Professional Cycling For the Fans - TDF 2010 stage 9 - Morzine-Avoriaz Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne 204.5 km, Tue. July 13

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bring it! bid for victory on the aravis or the saisies followed with a crazy descent of the madeleine! the last 23 km's from the bottom
of the descent is a long way to hold off those looking to bridge up though.

... the last 23 km's from the bottom
of the descent is a long way to hold off those looking to bridge up though.

I calculate 13 km's. There could be some desperate people looking to undo the results of that last climb.

bring it! bid for victory on the aravis or the saisies followed with a crazy descent of the madeleine! the last 23 km's from the bottom
of the descent is a long way to hold off those looking to bridge up though.

Yes 13km from he bottom (I live in St Jean de Maurienne), as flat as a pancake, wind at the back as usual in the afternoon ... And the descend is beautifull, steep and very very fast (Large & good quality road with few bends) ... The rider who will be on top 30seconds before the others will win the stage :)

duh! it's my new math! :rolleyes: yeah 13 km is still going to be an eternity for
those in the lead. could be a stage for vinoukourov forcing the other contenders
to expend extra energy while protecting contador...

Yes 13km from he bottom (I live in St Jean de Maurienne), as flat as a pancake, wind at the back as usual in the afternoon ... And the descend is beautifull, steep and very very fast (Large & good quality road with few bends) ... The rider who will be on top 30seconds before the others will win the stage :)

Salut Céderic!
Par curiosité, où vas-tu te placer pour cette étape?

What does the red HC mean?

What does the red HC mean?

Hors catégorie - Beyond category. (really, really hard) It think the TdF is the only race that uses the HC classification. All the others use 1 for the hardest climbs.

yeah come to think of it, no other grand tour uses the HC...
Vino is a possibility...Basso looked good, not suffering too much.

God...did Vino design this stage? Can he resist the temptation to fly away from Contador in an attempt to claim glory for himself again? If he's not dropped on the way up, I don't see how he can resist. He coasted away from the pack on the descent of the Ramaz today...what if he rides the descent of the Madeleine?

Salut Céderic!
Par curiosité, où vas-tu te placer pour cette étape?

I will be very close to the top of the Pass, because I will stay in St Francois Longchamps in the morning and will walk or cycle up in the afternoon. Should be fun ! Will u be around ?

Anyone think Armstrong will try to pull a Floyd-at-Morzine on Tuesday - with or without steroids?

Anyone think Armstrong will try to pull a Floyd-at-Morzine on Tuesday - with or without steroids?

No.

Did anyone think Floyd was going to pull a Floyd-at-Morzine?

Day after a rest day always produces some interesting legs on these hard climbs.

Im thinking there will be some shakeup in the GC as a result.

Might be tough for a small guy like Sastre to hold on after summiting.

Samu sanchez

Basso looks good but isn't the descender that this stage is gonna need.
I'm thinking Cadel will take all sorts of chances here.

I think the Vuelta uses something similar to HC but for the life of me can't recall it.

Marty

I will be very close to the top of the Pass, because I will stay in St Francois Longchamps in the morning and will walk or cycle up in the afternoon. Should be fun ! Will u be around ?

No unfortunately not! But I thought it was cool to hear from someone who is going to be shouting "Allez! Allez!" from the sidelines. Take some pictures or video if you can! We'd love to see them!

Basso looks good but isn't the descender that this stage is gonna need.

Exactly what I was thinking. He needed Nibali to lead him down the mountains at the Giro this year. Maybe he's a pick for the Tourmalet.

I like the idea of Sanchez, Evans, or (this is the Garmin fanboy in me coming out) Hesjedal. I know Hesjedal will probably crack, but if he made the summit with a group I'd like his chances on the descent!

Edit: I also like Vino, because it would force the other contenders to chase, and take some pressure off of Contador. That would be fun to watch!

Very very tough day today. In any normal year I'd expect the big guys to ride conservatively and wait for the Pyrenees. But this year there have been so many attacks, and Schleck has so big an interest in putting time into Contador while he seems to have the advantage, that anything could happen. Likely to be very entertaining, with a few of the top ten suffering serious damage.

some nice names in the break today. go Jens.

I don't think it will be a top guy that wins unless there is an attack from the bottom of the climb. It is a big decsent that a desperate rider can make up time on. Cadel and Vino I believe both drop like a stone and I think Cadel wants time, but Schleck and Contador both don't need or want to take huge risks to descend. I expect Hesjedal to go down as fast as he can to catch back onto the pack if he is anywhere close to the front. Probably cannot pass the group unless there is not a big fight on that climb.

Vino is awesome.

I don't understand why Vino is attacking. Does Astana want Contador to bridge near the top of the climb? Or is Vino simply defecting?

What a monster of a climb! Amazing athletes!!!

I hope Evans can limit his losses, doesn't look good though... I'm not rooting for him, but it's not good for the excitement when favourites are going out so early in the race.

Navarro smells blood.

Neither Contador nor Schleck are especially good descenders, right?

This is what we've been waiting for!!!

It's getting rather interesting now. Cadel looks very weak, Contador doesn't look good, and Schleck looks rather strong. Can't wait to see what's going to happen when the road really turns uphill nearer the top of the Col de la Madelaine.

Cadel Evans is shot...

If there was any doubt this is a two-man race...

Cd'E helping Contador by giving him a bottle from Guitterez. Will we see a RS/SB alliance?

Details on Vino's move please.

Vino is back in the pack

Details on Vino's move please.

He attacked near the bottom of the climb. He had ~30 seconds for a while, but it didn't last.

Details on Vino's move please.

It wasn't that exciting, just typical Vino insanity. He tried attacking from the favourites' peloton about halfway up the mountain, got maybe 30 seconds or so at his peak and then fell back again. No idea where he is now. ;)

Vino is sitting on the back of the Armstrong group. Ivan Basso is pulling that group along right now. Jens is pacing Andy now but I don't think he has much left in the tank because he was out in the break early on.

Rabo & Levi might catch back up on the descent.

Jens Voigt :love:

Jens just popped...he is almost stopped on the road.

Jens is a monster. He absolutely killed himself.

It's a long descent, any chance Voigt can come back? For sure he must be the much better descender than Contador and Schleck.

I don't know if Contador maybe is just playing around, but it looks to me like he's a touch sluggish at getting back to Schleck's wheel after every curve at the moment.

I don't think Contador looks as good as he has the last two years. He may be slow playing Schleck and the field but he simply doesn't look as strong as before.

I don't think Contador looks as good as he has the last two years. He may be slow playing Schleck and the field but he simply doesn't look as strong as before.

He doesn't have to win it (over Andy) today. It would be foolhardy to try.

^^
If the leading group doesn't stop ****ing around, Schleck or Contador actually have a shot at winning the stage.

Holy crap, AS and AC will catch them!!!

And they are waiting, incredible.