vasco

 

[LaFlorecita]

Did Froome attack too late? The way he blew past everyone and shattered the race suggests to me that he could have attacked earlier - maybe even going with Contador or Nibali before breaking free in a solo move - and really put a lot of time into his rivals.

I don't know, maybe this is the only way he can attack. Get dropped, catch the attackers and counter attack immediately. He did it in la Vuelta, in Oman and now here.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Which signs from this stage make you think Andy will be up there at the Tour?(I hope he is).
What happened to JRod? I mean a few weeks back he looked strong either he is waiting to slowly build up or maybe last years form is catching up on him. The Sky train yesterday was an ominous sign of the season ahead.

first sign is increased will to fight on. Hopefully going to Catalunya and get it done and then be somewhat competitive in LBL.

That would indicate he will be ready for the Tour imo.

J-Rod will do the Tour - Vuelta double, he is still not in form, certainly not 2012 form. Last year was perhaps a special year, we will see.