Tour de France 2011

[Stapel]

Finally, did anyone else smile when Greipel beat Cavendish today?

Sure I did!

But I was also wondering what the Italian Daniel Oss of the Liquigas did at the head of the peloton. Cavendish was in his wheel!

What was Oss thinking?

 

[pacesplace]

“We can still be happy that we’re alive. It’s horrible. I can blame everyone but I don’t think anyone does this sort of thing on purpose. I think the people in the car will have a very big guilty feeling and they will surely apologize to me and Flecha.
“Juan Antonio came to me an he apologized.

Johnny has been really great about all of this. Juan Antonio Flecha says nobody has apologized to him yet. The best attempt offered so far is a statement from France TV:

"France Television apologises to the riders, the teams and to the ASO (Amaury Sports Organisation) for the accident during the ninth stage of the Tour de France which was caused by a technical assistance vehicle covering the race"

 

[SuperBeaverInc.]

And to further prove how awful Tour coverage is in Canada, TSN, the Canadian version of ESPN and broadcaster of the Tour de France, listed Andy and Frank Schleck as Dutch.

 

[rugbyLEAGUEfan]

Maybe some of you who know more about cycling could tell me does Cadel Evans have a chance ? Or are these late nights spent watching going to be wasted .

Pelaton is now one of my favourite words .

 

[Stapel]

Maybe some of you who know more about cycling could tell me does Cadel Evans have a chance ? Or are these late nights spent watching going to be wasted .

Yes he does! He's been 2nd twice (2007 & 2008), last year he was 3rd. And this year he looks very good, whereas Contador doesn't. Nobody really knows how the Schleck brother are feeling.

I guess thursday's stage will clear things up!

Pelaton is now one of my favourite words .

Peloton, actually. It is also the French word for platoon.

 

[Darkness]

Maybe some of you who know more about cycling could tell me does Cadel Evans have a chance ? Or are these late nights spent watching going to be wasted .

Pelaton is now one of my favourite words .

Yes, Evans is definately in the mix for the win. He's a little below Andy Schleck and Alberto Contador as a climber, but he's the best time-trailer of the three of them. If he can keep the damage to a minimum in the mountains, he could clinch it in the time trial on the last saturday. He seems really strong this year, stronger than I have ever seen him (and he seems to be lucky this year too (he's one of the few contenders (along with the Schlecks) who hasn't fallen yet))....

I expect thursday will tell us a lot. Tourmalet and Luz Ardiden on the schedule, which should tell us if Contador's knee is recovered. 'Cause if it's not, then it becomes a 2-horse race between Andy Schleck and Cadel Evans, IMHO....

 

[rugbyLEAGUEfan]

Thanks gents . I got burnt a few years ago when the Australian press made it out like all he had to do was turn up for the final time trial and the tour was his . I was mighty pissed off at 3am I can tell you .

 

[Eniotna]

Maybe some of you who know more about cycling could tell me does Cadel Evans have a chance ? Or are these late nights spent watching going to be wasted .

Pelaton is now one of my favourite words .

Yesterday, the Belgian television made a poll asking the viewers who was their favourite for the win. 35% answered Andy Schleck, 34% voted for Evans... Lots of people believe Evans has the most chance to win the Tour this year. Mostly because he looked strong in the uphill finishes in the first week, because he didn't crash and because he seems more relaxed than in past years (stress has always been a problem for him).

I, however, am convinced he won't win the Tour I think people are looking too much in those hilly stages. They suit him more than Schleck or Contador. It was not a big surprise to see him win in Mûr-de-Bretagne. It doesn't mean he will dominate the mountains.

I've never seen him beat either Schleck or Contador in the mountains in any major race. I don't see how he would this year. He is better in time trials than Schleck, but then again, there's only one TT in this year's Tour de France. It's the penultimate stage. Recovery plays an important role that late in the race. If Schleck recovers well from the mountains, he might not lose too much time.

Overall, the biggest reason why I think he will never win the Tour is because Evans is part of a generation of riders (like Sastre, Menchov, Leipheimer,...) who only got to the top after Ullrich, Basso and Mancebo got caught in 2006. The used to play second fiddle before and never got to the same level as their predecessors afterwards. They were just there to fill up a void after Operación Puerto. They had a shot to win the Tour in 2006 and 2008. Sastre and LandisPereiro took them. Fat chance for the other ones Contador and Schleck have more talent imho.

Sorry for the pessimistic post, but that's my honest opinion. I may be completely wrong though, so keep watching the race

 

[MCdread]

He has a chance but I'm a bit skeptical and sort of agree with Eniotna. In the past few years Evans has transformed itself into a really good rider in hilly races and short hill finishes, but at the same time he lost some ability in the real mountains, at least vis-à-vis Contador and Schleck (btw, he was not 3rd last year Stapel, he was more like 30th. Same the year before.)

He looks good this year, but the course really favoured him and he has avoided crashes. He also looked good in the Giro last year but then the real mountains started and he was comprehensively beaten. By Basso. Basso could do good this year. He's had a good race so far - only really lost time in the TTT - and he was handicapped in these explosive hill finishes.

On the other hand Evans has somewhat restricted his racing scheduled this year, so maybe he's fresher (in previous years it has been said one of his problems is to race to his limit too often). I still can't see how he can keep up to an in form Schleck or semi-in form Contador, but if he's gonna do it it has to be this year. He's 34 and the others are getting older and stronger, not just older.

 

[Rik Meleet]

I think Evans will win this TdF. Contador isn't good this year and Evans will not lose too much time on the Schleck's in the mountains and will get enough back in the time trial. Other favourites that are still in the race are already behind and are IMHO not stronger than Evans.

Most of all: Evans has grown since a few years. Not too long he ago he was "the shadow"; the man only following, never attacking and not a winner. Since his rainbow-jersey something has changed in his head. I think he now believes he can do it and I think his new found confidence will make the difference. He's now winning La Flèche Wallonne, tour and Giro stages, Tirreno Adriatico, Tour de Romandie, for example. He's a winner now.

 

[Stapel]

H(btw, he was not 3rd last year Stapel, he was more like 30th. Same the year before.)

26th indeed.
I had a list in my head of Contador, Schleck, Evans, Sanchez, Van den Broeck, Gesink. And I thus had completely forgotten about Denis Menchov ! Can't say I miss that guy....


Anyway, Evans is indeed looking better than expected and better than ever before, I guess. Obviously, tomorrow will tell. What might work against him, is that this year's TdF has only one TT, and four uphill HC finishes.

 

[kronic]

Evans? A born loser.

 

[dutchfire]

Born loser:

 

[Stapel]

Evans? A born loser.

Well, that's put down quite strongly.

Yet, despite Dutchfire's pretty damn right on the spot reply, I actually do agree.

One expects Evans to blow it at some stage (literally ).

 

[rugbyLEAGUEfan]

Someone call my boss and tell him I'll be running late every morning till this is over . I'm fired up now !!

 

[MCdread]

What seems evident from the Super Besse stage is that Andy Schleck thinks he'll put any time into Evans whenever he needs. He was all eyes to Contador and no one else, like last year, and couldn't care less about the others.
Schleck hardly raced this season so it's hard to figure out his form. He followed a similar plan last year and he was pretty good in the Tour.

Rik, all those races you mentioned are the kind of races where Evans has become pretty good in recent years: hilly classics, explosive short hill finishes, 1 week hilly stage races. The type of stages he's done well in the first week of the Tour as well. But since he started winning them he's also been far from consistent in Grand Tours in the mountains.

I agree though he has reinvented himself as a rider. A few years ago I'd cringe just to look at him and Leipheimer: a most uninspiring duo of riders could hardly be imagined. Then he started racing properly, became world champion and is now a guy worth watching.

And as far as winning the Tour at least this year he hasn't raced as much as in recent seasons so he shouldn't be too fatigued and we can see if his new prowess in classics and smaller Tours came at the expense of losing something in the big mountains of the Tour.

I still think that if Schleck is at his best he should get enough time to survive the time trial. And there's the unknown Contador. Can't wait to follow the action in a couple of hours!

 

[Eniotna]

When I was arguing that Evans couldn't win the Tour, I forgot an important counter-argument: the Schleck brothers are p***sies. If they keep waiting till 3 km before the finish to attack, they'll never get enough time on the rest. Especially if Fränk is their leader, as he's even worse in time trials. My god I hate them

Nice win by Samuel Sanchez, well deserved. Terrific race by Vanendert as well, I know he could do well in the mountains

 

[MCdread]

When I was arguing that Evans couldn't win the Tour, I forgot an important counter-argument: the Schleck brothers are p***sies. If they keep waiting till 3 km before the finish to attack, they'll never get enough time on the rest. Especially if Fränk is their leader, as he's even worse in time trials. My god I hate them

Such is the aura of Alberto Contador that Andy only looks at what he does and only follows him. At one point Basso and Evans looked like going away and he couldn't care. I think he just believes he can lay down the hammer on the other ones when needed. Or maybe he's not so strong. The truth is that this stage didn't really give many answers besides confirming that Basso is in good form and Contador not at his best. They were all too weary of each other.
Saturday should clear thing up a little. I wonder if the Schlecks will keep doing the one-two on Contador or try to target Evans already. The problem for Andy is his brother. In a damage limitation scenario everyone is happy to let Fränk get away instead. But beware that the time trial is not flat and Fränk may not need that much time. I'd say as it stands now he only really needs to distance himself from Evans to keep his position.
For Evans it is great news that Basso is in contention though. They can work together and help each other as they won't be able to match the accelerations of the Schlecks and Contador (if he gets better) all the time.

 

[Stapel]

When I was arguing that Evans couldn't win the Tour, I forgot an important counter-argument: the Schleck brothers are p***sies. If they keep waiting till 3 km before the finish to attack, they'll never get enough time on the rest. Especially if Fränk is their leader, as he's even worse in time trials. My god I hate them.

Calm down man, this is was the first mountain stage. We've seen far far worse. I guess this was even good! The Schleck team really made the day, mostly by Voigt's work. And Fränk attacked three times, before he got loose.

 

[Eniotna]

Calm down man, this is was the first mountain stage. We've seen far far worse. I guess this was even good! The Schleck team really made the day, mostly by Voigt's work. And Fränk attacked three times, before he got loose.

I'm sorry, I've been watching videos of the Giro 1998 and the contrast with today's race is just enormous. I've said this every time these last 5 years, the Tour is becoming the most boring cycling race of the season. The Giro is usually a more exciting race and the classics are way more interesting (especially Milan San Remo and the Ronde van Vlaanderen this year). I'm so dissapointed every time in July

To change the subject, I wonder how Cunego can evolve in this Tour. He hasn't been very impressive in the mountains since 2005, but he looks strong this year and almost won the Tour of Switzerland in June. He's also known to be stronger in the third week.