2008 Tour de France : Stage 9 : Toulouse - Bagnères-de-Bigorre 224.0 km Sunday July13

[Klodifan]

Ricco is catching up on Lang pretty fast. Only 15 sec gap. Is he a good descender?

Eurosport commentary: "There is Schumacher, the man who kicked everything off. Why.. I have no idea".

Edit: Ricco just passed Lang.

if ricco wins the stage and with all the rumors, do you think he'll be popped or given a pass?

 

[TheDarkLord]

Ricco is riding like a man possessed!!!

Both Ricco and Lang have crested Col d'Aspin. So, will polka dots go to Lang?

The summit is thronged with fans. Just a narrow path for the riders, the rest taken up by fans.

 

[TheDarkLord]

if ricco wins the stage and with all the rumors, do you think he'll be popped or given a pass?

If it was the UCI, I would say that he would be given a pass in line with their "younger generation is clean" philosophy. I don't know what ASO will do.

 

[Klodifan]

de la fuente keeps polka dot jersey by just 4 points. so lang is a double loser

 

[TheDarkLord]

Unfortunately, looks like Lang will not get the polka dots today.

De La Fuente: 61
Lang: 57
Ricco: 50

followed by L. Sanchez and Nibali.

Nibali has joined Lang in the descent.

 

[TheDarkLord]

de la fuente keeps polka dot jersey by just 4 points. so lang is a double loser

Agreed. If Ricco hadn't beaten Lang, he would have gotten 4 extra points and would probably be tied for KOM points.

 

[TheDarkLord]

Lang and Nibai have been caught by the peloton. All the top 10 in the GC save potato head are there in the peloton. That's not unexpected, but a bit disappointing nevertheless as I was hoping for a shake-up in the GC.

BTW, I gather that Kirchen only just managed to hang on to the peloton.

 

[TheDarkLord]

Other than potato head losing 40", doesn't look like there is any change in the times in the top ten of GC.

 

[Klodifan]

it certainly appeared that way.

 

[phillop]

wears zubeldia? hes lost huge time. only GC rider to miss out today?

 

[zlatan]

wears zubeldia? hes lost huge time. only GC rider to miss out today?

he hade problem on the col du peryesourd too

lövkist totalty blow up today

kirchen will not have the yellow jersey after
Hautacam

 

[Anticyclone]

Millar was interviewed at the end and reckoned that Cadel Evans looked pretty beat up. Not sure about the results - the interviewer said that Millar finished with the yellow jersey group but cyclingnews has him losing time? Anyway, Millar says that he was testing himself today and will just let them go tomorrow to save energy for breakaways later in the tour.

 

[peterlip]

Millar was interviewed at the end and reckoned that Cadel Evans looked pretty beat up. Not sure about the results - the interviewer said that Millar finished with the yellow jersey group but cyclingnews has him losing time? Anyway, Millar says that he was testing himself today and will just let them go tomorrow to save energy for breakaways later in the tour.

Letour.fr has Millar 4:34 down today. That's a long way from the yellow group.

 

[Anticyclone]

Yeah, sounds like the interviewer got it badly wrong.

 

[Powerful Pete]

Whoa. Heck of a win by Riccò. And he gets a minute back on GC. In the post race interview he continues to say he is not interested in GC and will take 'each day as it comes' and that he hopes to help Piepoli win a stage, maybe even tomorrow.

 

[Powerful Pete]

Letour.fr has Millar 4:34 down today. That's a long way from the yellow group.

On Eurosport the Italian commentators pointed out Millar coming into the finish 4.5 minutes down.

 

[Andrija]

Great ride by Ricco. He looked so strong today that I can't see who could challenge him in the mountains... But, there's, still, two weeks of racing and he's not so experience in the Tour as other GC contenders are.
Mentioning GC; after today, Ricco will be considered as a GC contender (he made up over a minute on a non-uphill finish). What I want to say is - he is a great climber, but not GC caliber yet. So, maybe he made mistake today. By today's effort he, probably, limited his future freedom in the race... He won't be let in the breakaways (to collect KOM points or win a stage from there), he'll be watched carefully as a danger man who can do a real damage to the lead group, so all his attacks will be heavily marked by several teams (riders).
But, then again, he already won two stages, he's very high in white jersey classification and (with this kind of form) he could finish in top 10 at the end... He doesn't need freedom anymore.

All in all - hats of for today's victory and lets see what happens in following stages.

 

[Cobblestones]

Mentioning GC; after today, Ricco will be considered as a GC contender (he made up over a minute on a non-uphill finish). What I want to say is - he is a great climber, but not GC caliber yet. So, maybe he made mistake today. By today's effort he, probably, limited his future freedom in the race... He won't be let in the breakaways (to collect KOM points or win a stage from there), he'll be watched carefully as a danger man who can do a real damage to the lead group, so all his attacks will be heavily marked by several teams (riders).

After seeing today's attack, I wonder who might have the courage to mark him.

 

[Andrija]

After seeing today's attack, I wonder who might have the courage to mark him.

Surely his attack was superb, impossible to defend. But, when he gets tired, his attacks won't be so explosive and in some other situation, someone will have to follow him.
It's going to be very hard for one man to follow his moves, but team work could neutralize his efforts.

 

[thoughtforfood]

Surely his attack was superb, impossible to defend. But, when he gets tired, his attacks won't be so explosive and in some other situation, someone will have to follow him.
It's going to be very hard for one man to follow his moves, but team work could neutralize his efforts.

We'll see tomorrow his intentions and strength.