The point of putting Popo up the road was to have him fall back to help Levi when Levi and company started their move....the problem was that there was an 'and company' but no Levi...at the point that Levi started to falter Popo should have fallen back to lend a hand...he was 9min down for gods sake what good would it have done the overall even if he had won? Well it's pretty much over for Levi now...he's not going to even get onto the podium, the fight is between Basso and Sastre for third and Menchov and DiLuca for the top step. Rabobank has ridden very very well as a team, much better than I would have expected and Menchov is riding at what may be his best form of his career. Wed is going to be epic.

Old Giro update:


'DZ Lips'

http://www.livestrong.com/lance-arms...-ebbfe0b03389/

If Lance can't get a corporate sponsor like Nike or Novartis to step up and make a multiyear $50-$100 million commitment to the defunct Astana squad, they will fold. But I don't think that will happen since they are arguably the strongest cycling team in the UCI and they have the biggest marquee star power, particularly if Lance agrees to ride in 2010 too.

Stay tuned.

Why are so many people counting Levi and others out?
There are still two mountain top finishes and a 15k TT.

Yes, DiLuca and Menchov look awesome, but bad days can hit quick.

Checking the diff. twitters: today's stage length, climbs (17,000') and the high 90's temps, make this one of harshest stages these guys can remember (ck.Lance & Levi's comments).

Some guys may have left their best on the road today and will be looking for a pull to Rome from their teams.

Levi is a contender. i said i didn't like menchov and that he has a lot to prove. i said yesterday that he's the guy to beat. i don't think i ever said anything negative about sastre but you go ahead and look it up... since you want to be right and argue.... hell you just might be right :eek:?

yeah i like levi, so what? who are you pulling for this race besides anyone but levi or are you still hedging :D? are you saying the bolshevik has it in the bag?

ed rader

if he wins the giro i think he better be rabo's man for the tour.

ed rader

I'm pulling for Basso..he's in with a shout for the last step but that's about as far as he could get.

Look Ed you flatly stated that winning the Vuelta was meaningless. You dismissed the Vuelta and those who have won it (Sastre/Menchov) because guys like Lance didn't race it. You stated that Menchov isn't a contender that he would find a way to lose. Yet you still say that Levi is a contender even though Menchov is eating his lunch...Levi has never won a three week stage race. His biggest stage race win is the ToC. A race that 95% of the peloton treats as a training race and Levi treats as his TdF. As I've said in previous responses you can't rate Levi on one hand and dismiss guys who have won Grand Tours with other. I said from the beginning that Levi wouldn't make the podium and I'm sticking by that statement. Unless he produces a 'supernatural' performance on Wed he's done. And yes Ed I'm arguing because I am right..

If Lance had not broken his collarbone, his training would've moved him up a couple of notches(IMO) and he could've been the go to gc rider. But Levi was ready, willing and able but Menchov, DiLuca and company are just too strong right now. But these guys are no slouches and it's no crime to lose to them. It's about time Menchov lived up to his promise.

Yes, it's disappointing to me too that Levi can't or won't attack like DiLuca or Basso or Sastre but he's a damn good rider and would be number one on a half dozen other pro teams.

I really hope Astana runs a multi attack scheme like CSC did last year.

Chris Horner broke his collarbone right around the same time LA broke his...he showed up and rocked this race...

Agreed. Lance has been "Mr. Domestique" all season.

Popovych and Cunego(and Scarponi and Bosisio) broke down because they went on crazy attacks and a long breakaway in stifling heat and humidity. They thought they could do it and Popo came real close but in the end, it was like so many other breakaways, it failed.

What happened today to Levi could very well happen to any of the other gc riders. Everybody has a bad day in a grand stage race; the trick to winning gc is to have your bad day on the same day as the other gc riders.

After all the attacks and counterattacks, when are Menchov, DiLuca, Sastre, Basso going to have a bad day? Better not be on Blockhaus.

Didn't he pull out with a sore leg muscle?

I think Lance could get corporate sponsorship tomorrow if he wanted/needed it.

Or, he could send out a twitter for cash; it'd have to be for a new venture, not his cancer foundation, and the money would roll in by the barrel.

I'd love to see team "Chico's Bail Bonds" riding in the Tour. That would be totally badass.

Crash

http://www.velonews.com/article/92237

I think they tried that today; worked out really well :innocent:

On another note, anyone really impressed by Ivan Basso and Liquigas, the team? Basso's really impressed me considering he hasn't raced for a while...

I'm betting that they have theirs' tomorrow, while having coffee and pastries (you can substitute this for EPO if you wish). :innocent:

+1

Sadly the 99ers treat any race that Mr. Armstrong did not compete in as an unimportant easy race.

I'm thinking more of the strategy of forcing Cadel Evans to watch Andy and Frank Schleck as well as Sastre. Either one of the three could've attacked seriously on Alpe D'Huez but it was Sastre who did and Cadel simply couldn't chase after covering the Schleck brothers mini attacks.

Levi will get a chance to rest, too.

In the Tour, Astana will bring Popovych, Lance, Levi, Contador, Kloden, Brakjovic, Horner?, Rubiero, and some Kazakh rider. Get somebody in Maillot Jaune and it's game over.

Is anyone missing that Levi had a puncture right before the last climb. I think that had something to do with his collapse. He was probably panicking knowing that the attacks were going to come soon and he was waiting for the SAG. Some may say he cracked but that was a tough position for him to be in.

He flatted on the descent and was well back on long before the climb.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRxGNttpaZA :thumb:

Experience may have something to do with that. Never being the "man" may have played a role in recovering in a big moment.

I missed the video, but chasing back on like that before a monster climb can really mess with your mojo. Still, 3 minutes is 3 minutes.

His twitter account went down. Someone in front of him farted. He wore the wrong socks. Quit with the lame excuses. He cracked like Marion Barry in a cheap DC hotel room with a skank. That's it. End of story. Quit trying to make yourself feel good about your mancrush.