Stage 10 TDF : Grenoble - Courchevel
- Thread starter sopas
- Start date
T-mobile will dominate. CSC has the MJ and will not keep it. LA is weak and is done. Discovery is done. The fat lady(WBT) is singing.sopas said:
Tough call, which makes me exceedingly happy. I wanted an exciting, unpredictable Tour, and so far it's setting up that way. Frankly, I could see several different riders winning Tuesday. Vino seems like he's ready to do anything at any time; he may get sent up the road early, and if Ulle can't keep up with the pursuit they may let Vino go as hard as he's able. Ullrich is saying all the right things to make us believe he's ready for a breakout stage. Kloden's performance today is the biggest surprise of the Tour, IMO; I thought he was cooked. Basso has been lying in wait, and I suspect he's ready to try to make a statement. And then, of course, there's always Lance. The man is cagey, proud, and would probably like to throw a bit of cold water on all the talk about the weakness of he and his team this year.
I may change my opinion before the stage starts, but right now I like Vino and Armstrong, with Vino surging to the line to take about 5 seconds out of Lance at the top (and the bonus, of course).
I may change my opinion before the stage starts, but right now I like Vino and Armstrong, with Vino surging to the line to take about 5 seconds out of Lance at the top (and the bonus, of course).
i think its going to be between lance,vino and basso,ullrich usually struggles in the first real moutain stages in the tour and gets better by the third week,i hope im wrong i would like to see him at least following lance´s wheel.
i´m curious to see what heras and beloki willd do on that stage.
i´m curious to see what heras and beloki willd do on that stage.
Beloki has been hanging around. He is sitting in 18th on the GC 5 minutes down. He could play a significant role in the next few stages. I would love to see him the mix with LA, JU, Vino, and Basso.nonameboy said:
I think that this stage should provide a good indicator as to who really does fancy their chances for overall GC.
This will be a fascinating stage (I cycled this stage years ago : the climb to Courchevel is tough, but for me the Roselend was absolute torture : hard to forget the Roselend, in this riders case : one of those climbs that killed me).
I refer again to the TTT and Lance Armstrong : my impression then and my impression since is that LA is not at the same level as he was in prior years.
(if you recall LA was sweating profusely during the TTT : which is most unlike him and he was sweating far more than his team mates and his rivals).
I suspect that his closest rivals sense LA's vulnerability too, especially seeing Discovery's weakness in Stage 8.
I think CSC and Mobile will, independently, make Discovery and Armstrong work hard on this stage.
Banesto and Liberty also look like teams who relish the high mountains.
I think Heras and Beloki will be prominent on this stage.
I think Kloden might also try something.
The beauty of Mobile is that with three CG men (JU, AV and AK), they have options.
It was interesting to note that on stage 8, LA reacted only to AV and ignored AK when AK went away on the climb.
If LA continues to ignore and let Kloden go, then it merely piles on the pressure to LA because as Kloden cuts the deficit he (LA) will be forced to try to make all three Mobile riders, when they try to break away.
In the mean time he's got to consider CSC (Basso, Voigt, Jullich) as well.
A good dark horse bet might be Garzelli (Liquigas) for this stage.
Looking forward to this stage.
This will be a fascinating stage (I cycled this stage years ago : the climb to Courchevel is tough, but for me the Roselend was absolute torture : hard to forget the Roselend, in this riders case : one of those climbs that killed me).
I refer again to the TTT and Lance Armstrong : my impression then and my impression since is that LA is not at the same level as he was in prior years.
(if you recall LA was sweating profusely during the TTT : which is most unlike him and he was sweating far more than his team mates and his rivals).
I suspect that his closest rivals sense LA's vulnerability too, especially seeing Discovery's weakness in Stage 8.
I think CSC and Mobile will, independently, make Discovery and Armstrong work hard on this stage.
Banesto and Liberty also look like teams who relish the high mountains.
I think Heras and Beloki will be prominent on this stage.
I think Kloden might also try something.
The beauty of Mobile is that with three CG men (JU, AV and AK), they have options.
It was interesting to note that on stage 8, LA reacted only to AV and ignored AK when AK went away on the climb.
If LA continues to ignore and let Kloden go, then it merely piles on the pressure to LA because as Kloden cuts the deficit he (LA) will be forced to try to make all three Mobile riders, when they try to break away.
In the mean time he's got to consider CSC (Basso, Voigt, Jullich) as well.
A good dark horse bet might be Garzelli (Liquigas) for this stage.
Looking forward to this stage.
sonicman said:
I found the Roselend much harder to climb than Courchevel (not that Courchevel
was a picnic either but Roselend is a ballbreaker).
Ullrich is hurting on his right side after his tumble in the ditch today, God...please don't make that fall a decider! What is it exactly that Jan finds so hard on the steep climbs? Back in 97, he made a break for it, powering up a mountain top finish to win the stage and the yellow jersey. Is it that the speed of the peloton is much higher leading up to a mountain-top than in the past?limerickman said:
I think he'd do much better if he attacked before Lance and powered his way up. Perhaps then Lance wouldn't be able to get away from him then. I feel as long as he waits, he's playing into their hands. Aside from claims of 'Epo Lance' (which I saw painted on the roadside today), and his past weight problems, what's happened to the old Jan? The old Jan would be a force to be reckoned with against today's likes of Vino and Kloden, yet they seem to be leaders of T-mobile right now. sigh
being one of only two mountain-top finish stages, it does seem like there will be a lot of riders trying to establish dominance on tuesday.
Ullefan said:
I don't know where the jan Ullrich of 1996 and 1997 ever went to - to be honest.
I distinctly recall JU in 1996 as a rookie outclimbing practically everyone in that years TDF.
He was superb. One stage at Pamplona after going over the Soulor, Aubisque,
Marie Blanque, 260km stage he finished 4th 20 secs down on the stage winner.
Two days later he goes out and beat Indurain in the ITT by 56secs.
And that's at 22 years of age !
Ullrich always maintains that winning the TDF - once - is an end in itself.
I am not sure I go with that.
Being able to do what he did at 22 (and then winning the TDF at 23 in 1997)
he must dearly want to win the TDF again.
His talent alone would demand that he should have won the TDF more than once.
(His record as it is, finishing second 5 times in the TDF - is superb).
There are 3 mountain top finishes: Courchevel, Ax 3 Domaines and St. Lary Soulan.spockroyaltea said:
About Tuesday´s stage, I´d expect Moreau to leave in an early break looking for some polka dot jersey points, and being catched later by the main GC contenders.
I don`t think Voigt will stay with best climbers tomorrow..Similar threads
