Professional Cycling For the Fans - TdF Stage 9 - Sunday July 12 - 160 km - Saint-Gaudens → Tarbes

Other that the great effort by the 2 guys duking it out at the end, this one was a snoozer.

Damn Jens! Bringin' Andy back in a km!

Now you know why Jens is on my all time favorite rider list!!! What a great team mate. :thumb:

Have any of you been paying attention to The Tour for the last 20 years or more? Tomorrow's stage will be just like almost every other mountain stage that has a long downhill/flat run to the finish...pretty boring. There will not be any "sorting out" amongst the real contenders as there is no way for anyone to get far enough ahead that they won't be reeled in after they go over the top of the final climb. Look for the GC to be relatively unchanged.

:innocent:

:innocent:

LOL...I think I hear the sound of someone tooting his own horn! :D

Add to that the fact that I totally agreed with you when you said it! :thumb:

Boy, am I glad I went out for a ride and not stayed home to watch this ... zzzzzzzzzzzzz... :)

The more I listen to the Garmin-Slipstream interviews, the more I like them; classy answers and they actually give you insight.

I bow to your wisdom!!!

Richard


:innocent:

did anyone happen to see or know of a link to the rabobank rider going down? he finished in the peleton but he looked like he took a serious fall on one of the decents

Boy, am I glad I went out for a ride and not stayed home to watch this ... zzzzzzzzzzzzz... :)



Too bad you don't like bike racing. Lot's to see, you just have to know what to watch.

If you were expecting a significant move affecting GC, there was about a 99% chance going in you'd be disappointed.

I saw amongst other things:

1) Armstrong himself shut down the early break when he didn't like the mix of riders.

2) Asatana putting a man in the break

3) Jens in the break to drop back to the Scleck brothers if necessary on the Tourmalet4) A potential KOM winner step out in Pellizoti

5) AG2r workin at the front to keep Nocentini in Yellow (demonstrating why Asatana wants AG2R in the jersey and there recruit help controlling the race.) And Astana not pushing the pace on the Tourmalet, in order to keep from hammering Nocentini

6) A close battle to catch the break that stayed away.

7) A neat two up sprint with a suprising counter

8) Some incredible Pyranean scenery.

Those are a few things that come to mind.

did anyone happen to see or know of a link to the rabobank rider going down? he finished in the peleton but he looked like he took a serious fall on one of the decents

He did crash on the descent off the Tourmalet but there seems to have been no video footage of it. The announcers on Versus mentioned that the report of his fall came across on race radio, but that was the extent of the news. From the excessive amount of dirt on him, I thought it looked like he went off road and tumbled through the dirt.

Too bad you don't like bike racing. Lot's to see, you just have to know what to watch.

If you were expecting a significant move affecting GC, there was about a 99% chance going in you'd be disappointed.

I think you misunderstood my comment. After yesterday's race, it was better to be outside than sit at home and watch a repeat.
Of course I would have been disappointed as hindsight is a very powerful tool.

He did crash on the descent off the Tourmalet but there seems to have been no video footage of it. The announcers on Versus mentioned that the report of his fall came across on race radio, but that was the extent of the news. From the excessive amount of dirt on him, I thought it looked like he went off road and tumbled through the dirt.

Could've looked something like this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5lhnr0DM04
Poor guy. Ouch.

I think you misunderstood my comment. After yesterday's race, it was better to be outside than sit at home and watch a repeat.
Of course I would have been disappointed as hindsight is a very powerful tool.

1) That's what DVR's are for. I didn't sit at home this morning either.

2) It didn't take hindsight to know that there was a very low probability that today's stage would have any impact on GC. You only needed to look at the profile.

My point is that not every stage of a 21 stage tour is going to impact GC. That does not mean that those stages are zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

1) That's what DVR's are for. I didn't sit at home this morning either.

2) It didn't take hindsight to know that there was a very low probability that today's stage would have any impact on GC. You only needed to look at the profile.

Not interested in pointless arguing. Go look somewhere else.

He did crash on the descent off the Tourmalet but there seems to have been no video footage of it. The announcers on Versus mentioned that the report of his fall came across on race radio, but that was the extent of the news. From the excessive amount of dirt on him, I thought it looked like he went off road and tumbled through the dirt.Casey B. Gibson has a pic of the immediate aftermath on the VeloNews website:
http://tour-de-france.velonews.com/photo/95045

Casey B. Gibson has a pic of the immediate aftermath on the VeloNews website:
http://tour-de-france.velonews.com/photo/95045

Back on topic, are we? :rolleyes:

Thanks for the picture, though, I'd still like to see a video of it. Glad to see he got back to the peloton okay—by the looks of his road rash that crash couldn't have bee pretty. His arm was bleeding rather visibly by the end of the stage. I enjoyed watching him on his descent. It's a bit dicey riding on the TT as he was!

1) Armstrong himself shut down the early break when he didn't like the mix of riders.

I am pretty sure this was not according to team tactics discussed in the bus this morning.
Contdor should say **** about this jack-ass prick in the media for acting "not according to plan" like Lance did about Contador.

I am pretty sure this was not according to team tactics discussed in the bus this morning.
Contdor should say **** about this jack-ass prick in the media for acting "not according to plan" like Lance did about Contador.

As a former Giro rider, I'm suprised that you don't know this is a very common team tactic, and would be part of JB's playbook, as we have seen this before.

I am pretty sure this was not according to team tactics discussed in the bus this morning.
Contdor should say **** about this jack-ass prick in the media for acting "not according to plan" like Lance did about Contador.

I'm sure team tactics were not to get Amstong in the early break. I'm also sure that when they didn't like the size or composition of the break, a very easy way to shut that one down was for armstrong to go with it, ensuring that it would fold, and a break more to there liking would form.

Thus Armstrong bridging was an effective team tactic.

Levi said the reason Lance chased is AG2R had a rider in the break as they did the day before. It made them not so gung ho to defend yellow. That's why Armstrong chased the break. AG2R was looking to get Astana to do all the work again.

Richard

I am pretty sure this was not according to team tactics discussed in the bus this morning.
Contdor should say **** about this jack-ass prick in the media for acting "not according to plan" like Lance did about Contador.

How has this guy not been banned yet?

You keep claiming you're within the guidelines because you're discussing Lance, and he's in Le Tour. I'm pretty sure, however, that name-calling and thinly veiled attempts at getting curse words past the moderators are not within the guidelines. Grow up.

Disclaimer: Not a Lance fanboy. Pretty convinced most, if not all, of his wins are drug-fueled, and he appears to be willing to go to just about any length to win (not always an admirable quality). I just tire of immaturity and pointless insults when it comes to discussing a sport I love.

As a former Giro rider, I'm suprised that you don't know this is a very common team tactic, and would be part of JB's playbook, as we have seen this before.

:wtf:

Well. As an eleven time Giro winner, (in video games in an alternate universe)
I have to say I'm disappointed that these guys didn't go blazing into the rest day. :notamused:

Well. As an eleven time Giro winner, (in video games in an alternate universe)
I have to say I'm disappointed that these guys didn't go blazing into the rest day. :notamused:

Oh man, there you go exaggerating again. My records have you down for only 9 Giro wins. You been hanging around Greg Lemond again? :D

:wtf:


A few races I have done are Olympics, World Champs and the Giro.

:roflmao2:

I am pretty sure this was not according to team tactics discussed in the bus this morning.
Contdor should say **** about this jack-ass prick in the media for acting "not according to plan" like Lance did about Contador.

Greg??

As a part of your extended psychological care team we told you to stay away from BF for good so knock it off!

Greg??

As a part of your extended psychological care team we told you to stay away from BF for good so knock it off!

:lol: :roflmao:

Actually you are wrong. It was the team tactic not to let another AG2R rider in the break like they had on the previous day. It left the work to Astana instead of AG2R.

Richard


I am pretty sure this was not according to team tactics discussed in the bus this morning.
Contdor should say **** about this jack-ass prick in the media for acting "not according to plan" like Lance did about Contador.

Well. As an eleven time Giro winner, (in video games in an alternate universe)
I have to say I'm disappointed that these guys didn't go blazing into the rest day. :notamused:

The tour organizers definitely made a mistake by having the last climb so far from the end.