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

[Dedelou]

As a Euro-American who rode everywhere and attended races as a fan there and here since before we had a Coors Classic, a World championship in Colorado Spring,.. Hinault racing in Coors and whasington DC, and Lance honoring Dupond and Trump. i can tell you the the crowds here are sometime more cycling involved than the masses in the Tourmalet in july when I heard thousands who thought nothing about coming two days early and camp to see the TDF passing asking each other "MAIS QUI C'EST CELUI LA QUI PORTE THE MAILLORT JAUNE "
What makes the number at a Euro races sometime is a history and a cycling culture that is perpetuated but had very little to do with what is going on in the race. of course. who cares in L'Alpe D'huez if 60,O00 spectators don't know who is racing as long as the 440,000 others are cheering. I am thrilled we have a TOC even if what we are told and shown on TV is manipulated information. It is great we have it

 

[webvan]

Never been on a TDF moutain stage but I must say I was impressed today by my neighbours recognizing riders faster than I did.

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

horner defies what age means in topspsorts like randy couture did and I love it _o_

 

[greenedge]

Love the shack. Garmin's attack fell through but at least they rode with intent.

 

[auscyclefan94]

Wow. Rory Sutherland was really good today. Amazed by how well he went. Sutherland is a very strong time trialler. Horner is clearly a class above the rest atm on the climbs

 

[auscyclefan94]

Didi anyone see the bottles runing alongside Levi during the stage? I was ****ing myself when I saw that.

 

[on3m@n@rmy]

Wow, just saw this on versus. Nice win for Horner, although I was a bit surprised of this at his age. But not too surprised as this is the AToC and he is legit climber. But I guess what surprised me more was the condition of Andy Schleck and what this could mean for him at the Tour if Conti is allowed to race in July. Right now Conti is >>>>> Andy, who will have a lot of catching up to do by July.

 

[auscyclefan94]

Wow, just saw this on versus. Nice win for Horner, although I was a bit surprised of this at his age. But not too surprised as this is the AToC and he is legit climber. But I guess what surprised me more was the condition of Andy Schleck and what this could mean for him at the Tour if Conti is allowed to race in July. Right now Conti is >>>>> Andy, who will have a lot of catching up to do by July.

Yes but Andy never really races or has a go at these races in May. It's no surprise that he got blown away by Horner but compared to other years he looked a lot better at this time of the year. Are you prediciting AC will back up and win at the giro?

btw, #BMCfail

Stage results
13 Steve Morabito (Swi) BMC Racing Team 0:02:27
14 Brent Bookwalter (USA) BMC Racing Team 0:02:33
19 Amaël Moinard (Fra) BMC Racing Team 0:03:04
22 George Hincapie (USA) BMC Racing Team 03:25
29 Yannick Eijssen (Bel) BMC Racing Team 0:04:13
39 Jeffry Louder (USA) BMC Racing Team :06:32
40 Timothy Roe (Aus) BMC Racing Team 0:07:10


They also have Morabito 15th, Bookwalter 13th, Moinard 19th and Jincapie 20th on GC. Seems like they lacked a leader

Just a quote from PL: "Leipheimer couldn't get into the red zone when Horner cracked him" #epicfail

 

[on3m@n@rmy]

Yes but Andy never really races or has a go at these races in May. It's no surprise that he got blown away by Horner but compared to other years he looked a lot better at this time of the year. Are you prediciting AC will back up and win at the giro?

btw, #BMCfail

You make good point on the May thing. But not sure what you mean by "back up"... I think you are asking if I think he will not go all out to win the giro. I don't know how much effort he plans to give, but now I do predict him ftw at the giro. I didn't predict him before the race started, when I picked Nibali. So I have jumped ship.

 

[auscyclefan94]

You make good point on the May thing. But not sure what you mean by "back up"... I think you are asking if I think he will not go all out to win the giro. I don't know how much effort he plans to give, but now I do predict him ftw at the giro. I didn't predict him before the race started, when I picked Nibali. So I have jumped ship.

Nope, I'm asking if AC will be able to recover from the giro to win the tdf?

 

[on3m@n@rmy]

Nope, I'm asking if AC will be able to recover from the giro to win the tdf?

THAT's a lot tougher question!!! But yes, I think he could do the double. I don't have a lot of confidence in that to go so far as predict him for the Tour at this time if he wins the giro. But I at least think he could make h3ll for others at the Tour. Especially since I dont think AC is quite at his peak yet.

 

[Mellow Velo]

Watched it away from the PC last night.
I am waiting upon Martinelli to announce: "Horner is better now, than Lance ever was".

Same mountain tactics today, as in the USPS hayday.
They only have the one plan.
Not pretty, but effective.

 

[auscyclefan94]

Watched it away from the PC last night.
I am waiting upon Martinelli to announce: "Horner is better now, than Lance ever was".

Same tactics today, as in the USPS hayday.
Not pretty, but effective.

You didn' find the stage entertaining? I thought it was quite good. tbh the tatics aren't much different to what any dominant rider would do. Have your team ride on the front to gradually eliminate the riders and then increase tthe tempo and launch your leader to victory. AC does the same thing with the teams he was with.

 

[Mellow Velo]

You didn' find the stage entertaining? I thought it was quite good. tbh the tatics aren't much different to what any dominant rider would do. Have your team ride on the front to gradually eliminate the riders and then increase tthe tempo and launch your leader to victory. AC does the same thing with the teams he was with.

Yes I did. Never said otherwise.
Knowing how RS are going to "attack" beforehand just makes it more prescriptive, but to counter balance that, we had Ryder's thrilling downhill attack.

 

[MartinGT]

Really enjoyed watching the stage last night. Some great scenery and some great riding.

For the guys saying they rode past (the Pro's) slower than they thought, I experianced this in Flanders on the Eikenberg. yes its cobbles, but after riding 150+km at race speed and then hitting several climbs like these, well, its only natural isnt it? I mean, the guys are human, arent they

 

[El Pistolero]

You didn' find the stage entertaining? I thought it was quite good. tbh the tatics aren't much different to what any dominant rider would do. Have your team ride on the front to gradually eliminate the riders and then increase tthe tempo and launch your leader to victory. AC does the same thing with the teams he was with.

Except since 2010 he hasn't gotten a strong team. He just totally leeched from other teams at Etna.

 

[Mellow Velo]

Anyhow, just a thought
Is this Saturday the most eagerly awaited race day of the entire year?
We have Mts Baldy, Crostis and the Mighty Zee, all in the space of a few hours!

 

[El Pistolero]

No wonder you got ZERO wins.

 

[Tangled Tango]

Nope, I'm asking if AC will be able to recover from the giro to win the tdf?

If AC is cleared and allowed to race the TDF after winning (still to be seen) the Giro; He won´t be at his 100% best, but he won last year when most would agree he wasn´t his old 100% best.

From the looks of it, Schleck may not be his main rival at this years TDF. I see Horner, Basso, Evans over Schleck who will lose too much time in the TTs to make it in Paris in yellow. IMHO

 

[MartinGT]

Anyhow, just a thought
Is this Saturday the most eagerly awaited race day of the entire year?
We have Mts Baldy, Crostis and the Mighty Zee, all in the space of a few hours!

Yes, then Sunday we have the MTB at Dalby which I will be attending

What a weekend!

 

[auscyclefan94]

If a good WC is judged on just number of wins then ballan would of been an equally good WC as Evans. Clearly Evans was better.

Other than Roubaix, I really haven't seen much of Thor which is a shame. I wonder if he is not happy at Garmin or is just struggling for form.

 

[Sophistic]

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%.

that cant be right, he would have averaged just 300 Watts or so, looking at some profiles the last 4km are more like 9+%

 

[Captain_Cavman]

... but to counter balance that, we had Ryder's thrilling downhill attack.

It was thrilling, especially being able to compare his ability with the Rabo off-roader; but I'm left with the feeling that he might have been challenging Horner for the overall if he hadn't.

 

[Astana1]

It was thrilling, especially being able to compare his ability with the Rabo off-roader; but I'm left with the feeling that he might have been challenging Horner for the overall if he hadn't.

Ryder's main tactical error was waiting on Martens. He actually did that at least twice. He should have just kept going. Martens was screwing up his line and never really could help him at all.

At the very least Ryder needed a full minute prior to the start of the final climb. Supposedly it was 45 seconds, but I don't buy that. Once Horner and Levi accelerated they were on Ryder immediately.

 

[kjetilraknerud]

If a good WC is judged on just number of wins then ballan would of been an equally good WC as Evans. Clearly Evans was better.

Other than Roubaix, I really haven't seen much of Thor which is a shame. I wonder if he is not happy at Garmin or is just struggling for form.

His season looks a lot like 2010 to be honest. His first win was the norwegian championships, then he won a stage in the TdF and the Vuelta before his WC win. Only three (four) wins, but quite huge wins - that's the kind of rider he is. In 2009 he had seven wins plus the green jersey, in 2008 he had six wins.

The problem is of course that everyone notices now that he wears the rainbow jersey.

By the way:

Breschel (2nd in Geelong) 0 wins
Davis (3rd in Geelong) 0 wins
Pozzato (4th in Geelong) 0 wins
Van Avermaet (5th in Geelong) 0 wins

And before the trolls come out. I'm not saying Hushovd is having a good season, he is just having the same kind of season he always has