Tour de San Luis 2012, 3ª Etapa: Estancia Grande - Mirador del Potrero (168 km)

[No_Balls]

It doesnt matter if it is Januari in Argentina. This man. This champ is there for the win.

Grande Alberto!

 

[Moose McKnuckles]

Grande Alberto! Grande Alberto!

 

[DenisMenchov]

I heard there is some good beef in Argentina, right?

 

[Madone]

Pretty strong ride by Leipheimer as well. Must be in pretty good shape already...

What kind of shoes is Contador wearing? I've never seen those before...

He uses the same as the rest of the team.. Specialized, same with the helmet his deal with Giro ended for this season.

 

[Afrank]

http://www.cyclingnews.com/tour-de-san-luis/stage-3/photos/204838

The world has turned upside down.

How can anybody not think the world will end this year, when Levi is seen leading on a climb. If thats not a sign of the coming apocalypse I don't know what is.

 

[Escarabajo]

Here is a video of the stage. You will see the finish and the podium.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pakO0pr4VA

And here is an interview at the end of the stage for all the spanish speaking people on the forum.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvnibLP-JAU

Thanks.

No moto shots.

 

[Fatclimber]

Leipheimer looks like a holocaust survivor who just had chemotherapy. It's amazing he can ride like this

My new favorite post.

Guess Horner taught him how to get skinny last year.

 

[Fatclimber]

My apologies if it's already been addressed, but where's Rujano?

 

[on3m@n@rmy]

AC... not bad for a guy not trying to be a factor in this race. He doesn't look like he needs to lose 7.5 kg, and seems to be in pretty good form. Speaking of form, nice form here... and I don't mean AC's form, except for the placement of that left hand:

 

[gustienordic]

Levi maybe going to have one of his best years? His climbing seems better than usual.

 

[Parrulo]

for contador's sake i hope macarena doesn't see this pic

 

[auscyclefan94]

Levi maybe going to have one of his best years? His climbing seems better than usual.

It is January!!!!

 

[gustienordic]

It is January!!!!

True, but it still seems unusual for him.

 

[Fidolix]

AC... not bad for a guy not trying to be a factor in this race. He doesn't look like he needs to lose 7.5 kg, and seems to be in pretty good form. Speaking of form, nice form here... and I don't mean AC's form, except for the placement of that left hand:

She also told him.... -to go lower next time

 

[greenedge]

Congrats to Contador. However i think Schumacher might get the win.

 

[Califootman]

True, but it still seems unusual for him.

Actually I would say that Levi has a bit of a track record for early season form. When the Tour of California was held in February (you know, way back in the early days... before it became universally accepted as the fourth Grand Tour ), he always seemed to arrive in peak condition... or at least significantly better than most other riders. I'm not sure how good a barometer that is for the rest of his season.

 

[Cimber]

Levi: "I had the feeling that Alberto was on the limit, but it was just a choice I made and I think it was a good one."

Judging from this picture it certainly looks like Levi was putting some hurt on Bertie, but a picture is just a split second.

Anyways, its only january and ppl's form vary ALOT. From mediocre to super bad. So dont put to much into Levi's performance just yet.

Congrats to Contador. However i think Schumacher might get the win.

Would be beyond great for a small team such as CWO, but I think Levi will win the overall GC.

Levi will put seconds into Bertie today in the TT I think and he will put alot of seconds into Schumi 2morrow, where the final climb seems to be alot harder than yesterday

Btw some stage 3 highlights (pretty crappy highlights, but should be expected by now(0; ): http://www.cyclingfans.com/tour-de-san-luis/videos

 

[Cimber]

stage 3 highlights: http://www.cyclingfans.com/node/3803

 

[Lupetto]

Congrats to Contador. However i think Schumacher might get the win.

I think Mirador del Sol will be too hard for Schumacher. The climb yesterday suited him. If he was able to win the race, he would have won the stage yesterday.

My apologies if it's already been addressed, but where's Rujano?

He will start his season with Tour de Langkawi.

 

[Sophistic]

I'm calling bs on the 7.5kg, looking at the pics, no way that he is that much heavier than in top shape.

 

[Cimber]

I'm calling bs on the 7.5kg, looking at the pics, no way that he is that much heavier than in top shape.

As said aldry he lost 4 of those 7,5 kgs during the last training camp. And probably he lost a little more since that as well. He is not in 100% shape ofcourse, as he shouldnt be anyways.

 

[Cimber]

Nice picture this. The Haedo bros helping a Cuban rider on the last climb:

 

[Kwibus]

Nice picture this. The Haedo bros helping a Cuban rider on the last climb:

That's just great. Love it.

 

[Kwibus]

"Alberto's got more punch than me and I think when it comes down to it he knows how to sprint better than I do and he showed that here today," Leipheimer told Cyclingnews. "I felt really good. My team worked really hard before the last climb, and I think that that helped, but it was really windy. There was a lot of headwind and sections where we went into the mountain and there was a tailwind and no wind and I tried to attack every time there but it was very short-lived.

"I'd come into the headwind and let off the gas. I had a feeling that everyone was just hanging on but there's not a lot you can do about that."

Leipheimer was the only rider to answer Contador's winning attack, and the Omega Pharma-Quick Step rider was quick to continue pushing the pace to the finish line.

"When Alberto put in his last attack and I was the only one with him. I pulled a lot because tomorrow's a time trial and if you gain seconds over people it means a lot," said Leipheimer. "I had the feeling that Alberto was on the limit, but it was just a choice I made and I think it was a good one."


Apparently we should give Leipheimer a bit more credit as he was actually attacking and pulling hard with Contador in his wheel. Not many riders would do that.
Also good to read Leipheimer is thinking ahead about the TT so he is really going for the win. He usually is a wheelsucker, but I think he's just playing his cards well and he tries to win all the races he enters. I'm gonna say I like him just for that!

Apparently Contador did a Leipheimer

 

[Zam_Olyas]

I heard there is some good beef in Argentina, right?

That's funny because you are DenisMenchov.