Stage 4: Huy (Belgium) - Saint-Quentin, 215 km

http://cdn.dayport.com/olnimg/tdf/img/profiles/profile04.gif

Apparently everyone has crashed out of the tour and it's been cancelled. ;)

Newsflash: UCI approve stabilisers for all riders!

:lol:

Only 3hours before its on TV! Yay! Another late night coming up!

That CAT 4 climb looks nasty, but at least only 1/3rd into the stage!

Newsflash: UCI approve stabilisers for all riders!

I thought it was training wheels...;)

I think Boonen will be hard to beat today. Quickstep will fight hard to not lose the yellow jersey on Belgian soil, and will probably try to keep the pack together so Boonen can win in a sprint finish. This will of course give also the other sprinters a chance, but Thor is struggling with his usual stomach troubles when the weather's too hot for him. The CA team in general seems pretty worn out after their effort to defend the yellow jersey.

I second Boonen taking the win on home soil. Especially with his poor performance the last couple of days.

+2 I'm thinking we will see the return of "Tornado Tom" today.
I would expect quickstep to chase down any breaks.

marty

Heh -- it looks like I rode a small part of the route for today's stage last fall, when I was in Belgium! I did a short leg from Namur to Dinant.

Too bad the TdF doesn't go far enough into Belgium to ride on the bike path named in honor of Eddie Merckx... ;)

:D

http://www.cyclingnews.com/photos/2005/tour05/tour055/44.jpg


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damn, that was confusing. . .

Mc Ewan again.

where was Boonen? what's going on with him?

how did he get so far ahead?
did the other guys totally stuff it up?

Eurosport said Boonen just sat up. . .
he did the same yesterday
I have to see it to have some idea of what went on.

marty

McEwen impressed me.
Boonen ... surprised me.

McEwen is a very nice down to earth guy. Congrat to him on his 10th stage victory of his career.

how did he get so far ahead?
the dude is fast

With the race so bunched up, and with all the time trial specialists within striking distance, it's going to be a free-for-all on Stage 7. At least five or six guys have a shot at wearing the yellow Sunday morning.

With the race so bunched up, and with all the time trial specialists within striking distance, it's going to be a free-for-all on Stage 7. At least five or six guys have a shot at wearing the yellow Sunday morning.

Agreed. None of the top players are loosing much time in the last few stages (what 150 of the 172 came in at 0'00" today?) so the TT and the first stage in the mountains is going to shake things up a lot. George is going to be out for a win in the TT after loosing the prologe by less than a second, but it's also going to be a chance for other TT guys to strike into the top 3 as well.

Hushovd's disqualified from today's stage.

Looks like Robbie found a new leadout man!

Agreed. None of the top players are loosing much time in the last few stages (what 150 of the 172 came in at 0'00" today?) so the TT and the first stage in the mountains is going to shake things up a lot. George is going to be out for a win in the TT after loosing the prologe by less than a second, but it's also going to be a chance for other TT guys to strike into the top 3 as well.

I'm thinking that, at the least, Hincapie, Zabriskie, Landis, Rogers, and Millar each have a decent chance of being in front after the TT.

McEwen is a very nice down to earth guy.

Never heard him accused of that. Same guy with his head in OGrady's lap?

i think ogrady had at lesat 50% resposibility with that, it was ogradys arm hooked over Robbies. but who cares, today was all about Robbie - Jet.

I gots a question:

Martinez took all 3 intermediate sprints, uncontested.

How did he convince the other four riders to allow it? Surely the bonuses meant something to them, too.

I gots a question:

Martinez took all 3 intermediate sprints, uncontested.

How did he convince the other four riders to allow it? Surely the bonuses meant something to them, too.It's possible they were saving energy for the finish, to try to keep the breakaway going all the way to the line for a stage win. If those particular riders know they're going to finish the Tour back in the pack, the time bonuses wouldn't mean anything to them next to a possible stage win. (And if I'm off base here, I know someone will correct me :D ).

Hushovd's disqualified from today's stage.
Velo News says he was relegated for dangerous sprinting. Anyone know what happened?

What does being relegated mean, exactly? Time penalty? Or is it a disqualification??

:D :D :D :D
http://www.cyclingnews.com/photos/2005/tour05/tour055/44.jpg

GO ROBBIE

He finishes on the same time, but his finishing position is relegated to that of the last rider on the same time. Meaning he loses any sprint points and prize money for the position he finished in.

You'll get relegated in a sprint for changing line in a way that impedes another rider's line.

I'm guessing though that it had something to do with avoiding Julian Dean as he crashed beside him.

:D

http://cyclingnews.com.au//photos/2006/tour06/tour064/13.jpg

He took off the Cloak of Invisibility 50m before the line.

he was quite visible for most of the race to the line, just to the left ( on camera, right in real life) of the main group, however the camera swung back to the main group and cut him from view till just before the line. his lead out man and him just pulled out from the bunch and blew them away. the crash would have helped him as well.

:D

http://cyclingnews.com.au//photos/2006/tour06/tour064/13.jpg

How many more ! Boonen has nothin' !!! :)

He took off the Cloak of Invisibility 50m before the line.
:roflmao:
Is it Phil that makes the Harry Potter invisibility cloak reference? It cracks me up--and it is so appropriate. Even if you can see him on the replay.

Yup. Another for the list of Classic Liggetisms.

Despite what you may think of Robbie, not only can he win by canny jockying for position in a tight bunch sprint, but he can also go "screw this" and just launch off the front and take it.

Velo News says he was relegated for dangerous sprinting. Anyone know what happened?
The shots from above shows how Hushovd closed the door as Bernhard Eisel was coming up from behind. It was not by much, but clearly enough to create a potentially nasty situation for Eisel at that high speed, who got caught between Hushovd and the fence. Whether this definitely qualifies for a penalty or if it's a part of the game, I wouldn't know. CA's protest is yet to be finally decided on.

The thing that made a bad situation totally horrifying though, was the way the barriers were set up. The footage taken from above shows the bunch of riders going flat-out the last hundred meters. Eisel is coming up on the far left, and Hushovd moves a meter in that direction with Eisel still behind him. BUT, then there's a wide opening in the barrier, where the cars turn left and out of the course. And after the several meters wide opening the barriers continue, but with a narrower course! If Hushovd and Eisel had continued straight ahead, Eisel would have crashed head-on into the barrier corner at max speed. Being out of the Tour would have been the least of his worries. As it was, Hushovd moved a half meter to the right, and Eisel escaped a really bad crash by what must have been less than an inch. Eisel didn't protest against Hushovd's riding though, this was brought up by the organizers.

I think that Hushovd's only chance to avoid losing points is if the jury admits that it was the narrowing course after the gap that made Hushovd's initial move so hazardous. I'm not optimiistic on his behalf though.

As always, please excuse my poor English.
Erling.

As always, please excuse my poor English.
Erling.

Ha! That was as well written a post as I've ever seen!

And more importantly, it provided me a terrific explanation of what went down yesterday.

I think the official's decision was far too harsh, and I feel sorry for Thor.

As always, please excuse my poor English.
Erling.Until I read this, I had no idea that you weren't a native English speaker. I wish I managed half as well in other languages.

Dagna

The shots from above shows how Hushovd closed the door as Bernhard Eisel was coming up from behind. It was not by much, but clearly enough to create a potentially nasty situation for Eisel at that high speed, who got caught between Hushovd and the fence. ..

Hushovd moved a half meter to the right, and Eisel escaped a really bad crash ... It didn't look to me that Hushovd moved over at all, in either direction. If he deviated at all, it was because Eisel was leaning on him. Hushovd should have moved over to give Eisel room, and the fact that he didn't makes the penalty justified, IMO.

On the other hand, it was pretty dumb of Eisel to try to slide between Hushovd and the barriers. I could see Eisel getting relegated, too.