Tour de France Stage 3 Wanze - Arenberg Porte du Hainaut, 207km

[flicker]

Well, LA will actually have to race if he wants to get on the podium now. I think that he was hoping to build a nice lead today and then wheelsuck on the mountain stages. Now, he will have to attack if he wants to get some time back. He can't wait until the ITT.

yep, lance hasn't ever deserved a win. yep. mmm hmm

 

[The Gambler]

There was such a fuss made on this forum and in the media about how the lighter riders would suffer yet Contador and Schleck (and Evans who is no heavyweight) proved that incorrect and riders like Hincapie and Armstrong suffered.

Well it's funny because I was thinking all week that there was a lot of talk about Armstrong being better on the cobbles that he would probably end up crashing or something.

AC is a very classy rider - he was never going to be that bad off. The group that he was in behind Armstrong was only about ten seconds behind so it wasn't much of an ask for them to make it back to Armstrong's group. He did none of the bridging himself. Armstrong, however, had to make up a much bigger gap on his own - one guy.

The more you think about it, the more extraordinary that is. I'm surprised there hasn't been anything about it in the clinic today to be honest.

 

[bobs nob]

Thanks, no I'm fine.

All top athletes can get single minded about things, so I suppose that's just it.

I admit it's not normal, most people would give up.

Now, are you going to ask TFF whey he threatens to beat people up that he disagrees with? Has he ever beaten his wife, etc?

First off, I have no 1st hand evidence of him ever threatening anyone, nor do I have any of you, either. But I do get concerned when someone is so 'off' to the point where I worry about what your potential threat is.

You must admit that TFF is not regarded as 'an enemy of the forum' and you are. I m not going to get in a big discussion with you about the difficulty you obviously have playing nice with others.

As far as I am concerned, you ought not be banned, it's on us to know when to leave you alone. Unfortunately, I am approaching the point where I will face pressure from forumites to stop engaging you and I will probably knuckle under.

 

[Anonymous]

Not to inflame ACF, but Cuddles has been brilliant. But not for how the finale was handled yesterday he's up by many minutes. He has not done a thing wrong (yet).

 

[Dr. Maserati]

I have just skimmed the thread (only took ... hours - think of a figure and double it!). Some great commentary and for a good part without derailing. Nothing like an epic stage get us all focussing on the racing.

A couple of oddities for me:-

- In all those posts no chapeau to Cancellara other than the implication that he is expected to turn in superhuman efforts all the time e.g. his group were motor pacing (perhaps we will have to morph Spartacus into Parforthecourse). I suspect there were points where he could have just ridden away a la the classics but for the need to tow Andy. Cuddles and AS did work but FC did a very large percentage of it.

- The other - Robbie McEwen 14th! He's back!. With Thor winning (but not a surprise given his classics/Roubaix form) and Cav and Petacchi in the group after Robbie's the sprinters did pretty well. But so did some climbers. Are cobbles the levellers for all but the specialists?

You're right - no-one gave Canc his proper kudos today but they were so many unexpected performances today it was harder to keep up on the thread then on the stones...

 

[The Gambler]

Just got some helpful advice on how to troll and not get caught by TFF.

He's a great fella.

 

[Anonymous]

You say you want to just discuss things, but here is a perfect example of baited misinformation. None of that is COMPLETELY true. You know that. You post partial truth to bait, yet you wonder why you keep getting banned. As I told you in the PM. Just get real with us. Be a member instead of a troll. You might be surprised what will happen.

 

[ManInFull]

Wow what a great stage to watch.this turning out to be the best tour in years.Winners today where Evans,A.schleck,Contador,Van den Broek,wiggins,menchov./Loosers today Gesink,cunego and Armstrong.Was really impressed by G.Thomas this guy has great future on the Pave......Get well soon to F.Schleck didnt deserves to crash out like this.

Do you actually expect Cunego to do something in a TdF?

 

[frizzlefry]

Lol, :d:d:d:d

 

[Publicus]

I'm not sure what you mean by the last quote. All of them looked good on the cobbles today. And yes, LA did a good ride to limit his losses. Had he not punctured, he would have stayed with the AC/Vino group.

If you get a chance to watch a rebroadcast, he actually didn't look that great on the cobbles. He was sort of bouncing all over the place, like he couldn't control the machine at some points. I'm not trying to take away from the grit and determination he showed today, just he didn't look as comfortable as one would have thought given the conventional wisdom going into this stage.

And for the record, he's face has shown quite a bit of grimaces today and yesterday (even before the crashes). I don't pretend to know what that's about, but I noticed it yesterday when Phil and Paul were saying how calm he looked.

 

[frizzlefry]

Quote from LA today:
“Sometimes you’re the hammer and some days you’re the nail. Today I was the nail. I’ve had plenty days when I was the hammer.”

 

[Publicus]

I disagree. LA did not look very comfortable and he was already floating towrads the back of his group leaving gaps along the way. I don't think he would/could stay with FC driving his group. The only way LA stays with AC on this stage is with AC's wheel/spoke problem. Not being able to ride away from flyweights on the stones is not a good omen. If he can't hang on this stage he will likely be in trouble when the race gets to the business end.

My opinion.

Exactly what I am thinking as well.

 

[Anonymous]

Please TFF, enlighten us all.

Its simple really (in fact, you have done this today I noticed). Posting baited posts is nothing new, and MANY people here do it.(me included obviously) But there is a time when you back off that and just be a real person. If all you ever do is incite and post baited crap, you will never be part of the forum. If however, like you have done in a few posts today, you just post some regular opinion or observation, people will know that you are here to be a member.

Real trolls never do this.

 

[Ferminal]

Not to inflame ACF, but Cuddles has been brilliant. But not for how the finale was handled yesterday he's up by many minutes. He has not done a thing wrong (yet).

Cuddles should just go on suicidal attacks in the first 10 days of a GT - he always looks the best.

 

[auscyclefan94]

Not to inflame ACF, but Cuddles has been brilliant. But not for how the finale was handled yesterday he's up by many minutes. He has not done a thing wrong (yet).

what did he do wrong in the finale?

 

[Dedelou]

Actually, I think the psychological impact of finishing ahead of Armstrong on a stage where Contador was expected to fare poorly was worth not stopping for a new wheel.

I agree. Is it not this they call "one-upmanship" or something like that in English? ( can't find the right spelling) Sound like Contador is saying to some of his competitors famous for their trash mouthing : " See, I beat you with my rear brakes touching the wheel and with a broken spoke. " Among the nobody's I go riding with, we call that "Dissing". Contador can do it with a humble smile and tonight he can be seen nursing the pistolero's hand which today he used for bike handling on the cobbles.
Now the battle of minds has traded location and we have not yet arrived in AC territory.

 

[indurain666]

Its funny how a lot of people talk about how smooth LA looked, here is what LA said himself:

"When we hit the key sections - I can't lie, I was on the limit. So it was a lot different to training"

Humble pie...He didn't look that smooth to me anyway.

AC had to ride with a broken spoke for 30 km which, according to him, was making his front wheel rub the brake...if that is true...wow. He didn't look smooth through the pave though. Andy Schleck was impressive.

 

[richwagmn]

I have just skimmed the thread (only took ... hours - think of a figure and double it!). Some great commentary and for a good part without derailing. Nothing like an epic stage get us all focussing on the racing.

A couple of oddities for me:-

- In all those posts no chapeau to Cancellara other than the implication that he is expected to turn in superhuman efforts all the time e.g. his group were motor pacing (perhaps we will have to morph Spartacus into Parforthecourse). I suspect there were points where he could have just ridden away a la the classics but for the need to tow Andy. Cuddles and AS did work but FC did a very large percentage of it.

- The other - Robbie McEwen 14th! He's back!. With Thor winning (but not a surprise given his classics/Roubaix form) and Cav and Petacchi in the group after Robbie's the sprinters did pretty well. But so did some climbers. Are cobbles the levellers for all but the specialists?

I'll give a chapeau to Cancellara. Certainly one of the great riders of the current crop. The guy is an absolute beast on the flats and is willing to bury himself on the climbs to help his team out (see last year on Verbier).

 

[Ferminal]

what did he do wrong in the finale?

He's talking about Monday, if they raced it he would've got more time on lots of favourites.

 

[Anonymous]

Just saw Lance's interview. I respect his views on the stage much more than people like Andy Schleck, buy far. He didn't whine about the stage. He took his medicine and moved on. That is how you deal with adversity.

 

[Anonymous]

Don't know if I mentioned it, but major props to Farrar. Ballsy ride.

 

[Polish]

AC had to ride with a broken spoke for 30 km which, according to him, was making his front wheel rub the brake...if that is true...wow. He didn't look smooth through the pave though. Andy Schleck was impressive.

WaaWaa What a baby. Excuse maker.
Bet Zipp would wish he would close his yap.

I remember a few years back when Lance rode a stage with the brakes rubbing. He joked about it post stage - did not complain waawaa.
And it was his rear brake - he did not notice until after when his mechanic told him lol.

Alberto could look down and see his front brake rubbing.
C'mon, reach down and open the release.

If it is still rubbing, gnaw through the HB tape and housing and chew through the cable. HTFU AC. Bang bang.

 

[Red Lobster]

If you get a chance to watch a rebroadcast, he actually didn't look that great on the cobbles.

I'd go further and say he looked flat out bad. Sure, he fought tooth and nail to hang in there, and the flat tire didn't help matters, but watching him it was clear that he was not in a good place. Contador looked somewhat better, but the big surprise was how fantastic Schlecklet rode. Smooth, powerful and in control - I kept wondering how what was on the TV was possible.

 

[MacRoadie]

WaaWaa What a baby. Excuse maker.

Funny, I thought you made excuses when your rival actually beats you...

 

[Scirea]

I'd go further and say he looked flat out bad. Sure, he fought tooth and nail to hang in there, and the flat tire didn't help matters, but watching him it was clear that he was not in a good place. Contador looked somewhat better, but the big surprise was how fantastic Schlecklet rode. Smooth, powerful and in control - I kept wondering how what was on the TV was possible.

+1 (Kudos to Lance for his interview, telling he sucked today.)