Tour de France 2011 Stage 9: Issoire - Saint-Flour 208 km

[just some guy]

The truly amazing statistic amongst all this daily carnage, is that Frank Schleck is yet to fall off.

I hope the Italian lads, (Basso and Cunego) who have so far managed to stay safe, can find their old GT form, as the GC competition is now looking a bit thin.
(well, a man can dream)

Basso looking good first time this tour

 

[Publicus]

Can't figure out how to change the orientation, but this is the video evidence of the shouldering by the Katusha rider.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/3128763/IMG_0067.MOV

 

[kjetilraknerud]

Hardly anyone else left to do it...

But still.. Andy would rather abandon than carrying bottles.

 

[Winterfold]

Flecha is doing F all work in the break - he could solo away 10km ish out - think the last couple of k's will do for him though

 

[Potomac]

With all the carnage even Cadel Evans might crack the top 10. He hasn't cracked the top 25 these last couple of years, and with so many of his betters out he could really move up in the standings.

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

I would have thought Seán Kelly had spent enough time in the polyglot world of cycling not to call the current 2nd in Green Jersey competition "Ro zhass"

 

[Ramira]

But still.. Andy would rather abandon than carrying bottles.

Is this the first tour you ever watched? Andy carried water bottles in the high mountains while in the yellow last year.

 

[Kodiak]

my feed died. anyone have a good one streaming?

 

[Bala Verde]

Update on VDB2, perhaps a broken shoulder blade.

 

[brollebol]

my feed died. anyone have a good one streaming?

http://www.steephill.tv/tour-de-france/#live always does it for me

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

Nico Roche right at the back of tthe peloton there, just as top ten possibility beckons.

 

[euanli]

Can't figure out how to change the orientation, but this is the video evidence of the shouldering by the Katusha rider.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/3128763/IMG_0067.MOV

Here is a youtube link

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwviTmZZSlk

 

[Maxiton]

The truly amazing statistic amongst all this daily carnage, is that Frank Schleck is yet to fall off.

I hope the Italian lads, (Basso and Cunego) who have so far managed to stay safe, can find their old GT form, as the GC competition is now looking a bit thin.
(well, a man can dream)

I had Basso coming in 2nd and Cunego something like 8th, and still don't see any reason to change that. As far as S. Sanchez goes, I had him in top ten originally, and was just now trying to give Ryo a little hope and got caught out in it by the ever sharp The Hitch. A good result for Sanchez still isn't outside the realm of possibility but I confess he does face a challenge.

 

[Dutchsmurf]

Update on VDB2, perhaps a broken shoulder blade.

Yep, because his collarbones have some plates in them already because he broke those earlier in his career.

 

[Publicus]

I think this has the correct orientation and it is on youtube

http://t.co/5qoro8N

 

[Carl0880]

Now that is a comparable list:

It has three favorites and one top ten candidate.

However, the point stand that this is not "normal". You had to go back 14 years for a comparable slaughter.

3 favorites, its stretching it to say 2 with Gotti and Berzin. Rominger would fit into a Top 10 candidate

 

[Parrulo]

The truly amazing statistic amongst all this daily carnage, is that Frank Schleck is yet to fall off.

I hope the Italian lads, (Basso and Cunego) who have so far managed to stay safe, can find their old GT form, as the GC competition is now looking a bit thin.
(well, a man can dream)

both basso and cunego have been looking good so far. basso clearly riding himself in form and from the looks of it succeeding and cunego doing a great TdS and looking good at the first week of the tour.

i would put cunego on the same category as frank in terms of being shocking that they haven't fallen yet. cunego crashed heavily in the tour 2008 vuelta 2008 and tour 2009 iirc (not sure about this one)

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

Tony Martin for the top 5 now?

The field has thinned, but not that much

 

[PedalCastro]

Kelly's grammar and pronunciation always make me laugh, pronouncing the "T" in Gilbert! Brilliant

 

[Anonymous]

Now that is a comparable list:

It has three favorites and one top ten candidate.

However, the point stand that this is not "normal". You had to go back 14 years for a comparable slaughter.

Ok, you had to go back to 2000 to show an unusual first week as well. My only point was that crashes are standard operating procedure (with the exception you pointed out). The fact that there are many big names out this year is strange, I grant you that. But I doubt, at this stage, if there is a significantly larger percentage of the peloton out at this stage of the race than normal.

It's Le Tour and this is how it goes.

 

[RdBiker]

I dont see him returning with a broken pelvis, that is the same injury Beloki had in 03 and he didn't even look a fraction of what he was before and at the time he was only 30, not 37. Sad as it is, we have seen the last of vino.

Like a warrior though he was carried off the field of battle by his comrades, fitting for a guy who made his career out of never giving up attacks and aggression.

Damn...I didn't realize it was so bad He was my favourite for the 2007 TdF and then he got that bad crash early on...

Well, maybe it's karma or something for him.

 

[Zoncolan]

I was thinking about JVdB, Wiggo etc, not the great old Kazakh.
He has retired, imo.

OK. I misunderstood. Too bad he couldn't get yellow.

 

[PedalCastro]

Nico Roche right at the back of tthe peloton there, just as top ten possibility beckons.

Noooo, hang in there Roche!

 

[Bavarianrider]

The field has thinned, but not that much

It's still a long way to Paris

 

[kjetilraknerud]

Is this the first tour you ever watched? Andy carried water bottles in the high mountains while in the yellow last year.

You clearly didn't see my irony, I blame that on my poor english. I remember that, yes, but generally Andy isn't that much of a team player IMO.