Tour of California Stage 4: Livermore - San Jose/Sierra Rd, 131.6 KM

[Cobblestoned]

Brave ride by Horner.

Talansky impressive again. Up there with some big names again. Wow.

 

[The Hitch]

Horner was superb. He didn't really attack, just rode Levi and Ryder off his wheel. He's definitely experiencing a career renaissance, though he's always been a great rider.

I just get a bit sad, thinking- what could have been.

The guy is owning riders at the top level 40. Absolutely amazing Didnt he get into cycling a bit late.

Seriously, with the talent this guy has, he could have been winning grand tours, hilly classics and world championships.

I just hope hes satisfied with the success hes getting now, and not having regrets that he didnt fulfill his potential.

 

[roundabout]

5 Garmins in the top 11. They should attack from the first climb on the Baldy stage.

 

[roundabout]

Horner was +1:14 in the 52km time-trial and +24s in the prologue to Levi in TdF2010, but then again he beat Valverde in Pais Vasco 2010 profile here and results here.

Is the TT hilly enough, the climb is only a third in vertical gain of that in Pais Vasco

Oh yeah, Solvang profile here

Horner made Levi look old today.

I doubt that such superiority would turn into a minute deficit even if Leipheimer is usually the better of the 2 in time trials.

 

[El Oso]

Horner was +1:14 in the 52km time-trial and +24s in the prologue to Levi in TdF2010, but then again he beat Valverde in Pais Vasco 2010 profile here and results here.

Is the TT hilly enough, the climb is only a third in vertical gain of that in Pais Vasco

Oh yeah, Solvang profile here

The hills aren't long (only a few hundred meters), just steep. The first one is right after the start, you go about 100 m, turn and then there's a wall. After that it's a false flat. When I did it I didn't think there was climbing at all, but that I was just lethargic on that part, but the profile shows the false flat. The second climb that's a little over halfway is maybe a few hundred meters that's steep with some switchbacks. After that it's a fun fast downhill to the finish that can be a little technical, but not too bad.

 

[Archibald]

interesting, did the head tube look smaller than his cervelo in prior stages? I want to see that

I've only seen the last 20-something k's of today's stage, so can't compare to earlier stages. His bike was completely black with almost no markings on it.
down tube was unusually thin for a cervelo...

 

[Parrulo]

I just get a bit sad, thinking- what could have been.

The guy is owning riders at the top level 40. Absolutely amazing Didnt he get into cycling a bit late.

Seriously, with the talent this guy has, he could have been winning grand tours, hilly classics and world championships.

I just hope hes satisfied with the success hes getting now, and not having regrets that he didnt fulfill his potential.

you are overdoing it now

he could have been a much stronger rider tho

 

[Polish]

Turn that frown upside down.....

Ever notice that Chris Horner climbs with what looks like a "Smile" on his face?

Try it next time you are doing a tough climb or hard effort.
Smile wide.
Then put a Frown on your face....

Much more effective to breath with a big grin.

 

[Tuarts]

Had to watch this delayed:

Wow, Rabofail still don't know how to descend. Is it in their contract?

Rory Sutherland, brilliant ride for him, great to see him mingling amongst some big names, even if some of them aren't in peak form.

I thought it was interesting that the climb was so steep that it was basically pointless for the riders to be behind each other and a real tempo climb.

4 Garmin riders up there in the top 10, I'd have liked to have seen Hesjdal + Danielson do something to try and grab 2nd at least but they all seemed on their limit.

Well done to the quadrogenerian though. I want to climb like that when I'm his age!

 

[the vagabond]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I don't know what is most annoying about P&P's commentary. Is it repeatedly stating the bleeding obvious, repeatedly missing the bleeding obvious or repeatedly stating the bleeding obviously wrong?"


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As bad as that was, the Eurosport guys were even worse today with the Giro. They were talking about LeMevel taking pink almost up until the moment he was caught. If you didn't know better, you'd think Sean Kelly had never been a bike racer.

 

[Bala Verde]

Great scenery, and a good finale. Horner killed it.

From the 4k mark (or 2.49 miles) it took him 12m18s, which translates into ~19,52 Km/h

According to Strava and the Amgen website, at the 4k mark, it is ~1155.3 ft high, and the finish lies at ~1993 ft. That means the elevation for the last 4k is ~837.7ft, or 255.33m, which translates into an average gradient of 6.4%.

good showing by GRM, 4 in the top 10? Also good to see Schleck is there with his nose in the wind, and sorry to see that TJ blew up. Let's hope he can recover from that.

The HD images are really showing off cali!

 

[Dewulf]

I don't know what is most annoying about P&P's commentary. Is it repeatedly stating the bleeding obvious, repeatedly missing the bleeding obvious or repeatedly stating the bleeding obviously wrong?

How about that finish today huh, countless times talking about how small and cramped it was and it was a bloody highway.. if the giro had finished there they would have only used half the road and let traffic continue normally!

Sheesh

+1, the kings are dead, long live the new king (Matthew Keenan)

 

[Tuarts]

Must say I laughed when the peloton was on Mount Hamilton and they praised Zubeldia's work at the front, only for the camera to pan to a RS rider off the back and a graphic coming up saying Zubeldia.

Its a tough life being a commentator on the decline.

 

[the vagabond]

Must say I laughed when the peloton was on Mount Hamilton and they praised Zubeldia's work at the front, only for the camera to pan to a RS rider off the back and a graphic coming up saying Zubeldia.

Its a tough life being a commentator on the decline.

And the whole time coming up Mt. Hamilton, Liggett thought they were on some non-descript terrain, and kept talking about the big Mt. Hamilton climb later on. Sherwen actually did a good job of trying to clue him in without contradicting him and then finally about 2 km from the top Liggett finally figured it out.

 

[red_flanders]

For what it is worth, I think the ToC has found themselves a MTF that they can use from here on out.

Why did they not think of this earlier? (like four years ago)

They didn't want to put in that tough of a finish in Feb. Makes more sense now. BTW, if you haven't tried to slog up that hill, it's a freaking eye-opener. And a lung opener.

 

[webvan]

Just back from watching it on location, about 1/3 up, just where they were about to catch RH. We'd seen a lot of amateur guys riding up before and I was surprised to see that the pros didn't seem to be going up that much faster. Anyway it was good fun.

Can't find a link to watch the finish, steephill only have Mount Hamilton for now. Anyone got one handy?

 

[Ferminal]

Horner was always going to win this one, a far more inspiring cyclist than Bottle.

I thought Tommy D looked good for a while, and maybe could have gone on the attack. Hopefully he makes the TdF squad, they could go for the teams classification!

 

[Moose McKnuckles]

Horner was always going to win this one, a far more inspiring cyclist than Bottle.

I thought Tommy D looked good for a while, and maybe could have gone on the attack. Hopefully he makes the TdF squad, they could go for the teams classification!

Bottle has to be my least favorite cyclist. Zero personality.

 

[craig1985]

And his old man supports George W Bush.

<facepalm.jpeg>

 

[danjo007]

And the whole time coming up Mt. Hamilton, Liggett thought they were on some non-descript terrain, and kept talking about the big Mt. Hamilton climb later on. Sherwen actually did a good job of trying to clue him in without contradicting him and then finally about 2 km from the top Liggett finally figured it out.

its kind of sad.. poor phil is becoming the murray walker of F1 in his dittery days towards the end.
he constantly makes errors - and obvious ones... yesterday he was wondering where the last int. sprint line was, when it was clear they went over the BIG RED line painted on the road....

 

[krismtb]

I"d assume the amateur riders were probably rather fresh compared to the pros ... of course, those pros should be super human, damnit..

 

[webvan]

Looks like you forgot the quote, sometimes they can be useful, here is is

Just back from watching it on location, about 1/3 up, just where they were about to catch RH. We'd seen a lot of amateur guys riding up before and I was surprised to see that the pros didn't seem to be going up that much faster. Anyway it was good fun.

I' d heard so much here that the speed at which the pros climbed was mind-boggling that I was pleasantly surprised to find it wasn't the case. I was with a guy who climbs that hill regularly and he had the same feeling.

Time to beat per strava : http://www.strava.com/segments/sierra-rd-615834 : 21'48"

Good news, there are some videos now up here http://www.steephill.tv/tour-of-california/ - hope the whole climb gets posted at some point.

 

[burritogirl]

Ben king finished the Sierra Road KOM in 20.46 and he finished 14 minutes behind Horner. I would imagine the "strava" record is broken.

 

[jaylew]

I just get a bit sad, thinking- what could have been.

The guy is owning riders at the top level 40. Absolutely amazing Didnt he get into cycling a bit late.

Seriously, with the talent this guy has, he could have been winning grand tours, hilly classics and world championships.

I just hope hes satisfied with the success hes getting now, and not having regrets that he didnt fulfill his potential.

Seems like he got going later than he did because the first ~10 years of his career were either spent on the US domestic circuit or rather anonymously at FDJ. He turned pro at 24 but was unhappy and didn't adapt well to the Euro pro scene in his 3 years at FdJ. Went back to the States and pretty much dominated the domestic scene for most of the next 5 years.

I remember when he decided to give it another go in Europe. He'd pretty much won every major race there was for him to win riding for teams like Saturn, Mercury, and PA and wanted another shot at the big races. I think seeing former teammate Danielson getting a contract at Fassa Bortolo and being touted as "the next Lance" might have had an influence as well. He actually took a pay cut to ride for Saunier Duval with the hopes that he'd get good enough results to earn a bigger contract in the future. The results came almost immediately with 8th at the Verona Worlds and 11th at Lombardia.

My guess is he probably wonders "what if" at times, but I think he probably needed to head back to the States to get his head right and get his confidence back. Probably could have given Europe another go a bit sooner, though.

 

[krismtb]

Ben king finished the Sierra Road KOM in 20.46 and he finished 14 minutes behind Horner. I would imagine the "strava" record is broken.

Put the burrito down, honey. I'm pretty sure Horner was a couple minutes ahead before they reached the base of the climb.