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Tour of CA

Heidi

Heidi

Der hund ist laut und braun
Aug 22, 2001
10,184
797
Bend, Oregon
I figured I'd start a new thread since the old one is getting so long. My favorite quote from today so far:

"The elevation profile today looks like the inside of a shark's mouth after it had a fistfight with Mohammed Ali... "

:clapping:
 
OGRipper

OGRipper

back alley ripper
Feb 3, 2004
10,655
1,129
NORCAL is the hizzle
I do a few rides in Big Sur every year, including a century that covers the middle 100 miles of today's route (start in Carmel and finish in Cambria). It's friggin stunning down there. After the last big climb you come around a turn with a view of the road going down all the way to the water, then it's just flat for miles. I need to get out more, but that is my favorite (road) descent on the planet. I am so jealous they get a closed road!!
 
sanjuro

sanjuro

Tube Smuggler
Sep 13, 2004
17,373
0
SF
At the bottom of Sierra Road:




The winning break right after the descent from Sierra Road:


The pack chasing:


If you are going to race, you should try to put some effort in...


And this is how I watch a bike race:

 
BikeMike

BikeMike

Monkey
Feb 24, 2006
784
0
I'll post up some pics of the finish eventually. They're not very good pics, but some is better than none. It was totally awesome to watch a real sprint finish go down in SLO. And the TV coverage of the race going down local roads was cool too. I happened to do the same ride as today's stage a couple of months ago. It must have been nice to ride hwy. 1 w/o traffic.
 
OGRipper

OGRipper

back alley ripper
Feb 3, 2004
10,655
1,129
NORCAL is the hizzle
Today should shake things up a bit. Levi sounded very confident after the finish yesterday. Would be great to see him take the stage win but he will need an incredible ride to do it.

I think Rasmussen is the greatest threat for the TT. :monkeydance:
 
OGRipper

OGRipper

back alley ripper
Feb 3, 2004
10,655
1,129
NORCAL is the hizzle
Heidi said:
Rasmussen? No
Click to expand...

Ok, that was a (bad and mean) joke based on Rasmussen's melt-down in a Tour TT last year. With Voigt, Cancellera, Rogers, and others Levi will have a hard time winning the day, but I don't think he'll be challenged by The Chicken.

I will not be the least bit surprised if Voigt takes the jersey, he's only 3 seconds down and will completely bury himself. True, he worked a lot harder than Levi yesterday but still, he will tear his legs off to try to get the win.

I am still disappointed that Levi didn't attack on the climb the other day. Easy for me to say but I think he needs to be more aggressive and go for the kill when he's got the chance. Time and again he seems content to lead a group of riders instead of attack. So now Voigt believes he can climb with Levi - he must also believe he can rock the TT. I'm sure Levi is sick of the comparisons but that retired guy would have at least tried to get a gap.

Basically what I'm saying is "Attack mutha****ah, Attack!!"
 
golgiaparatus

golgiaparatus

Out of my element
Aug 30, 2002
7,340
41
Deep in the Jungles of Oklahoma
OGRipper said:
Ok, that was a (bad and mean) joke based on Rasmussen's melt-down in a Tour TT last year. With Voigt, Cancellera, Rogers, and others Levi will have a hard time winning the day, but I don't think he'll be challenged by The Chicken.

I will not be the least bit surprised if Voigt takes the jersey, he's only 3 seconds down and will completely bury himself. True, he worked a lot harder than Levi yesterday but still, he will tear his legs off to try to get the win.

I am still disappointed that Levi didn't attack on the climb the other day. Easy for me to say but I think he needs to be more aggressive and go for the kill when he's got the chance. Time and again he seems content to lead a group of riders instead of attack. So now Voigt believes he can climb with Levi - he must also believe he can rock the TT. I'm sure Levi is sick of the comparisons but that retired guy would have at least tried to get a gap.

Basically what I'm saying is "Attack mutha****ah, Attack!!"
Click to expand...
Levi made a smart move... he needed to breakaway to stay ahead of the peleton. I think Levi has the best chance of winning, based on the prologue and his performance so far. Rogers is who I'm picking to make the upset, if there is one.

The AMFA! strategy works best on mountaintop finishes or something where the peleton doesn't have a flat section to eat the soloist up on.
 
golgiaparatus

golgiaparatus

Out of my element
Aug 30, 2002
7,340
41
Deep in the Jungles of Oklahoma
OGRipper said:
Very good point, you are correct. But still, even if that wasn't the right day, I'd like to see him be more aggressive.
Click to expand...
He's a climber/TTer. He's not going to attack unless he can exploit those abilities. Still I'd like to see him be more aggressive on a regular basis this year too. Show Disco that they could have stuck with him and left Basso alone and still do really well. I felt for him when they hired Basso. He'd be so bad ass with the support of a good team and a good chunk of confidence.
 
Heidi

Heidi

Der hund ist laut und braun
Aug 22, 2001
10,184
797
Bend, Oregon
golgiaparatus said:
I'd like to see him be more aggressive on a regular basis this year too. Show Disco that they could have stuck with him and left Basso alone and still do really well. I felt for him when they hired Basso. He'd be so bad ass with the support of a good team and a good chunk of confidence.
Click to expand...
For some reason I have always felt like Levi was not a true leader. I don't know what about him makes me doubt him.
 
golgiaparatus

golgiaparatus

Out of my element
Aug 30, 2002
7,340
41
Deep in the Jungles of Oklahoma
Heidi said:
For some reason I have always felt like Levi was not a true leader. I don't know what about him makes me doubt him.
Click to expand...
I feel the same way you do. He always seems to fizzle. Also if he has a bad day he tends to not ever bounce back. I don't think he has enough confidence/motivation. I think he could be great with a team that believes in him and will support him. Gerolsteiner (sp) sucked, he was always isolated. Disco is his kind of team methinks... one that can support a good climber.
 
Heidi

Heidi

Der hund ist laut und braun
Aug 22, 2001
10,184
797
Bend, Oregon
golgiaparatus said:
I feel the same way you do. He always seems to fizzle. I don't think he has enough confidence/motivation. I think he could be great with a team that believes in him and will support him. Gerolsteiner (sp) sucked, he was always isolated. Disco is his kind of team methinks... one that can support a good climber.
Click to expand...
But to field supportive teams for all the major tours with the intention of producing a winner in either Basso or Levi seems unlikely. A team can only do so much.
 
golgiaparatus

golgiaparatus

Out of my element
Aug 30, 2002
7,340
41
Deep in the Jungles of Oklahoma
Heidi said:
But to field supportive teams for all the major tours with the intention of producing a winner in either Basso or Levi seems unlikely. A team can only do so much.
Click to expand...
Well I think they have a strong enough team to support both riders in the Tour. Until one of them starts to show that he is weaker. I'm sure Basso will be the one that makes it to the top first but then again... Levi will be nice to have round if they decide not to let Basso race. I feel like this year could be Levis best year of his career if he maintains his momentum.
 
OGRipper

OGRipper

back alley ripper
Feb 3, 2004
10,655
1,129
NORCAL is the hizzle
I agree about Levi not coming off as a true leader. I really support the guy but my impression is that he only tries to be AS GOOD as the best riders in the race, but not better. I wish I could remember the specific examples, but I remember mountain-top finishes where he seemed content to match the efforts put in by others, but would never really go out on the attack with any conviction. That is certainly a huge accomplishment, but for someone who aspires to lead a team like Disco in the biggest races it doesn't seem like enough. That said, I like the guy and he deserves to win this race, so I'm pulling for him.
 
Westy

Westy

the teste
Nov 22, 2002
54,485
20,287
Sleazattle
OGRipper said:
I agree about Levi not coming off as a true leader. I really support the guy but my impression is that he only tries to be AS GOOD as the best riders in the race, but not better. I wish I could remember the specific examples, but I remember mountain-top finishes where he seemed content to match the efforts put in by others, but would never really go out on the attack with any conviction. That is certainly a huge accomplishment, but for someone who aspires to lead a team like Disco in the biggest races it doesn't seem like enough. That said, I like the guy and he deserves to win this race, so I'm pulling for him.
Click to expand...

On the Tour last year he did attack several times, and would then get dropped. He has always been a top 10 guy not a podium finisher. Maybe a stronger team will help, but I doubt it matters unless Basso gets into more doping trouble.
 
BikeMike

BikeMike

Monkey
Feb 24, 2006
784
0
Nice ride Hincapie just put in. Currently he's got time #2 @ 2.63s off Cancellara's time.
 
Heidi

Heidi

Der hund ist laut und braun
Aug 22, 2001
10,184
797
Bend, Oregon
LMAO who was that Rabobank rider that just sprinted across the line making the ridiculous face? HAHAHAHA
 
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