Big Fan of Thomas Voeckler
 

Since winning the Yellow Jersey I have become a big fan of Voeckler. He has shown so much courage in defending the jersey by countering every attack. He appears to be a very humble guy by saying there is no chance for him to keep the jersey.
Being able to keep up with Contador in the mountains is a great accomplishment.
He reminds me of the energizer bunny, just keeps plugging away.

He might and probably will lose the Jersey tomorrow or Saturday but I would not be surprised if he is wearing the jersey in Paris.

Even if he loses the Jersey in the Alps, he has earned my respect.

No argument from me.

A very, very respectable performance.

Man knows how to make his tongue work for him, doesn't he?

Whether it be cycling, or any other endeavour in life, some people are successful because they were born with the necessary resources, and some people are successful because they work hard. Voeckler is the latter, and that demands respect.

eh i think its probably a generous helping of both, but i do agree that the man's showing great heart. hoing he keeps it. (or loses it to an american)

Well, compared to the super-skinny climber types that he's keeping up with, Voekler's built like a normal human.

He deserves the win just because of his gutsy riding. It was a shame that he lost time on the descent today. He now needs to attack Evans in the mountains.

Not really. His thighs are really skinny.

I give him an A+++ for effort. Can't say I'm rooting for him to win, but he's definitely earned my eternal respect.

If you are french and find yourself in the yellow jersey at Le Tour, then you feel very inspired. I think that is what we are seeing with TV.

fify

have any of you read Flecha's take on Voekler?
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/flec...idnt-even-stop
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/flec...tour-de-france

I don't get the impression that Flecha's prone to whining (ala AS).

Marty

You do realize that the best placed American is in 9th place and realisticly the only way for him to take yellow is for some drastic accident that knocks teh leaders out of the race don't you?

He is going to crack - crack bad. Watch.

I'm also very impressed with Voeckler and wish him the best. However, I don't see him staying in yellow past tomorrow (18th stage), but I am wondering how high he can finish the tour this year. Anyone know his best placing prior to this year?

At this point it's apparent he's going to be out of yellow by Friday afternoon. Then again, that's been said about him for the last seven or so days, repeatedly, and everybody's been wrong so far. At this point, I don't really care. I just keep cheering for him to hold on to the yellow one more day. Followed by one more day. And yet one more day.

And no matter which of the big guns finally stands on the top step of the podium on Sunday, Voeckler's going to be my memory of this year's Tour. Along with Thor. As to who of the favorites finally wins it, the best I can come up with is, "So what?"

I think he could stay in Yellow for at least a bit. I would not say his chances to finish in Yellow are zero. I also think he is twice smart to say his chances are zero. It sure helps his image to not be a bragart having it and his best chance for yellow (or more realistically a podium spot) is for other to play cat and mouse with each other long enough that they cannot put big time on him. (one tenth of one percent is not zero. His chance to win is not zreo but pretty small).

I'm not rooting for him in yellow at the end as the most likely way for that to happen includes crashes. But a #3 spot seems possible without serious bad luck for other riders.

He is expending far more power and energy than he is used to, the poor guy. An extremely great inspiration. Trouble is, his legs are cooking, real nice, real slow, real hot. He is going to be blasting through the mountains as he has been then- BOOM!!! instant toast, carbon. I really do hope I eat my words though, he seems like such a great chap.

On the other hand, since this is a team sport, Im sure his team mates can just "block" Contador and Schleck to help give him the yellow in Paris... easy enough, Im sure they are going to think of that.

I remember Voeckler sitting up briefly after the crash with Sanchez and Casar before going on the attack again. What were they supposed to do, wait for them? It's not like it was a GC battle; if the three leaders had waited, they all would have been caught. They briefly talked, then rolled on.

Clearly Flecha doesn't like Voeckler, but his specific complaints don't hold water. Sometimes you don't know how to respond when someone you know has had some ill befall them. It can be awkward, and maybe Voeckler felt awkward. Go ahead and appreciate the fact hat the others visited you, but don't begrudge others who don't.

Voeckler has done great. His odds on the booking sheets though are dropping like a stone, he's now a 33 to 1 shot, after being as high as 5 to 1 just two days ago.

According to Lance Armstrong they should have waited, and Lance is the greatest cyclist ever. For those with fuzzy memories youy will remember his tweet comments last year about the contador/Schleck chain event. (Chain event, coz of the chain then all the controversy thereafter, get it)

This BS of waiting needs to be squashed. So lame. I know Phill is on my side on that one at least. This comment from Flech does come as a surprise to me though.

Flecha's got it pegged.
Thomas is driven...
to win
to perform
to take advantage whenever he possibly can
because he doesn't have all the best potential, because he's not the best at any one thing.
so he wins races because of his determination
sometimes he makes mistakes, he knows he will pay for them
he's not especially humble, just know that he can't be a braggard
he rides hard, means well, rarely whines
would be a boring tour if he wasn't there
if he pulls off the win, that would be awesome
if he podiums, that would be awesome :thumb:

it would be great to see voeckler podium. he has certainly put the work in.

If every rider waited for every rider who crashed or had a mechanical, and went to visit every rider who crashed during the day to see how they were feeling, there would be no time for racing, eating, or sleeping.

I went back and watched Flecha being taken out by the car,
Voekler looked back briefly which given the circumstances
would be appropriate, not much he could have done really.

I'm just puzzled by Flecha who isn't one known for whinging and moaning

Yes, exactly. He was also a Frenchman wearing the yellow jersey. Imagine how busy he was. Flecha was whining.