Suzie Green

I must have been watching a different telecast...I never once saw Ricco counter-attack once Cobo and Piepoli were away.

Nice job VDV, and Evans can give him a back slap for closing those last few seconds to Schleck.

RockyMtnMerlin

Rico did at least once maybe twice. Maybe at 7.4 km to go and definitely at 7.1. km to go. Phil even added one of those "Cobra" remarks and added that he rides with his hands on the handlebars just like Pantani did.

deadly downtube

so bummed that frank didn't get yellow or the stage
will tradition work a 4th time and guarantee cadel will have yellow in paris???

J.W.

Vandevelde was amazing, who knew he could put in a ride like that...i dont think even he knew. Hopefully the team can regroup and actually give him some help (Lowe atleast).

smoke

just what i thought. it looked to me like he tried to jump away. if he could have gotten a clean break, he would have tried to join his teammates. but for whatever reason, probably because of his efforts yesterday, he couldn't quite break clear of the group, so he sat back down and didn't pull. looked to me he was smart enough to not work against his teammates when he realized he couldn't join 'em

i think the hard effort VDV made in the last kilometer decided the standings. he forced the group to work a little harder, probably a few seconds, which made the difference and put evans in yellow

i don't think sastre is the csc leader any more. i've never been a believer in him; he never seems to rise to the occasion when it's needed. a really good rider, just not quite good enough to be a gc contender. i think frank is their guy now

obie

+1

If Sastre couldn't put the hammer down today, after all the work their team did, well, I think it's the Frank & Andy show now. CSC are one heavy-duty all around team.

Nice work from Fabian too.

Valverde disappoints today. Didn't see too many of his guys up front either.

VDV's last push near the end was pretty cool to watch. Big time effort.

TommyL

Hooray! The curse of the yellow bike! I will be happy to see anyone riding a yellow bike get dropped.

Oscar Friere did it right with the team kit and the green jersey. Nice and simple.

Kirchen loses green and yellow- ouch.

carlfreddy

Observation:

Cadel Evans looked like he was in immense pain today. And he also appeared to be favoring that left shoulder (did anyone else notice that it appeared to be weeping some fluid through his jersey?). I question whether he'll be able to soldier on with yellow, I think we'll find out that the injuries he suffered yesterday are more severe than originally suspected.

RockyMtnMerlin

Great time for a rest day.

vic32amg

have you ever watched the tour before? Sastre Didn't hammer because he was covering franks lead. . Why attack when one of your teams mates is up the road? this is all a set up for the alps where frank will have the jersey going in and Sastre will bolt to the top. Sastres played his role perfectly and pretty effortlessly, All he had t do was match the efforts of the other GC guys.Really smart tactics. Also very smart to have Fabian waiting at the top to put the hammer down to keep the following groups from catching the lead group. That was brilliant. I think Sastre will have the Yellow going into the final TT but will lose it by seconds not minutes. Andy will go for stage wins and to set up attacks in the alps and franks will not podium but will show as a man for the future leader.

You have to be crazy to think that F. Schleck will not pay for his efforts today.

do-well

As is always is the lesson: Don't get on the Evans train and expect an attack.

Color me SHOCKED! He must have spent too much time as a domestique to realize that Evans would rather play time-games than attack the darn hill. But, hey, what the heck do I know -- the yellow will be Evans' when it matters.

GGDub

Well, that one photo of him sure proves that he put in a huge effort today. But today was not a day to conserve. With a rest day tomorrow, a strong team and almost a week until the next true mountain stage, he'll have plenty of time to recover.

For that matter, Evans put in a huge effort today as well, but he probably won't get much rest the next couple of days with half of his body road rashed.

acorn_user

Agreed, I was hoping he would make it too.

dmotoguy

I think voigt should make up the damn 27minutes in a huge break and get in yellow.

Suzie Green

Voigt showed today that he is worth every nickel they pay him!

save10

You know what was great too was how Cancellara made it over the Tourmalet in the break and the put the hammer down in the valley. He blew those guys up. I turned on the stage half way up the Tourmalet and they said Cancellara was in the break. I thought I was a replay of an old race when they said that.

smoke

apparently you missed the fact that sastre attacked first and couldn't get away. after that, frank took his shot and got away from the group. at that point, yeah, carlos should sit in. but he couldn't get away earlier

2wheeled

I did not rate Frank Schleck or Vande Velde for a top spot but today they showed what great riders they are and are contenders for top 3.

Looks like Valverde peaked to soon and now his tour is over, that's to bad, I really rated him this year. Al in all one great tour.

vic32amg

He couldn't get away because he is marked. They know exactly what he is capable of in the second half. Also that is the benefit of having multiple teams members up front, keep attacking ( like SD ricco, peopeli) and eventually one of the attacks will stick. Once the attack sticks the other team mate defends and sits on the wheels and lets the other guys work. pretty simple.

Example : Ricco today looks like he could have easily won the stage but chose to sit and let his mates take it.

this has been the formula for a very long time. Very seldom do you get one guy that simply pulls and pulls till he breaks away ( see Basso the alien 1996 Giro) . Those attacks are the ones of legends and doping.

here ya go

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwHlCl2s0UM

smoke

true, but i have a hard time thinking that frank wasn't marked as well. some people in csc have made noise about not knowing who would be the team leader until someone showed themselves to be tops. and if you look at schleck's acceleration and departure, it sure doesn't look to me like everybody just sat up

Suzie Green

Sometimes you have to gauge your energy level and make a decision based on what you think is right for the moment. Let's say you are Evans, sitting in a break with Ricco, Sastre, Vandevelde, Menchov and Schleck. If every one of those guys takes a flyer off the front, do you chase him down if everyone has marked you as the danger man and just sits on your wheel, letting you do the work? I doubt you'd have the strength to pull back 5 vicious attacks. So you mark your own danger men. Perhaps Evans figures Sastre and Menchov are his preliminary rivals, the ones he has to cover at all costs. Schleck takes a flyer, and Evans sits there, wondering....while maybe Menchov and Sastre are doing the same thing. Schleck gets 50, 100 meters....then he's gone.

You take your chance, stick with your plan, and live or die by it. Maybe Evans covers Schleck, and then Menchov attacks when Frank is brought back. You can work this scenario 20 different ways. It's what makes the Tour (and bantering with you guys) so exciting!

obie

Relax.

Your tactical analysis may be spot on...or just another shot off the hip.

Sastre doesn't impress. Frank's got some years on him and, yea, maybe he wont bring it again.

Sastre with Yellow going into final TT? OK, I'll file that one away and get back to you at the end.

Evans is the still the stud. Unlike Il Ratto, Cadel doesn't whine about lack of support - he's just hammering away. Wheel suck, whatever, he's doing what it takes. One tough MOFO.

Fire away.

harlond

Well, they had to wait for Valverde or they might have been there, it seemed to me. Check out Pereiro's finish, pretty good considering how much work he did for Valverde.

Lithuania

csc is sitting pretty now. sastre can attack and force evans and others to follow while frank just sits in. If evans hold on he will really have earned it.

vic32amg

I was really hoping devolder would still be there. Bummer