TdF 2010 - Comments and possible spoilers

[Ivo]

Part of the Belgian TV coverage usually pops up at youtube sooner or later, quite often fairly soon after the finish.

[teethgrinder]

    Lance Armstrong reveals secret weapon in Tour de France - Liverpool Echo - A Cyclist's Life

    

Thanks.

I wondered what Jack Eason was up to these days.

[perpetual dan]

There was an odd noise coming from Boardman's bike when he was doing his ride of the end of the course. They should scan it for motors.

[citoyen]

IMO Cancellara abused the authority of the yellow jersey to protect Saxo's GC contender, Shleck, who was one of the riders affected by the mele.

Glad I'm not the only one who had that thought. Very suspect behaviour. If I was Hushovd, I'd be livid.

d.

[Tim]

Hushovd does appear to have made the noises of a rather grumpy man after the stage.

[citoyen]

Very pleased for Chavanel though. He deserves it more than most.

d.

[IanDG]

IMO Cancellara abused the authority of the yellow jersey to protect Saxo's GC contender, Shleck, who was one of the riders affected by the mele.

Glad I'm not the only one who had that thought. Very suspect behaviour. If I was Hushovd, I'd be livid.

d.

Schleck would have been well stuffed if the sprinters teams put the hammer down in the closing kilometres.

Hushovd missed a good chance to score points on Cav too.

What next - riders getting onto buses on the top of a Pyrenean climb and all starting at the same time gaps when the bus has taken them safely down the descent?

[Exit Stage Left]

It's an interesting problem, the inclusion of elements of the classics can be seen as a criticism of riders who build their season around the Tour to the exclusion of the great one day races, but you can't really expect to have a series of one day races in a three week tour. What the Peleton expects is a first week where a suicide breakaway is reeled in by the sprinter's trains and the GC contenders get to stretch their legs in the early stage of the chase down or lead out.  They don't want to be involved in a proper race. Will we see Voigt, Contador and Armstrong on the front today, essentially neutralising the race until after the cobbles?

[SpaceBadger]

IMO Cancellara abused the authority of the yellow jersey to protect Saxo's GC contender, Shleck, who was one of the riders affected by the mele.

I agree. He took his authority slightly too far. I'd not have been pleased had I been waiting at the finish for 4 hours to see the sprint.

Good on Chavanel, though. Great ride. I think this is the first year in ages I've not put him in my fantasy team. 

[Rig of Jarkness]

Reading the riders quotes this morning, it seems evident that something was seriously wrong on that descent - oil seems to be a common thought.  To have riders with such proven bike skills as Armstrong suddenly go down on a straight piece of road says everything.  Cancellara - and Contador - were absolutely correct to take it upon themselves to neutralise the stage for a while at least.  I'm less convinced about maintaining the neutralisation all the way to the finish though.

[IanDG]

It was Armstrong who used crashes and mayhem on dangerous roads to his advantage  on the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/T66LLvqgZS4&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/T66LLvqgZS4&rel=1</a> - no neutralisation there - just put the hammer down and get on with the job of winning the Tour. Can't find a video but he did the same when the Tour used the Paris-Roubaix cobblestones in 2004.

[matthew]

I hope that today is different, every one knows the cobbles are coming and should be ready for them. Yesterdays decent having such poor conditions caught a number of people by supprise and Cancellara was correct to neutralise the race to let the GC contenders catch up. However I believe he should have allowed the sprinters their chance though I am unsure why Cav was so far off the back, unless he just didn't bother trying to catch up.

[citoyen]

The pertinent question is this: would Cancellara have been so keen to neutralise the race if it hadn't been his team affected?

d.

[IanDG]

From Cycling News

Alberto Contador (Astana) - 81st on stage, 7th overall @ 3:24: "It was a really crazy stage. On this road it was impossible not to fall. I fell on a straight part at about 60 km/h. I saw at every turn there were people on the ground, it was impossible to go without falling.

“As soon as I heard that Andy was behind I ordered all my teammates to stop. As I wished he'd do with me, I had to do with him. [There was disagreement] with some teams who wanted to go ahead in spite of everything, because there were many dangerous riders in front too. In the end they acted with logic and decided to stop in front too.”

Contador's living in a dream. IIRC Schleck was 6' down at one point according to the live feed on Eurosport. I really believe if Schleck hadn't been caught in the mele, Saxo would have put the hammer down and used the situation to their advantage.

If I had my way all the riders who damaged bikes in the crash would have had to pump the blacksmith bellows themselves to fix them too 

[Ivo]

I hope that today is different, every one knows the cobbles are coming and should be ready for them. Yesterdays decent having such poor conditions caught a number of people by supprise and Cancellara was correct to neutralise the race to let the GC contenders catch up. However I believe he should have allowed the sprinters their chance though I am unsure why Cav was so far off the back, unless he just didn't bother trying to catch up.

I was standing by the roadside at the Wanne and abt. 2km after the intermediate sprint. The first 5-6 chasing groups were really trying hard to close the gap. The last groups weren't, a.o. the group Petacchi. Didn't see in which group Cavendish was riding though.

[Russell]

There was an odd noise coming from Boardman's bike when he was doing his ride of the end of the course. They should scan it for motors.

It took me a while to realise that it was coming from the electric buggy   

The road was obviously slippery but I wonder what effect carbon rims have in modulating braking in those conditions?  I've heard they can be grabby?

[mattc]

The pertinent question is this: would Cancellara have been so keen to neutralise the race if it hadn't been his team affected?

d.

Yes, it is pertinent.

But then he threw away the yellow jersey, so it doesn't seem clear-cut to me.

And anyway, Contador et al could have ignored him. Had the Schlecks lost 3min, I doubt Cancellara could have negotiated an amnesty with the commisaires after the event.

(You lot have seen GC contenders waiting for crahsed rivals before, haven't you? It's not exactly unprecedented.)

I think the cobbles will be different - they're a known challenge, like a climb.

[citoyen]

(You lot have seen GC contenders waiting for crahsed rivals before, haven't you? It's not exactly unprecedented.)

Yes, of course - I remember Ullrich throwing away his chances of winning one year by waiting for Lance after an incident with a musette...

So yeah, I take your point but I'm not wholly convinced. Like you say, it's not clear cut - either way.

Cancellara was never going to hang on to the yellow jersey for very long anyway. Keeping Andy Schleck within sight of the race was always his priority. I'm still not sure why the sprinters weren't given leave to contest the finish, though.

Today's stage could be very interesting. Some riders are going very tired and sore after yesterday. It's ripe for an attack. Could a repeat of this year's Giro stage 7 be on the cards?

d.

[IanDG]

(You lot have seen GC contenders waiting for crahsed rivals before, haven't you? It's not exactly unprecedented.)

The classic one being Ullrich waiting for Armstrong on the Alp de Huez (?) when the latter wrapped a spectators shopping bag round his handlebars - how did Armstrong re-pay the courtesy  

edit: beat me to it CS

[mattc]

I'm still not sure why the sprinters weren't given leave to contest the finish, though.

Yup, would have been nice to have a sprint for 2nd. But I guess the problem was that not all the sprinters had crashed, so some sprinters had been 'forced' to wait for the others ... and so on ...

So a fair compromise, IMHO. You couldn't please everyone.

Today's stage could be very interesting. Some riders are going very tired and sore after yesterday. It's ripe for an attack.

Oooh yes, I may watch this one live 

[mattc]

Re: Ullrich

Didn't he ride into a ditch one year, and his rivals waited for him?

I'll never forget him riding into the ditch - pure slapstick - but I cannot remember the other riders involved ...

[Exit Stage Left]

The organisation seems to have wanted to tell a story about the classics and all year round cyclists. The presentation of the harlequin jersey to Merckx by Hinault in Brussels and the routing through Eddy's home town were part of that narrative.
Armstrong responded by not participating in the roll-out in Brussels.

The actual story has become the responsibility of the elder statesmen of the Tour to ensure that the event is do-able. The next chapter might be a reassuring meeting with Voigt and some sort of accomodation as over the proposed radio ban. The story of aggrieved workers rebelling against a management wanting to alter the ground rules would resonate well at the moment.

[Mr Larrington]

Yup, would have been nice to have a sprint for 2nd. But I guess the problem was that not all the sprinters had crashed, so some sprinters had been 'forced' to wait for the others ... and so on ...

Never mind the sprinters, I'm a bit non-plussed as to why Maxime Montfort didn't give it some beans in the last 500m when he saw the peloton closing him down very very slowly.  The worst that could have happened was that the sprinters chased him back into the bunch.

Had I stood in the rain for five hours awaiting an exciting finish, I would now be seeking out Mr Cancellara with a bag of rotten vegetables in one hand and Mr Shovel in the other.

[Tewdric]

Had I stood in the rain for five hours awaiting an exciting finish, I would now be seeking out Mr Cancellara with a bag of rotten vegetables in one hand and Mr Shovel in the other.

I agree -  a stupid, petulent and thoughtless act. they need to remember who, ultimately, pays their wages.

The riders and teams knew the route and knew that it might rain.  If they chose to race on their normal 22mm tubs and not slow down enough on the gnarly bits it's entirely their fault. 

[Thor]

Re: Ullrich

Didn't he ride into a ditch one year, and his rivals waited for him?

I'll never forget him riding into the ditch - pure slapstick - but I cannot remember the other riders involved ...

That was the 2001 Tour - IIRC, it looked from the initial camera view like Ullrich had ridden off a cliff.  Armstrong actually waited for him on that occasion.