"The 33"-Road Bike Racing - World Masters Games 2010 - commentary, spoilers, opinions etc

I love the emotions these guys show when they cross the line. It's genuine, and beautiful.

not quite as exciting as I expected it to be, but definitely a good stage nonetheless.

Andy and Contador better stop screwing around or as Phill said "they're marking each other right out of the Tour". They can afford to give up a little time to others, but they're playing with fire.

That's multiple times they've had little track stand track sprinter chess matches with each other on the climbs.

not quite as exciting as I expected it to be, but definitely a good stage nonetheless.

Andy and Contador better stop screwing around or as Phill said "they're marking each other right out of the Tour". They can afford to give up a little time to others, but they're playing with fire.

That's multiple times they've had little track stand track sprinter chess matches with each other on the climbs.

:twitchy:

how often do you see sur place between the favorites in the high mountains?

true, I guess I was hoping for a time gap. It is cool watching them play their chess match though.

He's hit the ground more times than Paris Hilton's panties at this point.

also - gotten dropped or slipped out the back more consecutive days than Paris Hilton's.... (well, you know)

or as Phill said

Monkeys writing Shakespeare. He also said they were climbing Alpe D' Huez the other day.

Monkeys writing Shakespeare. He also said they were climbing Alpe D' Huez the other day.

yeah. He gets lucky sometimes though.

yeah. He gets lucky sometimes though.

It's not luck, it's just random blathering. Count the number of qualified predictions those guys make a race. "I think Wiggins will have no problem staying on till the summit" Next camera shot he's gone.

But hey, I'm all wrapped up in the Team Competition which suddenly seems to be the REAL race. It's just odd how I don't recall it ever being mentioned much before. Now it's hourly.

anything to make Lance, or at least the team he is on, relevant again.

I give up. One of these guys is going to have to have a bad day or it's going to come down to the TT. These guys are damn near equal when it comes to climbing.

I give up. One of these guys is going to have to have a bad day or it's going to come down to the TT. These guys are damn near equal when it comes to climbing.

Schleck needs to start attacking, or at very least counterattacking. He's nowhere near good enough in the TT to just mark AC. </capt obvious>

what schleck needs is his brother. ac has it so good with vino right now.

What I'm taking away from this is....as a bike racing fan we are in for a solid 5 years of some pretty epic Tour battles. If every thing remains the same Bert should better Andy in the TT...Andy will improve his TT next year. Add guys like Gesink who will be better Kreuziger, Nibali and others will make this a great decade of Tour competition.

It's not luck, it's just random blathering. Count the number of qualified predictions those guys make a race. "I think Wiggins will have no problem staying on till the summit" Next camera shot he's gone.

But hey, I'm all wrapped up in the Team Competition which suddenly seems to be the REAL race. It's just odd how I don't recall it ever being mentioned much before. Now it's hourly.

My favorite so far was during Stage 2, when Fabian was neutralizing the field at the end. Chavanel was way out front, then Monfort, then the peleton. 2k out, Phil kept saying how Monfort was going to finish 2nd. He must have said it 10 different times. Then 30 seconds later he got roped into the slow moving peleton. I like Phils voice and some of his calls, but he just predicts results way before they happen.

liggett passed his sell by date over a decade ago.

wow wiggo's not the man he thought he was, is he?

wow wiggo's not the man he thought he was, is he?

Err..no.

I'm equally impressed with the "Super Team" that the Shack rolled out...they seem to have the back of the race completely under control.

But hey, I'm all wrapped up in the Team Competition which suddenly seems to be the REAL race. It's just odd how I don't recall it ever being mentioned much before. Now it's hourly.

Yeah, I was so happy this was getting live, up to the minute coverage, considering it couldn't possibly change until the stage was over. "Only 21 points separate these two teams, and RadioShack have just blown it by not being in the front group 30km from the finish."

On the edge of my seat I tells ya.

Yeah, I was so happy this was getting live, up to the minute coverage, considering it couldn't possibly change until the stage was over. "Only 21 points separate these two teams, and RadioShack have just blown it by not being in the front group 30km from the finish."

On the edge of my seat I tells ya.

I loved seeing RS wearing "fred" yellow numbers today. Woot!

Team standings do have one impact, though. They give the order of the team cars. Not that it matters so much for RS.

AC, AS, RS, JD, MR, LA... a veritable alphabet soup.

Are you guys typing on iPhones?!

A small annoyance I just can't help but point out.. why can't people type out Albert, Andy, etc..

we're busy important people who don't have time for complete words.

Watching Sky and Wiggins at this year's Tour makes me shake my head in disbelief when I read the British based magazine's hyperbole about all the revolutionary things Sky is doing.

I wonder if AG2R had pods in their bus and a hermetically sealed warm up area? Cus the snail eaters are pretty much bending the limeys over and having their way with them in this Tour.

dude. but... the pods! Surely they're just biding their time until they attack. Wigo is going to make up 73 minutes in the final TT.

Why I love Robbie McEwan (there I typed a whole name) from todays CN (but I didn't here) daily dispatch:

Robbie McEwen's nightmare run

If you're a sprinter, it's been a bloody tough Tour so far. Triple stage winner Mark Cavendish didn't find his mojo till the end of the first week. Edvald Boasson Hagen has yet to find his. Tyler Farrar, battered and bruised after a mass pile-up on Stage 2, called it quits after 12 stages, having limped through 10 of them.

And Robbie McEwen, also a victim of the second stage crash-derby, has been struggling just to hang onto the laughing group. "Being in the gruppetto?" he asked rhetorically. "[On Stage 12 to Mende] I was with one other bloke – that's not a gruppetto. F***king alone every day, I've hardly been in the gruppetto. [Stage 12], it was me and Bert Grabsch for 120k, just two of us.

"I've had two bad crashes, lost a lot of blood in the first one because I severed a small artery – the UCI anti-doping people said they could see it in my blood profile that I'd lost a hell of a lot of blood. After that, I was given a tetanus vaccination at the hospital which I told them I didn't need; they slid it in there without me knowing, which gave me fever for four days, so I'm absolutely f***king terrible just as I started to feel better.

"That dickhead jumped out in front of me and ran into me after Stage 6 – that's when I hurt my back. Since then, it's just been suffering day after day, trying to make the time limit. When it's flat, I've been trying to sprint, but maybe sprinting at 70, 75 percent because my whole right side's blocked; my hip, my leg and my back are all black and blue. So it's been far from enjoyable."

Can he make it through the Pyrenées? "Who knows?" McEwen answered. "I'm trying not to think about it at the moment."

And Armstrong thought he was having a tough time...

Err..no.

I'm equally impressed with the "Super Team" that the Shack rolled out...they seem to have the back of the race completely under control.

:roflmao: Well played sir.

I loved seeing RS wearing "fred" yellow numbers today. Woot!

Team standings do have one impact, though. They give the order of the team cars. Not that it matters so much for RS.

Are kidding me?!!! This is very important...having the car first in line makes sure that there is someone to pick Lance off the ground as quickly as possible every time he crashes.

One little tidbit put today in perspective for me. They threw out some numbers from a rider in the field (can't remember who) going up the HC climb. 178 bpm, 400 watts and 14 mph. Wow, I would be getting off and walking.

It's fitting that Lance is riding for a company that it trying to get a share of the cellular pie. He seems to be phoning this one it.

One little tidbit put today in perspective for me. They threw out some numbers from a rider in the field (can't remember who) going up the HC climb. 178 bpm, 400 watts and 14 mph. Wow, I would be getting off and walking.

you can walk 14mph?

It's an hour into versus coverage and they are still talking...about lance.

Phil said that AS is a great descender

^i heard him once say sanchez wasnt. neither he nor i know if he was talking about LL or samu.

In the last 3 minutes he's said about 10 different people are great descenders. Is there anyone who isn't a great descender?

Saxo decimated themselves without actually shedding much of the peloton. Andy is about to be all alone...

That's an interesting selection. 5 guys, and it's the top 5 in the GC race. You'd think one of those 5 has to try and blow the pace up pretty soon here.

or not.

this is some dumbass racing

Yah, or not.

damnit. That sucks. Schleck just starts to put time into Contador with a good attack, and then lost his chain. That's not what I wanted to see.

No kidding...that was going to be reeeeeeeally interesting. Vino covered his move, but Contador didn't.

so I guess the "unwritten rule" about waiting for the guy who has a mechanical doesn't apply here?

so I guess the "unwritten rule" about waiting for the guy who has a mechanical doesn't apply here?

rule was written in English. AC misunderstood it.

Looks like Schleck can catch him on the descent anyway.

or not.

didn't Phil just say that AC isn't doing the work in his group and just riding their pace? Every shot I've seen AC is on the front hammering away. He's trying to take the jersey today.

seems sort of vulture-like

What a sh1itty way to take the yellow jersey... AC will lose more than a few fans today.

so far I like the Giro better.

I feel cheated out of a great race.

1) every second counts or whatever, but for AC to take advantage of that situation isn't exactly what I would call "clean".
2) Really? People are blaming SRAM? I'd blame the mechanic.

Hate to see that, but maybe it will animate the race more since Schleck absolutely has to go on the attack bigtime.