Tour Down Under - Stage 2: Taliem Bend - Mannum, 146km

[auscyclefan94]

Wednesday 19 January 2011

Start Time: 11am (Railway Terrace, Tailem Bend)

Skoda King of the Mountain: Dawesley Hill

Jayco Sprint Locations: Kanmantoo and Mount Pleasant

Feed Station: Charleston

Finish Time: 2.41pm

Preview of stage with Pat Jonker

Weather: 29oC, Sunny. SSE winds so from Mount Pleasant onwards it will be head to cross wind.

 

[roundabout]

What's with a pimple on the profile being awarded mountain points?

 

[Ferminal]

Lookout for the 5m rise over the final 500m.

 

[auscyclefan94]

I personally think that the final 3km profile of stage 1 is actually for stage 2 and vice versa. Today's finish was uphillish and it didn't look like that on today's final 3km profile.

 

[Roland Rat]

The biggest climb of the day (20km in) is a BRIDGE!

 

[Jamsque]

Goss will be hard to beat, he's clearly carried good form from the Australian racing circuit.

 

[jens_attacks]

greipel will win,he wants to win the overall again.i saw the stage this morning,greipel was wrong placed,mcewen was perfectly placed but he's not young any more.so for tomorrow:

1.greipel
2.goss
3.rojas

 

[Faserr]

"Cav was on my wheel as we were starting to sprint but to be honest I don't have eyes in the back of my head so I couldn't see where I was.
"We had a plan at the start of the day and that plan was that Cav was going to be on my wheel and we'd see what happened. If I could win I'd take it and if he could come past he'd come past. If he finished second he could and put more of a gap between us and the other riders in the GC so we had all bases covered, I think."
from the cyclingnews.con race report

So the plan of HTC was that Cav takes part of the sprint. Hopefully we see him in the mix at stage 2.
HTC and Greipel are a bit stronger than the rest, so I predict a battle between them.

 

[sublimit]

Forget the stage winner i want to know if Luke Roberts can hang onto his King of the Mountains jersey! He has to negotiate a bridge today..

 

[will10]

Cav was Goss' rear gunner but slipped back about 2000m from the finish as it began to kick up

 

[ingsve]

"Cav was on my wheel as we were starting to sprint but to be honest I don't have eyes in the back of my head so I couldn't see where I was.
"We had a plan at the start of the day and that plan was that Cav was going to be on my wheel and we'd see what happened. If I could win I'd take it and if he could come past he'd come past. If he finished second he could and put more of a gap between us and the other riders in the GC so we had all bases covered, I think."
from the cyclingnews.con race report

So the plan of HTC was that Cav takes part of the sprint. Hopefully we see him in the mix at stage 2.
HTC and Greipel are a bit stronger than the rest, so I predict a battle between them.

I can't help but feel disgusted by this tactic from HTC. They already have the fastest sprinters and best organized lead outs but now they are also riding with a buffer at the wheel of their sprinter to increase the gap to the opponents? I think this is a very low thing to do and it's frankly unsportsmanlike behavior. They need to grow up and race like men.

 

[Archibald]

interesting comments about "a Bridge"...

the bridge itself, which is several k's outside the township of Murray Bridge, is flat and if you're coming from the Tailem Bend side, it's a long sweeping downhill... so, f*cknose where that climb actually is

 

[kurtinsc]

I can't help but feel disgusted by this tactic from HTC. They already have the fastest sprinters and best organized lead outs but now they are also riding with a buffer at the wheel of their sprinter to increase the gap to the opponents? I think this is a very low thing to do and it's frankly unsportsmanlike behavior. They need to grow up and race like men.

Umm... trying to win first AND second would seem to be very good racing. What's the problem?

 

[euanli]

Yeah it seems like a pretty valid tactic if you have more than one fast man. In fact its one they should have used before.

Maybe we shall see it again at a little race in July. Its certainly a good way of taking points away from Farrar.

 

[ingsve]

Umm... trying to win first AND second would seem to be very good racing. What's the problem?

The problem is that it's unsportsmanlike and obstructionist. You have a guy in the middle of the sprint that isn't there only to sprint. It's simply a dirty tactic. What's next? Will the buffer guy simply leave a gap to the sprinter with 300m to go to further help with the win?

 

[Anonymous]

interesting comments about "a Bridge"...

the bridge itself, which is several k's outside the township of Murray Bridge, is flat and if you're coming from the Tailem Bend side, it's a long sweeping downhill... so, f*cknose where that climb actually is

That brings in the idea of a whole new jersey. The king of the descent jersey. Points awarded at the base of each slope.

 

[Jamsque]

The problem is that it's unsportsmanlike and obstructionist. You have a guy in the middle of the sprint that isn't there only to sprint. It's simply a dirty tactic. What's next? Will hte buffer guy simply leave a gap to the sprinter with 300m to go to further help with the win?

Tail-gunners have been a part of sprinting since approximately forever. It's not a dirty tactic in the slightest, it's a legitimate part of the positioning battle that always takes place leading up to a sprint. HTC is putting their whole team in a line a the front of the pack, with their fastest guys in the rear. If the second-fastest guy is fast enough to win for them, there is nothing dirty about leaving the fastest guy to mop up second and hold the field at bay.

Seriously, get over yourself and stop whining.

I didn't realise that Cav was in the mix leading up to the sprint, I assumed he'd sat it out along with Tyler Farrar. I guess he really IS fat if he couldn't get up the baby slope without getting dropped. Hopefully he can shed some pounds and find some form before the real racing starts.

 

[ingsve]

Tail-gunners have been a part of sprinting since approximately forever. It's not a dirty tactic in the slightest, it's a legitimate part of the positioning battle that always takes place leading up to a sprint. HTC is putting their whole team in a line a the front of the pack, with their fastest guys in the rear. If the second-fastest guy is fast enough to win for them, there is nothing dirty about leaving the fastest guy to mop up second and hold the field at bay.

Seriously, get over yourself and stop whining.

I didn't realise that Cav was in the mix leading up to the sprint, I assumed he'd sat it out along with Tyler Farrar. I guess he really IS fat if he couldn't get up the baby slope without getting dropped. Hopefully he can shed some pounds and find some form before the real racing starts.

Well, you claim it's been around forever but I've never seen it once in 13 years following pro cycling.

 

[euanli]

I think its ingenious and no more dirty than using a leadout train to keep the pace really high until the last 500 metres

 

[kurtinsc]

Well, you claim it's been around forever but I've never seen it once in 13 years following pro cycling.

Boonen/Steegmans in the Tour in 2007?

Cavendish/Greipel in the Giro in 2008?

Both times the final leadout was fast enough to win and the top sprinter sat on the wheel to take second rather then pass to win it. That was just off the top of my head, I'm sure it happened more often then just that.

 

[kurtinsc]

Boonen/Steegmans in the Tour in 2007?

Cavendish/Greipel in the Giro in 2008?

Both times the final leadout was fast enough to win and the top sprinter sat on the wheel to take second rather then pass to win it. That was just off the top of my head, I'm sure it happened more often then just that.

And a similar one in the Tour of 2009 where Renshaw kept racing after the leadout and took second on Champs-Élysées behind Cav who won it.

 

[Jamsque]

Suffice to say if you have been watching cycling for 13 years and never seen tail-gunning before I don't think you have been paying much attention.

 

[taiwan]

I personally think that the final 3km profile of stage 1 is actually for stage 2 and vice versa. Today's finish was uphillish and it didn't look like that on today's final 3km profile.

I buy that.

 

[amp300]

It is just the next thing in sprinting honestly, we had the, all for one/one for all, the lead out man, the train, and now this. I am more interested in what the next tactic will be 5-7 years from now. This one isn't as sexy as the lead out train (in my opinion) specifically Ale-jet's fasso train.

 

[insideout leadout]

What exactly is tail-gunning.....to put a gun up the ***? If he never saw it in 13 years time I'd say it's normal. Although I thought he was older