You've officially been Europcar'd!

[Magnus]

Because it doesn't explain why he ended up in the shape of his life among other things.

If I could explain exactly why Voeckler ended up in the shape of his life I would quit my job, drop out of school and become a cycling coach.

And I bet that somebody would start a thread in the clinic in my honour.

 

[roundabout]

"Why shouldn't he be doing better than ever at 32?"

"I don't know why exactly he is better than ever at 32."

Go figure...

 

[Magnus]

"Why shouldn't he be doing better than ever at 32?"

"I don't know why exactly he is better than ever at 32."

Go figure...

Look at the average age of TdF winners. Go figure.

 

[roundabout]

Look at the average age of TdF winners. Go figure.

What exactly should I be looking at?

Would it be Riis, who is the only first time TdF winner over 30 in my lifetime?

Come up with something more substantial, ok.

Oops, forgot about Evans . But he was 30 seconds away from the win at 30.

And Sastre. But that was a gradual improvement as well.

 

[Magnus]

What exactly should I be looking at?

Would it be Riis, who is the only first time TdF winner over 30 in my lifetime?

Come up with something more substantial, ok.

Look at the age of the winner of each years TdF. Take the average. Look at exactly that.

Or for starters you could look at the TdF 2011 winner.

A lot of riders doesn't peak until they are somewhere between 28 and 32.

 

[Wigwan]

Why should he suddenly be much better at 32? It wasn't exactly a steady improvement but more like a perforamance explosion last year.

Voeckler didn't have a "explosion". His climbing became better with the years. For example, in 2010, he finished 23rd of the Giro and on a mountain stage at Le Tour. Last year, he climbed Plateau de Beille 3 minutes faster than he did in 04, which is not "unbelievable" at all. If Contador and Basso wouldn't had been tired and injured, if the Shlecks wouldn't had raced that bad, if Sanchez wouldn't had lost that much time in the TTT, Voeckler wouldn't even had finished in the top 10. It was not him being that much better, but the others being weaker.

 

[delbified]

i feel bad about returning one of their cars with a dented rim now

Voeckler didn't have a "explosion". His climbing became better with the years.

i put it down to improvements in his technique

 

[jens_attacks]

Voeckler didn't have a "explosion". His climbing became better with the years. For example, in 2010, he finished 23rd of the Giro and on a mountain stage at Le Tour. Last year, he climbed Plateau de Beille 3 minutes faster than he did in 04, which is not "unbelievable" at all. If Contador and Basso wouldn't had been tired and injured, if the Shlecks wouldn't had raced that bad, if Sanchez wouldn't had lost that much time in the TTT, Voeckler wouldn't even had finished in the top 10. It was not him being that much better, but the others being weaker.

oh no, voeckler is getting stronger,day by day.rumours from his training places,he's working like an absolute nutter.
it wasn't the other guys being weaker in dauphine and tour 2011,it was about tommy being a lot stronger,probably a + 30 or 40 watts than before on every MTF.
if not for the suicidal ascent on the big ring on telegraphe,voeckler would have been the 2011 tour winner.but there is always this year,and why not 2013?a french winner on the 100th edition,that would be something.

anwyay,liege should be lot of fun this year,gotta say,and all of the ardennes classics.watch out for this warrior:

 

[BillytheKid]

I am buying their stock right now.

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

voeckler has always been a big talent in france. also as an u23. now that cycling ahs gotten cleaner and the no needle policy is in effect it benefits the "stronger" heavier riders in 3 weeks races. that's why also evans was so much stronger last year. evans is 174 and 68 kg and voeckler is 175 and 71 kg. back in the 80s, before epo all riders were like that(except the colombians). guys like lemond, delgado

 

[hiero2]

This says all

Love this picture - and the ad, too. Good on Europcar! Good on Voeckler!

Thanks for finding the ad and sharing it!

 

[mr. tibbs]

[Tommy V stuff]

He always looks so plump <3 ^__^

 

[El Pistolero]

voeckler has always been a big talent in france. also as an u23. now that cycling ahs gotten cleaner and the no needle policy is in effect it benefits the "stronger" heavier riders in 3 weeks races. that's why also evans was so much stronger last year. evans is 174 and 68 kg and voeckler is 175 and 71 kg. back in the 80s, before epo all riders were like that(except the colombians). guys like lemond, delgado

Evans wasn't any stronger than in 2007 or 2008 really.

 

[Zweistein]

voeckler has always been a big talent in france. also as an u23. now that cycling ahs gotten cleaner and the no needle policy is in effect it benefits the "stronger" heavier riders in 3 weeks races. that's why also evans was so much stronger last year. evans is 174 and 68 kg and voeckler is 175 and 71 kg. back in the 80s, before epo all riders were like that(except the colombians). guys like lemond, delgado

NO. Dope helps heavy riders climb well. Back in the 80s, you had a lot of rider especially Columbians that were very small but kicked the crap out of people on the climbs. Heavy tour winners is really a recent things. Lemond rode at 135 lbs and Hinault was around 140 lbs. More than that is or was unusual for a tour winner.

 

[jens_attacks]

interesting interview with bernaudeau

http://www.cyclismactu.net/news-int...e-c-est-d-etre-en-world-tour-raquo-23770.html

Et avez-vous déjà des ambitions pour Liège-Bastogne-Liège ?

Thomas a fait dixième il y a deux ans. Alors pourquoi pas … C'est une course peut-être plus facile à gérer que les deux autres car ce sont vraiment les meilleurs qui se retrouvent devant. Ne resteront dans le final que les coureurs pouvant jouer les premiers rôles de par leurs jambes plutôt que leur tactique. Donc, après les performances de Thomas Voeckler et Vincent Jérôme sur le Tour des Flandres, on peut s'attendre à avoir trois ou quatre coureurs dans le final.

he expects to have three or four riders in the final selection of la doyenne!

also rolland's knee is healed now

he also wants an invitation for vuelta,in that case both voeckler and rolland will be there.

let's see what they can do tomorrow.

 

[nobilis]

interesting interview with bernaudeau

http://www.cyclismactu.net/news-int...e-c-est-d-etre-en-world-tour-raquo-23770.html

Et avez-vous déjà des ambitions pour Liège-Bastogne-Liège ?

Thomas a fait dixième il y a deux ans. Alors pourquoi pas … C'est une course peut-être plus facile à gérer que les deux autres car ce sont vraiment les meilleurs qui se retrouvent devant. Ne resteront dans le final que les coureurs pouvant jouer les premiers rôles de par leurs jambes plutôt que leur tactique. Donc, après les performances de Thomas Voeckler et Vincent Jérôme sur le Tour des Flandres, on peut s'attendre à avoir trois ou quatre coureurs dans le final.

he expects to have three or four riders in the final selection of la doyenne!

also rolland's knee is healed now

he also wants an invitation for vuelta,in that case both voeckler and rolland will be there.

let's see what they can do tomorrow.

Dunno, but i think that Bernaudeau manages his team the same way his riders do. With the heart. Not much sicence involved.
I remember, for instance, when he recruited Chtioui, he was praising the guy and remembering his achievement at Tropicale Amissa Bongo, but in fact he was talking about a Moroccan cyclist, Adil Jelloul.
Not very serious, recruiting guys he doesn't know much about.

 

[jens_attacks]

they kept their promise.voeckler strong as a bull even if he had to chase at one point from behind

pierre rolland,after what i saw in trentino and especially today(i think he was one of the three strongest guys today),is certain.andy will be dropped by him in the mountains,only a miracle could avoid that.

 

[El Pistolero]

they kept their promise.voeckler strong as a bull even if he had to chase at one point from behind

pierre rolland,after what i saw in trentino and especially today(i think he was one of the three strongest guys today),is certain.andy will be dropped by him in the mountains,only a miracle could avoid that.

Rolland was the GVA of this year's LBL. I wouldn't overreact too much

 

[jens_attacks]

Rolland was the GVA of this year's LBL. I wouldn't overreact too much

yes but rolland came here just for training for july.he's riding at 80% of his maximum.in july radioshack and sky will meet a strong enemy,europcar.oh it will be fun

 

[will10]

Voeckler should've had Rolland chase and then attacked on St. Nicolas.

 

[hfer07]

just going to say: Rolland keeps impressing me-today he did loads of work to get into the break away-& after being caught- he managed to have a couple digs......

No doubt he "must" be the Leader coming July

 

[Christian]

I was rooting for Voeckler, too bad he didn't make the podium! He deserves such a result in his palmarès. Very brave ride by Rolland, the French were a very positive surprise in this year's Ardennes. Bodes well for the future!

 

[Dazed and Confused]

One will probably have to use a voucher and upgrade Rolland for the TdF now. He could turn out to be Andy Schleck best pal when trying to gain time on the grinder group.

 

[mr. tibbs]

One will probably have to use a voucher and upgrade Rolland for the TdF now. He could turn out to be Andy Schleck best pal when trying to gain time on the grinder group.

Rolland is an enigma. He's pretty big and can go up reallyreally well. But put him on a TT bike and he just can't produce the watts. Admittedly, he's never been tested as a team leader in a big TT, so maybe when the chips are down this July he'll be able to produce. Even on a good day, though, I can't imagine him losing less than three minutes to Martin and Wiggins.

Oh dear. Now I'm dreaming of a Frenchman in yellow...

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

we don't know yet. until now he never went into widntunnels and extensive itt raining. he is 184 and 71 kg. so potentially he can be very good.