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Stage 10

ire

Turbo Monkey
Aug 6, 2007
6,196
4
I can't believe Valverde was dropped off the front group....I figured he would attack today to try and gain back time on Evans. Too bad I have to go to work and can't watch the finish :(
 

James

Carbon Porn Star
Sep 11, 2001
3,559
0
Danbury, CT
What a stage, wow...
Cadel seemed to recover pretty well from yesterday, I'm sure they're all looking forward to tomorrow's rest day.
Menchov is back in it too!
 

JRogers

talks too much
Mar 19, 2002
3,785
1
Claremont, CA
Not too surprised about Valverde getting dropped. I didn't expect Cunego to goo as far back as he did. Great ride by Schleck and the rest of CSC. Voigt is a beast. Hey, and Cadel finally had to actually push up the pace himself to get something done. He gave just enough, I guess (1 second ahead of F. Schelck). Glad to see that others are all still in the mix.

Can anyone beat Ricco on a steep sprint?

I am surprised (as is everyone else) about Vandevelde's performance so far. He is still in striking distance.
 

Echo

crooked smile
Jul 10, 2002
11,819
15
Slacking at work
I don't think Cadel enough teammates to hang on to the jersey. Today's stage was awesome though. CSC pretty much ruined everyone.
 

James

Carbon Porn Star
Sep 11, 2001
3,559
0
Danbury, CT
I don't think Cadel enough teammates to hang on to the jersey. Today's stage was awesome though. CSC pretty much ruined everyone.
No one else up there can really TT though, so as long as he can hang on in the mountains, he should be ok...
 

JRogers

talks too much
Mar 19, 2002
3,785
1
Claremont, CA
No one else up there can really TT though, so as long as he can hang on in the mountains, he should be ok...
That's kind of the issue, isn't it....if Schleck or Ricco could TT or Kirchen could climb faster, it might be a better fight. You never know, though. If Vandevelde can hang on in the mountains, he seems to be TT'ing well...Menchov is still a threat. Evans hasn't shown much weakness, but it only takes one bad day. 4 riders within a minute...
 

ire

Turbo Monkey
Aug 6, 2007
6,196
4
That's kind of the issue, isn't it....if Schleck or Ricco could TT or Kirchen could climb faster, it might be a better fight. You never know, though. If Vandevelde can hang on in the mountains, he seems to be TT'ing well...Menchov is still a threat. Evans hasn't shown much weakness, but it only takes one bad day. 4 riders within a minute...
I don't think Valverde has a shot, he is 4:30 down. The top four are all within a minute, so there is a lot of racing to come. I don't know that much about Frank Schleck (other than hearing his, and his brothers, name a lot).....can he timetrial very well? I'm interested to see how Vandevelde and Menchov do in the coming days
 

James

Carbon Porn Star
Sep 11, 2001
3,559
0
Danbury, CT
I don't think Valverde has a shot, he is 4:30 down. The top four are all within a minute, so there is a lot of racing to come. I don't know that much about Frank Schleck (other than hearing his, and his brothers, name a lot).....can he timetrial very well? I'm interested to see how Vandevelde and Menchov do in the coming days
Valverde conceded 1:34 in the first TT, which was short, only 30k, the next one is almost twice that. I hope this is the end of people talking about him as a "future Tour winner," because I don't think it's going to happen. He cracked today and lost a bunch of time on a climb. I'd say he should shoot for another stage win, but I don't think anyone is going to let him get any distance ahead. We'll see how he recovers.

Schleck lost 2:14 in the time trial, he's more of a climber than a TT person. Menchov finished :34 back, but not that far off of Cadel, so he's probably the most serious contender, which is why Cadel focused on him today. VandeVelde can time trial, so if he can hang in the Alps it'll be a verrrrrry interesting stage 20 TT. Hell, we might even see GC guys fighting on the very last stage into Paris!

And we all remember last year (I think) where Valverde completely collapsed in the TT and dropped off the podium with a disastrous ride.
 

OGRipper

back alley ripper
Feb 3, 2004
10,647
1,116
NORCAL is the hizzle
Good stuff today. I kept waiting for VDV to make a decisive attack after marking one of Cadel's accelerations. Apparently he felt like he should have too:

“It was a bit frustrated, if anything. I felt good. Attacks went at the bottom and I really thought that Cadel and Menchov would set a better pace to bring it back,” he said. “There were a lot of attacks and they played a little cat and mouse. Attacking, sitting, attacking, sitting. We really lost a lot of time. I was really within myself today and I relied on them too much.”

http://tour-de-france.velonews.com/article/80143/vande-velde-frustrated-by-evans-menchov-lockdown
 

ire

Turbo Monkey
Aug 6, 2007
6,196
4
Good stuff today. I kept waiting for VDV to make a decisive attack after marking one of Cadel's accelerations. Apparently he felt like he should have too:

“It was a bit frustrated, if anything. I felt good. Attacks went at the bottom and I really thought that Cadel and Menchov would set a better pace to bring it back,” he said. “There were a lot of attacks and they played a little cat and mouse. Attacking, sitting, attacking, sitting. We really lost a lot of time. I was really within myself today and I relied on them too much.”

http://tour-de-france.velonews.com/article/80143/vande-velde-frustrated-by-evans-menchov-lockdown
He's learning :) Maybe we'll see a good attack in the near future
 

maddog17

Turbo Monkey
Jan 20, 2008
2,815
105
Methuen, Mass. U.S.A.
so far i think it's been an interesting race. i like that they got rid of those points for finishing in the top whatever places. now they all have to race and i think that will make it more interesting. with the exception of Beltran, so far so good. Columbia and Garmin have had a good tour so far, lets see how long they can last thru the rest of it.
 

James

Carbon Porn Star
Sep 11, 2001
3,559
0
Danbury, CT
You mean the time bonuses? or was there something else eliminated as well?
Nope, time bonuses. I think it's really cool how they did that, no more bonuses for winning a stage, less politics, and more just plain riding.
 

JRogers

talks too much
Mar 19, 2002
3,785
1
Claremont, CA
Speaking of points, did anyone notice that in the last stage, Freire went early to get more points? I think he hung up there for quite a while.
 

MMcG

Ride till you puke!
Dec 10, 2002
15,457
12
Burlington, Connecticut
So do you think Cadel Evans can hang onto the Yellow Jersey until Paris?

What happened to the rest of Kirchen's team yesterday? I only caught the tail end of the stage on Versus late at night.
 

Westy

the teste
Nov 22, 2002
54,241
20,025
Sleazattle
So do you think Cadel Evans can hang onto the Yellow Jersey until Paris?

What happened to the rest of Kirchen's team yesterday? I only caught the tail end of the stage on Versus late at night.

The race went hard off the line, 30mph even before the first climb. They had all done a lot of work over the week and just couldn't hang. Team-wise CSC and Saunier were the only teams with multiple riders for the final assault.

Bjarne Riis threw down some smacktalk today saying that their team will drop the hammer again in the Alps. He was pretty much calling out the other leaders which have weaker teams. It might not make that much of a difference in the long run. CSC's leaders are pretty vulnerable in the TT. There is probably some bitterness between CSC and Vandevelde now, they might not have liked how he hauled in Evans towards the end of the stage. It probably made the difference for the jersey.
 

OGRipper

back alley ripper
Feb 3, 2004
10,647
1,116
NORCAL is the hizzle
There is probably some bitterness between CSC and Vandevelde now, they might not have liked how he hauled in Evans towards the end of the stage. It probably made the difference for the jersey.
Agreed. Easy to say but VDV should have jumped earlier, dropped them, and ridden in with the Schleck group. I can understand VDV thinking it was a good idea to stick with Evans and Menchov for most of the climb, but for the last couple of k's it looked like VDV was holding back and I really couldn't understand why.

I guess what I am saying is..."Attack muthafugga, ATTACK!!!"

:biggrin:
 

ire

Turbo Monkey
Aug 6, 2007
6,196
4
but for the last couple of k's it looked like VDV was holding back and I really couldn't understand why.
I think he learned a valuable lesson; don't wait for someone else to make a move, if you have the legs go. It will be interesting to see how he fares in the Alps. It would be awesome to see another American win (and it would sure piss off the French:))
 

DRB

unemployed bum
Oct 24, 2002
15,242
0
Watchin' you. Writing it all down.
I think he learned a valuable lesson; don't wait for someone else to make a move, if you have the legs go. It will be interesting to see how he fares in the Alps. It would be awesome to see another American win (and it would sure piss off the French:))
It would be the worse thing because he would assuredly be doping. I heard it's the only way an American can win the tour.