Tour de Suisse, Stage 2 Sunday, June 10 Verbania - Verbier 218 km

[Lexman]

Gesink, Cunego and Kreuziger deceived

Was Ten Dam throwing up on the climb didn't really look healthy when he came over the finish line

Frank S. shows signs of getting better but he really lost a lot in the last km

 

[Gloin22]

Anton 13 mins down ...

 

[hoerpi]

Anton 13 mins down ...

First race since LBL where i broke his collarbone right?

 

[Richeypen]

First race since LBL where i broke his collarbone right?

What did you do that for?

 

[Parrulo]

so since sagan finished 13 minutes down and will win all stages till the itt, rui has a nice chance to spend all week in yellow, if movistar works for him, which i think they will.

 

[webvan]

Valverde came in 9th, not bad, considering he was supposed to have been dropped quickly...

 

[jobiwan]

Missed this stage, but congrats to Rui Costa! He's got a powerful punch. Also yay for Frank being in shape and seriously racing! I wouldn't be surprised to see Andy working for Frank come le Tour, unless Andy gains some serious form.

Hopefully the Tour mountains will be fought like this - hard, but reasonable attacks from the contenders that can get rid of the trains.

 

[theyoungest]

That guy Rui Costa really knows how to win races. Chapeau.

Gesink not great, as expected. When he has a bad day he really looks terrible on a bike He'll get better as the week progresses.

 

[Lexman]

Missed this stage, but congrats to Rui Costa! He's got a powerful punch. Also yay for Frank being in shape and seriously racing! I wouldn't be surprised to see Andy working for Frank come le Tour, unless Andy gains some serious form.

Hopefully the Tour mountains will be fought like this - hard, but reasonable attacks from the contenders that can get rid of the trains.

But isn't Frank even worse at ITT than Andy? So that's no use to work for Frank....

 

[The Hitch]

What did you do that for?

lol

10 char

 

[LaFlorecita]

lol

10 char

Yes very nice indeed.

 

[hoerpi]

What did you do that for?

Sorry!

 

[jobiwan]

But isn't Frank even worse at ITT than Andy? So that's no use to work for Frank....

If Andy doesn't gain form, they shouldn't work for him. Frank would then be the leader, or maybe Kloden.

 

[Mellow Velo]

So, at Le Tour, while Wiggins watches Evans and Evans watches Wiggins, Frank Schleck doesn't have to watch Contador and he won't be able to see his brother without a telescope, so he wins the yellow jersey!

Not sure why folks found that so much more exciting than the Dauphine.
Pretty much a carbon copy racing, imo, just without one team pulling.

 

[roundabout]

Fränk's 14 and 1/3 days in the Giro are an advantage here, but may become a disadvantage at the Tour.

 

[Wigwan]

Fränk's 14 and 1/3 days in the Giro are an advantage here, but may become a disadvantage at the Tour.

It's not like if he went very hard there...

The 100 km that he will have to race without his brother alongside him might cost him more.

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

That guy Rui Costa really knows how to win races. Chapeau.

Gesink not great, as expected. When he has a bad day he really looks terrible on a bike He'll get better as the week progresses.

he looked like ghostface in scary movie (when he was high) on the stage

anyway this stage came a bit to early for him and kruijswijk (who didnt look bad btw) i think.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

So, at Le Tour, while Wiggins watches Evans and Evans watches Wiggins, Frank Schleck doesn't have to watch Contador and he won't be able to see his brother without a telescope, so he wins the yellow jersey!

Not sure why folks found that so much more exciting than the Dauphine.
Pretty much a carbon copy racing, imo, just without one team pulling.

Probably because what few attacks there were actually felt like they might mean something, whereas at the Dauphiné the TT was so long that it completely and utterly killed the race; there was no feeling when any move happened that it had a chance, and even when it did have a chance (Quintana) it felt like it was irrelevant because the GC was still pretty much status quo. The Tour de Suisse is still in its infancy, and so when names that could be involved in the GC such as Schleck and Gadret attack, we actually might be interested.

 

[theyoungest]

he looked like ghostface in scary movie (when he was high) on the stage

anyway this stage came a bit to early for him and kruijswijk (who didnt look bad btw) i think.

Kruijswijk actually looked pretty good, for his first race day in two months. And he also just returned from altitude.

 

[greenedge]

Amazing ride by Costa ( on a HC climb as well ). It's nice to see one Shleck attack as well.

I am surprised that Gesink did not go so well ( off the back of TOC ) or did he just not acclimatise after altitude?

 

[Pippo_San]

I am surprised that Gesink did not go so well ( off the back of TOC ) or did he just not acclimatise after altitude?

It's just we're talking about Robert "Can't Win in Europe" Gesink

 

[theyoungest]

I am surprised that Gesink did not go so well ( off the back of TOC ) or did he just not acclimatise after altitude?

He seems to be really bad shortly after returning from altitude (blew up completely at the Dutch nationals last year) and then really good a few days later (Tour de Suisse 2010). This is pretty much the regular response to altitude, but with Gesink it seems to be quite extreme. Although losing 1 minute is not that awful, I guess, compared to some.

Either that, or the Tour of California just wasn't a good indicator of form for the European races.

 

[iZnoGouD]

Can Costa keep yellow till the end?

 

[Parrulo]

Can Costa keep yellow till the end?

after his performance yesterday it seems possible, but he will have to pull a great itt and climb at this level on HC mountains if he wants to do it

 

[theyoungest]

after his performance yesterday it seems possible, but he will have to pull a great itt and climb at this level on HC mountains if he wants to do it

On paper, this was the hardest finish of the week. I don't really see where any of the potentially better climbers can dislodge him, maybe if they'll attack from 40 k out in the final stage.

But on the basis of yesterday's stage he has nothing to fear from anyone, of course.