Professional Cycling For the Fans - Stage 12 Castelsarrasin - La Mongie

July 16 197.5 km

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I'd like to point out that while the La Mongie climb has an average gradient of 6.8%, the final 7 kilometres are all over %8 in average gradient.

http://www.salite.ch/tourmale1.htm

Moncoutie has barely finished pi$$ing in the bottle and you're ready to rumble. :)

Should be an interesting stage tomorrow.

But they aren't climbing the whole Tourmalet, so I'm sure they are still going to hit some of the extra gradient, but not the whole 7km. How far is the stage finish from the top?

Andrew

Yeah baby, they're gonna hafta enter the sweepstakes if they want to ride with Lance!

Just kidding, interesting indeed. Go Tyler!

By the way La Mongie is at 1715 m, so you can see where it lies on the overall climb.

But they aren't climbing the whole Tourmalet, so I'm sure they are still going to hit some of the extra gradient, but not the whole 7km. How far is the stage finish from the top?

Andrew

I know they aren't climbing the whole Tourmulet. I took the altitude in account when saying that the last 7km are over 8%.

The profile that Don gave tells you what altitude La Mongie is.
It's about 5km from the top.

Prediction: Mayo will attack somewhere!

I love going out on a limb ;)

Prediction: Voeckler's time in yellow is over as of tomorrow.

If not tomorrow.. DEFINITELY Saturday.

Prediction: Voeckler's time in yellow is over as of tomorrow.

If not tomorrow.. DEFINITELY Saturday.

come on Devil, commit!

I don't see Lance winning this stage, there's not enough "pre-climbing" before the final two climbs. I think this stage favors a Mayo break, maybe even Heras putting some time into the main contenders. I think Ullrich and Armstrong will mark each other and limit their losses for a showdown on Saturday. The only thing that could throw it all into chaos would be if Hamilton decides to launch an attack with Sevilla, then Armstrong and Ullrich would be forced to answer.

I'll be curious to see how Postal, T-mobile and Phonak choose to handle the early parts of this stage, will they be content to ride near the front, or will they try to put some of the climbers teams under pressure so they are weakened before the final climbs? All in all, it should be an exciting stage! I can't wait.

I wouldn't be suprised to see Phonak and/or T-Mobile drive the pace before the Col d'Aspin.
And if Armstrong feels well tomorrow, expect to see USPS drive the field on Saturday.

Mayo says:
"The Pyrenees are looming, that's my terrain and so everybody is asking me if I will attack," said Mayo. "Naturally the answer is yes."

"If I could choose, I'd like to win at La Mongie on Friday. I know that thousands of Basque fans are getting ready to line the climb to the finish so it would be incredible to win in front of them. "

"It won't be easy because everybody will be expecting me to attack but that won't stop me trying."

I will say Mancebo takes it.. or at least a spanish guy.. its about time one of them wins!

Here's another profile of the Tourmalet climb (http://www.cyclos-cyclotes.org/col_tourmalet.html). A month ago, I did the Full Monty myself. I would say that it's is very tough (especially for non-climbers); it took me 1:53 to get to the summit.

I wonder whether the T would qualify for 'Hors Categorie' if the riders would have to cover those extra km's after La Mongie.

I wonder whether the T would qualify for 'Hors Categorie' if the riders would have to cover those extra km's after La Mongie.

Absolutely. Any climb where the first guy up screams "assassins" to the organizers are automatically HC :).

I hope that Mayo takes the stage, two minutes ahead of Ullrich, another minute ahead of Hamilton and Heras, who in turn are a minute ahead of Armstrong and the yellow goes to Casar. That should set the stage for Saturday :). That's not likely to happen...

/Csson

There is a good chance of rain, which might change tactics. Instead of saving more energy for tomorrow, some riders might try to put a bigger hammer down today (thinking it might not rain tomorrow). Weather can be a huge factor in a stage like this.

There is a good chance of rain

Yes, it's raining now at the last sprint near the start of Col d'Aspin, and it's not just a shower.

/Csson

Yes, it's raining now at the last sprint near the start of Col d'Aspin, and it's not just a shower.

/Csson

lance got caught out of the break on the descent. ullrich and mayo are ahead. oh wait. just heard phil say they caught up. it was interesting for a second there.

The sun is shining again. Hamilton is not going to win the tour, neither will Voeckler. Ullrich is in trouble as well.

/Csson

ullrich, hamilton are off the pace on the last climb. voeckler's popped, and virenque is trying to pace him back up (talk about nationalism). good stuff today!

Armstrong is pulling away from Ullrich, Hamilton, and Voeckler by 20 seconds now. Looks like a good day for Lance. I don't think he could do it without Azevedo, just like he had Heras to help in the past.

Basso!

Awesome race. Do you think Armstrong could have won that if he wanted or did Basso just school him :p

Awesome race. Do you think Armstrong could have won that if he wanted or did Basso just school him :p

he didn't really contest it. what's scary is that chechu and beltran didn't take a pull today. think they're saving them for tomorrow?

So what does OLN do after the finish? Go to a commercial! Unreal.

Anyway, great stage today.

My man Menchov had a good day. :D

So what does OLN do after the finish? Go to a commercial! Unreal.


I guess you didn't appreciate the fact that there was no commercial through the last 6km or so.

I figured Basso would do great this year... but I didn't expect a stage win in this fashion from him! Lets see how he continues... great ride.
I guess Armstrong wasn't joking when he had excuses for last year. I don't think it was ageing...

So what does OLN do after the finish? Go to a commercial! Unreal.

Anyway, great stage today.

My man Menchov had a good day. :D

I was amazed by the commercial timing as well. Tomorrow's going to be even more interesting than it would have been anyway. With all of the time losses by the major players it could be crazy (at least I hope so).

I'm without OLN/TV access for 3 days (crummy timing for a business trip :(), so I'm anxious to see the time gap changes in the GC - how much time did Basso and Lance put on the other contenders today?

I guess you didn't appreciate the fact that there was no commercial through the last 6km or so.


Wow, 6k of commercial free racing. Pretty impressive. We saw Lance finish. That's all that matters, right Brent?

Wow, 6k of commercial free racing. Pretty impressive.

Don't be a whiner. That 6k was probably 15-25 minutes.

Hamilton loses 3.27. Ullrich loses 2.30. Mayo lost 1 minute.

voeckler's popped, and virenque is trying to pace him back up (talk about nationalism).

Yeah right. The camera loves you, Richard...

Interesting today. I'm happy Basso gave Armstrong a fight, but too bad about Ullrich and the others. If Ullrich gets his strength then Klöden will be a great help in the mountains.




how much time did Basso and Lance put on the other contenders today?

Look here (http://www.letour.fr/2004/us/classements.oft?service=RaceServer&RaceType=TDF&RaceYear=2004&StageNumber=1200&Language=ANG&StandingType=ITG) :).

/Csson

Viva Voeckler! I guess Superchivo was getting some good info from his sources. :)

Hamilton loses 3.27. Ullrich loses 2.30. Mayo lost 1 minute.

The carnage... :mad: Let's hope for a Comeback of the Contenders in tomorrow's stage. Otherwise we'll be short on suspense. :(

Voeckler lost almost 4:00 and suffered madly; looks like he wont hold on the maillot jaune too long.

Awesome race. Do you think Armstrong could have won that if he wanted or did Basso just school him :p

I don't think Armstrong had anything left! Basso was incredible today!

The carnage... :mad: Let's hope for a Comeback of the Contenders in tomorrow's stage. Otherwise we'll be short on suspense. :(

My sentiments exactly.

I don't think Armstrong had anything left! Basso was incredible today!

His response to Armstrong's jump certainly made it look very easy. A good man-to-man sprint on the final metres would have been better, though.

great stage.
Expect Voekler to finish in top 10 when it all rolls into Paris.

yeah CSC!!!!

marty

Lance was hanging his head at the finish, I am awaitng the post race interviews to see if he was cooked, or gave the stage to Basso. Not that Basso did a lot of pace making to earn that kind of gift. I think LA was fried.

Lance was hanging his head at the finish, I am awaitng the post race interviews to see if he was cooked, or gave the stage to Basso. Not that Basso did a lot of pace making to earn that kind of gift. I think LA was fried.

Fried or not he did all the damage he needed on day that was expected to be rather "easy". The Posties rocked the peloton today and with almost 4min on Jan all Lance has to do pace him untill the final TT and he's won number 6! Yeah I agree this makes for boring television but LA is in it to win it and today may have been the decisive battle.

Fried or not he did all the damage he needed on day that was expected to be rather "easy". The Posties rocked the peloton today and with almost 4min on Jan all Lance has to do pace him untill the final TT and he's won number 6! Yeah I agree this makes for boring television but LA is in it to win it and today may have been the decisive battle.

as i said earlier, what gets me is that neither beltran nor chechu pulled today, or at least not towards the end. george took them much of the way up, where acevedo took over. if they get the full three-man mountain team cooking tomorrow, it could get very ugly. but i have to think the contenders will return. i think they were surprised by the pace today, but will be ready tomorrow.

great stage.
Expect Voekler to finish in top 10 when it all rolls into Paris.

yeah CSC!!!!

marty

I have to admire the guy, but he won't finish in the top 30.

How are Basso and Kloden in ITTs? T-mobile may have to make a choice between Kloden and Ullrich. Although, I think Kloden and Basso both need a cushion on Armstrong to make up for the final 2 ITTs.

So what does OLN do after the finish? Go to a commercial! Unreal.

The first thing I thought was "damn, now I'm not going to get to see Ullrich cross the finish line". Well, as you know, there was plenty of time for the commercial! :D

as i said earlier, what gets me is that neither beltran nor chechu pulled today, or at least not towards the end. george took them much of the way up, where acevedo took over. if they get the full three-man mountain team cooking tomorrow, it could get very ugly. but i have to think the contenders will return. i think they were surprised by the pace today, but will be ready tomorrow.

Who thinks they were being saved for tomorrow?

The first thing I thought was "damn, now I'm not going to get to see Ullrich cross the finish line". Well, as you know, there was plenty of time for the commercial! :D

Right on. You know you had a bad day when the station can run commercials after the winner finishes and still come back and show you finishing.
:)

I was suprised they when they didnt have some post-race stuff like interviews. I have no interest in this Gravity Files crap

Has OLN ever interviewed Voekler? I mean the guy's been in yellow for a week.

Who thinks they were being saved for tomorrow?

i wasn't saying anyone had said that. just a thought i had. it would make sense--they weren't really expecting today to be the big attack day. beltran did a little work over l'aspin, but that's about it. either they were hurting, or johan didn't think they needed them today.

oh, and i bet oln hasn't interviewed voeckler because he speaks no english. just a guess (i don't know that he doesn't speak english, but that would be a good reason for an english-language network not to interview him). i admire the kid. he's been dying out there, but hanging tough. anyone who make faces like that is likable, as far as i'm concerned.