[OGRipper]

I know I said it was over for him but...

That move made me wonder if he has something up his sleeve for stage 20. He's not even 2 minutes down. If he can make up some time on the TT and has a great day on Stage 20 he might still be able to get into the jersey.

I dunno... just hoping really. I doubt if anyone can successfully attack Contador.

If Lance and Contador are head and shoulders above the rest after the TT we could see the two of them racing on Ventoux.

I just don't see Lance holding back if the only question remaining is who gets first and who gets second. Maybe it's just a racing fan's wishful thinking but I'd love to see them take off alone and duke it out.

And I still think Contador needs more time. Today wasn't so good for him because of the long descent to the finish, but tomorrow's descent is much shorter. The attacks will come, they will be marked, and once the bunch is softened up, look for Contador to counter-attack and grab more time.

 

[golgiaparatus]

Nike doesn't make cycling stuff, so why be a title sponsor.

But Lance still gets a big fat check from them... I believe he rides in Nike shoes doesn't he?

 

[golgiaparatus]

with the return of Vino, i say Festina becomes the title sponser. why not have a past doper be a rider on a team who's title sponser was associated with doping. win/win!!

and the Columbian cartel can sponser Boonen's team, nice perks for him.

I still love the quote from Velo News after Boones sliped on the center line and hit the deck... "Boonen continues to have trouble with white lines".

LOL!!! Fuking gold Jerry, GOLD!

 

[maddog17]

I still love the quote from Velo News after Boones sliped on the center line and hit the deck... "Boonen continues to have trouble with white lines".

LOL!!! Fuking gold Jerry, GOLD!

that's gotta be THE best line (no pun intended) EVER!!! after saying that there should have been the obligatory rim shot!!!

 

[Wumpus]

Jens Voigt of Team Saxo Bank is doing "OK under the circumstances" after his Tour de France-ending crash on the final descent of stage 16, his team announced late Tuesday. The German appeared to lose his grip on the handlebars after hitting a bump in the road on the descent from the col du Petit Saint Bernard and he fell to the ground while going an estimated 80kph.

Voigt was taken to the University hospital in Grenoble and diagnosed with a fracture of the right cheekbone and a concussion. He will remain in the hospital for observation.

The father of five sent a message to his teammates from his hospital bed: "I think I was very lucky not getting severely hurt from today's crash. Now I hope that you can focus on the race and I wish you all good luck with the hard stage tomorrow”.

The crash, which occured near the beginning of the final descent of Tuesday's stage, could have had much more severe consequences. Voigt landed hard on his shoulder and head and slid several metres along the road. The race doctor who attended to him at the scene said that Voigt briefly lost consciousness.

 

[ire]

The father of five...

Wow, he is busy in the off season! Glad to hear he's alright...I didn't see it because I was at work, but read the update. Very unfortunate.

 

[Rip]

I'm rooting for Wiggins. I just think the giant egos of Contador and Armstrong are going to collide.

 

[maddog17]

i just saw the Voigt crash.... wow!!!!! looked like he took his eye off the road for a short bit and lost it. not good when you got sparks coming from your bike as you slide down the road.... on your face!!!!! Jens might want to go to Highland and learn how to take some bumps.

 

[JRogers]

But Lance still gets a big fat check from them... I believe he rides in Nike shoes doesn't he?

I know the swoosh says Nike, but I think he's riding D2 customs or something...which is strange considering other guys do actually wear Nikes (or at least something that doesn't appear to be made by someone else).

 

[Wumpus]

Bump in the road? Paint stripe? Switching hands from hoods to drops?

 

[sanjuro]

Bump in the road? Paint stripe? Switching hands from hoods to drops?

My first reaction was "What the F---?"

I went down once just like that, except I slipped a gear. I felt a phantom pain when I saw that vid.

Still don't know why he went down...

 

[Rip]

If you watch closely, you'll see his rear wheel leave the ground briefly, so I would have to say bump in the road.

 

[ire]

Bump in the road? Paint stripe? Switching hands from hoods to drops?

OUCH! That looked painful! I watched it several times and I still can't tell what happened. It looks like his wheel slips on the paint, but I dunno (and I doubt he does either)

 

[Rip]

15 seconds into the clip and you can see the rear wheel off the ground.

 

[Silver]

Looks like a bump on the rear wheel, and then the front slips on the paint.

Either way, goddamn that looked horrible...

 

[BikeMike]

There was definitely a ripple in the road. If you watch closely, you can see the rear wheel of the rider just in front and to the left hop up as he goes over the same section. It looks like Voigt had the bad luck to get bucked especially hard and come down on the white line, with all of the force on the front, which washed it right out. Glad to hear that he's doing alright.

 

[Westy]

Mark Cavendish: Thor is sullying the green jersey by complaining to the judges to win it. Waaah waaah waaaah waaah.

Thor: +6 points by riding with testicular fortitude.

Edit

Thor: +6 more

Balls the size of churchbells I tell ya.

 

[Squeak]

Cavendish is showing his age and immaturity. Thor is showing him how a man rides the Tour.

Thor for president.

 

[Westy]

I'd love to see Thor beat him on the Champs. Or even better would be Vino hopping on his bike and flying off the front for a win again, attack attack attack!

 

[JRogers]

Cavendish is showing his age and immaturity. Thor is showing him how a man rides the Tour.

Thor for president.

Word. He sure can climb well for being one of the biggest guys in the peloton.

 

[golgiaparatus]

My first reaction was "What the F---?"

I went down once just like that, except I slipped a gear. I felt a phantom pain when I saw that vid.

Still don't know why he went down...

I'm gona say that there was a bump that caused him to put both wheels on the paint. Untimately it seems that it was the pain that caused him to wash out like that. Awful to see him sliding unconscious like that. I hope he is okay, that guy has guts... any reports yet?

 

[Westy]

Word. He sure can climb well for being one of the biggest guys in the peloton.

I don't know if it is the ability to climb as much as it is the ability to just dig deep and will yourself over the climbs. My guess would be that most of the sprinters just give up.

 

[golgiaparatus]

I'd love to see Thor beat him on the Champs. Or even better would be Vino hopping on his bike and flying off the front for a win again, attack attack attack!

I'd like to see cav get all pissy and throw a punch at thor who then removes his own helmet and beats cav like the small whiny child that he is.

I love that midway through the tour cav was wearing green shoes and glasses without having won the jersey yet and now he's eating a bag of FU from Thor.

 

[James]

I'd love to see Thor beat him on the Champs. Or even better would be Vino hopping on his bike and flying off the front for a win again, attack attack attack!

Vino doesn't need a bike to win on the Champs, he'd most likely just sprint past the peleton, while wearing cycling shoes too.

I love that midway through the tour cav was wearing green shoes and glasses without having won the jersey yet and now he's eating a bag of FU from Thor.

Fabian had a yellow bike, yellow helmet, yellow shorts earlier in the Tour, he didn't win the jersey yet either. It's not unheard of, I'm sure the bike was a surprise for him, half of that stuff is the sponsors wanting some airtime.

 

[Squeak]

Evans finished 30 min behind today.

Either he is taking it easy to try and win a stage (he is so far down now people won't chase him in a break), or he's toast.

Is he being tricksy, or will we see abandoned next to his name?

 

[ire]

Evans finished 30 min behind today.

Either he is taking it easy to try and win a stage (he is so far down now people won't chase him in a break), or he's toast.

Is he being tricksy, or will we see abandoned next to his name?

Wow, that sucks for him. As I was watching Thor I was thinking: "Evans should grow some balls and learn from Thor...thats what he needs to do to win the Tour" I guess the fitness just isn't there

 

[Cant Climb]

Wow, that sucks for him. As I was watching Thor I was thinking: "Evans should grow some balls and learn from Thor...thats what he needs to do to win the Tour" I guess the fitness just isn't there

He is having internal issues with his team and that is killing his motivation.....

But i wonder if teammates stopped working for him when he made them look like asses in the TTT.

 

[loco-gringo]

He is having internal issues with his team and that is killing his motivation.....

But i wonder if teammates stopped working for him when he made them look like asses in the TTT.

Or perhaps the multitude of interviews where he told the press that no one would help him stay in contact. F*#k him.

 

[Westy]

Evans is a nutcase. Strong legs weak mind.

 

[James]

Evans finished 30 min behind today.

Either he is taking it easy to try and win a stage (he is so far down now people won't chase him in a break), or he's toast.

Is he being tricksy, or will we see abandoned next to his name?

30 MINUTES????

Good god! What happened to him? Did he stop taking his CERA after people started getting busted? Is the drag from his ass-chin taking it's toll?

I can't see him dropping out a couple of days before the end of the tour though. Now he'll have to win the Vuelta to prove that he's still somebody.

 

[eric strt6]

And now what to make of Contador accelerating ang blowing Kloden off his wheel and taking the Schlek Bros with him....

 

[Squeak]

32. Cadel Evans Silence - Lotto at 37:06

 

[Cant Climb]

Now he'll have to win the Vuelta to prove that he's still somebody.

He's just doesn't have the make-up to TDF champion. Always fades a bit in the high mountains. Excellent time trailer but not great.....then there is his attitude. Not someone you want to go into battle with.....

He's done IMO. What team is going to take on all of his baggage...?.....unless it's some nationalistic Ausssie team....

 

[Wumpus]

Go Thor!

 

[ire]

He's just doesn't have the make-up to TDF champion. Always fades a bit in the high mountains. Excellent time trailer but not great.....then there is his attitude. Not someone you want to go into battle with.....

He's done IMO. What team is going to take on all of his baggage...?.....unless it's some nationalistic Ausssie team....

Maybe another team will snag him as a super domestique, ala Kloden

 

[JRogers]

And now what to make of Contador accelerating ang blowing Kloden off his wheel and taking the Schlek Bros with him....

Not sure exactly what that was about. I don't think he went too hard like he was attacking and deliberately trying to get rid of Kloden. And he kept looking back to see how far back he was. I think maybe he was just keeping the rhythm and testing the Schlecks.

 

[Westy]

AC says Johan told him to attack. Johan says he told him not to attack. Not attacking makes the most sense but I think Johan is a pathological liar so not sure who to believe.

 

[golgiaparatus]

Not sure exactly what that was about. I don't think he went too hard like he was attacking and deliberately trying to get rid of Kloden. And he kept looking back to see how far back he was. I think maybe he was just keeping the rhythm and testing the Schlecks.

Velo New quoted him as saying he told Kloden he was going to attack and then when he did he realized Kloden wasn't hanging on and that he had brought the Shlecks with him... he said he regretted the move.

It was a stupid move too on his part IMHO. The race is his to control. All he needed to do was make sure he didn't get dropped. They cant touch him in the TT tomorrow so what was he attacking for?

 

[OGRipper]

And now what to make of Contador accelerating ang blowing Kloden off his wheel and taking the Schlek Bros with him....

Yeah that was surprising. Yesterday I said that I expected Contador to try to get more time today. But it should have happened earlier on the climb, at a point when he could gain some serious time with little chance of them getting back on the descent. Seems he waited too long.

Velonews is reporting different stories from Contador and Bruyneel. Contador said his attack was part of the plan, but Johan says:

"That attack from Contador 3km from the top, that wasn’t really… I had advised not to go" Bruyneel said. "He didn’t need to go. He didn’t need to attack. It was clear the two Schleck brothers would go full gas to the finish. I told him you don’t have to attack to win the Tour today, because the difference was there with Wiggins. It’s a bit of a pity that Andreas couldn’t hang on, because I think we could have been first, second and third on GC, and instead we are first, fourth and fifth."

 

[Cant Climb]

I thought Kloden was there to use up and throw away.....and if he manages to hang on that is a bonus. Contador should take any extra time he can get when he can get it...