Tour of Murcia - 4th to 6th March

[craig1985]

Wow. Its such a shame i missed this.

Some great banter between Ryo and his fellow dutchies.

Im surprised he won on the downhill

Does anyone know if the Pistol was fired or if it was a quiet crossing the line.

 

[El Pistolero]

It's refreshing to see him in another jersey for once. Grew a bit tired of the Astana kit

 

[Spine Concept]

What thread?



Me the Dutchies and Pistolero have some banter every now in a while and its all in good humour. Thats why we participate on these forums. If it was all "Gap is 50 seconds, Soler falls, Contador wins," etc this forum would be nothing more than a substitute for the ticker.

Maybe one day youll lighten up and understand.

Every now and a while? I must be seeing things cause you never seem to miss a chance of taking a dig at the ''Dutchies'' and the Rabobank cycling team in general. I never said friendly banter isn't fun and quite common on any sports forum; this isn't the only forum I am active in. Not that it's any of my business since I don't usually participate in these banters because I haven't been around for long, but it doesn't always appear to be friendly. My comment was based based simply on observations where many times you seem to be the instigator of these ''friendly'' banters. I might be wrong of course and you might be an unfortunate casualty, so take it with a grain of salt and lighten up

 

[Ryaguas]

I dont like the SBS' maillot... Last year's maillot was better =D

 

[Met de Versnelling]

Regardless of what happens with regards to the clinic, i can appreciate how that must have felt inside to him. In a way, and i didn't think i'd ever say this, i sort of feel happy for him, you can almost see the look of joy and relief in his eyes.

Looks like he enjoyed that more than any of the GT's. Raw emotion in that celebration, not that contrived marketing tool pistol salute.

For the first time in a long time, chapeau Bertie.

 

[El Pistolero]

I bet this is Contador's second greatest victory now

 

[The Hitch]

But it doesn't always appear to be friendly.

If you want to see what unfriendly discussion looks like go to the clinic, or read the "about a forum" section for a general idea.

The discussions are firendly.

I dont pass up an opportunity to mock Rabo, but then they have won pretty much everything so far this year, and youll find that the dutchies themselves call it "Rabobus".

Youll also find that several posters on here wont pass up an opportunity to pointout that BMC hasnt won a race yet(annoy ACF) , or that the Colombians are yet to dominate the world (annoy Ryo)

Youll aso find that most of the posts end in smileys, and that neither me nor any of the Dutchies have a ban to their name (well other than moondance making film jokes) . Neither actually, do any of the Belgians who get involved in this as well, nor does ACF.

So if the discussions dont appear friendly then appearances are deceiving.

 

[The Hitch]

Regardless of what happens with regards to the clinic, i can appreciate how that must have felt inside to him. In a way, and i didn't think i'd ever say this, i sort of feel happy for him, you can almost see the look of joy and relief in his eyes.

Looks like he enjoyed that more than any of the GT's. Raw emotion in that celebration, not that contrived marketing tool pistol salute.

For the first time in a long time, chapeau Bertie.

Its worthy of praise because he didnt do it on an uphill. he actually attacked from the pack. Thats why i always liked Contador. he has balls.

Its also worthy of praise because it came in such a minor race. Contador shows cycling means something all year round, not just the big races.

I bet this is Contador's second greatest victory now

Whats first?

 

[El Pistolero]

Its worthy of praise because he didnt do it on an uphill. he actually attacked from the pack. Thats why i always liked Contador. he has balls.

Its also worthy of praise because it came in such a minor race. Contador shows cycling means something all year round, not just the big races.



Whats first?

Believe it or not, but it's stage 5 of the Tour Down Under back in 2005.

 

[The Hitch]

Believe it or not, but it's stage 5 of the Tour Down Under back in 2005.

Wrong asnwer fool. ITT TOur of Poland 2003

 

[Met de Versnelling]

I agree with El Pistolero.

First victory back after the head injury. What ever Contador is otherwise, first and foremost, he's a fighter with balls.

 

[Ryaguas]

Whats first?

Maybe that one after his cavernoma surgery in TDU in 2005 when He and Lulu arrived together to the finish line...

 

[theswordsman]

There was a lot of emotion in the long victory celebration

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Pu0GAUA8vU&am
p;feature=player_embedded

Here's him telling about his most special win. Click the "CC" for English subtitles

http://www.youtube.com/user/specialized411#p/search/1/Zh7-Mc0W_Ac

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

It's refreshing to see him in another jersey for once. Grew a bit tired of the Astana kit

I think he really suits the sbs kit.

I have my own opinion on the ac case, but you can't not like how he goes for it all season... well until july anyway

 

[The Hitch]

I think Contador can win tomorow.

Ok so theres no hill, but he still usually does very well in prologues.

Monaco was 16k, this is 12 and he came second to Cance.
seconds off Boom in PN last year. Won Dauphine prologue.

Then came 6th on pan flat course in Rotterdam.

And the leaders very often do well in these stage race final tts. See how Horner and Valverde were 1-2 in Pais Vasco or Gesink winning Oman.

+ he seems to want it.

 

[Berzin]

Glad to see Contador back to his winning ways, but I'm even happier to see him get some love for his efforts.

He may not race much after the Tour de France, but he is always in there in the early season races.

Looking forward to putting the vitriol and the partisan politics aside to enjoy watching him race.

 

[craig1985]

Regardless of what happens with regards to the clinic, i can appreciate how that must have felt inside to him. In a way, and i didn't think i'd ever say this, i sort of feel happy for him, you can almost see the look of joy and relief in his eyes.

Looks like he enjoyed that more than any of the GT's. Raw emotion in that celebration, not that contrived marketing tool pistol salute.

For the first time in a long time, chapeau Bertie.

If guys like Lance, Vino etc. are/have been allowed to race, then why not AC? The Spanish authorities had a good chance to suspend him and they didn't. He's also going FTW (or at least that is what I've gathered) at the Giro as well.

 

[on3m@n@rmy]

Regardless of what happens with regards to the clinic, i can appreciate how that must have felt inside to him. In a way, and i didn't think i'd ever say this, i sort of feel happy for him, you can almost see the look of joy and relief in his eyes.

Looks like he enjoyed that more than any of the GT's. Raw emotion in that celebration, not that contrived marketing tool pistol salute.

For the first time in a long time, chapeau Bertie.

Ya. And after all he's been thru the past months it's a good bet he's clean this time (if not before). So the win today sort of confirms his position in the doping allegations and says (without saying anything) "I told you so". That's kind of what that look on his face as he crossed the line says. Anyone think this win makes his case any more believable? (meh, never mind... that's probably for the clinic... my bad)

 

[TourOfSardinia]

I do hope there is a video to follow - of this bit of the race:

 

[python]

I do hope there is a video to follow - of this bit of the race:

nice pic, sardinia, i'd love to see the last km of the climb too ! one report said that his second attack was made with 500 meters to the top and resulted in 4 second advantage over the summit. that's a very modest advantage and may indicate his expected gain with unmatched uphill accelerations. yet it shows aerobic parity with the chasers. note contador's racing with an srm. can't wait for the tt start.

great day today for watching sports - first a 50k queen xc ski event in oslo and then the murcia tt !

 

[auscyclefan94]

Meh, it was a good win, but that's the only nice thing I can say about him.

 

[theswordsman]

The 4:00 highlight video for Stage 2 is on this page. It's not a permanent link, but it should be on top of the page for the day.

http://www.laverdad.es/videos/murcia/

 

[El Pistolero]

Can't wait to see Contador in the maglia rosa when the Giro kicks in

Best GT jersey by far.

 

[ak-zaaf]

The 4:00 highlight video for Stage 2 is on this page. It's not a permanent link, but it should be on top of the page for the day.

http://www.laverdad.es/videos/murcia/

Cool, thanks

 

[Kazistuta]

And Contador wins!

Stage:
1. Bertie 14.10
2. Coppel 14.18 (Surprise!!)
3. Menchov 14.22

Guess that is the final ranking as well.