Tour De France - SPOILER ALERT!

berl wrote: ...The time gaps today are exactly why the contemporary GC tactics are what they are- it's less effective to wear yourself out gaining a handful of seconds if someone is going to take 4 minutes out of you on one of the real mountain stages...

That's true but, if the Schlecks had thrown down some serious attacks in the Pyrenees, they would've gained more than a handful of seconds. Prior to today, their attacks were lacking any commitment. You don't attack for 50 meters and then look up to see what've you done and where your brother is if you want to win the tour. You attack and keep your eyes up the road.

And, considering how he's been going for most of the tour, I don't think Contador's attacks have come with the sting they typically have.

Crag Dweller wrote: Nah, they're probably happy that he's had the pressure of wearing the jersey. And, while his performance has been extremely impressive and far beyond what anyone thought he was capable of, he's not a true threat to the GC contenders by virtue of his abilities, which is slowly becoming more apparent as his hold on the jersey is being whittled away. The way the others had ridden until today is the reason it appeared he might actually stand a chance. If Frandy Schleck had had the guts to lay down a serious attack earlier or Contador were in form; the Cinderella story would've been over much sooner. Having said all that, it would've been great to see him ride in to Paris triumphantly. I was rooting for him if for no other reason than to teach some of the current GC guys to stop being pansies and race.

Uhh #1 rule of cycling.... don't attack when a teammate is in the break... All he was supposed to do today was sit on AC and Cadel's wheel and do absolutely no work. which he did perfectly. Now you have a super fresh Frank to either bury himself for Andy or go on a big ass attack for himself.

Jake D. wrote: Uhh #1 rule of cycling.... don't attack when a teammate is in the break... All he was supposed to do today was sit on AC and Cadel's wheel and do absolutely no work. which he did perfectly. Now you have a super fresh Frank to either bury himself for Andy or go on a big ass attack for himself.

You mean like today, when Posthuma and Monfort were up the road? Or, when Armstrong attacked with Landis up the road in whatever tour that was? They're utilizing strategies that are a bit more complex. And,fwiw, there are other ways that attacks from teammates behind can be used effectively.

Attacking can sometimes disrupt a chase, just as attacks w/in the break disrupt their flow and often result in lower time gaps.

It was cool to watch the last 100m and see how completely destroyed the riders were. Andy looked especially spent, so I wonder how he will ride tomorrow. Maybe with yellow in his grasp he can dig deep, but Frank Schleck certainly seems in the best position to have a great ride tomorrow.

Very impressive ride by Cadel, too bad for him the yellow jersey is too cowardly to contribute anything to the chase, even when he has a teammate in the final group.

Wow. Great stage. Hat's off to Andy, amazing ride.

Craig - agreed on nearly all counts. Only disagreement is whether Andy could have attacked in the Pyrenees, he certainly seemed to ride into form over the course of the Tour.

Mono - the chase was a testament to Cadel's grit but not sure Voeckler or his teammate had it in them to really contribute, toward the end Voeckler put his guy on the front only to pop right off.

How much $$ has Contador offered Sanchez to help him during this Tour?

Andy has to attack again tomorrow if he wants to wear jaune in Paris. He's not a great time trialist but Cadel is. So tomorrow is his last chance to give him a cushion for the TT in Grenoble on Saturday.

Would be really interesting to see Frank attacking since like many mentioned, he will be fresh tomorrow. I don't see it happening though, Andy is there man and Frank will be working hard for him tomorrow.

Great tour so far!

Dom wrote:Andy has to attack again tomorrow if he wants to wear jaune in Paris. He's not a great time trialist but Cadel is. So tomorrow is his last chance to give him a cushion for the TT in Grenoble on Saturday. Would be really interesting to see Frank attacking since like many mentioned, he will be fresh tomorrow. I don't see it happening though, Andy is there man and Frank will be working hard for him tomorrow. Great tour so far!

OR... Andy attacked today so that frank could sit in and rest up? Since Frank is higher up on GC then he would be able to take out more time. who knows ;) it will be fun either way.

I road to the lauteret yesterday, First time on a road bike, I borrowed a bike that was too big, Wore my Petzl meteor helmet, and street clothes without clipless peddles that everyone told me I should have for some reason. I also had a 6 pack of beer on me and drank most of it, during the ascent, should of brought more. , It really was a good excuse to party. My friends and some others around me asked if I was joking, Pretty lame attitude amongst the bikers if you ask me,. While riding up the col, everyone was trying to race eachother , even me, Why? It was pretty easy, and I wasn't racing anybody. I didn't even know how to shift the bike until 30 minutes into the ride. Bikers are weird people. LOL.

All my friends were too serious and all look sponsored and they are not, Too funny, In La Grave they say skiing is not a fashion, and here it is not, but they should make a shirt that says Cycling is a fashion, LOL

Anyway They wouldn't let bikes past the Lauteret, So I walked to the top of Galiber , That was a hump, but with beer in hand the whole way up after the warm up ride to the Lauteret, it was easy and went by pretty quick. Good people watching. I ended up 2k from the finish line at the 3rd to last switchback.

The tour was pretty cool to see that close, I don't know any sport in the world where you can actually run on the playing field next to the athletes. As cool as it was to see, I am glad they are leaving, My house is invaded with about 10 people I know one of them, they are trendy wannabe cyclists, I know nothing of cycling and they are following the tour and don't know much about it, Too funny, Armchair quarterbacking it. Like most people that pass through La Grave, they have no idea where they are and are just passing through. Video and Pics to come, Don't get me wrong, It was cool to see this up close for the first time, But please leave and give us back our village, LOL

stay tuned for some fun pics

Jake D. wrote: OR... Andy attacked today so that frank could sit in and rest up? Since Frank is higher up on GC then he would be able to take out more time. who knows ;) it will be fun either way.

And, that's the real sharp end of yesterday's tactics by Leopard. If Andy's attack had failed, Frank could then have attacked the rest after they were completely spent. Today, Frank can go on the attack (perhaps on the Galibier again), setting up Andy to attack on the Alpe. There's my prediction: Frank goes on the Galibier and force the rest to drag Andy to the Alpe for the death blow.

Edit to Add: Wow, with Contador's attacks, I think my prediction can be thrown out the winow.

I'll defend tommy V a bit.. he was cooked yesterday and got absolutely dumped today.. he was fighting in a different weight class and the rounds added up.

Not a horrible day for the Schlecks.. they did what they had to do.. AC helped keep AC at a reasonable length and didn't lose any time to Cadel. now Andy has 1min buffer and gets to know exactly what he has to do while he's on course with Cadel 2mins ahead on the road.

should be good times :)

JSH wrote:So, Andy did some pulling up the first HC climb today, benefiting only Contador. Why? Speaking of Voeckler not contributing to the chase - neither did Evans today, even when it looked like Andy Schleck asked him to on Alpe d'Huez.

in an (unsuccessful) attempt to gain time on Evans.

JSH wrote:Ah, that makes some sense. I guess CE has been always-a-bridesmaid in the end for so many years that I don't really think of him as a real contender, though of course he is.

Many would say that CE is in the best position to win the tour at this point. Though I think if you look at the final TT results from last year AS is a lot closer to CE than people give him credit for. Should be interesting, could CE loose the tour again by less than 30 seconds?

Jake D. wrote: he was fighting in a different weight class and the rounds added up.

random: I love the use of sport as metaphor for sport.

as far as tomorrow: in my mind's eye I keep seeing the footage of Menchov and his bike spinning across the cobbles in the Giro TT a couple years back... anything could happen tomorrow, especially since the whole tour is on the line!

berl wrote: random: I love the use of sport as metaphor for sport. as far as tomorrow: in my mind's eye I keep seeing the footage of Menchov and his bike spinning across the cobbles in the Giro TT a couple years back... anything could happen tomorrow, especially since the whole tour is on the line!

Congrats Cadel. Must be pretty sweet after so many close calls. I thought he was going to take the stage, but a close 2nd is pretty good too. He was head and shoulders above all the other GC guys. Andy actually rode a pretty great TT for himself, but Cadel was on a completely different level. Fell bad for Andy, but he's young; he'll get one eventually.

Yea, Cadel rode better than he ever has this year and it paid off.

Andy and frank need to either work on their TT.. which Andy admitted at some point that he did not work on. or sack up a bit more and do more attacking in the mountains.

Better late then never. Been too busy climbing in the Alps and Ecrin to put this together.

Let me start by saying it was all shot from my phone, and I am no video editor, 2nd time using Imovie so take it for what it is.

The first video kind of sucks and is sort of long. I am talking way too much, but I wanted to give more of an overview of what was going on and the lay of the land. At the end is more exiting when the riders come by in the big pack. The footage of Andy is worthless, I know but we were in the mob of runners, INSANE. I think you see 1 second frame of Andy about to finish the Galibier at about 7:44 or so I think. I know , pathetic.

vimeo.com/27679515

2nd video is much better and shorter, Enjoy.

The second video was the next day passing through La Grave on the way too Alp D Huez. A little more exiting to watch the down hill. And all that footage is just bikers, Pretty cool to see in Real Time. The video was about 4 minutes, but all that happened in that video was probably over a 10-15 minute time frame. It was amazing how quick the whole show came through and was gone just like that.

Anyway enjoy.

vimeo.com/27680105

race over yet? you can tell I have no idea about it at all

Woodchuck ATC wrote:race over yet? you can tell I have no idea about it at all

That makes two of us!

Nice.. looks fun.

yea... Tour has been over for a few weeks now. Vuelta is coming up soon on aug 20th-ish then world championships after that. lots of smaller 1 week tours in the mean time.

Tour of Utah today should be epic.. they are going up Little Cottonwood canyon which has the same stats at Alp d'huez. 9 mile at 7.something percent grade.