Tour Match Up: Gesink v Van Den Broeck

[Spine Concept]

me too, I am taking yesterday as a grain of salt.

he does appear bad on such small steep finishes tho

Same here. I'm not taking anything out of yesterday other than the obvious; he sucks at these type of finishes. He does need to work on that aspect of his racing though, he is capable of it and needs to exploit that.

 

[Midnightfright]

me too, I am taking yesterday as a grain of salt.

he does appear bad on such small steep finishes tho

Same here he should perform better. I certainly wouldnt see what happened yesterday as anything to go by. The guys that finished ahead are the punchier climbers who were expected too. If he's in a group being led up by Wiggins in the real climbs I would be very surprised.

 

[kurtinsc]

Rabobank also has better support in the mountains for Gesink than JvdB, who pretty much only has Vanendert and Gilbert...

Anyway I think in the high mountains, the REAL mountains, Gesink will suprise many. ESpecially the guys that lose belief after today.

I don't think Gesink is weak or that he'll falter in the mountains. I simply don't know that JVDB will falter in the mountains either.

Right now their difference in time is 8 seconds from yesterday's stage and 27 seconds from the TTT. Neither of those really sheds much light on what will happen in the mountains... it just shows the TTT advantage Gesink has and the punch advantage JVDB has.

The impact of the mountain support will be interesting. I don't expect either to be in a position where their teams will have to play a part chasing a break in the mountains or even setting a pace to weaken rivals... I expect them to be providing more of a bottle-fetching/wind-breaking role. I'm not sure how big an impact Gesink's superior team will give him. It will be an advantage... but how much?

In the end, I expect the two to be very close on the final GC standings... perhaps even less then a minute apart.

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

I have a feeling Gesink is really gonna bring it inn the high mountains.
His numbers keep getting better, if Dauphine was his base form and his training has the affect it has in the past, I think he could be really quite good. A level above the Jvdb.

But we'll see.

 

[El Imbatido]

Well gesink just crashed a bit after the intermediate sprint on stage 5.......quite a bit of blood on his elbow and leg. So who knows how much he may or may not be hurt.

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

hopefully not a game changer.
I was pretty nervous about the first week and crashes.

 

[Task_Force]

just heard his comments.. some bruises, scratches and a sore back.. they wont be taking him to a hospital..

"sigh" of relief

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

tho now we have the great excuse whenever Gesink fails it's because of back problems or other problems with the fall

 

[Parrulo]

tho now we have the great excuse whenever Gesink fails it's because of back problems or other problems with the fall

and with that you only increase the strength of the "gesink can't stay on his bike" argument

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

it's hard to stay on your bike when brajkovic crashes in front of you

I'd like to see you try

 

[Parrulo]

it's hard to stay on your bike when brajkovic crashes in front of you

I'd like to see you try

people don't care about that. just like they don't care about his possible back pain as an excuse. thats the point i was trying to make

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

They should care, it's obviously a Radioshack conspiracy.

They have 4 leaders, place one of them infront the most dangerous opponents and let them crash

 

[Spine Concept]

They don't care how he fell or if it was his fault or not, just the fact that he fell, again. Haters. I hope Gesink recovers properly and smokes everyone in the mountains while riding his own tempo .

 

[jobiwan]

They should care, it's obviously a Radioshack conspiracy.

They have 4 leaders, place one of them infront the most dangerous opponents and let them crash

Well then Gesink should be honored to be counted among the most dangerous opponents!

 

[Spine Concept]

Well then Gesink should be honored to be counted among the most dangerous opponents!

Maybe Andy ought to take the honors tomorrow, see how grateful he feels.

 

[jobiwan]

Maybe Andy ought to take the honors tomorrow, see how grateful he feels.

Nah, Radioshack rides Trek. They wouldn't dare!

 

[Spine Concept]

Nah, Radioshack rides Trek. They wouldn't dare!

You would think they'd respect a Giant.

 

[just some guy]

They should care, it's obviously a Radioshack conspiracy.

They have 4 leaders, place one of them infront the most dangerous opponents and let them crash

Maybe Andy ought to take the honors tomorrow, see how grateful he feels.

Levi doesn´t ride in front of any favourite riders maybe he will bite back wheels

 

[killswitch]

Hopefully this was Gesink's last fall in this Tour...

 

[Spine Concept]

Hopefully this was Gesink's last fall in this Tour...

I hope so too, then again, I hoped Gesink would steer clear of crashes this Tour. Wishful thinking I guess, I knew better.

 

[kurtinsc]

it's hard to stay on your bike when brajkovic crashes in front of you

I'd like to see you try

Brajkovic is very small. A bunny-hop would work, right?

 

[theyoungest]

tho now we have the great excuse whenever Gesink fails it's because of back problems or other problems with the fall

Maybe it's time for a TGBM vs Van Den Broeck thread? Gesink will undoubtedly fail on Super Besse, that's three days from now, no way he's properly recovered by then.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

What if Vandenbroecke falls?

Kevin De Weert vs TGBM thread?

 

[Task_Force]

Brajkovic is very small. A bunny-hop would work, right?

Brajkovic < Garate< Gesink < Barredo..

so he would have to bunny-hop over garate aswell, big bunny-hop

 

[kurtinsc]

What if Vandenbroecke falls?

Kevin De Weert vs TGBM thread?

Why be specific?

Next time it can be "best begian finisher" vs "best dutch finisher".