Tuesday 26th April: Tour of Romandie - Prologue: Martigny, 3.5km

[roundabout]

Just had a look at tomorrows stage. Should be difficult enough to eliminate a few, but would expect a sizable number to arrive together. Who will be in the lead after tommorow? Cant see phinney staying up there, what about the current leader?

I don't expect to see Castroviejo in the lead after tomorrow but I think he will be reasonably close and keep his chances of a good GC result intact.

 

[Bavarianrider]

Why isn't there a thread for tomorrow's stage yet?

Evans,Vino,Kreuziger or Tony Martin for the win!

 

[taiwan]

I wouldn't mind a conclusive evaluation of the stage's difficulty. If it's actually quite easy, as people seem to consider it, then wouldn't someone with a finish take it from a small group? I'm thinking of Cunego, not least because he's on my VDS.

 

[roundabout]

Conclusive evaluation is a bit much...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_nnv3Etzfg&feature=related

At 1.14 on the video is the start of the final climb

The final km is quite tough so there will be at least some (slight) gaps there

 

[greenedge]

expect the old 1-2 punch from astana tommorow. Jonathan Castroviejo who????. At least Phinney did well but i would have been so happy if i got him right to win the prologue even if he was the obvious choice.

 

[taiwan]

So Contador won there in '06? IDK, maybe Kreuziger. Cunego would still be nice, though.

 

[Parrulo]

rui costa fell during this time trial. from what i have heard he didn't lost a lot of time but all his cloths and helmet had to go to the garbage and he broke the horns on his bike lol

 

[The Hitch]

Oh yeah, did Harmonn say anything about Rebbellin?

 

[auscyclefan94]

Poor taylor, would of liked to seem him win but it is nice to see a complete outsider do well. Can someone make the thread for today's stage for me? I might not be able to do it.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

rui costa fell during this time trial. from what i have heard he didn't lost a lot of time but all his cloths and helmet had to go to the garbage and he broke the horns on his bike lol

Movistar report nothing more than bruising, he's otherwise a-ok. Just a bit of road rash made a mess of his skinsuit and TT helmet.

Anybody got any shots of him? I want to see if he's still got his Portuguese TT jersey (given that the nationals were where the positive test was) and if so, what it looks like given how awful the Movistar Spanish champ jersey is.

Probably a Movistar kit with tiny, almost imperceptible Portuguese bands.

 

[Parrulo]

Movistar report nothing more than bruising, he's otherwise a-ok. Just a bit of road rash made a mess of his skinsuit and TT helmet.

Anybody got any shots of him? I want to see if he's still got his Portuguese TT jersey (given that the nationals were where the positive test was) and if so, what it looks like given how awful the Movistar Spanish champ jersey is.

Probably a Movistar kit with tiny, almost imperceptible Portuguese bands.

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1958267366504&set=o.349518041847&type=1&theater

he is wearing the regular movistar kit (doesn't even has the national champion stripes)

he only has some bruises and some pain on his right hand.

but there is something more interesting to discuss about rui costa, he lost some weight apparently to focus on his climbing.

maybe he has decided to focus on GT's? i always thought he would go for the classics tbh

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Maybe it's that he's a hilly classics guy or could be with a bit less weight to drag around. Don't think he'll ever be a GT guy but could be useful in shorter tours and with less climbing. More like a guy for a normal Romandie, as in not as poor in route as this one.

I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. The ban may have been overturned, but the results where he tested positive should be eradicated, ergo I guess Sérgio Sousa is now Portuguese ITT champ, and Rui's win is no longer valid so he has no right to the stripes.

 

[Parrulo]

Maybe it's that he's a hilly classics guy or could be with a bit less weight to drag around. Don't think he'll ever be a GT guy but could be useful in shorter tours and with less climbing. More like a guy for a normal Romandie, as in not as poor in route as this one.

I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. The ban may have been overturned, but the results where he tested positive should be eradicated, ergo I guess Sérgio Sousa is now Portuguese ITT champ, and Rui's win is no longer valid so he has no right to the stripes.

well tbh i think he should focus on all kinds of classics like gilbert. he already has done good performances on the RVV, P-R and LBL so he could be similar to Leukemans (won't say gilbert because gilbert is just on another level and i don't want to get shot by the belgium mafia )

and ya it does make sense him not using the stripes for that reason

 

[search]

So Contador won there in '06?

it was the same finish but they'll only ride the second half of the climb this year so it's way shorter and less damanding

 

[danjo007]

is evans racing clean or something?
gauging by how far his once good TT ability was, he's gone so far backward its not funny. even renshaw beat him !?!
theres no hope in hell he can manage a TDF victory with his TT ability as poor as its getting.
you'll prob hear from ACF that it was too short, cuddles needs to get in to it etc. but OMG - he's embarassing himself for TDF form.
yeah cuddles will get that back on some climb... may even win this race, but only because the TT was a mere 3 and a bit kms... if it were like they'll be in TDF, he may as well pack his bag.

 

[danjo007]

Is Blythe wearing a radio for aero reasons? I can't really think of why he would need it on a 3k course

hahahah - of course its for SAFETY..

 

[jaylew]

Talansky must have had a fall

http://sportresult.com/sports/cycling/TDR2011/results/2011/0IND.pdf

Yep.

 

[abbaskip]

is evans racing clean or something?
gauging by how far his once good TT ability was, he's gone so far backward its not funny. even renshaw beat him !?!
theres no hope in hell he can manage a TDF victory with his TT ability as poor as its getting.
you'll prob hear from ACF that it was too short, cuddles needs to get in to it etc. but OMG - he's embarassing himself for TDF form.
yeah cuddles will get that back on some climb... may even win this race, but only because the TT was a mere 3 and a bit kms... if it were like they'll be in TDF, he may as well pack his bag.

Renshaw was a world champion teams pursuiter, and a junior world champion in the 1km time trial. I would expect Renshaw to beat Evans over 3km.

 

[auscyclefan94]

is evans racing clean or something?
gauging by how far his once good TT ability was, he's gone so far backward its not funny. even renshaw beat him !?!
theres no hope in hell he can manage a TDF victory with his TT ability as poor as its getting.
you'll prob hear from ACF that it was too short, cuddles needs to get in to it etc. but OMG - he's embarassing himself for TDF form.
yeah cuddles will get that back on some climb... may even win this race, but only because the TT was a mere 3 and a bit kms... if it were like they'll be in TDF, he may as well pack his bag.

I can't beleive I am replying to such a stupid post but here goes.

DO you really expect a rider like Evans to feature in a 3km prologue? How is being 7.7 seconds off an embarrassment for someone who is not suited at this effort? He's never really been good at these super short time trials. I thought it was quite a good ride. He's also been out for a month and is recovering from an injured quadricep. Hopefully you'll learn.

 

[dlwssonic]

is evans racing clean or something?
gauging by how far his once good TT ability was, he's gone so far backward its not funny. even renshaw beat him !?!
theres no hope in hell he can manage a TDF victory with his TT ability as poor as its getting.
you'll prob hear from ACF that it was too short, cuddles needs to get in to it etc. but OMG - he's embarassing himself for TDF form.
yeah cuddles will get that back on some climb... may even win this race, but only because the TT was a mere 3 and a bit kms... if it were like they'll be in TDF, he may as well pack his bag.

lol this post is kinda funny, seems like you are new to cycling. renshaw sprinter so he is better at shorter distances. those good TT riders are better at longer distances than the shorter ones which favor sprinters. His time was one of the better GC riders. Look at the others. Even all great 2nd best TT specialist tony martin was pretty far back. just saying long TT and short ones are very different and different people do well in it

 

[dlwssonic]

its must be a relief for many that phinney finally lived up to his expectations. its really good since he has just come back from an injury. just wondering is the only thing he is really good at prologues? is he just as good in normal TT?

 

[Jamsque]

its must be a relief for many that phinney finally lived up to his expectations. its really good since he has just come back from an injury. just wondering is the only thing he is really good at prologues? is he just as good in normal TT?

With his pursuit background he's definitely going to be better at the shorter effort until he adjusts more to the road but he's the reigning US and U23 world champion in the ITT so he's no slouch. He does have some other weapons, he's got a great (if not world-class) sprint and he rides well on the cobbles.

Phinney got over-hyped and then crushed by counter-hype, he's not actually as dreadful as some people here seem to think. He has plenty of potential.

 

[greenedge]

Evans did well he finished best out of GC other than Vino and finished 9 whooping seconds ahead of Basso who everyone's rating. Also good to see Phinney go well. Want to see BMC race smart and aggresively.

 

[dlwssonic]

With his pursuit background he's definitely going to be better at the shorter effort until he adjusts more to the road but he's the reigning US and U23 world champion in the ITT so he's no slouch. He does have some other weapons, he's got a great (if not world-class) sprint and he rides well on the cobbles.

Phinney got over-hyped and then crushed by counter-hype, he's not actually as dreadful as some people here seem to think. He has plenty of potential.

yea was wondering if he could beat leipheimer, it should not be that hard to do well in the later romandie TT.

 

[Arnout]

With his pursuit background he's definitely going to be better at the shorter effort until he adjusts more to the road but he's the reigning US and U23 world champion in the ITT so he's no slouch. He does have some other weapons, he's got a great (if not world-class) sprint and he rides well on the cobbles.

Phinney got over-hyped and then crushed by counter-hype, he's not actually as dreadful as some people here seem to think. He has plenty of potential.

Poor Richie Porte.

Btw, is there a Youtube or summary of this race available?