Stage 16: Rovato - Trento Monte Bondone, 173 km

[musette]

Well, at least he has salvaged wins at the Prologue of the TdRomandie and Stage 1 of the Giro. He also will have the Blue Jersey and it is not inconceivable he could somehow manage to remain third in GC (although that seems unlikely given his current condition).

Savo has produced the only ProTour wins for DC so far. So, he isn't doing terribly, although he is doing well below what he and the team would have expected of him.

 

[whiteboytrash]

Is Ullrich holding back?

Well Ullrich is not trying and still beating TD who is trying ! You do the math !

 

[thebluetrain]

Well Ullrich is not trying and still beating TD who is trying ! You do the math !

TD 15 minutes back
JU 34 minutes back.
Thats a 19 minute difference. Here we go with the exaggerations again. Ullrich not trying???? Looks like he was trying in the TTT and ITT.

 

[limerickman]

OK, I have to follow CN until such time as I can watch the Eurosport downloads that have been available on torrents. But my reading today was that Rubiera made more than just an "appearance" but instead a long, long pull - am I wrong? (I haven't seen mention of Rubiera before today, true.) And my impression was that Danielson was in fact leading him up a number of climbs, for example stage 8, or stage 13 (releasing before the final descent). Am I wrong?


Indeed, Savo has not given in, but see what he said today about "motivation"...

http://www.dailypeloton.com/displayarticle.asp?pk=9463
1820 CEST - Paolo Savoldelli waved the white flag. Well, he probably did on the early climbs of this race already. But the 2005 contest champion gave a further confirmation of that in today's brief after stage interviews, saying that in this period things get hard for him since the beginning of each climb: "I try to hang on, but I can't. I'm waiting for things to get better, but they don't, they get worse instead. I'm waiting for (this hard time) to be over. But it isn't. And I'm losing motivation. (When it comes to my overall bid) the Giro is over. It was before this stage, as you just can't gain 5-6 minutes over such an on-form Ivan Basso. And now, it's just even more."

It hasn't been his year...

Danielson went backward today when the pressure was applied by CSC.
In the same way that he went backward on stage 14 when the pressure was applied.
On stage 8 (a more flat stage) he did provide support to Savoldelli.
I understood that this man was supposed to be a climber - on each climbing stage he has gone backward and hasn't been ahead of Savoldelli sheparding him for an attack.
That was what TD was supposed to be doing for Savoldelli.

Rubiera on todays stage did make an appearance and he did work for Savoldelli. Yes Rubiera was there for a while but his work didn't really amount to much in terms of Savodelli limiting losses to his immediate opponents.
Simoni managed to gain three minutes on Savoldelli to bring the GC time gap back to a matter of seconds on the overall standings.

 

[saluki]

Well Ullrich is not trying and still beating TD who is trying ! You do the math !

How do you know that Ullrich was not trying today?

 

[saluki]

and hasn't been ahead of Savoldelli sheparding him for an attack.

Do you mean setting Savoldelli up for making an attack? Where do you get the idea that Savoldelli had the strenght to launch an attack?

Or do you mean that he should have defended Savoldelli against an attack? But no one attacked Savoldelli. They simply rode him off their wheel. There is nothing anyone can do about that. If Salvoldelli can't hold on to someone elses wheel then he cannot hold on to a teamates wheel that is going the same speed as that other person.

 

[saluki]

Danielson went backward today when the pressure was applied by CSC.

Ullrich went backwards today when pressure was applied by CSC.

 

[musette]

And it's too easy to say that JU wasn't trying, and that JU isn't on form and he's overweight (the last two points being accurate) --> and then to infer that JU will beat Basso in the Tour when he might be more on form and less overweight.

I don't think things are so rosy for JU, and anybody with eyes can see JU has his work cut out for him given Basso's performance so far this year. If DC can't beat JU in the Tour, then I'm not sure who I would rather win the Tour.

 

[saluki]

And it's too easy to say that JU wasn't trying, and that JU isn't on form and he's overweight (the last two points being accurate) --> and then to infer that JU will beat Basso in the Tour when he might be more on form and less overweight.

I don't think things are so rosy for JU, and anybody with eyes can see JU has his work cut out for him given Basso's performance so far this year. If DC can't beat JU in the Tour, then I'm not sure who I would rather win the Tour.

I'm a DC fan musette. But we have to accept the fact that DC is headless at the moment. I can't even see a top 5 in the TDF for them. Be patient - they will resolve the problem. Tommy D won't be the answer, and neither will Savoldelli or Popovitch. But they will find one eventually.

 

[Ullefan]

Ullrich...very impressive.

Last week he was finishing 16 minutes behind the winner, today 5 minutes.
He pushed himself today and rode up at his own tempo, though not going into the red. Although tommorow will be testament to that. There was a nice shot of his group crossing the finish with wim van huffel patting him on the back...this man gets alot of respect.

 

[doctorSpoc]

Ullrich went backwards today when pressure was applied by CSC.

c'mon... you have to admit you see a steady trend for JU upward and a downward trend for TD... JU was over 16 mins back on the 1st mountain stage and now on the hardest mountain stage to date he's only 5 min back. TD was 2 min back on that stage and now he's coming in behind JU... i think you have to admit that a fair minded, reasonable person might look at this and conclude... it would seem that JU is coming into form and probably testing himself more and more and TD's inexperience at the very highest levels is starting to show?

... and holy **** Basso is on fire! tomorrow is the big show though... can Simoni win on Corones? this has to be Simoni's best change to make up any time at all and to pull out a stage victory... will be interesting to see if he can do it... if Basso wins that on... Ullrich will have his hands full in the TdF... that said with the form Basso seems to be displaying a fit Ullrich is probably the only one in the peleton that can challenge him

 

[discobean7]

I expect big things from Discovery tomorrow. I just read a blog from one of DC's mechanics. He says that not only was TD's rear brake rubbing for the entire stage, but he has also "forgotten" to drink ANY fluids for the last 4 days. Also Salvodelli has been "feigning" his allergy problems in order to unleash a vicious attack tomorrow. They expect to take 20 minutes out of all the GC contenders during tomorrow's mountaintop finish.

 

[doctorSpoc]

I expect big things from Discovery tomorrow. I just read a blog from one of DC's mechanics. He says that not only was TD's rear brake rubbing for the entire stage, but he has also "forgotten" to drink ANY fluids for the last 4 days. Also Salvodelli has been "feigning" his allergy problems in order to unleash a vicious attack tomorrow. They expect to take 20 minutes out of all the GC contenders during tomorrow's mountaintop finish.

the day of reckoning is upon us... funny

 

[saluki]

c'mon... you have to admit you see a steady trend for JU upward and a downward trend for TD... JU was over 16 mins back on the 1st mountain stage and now on the hardest mountain stage to date he's only 5 min back. TD was 2 min back on that stage and now he's coming in behind JU... i think you have to admit that a fair minded, reasonable person might look at this and conclude... it would seem that JU is coming into form and probably testing himself more and more and TD's inexperience at the very highest levels is starting to show?

Yeap, JU is always in pretty good shape at the end of a long stage race. Like last year, he was in good shape by the end of the TDF. Then a short time later he got beat in the Tour of Germany by Levi. He seems to be capable of getting out of shape as quickly as he gets into it.

 

[mitosis]

Now can I start thinking about Basso winning the double?

 

[whiteboytrash]

We should be talking about Gutierrez... he derserves more newsprint than TD.. riding very well.... anyone have any info on him ? Could be a good support for Landis in the Tour....

 

[Eldrack]

If Gutierrez holds onto his second place at the Giro then he is probably strong enough to do better at the TdF than Landis. Mind you, Gutierrez is Spanish so could well skip the TdF and be team leader at the Vuelta.

 

[limerickman]

Do you mean setting Savoldelli up for making an attack? Where do you get the idea that Savoldelli had the strenght to launch an attack?

Or do you mean that he should have defended Savoldelli against an attack? But no one attacked Savoldelli. They simply rode him off their wheel. There is nothing anyone can do about that. If Salvoldelli can't hold on to someone elses wheel then he cannot hold on to a teamates wheel that is going the same speed as that other person.

I didn't refer to Savoldelli attacking or Savoldelli defending an attack.

What I said was that Rubiera should be sheparding Savoldelli.

I presume that you're acquainted with the sport of cycling and understand what we're talking about here.
A domestique stays by the side of the team leader. That's what sheparding means.

 

[limerickman]

And it's too easy to say that JU wasn't trying,

For the umpteenth time - Ullrich is riding the Giro for training.
That means he is not competing.
That's plain english - plain enough for even you to understand.

(the last two points being accurate) -->

No, your information is inaccurate - just as it was inaccurate when you spouted about Hoste and his reasosn for leaving DC, your advocacy of Danielson being Giro tema leader, your prediction about Savoldelli retaining the Giro...........................(endless list of inaccuracies and far too many to waste time listing).

I don't think things are so rosy for JU, and anybody with eyes can see JU has his work cut out for him given Basso's performance so far this year. If DC can't beat JU in the Tour, then I'm not sure who I would rather win the Tour. :

.....rivetting.

 

[mitosis]

Ullrich went backwards today when pressure was applied by CSC.

IMHO there is a difference. Ullrich chose not to chase, by all reports he was not hurting a great deal, while Danielson would have liked to chase - but he couldn't.