Tour de France - Lanterne Rouge 2008 Spoiler

Wim has the advantage of seeing Eisel's time, and taking at least 42 seconds longer.

Does he do a track stand just before the finish line if he needs the seconds? :lol:

Wim has the advantage of seeing Eisel's time, and taking at least 42 seconds longer.


That's the easy part, but since Evans, Sastre etc. will not have even started, he can't know the elimination time.

So, if Wim doesn't get it tomorrow, and Cadel does, it's over right? He'll be forced to ride the Champs with his team, sipping champagne. Maybe he can slide off the back in the last lap or something.

Wim Wim he's our man if he can't do it no one can!!!!!!
It is funny that know one knows how hard he works for the team. Least no one except his team! None the less it will be a sad ride into Parris to be sure, as he is retiring and won't be going for a 4th round. Honestly I wish I had a third of the power he does. Maybe someday.

I would say ride as hard as he can then just make sure your slower than the guy currently in last place, but not to slow.. CSC is doing very well for the seasoned team that they are. It will be great if they win and would put a nice finishing touch to his career. Even though I am a Columbia / Burrito Bunch fan I would like to see him leave the sport he loves with a team win. I think even though he might finish last it prooves a point about being a team player, and contributing to a group for a win.

That's the easy part, but since Evans, Sastre etc. will not have even started, he can't know the elimination time.

Boy, this Lanterne Rouge stuff is tricky and full of strategy, too - I hadn't even thought of elimination time on a TT!!

Yeah I mean will the manager let him know where he stands. I hope he does. Maybe they can tell Cadel to match a certain time so he doesn't get elliminated. :D
Now that would be funny...

Yeah I mean will the manager let him know where he stands. I hope he does. Maybe they can tell Cadel to match a certain time so he doesn't get eliminated. :D
Now that would be funny...

THAT would be the ultimate irony: sacrifice the yellow in order to win the lanterne rouge. Oh, and BTW - it would also constitute more team help for Wim than Cadel got from the eight other riders in 19 other days. :( ;)

Sven is also making a late run, it's all coming down to the final TT

143. Sven Krauss (GER), Gerolsteiner at 3:45:17
144. Wim Vansevenant (BEL), Silence-Lotto at 3:46:29
145. Bernhard Eisel (AUT), Team Columbia at 3:47:11


I don't think they are any match for Wim though ;)
Stage 4 Results
1. Stefan Schumacher (GER), Gerolsteiner, 29.5km in 35:44
127. Sven Krauss (GER), Gerolsteiner 3:48
148. Bernhard Eisel (AUT), Columbia, at 4:17
173. Wim Vansevenant (BEL), Silence-Lotto, at 5:17

And best of all - there won't be hours of suspense about the outcome (barring elimination coming into play).

Wim should have his own website! :)

The results from tomorrow's TT probably won't mention Wim and the other contenders...they will be in the showers before Phil and Paul even hit the airwaves.

What's the story with the 9 boys from 8 teams coming in nearly 15 minutes late today? Sprick came in with the peleton @ 1:15, and Vansevenant rolled across @ 1:54 - it's not like it was a killer stage. There doesn't seem to have been a crash. Saving energy for the TT? Some kind of protest? Stop at a cafe coming into town? Just pooped?

And if Wim finishes just another minute later, he remains Lanterne Rouge. Guess that answers in the negative the question about whether the team car radios him info concerning the whereabouts of the other back of the pack men.

27 y.o. Eisel riding down the Champs in Red would I think be a CLM*. I look for Wim to be back in Red tomorrow afternoon. We will see.

tcs

*Career Limiting Move

looks like wim's got his hat trick

You know it's funny. Most people are really worried about the 3 possibles that could win, we have 5 pages of people following who is going to come in dead last. Damn funny stuff.

It seems safe, but it ain't over until the slow time trialist sings. He is the virtual leader now.

looks like wim's got his hat trick

All you Wim fans are getting on my nerves.

It's easy to be a back-runner.

Matthieu Sprick has small things ahead of him, and even though he didn't get the red jersey this year, I'm still in front of him 100%.

I'll bet Wim's even late for his award ceremony. :lol:

I'll bet Wim's even late for his award ceremony. :lol:

Last to arrive. :thumb:

From Velo sport"

It looks like Wim Vansevenant will be creating history tomorrow. He started today's stage 42 seconds ahead of Bernhard Eisel of Team Columbia. Fortunately (?) he took 1 minute 35 seconds longer to finish the stage. As of right now as I write this 29 riders have finished. So the lowest man in the GC who hasn't finished as far as I know is Arnaud Coyot. He'd have to take 1 hour 51 minutes and 14 seconds to displace Wim, which is almost 40 minutes slower than the average pace set by the first 29 riders through to finish the stage.

Hmmm, the first TT the slowest man was only 7:10 back, but Cancellara came in with a 1:04 putting him 10:35 back. Anyone know the cutoff time % for this TT? I read the rules and I not sure if they are using the coefficient 2,3 or 4. Any of which I suspect is would be 18-20% of the winners times since I am sure they are avging more than 40 km/h.

Hmmm, the first TT the slowest man was only 7:10 back, but Cancellara came in with a 1:04 putting him 10:35 back. Anyone know the cutoff time % for this TT? I read the rules and I not sure if they are using the coefficient 2,3 or 4. Any of which I suspect is would be 18-20% of the winners times since I am sure they are avging more than 40 km/h.


They are using 25%, which puts cutoff at about 1:20.

So is Wim the winner? "Wim, Wim, he's our man, if he can't do it, NO ONE can!"

The suspense is killing me ;)

Who do they think they were messin' with?
GC
143. Sven Krauss, Gerolsteiner at 3:51:55
144. Bernhard Eisel, Team Columbia at 3:53:58
145. Wim Vansevenant, Silence - Lotto at 3:54:51

Who do they think they were messin' with?
GC
143. Sven Krauss, Gerolsteiner at 3:51:55
144. Bernhard Eisel, Team Columbia at 3:53:58
145. Wim Vansevenant, Silence - Lotto at 3:54:51


Wim's currently leading, but unlike the MJ, the MR isn't settled until the final day. Wim will have to be ready for Eisel to quietly slip off the back on the Champs Elysees, and maybe ready with his own counter-non-attack.

Who do they think they were messin' with?
GC
143. Sven Krauss, Gerolsteiner at 3:51:55
144. Bernhard Eisel, Team Columbia at 3:53:58
145. Wim Vansevenant, Silence - Lotto at 3:54:51

So Cadel REALLY blew it: how often does a team have the yellow AND lanterne rouge in the same tour? Alas, it was not meant to be, as Evans didn't keep his end of the bargain. ;)

Wim's currently leading, but unlike the MJ, the MR isn't settled until the final day. Wim will have to be ready for Eisel to quietly slip off the back on the Champs Elysees, and maybe ready with his own counter-non-attack.
:roflmao2::roflmao2::roflmao2:

Agritubel is bad.

Do they realize that there isn't a Lantern Rouge prize for the team classification? ;)

All Hail Wim!!!

I keep wondering if Wim actually gave time away in yesterday's stage, specifically so he wouldn't have to start first in the TT, and thus being able to keep an eye on his "two minute man." If he starts gaining on him, he can fake a mechanical, or stop for a cheese sandwich.

Way to go Wim!! :thumb:

Just one more finish line to cross, for those who say so what just go see the list of all those who abandoned/quit/wimped out. In my mind thats the spirit of the Red Lantern, he always gets the job DONE.
I have a lot more respect for riders like Wim than for the ones who quit as soon as they see mountins.

Woot Woot go Wim go!!!!
Columbia and Garmin had great rides. unfortunately I don't think anyone will try to brake away and steal a win tomorrow. I think it is a unspoken rule or something.
I can honestly say Wim gets to go out in style on a winning team and the red jersey. :D

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w203/SuzieGreen/wim.jpg

How does someone get so good at being bad?

i can't get my head around a team sending a rider to the tour de france because he sucks...i'm gonna go ahead and say the dude isn't a bad rider. he's obviously too busy for message boards and video games.

Of course he doesn't suck. How many didn't make the time cutoffs? Wim made them all. He's just a master of conserving effort :D.

I remember a couple years back Lance Armstrong came in the first day in the mountains seven seconds out of the yellow jersey. That evening a reporter ask him if he was disappointed.

"Disappointed?", Armstrong said. "I soft pedaled up the final climb to leave him in yellow. By the time he was finished with the drug test, presentation ceremony and press conference, I was back at the hotel, rubbed down and rehydrated. Plus, his team has to work defending one more day. I came to the Tour to wear Yellow in Paris, and I'm right were I want to be." Get your head around this: 'not riding as hard as you can' as a successful Tour tactic.

That's what Wim has been doing. He came to the Tour as a middle distance domestique, and after he was finished stepping and fetching for Evans over every stage's first OC climb he soft pedaled to the end. This tactic consistently put him right were he wanted to be in the Tour: lined up the next day as strong as possible.

Few domestiques use their bodies and their brains as well as Wim. And unlike Wim, many teams 6-7-8-9 members don't remain in any condition to be of use to the team leader by the time the race gets to the last couple of mountain stages that decide the Tour.

Wim is different from other Lanterne Rouge men in the Tour's history. First, his Lanterne is not the result of desperately hanging on, but is the result of intelligently calculating how to be the best team member he can be. And second - he's going to do it three times!

tcs

From the office tour site: http://www.letour.fr/2008/TDF/LIVE/us/2000/journal_etape.html

Bernhard Eisel (COL) was the first to start the stage, with riders departing in reverse order of their place in the general classification. He was 42” behind Vansevenant (SIL) after 19 stages but the Belgian finished 1’25” behind Eisel to reclaim his place as the ‘Lanterne Rouge’ of the 95th Tour de France: Vansevenant is now destined to become the first rider in history to finish in last place in three Tours de France (2006, 2007 and 2008).

I'm fairly sure he could outsprint, outTT and outclimb all of us.

Always mark your rival: Stage 21 finish

141 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Team Columbia @1.08
142 Wim Vansevenant (Bel) Silence - Lotto


2008 Tour de France Lanterne Rouge final standings:

145 Wim Vansevenant (Bel) Silence - Lotto 3.55.45
144 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Team Columbia @0:53
143 Sven Krauss (Ger) Gerolsteiner @3:50
142 Matthieu Sprick (Fra) Bouygues Telecom @7:27


Congratulation, Wim Vansevenant, greatest Lanterne Rouge in Tour history! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcNUx0-XEfw&feature=related)

tcs

^^ :lol:, yep I was just looking at the final results and noticed he came in at the same time. That my friends is one smart tactician. Congrats to him

He's obviously good enough to be chosen by a top European team to take part in the TDF.

Post #135 nails it. That's why you get a ride every year.

The Lanterne Rouge will be making some money from the post Tour crits. There is a benefit to for achieving this.

^^ :lol:, yep I was just looking at the final results and noticed he came in at the same time. That my friends is one smart tactician. Congrats to him

Awesome. Eisel loses 68 seconds, but Wim is having none of it. "I can go this much slower than you."

Woot woot way to go Wim!!!
Honestly he doesn't suck. In fact e probably rides harder then most of the GC contenders! Why you may ask? Well as a domestiques, he sits with his team then drops back to the pace cars to get gels, bars and water, then has to ride hard back through the peleton to distribute his cache. Lets face it on a good day I might get 1/10 his strength, maybe... The guy is back and forth through the group, he doesn't have the option of sitting back and drafting off of anyone. You try transfering ten water bottles from a car moving at 25 mph!!
He is also the defencive line for the GC on his team. That is a heck of a lot of work when you stop to think about it. So yeah I can see where he would relax a bit when he doesn't need to be going full bore. You need to conserve your strength.

Wim was working for it. Check the bold text below.

In Cyclingnews: http://www.cyclingnews.com/road/2008/tour08/news/?id=/news/2008/jul08/jul28news2

Wim Vansevenant makes Tour history

By Gregor Brown in Paris
Belgium's Wim Vansevenant took his own place in history Sunday by winning the lanterne rouge of last rider in the Tour de France overall classification for the third time in a row. The Silence-Lotto rider was well on the other end of the results sheet from his team-mate Cadel Evans. "I am happy with the lanterne rouge, it will be remembered well after my career ends. I have made a little bit of history. I hope it inspires some other riders, like Lance Armstrong did winning the Tour seven times," Vansevenant, said following Saturday's time trial to Saint Amand Montrond.

The lanterne rouge is an official award given to the rider who finishes the Tour de France in last place overall – it is similar to the Giro d'Italia's numero nero. Though there is no prize, Vansevenant notoriety will earn him more money in post-Tour criteriums. He bettered three riders who have two lanterne rouge: Belgium's Daniel Masson, France's Jimmy Casper and Austria's Gerhard Schönbacher. Saturday's time trial in Saint Amand Montrond decided the lanterne rouge competition along with the other classification battles. Vansevenant battled with Austrian Bernard Eisel, who had lost 14'45" in stage 19 (http://www.cyclingnews.com/road/2008/tour08/?id=results/tour0819) and moved into last by 42 seconds, while his team captain battled for the race leaders maillot jaune.

"I did not think to fall back with Eisel in stage 19 to save the lantern rouge because I was glad to be in the peloton – it was going hard. You saw that Flecha and Wegmann were outside the time cut. I know that you can't risk it on stages like that." The time loss meant that Vansevenant had to keep a close eye on Eisel for the 53-kilometre time trial.

"I talked to Eisel before the time trial and he said I could have it. It was not a problem during the time trial – I rode very easy until the first time check. I heard I was one minute down and then started to ride at a normal pace." Vansevenant wasn't even last on the day, and finished 142nd. But he was 1'35" behind Eisel and moved back into last overall, but despite this his time trial wasn't easy.

"It was not that I was here on vacation, my shirt was still wet with sweat – I had to work. It was no problem to be within the time cut for the time trial, but I had studied it before hand. If Eisel would have gone for it I would have beat him on the Champs Élysées."

Evans, second overall, was happy for his team-mate. "We wanted to be first and last in the overall. When I head that Wim had last place I said there was one guy who'd reached his goal," said Evans.

Here's the Wall Street Journal article, from Friday the 25th:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121691877739881571.html

In the true spirit of Wim, I have found this thread now that the Tour is over.

I think this may be the funniest thread I've ever read, anywhere. But I wouldn't mind a few posts (hee hee) about Jens "hey it's the last day, do you mind standing up for the last few clicks" Voigt's saddle on the last stage.

Also, to really hijack the thread: Is there a way to plot a graph showing power/weight/Teutonic country of origin/goofy-lookingness ratio so that we can better understand Kohl and Schumacher? I can only count up to x, y and z when it comes to graphs.

From the WSJ:
Mr. Vansevenant's team director, Marc Sergeant, credited his rider's low placing to a combination of physical prowess and race savvy. "He can ride at the front all day when we need him to," said Mr. Sergeant as he stood beside Mr. Vansevenant near their team bus. "But when his part is done, he has the intelligence to know he should relax so he can come back strong the next day."

tcs

I'd like to note that Wim is the #9 rider on the nine-man team. His domestique job is to execute team strategy for the day (setting tempo, pacing, marking rivals) and get the team and team leader through the feed zone of each stage. Hauling water, pulling the other 8 guys, being there in case of a flat or mechanical - "Cadel, you missed grabbing a musette in the feed zone? No problem, take mine.*" While many other teams were using their 8th, or 7th, or 6th rider for these duties by the time the Tour got to the Alps, Wim did this every day during the tour, including the stages with blazing tempos and fearsome climbs in the first half.

If Evans had no Silence Lotto team members with him at the end of stages, well, you can't blame Wim and his quest for the Red Lantern. Wim did his job, the #8 and #7 riders should have taken over after him, and then the #6 and #5 men, and the #2, #3 and/or #4 riders on the team are the ones that should have been there supporting Cadel at the end of stages.

The domestique is a thankless job, and I'm impressed and amused that wiley Wim figured out how to get himself in the record books while doing his job so well.

tcs

*"I can get something to eat at a cafe." :)

"I talked to Eisel before the time trial and he said I could have it. It was not a problem during the time trial – I rode very easy until the first time check. I heard I was one minute down and then started to ride at a normal pace." Vansevenant wasn't even last on the day, and finished 142nd. But he was 1'35" behind Eisel and moved back into last overall, but despite this his time trial wasn't easy.

.

and who says there are no gifts in cycling. Eisel clearly gifted the Latern Rouge to Wim.

and who says there are no gifts in cycling. Eisel clearly gifted the Latern Rouge to Wim.Warms my heart.