Basque Country prizes

thunder

happy with wearing seat pillows on your scone?

classic1

He looks as bout as Spanish as Sherpa Tensing or Bridgette Neilson.

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Wilchemy

Brigitte Neilson may have bigger nuts though.

nns1400

LMAO!...didn't one of the team already say the High Road kit looked like a clown suit??

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This stuff is just crap...Hitchy

Bro Deal

It could be worse. They could be forced to wear the Urban Sombrero.

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whiteboytrash

or magenta pink cycling jerseys.........

Powerful Pete

... or lime green Liquigas jerseys with multiple arrows pointing towards their zizi...

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Eldrack

Well, I wonder what Contador will be getting now that he's won the over all race. A really really big hat?

I know there was a big hill in the TT but still... beating Evans and Dekker? Didn't see that one coming.

TheDarkLord

He must be gorging on the vitamins that he had originally saved for TdF.

thunder

nope, no surprise at all in defense of Contador.

He won the Spanish national tt u23 championship at 18. Saiz signed him on the spot. He has always had an ability in the chrono far exceeding Valverde, whose strength was primarily based on his oxygen capacity and doping regimen. If doped to the 9's, Valverde could tt well in Spain.

Both Contador and Valverde are distinguished prologue riders, better than Evans.

Contador has yet to develop the strength in the long tts, like the Tour de France.

But Eldrack, you do Contador disservice but saying it was a surprise. Nothing of the sort. That is the perfect tt for Contador, save a pure mtn tt. Right distance, some major climbing percentage.

That is why Contador and Evans are natural GC riders. Both can climb and tt. And I think both would excell if everyone was clean because of those inherent characteristics. Ofcourse, Casar and Moncoutie are two who can climb and tt, but a few rungs below them, why? Feel free to speculate.

Contador needs to be able to extend his attacking threshold, to his power at threshold, because he cannot make those attacks stick yet. Evans still needs to be stronger in the high mtns, or dope more. Contador's tting will progress. I dont know if Evans can really get stronger in the mtns unfortunately for him. Maybe he will do what Landis did, rolled the dice on a heavy medical program.

thunder

no, Contador was more than a decent timetrialist. He was a very good timetrialist, and about the best of his age group. Dekker/Brajkovic/Nibali. Someone tell me those guys are not on serious gear also.

Actually, Contador is 2 years older than the others, but still. I am trying to pull a rider of his age (25) out of the ether. Schlek is turning 23. I dont know.

hawkeye87

I did not delete my post quickly enough. Quite the rapid response Thunder. :-D

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Eldrack

He's a decent TTist, no doubt about that. But Evans knocked him for over a minute in both longs TTs at the TdF last year. Other than that I can't remember when they last came head to head. Obviously this ones shorter at half an hour in length rather than just over an hour but in terms of physicals demands the same systems are used (see training/power forums for lengthy discussions on this).

Contador was 21 seconds ahead at 4km done (i.e at the end of the steep bit of the hill), same at the top of the hill (plus or minus a second) but what suprised me was he was able to keep that advantage on a downhill which surely should have favoured the heavier more powerful rider (Cadel). And Cadel definitely isn't a bad descender.

That's why I was surprised, however injustly that may have been. I guess Contador has peaked for this event as it is one of the few Astana haven't been banned from.

Aquamarinos

I assume you mean not invited instead of banned?