Tour de France Stage 7: Tournus - Station des Rousses 165.5km

[roundabout]

Another lame Tour stage. So boring! The Alps this year are really awful. When will the organizers give us something to get excited about in the French mountains. How can you have an alpine stage like that? Col di Who Cares, followed by Col di Somewhat Steep!

Maybe the alps will be just as "bad", but the Tour is not there yet.

 

[van nelle]

Some beautiful racing from QuickStep today!

GC teams - Astana looks good, Shack will be ok too, Liqui I think too (took it pretty easy today), Wiggins + Lofk ok but then nobody else, Rabo will be ok, but Saxo without Frank looks unimpressive, this Tour will be real test for Andy where he really stands. It is easy to look way better than Kreuziger, Gesink, Nibali when you got best team riding for you. Good luck

 

[hrotha]

Another lame Tour stage. So boring! The Alps this year are really awful. When will the organizers give us something to get excited about in the French mountains. How can you have an alpine stage like that? Col di Who Cares, followed by Col di Somewhat Steep!

These past few years nothing happened in the first mountain stage because all the race favourites were too busy just looking at each other and being mighty afraid, so I think it was smart to have a medium mountain stage as an ice-breaker so we could at least see a good race for the stage victory.

 

[Publicus]

Not looking good today:

Kloden at 4'
Karpets at 4'
Monfort at 4'
Popo at 10'
Fuglsang at 12'59
De La Fuente 14'12
T. Martin at 19'14

You missed a big one IMO: Syzmd +10'

 

[perico]

GC Teams with riders left from winner to main group:

Quick Step:
1 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Quick Step
26 Kevin De Weert (Bel) Quick Step

Rabobank:
3 Juan Manuel Gárate Cepa (Spa) Rabobank
29 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank
37 Robert Gesink (Ned) Rabobank

Omega Pharma Lotto:
6 Daniel Moreno Fernandez (Spa) Omega Pharma-Lotto
18 Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto

Team BMC:
14 Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team
39 Steve Morabito (Swi) BMC Racing Team

HTC-Columbia:
28 Kanstantsin Siutsou (Blr) Team HTC - Columbia
41 Michael Rogers (Aus) Team HTC - Columbia

Saxo Bank:
20 Andy Schleck (Lux) Team Saxo Bank
23 Chris Anker Sørensen (Den) Team Saxo Bank

Astana:
13 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Astana
24 Alexander Vinokourov (Kaz) Astana
33 Daniel Navarro Garcia (Spa) Astana

Sky:
31 Thomas Löfkvist (Swe) Sky Professional Cycling Team
32 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Sky Professional Cycling Team

RadioShack:
16 Lance Armstrong (USA) Team Radioshack
22 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Team Radioshack
35 Janez Brajkovic (Slo) Team Radioshack
36 Christopher Horner (USA) Team Radioshack

Liquigas:
27 Ivan Basso (Ita) Liquigas-Doimo
21 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Liquigas-Doimo

Cervelo:
38 Carlos Sastre (Spa) Cervelo Test Team

Euskatel:
30 Samuel Sánchez Gonzalez

 

[El Imbatido]

Why did the Shack blow their multi-threat card today? With Kloden finishing +2min back i guess it is all for one............i guess i should have never even thought about believing that shack crap 'we have multiple leaders on our team'.

 

[rhubroma]

Maybe the alps will be just as "bad", but the Tour is not there yet.

Alright, if you want to be precise...

Alps, pre-Alps: however you look at it, the "mountains" in this part of the race are weak.

 

[roundabout]

Good job Footon

with Szmyd you have to wonder whether doing Trentino, Romandie, Giro, Dauphine and the Tour is a bit too much

Edit: he'll probably ride Poland as well a week after the Tour

 

[Moose McKnuckles]

Since RS had 4 guys in the main group today, I'm somewhat confused when people say then had a bad day.

 

[perico]

Since RS had 4 guys in the main group today, I'm somewhat confused when people say then had a bad day.

They probably said that because RS didn't look like the Blue Train. Only Armstrong was consistently on the front of the race, while LL was near the front at the end. Brak and Horner looked like they were hanging on, while Kloden, Popo and Paulhino were dropped.

They weren't terrible, but they weren't dominant. Looked better than Saxo Bank, but not as strong as Astana- who look like the strongest team for the mtns. based on today.

 

[van nelle]

You missed a big one IMO: Syzmd +10'

He'll be fine. Watch out tomorow

 

[Publicus]

Since RS had 4 guys in the main group today, I'm somewhat confused when people say then had a bad day.

I think they are suffering from the expectations they set for themselves. Recall that Levi was talking about the strength of the team coming clear. They didn't look strong today. Maybe it was a bluff, but it looked like they were struggling a bit. Lance looked comfortable, but that's about it.

 

[Mellow Velo]

Since RS had 4 guys in the main group today, I'm somewhat confused when people say then had a bad day.

I think it's just because Kloden got dropped and the others were mostly towards the back.
I expect to see them all on the front tomorrow, which I think will be selective, but ultimately play into Contador's hands.

Now, I must go and have a look in the clinic to see whats new on McQuaid giving Lance the green light to take whatever "medical aids" he needs......

 

[sublimit]

Radioshack never got amongst the racing and still managed to lose riders, unlike Saxo, Sky, Even Footen and AG2r that have tried things ..thats why its disappointing for them to lose 5 riders out the back.

 

[perico]

Looking at this thing objectively, Armstrong actually looks extremely strong. Doubt he will be able to make up the 50 seconds or so on Contador, but I would not be surprised to see him hang with everyone else in the race, depending on Schleck's form which I am still wondering about.

Without making any clinic accusations, he seems to have found his TTing form, based on the prologue, and looks much more comfortable in the field than he did last year. He looked very strong on today's medium climbs.

I don't know, maybe he was sandbagging at the Suisse.

 

[hammt34]

Looking at this thing objectively, Armstrong actually looks extremely strong. Doubt he will be able to make up the 50 seconds or so on Contador, but I would not be surprised to see him hang with everyone else in the race, depending on Schleck's form which I am still wondering about.

Without making any clinic accusations, he seems to have found his TTing form, based on the prologue, and looks much more comfortable in the field than he did last year. He looked very strong on today's medium climbs.

I don't know, maybe he was sandbagging at the Suisse.

i dont know about anyone else, but did LA look better than AC on the climb? Do u think it was cause the speed was high and grade was low?

 

[Publicus]

i dont know about anyone else, but did LA look better than AC on the climb? Do u think it was cause the speed was high and grade was low?

Sounds like Phil Liggett go to you. If AC was uncomfortable it would seem foolish to send his team to the front to ramp up the pace.

On another note, Kloden really did have a bad day. From his tweeter account a few minutes ago:

andykloedi
today was a bad day for me, for me it was too hot today, was trying not to lose too much time. hope for better legs tomorrow.

 

[ad9898]

I think Armstrong looks very good, from what I've seen so far I think he would have had a very good shot at winning this time, Contador doesn't look as good as last year, although I can't see him losing best part of a minute to Armstrong unless he has a crash or mechanical. Evans also looks much better, but always has one bad day in the mountains. My podium

1) Contador
2) Armstrong
3) Evans

As far as the RS team is concerned, I think they all pretty much bluffed today, Armstrong wasn't going to be in any kind of trouble today, so why waste energy ?, could be wrong of course, but we'll see tomorrow.

 

[ad9898]

Sounds like Phil Liggett go to you. If AC was uncomfortable it would seem foolish to send his team to the front to ramp up the pace.

On another note, Kloden really did have a bad day. From his tweeter account a few minutes ago:

I still think today was full of 'bluffs'. AC doesn't look great but wouldn't really be in any trouble on a stage like today, sending his team to pull would give the impression of strength even if he doesn't have the same legs as last year.

As far as Kloden's tweet, why would you go out of your way to tell your rivals you are weak if that was really the case ? Still can't help thinking what we saw today was a bit like the first half of the stage upto Alpe d'Huez in 2001, again I guess we'll see tomorrow.

 

[hammt34]

Sounds like Phil Liggett go to you. If AC was uncomfortable it would seem foolish to send his team to the front to ramp up the pace.

Ya amazing how his subliminal LA propaganda got to me Do u think his form is a good as last year Publicus?

 

[Dutchsmurf]

As far as Kloden's tweet, why would you go out of your way to tell your rivals you are weak if that was really the case ?

He lost a couple of minutes, so his rivals already knew he was weak. It isn't like he told them anything new.

 

[rxgqgxnyfz]

Ah, ha-ha-ha.

Yes, they're all bluffing.

In fact they're so good at it they might just go with the pretending right to the Champs ?lys?es.

Cause everyone knows that when Shack guys fail -- they're bluffing and making a show for competitors and viewers just to make it more dramatic and not too anti-climactic with their dominance.

And when any other team falters -- they simply .. falter. Cause they're not Shack.
________
STARCRAFT 2 REPLAYS HOW TO

 

[ad9898]

He lost a couple of minutes, so his rivals already knew he was weak. It isn't like he told them anything new.

It is possible he just sat up and bluffed, after all he'll be needed tomorrow. I'm not saying I'm correct, just one possibility amongst many. We haven't got long to wait to see though I guess.

 

[Publicus]

Sounds like Phil Liggett go to you. If AC was uncomfortable it would seem foolish to send his team to the front to ramp up the pace.

Ya amazing how his subliminal LA propaganda got to me Do u think his form is a good as last year Publicus?

I'm watching the rebroadcast and just heard him say that this type of climb is too hard and fast for Contador. He prefers the steeper stuff. So you do with that what you will.

As for his form, gauging his performance in the prologue and on the cobbles, I think he's a lot stronger than last year.

Or were you asking about Armstrong?

 

[ad9898]

Ah, ha-ha-ha.

Yes, they're all bluffing.

In fact they're so good at it they might just go with the pretending right to the Champs Élysées.

Cause everyone knows that when Shack guys fail -- they're bluffing and making a show for competitors and viewers just to make it more dramatic and not too anti-climactic with their dominance.

And when any other team falters -- they simply .. falter. Cause they're not Shack.

Not saying it's a fact, just a possibility, as it's been done before.