Tour of the Basque Country 2012

[jens_attacks]

i'm sure that if there is someone who can face purito today,that would be chris. from what i saw today,samu was suffering in the last part of the climb

 

[BillytheKid]

The TT in Tirreno didn't suit Horner at all. And he had a knee problem or something, which bothered him. The Pais Vasco TT is good for Horner (even if Libertine would have us believe that it's dead flat).

True enough. I didn't spell it out very well.

 

[cineteq]

Favorites (IMHO)
***** Leipheimer, Van den Broeck, S. Sanchez
****T. Martin, Horner
*** Gesink, Mollema, Danielson, Klöden, Scarponi
** Cunego, J. Rodriguez, Nocentini, D. Martin
* Peraud, Poels

So should Tony Martin now be classified as a five star GT contender?

No, just a four-star GT contender as I did in my earlier comment.

 

[BillytheKid]

Horner: "I think it will be a big group until the last 500 meters, so we’ll only see a small separation at the top, maybe a handful of seconds."

Truthful or a little propaganda?

Horner really needs Busche and Frank Schleck today to try and split off Martin on the final climb before the last 500 meters.

Katusha, Euskatel and Movistar sould aid in the effort.

Busche is a good lead-out on the early slopes. I just don't know if he he has it here.

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

The TT in Tirreno didn't suit Horner at all. And he had a knee problem or something, which bothered him. The Pais Vasco TT is good for Horner (even if Libertine would have us believe that it's dead flat).

it's not flat at all. the climbing parts are 10-15% even. however I wonder does anyone have a route of the itt? is it technical?? I can't find anything

 

[BillytheKid]

it's not flat at all. the climbing parts are 10-15% even. however I wonder does anyone have a route of the itt? is it technical?? I can't find anything

The steephill site has the offical profile which looks to be pretty flat compared to previous years. Hopefully it's misleading some.

 

[auscyclefan94]

what happened to Gesink : sick?

sick of sucking at climbing and time trialling

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

http://vueltapaisvasco.diariovasco.com/2012/etapas/etapa6-onati-onati.htm

that final climbing part is around 1 km and 100 metres height which is 10% average for 1k. that's quite hard imo

 

[Angliru]

i'm sure that if there is someone who can face purito today,that would be chris. from what i saw today,samu was suffering in the last part of the climb

The perfect opportunity to see if Pappy Horner can continue to live up to his statements that the only rider that can drop him is Contador. So far this year he hasn't been proven wrong.

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

The perfect opportunity to see if Pappy Horner can continue to live up to his statements that the only rider that can drop him is Contador. So far this year he hasn't been proven wrong.

wait till he meets rujano

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

sick of sucking at climbing and time trialling

let's see how well Evans does after breaking a femur shall we?

 

[Richeypen]

The perfect opportunity to see if Pappy Horner can continue to live up to his statements that the only rider that can drop him is Contador. So far this year he hasn't been proven wrong.

Nibbles

.

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

let's see how well Evans does after breaking a femur shall we?

only difference is evans never breaks something

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

Nibbles

.

nibali didn't drop him. lol

 

[theyoungest]

only difference is evans never breaks something

 

[BillytheKid]

The perfect opportunity to see if Pappy Horner can continue to live up to his statements that the only rider that can drop him is Contador. So far this year he hasn't been proven wrong.

Horner said "right now" as "in the moment" when he took over minute on the Sierra Road. 5K at 10%.

A moment of exurberance, if a little boastful. He was pretty good that day, maybe the best he's ever been, but the field was weak compare to this race.

No Sierra road at the Cali this year. Horner's chances are slim.

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

you know what I meant

 

[Sylvester]

Martin might lose half a minute here.

Which advantage on Martin would Sanchez need ahead of the TT? If it's hilly, technical and Samu's really on top TT form, forty or fifty seconds should actually be enough.

 

[BillytheKid]

Martin might lose half a minute here.

Which advantage on Martin would Sanchez need ahead of the TT? If it's hilly, technical and Samu's really on top TT form, forty or fifty seconds should actually be enough.

I put it at 1:15.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Abandon D.Martin

Guess another year no good ardennes from him. He suffers in this period too much

 

[theyoungest]

Abandon D.Martin

Guess another year no good ardennes from him. He suffers in this period too much

It's raining cats and dogs, so I don't think this is an allergy thing.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Thats why I say he suffers, not 'suffers from allergies'

Somehow he doesn't get any form in these months

 

[jens_attacks]

oh now that's some basque weather.we're live

does tony like this kind of brutal weather?

too bad there aren't anymore manolos or beldas around.these three consecutive climbs would be perfect for some kelme tactics to tire tony martin.they can't take more than 20 seconds from him into final ramp

 

[will10]

Abandon D.Martin

Guess another year no good ardennes from him. He suffers in this period too much

Seems to only be able to perform in the Catalunya micro-climate in March/April.

 

[nesocip]

Martin might lose half a minute here.

Which advantage on Martin would Sanchez need ahead of the TT? If it's hilly, technical and Samu's really on top TT form, forty or fifty seconds should actually be enough.

Euskaltel should try making the race super hard today and tomorrow in order to give Sanchez more chances for the GC. He recuperates way better then Martin, meaning hard racing these 2 days could cut 5-10 sec off time trial losses, and add some 15-20 sec today, 12 from yesterday and he got some 40ish sec advantage, which could maybe give us a close GC battle. Otherwise Tony wins for sure.