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2010 Tour de France

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Vinakourov and Contador on the same team? Yesterday is a sample of how that will work the rest of the Tour. Vinny is always for Vinny. Contador is always for Contador. This will hurt both the whole Tour. (Vinny is currently ranked ahead of Contador)
The subject of whether a cobblestone section belongs on the Tour was brought up. The loss of Frank Schleck was huge. A good argument can be made after yesterday that it's actually to rough on riders trying to bicycle for 4 weeks. The other argument would be if your the best rider in the world you should be able to handle some cobblestones. I'm torn but leaning to the former argument that it's too tough for Tour riders.
It's like a Super Bowl with out some of the top players.
 
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Folanator;1727199; said:
that's fine in theory, but not realistic. He cannot cover all the attacks. Lance will attack then Evans then Wiggens. Then repeat. If AC goes, they will work together to chase him down. It is not humanly possible to chase down all the attacks. He will burn out and loose time. When some GC contender goes up the road, they are ALL going to look at Contador and say go get 'em or u will not win. He has no choice.

It will be fun to watch.
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I'm not sure that everybody will gang up on Contador. Evans and Andy Schleck are ahead of him on time, and they're both real threats to win the GC. When they get near the top of the big climbs, and the lead pack has been narrowed to about 10 elite riders, and guys have somewhere between 0 and 2 actual teammates with them, the decisions on whether to break away and who's going to chase somebody down will be key.

Andy Schleck and Contador should be the two best climbers this year. If they mark each other, it could come down to whether the last time trial will be enough for Contador to make up the time difference. Lance may still be able to stay with those guys most days, but I don't think he'll be able to break away from them to make up the time he's already behind.

It will be great to watch. With the current standings, I think the mountain stages will be the most interesting in years.
 
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BB I kinda agree. However everyone knows who is the man they have to beat, AC. They all will start trying to brake the string, one after another. Don't forget, Sastre and a few others are still close enogh.

I could be wrong, but it is going to be AC vs the rest of the peleton for the Alpes and all the mountain stages.

I agree on Vino, he is good, but he not a guy that will be able to protect Contador in the high mountains.
 
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Two straight wins for Cavendish, with Farrar getting second today.

Tomorrow things will get for interesting for the GC contenders. No killer climbs, but three Cat-2 climbs including an uphill finish.

Here are the latest standings, which haven't changed at all for the last couple of days. I've only listed the riders close to the lead and those that I consider to be serious contenders to win the overall race.

Time....Time
after...after
Stage6..Stage4..Cyclist..........Team
00:00...00:00...Cancellara, F....Saxo
00:23...00:23...Thomas, G........Sky
00:39...00:39...Evans, C.........BMC
01:09...01:09...Schleck, A.......Saxo
01:31...01:31...Vinokourov, A....Astana
01:40...01:40...Contador, A......Astana
01:49...01:49...Menchov, D.......Rabobank
01:49...01:49...Wiggins, B.......Sky
02:30...02:30...Armstrong, L.....RadioShack
02:53...02:53...Leipheimer, L....Radioshack
03:01...03:01...Kloden, A........Radioshack
03:19...03:19...Sastre, C........Cervelo
 
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Just finished my morning round of 18 and watched my tape of stage 6. I always go 30 minutes over to be safe. However, in the last two seconds of my recording I see two tour rider laying into one another with fists.

Any insights?
 
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Oh8ch;1729433; said:
Just finished my morning round of 18 and watched my tape of stage 6. I always go 30 minutes over to be safe. However, in the last two seconds of my recording I see two tour rider laying into one another with fists.

Any insights?
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An article on CNNSI.com had this blurb:

The unrelenting heat also looks to have gotten to some riders more than others, with Spanish rider Carlos Barredo of the Quick Step team fighting with Portuguese cyclist Rui Costa of Caisse d'Epargne at the finish line on Friday.
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Another impressive ride for Chavanel to regain the maillot jaune from Cancellara, who is not a climber and fell well back. None of the major contenders lost time to one another except for Kloden, who dropped over two minutes to the main group, and can now be written off. Kloden's apparent lack of form is also not good news for his teammate Lance.

Tomorrow there are a pair of Cat-1 climbs, including one at the end of the stage. Contador is expected to make a move somewhere on that last climb tomorrow. Anybody with hopes to win probably needs to stay within a minute of him is he's able to break away.

Here are the latest standings. I've only listed the riders close to the lead and those that I consider to be serious contenders to win the overall race.

Time....Time
after...after
Stage7..Stage6..Cyclist..........Team
00:00...01:01...Chavanel, S......Quick Step
01:25...00:39...Evans, C.........BMC
01:55...01:09...Schleck, A.......Saxo
02:17...01:31...Vinokourov, A....Astana
02:26...01:40...Contador, A......Astana
02:35...01:49...Menchov, D.......Rabobank
02:35...01:49...Wiggins, B.......Sky
03:16...02:30...Armstrong, L.....RadioShack
03:39...02:53...Leipheimer, L....Radioshack
04:05...03:19...Sastre, C........Cervelo
06:00...03:01...Kloden, A........Radioshack
13:11...00:00...Cancellara, F....Saxo
 
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A terrible day for Lance. He adeptly avoided a crash shortly after the start, going into the grass to avoid going down. But later, coming out of a roundabout in a town, he caught a pedal on another bike and went down hard. His team had to hustle to bring him back to the peloton just before the first Cat-1 climb started.

His team was tired and he fell about 1 minute back before the top of that climb. A little later he was in a small group of riders approaching the summit of a Cat-3 climb when a couple guys went down directly in front of him. He fell off his bike and when he got back on he wasn't in a group of good climbers. He had lost a couple of minutes and there was another Cat-1 at the end of the stage. He ended up losing over 10 minutes.

Astana had Vino and 2 other guys leading the way up the bottom half of that last Cat-1 climb. Vino has apparently decided to be a good team rider since he's going to retire and wants to be a manager for Astana next year. He was a good domestique today, taking a turn leading the way and dropping back to get drinks and snacks during the climbs.

With about 2K to go, Contador's last teammate peeled off and there was just the elite group of riders left. Wiggins had dropped off the back, but Schleck, Evans, Leipheimer, Menchov, Sastre, Kreuziger and Basso were still there. Andy Schleck attacked with about 1K left, and Contador wasn't able to go with him. Samuel Sanchez got across and was trying for the stage win, but Andy nipped him at the line to get his first TDF stage win, 10 seconds ahead of Contador and other main contenders.

Tomorrow is a rest day, and then it's back for another day in the Alps. Tuesday has the Cat-1 Col de la Columbiere early, and the beyond-category (HC to the French) Col de la Madeleine just before a huge descent at the end of the stage.

At this point it's shaping up to be a tight 3-way battle among Contador, Schleck, and Evans.

Here are the latest standings. I've only listed the riders close to the lead and those that I consider to be serious contenders to win the overall race.

Time....Time
after...after
Stage8..Stage7..Cyclist..........Team
00:00...01:25...Evans, C.........BMC
00:20...01:55...Schleck, A.......Saxo
01:01...02:26...Contador, A......Astana
01:10...02:35...Menchov, D.......Rabobank
01:45...03:10...Kreuziger, R.....LiquiGas
02:14...03:39...Leipheimer, L....Radioshack
02:15...03:50...Sanchez, S.......Euskaltel
02:40...04:05...Sastre, C........Cervelo
02:41...04:06...Basso, I.........LiquiGas
02:45...02:35...Wiggins, B.......Sky
03:05...02:17...Vinokourov, A....Astana
10:05...00:00...Chavanel, S......Quick Step
13:26...03:16...Armstrong, L.....RadioShack
 
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Couple of things.

I was VERY impressed with Astana. They made hard pace for the last two climbs and did a nice job.

However, they are not strong enough to put the real contenders under pressure. Wiggens lost it yesterday but Schleck, Leipheimer and Evans were still there not too stressed.

I thought Radio Shack looked weak, but that can change from day to day. Also they were forced to chace to get Lance back in and were tired before the big climb.

The issue is that Contador is going to be there all alone (like we saw yesterday). When people attack he is going to be looked at to cover. He was not able to respond and actually needed to sit on the wheel a Rabbobank rider to pull himself up.

While I fet bad about Lance, and it was the end of an era, this might end up being good for Radio Shack. Lance will now protect Levi and he WILL be able to set hard tempo and be there at the end. He is still one of the 4 best riders in the race he just had very bad luck so far. This is going to be a big benefit to Levi and I think assures him of a podium spot (crashes avoided). Also, Kloden seemed to be getting over his sickness so he will be a factor in the coming weeks.

I feel pretty good about my pre-race prediction. Shleck looks the strongest to me. The big question is if he can get enough time on the mountains to offset the time he is going to loose in the time trial.

Tomorrow is the decisive stage and will tell the tale. It is always a weird day to see how the leggs react after rest. Normally leads to big time differences.
 
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Folanator;1730683; said:
I feel pretty good about my pre-race prediction. Shleck looks the strongest to me. The big question is if he can get enough time on the mountains to offset the time he is going to loose in the time trial.

Tomorrow is the decisive stage and will tell the tale. It is always a weird day to see how the leggs react after rest. Normally leads to big time differences.
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Something weird could indeed happen tomorrow. And in similar fashion for the 4 days in the Pyrenees, stage 17 (Thursday the 22nd) which also follows a rest day and finishes at the top of the Col du Tourmalet, could be decisive. It's after a rest day, it's the last day in the mountains, and finishes at the highest point in this year's tour (which, as you know, they also climb in the middle of stage 16).

I'm also thinking there might be something that happens on a wild descent between the last 2 big climbs on Stage 14 on Sunday. If the elite pack is broken up on the beyond-category Port de Paliheres, they could take huge risks on the long way down in order to catch up before the final Cat-1 climb to finish at the top of Ax 3 Domaines.
 
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