Tour Down Under Stage 2: Lobethal - Stirling 148km

[badboyberty]

How did this guy not get hired by GreedEdge?

Too good on hills to fit the team profile I suspect.

 

[ingsve]

How did this guy not get hired by GreedEdge?

They already signed the better Clarke. Will Clarke hasn't shown anything near what Simon Clarke has shown.

 

[Tricky Dicky]

I had the pleasure of riding in Tassie for a few days with Will a couple of months back. He's a lovely lad with a background in middle distance running. He was pretty disappointed to be let go after the Leopard Trek debacle where he didn't really get many opportunities. The Champion Systems outfit was the best thing on offer which it was thought would help him re-build his confidence. He's a strong unit and I think he could be a great classics rider with a bit more experience. I wonder if Mr Bruyneel wishes he could get his hands on those UCI points now....

 

[PCutter]

He was a state level middle distance runner till injuries kind of killed that for him. The Tassie connection with Richie Porte (who I think he may have competed against in Tri) and both rode on the Praties/Genesys Aus conti team, the connection with Porte enabled him to get his lab test results (which were apparently pretty impressive) in front of Brad McGee - pre Schleck leaving with half the squad - whilst he didn't sign with Saxo/McGee, I believe S O'G had a role in getting the data/introducing W Clarke to Leopard management, which at the time had a weak squad to ride for Cancellara (still do)...I think I remember seeing an interview where Clarke was originally signed to basically ride his heart out for the first 100 or so km of the cobbled classics then retire to the team car to leave the experienced - ie O'G - dom's to take over.

He would have been dropped by Leopard-Shack too late to sign with GE. But he may not have been in their plans anyway as he didn't come through the AIS channel - but the Genesys/Praties channel that's produced Porte, Haas, Von Hoff (amongst others) in recent years.

 

[badboyberty]

Some results at last...

Santos Ochre Leader's Jersey
(General Classification)
1.KOHLER, Martin (SUI)
BMC
8:33:05
2.GREIPEL, Andre (GER)
Lotto-Belisol
0:02
3.MATTHEWS, Michael* (AUS)
Rabobank
0:04
4.GERRANS, Simon (AUS)
GreenEDGE
0:08
5.DENNIS, Rohan* (AUS - SA)
UNI SA - Australia
0:09
6.VORGANOV, Eduard (RUS)
Katusha
0:10
7.FLORENCIO CABRE, Xavier (ESP)
Katusha
0:12
8.CANTWELL, Jonathan (AUS)
Team Saxo Bank
st
9.BAKELANTS, Jan (BEL)
RadioShack-Nissan
st
10.ROBERTS, Luke (AUS)
Team Saxo Bank
st

 

[PCutter]

Does Clarke score WT points for stage win, if so how many?

I believe 6pts for a stage win at TdU.

Pity he didn't hold the gap at 3 or so minutes - he could have been in for a nice fat contract next year with the 100pts on offer for GC overall

 

[auscyclefan94]

Full results

 

[diggercuz]

Wow those results went up super fast ... Good to see gerrans right up there and cantwell too...

 

[maltiv]

Well, that disregards any doubts about Valverde's form. Surely the overall will now be between him and Gerrans.

 

[Raceoftruth]

Dont discount EBH.

 

[Kwibus]

How did this guy not get hired by GreedEdge?

Well let's be honest. He won because the peloton didn't ride until the very last moment which was too late obviously.
Every breakaway rider needs the peloton to **** up to win so in that regard it's still a very nice performance and a great win for the guy!

 

[Kwibus]

Well, that disregards any doubts about Valverde's form. Surely the overall will now be between him and Gerrans.

Indeed. Mostly likely Gerrans will have the better form though and he allready has a few extra seconds on Valverde.
What about Matthews? He does seem strong when the road goes up, but Willunga certainly is different compared to Stirling.

 

[Ruudz0r]

Noeeeez Ratto lost time how could he do this to me!?

 

[Christian]

Wow, big congrats for Will Clarke! Last year he was off pace most of the season and I didn't think he had it in him. He really showed everyone this month so far! Great win, I hope he can confirm some of this with Champion System!!

 

[Ferminal]

So it was still a 70 man bunch sprint, extra lap didn't really do anything tangible to the end result then.

Can we consider Matthews "one of the best" in a moderate uphill finish yet?

 

[wirral]

So it was still a 70 man bunch sprint, extra lap didn't really do anything tangible to the end result then.

Can we consider Matthews "one of the best" in a moderate uphill finish yet?

Well, yes but no, it got rid of some sprinters e.g. Petacchi, Van Hummel, Bozic. Difficult to say what the effect was.

 

[theyoungest]

Can we consider Matthews "one of the best" in a moderate uphill finish yet?

No, he needs to take on every half decent hilly sprinter one by one before we can say that

Valverde: check. EBH: check. Gerrans: check.

 

[18-Valve. (pithy)]

No, he needs to take on every half decent hilly sprinter one by one before we can say that

Valverde: check. EBH: check. Gerrans: check.

It's too early to tell, IMO. The two Aussies are probably on better form than Alejandro and Edvald.

edit: I guess "one of the best" is relative. Never mind...

 

[Ferminal]

Highlights

http://wwos.ninemsn.com.au/livestreaming.aspx?id=8403278

Feel. The. Rush.

 

[jens_attacks]

cool stage.i think gerrans got it in the bag but it's pretty cool to see valverde back so fast in form.willunga hill will give us a nice duel i hope

 

[iZnoGouD]

i bet all on Danielle Bennati but i only need to be right 5% of the time, so that's a good bet by me i think

 

[jens_attacks]

i bet all on Danielle Bennati but i only need to be right 5% of the time, so that's a good bet by me i think

BIBLE OF PRO CYCLING

page 265,the law number 580:
NEVER BET ON BENNATI(TO WIN)

 

[Ferminal]

EBH was lead out from the front, GVA was up there too. Valverde kicked early but Matthews had all the speed coming further back. Gerrans also made up a lot of ground.

 

[stefank]

The highlight of today's ABC radio coverage was learning that Will Clarke was born when he was 26 years old.....

 

[theyoungest]

EBH was lead out from the front, GVA was up there too. Valverde kicked early but Matthews had all the speed coming further back. Gerrans also made up a lot of ground.

Matthews was also very quick in the intermediate sprints. It really seems a repeat from last year, when Rabo went for Brown in the first stages, who was then eclipsed by Matthews.