Tour de France Stage 2 (3/7/11) - Les Essarts 23km TTT

[*Falze*]

I don't see the times being that close - the first 5 probably will but I'd be very surprised if 10th are within 17 seconds. I'd fancy 10th to be around a minute down.

i just see it being quite close. course isnt too long.

i have no evidence to back it up, just a hunch.

i think vac should crack top 10 which would be a good result for them

 

[jens_attacks]

i'm all for radioshack to take it.but....
it's just a problem, that's called omega pharma lotto,freaking monsters all of them,look what van de walle did yesterday and he was pretty injured after that crash.and the yellow can give them wings,bigger,wider wings.who knows,they might win the stage...

 

[Havetts]

Reminding good old ACF about his old signature before the ninja-edit .

BMC will defeat Rabobank in the Les Essarts TTT.

We will see!

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

i'm all for radioshack to take it.but....
it's just a problem, that's called omega pharma lotto,freaking monsters all of them,look what van de walle did yesterday and he was pretty injured after that crash.and the yellow can give them wings,bigger,wider wings.who knows,they might win the stage...

the ttt is only 23 km and for me seem best for a team with lots of speed, so more sprinter guys, while radioshack are more diesels

 

[will10]

The flatter and shorter the course, the higher the speed, the smaller the gaps. I reckon less than a minute will cover top 10 teams.

 

[dlwssonic]

Reminding good old ACF about his old signature before the ninja-edit .



We will see!

I dont think its likely though. Rabo have a strong team. But we will see.

 

[theyoungest]

I dont think its likely though. Rabo have a strong team. But we will see.

It wouldn't surprise me. Boom/Tjallingii/LLS/Gesink vs. Evans/Hincapie/Quinziato/Burghardt/Bookwalter... not a big difference in quality IMO. For the flats BMC aren't that bad.

 

[LaFlorecita]

I hope Saxo and Euskatel won't lose too much time over Leopard, BMC etc.
(To be honest, I hope that Andy throws his chain off again ;P)

 

[Sylvester]

Then again, with a lot of these very same guys they didn't really shine in the Tirreno TT. And you'd assume they had decent form there.

What any of the teams did in the Giro doesn't matter: if you say that Lotto had a weaker squad there, well yes, but so did the other teams...

Reynes, Adam Hansen, Kaisen < Vandewalle, Vandenbroeck, Roelandts

But yeah, it's a matter of form anyway. We'll see.

 

[dlwssonic]

It wouldn't surprise me. Boom/Tjallingii/LLS/Gesink vs. Evans/Hincapie/Quinziato/Burghardt/Bookwalter... not a big difference in quality IMO. For the flats BMC aren't that bad.

haha yes it will be a race in a race. BMC have schar too he can do a decent prologue.

 

[Dutchsmurf]

I hope Saxo and Euskatel won't lose too much time over Leopard, BMC etc.
(To be honest, I hope that Andy throws his chain off again ;P)

I don't think Saxo will lose much time. Compared to Leopard they have the advantage that they can drop their weakest TTT guys on the way, while Leopard has to drag theirs to the finish.

I expect the time differences to be quite small anyway. It is only a short distance with no difficulties on the way. One team, probably HTC since their team is just made for this one, will have a reasonable gap to place 2. But the main contenders will all be within 30 seconds of each other, maybe with the exception of Samu.

 

[Michielveedeebee]

OPLs team isn't that bad; Lang, Greipel, Roelandts, Gilbert

All riders that can do a decent TT/Prologue; and they're fast, sprinters usually are a good addition in a TTT

But I doubt Phille will keep the jersey

 

[Kwibus]

Rabo won the TTT in T-A, but with a different team.

Their TTT lineup in the Tirreno was better for a TTT compared to this one. I expect them to end between 5 and 10.

Top 5:

1. Radioshack
2. Sky
3. Leopard
4. Garmin
5. HTC or Lotto

 

[KassyC]

i think vac should crack top 10 which would be a good result for them

Even with Thomas de Gendt riding with a broken collar bone and two very sore thumbs (both dislocated yesterday)??

 

[Anonymous]

Start times: (CET)
2:30pm: Saxo Bank
2:37pm: Euskaltel
2:44pm: Vacansoleil
2:51pm: AG2R
2:58pm: Saur-Sojasun
3:05pm: Rabobank
3:12pm: FDJ
3:19pm: Liquigas-Cannondale
3:26pm: Garmin-Cervelo
3:33pm: Europcar
3:40pm: Quick Step
3:47pm: Movistar
3:54pm: Astana
4:01pm: Katusha
4:08pm: Sky
4:15pm: Lampre
4:22pm: Cofidis
4:29pm: RadioShack
4:36pm: HTC-Highroad
4:43pm: Leopard-Trek
4:50pm: BMC
4:57pm: Omega Pharma-Lotto

 

[buster1]

Everyone seems to be predicting saxo to finish well down on the results but I dont think that will bother them too much as long as they can finish in close proximity to the other teams with GC riders that they see as a threat? to Contador eg leopard(schleck), BMC (evans), Leaky (basso) and Rabbo (Gesink).

Whilst it looks pretty likely that HTC, Garmin, Sky & Radio**** will fill the top spots I cant see how that will worry Saxo as those teams dont have any riders that Contador wouldn't back himself too take back the time lost in 1 mountain pass.

 

[No_Balls]

I hope Saxo and Euskatel won't lose too much time over Leopard, BMC etc.
(To be honest, I hope that Andy throws his chain off again ;P)

Don´t expect too much. It is only 23 k.

 

[casian46]

Can someone tell me how good is Liquigas team against Lampre ?

 

[US Patent Exploding Cyclist]

Even with Thomas de Gendt riding with a broken collar bone and two very sore thumbs (both dislocated yesterday)??

He has quickly become one of my favorite riders this year. It's a shame he won't be healthy for the rest of the tour, I was hoping to see him off the front often.

 

[sublimit]

the ttt is only 23 km and for me seem best for a team with lots of speed, so more sprinter guys, while radioshack are more diesels

I think you might be right, HTC for me, Garmin and Sky close behind. Shack top 5.

 

[cineteq]

Top 5:

1. Radioshack
2. Garmin
3. Rabobank
2. Sky
3. Leopard

HTC will be, at best, top 10
Saxo will lose 1 minute to winner
BMC +- 20 sec. behind winner

 

[python]

my small money is on garmin...it will be a matter of of a dozen seconds anyway.

generally, a track pursuit rider fits ttt to a 't'. several teams have them but none as many as katusha.

 

[The Barb]

Can someone tell me how good is Liquigas team against Lampre ?

Neither is great but liquigas will finish ahead of lampre partly because they are riding for basso's position on the gc whereas lampre has nothing to ride for.

 

[US Patent Exploding Cyclist]

Isn't Lampre riding for Cunego's GC?

 

[AussieGoddess]

well I actually think that OPL will do pretty well .... and that PG will keep his yellow.

Yellow does funny things to a team - and there is a fair chance that whoever has yellow tonight might get to keep it for a bit, so teams will be really going for it.