Originally Posted by twbradford

That's right fellas....it is still 9 more stages to the finish. The Alps are yet ahead. There is a TT ahead. Anything can happen. Mechanical problems, accidents, illness....

Take a read of Chris Carmichaels take on the stage.....

By Chris Carmichael


Stage 11 of the 2006 Tour de France provided the first opportunity to see which riders could bridge the gap between being yellow jersey favorites on paper and real contenders based on performance. The two men who stood out most were Floyd Landis and Denis Menchov because they have both performed most consistently through the first 11 stages of the race. However, even though men like Cadel Evans and Andreas Kloden lost some time today, the Alps are coming next week and tables can easily turn with a transition to a new mountain range.

The first mountain range vs. the second
Fans and riders have to be careful not to completely segment the Tour de France into separate parts, because even though we may talk about the sprinters’ stages and the mountain stages, everything that precedes any day of this race affects the riders’ performance on that stage. Some racers ride better in the first set of mountain stages, whether they are in the Pyrenees or Alps, because they’re fresher. They may fade as fatigue sets in and lose time in the third week of the race. This has been the case, in the past, for men like Gilberto Simoni and Carlos Sastre.

Other riders perform better in the second set of mountains because they adapt to the stress of the Tour de France and actually get stronger in the third week of the race. Jan Ullrich was the classic example of this phenomenon, and it was not uncommon to see him well off the pace in the first few mountain stages and then coming storming back in the final week. Knowing that was the case, Lance Armstrong used that against Ullrich when the two were dueling for the yellow jersey. Lance attacked early and built a sizable lead in the first set of mountains when Ullrich was still slower, in part because he couldn’t predict just how strong the German would get in the third week. Since Ullrich grew harder to beat as the Tour de France progressed, it was important to gain as much time on him as possible when he was most vulnerable.

Andreas Kloden of T-Mobile has some traits in common with his countryman Ullrich. He finished 1:31 behind Denis Menchov, Floyd Landis, and Levi Leipheimer today and now sits 2:29 behind Landis in the overall classification, but he’s still a threat because of the difficulty of the Alpine stages and his tendency to get stronger as the race progresses.

The Pyrenees vs. the Alps
Besides their positions in the second or third week of the Tour de France, there are differences between the Pyrenees and Alps that can affect how riders perform. The climbs in the Pyrenees tend to suit climbers with more explosive power because the pitches change frequently. Many of the roads in the Alps have steadier grades, whereas climbs along the border between France and Spain are more like stair-step ascents: the road pitches up steeply, then levels off, and then pitches up again. It’s difficult to maintain a steady rhythm, and some riders are more adept to changing their cadences or power outputs while still staying at a high speed. These riders find success in the Pyrenees, but climbers who prefer to grind out a steady effort all the way up a mountain often suffer in these mountains and excel in the Alps.

The Pyrenees are also hot, really hot. And even if the thermometer reads the exact same temperature for stages in the two mountain ranges, riding a stage at 90 degrees Fahrenheit in the Pyrenees feels ten times worse. The roads in this region tend to be rougher, more of the tar-and-gravel surface than a smooth asphalt, and they just radiate heat. There’s less shade and the sun beats down on you, and then you can feel the hot air coming up off the road too. It’s like riding in an oven. Even when the weather is hot in the Alps, you don’t have all the accompanying factors that make the Pyrenees so miserable.

With two transitional stages and a rest day coming in the next three days, the next rendezvous with the high mountains comes next Tuesday with the most famous summit finish of them all: l’Alp d’Huez. Especially coming right after a rest day, it’s very possible that riders who suffered today could be at the front on Stage 15 and riders who looked great today could be off the back. Neither George Hincapie nor Paolo Savoldelli are going to make up 23 min to challenge for the yellow jersey but they can rebound to support Jose Azevedo, who can still ride himself into the top 10.

Originally Posted by maalea

Great list. Some names I forgot and some I don't quite remember. One thing, was Trenti a *true* american?
Wasn't he born in Italy with one parent american, raised italian and it was easier to make the olympics as an american, so he went with that side of his heritage.

Originally Posted by Alekhine

Doppelgangers spoiling the race! ....