Tour de France Stage 4: Lorient - Mur de Bretagne - 172.5 km

[Moose McKnuckles]

Liggett and Sherwen live to trash Contador. Same with that other knucklehead Bob Roll.

 

[Ildabaoth]

The only questions are if Evans has enough to stay with Alberto in the high mountains, and how well will Alberto TT this year.

No, Evans doesn't have enough climbing abilities, as always. And Contador will do nicely at the TT, as always.

 

[thehog]

So where was Canc powering the Shelcks up the hill into the sky? Maybe he was too tired from the TTT?

 

[red_flanders]

Phil was was claiming that AC went too early and that he was losing steam. Just as he said that, AC attacked again.

The Versus team seems to be doing everything in their power to point out mistakes by Contador, and repeat them over and over.

Even when he's not making them. They have an agenda, and I'm not sure I really understand it. I think they've just been tossing Armstrong's salad for so long they're in a post-Armstrong Bob Roll hangover.

Never fear though, when it becomes undeniable that AS doesn't have it, they'll move to Evans as the Anglophone hero (a bummer with the whiny voice and the crooked hat, but at least he speaks English and has no doping positives). When he fades they'll start celebrating what a dominating rider Contador really is.

 

[Parrulo]

Phil was was claiming that AC went too early and that he was losing steam. Just as he said that, AC attacked again.

oh i must see that. i hope some1 uploads that to youtube

 

[red_flanders]

No, Evans doesn't have enough climbing abilities, as always. And Contador will do nicely at the TT, as always.

That's what I expect to happen.

 

[Sophistic]

Hushovd avg bout 610 Watts on the climb

 

[ManInFull]

Liggett and Sherwen live to trash Contador. Same with that other knucklehead Bob Roll.

Yep, but it's really no surprise. They have to get behind America's adopted son, Baby Schleck.

 

[panache]

There are so many variables here with regard to the overall GC. I think what the stage showed was the ability of a few to show some punch in a difficult finish, much like the Ardennes or a hilly World Championship. I don't think that it fully translates into a 10km VO2 max drag up the fifth categorized climb of the day in week 3. IMHO, what Andy has to worry about is whether or not AC is also 10 - 14 days away from peaking like he is. If this is Contador at 95% and Andy at 95%, then Andy has some worrying to do.

With regard to the 8 second gap... I wonder how much of that gap can be attributed to not holding the wheels of the front group, and then not contesting a sprint. Surely the front group was stronger, but no doubt required more effort than did Basso, Shleck, et al.

 

[Kwibus]

Matt Keenan was just onr adio and said that Cadel said to him that "he can't believe it" how this is all going. He's going so well. I am trying to keep a lid on it.

Hehehe. You got plenty of reason to be enthusiastic now, but stay realistic. The real mountains are yet to come.

 

[Poursuivant]

I can't believe the two bets I had on to win where Contador and Vino!!!!!

 

[Blakeslee]

Did you really think that he was going to drop everyone and maintain it on such a short climb?

The climb was not long enough for anyone to gain significant time, but I do believe Contador felt his attack was going to be at the very least a show of force after the time he lost in the first two stages and possibly allow him to win the stage and take back a handful of seconds. It was great to see Contador putting in what looked to be a maximum effort and failing to put most of his rivals into difficulty.

Again I doubt this stage tells us much about what will happen in the mountains later in the tour where there is every chance Contador will dominate again as he has in the past. I'm just disgusted with the handling of his doping case and the fact he is even in the race at all this year, I will be taking satisfaction from every setback Contador has along the way.

 

[Kwibus]

But riding on the big gear on such a steep climb is nearly impossible for 98% of the cycling world, from tourist to professional rider.
You got to understand it's REALLY hard, especially if you're not explosive by nature already.

That's why we have 10 guys left in the 1st group after this climb, and not 40 with all gc riders in there...

Ok thanks for the info, but isn't Gesink riding an ultra small gear?

 

[boomcie]

I can't believe the two bets I had on to win where Contador and Vino!!!!!

Me neither, if you had to bet against Gilbert, why not pick Evans? Bad odds?

 

[Moose McKnuckles]

TIt was great to see Contador putting in what looked to be a maximum effort and failing to put most of his rivals into difficulty.

Try watching the race next time. Or, at least look at the results afterward. AS, Wiggins, Horner, Leipheimer, Basso, etc. all lost time. Only Evans and VdB2 were there.

 

[Moondance]

Very, very impressive by Evans. One of the best 400m sprints i've ever seen. Just hope that his 1st week strength won't come at the expense of (relative) weakness in week three

 

[ManInFull]

Try watching the race next time. Or, at least look at the results afterward. AS, Wiggins, Horner, Leipheimer, Basso, etc. all lost time. Only Evans and VdB2 were there.

Facts will never get in the way of a true hater.

 

[No_Balls]

The Versus team seems to be doing everything in their power to point out mistakes by Contador, and repeat them over and over.

They have been doing that since the Astana-days back in 2009. Not sure why though given it can´t be the traditionally cheer-for-every-english-speaking-rider-we-can-think-off thus Harmon and Kelly offers some nice words for Alberto back and forth.

Even when he's not making them. They have an agenda, and I'm not sure I really understand it. I think they've just been tossing Armstrong's salad for so long they're in a post-Armstrong Bob Roll hangover.

How about let´s ruin Albertos legacy so that our own Sith-lord Lances memory will still be in cherish? If AC is too dominant then there always is that overhanging fear people will forget about Lance.

Never fear though, when it becomes undeniable that AS doesn't have it, they'll move to Evans as the Anglophone hero (a bummer with the whiny voice and the crooked hat, but at least he speaks English and has no doping positives).

That is the foreseeing future. How people can buy this is beyond me. They **** on peoples intellect (not that people in general are very intelectual).

When he fades they'll start celebrating what a dominating rider Contador really is.

I doubt this strongly, but hey don´t force me to throw in the towel for humanity just yet.

 

[Sea The Stars]

Hi everyone. I was very impressed with how Frank Schleck hung onto the leaders despite this not being a finish that suits him. I put some euros on him before The Tour and maybe some more after today? What does everyone think? He will lose maybe two minutes in time trial but I would not be surprised if Contador starts to feel the effects of the Giro by week three and Frank puts some more time into him and some others. He will have no problems dropping Gesink, Evans, Basso and those kind of second tier GC contenders in the high mountains.

Frank looks in better condition than Andy who I must say, I thought would do better today. Frank was anxiously looked around as they crossed the line too. But perhaps Andy is waiting until later in the Tour to produce his best. I hope so but I'm not confident.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Ok thanks for the info, but isn't Gesink riding an ultra small gear?

no, he rides light but he doesn't ride extra-light compared to what's normal or anything, that story is exaggerated

 

[guncha]

This day still says nothing about potential winner and the race is wide open. Possibly it was waste of energy for some of GC contenders who finished in top 10 today and they will fail later. I am not sure it was good for Evans to have such efforts in stages 1 and 4.
Contador still is in worse position than his rivals because he has lost time on all contenders in a flat stage (in 2009 he lost time to Armstrong only in a flat stage).

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Hi everyone. I was very impressed with how Frank Schleck hung onto the leaders despite this not being a finish that suits him. I put some euros on him before The Tour and maybe some more after today? What does everyone think? He will lose maybe two minutes in time trial but I would not be surprised if Contador starts to feel the effects of the Giro by week three and Frank puts some more time into him and some others. He will have no problems dropping Gesink, Evans, Basso and those kind of second tier GC contenders in the high mountains.

Frank looks in better condition than Andy who I must say, I thought would do better today. Frank was anxiously looked around as they crossed the line too. But perhaps Andy is waiting until later in the Tour to produce his best. I hope so but I'm not confident.

Fränk is a second tier climber who will LOSE time to the pre-mentioned names.
Maybe hard to understand, but a 15km climb with altitudes up to 2000m+ is different than what we saw today. At that point. Fränk Schleck is simply not one of the top contenders. You'll see

 

[Blakeslee]

Try watching the race next time. Or, at least look at the results afterward. AS, Wiggins, Horner, Leipheimer, Basso, etc. all lost time. Only Evans and VdB2 were there.

When Contador attacked there was a small group of 4 or 5 riders or so who were on his wheel immediately, followed by several more who were able to scramble back shortly afterwords. Wiggins and Leipheimer have never been able to follow explosive attacks and rely on maintaining a steady high pace to gradually pull back time after an attack. Horner was gassed after chasing back after a flat and catching back on at the bottom of the climb. AS and Basso both have shown relatively poor form for their standards in the pre-tour races and have so far not shown any signs their form is improving.

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

strong showing by uran, he should ne considered a co-leader as he has much more chance for a good gc than wiggins with this course. also urans itt has improved sickingly

made 150 euros today with my bets so very happy

 

[Sea The Stars]

Fränk is a second tier climber who will LOSE time to the pre-mentioned names.
Maybe hard to understand, but a 15km climb with altitudes up to 2000m+ is different than what we saw today. At that point. Fränk Schleck is simply not one of the top contenders. You'll see

Thank you for your reply Dekker_Tifosi. However I am a fan of Frank so obviously will be biased. I watched the Tour in 2009 and on stage 17, Frank rode clear with Contador, Kloden and his brother in the high mountains. After a while Kloden began to suffer. Frank won the stage. Last year I thought he would ride well after winning the Tour De Suisse and second in Tour of Luxembourg but he had an unfortunate injury.

I also watched the Liege this season and Frank was the only rider whom Gilbert could not ride away from. That says that Frank is in good shape this year.

If Alberto suffers from the Giro later on and Andy isn't as good as one year ago, then a new name will win. But I am not sure about Gesink or Evans. Every year I read this forum and lots of writers support these two but they always struggle. Last year as well Basso was said to be good after his Giro win but he was nowhere to be seen. So maybe Frank has an outside chance of victory?