2009 TDF stage 7: Barcelone - Andorre Arcalis 224 km



When you are drafting behind your own team members it's called tactics not wheelsucking.
The same as having sex with a consenting adult rather than non-consenting when it is called rape.
 
jhuskey said:
When you are drafting behind your own team members it's called tactics not wheelsucking.
The same as having sex with a consenting adult rather than non-consenting when it is called rape.

Very aptly put, must remember that definition - I knew there was something sinister about the serial wheelsucker Evans.

AC made a statement of intent today - follow me if you can . . . and they couldn't. I bet the Astana dinner table is fun tonight.
 
Complete bull**** tactics by Alpuerto. He knew he was doing something wrong when he attacked, because he looked like a teenager running from the cops. Armstrong was the strongest on this day, as evidenced by when he pulled back Evans' attack in about two seconds. Then the wheelsucker comes over the top and attacks all of them. Armstrong, the true pro, drops anchor on Evans' wheel and that's that.

Armstrong has no chance of winning now. If he was riding for AC when he was 20 seconds up, of course he is going to ride for AC now that AC has the lead on him.

The only chance for Lance is if somehow Contador does a Rasmussen in the time trial.

I could tell that Phil and Paul weren't too pleased today either....
 
Conti's behaviour looks a bit petulant so Lance looks good all round. If he finishes 2nd its better than most expected. If Conti wins its just be well as expected.
 
Question as I haven't watched the stage yet. To those who have, did it appear as if Lance couldn't follow? or did it appear that he decided not to?
 
Looked to me like he didn't try at all. Dunno whether thats cos he couldn't or whether it be tactics of the team.
 
Mansmind said:
Question as I haven't watched the stage yet. To those who have, did it appear as if Lance couldn't follow? or did it appear that he decided not to?

I have no emotional investment in LA's success or failure and I'm also unbiased pertaining to any of the pro cyclists, but I truly believe that if Lance could've gone with AC, he would've. Maybe several years ago he could've marked AC, but not today...
 
That went pretty much as expected. No huge time gaps. Next mountain top finish is Verbier which is even easier. So no huge time gaps there. So pretty much switch off and wait until the last week, only thing to do until then is count how many stage wins Cav gets :p.
 
Interesting stage today, great win for the French kid up the road. AC's move was clearly unscripted and Lance was pretty annoyed. I'm not convinced he couldn't have gone though but it would have meant open warfare between the two if he had. He may have thought it better to play the good team man, get on Evans' wheel and keep the uneasy truce going a bit longer. Contador would be unbeatable with the Astana team behind him but Armstrong isn't going to make it easy.
 
mrfrogger said:
Contador would be unbeatable with the Astana team behind him but Armstrong isn't going to make it easy.
Or conversely, Armstrong would be unbeatable with the Astana team behind him but Contador isn't going to make it easy.
 
Well now they are pretty much even on GC. If I were LA, that means open season if AC attacks again, but he wont. I think LA is just being patient and waiting until the last week. I still dont think anyone can beat AC, but we will see. If AC continues attacking, he could very well burn himself out. AC would be smart to just sit up and wait until the Alps, but he's young and likely wont do that.
 
No_Positives said:
Complete bull**** tactics by Alpuerto. He knew he was doing something wrong when he attacked, because he looked like a teenager running from the cops. Armstrong was the strongest on this day, as evidenced by when he pulled back Evans' attack in about two seconds.
What a load of rubbish. It has been clear that Contador has been waiting to do exactly this for quite a few months, and Armstrong, being pretty smart, knew it was going to happen. AC has clearly been a rank above any other rider for a year or two. The only surprise was that that he didn't go a little earlier and get more time.
There's only one Astana captain, and has only been one this year.
 
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akydo9ZMlKg"]YouTube - Tour de France 2009 stage 7 highlights 7-10-9 on Versus[/ame]
 
Eldrack said:
That went pretty much as expected. No huge time gaps. Next mountain top finish is Verbier which is even easier. So no huge time gaps there. So pretty much switch off and wait until the last week, only thing to do until then is count how many stage wins Cav gets :p.
I am just wondering what would have happend today if the final climb were more difficult. Maybe Contador couldn't handle 5km attack today and therefore went for some 20 seconds without much of risks. Contador accelerated but then went with the same speed as bunch. No big changes in GC after today's stage.

I would say that Verbier and Arcalis are of the same difficulty. Arcalis is at higher altitude (2240m vs 1468m) and is a bit longer (10,6km vs 8,8km) while Verbier is steeper (7,5% vs 7,1%). There aren't any other hard climbs in both stages. I agree that Verbier shouldn't provide serious time gaps.
 
i think Contador was hoping & praying that SOMEONE would attack on the last climb. for some reason (Astana pace??), no one did so he had to wait it out.

finally when Evans attacked, LA answered Evan's move, but Contador apparently was well within his fitness level. He knew he had legs and could probably ride away from the whole group, so he did. I am sure he knew he'd get a butt chewing tonight in the team bus, but why not go for it?

as for LA's response to the attack, LA either a). did the smart thing and didn't race to try to bring the whole group up to Contador, or b). didn't have the legs to stay with Contador's move all the way to the top of the climb.

IMHO, LA should be on his own. In spite of LA being Bruyneel's bro, Contador is NOT be on the team solely to help LA win #8. While LA may have proven in the Giro & so far in the Tour that he is still a great rider, that doesn't mean the team needs to bow down to him.

The big question is whether LA's big ego will let him step aside and ride for Contador, if indeed Contador continues to show signs of domination. But the same goes for Contador if he begins to fade.

Contador was the favorite going in. He showed in the TTT & this stage that he can, at a minimum, hang with LA -- and what we saw today, he can ride away from LA in the mountains. I have always viewed him as the team leader in spite of what we hear from the Versus crew.

but there are more stages to play out, so we'll see how it develops. if there is another individual time trial, perhaps that is what LA can use to regain an advantage over Contador. on the other hand, Contador might prove his is as good of a time trialer as Levi & LA.
 
Those of us who saw the Dauphine this year, saw how Contador after a great display of superlative climbing, literally blew up on the following days stages.

Contador is the Astana rider to beat.
Without a shadow of a doubt.

If Contador rides the race intelligently, there is nothing stopping him from winning this race.
 
Lance seems pretty ****** at Contador. Just rewatched his post race interview. Levi didn't seem too impressed either.
 

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