Professional Cycling - Stage 10 Limoges - St Flour

Happy Bastille Day!!!
July 14 237 km

.....

Watch and wait, another "sit on it" day for GC contenders. The only interest will be in KOM points and possibly some jockeying for green jersey points at the end. Wish it weren't so, but all the hi-tech training and cardio-physio babble is just taking the good old-fashioned fun out of destroying people on the road early on.

I mean, God forbid, Lance goes out and destroys everyone and gets it over with.

What will this stage bring? Curious to see if the teams take up the gauntlet thrown down by LeBlanc when he challenged them to use the next two stages to shake up the order of things. Rumors have rumbled that Phonak has scoped out the next two stages in secret. :)

The most significant possibility for the morrow is the Green Jersey changing hands. McEwen is injured and is not as good a climber as either Zabel or O'Grady. He is only 25 pts to the good of Zabel and less to O'Grady. Cofidis has little else to live for except getting O'Grady to Paris in the Green. T-Mobile has larger mountains to climb in the competition for Yellow, so it's possible that Cofidis will throw everything into getting O'Grady to Saint FLour first. Possibly an early break to take the pressure off O'Grady, then follow up with a hard charge up the mountain to get Stuart over the top first and to put as much pressure on McEwen as possible, followed by a hard effort to get SG into Saint Flour ahead of McEwen. Zabel will probably match the best attempts of any of the other Maillot Verde competitors. If he does less work on the day, he may be rested to take the Green in the finale.

Many of the riding wounded will be shelled tomorrow and Thursday.

Yeah, because what Lance does is really all that matters right?

Yeah, because what Lance does is really all that matters right?

Absolutely! I'm glad you see it our way ;)

This years flat stages have been pretty exciting for a change. Not as dull as past years.

Soon all the sprinters will be losing 30 minutes or more a stage to the true champions of the tour and things will get even better.

1. It's sad that you think any stage that has nothing to do with Lance is a yawner.

2. This is not necessarily a day for the sprinters. Have you looked at the profile?

I agree, these flat stages have been great. With Petacchi down and out you really never know who is going to win.
I would really like to see Bettini (if he can make it over the big ones with the leaders) do something special tomorrow.

Actually, my post was purposely sarcastic yet sublime. After all, you're reading Richard Cranium's post.

This year's tour has indeed been more memorable and exciting than most. And today's stage -- well what can you say, there ought to be a new term devised for breakaways that self destruct with 200 meters to go. I think I'll call it the "naw you go first" breakaway.

My point about Lance and the Posties getting alll jerky, is that with all the science about "lactate" and recovery, everyone will be saving themselves for the next stage. (at least GC types)

I doubt there will be any fireworks, the big three will play poker waiting to see who will chase some of wildcards. The only intrigue will be who will be willing to wait, or willing to work first to chase them down on the last climb.

Sublime indeed.

I really have no idea who will take this, but if I could guess, I would say that Bettini will win it in a group sprint.

I'm thinking an early break will take the sprint bonuses.

I see some Phonak boys attacking like crazy on this one.

To be honest, the two best stages have been prologue and team time trial so far. Flat stages are only decent at a few points, so I've been catching the hour or so of highlights of those stages, which skirt over the first 4/5 of the race, and concentrate on the end.

Don't see how tomorrow could be a yawn, with a stage two followed by a stage one climb, and various other stage two three and fours.

Yeah, stages where Lance attacks rock, but theres plenty of sprinting action going on so far, but it's better in the highlights. :)

Anyway, it's Bastille Day this day - should see some agressive french attacking!

Cue jokes about cheese eating surrender monkies... :)

I see some Phonak boys attacking like crazy on this one.

I don't know, it's a long ways from the last hill to the finish...plenty of time to make up 30 seconds IMHO.

I think Mayo going for the mountain points today might mean something, perhaps an early break to pick up all the points along the way, but will anyone let him go?

I think the fireworks will start on Friday :eek:

-murray

I see some Phonak boys attacking like crazy on this one.

This could be where the knights and bishops come out to play after the center game, which Lance has won handily. Quite possibly Phonak's Gutierrez, Perez, or Pereiro could put some hard pressure on just to see what the USPS mid-game looks like.

and...

If O'Grady can stay close enough to the front on the climbs that he can regain contact on the run in, he could even end up in Yellow. Voeckler and team were reported to appear very tired at the end of today's stage.

My thoughts exactly, Don.

And about Voeckler, I wouldn't be surprised. It would be a shame for him though, to lose the maillot jaune on Bastille Day. Same thing happened with Virenque last year.

My thoughts exactly, Don.

And about Voeckler, I wouldn't be surprised. It would be a shame for him though, to lose the maillot jaune on Bastille Day. Same thing happened with Virenque last year.

G'day,

you blokes aren't as 'left of centre' as many may think. Stuey is alot stronger in the hills this year. His main focus in switching to Cofidis was the one day 'Classics'. Whilst not as strong as the 'real' climbers, 6 mins start on Lance, means yellow is not beyond the realm of possibility for Stuey at all. My other tip, watch out for Mick Rogers. I have extremely high hopes for Mick in GC calculations this year. (maybe top 10) He'll climb well as long as they don't make him drag Virenque over every Col,

cheers,

Hitchy

Not sure what you mean with that 'left of center' comment.

I think Stuey has a good chance of being in yellow tomorrow (man, the guy has the best luck with huge breakaways and the maillot jaune - just look at 2001), and I'm hoping for it as he's my favorite sprinter.

This just in from the cyclingnews "live" website:

14:02 CEST
The cows are more lively today, with a herd of Friesians keeping pace with the bunch for a while.

Signed, (yawn)
RD

At the summit of Col de Neronne with 75k to go Virenque and Merckx are still 10'42 in front of the peleton. Brioches La Boulangère is maintaining the pace and not many have dropped of. I'm starting to think that they have a good shot at the stage.

/Csson

PUT THE DAMN BARRIERS UP!!!!

What the crap? The crowds are practically jumping on the riders as they are climbing up the mountain, and they are spilling onto the street. There is barely enough room for the riders! I just can't believe they won't put up barriers at least for the mountain climbs.

Idiots. Watch them cause an accident for the major riders. :rolleyes:

Koffee

PUT THE DAMN BARRIERS UP!!!!

What the crap? The crowds are practically jumping on the riders as they are climbing up the mountain, and they are spilling onto the street. There is barely enough room for the riders! I just can't believe they won't put up barriers at least for the mountain climbs.

Idiots. Watch them cause an accident for the major riders. :rolleyes:

Koffee

Hope there is not a repeat of 1975.

Virenque is a climbing machine! This guy is incredible!

16 H 11 - Correction: 68 Points For Virenque
Contrary to the previous flash, Virenque has collected 68 points in the climbing classification today. The final climb of the stage is ranked category-two and the new rule for 2004 means that all climbs rated cat-2 or higher are worth double points. So the Col de Prat de Bouc is worth 20 points for the first rider, not 10. Sorry for any confusion caused.

Win or lose, Viva Virenque! :beer:

Unfortunately this Stage looks more like a Bastille Day parade with Virenque the Grand Marshall. :(

G'day,

you blokes aren't as 'left of centre' as many may think. Stuey is alot stronger in the hills this year. His main focus in switching to Cofidis was the one day 'Classics'. Whilst not as strong as the 'real' climbers, 6 mins start on Lance, means yellow is not beyond the realm of possibility for Stuey at all.

I just watched him nearly get dropped from a 50 rider group on a cat 2 climb

Nice stage description, Don D
Pretty much sums it up.

I dont understand what Koden did today or the overall strategy of T-Mobile. WHy didnt he allow Zabel to enter in 2nd place? He needed this very much for the green jersey competition. Also Ullrich was the last of the riders who entered with the same time as Koden, he nearly missed out and that would be a +7 in the overall classification.

Strange planning on behave of the T-Mobile team. They didnt look like a team today.

Is it just me, or have the crowds been incredible this year?
Looks like bigger crowds than ever.
I think back to a 4th Cat climb in Brittany a few days ago... the crowds made it seem like a mountaintop finish.

Indeed. There have been a lot of people on the roads.

Any news on Hinault?

Indeed. There have been a lot of people on the roads.

Any news on Hinault?

I think that Al guy on OLN said he was "OK".
No details though.

Whew -- that was wild.

Let's all say a prayer for Tugboat.

Will Axel endup on the "wagon"?

Will Cofidis and Credit Agri slug it out over O'Grady?

Tune in tomorrow...

I dont understand what Koden did today or the overall strategy of T-Mobile. WHy didnt he allow Zabel to enter in 2nd place? He needed this very much for the green jersey competition. Also Ullrich was the last of the riders who entered with the same time as Koden, he nearly missed out and that would be a +7 in the overall classification.

Strange planning on behave of the T-Mobile team. They didnt look like a team today.

Curious to be sure. Zabel should have the Green jersey now, albeit by one point over Robbie, and barring some heroics from McEwen, the Green Jersey should be decided in Paris.

Edited to add: Zabel is not in the Green according to Cyclingnews.com. I forgot, the points awarded are less on this type of stage than on the flat stages.

Any news on Hinault?

According to the Swedish commentators the news from the doctor was that it wasn't too bad. He was conscious, moved his feet and didn't appear to have any visible injury to his head/face.

I didn't think that Kessler would get up after hitting that four inch pole at 60kph, but he finished with the gruppetto (almost).

Zabel only lost two points by Klöden's "mistake" since this was a mountain stage (20, 17, 15 points to the top three) which puts him ten points behind McEwen.

/Csson

Is it just me, or have the crowds been incredible this year?
Looks like bigger crowds than ever.
I think back to a 4th Cat climb in Brittany a few days ago... the crowds made it seem like a mountaintop finish.

Canya blame them? They could be witnessing history here! If LA wins he will have achived something that no-one has in 100 years! This also leads to the "All the coverage is about Lance" syndrom that we are getting this year. No matter that Tyler, Levi, Jan, and several others are legit contenders the fact that this could be history being made is the big story.

Any news on Hinault?

Hinault has a broken vertebrae without other major nervous damage.

Hinault has a broken vertebrae without other major nervous damage.
Wow - sounds like he was pretty lucky there, all things considered...

I just watched him nearly get dropped from a 50 rider group on a cat 2 climb

Nice stage description, Don D
Pretty much sums it up.

How come Lance didn't win stage 10 ?????

Is he saving himself for later stages????

Corsaire

He didn't win it 'cause he doesn't have to.

G'day,

sure Virenque won...but lets not forget he's a convicted drug cheat. Its just a matter of what he's on this year!....lets see how the 'go-go' juice treats him in later stages,

cheers,

Hitchy

Oh the social drama...Axel's torqued because Virenque continued without him contrary to their "agreement." (http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2004/jul04/jul15news)

What did he expect? He obviously ran out of gas (he couldn't even finish with the pack) and he expects Virenque to slow and wait? So instead of finishing 5' up on the peleton, he finishes 1' minute behind? Sorry Axel, I'm sure part of the "agreement" assumes that you can keep up the pace to the finish.

Oh the social drama...Axel's torqued because Virenque continued without him contrary to their "agreement." (http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2004/jul04/jul15news)

What did he expect? He obviously ran out of gas (he couldn't even finish with the pack) and he expects Virenque to slow and wait? So instead of finishing 5' up on the peleton, he finishes 1' minute behind? Sorry Axel, I'm sure part of the "agreement" assumes that you can keep up the pace to the finish.

My first thoughts also when I read this. I like Axel, but if I were Virenque, riding among 100's of thousands of wildly cheering French fans, with the opportunity to win a stage, I would have thought that my end of the agreement only held if Axel could keep the pace. Sorry Axel.

he's a convicted drug cheat.

Yes, he's a drug cheat and a liar. But he (finally) got his punishment, and it is not his fault that it was too short. When he won Paris-Tours in 2001 after a 240km breakaway together with Durand, I must admit that I wanted him to win. Similarly the following year when he won on Ventoux after another 200km breakaway... He is far from my favourite rider, but I like it when daring riders succeed.



[Merckx] obviously ran out of gas.

I was surprised to see his comments. There was definitely no attacking by Virenque what I could see, and it looked like he hesitated on the summit before deciding not to wait.

/Csson

Yes, he's a drug cheat and a liar. But he (finally) got his punishment, and it is not his fault that it was too short. When he won Paris-Tours in 2001 after a 240km breakaway together with Durand, I must admit that I wanted him to win. Similarly the following year when he won on Ventoux after another 200km breakaway... He is far from my favourite rider, but I like it when daring riders succeed.

Along the same lines, let us not forget that Virenque admitted his guilt, endured international humiliation, pulled his shoulders back, held up his head and took it like a man. Instead of sinking into remorse and self pity like some others who experienced what he did, he emerged from his ordeal triumphant. He showed true courage. I have great respect for Virenque as a result.

G'day,

Don't get me wrong guys, I like it when daring riders succeed as well, I s'pose in hindsight we could have expected Virenque to 'have a dig' on bastille day....I'm just saying that given his past, we should treat every Virenque super human effort with suspicion. It makes me terribly sad to have to say that........its an inditement on our sport......I can never forgive any of the drug cheats, especially when we remember back to some of there great efforts & how we felt about them at the time!. There are plenty of examples of riders with fantastic efforts & monumental races & stage wins which we all thought.."wow how good is this....Only to have the performance tainted by drug scandal later, Pantani, Virenque, Millar to name a few....sorry guys, But i can never forgive a drug treat & revel in their future successes,

cheers,

Hitchy

Along the same lines, let us not forget that Virenque admitted his guilt, endured international humiliation, pulled his shoulders back, held up his head and took it like a man. Instead of sinking into remorse and self pity like some others who experienced what he did, he emerged from his ordeal triumphant. He showed true courage. I have great respect for Virenque as a result.


He admitted his guilt AFTER writing an entire book extolling his innocence that no one believed ....

I think I prefer the good old days where the riders would ride 200kms, pop in to the pub for a few beers, have a cigarette break 100kms on...all the while being juiced up on caffeine, pseudoephidrene, and goodness knows what else. :rolleyes:

Baguette and cheese anyone? 300kms down, 100 to go. Anyone for some paté?

You know what I'd like to see? The TdF turned into a point to point race. "Here you go boys, here's a pump, a map, and a spare tube...seeya in Paris" There'd be 20 checkpoints you have to visit in order, and no teams. That'd be fun to watch.

There's a race like that called the RAAM, Race Across America. Extremely difficult. Longer than the Tour as well.

....I'm just saying that given his past, we should treat every Virenque super human effort with suspicion. It makes me terribly sad to have to say that...

All I know is that at the end of the day, if you stand on the podium, no matter what step, you have to be tested for drugs. If you pass, you're considered clean. This is the standard that the race officials accept, and it is all we really have to go on at this point. As long as a rider passes the official testing standards, I have to consider them innocent until proven guilty. :)

How come Lance didn't win stage 10 ?????

Is he saving himself for later stages????

Corsaire

Lance (or any other "contenders") didn't attack on stage 10 because

a) The stage was very long

b) The climbs were not sufficiently difficult to separate the contenders

c) The last climb was too far from the finish to allow a small group that was a threat to stay away

-murray

G'day,

Don't get me wrong guys, I like it when daring riders succeed as well, I s'pose in hindsight we could have expected Virenque to 'have a dig' on bastille day....I'm just saying that given his past, we should treat every Virenque super human effort with suspicion. It makes me terribly sad to have to say that........its an inditement on our sport......I can never forgive any of the drug cheats, especially when we remember back to some of there great efforts & how we felt about them at the time!. There are plenty of examples of riders with fantastic efforts & monumental races & stage wins which we all thought.."wow how good is this....Only to have the performance tainted by drug scandal later, Pantani, Virenque, Millar to name a few....sorry guys, But i can never forgive a drug treat & revel in their future successes,

cheers,

Hitchy

Hitchy, I agree that its a sad statement about our sport, but lets move on! Whats this "I can never forgive" thing? did he take food from your mouth? did he slap your face? life is too short! There are bigger issues to deal with! Virenque used drugs to enhance his performance and he paid the price. I think we need the best drug tests and punishment for the offenders, but after that lets not continue to torture their lives. Look at what happened to Pantani. I think it's great that Virenque can come back and yes, like all the other winners of a stage, he gets to take a drug test. :)

Virenque used drugs to enhance his performance and he paid the price.

He paid the price?
He lied for years, then blamed the drug use on others.
He led his teamates to dope.
He had many results through those doped years.
We all know how effective the tests are.
Do you really think he decided "This drug use is a bad thing. I don't think I'm going to use any anymore."?
In my opinion, he was (is) bad for cycling.
He tought me that you can cheat, and then lie about it for years, and not be punished. And then you can continue to win races after you tarnished the sport and its biggest race.

Him and his team were the ones creating the "Mr. 60percent" nickname for Riis. To Virenque and Festina, if anyone beat them in a race, they must have been doping (since they were doping as well).