Is anyone as excited about tomorrows stage as I am?
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It really could go either way. I was just looking back at past Tour and Vuelta tt results and both are almost always top 20, with Sastre usually losing anywhere from 20/30 seconds to a couple of minutes to Evans. If they're both on top of their form it's going to be a very close race.
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Not at all. The mountian stages were boring. After Sastre got ahead, every attack was weak and got no where. I took off work to watch a bunch of boring tempo riders. The Shleck brothers were the only thing exciting and they weren't able to go.
Cadel will probably win and he did nothing to deserve it. Other than bore us to the finish. At least all the previous winners in the last 15 yrs were aggresive and had attitudes in the mountains. They showed why they were the best.
Nobody enjoys a clock watcher.
Cadel will probably win and he did nothing to deserve it. Other than bore us to the finish. At least all the previous winners in the last 15 yrs were aggresive and had attitudes in the mountains. They showed why they were the best.
Nobody enjoys a clock watcher.
PA Bike Racer said:
Yeah. Fighting off attack after attack from every other challenger when you've got absolutely no one to help you is pretty much nothing. I mean, it's not like he was CSC's primary target or anything. And it's not like he's the best TTist of all the GC contenders either. What is he thinking just waiting around like that and marking moves? I hope he doesn't think a yellow jersey is going to justify all this boring racing for 3 weeks.
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justinb said:Yeah. Fighting off attack after attack from every other challenger when you've got absolutely no one to help you is pretty much nothing. I mean, it's not like he was CSC's primary target or anything. And it's not like he's the best TTist of all the GC contenders either. What is he thinking just waiting around like that and marking moves? I hope he doesn't think a yellow jersey is going to justify all this boring racing for 3 weeks.
WOW, I can't wait. Cadel will ride by himself tomorrow and watch the clock the whole time. I'm so excited. I'm really stuck between watching the WNBA tomorrow or the Tour.
Maybe there will be a triathlon on. Now that is exciting.
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I think to win the TDF it must be mandatory to win atleast 1 stage. Evans hasn't even come close.
1956 winner Roger Walkowiak was at the Tour today (the race started at his home town). He was the 2nd rider to win the Tour without winning a stage. He was generally snubbed after his win and went into a deep depression, perhaps because he really was the strongest rider that year. He was interviewed after the stage and is in great shape for 81 years old, looks 10 years younger.superflychief said:
-ilan
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Winning the tour is great but if you did it by sucking the wheel of other riders the entire time instead of attacking and winning a stage or two, I think it's a lesser victory. Lance won 22 stages in his 7 TDF wins. Drugs aside (not the point of my comment) I think his wins are worth way more then Cadel's upcoming?? win.
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At least tomorrow we wont have to hear "look at the tempo CSC is setting" 1000 times by the commentators.
2008 TDF.. the year of the tempo riding. Tempo de France. And the winner of the Tempo jersey is... Saxo bank should change the name of CSC to Team Tempo. Do they test for TED's (tempo enhancing drugs). Cervelo's new model is going to be the R3T(empo).
The most exiting thing this year was the sprint yesterday. The only time it felt like people were "racing" and not just tempo riding each other to death.
2008 TDF.. the year of the tempo riding. Tempo de France. And the winner of the Tempo jersey is... Saxo bank should change the name of CSC to Team Tempo. Do they test for TED's (tempo enhancing drugs). Cervelo's new model is going to be the R3T(empo).
The most exiting thing this year was the sprint yesterday. The only time it felt like people were "racing" and not just tempo riding each other to death.
I'm looking forward to the TT - I just wish VanDeVelde and Valverde were a bit closer - Spots 1, 2 and 3 on GC aren't good TT'ers. Spots 4, 5, 6, and 7 are good against the clock. I'll probably tune in about when Valverde heads down the ramp.
BTW - I didn't realize Valverde had climbed up to 7 on GC, that's some sweet riding after he lost a lot of time in the Pyrenees.
As for Cadel - I've bashed him and am not a huge fan, but isn't part of cycling/racing realizing your strengths and weaknesses and riding in a manner that maximizes your chances of winning? So Cadel is a great TT rider, and a good enough climber to hang but not attack. Sounds a lot like how Indurain rode the Tour.
Seems like Cadel's chances are/were - ride steady, limit his losses and win the tour or make stupid attacks in the mountains, lose chunks of time and finish in the top 10 or so. I'm guessing most of us would take the non-dramatic win.
BTW - I didn't realize Valverde had climbed up to 7 on GC, that's some sweet riding after he lost a lot of time in the Pyrenees.
As for Cadel - I've bashed him and am not a huge fan, but isn't part of cycling/racing realizing your strengths and weaknesses and riding in a manner that maximizes your chances of winning? So Cadel is a great TT rider, and a good enough climber to hang but not attack. Sounds a lot like how Indurain rode the Tour.
Seems like Cadel's chances are/were - ride steady, limit his losses and win the tour or make stupid attacks in the mountains, lose chunks of time and finish in the top 10 or so. I'm guessing most of us would take the non-dramatic win.
PA Bike Racer said:
I'm not arguing that it's thrilling racing or gripping TV, just that Cadel has done a little more than nothing over the last 3 weeks
Though there were no immediately apparent heroics, no dropping everyone else in the big ring up Hautacam, no massive pulls to shatter the group on the Croix de Fer, there have been some more subtle yet no less impressive or difficult heroics in the 3 week (so far) no-mistakes grind that Evans has put in. There is a calculating art in the way he's chosen his spots, burned his matches only when needed, and has boiled an entire 3 week, 180 rider race down to tomorrow's time trial, and has done it in such a way that we expect him to win.
If you don't like his style, fine. I admit, it's not terribly telegenic. But have an appreciation for what he's done, and don't say it's nothing.
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exactly. I'm not a huge fan of Evans but to say he's done nothing but wheelsuck totally misunderstands the dynamic of the Tour. The guy had little team support at critical times, was isolated most of the time, and was attacked over and over by one of the most dominant teams at the Tour in a long time. He was forced to close gaps time after time and did so without ever showing a major sign of weakness.
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Cadel doesn't fight off attacks. He suffers through them.justinb said:Yeah. Fighting off attack after attack from every other challenger when you've got absolutely no one to help you is pretty much nothing. I mean, it's not like he was CSC's primary target or anything. And it's not like he's the best TTist of all the GC contenders either. What is he thinking just waiting around like that and marking moves? I hope he doesn't think a yellow jersey is going to justify all this boring racing for 3 weeks.
One of the commentators said it best: He is a Time Trialer who can climb.
I think CSC made a tactical error in not attacking harder.
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I noticed a lot of riders sucking Evan's wheel this tour. He was left alone to minimize the damage Sastre was doing on the final 5km of the Aple. And that wasn't the only time the other riders were marking him -- not the other way around.superflychief said:
He's not an explosive rider. He's strong. And tomorrow he might demonstrate that he's the strongest rider over three weeks. And that's the whole point of the tour.
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you should watch the wnba
you have the right to turn off the tour if you don't like it or it isn't up to your satisfaction. sorry cadel doesn't ride to your level of abilitiy (maybe you should riding the tour) or expectation. if he wins, i will be happy for him as i believe he is one of a handflul of riders that have never doped.PA Bike Racer said:
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