Stage 5: Piacenza - Cremona, TTT 38 km

[mitosis]

Hey, beyond Savoldelli, Basso et Jan, how about DiLuca and Liquigas... a few seconds behind Disco...

Bravi!

In the whole scheme of things the gap between first and last was less than 2 minutes. That puts all the teams pretty close in my mind.

 

[cPritch67]

But neither will S Honchar, in my mind. M Rogers dreams on the TM website:

"If all goes well tomorrow, we have a chance of putting Serhiy Honchar into the maglia rosa. It's a big ask, but it is our goal. However, the competition is really stiff; Discovery, Gerolsteiner and CSC all have well-drilled time trial squads."

That's a huge ask, which will not be fulfilled! Honchar is 18 seconds behind Il Falco in GC now.

Ouch.......

 

[patch70]

My pick is DSC which is bad news for them as I always tip incorrectly.

Musette, feel free to blame me for your terrible loss.
Also, feel free to apologise to Michael Rogers et al.

 

[alibat]

I guess many of you will already have heard the excuse (sorry,'reason') for DCs poor show yesterday.
This on the Paceline:

With only the first three riders using the aero bars, Discovery opted for safety over streamline, as they were not willing to take unnecessary risks on a stage where they felt they were already in a position of power by being up on GC. With arms in the bars, and away from the brakes, there is more risk of an accident if a rider were to tire or make a mistake. But the result is more effort expended by the riders, but this was a pre-race decision the team made together.

So they deliberately underperformed ? Sorry, I don't buy it. LA was quoted on Eurosport that he expected his team to win so that shows this explanation up. They have to accept that they were beaten and outperformed on the day not just by one but two teams, not just by a second or so either. No sign of Musette yet? Do you think we should send out a search party?

 

[Eldrack]

I think they just didn't practise enough. They have some new guys in the TTT line (McCartney, Danielson, White, Joachim) and they haven't put enough hours in practising the formation with the new guys. If say they had Hincapie, Azevedo and Popovych on the team (who are all stronger than McCartney, White, Joachim) they probably could have won. But DC hasn't sent their strongest team to the Giro to help Paolo. Yes its a better team than last year but its not the strongest squad (I guess they do have to send Popo and at least one helper to defend the Catalunya title though). So the DC team has some strong riders in it, but they just don't have their full A* team that they used to send out to help LA, end of story. Hence they got trashed by CSC, who have sent nearly their best team (only Zariskie missing) and a very strong T-Mobile squad.

If DC had wanted to win this TTT, they should have brought a stronger squad perhaps. Tactical error there as now Savoldelli only has one TT to make up time on Di Luca (no time in the TTT), Cunego and Simoni. He could have had at least another 30 seconds on them at this point. He could have also still been ahead of Basso, but now Basso is ahead, will take out more time in the ITT and we'll have to wait and see what happens in the mountains.

 

[limerickman]

I guess many of you will already have heard the excuse (sorry,'reason') for DCs poor show yesterday.
This on the Paceline:

With only the first three riders using the aero bars, Discovery opted for safety over streamline, as they were not willing to take unnecessary risks on a stage where they felt they were already in a position of power by being up on GC. With arms in the bars, and away from the brakes, there is more risk of an accident if a rider were to tire or make a mistake. But the result is more effort expended by the riders, but this was a pre-race decision the team made together.

Alibat, DC and their PR people always try to put the best spin on stories.
For them to try to claim that they were playing it safe is rubbish.

Do you think we should send out a search party?

When the TTT started, Musette posted 7 messages in sequence on this thread, message 47-53.
Obviously she was watching the results and in expectation of her boys doing well she'd started the usual preamble to what she hoped would be a DC win (if you look back at her posts throughout the 2005 TDF, she used to do the very same).

But obviously she realised that things were going wrong - and since then.
NOTHING.

In hindsight when she posts **** like this, what else can you expect?

But neither will S Honchar, in my mind. M Rogers dreams on the TM website:

"If all goes well tomorrow, we have a chance of putting Serhiy Honchar into the maglia rosa. It's a big ask, but it is our goal. However, the competition is really stiff; Discovery, Gerolsteiner and CSC all have well-drilled time trial squads."

That's a huge ask, which will not be fulfilled! FPRIVATE "TYPE=PICT;ALT=" Honchar is 18 seconds behind Il Falco in GC now

Musettes's not a cycling fan - she's a troll.

 

[limerickman]

Myself, WBT and Lwedge were making the case for Liberty Seguros in the TTT.
I think we predicted a good result for them.

looking at the result, it's obvious that things didn't go well for them yesterday.

Francais des Jeux had a good result, 4th.

 

[Dead Star]

Myself, WBT and Lwedge were making the case for Liberty Seguros in the TTT.
I think we predicted a good result for them.

looking at the result, it's obvious that things didn't go well for them yesterday.

Francais des Jeux had a good result, 4th.

yo Limmers, can you sticky the stage 6 thread i've created? cheers.

 

[limerickman]

yo Limmers, can you sticky the stage 6 thread i've created? cheers.

Done!

 

[whiteboytrash]

Rub it in why don't you !

Agreed I though Liberty would do better...... but Selle-Italia were ahead of DC at the first time check so things aren't that bad !

Lim: Have you seen the footage yet ? You really have to see Big Jan driving on the front of the train..... I fairly sure I saw the road melting behind him....

Myself, WBT and Lwedge were making the case for Liberty Seguros in the TTT.
I think we predicted a good result for them.

looking at the result, it's obvious that things didn't go well for them yesterday.

Francais des Jeux had a good result, 4th.

 

[limerickman]

Rub it in why don't you !

Agreed I though Liberty would do better...... but Selle-Italia were ahead of DC at the first time check so things aren't that bad !

Lim: Have you seen the footage yet ? You really have to see Big Jan driving on the front of the train..... I fairly sure I saw the road melting behind him....

A mate of mine taped the stage - so I will get to see it later today.

Here's what Honchar had to say "Ullrich and Rogers did extraordinary work. When either one of them was at the front I was in difficulty. In the last 5k I was having trouble breathing, they were pulling so hard."

 

[cyclingheroes]

Agreed I though Liberty would do better......

Liberty anounced that they had 2 sick riders: Yakovlev and De Kort.... But that can't be the only reason...

 

[lwedge]

Liberty anounced that they had 2 sick riders: Yakovlev and De Kort.... But that can't be the only reason...

I figured something was wrong. I felt they had a chance at taking the 3 or 4 spot yesterday with a good chance at 2nd. Oh well with 2 riders not up to it that would make the difference in taking pulls and every ONCE helps.

For what it's Wurth, Vino would have been a huge factor in the TTT for LSW but I still don't think LSW would have been a threat to CSC nor TM's performance yesterday.

lw

 

[saluki]

A mate of mine taped the stage - so I will get to see it later today.

Here's what Honchar had to say "Ullrich and Rogers did extraordinary work. When either one of them was at the front I was in difficulty. In the last 5k I was having trouble breathing, they were pulling so hard."

Big Jan still has a big engine in that big butt. But let's remember that the TTT stage was flat to slightly down hill. When he has to haul that big butt up the mountain, it will be a different story. I think that Jan will be lucky to break into the top 30 by the end of the race. Remember, Jan couldn't beat Levi Lepheimer in his home country and when he was in shape.

 

[bobke]

Big Jan still has a big engine in that big butt. But let's remember that the TTT stage was flat to slightly down hill. When he has to haul that big butt up the mountain, it will be a different story. I think that Jan will be lucky to break into the top 30 by the end of the race. Remember, Jan couldn't beat Levi Lepheimer in his home country and when he was in shape.

Very good memory oh wise one, and that was his homeland tour, after the TdF when he shpuld have been in shape.

 

[saluki]

Very good memory oh wise one, and that was his homeland tour, after the TdF when he shpuld have been in shape.

Speaking of Levi. My bet is that he's at home getting into the best shape of his life. He probably believes that he has a shot at the TDF. If hard work can get Levi on the podium, then he will be on the podium. But I'm not sure if Levi has enough natural talent to begin with.

 

[barnstorm]

I guess many of you will already have heard the excuse (sorry,'reason') for DCs poor show yesterday.
This on the Paceline:

With only the first three riders using the aero bars, Discovery opted for safety over streamline, as they were not willing to take unnecessary risks on a stage where they felt they were already in a position of power by being up on GC. With arms in the bars, and away from the brakes, there is more risk of an accident if a rider were to tire or make a mistake. But the result is more effort expended by the riders, but this was a pre-race decision the team made together.

So they deliberately underperformed ? Sorry, I don't buy it. LA was quoted on Eurosport that he expected his team to win so that shows this explanation up. They have to accept that they were beaten and outperformed on the day not just by one but two teams, not just by a second or so either. No sign of Musette yet? Do you think we should send out a search party?

Who do they think they are kidding with that ****? Anyone who has ever ridden a bike in a paceline (Musette, paceline is a cycling term... I am not referring to riding a bike around Lance's fansite) knows that the line goes exactly as fast as the first rider in the line. Whether the people behind the first rider were in their aero bars or not has nothing to do with the pace of the group, only with how well they can handle their bikes when they are drafting (this is another cycling term, want to make sure the Lance fans that have never cycled can keep up). It is true that drafting in the aero bars is dangerous because you can't hit your brakes very quickly if anything happens. I have done a ton of paceline riding on my TT bike and it doesn't much make a difference in the drafting whether I am in my bars or not... perhaps a little. I suppose they could make the case that the guys in the back got less drafting benefit so they were more tired but that is the only possible effect on the speed of the line. That is a pathetic job of spin. They lost.

 

[saluki]

Who do they think they are kidding with that ****? Anyone who has ever ridden a bike in a paceline (Musette, paceline is a cycling term... I am not referring to riding a bike around Lance's fansite) knows that the line goes exactly as fast as the first rider in the line. Whether the people behind the first rider were in their aero bars or not has nothing to do with the pace of the group, only with how well they can handle their bikes when they are drafting (this is another cycling term, want to make sure the Lance fans that have never cycled can keep up). It is true that drafting in the aero bars is dangerous because you can't hit your brakes very quickly if anything happens. I have done a ton of paceline riding on my TT bike and it doesn't much make a difference in the drafting whether I am in my bars or not... perhaps a little. I suppose they could make the case that the guys in the back got less drafting benefit so they were more tired but that is the only possible effect on the speed of the line. That is a pathetic job of spin. They lost.

While DISCO's performance was certainly disappointing, I don't see what the big deal is. It's still only one stage of a 21 stage tour. With Lance the DISCO team was the equal of CSC. You have to expect a drop off without him. Also, the abscence of Hincappie and Popovich can't have helped. And this should be an indication to Bruneel that it's time to retire some people. Ekimov is no longer pulling his weight. The Spanish Armada has always been a liability in the TTT, and they have not contributed significantly in the mountains since the 2004 TDF.

 

[limerickman]

I've just watched the tape of the TTT and I have to say that I thought CSC and TMO both rode out of their collective skins.

Rogers, Honchar really did blast it and JU followed through to bring them home and he was seriously moving.

CSC looked superb, i though Julich was really impressive - as was Basso and Voigt.

DC looked disorganised and I have to say that the newer members (McCartney & co) didn't look too willing on their turn.

 

[cyclingheroes]

Big Jan still has a big engine in that big butt. But let's remember that the TTT stage was flat to slightly down hill. When he has to haul that big butt up the mountain, it will be a different story. I think that Jan will be lucky to break into the top 30 by the end of the race. Remember, Jan couldn't beat Levi Lepheimer in his home country and when he was in shape.

Has Musette changed into Saluki and Leipheimer?