2010 Tour de France Thread

[dcg]

Add me to the list of those rooting for anyone but Contador at this point.

At least Lance provided us with some funny Radio Shack commercials.

 

[Luc-Emmanuel]

Originally Posted by 4Mica

+1 again, except I think Evans can be a threat, he can time trial while Andy can't (and yes I know there is only one time trial this year).
Yes, Cadel Evans should be a serious contender too. Although, given the layout this year and only one time trial, I think a climber will win, that's my call.

!luc

 

[Pilot]

Originally Posted by Frihed89

Contador had almost nothing to gain by attacking Schlek, when the latter broke away. Ten seconds? This is nothing. Contador contained the damage. That was relatively easy to do because the last climb was not that steep. I think he'll wait for a steep mountain top finish to try to assert his dominance, as he did last year.


Exactly. Not a better climber out there that Contador. Schlek attacked, Contadora got out of the saddle for about 3 seconds and decided, "Nah". Flashback to that same stage last you and you can see what Contador is truly capable of in the mountains.

 

[RedLantern]

Originally Posted by Luc-Emmanuel

huh? Andy finished second last year, he's definitely a better climber than his brother Franck. He's probably the only one who could be a threat to Contador.
!luc

My mistake, I get the two confused sometimes. I think i heard that yesterday was Andy's first stage win so I assumed that he was the weaker of the two.

 

[otc]

anyone have a good source to watch it online?

I don't have versus (and would rather have a window I can keep open on the computer anyways like with the world cup)...

 

[Piobaire]

Originally Posted by Luc-Emmanuel

Yes, Cadel Evans should be a serious contender too. Although, given the layout this year and only one time trial, I think a climber will win, that's my call.

!luc

If you can't climb, you can't win the TdF.

I have to disagree with the folks that think Contador didn't want that stage; he just didn't have enough gas in the tank to answer that challenge. The fact the last attack came so close to the finish line means the thought he didn't want to waste the energy is wrong. If Schlek had broken away 3-5 km of the finish line, I'd agree with you. The fact that Contador and Schlek were together at the 1km mark means Contador just didn't have the burst left the Schlek did.

This doesn't mean Contador isn't the overall stronger climber, it just means on that day, on this stage, Schlek had a little more left in his legs.

Btw, haven't checked out the course thoroughly: is there a TTT this year?

 

[culverwood]

Originally Posted by otc

anyone have a good source to watch it online? I don't have versus (and would rather have a window I can keep open on the computer anyways like with the world cup)...
In the UK you can see it live for the last 2 hours or so each day on http://www.itv.com/sport/tourdefrance/live/ I do not know if this will work in other countries.

 

[4Mica]

Originally Posted by Piobaire

If you can't climb, you can't win the TdF.

I have to disagree with the folks that think Contador didn't want that stage; he just didn't have enough gas in the tank to answer that challenge. The fact the last attack came so close to the finish line means the thought he didn't want to waste the energy is wrong. If Schlek had broken away 3-5 km of the finish line, I'd agree with you. The fact that Contador and Schlek were together at the 1km mark means Contador just didn't have the burst left the Schlek did.

This doesn't mean Contador isn't the overall stronger climber, it just means on that day, on this stage, Schlek had a little more left in his legs.

Btw, haven't checked out the course thoroughly: is there a TTT this year?

No.

 

[Piobaire]

Originally Posted by 4Mica

No.

I've always wondered if those were put in place, at least in part, in an attempt to mitigate Lance's dominance at that time.

 

[dcg]

Originally Posted by Piobaire

I've always wondered if those were put in place, at least in part, in an attempt to mitigate Lance's dominance at that time.

Wouldn't a TTT benefit Lance?

 

[Piobaire]

Originally Posted by dcg

Wouldn't a TTT benefit Lance?

Not most of those years. ONCE was the big winner for a few years and even in 05 the only reason Discovery beat CSC was because the current yellow jersey wearer crashed and finished 1:26 behind the rest of his team...only two seconds behind the Discovery time. No crash and Lance would have lost 1:24 on Zabriskie that day.

Yes, he had a couple of good wins, particularly that TTT where he pulled his whole team to the win in the rain. It was like his personal will power pulled the entire team. Most years though, it was not a plus to his GC standings.

 

[Luc-Emmanuel]

Originally Posted by RedLantern

My mistake, I get the two confused sometimes. I think i heard that yesterday was Andy's first stage win so I assumed that he was the weaker of the two.
He's the youngest of the Schleck brothers, but he's the best climber. His brother has won a stage last year, and I think it was indeed Andy's first.
!luc

 

[Luc-Emmanuel]

Originally Posted by Piobaire

If you can't climb, you can't win the TdF.
Yes, but given the layout, there are years you can't win if you're not also very good at time trial. Hindurain for instance was a time trial specialist, but not a climber like Pantani.
!luc

 

[Piobaire]

Originally Posted by Luc-Emmanuel

Yes, but given the layout, there are years you can't win if you're not also very good at time trial. Hindurain for instance was a time trial specialist, but not a climber like Pantani.
!luc

Agreed. Big Mig often put 2 minutes onto his GC standings in the TT. He was always able to stay with the peloton or chase groups in the big climbs, meaning he did not have to win when someone like il Pirato could not TT to save his life. In the modern tour, since say the time of Indurain's dominance, you have to either be a good climber and great TT'er or a great climber and a good TT'er.

Lance was so dominant because he was often great at both.

 

[Luc-Emmanuel]

A difficult stage in the alps today, but the summit is 32km away from the arrival: there shouldn't be any large time difference between the best contenders.
Time for some unknown racers to get away with a 10 minutes lead and see if they can win the stage before the big shots close on them at the end

!luc