TDF Stage 4 Tours - Blois TTT : Spoiler



musette said:
Interesting CSC was shedding not only Zabriskie in the final portions before 1 km, but also Carlos Sastre (formerly a would-be GC contender for past years) and Luke Roberts. Riis was accurate in saying nobody would be waited for (except persumably Basso) if they fell behind after the first 40 km.

15 Carlos Sastre (Spa) Team CSC 0.06
16 Luke Roberts (Aus) Team CSC 0.10

Also shedding light on the folly of TM's picks for the TdF team, guess who were shedded except some of the people Kummer/Olaf had picked for their purported TT prowess?

88 Stephan Schreck (Ger) T-Mobile Team 2.01
88 Daniele Nardello (Ita) T-Mobile Team
179 Tobias Steinhauser (Ger) T-Mobile Team 7.17

Especially Schreck and Steinhauser.

Nicely, Popo starts in white tomorrow (although nobody, Popo included, will care at DC). It was nice to see B Noval in the front row on the podium, beside Hincapie, now beaming since he was able to keep up. :p
The team tactic was for Steinhauser and Schreck to give it 100% in the first 50km, they're just excess weight in the final part espcially as it goes uphill. Musette you always must find something to criticise don't you?
 
homeycheese said:
hey lim, i've been searching the rules but I don't think the kilo/group time rule applies to TTT. i missed the audio feed, did any of the commentators suggest otherwise?
The Eurosport guys said they don't apply even in the last Km.

L
 
Hmm, that's correct re: Stainhauser being deliberately shed. T-Mobile now indicates: "Three kilometres later, Tobias Steinhauser dropped off the back, a victim of his own pace making. "It was planned that Tobias would sacrifice himself in the earlier part of the course, take some big turns at the front and keep the tempo high for as long as he could," said Ludwig. Significantly, T-Mobile shed two more riders in the last few kilometres, coming home with six, whereas all nine Disco boys finished together."

From cyclingnews live coverage (approx times):

3:40 p.m. (15:40) - T-Mobile starts off

16:31 CEST
Tobias Steinhauser (TMO) is dropped.

Around 50 minutes into the 1.10.39 ride (using DC's faster time), Steinhauser gets shed.

The 1 km rule definitely applies to TTT. The regular rule for other stages (except obviously ITT) is now 3 km, but for TTT, it's 1 km. That was added in response to Simoni arguments he got a separate time last year because he fell in the final parts.
 
When two riders have the same time, but one rider wins the stage, the jersey goes to the stage winner.

IOW, Discovery won the stage so Armstrong gets yellow even if he has the same time as Zabriskie.
 
That was terrible. A great TTT marred by the worst possible crash: the yellow jersey crashing just outside 1 km. If he hadn't crashed CSC might have come in a second or two faster. Whatever the case, I was so disappointed to see this, both for CSC and Zabriskie.

T-Mobile and Liberty were wonderful. Discovery excellent, not surprisingly. Phonak looked out of practise on TTT...
 
limerickman said:
Looking at the TTT footage on Eurosport, did anyone notice how much LA was sweating ?
He appeared to be sweating profusely during the TTT :

I noticed when he crossed the finish line with a final 'thrust' several drops left his face.
 
Bjørn P.Dal said:
I noticed when he crossed the finish line with a final 'thrust' several drops left his face.
I saw the same thing happen in a porno I watched with my wife last night. Is Armstrong related to Peter North?
 
limerickman said:
Looking at the TTT footage on Eurosport, did anyone notice how much LA was sweating ?
He appeared to be sweating profusely during the TTT :

I know that they were travelling at 60kph and naturally riders will sweat but compared to the other riders in his team and his fellow competitors, LA seemed to be sweating profusely.
The corresponding shots of Julich, Voigt, Ullrich showed guys who weren't sweating as profusely (and these guys were travelling as quickly as LA).
I didn't actually see the TT that close, but it is my understanding that Lance had some extremly long pulls at the front. If that was the case, he must have wanted the last TT he rode real bad. Maybe he thought he could catch Ullrich again and pass him. Maybe after Sherwin's comments the other day , he wanted to catch the "strawberry" again and share it with his teammates.
 
rejobako said:
I saw the same thing happen in a porno I watched with my wife last night. Is Armstrong related to Peter North?

He could be. After all, both are renowned for their impressive finishes...
 
Lonnie Utah said:
The Eurosport guys said they don't apply even in the last Km.

L

Sean Kelly and David Harmon on Eurosport both quoted the TTT rule book saying "that if DZ had fallen within the last 1000metres he would have been accorded the CSC finish time (that is the time of the fifth CSC rider crossing the finish
line), However because DZ fell before the final 1000 metre mark, he can't have the same time recorded as his team mates who crossed the finish line ".

They're the rules folks.
 
gpriatko said:
When two riders have the same time, but one rider wins the stage, the jersey goes to the stage winner.

IOW, Discovery won the stage so Armstrong gets yellow even if he has the same time as Zabriskie.

The time difference on Eurosport today showed that Discovery beat the CSC time by 1.97 seconds, in the TTT.

DZ had two seconds to spare on LA before the start of todays stage : so if DZ had fallen within the final 1000 metres, he would still be in Yellow tonight, because 1.97 secs, isn't 2 secs.
It's an academic discussion anyhow because DZ fell before 1,000 metre mark.
 
Nice return of serve ! :eek:) Armstrong only has one ball so couldn't really compare him to the great Peter North.....

rejobako said:
I saw the same thing happen in a porno I watched with my wife last night. Is Armstrong related to Peter North?
 
lim, It is quite possible that had he not fallen, his team would have finished first. That would not only keep him in yellow but would be a nice feather for the sponsor.
limerickman said:
The time difference on Eurosport today showed that Discovery beat the CSC time by 1.97 seconds, in the TTT.
DZ had two seconds to spare on LA before the start of todays stage : so if DZ had fallen within the final 1000 metres, he would still be in Yellow tonight, because 1.97 secs, isn't 2 secs.
It's an academic discussion anyhow because DZ fell before 1,000 metre mark.
 
ilpirata said:
lim, It is quite possible that had he not fallen, his team would have finished first. That would not only keep him in yellow but would be a nice feather for the sponsor.

I reckon CSC would have won the TTT if he had stayed on board : they were flying as it was.
Did you see Voigt ? He was blasting.
 
ilpirata said:
lim, It is quite possible that had he not fallen, his team would have finished first. That would not only keep him in yellow but would be a nice feather for the sponsor.

I agree with this. What position was DZ in at the time? Looked like about five back to me, but I can't remember. Anyway, those behind him would have to get around. I can't believe no one else went down.
 
tcklyde said:
I agree with this. What position was DZ in at the time? Looked like about five back to me, but I can't remember. Anyway, those behind him would have to get around. I can't believe no one else went down.

You're right.
DZ was slap bang in the middle of the group : it is a wonder that other CSC riders weren't brought down.
 
It's a real shame because DZ is an absolute monster against the clock. He was certainly one of the key engines in the CSC train.

Still, looking at the DC roster ... even losing by 2 seconds to them is a heck of an accomplishment.
 
ca be any surprises? maybe valverde?



wolfix said:
:D
We know who the sprinter is ...........
:)
We know who the time trialers are ........
:confused:
The only question left .......
Who are the climbers ????
 
Well it's easy this years TTT was deadflat except for the last bit. So everyone knew the gaps would be a lot smaller............last years TTT was lots harder!

Nonetheless a very good ride by T-Mobile and liberty. Phonak and gerolsteiner disappointed me!

And Zabriskie well it's sad........but that's bike racing too!


limerickman said:
On the road : Mobile were 1min 19secs down on time to USPS in the 2004 TDF TTT.

So 34 seconds this year is a big improvement on last years performance in TTT.

The 1min 34sec deficit is the "on the road deficit", provisional between LA and JU, on GC.
Vino is 1min 26secs down on LA, on the same basis.
 

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