Tour de Romandie

hawkeye87

Robbie McEwan got the win ahead of Bennati for Stage 2.

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"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take." -- Wayne Gretzsky

Eldrack

Cavendish either sucks at long distance races or is ill, because he finished 9 minutes down on a stage which Robbie McEwen managed to win. If McEwen can get over the mountains, Cav should be able to as well. At this rate he won't be winning any stages at the Giro because he'll have dropped out before the pancake flat stages come around.

hawkeye87

He's still pretty young. He struggled a lot at the TdF last year with keeping up with the autobus.

But, he'd better start to get some climbing legs or he won't be sprinting for GT jerseys at the end.

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"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take." -- Wayne Gretzsky

beached whale

First win of the year for McEwan. Good to see the aussie back into some form.
Time trial coming up, i'm hoping Kloden has the form to do well, but im thinking he'll only get top 5. I think the mountain stage afterwards will be much more decisive in terms of GC anyway, its pretty short but has some intense climbing. Interesting to note that Dekker mentioned he felt a little bit tired after all the spring classics etc. So based on that i don't think hes a sure thing to win the overall.

Anticyclone

As regards the McEwen v Cavendish thing, there were 100 people in the leading group yesterday so anyone who couldnt make it really was struggling. As i wrote on the other thread it makes me wonder if Cavendish will make it through the mountainous Saturday stage to have a chance on the shores of lake geneva on sunday? Given the amount of climbing to be done he may get eliminated.

As for Dekker i do wonder how good classics form is - does it show someone is on good form or will they be tired from having been at the sharp end of things?

I will go for Dekker on today's stage - Wiggins is a good TT man and has been lurking at the back of the field. However, the climb in today's stage must be too steep for him to come near the top. Kloden is again a big question mark. Has he spent recent weeks preparing especially for this race or not? The Czech bloke, Roman (Kreuzinger?) will be one to watch as well - he did well in this race last year and Liquigas seem to be doing quite well given Nibali's recent results.

Eldrack

3500 metres of climbing tomorrow, Cavendish is going to be out the back on the first (uncatagorised for some reason) climb.

I think I'll have to agree the hill in the TT puts Wiggins out of the running. It'll be interesting to see how Kloden does but I'll go with Dekker for the win. He's in good form and no doubt looking to win this race overall so will want so padding ahead of tomorrows monster of a stage.

thunder

Eldrack there are not really any 23 yo sprinters.

23 yos can still be riding espoirs, like Rabo developemen squad. They cannot ride u23 o'course.

Who are the young sprinters?

Ciolek. Better strength, enurance and climbing ability than Cav. But Cav is a far better tter. Go figure.

Oscar Gatto Gerolsteiner

Thomas Fothen Gerolsteiner

Matt Goss CSC, will be more than a sprinter, prolly a classics man.

Matti Breschel, more than a sprinter, great classics strength, very fast, not quite as fast as Goss imo.

Haussler, maybe as fast as Goss and as strong as Breschel.

Weylandt, bit older, cant handle the hills tho.

Mauro Richeze. Ariel younger brother, can handle the hills like his older brother.

Duque Cofidis. See Ariel Richeze, older than the rest of the guys here, but strong, not quite as fast.

Fastest not so young guy is Chicchi.


You are expecting Cav, to be as strong as he is fast. Just cos he s the fastest, does not mean he is the strongest. And remember, his speed, is being overinflated, because he rides on High Road.

If he did it tough via Barloworld, he would not have as many wins, and would have to find wheels and do the work in the last 15 kms himself. He has the benefit of great team support. Mcewen only got that in about 2003 onwards, when he was 32. Cav gets it at 23.

Sutton is a good sprinter for a young kid, and so is Farrar, but you will not see them contesting this stage. (past tense)

I reckon Cav could be more than a sprinter, if you see his numbers he puts out in a tt. He might be able to transform that into a classics physiology. But, he would have to compromise his sprint, which is what earns him the big bucks. He wont do it, even if he had the energy system to ride for 400 minutes in a selective classic like Flanders and Roubaix.

Reynes and Rojas Gil from Spain too.

Rojas Gil in particular. Ever seen a 23 yo look like a 40 yo. See him, too many hormones obviously.

Rolfrae

Kloeden wins the stage and takes the yellow.

The T.T. top 5:

1. Andreas Klöden (Ger, Astana) 25'32 ". 2. Thomas Dekker (PB, Rabobank) 25'36" 3. Stef Clement (PB, Bouygues) 25'52 "4. Tony Martin (Ger, THR) 25'53" 5. Gustav Larsson (Sue, Csc) 25'57 "

hawkeye87

Overall standings has Astana with 3 in the Top 11.

Must be their masterful training program.

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"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take." -- Wayne Gretzsky

Wayne666

Watching Kloden take the TT I was thinking, "I wonder who trains Bruyneel's riders". That guy should be famous. For years now he's been able to get a whole host of different guys on peak form at just the right time

tambourlain

That's 4 of the top 11 microbrain. And the part that I love best is the way that it makes the buttheads on this forum cry and wail. LOL. Makes my day.

Crankyfeet

Welcome back tamponbrain. Please stay. You're so much fun compared to the normal tedium...

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Originally posted by Frigo's Luggage...

"[Calling him] 'dickcheese' is the insult of a master. Some people work in oil, some people work in clay. He [thoughtforfood] works in profanity. Open your mind and enjoy its beauty."

hawkeye87

Good find. Thought about editing my post but didn't think it was worth it.

Turns out it was since I managed to annoy a little piss-ant like you.

__________________

"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take." -- Wayne Gretzsky

Anticyclone

I dont think Cavendish made it. Looking at the apparent full results it seem that only 98 made it out of 140 who were there yesterday. I'm not that experienced at the non grand tour events but this seems a large number even given that it was a difficult stage with only one more to come?

http://www.cyclingnews.com/road/200...lts/romandie084

Wiggins seems to be struggling on the hills as well. He could just be making minimum effort today to be able to attack better tomorrow but if he was able to attack meaningfully tomorrow then he wouldnt have lost that much time? I suppose that Cavendish and Wiggins are both concentrating primarily on the track this season with the worlds being held in the UK and then the Olympics to come later on.