Tour de France Stage 2 Brussels - Spa, 192 km Monday, July 5 2010

[Thee_chisa]

Wait so how did Christian VdV lose 10 minutes if there was such a lengthy period of Go-Slow time, and so many Garmin dudes went down and were behind, I assume with VdV, as well. Why couldn't they chase back up to the front, were they so injured they could barely pedal? sucks!

yep, why didn't they wait for VdV? as a top ten finisher the last two years he deserves some respect.

 

[bobs nob]

this bull**** needs to stop, race the effing race!! stop making deals, this culture of dodgy deals is almost as bad as doping.

That's exactly my point. The whole concept of racing was thrown into question. Certain treatment for certain guys, different treatment for different guys. And then the subject which is taboo in this type of thread. It all casts a shadow.

 

[oronet commander]

http://translate.google.com/#auto|en|contador

http://translate.google.com/#auto|es|accountant

It is both 'counter' as in numeric, not like kitchen counter. It is also accountant.

"Contador" would never be translated as accountant. Trust me: I'm a Spaniard and write for a living... "Counter" is the usual meaning...

 

[Publicus]

yep, why didn't they wait for VdV? as a top ten finisher the last two years he deserves some respect.

VdV wasn't trying to get back on. It wasn't like the peloton was driving to the finish.

 

[Anonymous]

So Contador and Armstrong can't even crash without someone comparing them. Nice.

Not sure who wins though. The one who's hurt the most, or the other way around?

Brilliant!

 

[santacruz]

Can Quickstep put in an epic cobblestone ride and drop AC and the rest of them? that'd be sweet if the tour is won on stage 3. Was this a conspiracy for the best French rider to take this years tour? If they can get him a 30 minute advantage on Tuesday....

 

[Thee_chisa]

most of the journos and commentators are basically calling the riders big girls for moaning; and pointing out the fact that they knew the course since it was published last year and they are not obliged to ride. boardman in particular had strong words for the riders lack of enthusiasm.

 

[bobs nob]

It was a real crazy

Even AC's translation software has a Spanish accent. (Although, being of italian descent, it looks more like my relatives' accent)

Alberto Contador was one of the many riders who today suffered a fall in the col of Stockeu on a road that had turned into a skating rink due to rain and, apparently, the loss of fuel of a motorcycle which had fallen minutes before the riders pass. "It was a real crazy”, said Contador after leaving the Doping Control, which also had to pass before begin to heal its wounds.

 

[oncearunner]

probably because VDV was barley able to ride at all.

 

[Cerberus]

yep, why didn't they wait for VdV? as a top ten finisher the last two years he deserves some respect.

The race was neutralized all the way to the line, it's not like they started racing as soon as the Schlecks were back. It's to bad that VdV didn't make it back, but it's not anyone fault. There's a limit to how much time they can give Chavanel, he's not that bad a climber.

 

[Thee_chisa]

i would expel cancellara from the race. he is not race director and should not be dictating to the organisers what he thinks should happen! why no sprint points? why no racing? what a biatch. get him out of the tour and show the riders that they are that "riders" not organisers.

 

[Cerberus]

Can Quickstep put in an epic cobblestone ride and drop AC and the rest of them? that'd be sweet if the tour is won on stage 3. Was this a conspiracy for the best French rider to take this years tour? If they can get him a 30 minute advantage on Tuesday....

No way, barring another huge crash of cause. There isn't 30 minutes to be had on stage 3. If they can get 3 minutes they should be static. The selective cobbles pieces are IIRC from 20 k to 10 k from the finish. There's just only so much time you can gain in 20 k.

 

[richwagmn]

i would expel cancellara from the race. he is not race director and should not be dictating to the organisers what he thinks should happen! why no sprint points? why no racing? what a biatch. get him out of the tour and show the riders that they are that "riders" not organisers.

Huh? How did he dictate anything? Do you know what the full story was? Other riders were free to do whatever they wanted. What's Canc going to do about it? Maybe they thought it was a good idea too.

 

[Thee_chisa]

No way, barring another huge crash of cause. There isn't 30 minutes to be had on stage 3. If they can get 3 minutes they should be static. The selective cobbles pieces are IIRC from 20 k to 10 k from the finish. There's just only so much time you can gain in 20 k.

wait till you see climbers trying to get to grips with pave, it is most amusing and some of them could lose over 10 mins tomorrow.

 

[Thee_chisa]

Huh? How did he dictate anything? Do you know what the full story was? Other riders were free to do whatever they wanted. What's Canc going to do about it? Maybe they thought it was a good idea too.

he was speaking to the race director, telling him that he wanted the stage neutralised and no sprint points given, basically holding a gun to the directors head. cancellara it seems is a bit think and riis has abused him to keep the brothers schlek in contention, the other riders generally do whatever influential and older riders suggest as there is a culture of bullying in the sport.

 

[tgsgirl]

he was speaking to the race director, telling him that he wanted the stage neutralised and no sprint points given, basically holding a gun to the directors head. cancellara it seems is a bit think and riis has abused him to keep the brothers schlek in contention

Except for the part where the closest thing he had to a gun was, I don't know, a water bottle? Yes. Let's run with that. Cancellara held a water bottle to Pescheux's head, and the poor man had no chance but to comply! It's a disgrace!

 

[Thee_chisa]

Except for the part where the closest thing he had to a gun was, I don't know, a water bottle? Yes. Let's run with that. Cancellara held a water bottle to Pescheux's head, and the poor man had no chance but to comply! It's a disgrace!

yeah, but he knows if they didn't go along the riders would probably have staged a protest tomorrow and neutralised the stage from the start.

 

[scribe]

he was speaking to the race director, telling him that he wanted the stage neutralised and no sprint points given, basically holding a gun to the directors head. cancellara it seems is a bit think and riis has abused him to keep the brothers schlek in contention, the other riders generally do whatever influential and older riders suggest as there is a culture of bullying in the sport.

How old are you?

 

[Highlander]

I think Bob said it aptly, a case of sportsmanship run amok.

Having now seen it, and read Chris Horner's comments, I have to now wonder what the riders are going to do if it's wet on Stage 9 and it's descent off the Madeleine to the finish and someone crashes on an oil spot?

I read through Horner's article as well and it was ridiculous. He admitted that

he and his team knew that the descent was going to be dangerous

, so this wasn't a huge shock to them. If they really thought that the course was too dangerous, then why didn't they protest it before the start of the race or deliberately go slow on the dicey portions? I love watching cycling, but I think that riders complain too much at times. This was like the Milan stage of last year's Giro or when the riders had to complain about no radios last year. Don't worry, if this had been the Tour of California, the whole stage would have been nullified and the organizers would have made sure that Levi got the jersey after today.

 

[richwagmn]

he was speaking to the race director, telling him that he wanted the stage neutralised and no sprint points given, basically holding a gun to the directors head. cancellara it seems is a bit think and riis has abused him to keep the brothers schlek in contention, the other riders generally do whatever influential and older riders suggest as there is a culture of bullying in the sport.

Can you provide a link to a story or is this some fantasy?

 

[Thee_chisa]

How old are you?

34, you? ****fuifksdfngsergfsergfsegf

 

[scribe]

34, you? ****fuifksdfngsergfsergfsegf

I was hoping age would explain your stupid fantasies.

 

[kurtinsc]

I feel bad for Hushovd. He should have gotten the green today and come close to locking it down unless he crashed himself (or at least narrowed it down to him and McEwen... which I'd favor Hushovd pretty heavily on).

 

[tgsgirl]

yeah, but he knows if they didn't go along the riders would probably have staged a protest tomorrow and neutralised the stage from the start.

Probably? He felt like he had a gun to his head because they probably would've gone on strike? If Pescheux had said "green points will be awarded", then Robbie Mac (if up to it), Oscarcito, Thor, Roelandts and whichever sprinter still up there would've sprinted.
The only team that didn't agree during the race was Cervélo as far as I've read. Rabo didn't agree but didn't speak up. But sure, let's expel the one guy. That makes sense.

 

[Thee_chisa]

Can you provide a link to a story or is this some fantasy?

did you not watch the stage? and the post race interviews? cancellara said that he said to pescheur he wanted the stage neutralised and the point scrapped. as for the bullying? god, i dunno, if you don't know about that read up a bit more.