Interesting first real day in the mountians ......
- Thread starter Daremo
- Start date
Lance rode as expected, he is incredible..
The stars of the day were Landis and Hincapie. Check out their results from the first KOM and look at the two that were pushing the pace when Hamilton and Ullrich cracked! They deserve a ton of credit for today. Acevedo and Rubiera didn't have to pull until almost 2/3 of the way up.. WOW..
The stars of the day were Landis and Hincapie. Check out their results from the first KOM and look at the two that were pushing the pace when Hamilton and Ullrich cracked! They deserve a ton of credit for today. Acevedo and Rubiera didn't have to pull until almost 2/3 of the way up.. WOW..
No ....... Azevedo was the real hero for USPS today ..........
He set the tempo that cracked Ullrich and Hamilton ..........
Only the first mountain day though. Tomorrow is much harder. And the Alps are still a week away ..........
I'm still not putting any money on LA (even though my guy is now down almost three minutes ...............)
He set the tempo that cracked Ullrich and Hamilton ..........
Only the first mountain day though. Tomorrow is much harder. And the Alps are still a week away ..........
I'm still not putting any money on LA (even though my guy is now down almost three minutes ...............)
Whos is your real guy? Heras? Hamilton and Ulrich MAY be able to overcome the deficit, but only because they can TT somewhere near Lance. The pure climbers (Heras, Mayo, etc) really need Armstrong to crack, and I don't think that will happen.
I will have to watch the next re-run to see who was pushing the tempo, I thought Big George was still on the front, but I could be wrong. I know Acevedo didn't have to do nearly as much work as he was expected to do. At one point the leading 30 had 5 USPS. What happened to Beltran? He dropped early.
Anyone surprised that Kloden did not wait for Ulrich? Ulrich had some good riders with him, so maybe Telekom was not worried...
I will have to watch the next re-run to see who was pushing the tempo, I thought Big George was still on the front, but I could be wrong. I know Acevedo didn't have to do nearly as much work as he was expected to do. At one point the leading 30 had 5 USPS. What happened to Beltran? He dropped early.
Anyone surprised that Kloden did not wait for Ulrich? Ulrich had some good riders with him, so maybe Telekom was not worried...
My money is still on Ullrich ............
He is a good climber, but does not like rain, and they had rain on the Col D'Aspin today, even though he lost it on the Tourmalet.
Hincapie and the rest of the Posties got them to the Tourmalet, but it was Azevedo who set a blistering tempo (at least according to Cyclingnews coverage as I read it this morning - have to see tonight when I get home from work and watch Al trouthead and Bobke do the call) and that's when everyone started dropping off.
Gonna be another good stage tomorrow!
LA says he "let" Basso win because of his ailing-with-cancer mother and LA felt sympathetic. Hmmmmmmmmmm ............
He is a good climber, but does not like rain, and they had rain on the Col D'Aspin today, even though he lost it on the Tourmalet.
Hincapie and the rest of the Posties got them to the Tourmalet, but it was Azevedo who set a blistering tempo (at least according to Cyclingnews coverage as I read it this morning - have to see tonight when I get home from work and watch Al trouthead and Bobke do the call) and that's when everyone started dropping off.
Gonna be another good stage tomorrow!
LA says he "let" Basso win because of his ailing-with-cancer mother and LA felt sympathetic. Hmmmmmmmmmm ............
Today was a ditto of yesterday .............
Evryone but Basso is really out of it now .......... hard to pull back 3 minutes or more on LA unless the team totally loses it in the Alps.
Posties were VERY impressive today.
Beaucoup koodo's to Voeckler!! I like to cheer the underdog, glad he made it today!! Really impressive for such a young rider. He gets the maillot jaune until the Alps now.
Evryone but Basso is really out of it now .......... hard to pull back 3 minutes or more on LA unless the team totally loses it in the Alps.
Posties were VERY impressive today.
Beaucoup koodo's to Voeckler!! I like to cheer the underdog, glad he made it today!! Really impressive for such a young rider. He gets the maillot jaune until the Alps now.
Daremo said:
I agree that Voeckler is a big story in this year's Tour. But if he expects to be a Tour contender in the future, he will have to learn to climb better. He was also something like 101st in the Prologue. So he might not be such a great TT man, either. He owes the whole lead to the one day breakaway effort that USPS and other teams saw would not be a threat in the final GC. They let them have the win. Tour contenders would not have had such a gift.
What is impressive about Voeckler is, as you say, his underdog status. He's clearly very proud to be in yellow. He will do everything short of dying to keep it on his back as long as he can.
How about some kudos for Basso?
I appreciate the work done by the Postal team, but then again, that was expected, wasn't it?
How about the CSC boy,, 11th at the tour two years ago, 7th last year, and now hanging with the big boy. Hope he can last the entire Tour and make the podium!
I appreciate the work done by the Postal team, but then again, that was expected, wasn't it?
How about the CSC boy,, 11th at the tour two years ago, 7th last year, and now hanging with the big boy. Hope he can last the entire Tour and make the podium!
Not sure of Basso's TT abilities, but he is very strong in the mountains.
Interesting that LA said in the interview after today's stage that the Posties tried really hard to sign him! If that was the case, then where would the tour be today? LA'd have it won already for good ..........
Wonder if he'll be the next Bugno or Panatani for the tifossi? It was good to see Simoni up there as well. I put him in my hypothetical top ten for the finish this year, and he is there prety much.
Interesting that LA said in the interview after today's stage that the Posties tried really hard to sign him! If that was the case, then where would the tour be today? LA'd have it won already for good ..........
Wonder if he'll be the next Bugno or Panatani for the tifossi? It was good to see Simoni up there as well. I put him in my hypothetical top ten for the finish this year, and he is there prety much.
I would rather see Simeoni in a ditch! The stunt he pulled in the Giro has lost all respect for that man, he attacked his teamate (and pink jersey), it could have cost SAECO the entire tour. He's an idiot.
Basso on the other hand is a worthy opponent and a seems like a great guy. Last year he gave up 6 minutes to Lance in the time trial, so I don't think there is too much of a yello jersey threat, but who knows... One slip up by Lance in the mountains and Basso could certainly put a few minutes into him. And we all know that GC hopes can greatly change a riders time trialing ability (Lemond in 86, Lipeheimer in the vuelta two years ago, and the list goes on).. So, it is certainly not over, but it is a two man race. And thankfully both of the guys are easy to root for!
Basso on the other hand is a worthy opponent and a seems like a great guy. Last year he gave up 6 minutes to Lance in the time trial, so I don't think there is too much of a yello jersey threat, but who knows... One slip up by Lance in the mountains and Basso could certainly put a few minutes into him. And we all know that GC hopes can greatly change a riders time trialing ability (Lemond in 86, Lipeheimer in the vuelta two years ago, and the list goes on).. So, it is certainly not over, but it is a two man race. And thankfully both of the guys are easy to root for!
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