littletunny

Mod edit: original title was "Sad when T Voekler is winning the "toughest" mountain stage in the TDF....."

Wow how the tour has fallen.......

Voekler while a great rider is not even considered a dominant mountain climber......

Oh boy.

reef58

Winning by such a large margin is a bit suprising, but TV is a stage hunter.

Laggard

Yep. No big surprise.

chasm54

Don't be silly. Voeckler is irrelevant to the GC competition, so there is absolutely no reason to chase him down. "How the tour has fallen"? Ridiculous.

Sea Green Sky

Perhaps you missed last years TdF. Voekler is a hardman on a bike.

Nick Bain

He's good for a stage or two but he loses lots of time on other stages. That's how the tour works noob.

Laggard

Hes doing a Virenque. Minus the drugs.

Olden Crow

Vive la France!

littletunny

Not taking anything away from tom V, but this is the tour de France not some local bike tour. These are the premier riders in the world. No need to surgar coat it

Olden Crow

Five baby!!

DropDeadFred

He's been consistently strong in the mountains this tour, the man is beast, he never gives up

bruin11

RavingManiac

Congrats and a great big thanks to Voekler for bringing a little interest to another boring group ride through the mountains. No race radio...very cool.

daveF

So, is this the first bike race you've watched or the second?

littletunny

DaveF,

Arent you smug. Why dont you stick your nose in the air a little higher.

Do you have anything to add to the discussion of Voekler's pedigree or are you going to continue to sling insults hiding behind your keyboard like a coward?

badger1

Hmmmm, let's stop and think for a minute ... oh yes, I recall now (others here more knowledgeable might correct the details) ...

10 days (?) in yellow 2004
10 days in yellow again 2011; a slip away from a podium finish
Consistent winner or podium over his career in shorter, tough races
French r/r champion
Love him or not, he's pretty widely acknowledged to be tough as nails, aggressive ... an 'old style' cyclist

Given the conditions today, his knowledge of the area, the state of play for GC, hardly surprising that TV won the stage, and most certainly no indication of a 'decline' in the Tour; quite the contrary, it's great for the sport/Tour to see someone take on a stage this difficult and 'go for it'.

Edit: Note to self -- don't feed trolls.

fly:yes/land:no

------------------------------------------

pot, meet kettle.

eja_ bottecchia

^^^THIS^^^

Voeckler is a fighter. It is always fun to watch the expression on his face when he is climbing hard. It is also always fun to watch him push spectators, who get too close for comfort, out of the way.

Plus he rides a C59.

ultraman6970

TV did great today, he did just what was needed to get rid off the other guys. Vino was not in great shape or this could have been his stage.

eja_ bottecchia

You try winning the mountain top stages that TV has consistently won over the years. Then come back and tell us about a "local bike tour."

Like every one else has mentioned here, TV is one tough, old school homme. I am glad he won today and I hope he keeps the Polka Dot jersey.

Allez Voeckler, allez!

lowlife1975

maybe what the OP was getting at is that the 'queen stage' was a bit of a bore, as has been this entire tour IMHO. without a pure attacking climber to challenge froome and wiggins, this queen stage lacked any kind of real excitement. sure nibali attacked a couple of times but who was he kidding. great and tough as he is, he doesn't have enough firepower to make any accelerations stick. same goes with the rest of the contenders. so a tough and cagey TV was able to take advantage and solo in for a good win. the tour is definitely missing guys like AS and AC that can make attacks stick and threaten sky's control of the race in the high mountains. i think this will be the last tour of this type of par course that we see in a long time. didn't make for much good racing between the top ten guys.

colombo357

Says the guy with 6 posts (can only assume you have multiple handles and/or have been banned in the past), speaking of how the greatest bike race in the world has "fallen".

Anyone who watched last year's TDF wouldn't doubt for a second that Voeckler is capable of winning ANY mountain stage as long as he's out of contention for GC.

Please do yourself and the world a favor by joining LemondFanForeve in psychiatric treatment for clinical narcissism.

Mithrandir

Voeckler is awesome.

Just the expressions on his face show just how much he is suffering.


I don't mind Wiggins, but the way he's cycling, expressionless, makes it look like he's simply not putting as much effort into it as he could. Granted he doesn't have to because nobody else is attacking either, but jesus. The Yellow Jersey competition is boring as balls this year. Stage Victories have been far more entertaining.


No race radio, no heart rate monitor. This man is a god. It's a shame he isn't on a bigger team that could really support him. I'm sure he could have won the tour given a strong team.

Shifty

I enjoy watching Voeckler win these stages, he works for every inch and it shows on his face and in his legs. He doesn't have the prettiest style maybe, but, as was said above, he has a solid history and is fun to watch when he takes a stage like today. Bravo Thomas Voeckler!!!

daveF

Not smug, but more literate in cycling than you as are most of the people on this forum whom aren't surprised when a great rider like Voeckler wins. Here is part of his pedigree:


2008 1st Overall Circuit de la Sarthe 1st Overall Grand Prix de Plumelec-Morbihan Held Mountains classification from Stages 1–5 Tour de France 2009 1st Stage 5 Tour de France 1st Overall, Étoile de Bessèges 1st Overall Tour du Haut Var 1st Stage 2 1st Trophée des Grimpeurs 2010 1st National Road Race Champion 1st Stage 15 Tour de France 1st Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec 3rd Overall Giro di Sardegna 2011 1st Overall Tour du Haut Var 1st Overall Four Days of Dunkirk 1st Stage 4 Four Days of Dunkirk 1st Stage 1 Tour Méditerranéen 1st Stages 4 & 8 Paris-Nice 1st Cholet-Pays de Loire 1st Stage 2 Giro del Trentino 4th Overall Tour de France Held Maillot jaune from Stage 10–19 2012 1st Brabantse Pijl 1st Stage 3 La Tropicale Amissa Bongo 1st Stage 10 Tour de France 1st Stage 16 Tour de France Held Mountains classification for Stages 11 & 17 Tour de France 4th Liège–Bastogne–Liège 5th Overall Four Days of Dunkirk 5th Amstel Gold Race 8th Tour of Flanders