Tour de France - rest day1 round up

[lancaster]

Not really, they don't have yellow anymore and won't get it back. However, I wish there were someone making some sort of statistic over how long certain riders have spent riding on the front, Navardauskas probably leads that one by quite a lot.

that is actually what i thought the IG index cycle stats were going to do. value everything. so kms on the front of main group, riders dropped while on the front of main group. kms in break, kms on front in break...........................

how naive of me.

 

[dlwssonic]

that is actually what i thought the IG index cycle stats were going to do. value everything. so kms on the front of main group, riders dropped while on the front of main group. kms in break, kms on front in break...........................

how naive of me.

trying to make sure sky are top in everything

 

[movingtarget]

Contador seems to think that the Pyrenees won't be decisive. If he stays in the race he might mark Andy Schleck and hope to recover for the Alps. Based on what has happened already I don't think Andy Schleck will ever have better chance of beating Contador. I think the Schlecks have to go on the attack in the Pyrenees, thay can't wait for the Alps.

A few days ago I thought Sanchez and Gesink were finished but I think they can still figure especially with the retirements and also if Evans or one of the Schlecks have an off day. Basso has been doing a Menchov impression so far, hard to know whether he will figure. As usual the first real mountain stage will be a good indicator of climbing form. I expect Martin to drop back but will be interested to see how Velits, Fulsgang and other potential top 10 riders go. Whether they can make a push for the top 5 or not. An injured Kloeden and also Leipheimer could also improve without threatening the podium although the TT course looks like being a good one for Leipheimer. He could still finish in the top 10 if he is consistent in the mountains. As usual Evans is the hardest to predict. Can he regain his old climbing form or will he drop big time on the first hard mountain stage ? Evans will obviously be hoping that the Schlecks hold the attacks in the Pyrenees but I can't see it happening that way.

 

[roundabout]

Wait, there were that many retirements in 1998

I remember a crash in the first or second road stage in Ireland but apart from Boardman I don't remember anyone retiring.

12 without Festina is quite a lot, but this year it has been big names in crashes.

 

[Winterfold]

@CyclingCentral reporting that Contador is in serious trouble with his knee.

So who will choke most - Cuddles or Sclecklet? I say the post WC Cuddles is no longer a choker. He can rough up Gilbert and Berty together these days.

That may not be enough.

I do hope Contador can get over this knee problem, but...

 

[Cimber]

Contador seems to think that the Pyrenees won't be decisive. If he stays in the race he might mark Andy Schleck and hope to recover for the Alps.

Ye I think he downplayes the pyrenees cos his knee is hurt. If (and thats a big if) his knee gets better for the alps he also need to stay in Andy's wheel for the pyrenees with a bad knee, which will be tough.

If Contador can recover from all his problems, especially the knee problem, and win the Tour it would be a stunning performance. Its really the Sclecks and Evans tour for the taking at.

 

[gregrowlerson]

Coming in to the rest day, who do we think will attack in the mountains? Normally the first mountain stage isn't the most telling, but this year it is realy tough and there is a chance for huge gaps. Any GC favourites to try their hand on the tourmalet or earlier?

I think that the first mountain stage this year is more exciting than most others because it seems very unpredictable. We have a very nervous peloton I feel. Contador will attack - IF he can. I think it's likely that the rest will be fairly cautious and look around at the other contenders. The Schelck's maybe aren't even on top form yet, and if so then they don't have to attack yet anyway, with 3 more MTF's to come, and with Evans only being a serious threat that is close to them on GC. With last years form Andy could simply choose one MTF and take 2 minutes on Cadel. The question will be whether he can replicate that form. It would take a big turnaround to see Basso dominate in the mountains. Frank Schleck might be a more realistic Tour winner; in a topsy turvy race that may be possible. Gesink and Kloden may be crippled with their bad backs, and this is a shame for the race, especially in the case of Gesink because he is a guy who could set the mountains alight. But almost anything could happen Thursday? Perhaps that great climber Tony Martin will ride everyone off his wheel

 

[Anonymous]

that is actually what i thought the IG index cycle stats were going to do. value everything. so kms on the front of main group, riders dropped while on the front of main group. kms in break, kms on front in break...........................

how naive of me.

the ranking is going to develop gradually with more features added

 

[Cimber]

I think that the first mountain stage this year is more exciting than most others

I would have agreed if so many favorites hadnt crashed and either anbandoned og being injured.

 

[search]

Wait, there were that many retirements in 1998

I remember a crash in the first or second road stage in Ireland but apart from Boardman I don't remember anyone retiring.

Crash - Erik Dekker (Ned) Rabobank
Crash - Chris Boardman (GB) GAN
? - Ludovic Auger (Fra) Big Mat-Auber 93
Crash - Federico De Beni (Ita) Riso Scotti
? - Samuele Schiavina (Ita) Asics
? - Fabrizio Guidi (Ita) Polti
Crash - Silvio Martinello (Ita) Polti
OOT - Roberto Pistore (Ita) Riso Scotti
OOT - Oliveiro Rincon (Col) Vitalicio Seguros
? - Alessio Bongioni (Ita) Asics
heat - Mario Cipollini (Ita) Saeco

some crashes and Cipollini went away in hindsights of the stages to come (possibly Guidi did the same?)

 

[Cimber]

Mountain - Mario Cipollini (Ita) Saeco

Fixed that for you

 

[dlwssonic]

Fixed that for you

Its actually beach and girls.

 

[Cimber]

Its actually beach and girls.

ye girls and beach > mountains and suffering. Cant argue with Cipo's logic

 

[search]

"The first casuality of the heat was Super Mario who did his normal trick of abandoning as the race approached the mountains. With 20 kms left to ride in this stage, he stopped and said the heat had given him an upset stomach."

there's no reason not to believe him. I think he deeply wanted to finish the tour that year

 

[dlwssonic]

I really hope evans doesnt crash or get injured, this is the ideal scenario for him and a lot of the other gc contenders are out. he can do very well. if he keeps out of trouble and sickness he should get a podium. it will be interesting to see how he does on luz ardiden , i have a feeling he will do pretty good. he has had such a light preparation for this tour so he should still be pretty fresh in the 2nd and 3rd week.

 

[Tuarts]

Is Frank Schleck the only GC guys who hasn't been involved or held up in sort of crash/mechanical?

 

[LaFleur]

Nope, he was held up in stage one

 

[No_Balls]

I have checked as and marca and didn't find anything regardless that, but in case that's true he should stop and prepare the Vuelta instead.

The "serious knee injury" which the english-speaking media informs us is an inflammation due to crashes.

He would in fact retire if there was as bad as any one says it is. I don´t think he would stay a single minute in France if it looks as though it wouldn´t recover and there is are none decent shot for the podium in Paris.

Strange also is the downspeak of Pyreneés and that they won´t be decisive. Settling in the idea that he will don´t do anything and not even attack. That is like shouting out loud that he is not in form/having trouble. Not very clever to say even if you are.

I don´t know but i get the idea that everything is some major mind games going on here.

 

[roundabout]

"The first casuality of the heat was Super Mario who did his normal trick of abandoning as the race approached the mountains. With 20 kms left to ride in this stage, he stopped and said the heat had given him an upset stomach."

there's no reason not to believe him. I think he deeply wanted to finish the tour that year

Cipo is a clever one.

However I doubt that any pro would drink too much water for it to become a problem.

Thanks for the list of retirements.

 

[screaming fist]

@ No_Balls: I don't think there's a mind game - He's the biggest favorite in the biggest race, the media will report (and exagerate sometimes) on every little tweak Contador has. That's normal and he is used to this. He does his thing, recover today and look how things develop in the days to come.

 

[Tuarts]

Nope, he was held up in stage one

Thought that was Andy?

 

[Cimber]

SBS spokesman Anders Damgaard tries to downplay Contador's knee injury saying (and I try to translate as well as I can):

"Contador chose to finish his training earlier than the rest of the team. He hurt his knee in the crash yesterday, and since his knee is a little swollen, he didnt wanna take any unnecessary risk on the rest day. But he is ok."

http://www.sporten.dk/cykling/traeningen-afbrudt-contadors-knae-driller (in Danish)

Btw they will be a press conference at 15:00 CET where the journalists will surely dig in to it.

 

[LaFleur]

Thought that was Andy?

I'm not sure but weren't they both?

 

[python]

SBS spokesman Anders Damgaard tries to downplay Contador's knee injury saying (and I try to translate as well as I can):

"Contador chose to finish his training earlier than the rest of the team. He hurt his knee in the crash yesterday, and since his knee is a little swollen, he didnt wanna take any unnecessary risk on the rest day. But he is ok."

http://www.sporten.dk/cykling/traeningen-afbrudt-contadors-knae-driller (in Danish)

Btw they will be a press conference at 15:00 CET where the journalists will surely dig in to it.

am i the only one reading this as an advance public note followed by a medical declaration for using local (injection if necessary) anaesthetics ? no it's not for the clinic, it's legal.

 

[Dedelou]

Coming in to the rest day, who do we think will attack in the mountains? Normally the first mountain stage isn't the most telling, but this year it is realy tough and there is a chance for huge gaps. Any GC favourites to try their hand on the tourmalet or earlier?

in keeping with all that happened up till now, and I don't just mean the crashes, you have to expect that tomorrow and Wednesday so called transition stages will yield some surprises.