2009 TDF stage 15: Pontarlier - Verbier 207.5 km - Page 2

Very shrewd point Eld.

the way things are going Wiggins could well podium in Paris.
Superb performance by him thus far.

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.."But finally the last thing I’ll say to the people who don’t believe in cycling, the cynics and the sceptics. I'm sorry for you. I’m sorry that you can’t dream big. [I]I'm sorry you don't believe in miracles. You should believe in these athletes, and you should believe in these people. I'll be a fan of the Tour de France for as long as I live. And there are no secrets - this is a hard sporting event and hard work wins it" - Armstrong 2005 TDF
morelike hypocrisy.

i don't agree.. i think it was the correct strategy... Andy was actually able to handle it and dumped everyone except for Contador. Contador was just too strong... but i don't think hitting the climb slow or fast, it would have not made much of a difference in the case of Contador, but if they hadn't hit the climb that hard the other contenders would have been un-managable and been able to attack him and that would have be a disaster.. that would have been a tactical error.

it was the right tactic, it was implemented perfectly and was effective... Contador was/is just too strong.. there are two races in this tour... Contador and another race with everyone else racing for 2nd, 3rd, 4th etc... but you never know this is cycling and a really bad day can change everything.

i have to agree with the good doctor. if nothing else, saxo flushed the quarry out of the brush and put the yellow jersey on astana's shoulders. let the entire peloton start their attacks, keep the pressure on astana who have been driving the peloton for ag2r all week, let contador have a sans jour as he did in the dauphine and saxo just might be able to drive the dagger home.

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"Kick over the statues and the tyrants die. Wave bye bye to their heroes with a hammer."
--The Redskins, Kick Over the Statues

Finally racing for the GC has started. So far, in terms of excitement, we had the prologue, the crosswind split in stage 3, stage 4 which was the TTT and Contador's attack up Arcalis.

Contador went early and got a good gap on Schlecklet, however it seemed to me that in the latter part he could no longer increase it. This could be interesting for the Ventoux. If Contador goes too early, will he be pulled back or passed on the longer climb? In particular after a week of hard Alpine stages? That seems to me a possible strategy for Saxo if the Schlecklet has the legs anyway. Also, with Kloden busy towing LA around, I would say the Schlecklet has the better team for week 3 than Contador.

I was surprised by Sastre. First that he was dropped so early, then by his strong comeback. Definitely a contender for Ventoux.

Armstrong: As expected following his Giro performance. He's better than he was in May, on the other hand, so is everybody else (except Menchov of course). He can definitely hang in there for a while, but his age has finally caught up with him. I expect him to lose the podium on Ventoux.

Evans also looking like his career has peaked. His best shot was last year. This year, he's been passed by too many.

Good to see some young guns mixing it up. Foremost Nibali, but also T. Martin and R. Kreuziger looked good. A promise of good competition to Schlecklet and Contador in the future.

Go Wiggins!

I agree that the tour now is only a race for the lower podium positions and non yellow jerseys. contador is a super climber. Schleck fought hard and now has a chance for 2nd place overall, if he can do another performance like this. Kloden should have been left free to ride his own race in my opinion. Sastre is a smart rider, could do well on Ventoux, but is too far back for podium. wiggins looked good, and Nibali rode smart but sucked wheels much like Armstrong. It will be interesting to see how Astana defends itself from now on, obviously the yellow jersey is the primary goal, but they could dream of a podium sweep, if Kloden and Armstrong defend themselves well on Ventoux.

He was gifting 8th place to Kloden...

I had the same thought. Bruyneel would love to stick it to everyone by sweeping the podium,but certainly that tactic could backfire bigtime if Amstrong/Kloden wear themselves out and Contador has the dreaded bad day.

Armstrong had lost too much weight prior Tour de France by wanting to challenge Contador by being in good shape for the first ITT. I do think he is already rotten!

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6 +2 (according Ashenden) samples with EPO should have banned Lance Armstrong to start next TDF !

he is really skinny eh? his head looks like a skull.. cheek bones jutting out... maybe he did take it too far.

I'm surprised by the number of riders this year which 'lost weight' and are now riding far beyond expectation. If we assume that 'lost weight' isn't just some arbitrary euphemism but has some truth in it, do you think there's something out there which decreases weight (upper body mass) while preserving leg muscles? Weight loss makes only sense if you preserve muscle power. I always wondered how Rasmussen managed to get his 'concentration camp' look.

sustainable power is not dependant on muscle size... this is a common misconception. maximal power.. yes and anaerobic capacity somewhat, but sustainable power no.. just look to Rasmussen an other top climbers and top marathon runners as your proof... as you say, they have that "concentration camp look".

for climbing you want the highest power to weight ratio you can muster... to be as lean as possible yes, T-Rex bony girl arms yes ... but you also want your leg muscles to be as small as possible.. just enough to provide enough torque to the pedals to produce the necessary torque. cycling is not a strength sport at all (except for sprinters). to do 500 watts your muscles only need to be strong enough torque the equivalent to squat about 100lbs (50lbs per leg)... so as long as you have the strength of a pre-pubescent girl.. you're pretty much ok. it's not the strength of the muscle that is important in sustainable power it the ability to get oxygen and nutrient in and out of the cells in your leg muscles and utilize it as fast as possible, tiny torques to the pedals over and over again in quick succession and not bit torque outputs... to be a climber you just don't need big muscles. you'll just have to carry them up the hill with you and they don't provide any benefit for the climbing effort. if your an all rounder, larger legs might come in handy in launching attacks, winning sprints etc.

Wiggins has lost 9kg/20lbs over the last two years.. that is a huge swing in his power to weight ratio... look at his climbing in the tour.

There is some riders who have drop weight very rapidly... difficult to do cleanly when taining efficiently.

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6 +2 (according Ashenden) samples with EPO should have banned Lance Armstrong to start next TDF !

You are absolutely right with your comment, I should have worded it better and concentrated on 'power output' instead of 'leg muscles'. Thanks for the correction.