botto 

looks like Connecticut's very own Tom Danielson finally lived up to some of his expectations today.

impressive stage.

1slowbastard

That was an incredible stage. Going to make the rest of the week very interesting.

dmotoguy

nice to see him come out on top today

Pizza Man

Did Danielson beat Vino in an honest sprint, or did Vino give it to him?
I can't see Vino giving anything away.

dmotoguy

sounds like it was honest..

Vino is on top of the GC now !

patentcad

That Vino has a serious screw loose. You gotta love it.

ATTACK! ATTACK! ATTACK! ATTACK!

I predict he wins the Vuelta, the next Tour de France, the World Championships, then retires and drinks himself to death on cheap Russian Vodka by 2009. They'll fire his ashes out of a cannon from the top of the Arc D'Triumphe during the final stage of the 2010 Tour de France.

Crazy Khazak whacko. At least cycling has Vino.

cmh

That was a great stage in a great GT. The race for the stage win was awesome, the race for GC is down to 9 seconds, even the Mtn. points are tied after this stage. This is what a GT is should be.

botto 

To my eyes Vino gave it to him.

That said TD was away for most of the day, was one of the motors of the break, and was alone at the top of the last mountain. When Vino caught him, TD decided (or more likely was told) to work with Vino, and they both gained time on Valverde.

cmh

It seems like it was honest. Danielson was definitely working with Vino at the end, not sucking his wheel, but Vino might have been working a bit harder than Tommy.

botto 

Honest? What would have been dishonest about it?

"Tommy" not only worked his ass all day, "Tommy" pushed it pretty much all the way to the end.

cmh

By honest, I meant not a gift from Vino. It could have been a deal, unspoken or not, to give the stage to Danielson in turn for him working hard to the finish. But, Vino is the one that had a lot to gain by hammering to the end. Danielson just needed to be sure they wouldn't be caught. With a few kilometers to go, this wasn't going to happen so he could ride Vino's wheel into the sprint. It is pretty easy to come around even a very good sprinter if they are putting everything they have into it before the finish while you are on their wheel, even if it is just for 500 meters.

I didn't mean to belittle Danielson's stage win at all. I didn't say that he didn't work hard all day, but we were talking specifically about the last kilometers after the climb. As far as I can tell, Danielson rode a perfect race and I am really happy for him.

By the way, are you offended or something by me calling him Tommy?

toshi

We all know that quad size has little to do with anything in pro-cycling (with the exception of genetics), but I have to believe Vino's quads are the biggest in the peleton save perhaps for Der Jan. Anyways, congrats to Danielson for the win!

cmh

It appears that Vino didn't sprint against Danielson for the win. From a Velonews report of the press conference with Danielson:

Press conference: What happened when Vinokourov came up?

TD: He was chasing me but he really wasn't gaining much ground and my director thought it would be better if I waited and we worked together. Obviously he's a great champion and he didn't sprint me for the win. Although I pulled a lot and he pulled a lot. We didn't exactly talked about the situation and he's a great champion.

Dubbayoo

I just don't see the killer instinct in Tom to be a grand tour winner.

Vinokurtov

Why you gotta love the guy...from Cycling News about the prior mountain stage:

Vinokourov refused to contribute to the pace-making when asked by Valverde on the final climb. "Valverde asked me to mark the pace, but I said to him that I would not and that I was only interested in attacking him."

"I was only interested in attacking him."

I think he needs to stop *****footing around

patentcad

>>"I was only interested in attacking him."<<

REALLY. What's up with this 'work with me' crap? What is this the friggin UN? Nobody should understand that better than some Basque dude. After all, his countrymen have been blowing things up for like 50 years. Work with THIS Valverde : ).

Attack! Attack! Attack!

Vino for President. Wait, we already HAVE a president like that. Never mind.

Smoothie104

hahha, no doubt

Tom will say nothing was said between the 2 of them, but most of these situations are handled such as this one ended up. TD helps pull Vino to the line and gain time for the GC, and is gifted the stage win out of gratitude. Nothing wrong with that at all.

flythebike

I think that is something that can be developed. When you start winning, you tend to find you like it, want to do it again, and will do what you have to do to make that happen.

patentcad

>>Tom will say nothing was said between the 2 of them, but most of these situations are handled such as this one ended up. TD helps pull Vino to the line and gain time for the GC, and is gifted the stage win out of gratitude. Nothing wrong with that at all.<<

I would agree. On the other hand I'm finding it hard to imagine Vino conceding anything in a bicycle race. But if he's going for the G.C. win, he may be smart enough to realize he may need TD to tow him up another horrific Vuelta deathmarch climb.

With visions of the Vuelta title dancing in his deranged Russian Elf head, he may have finally come to his senses. But not to worry. With Vino that will NEVER last.

DrPete 

I think this is "post of the day" material. Perhaps a contest for Vino fans, where winner fires the cannon?

harlond

Yeah, but Vino is no fool. Think back to the Olympics when Ullrich, Kloeden, and Vino went off the front. Der Jan told Vino he could have silver or he could have bronze, and Vino wisely chose silver.

voltman

That Tour de France thingy could have been fun.

patentcad

I hear you, but he rides for Euskatel, that whacky Basque team. And for a guy from NJ, Murcia is close enough to Basque country to make Valverde an honorary Basquerville. How much you want to bet those Basque fans think he's one of THEM : ).

patentcad

There would have to be six finalists, and they'd have to have a bicycle race to determine who gets to fire the cannon. They would each have to drink 6 shots of Stolichnaya before mounting their racing bikes.

Vinokurtov

I disagree. He'll die while hunting brown bear with a blunt spear on the Uzbek border.