When is Vouters going to wake up

[Hoekstyn]

Is Vouters going to give his best bet for GC any help at all, or is he going to let Ryder Hesjedall do it all himself? With Dean and Zabrinsky suffering over an hour down and Van Sommeren well down on the big guns, Hesjedall has been pedalling along and survived Contador's top ten destruction assault in great fashion. But he could certainly use some team help.

 

[perico]

Considering as little help as VdV has had in the past, I tend to think he won't. Vaughters is going for stage wins without a true GC threat. Hesjedal is a little like a poor man's Mick Rogers at this point. He's going to have to do it all himself because he really doesn't have the team to support a rider (no pun intended) with serious GC ambitions without Vande Velde.

With the question marks around VdV's health coming into the tour, Hesjedal was really the only rider seriously capable of helping Christian in the mountains. Now, Ryder is all they have with Zabriskie nursing injuries and unable to stay near the front. Millar can't climb well enough to be there when it matters. Van Summeran is decent, but he's more suited to the classics and not going to be there to pull his GC man back on the last climb.

 

[BroDeal]

Garmin would do better now to have have Ryder lose tons of time and then go for stage wins. The chance of getting the yellow jersey is gone.

 

[Cobblestones]

I don't think Vaughters is still sleeping.

He's already counting the $$ he'll make by selling Ryder to Sky.

 

[Hairy Wheels]

You don't need a huge amount of help to follow the wheels and finish top 20 in GC. This isn't dissing Ryder...just realistic. I do think he should he should just go for stage results as well....he could win one for sure, he has it in him to win a mountain stage out of a break. I'm sure the lure of yellow was enough for him to have a go on today's stage though.