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Tour de France 2011 Official Thread (July 2-24)

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K

kottila

Member
Huge breakaway today. 12 people with FdJ having two riders and 4 more coming up

Knees, Hesjedal, Hoogerland, Kreuziger, Di Gregorio, Roy (Again!) +++

Looks like they might not be allowed to let go afterall..
 
K

kottila

Member
Zakath said:
Yes, Roy for the 6th time since the beginning of the Tour. Love this guy :)
Click to expand...

Apparantly there was a guy in the break away that threatened the white jersey, so Sky is reeling them in
 
S

seanoff

Member
not great conditions on top of Galibier atm, snow.

then this is the forecast for the race.

"Thursday, the finish to the top of Galibier will be sunny too and the riders will have a tailwind during the stage. The temperature at the finish is estimated to be about 6°C.

It'll be a bit warmer Friday for the second Galibier ascent, en route to Alpe d'Huez, with 7 to 8°C at the summit of mythical pass and 12 to 13°C at the finish"

30C the day before at Pinerolo.

good conditions for getting a cold.
 
Z

Zakath

Neo Member
At the rate it's going today, there'll be lots of tired riders tonight. We may see massive grupettos and men who won't make the time cut in the big stages.
 
K

kottila

Member
seanoff said:
not great conditions on top of Galibier atm, snow.

then this is the forecast for the race.

"Thursday, the finish to the top of Galibier will be sunny too and the riders will have a tailwind during the stage. The temperature at the finish is estimated to be about 6°C.

It'll be a bit warmer Friday for the second Galibier ascent, en route to Alpe d'Huez, with 7 to 8°C at the summit of mythical pass and 12 to 13°C at the finish"

30C the day before at Pinerolo.

good conditions for getting a cold.
Click to expand...

My brothers and parents are going up there. I don't think they expected that kind of weather when they packed their bags.
 
M

magnificent83

Member
Lol, this is fun, they should have finished off Contador while they had a chance. Shame that Frank has to wait on Andy to keep him going to limit the time losses.
 
K

Kung Fu Jedi

Member
Finally! A real attack. Not a fan of Contador, but glad to see someone take over and get aggressive. An you're right, they should have put the nail in Contador's coffin when they had the chance. Evans looks very comfortable too.
 
F

froliq

Member
Oh man, this is sooo good. Good win by Thor again and what an attack by Contador. No one expected it today and great descent by Evans.
 
K

kch

Member
What a stage. What a stage. Had a huge grin on my face from the last 20km. Norwegians at it again. Contador shows some muscle, finally. And on this stage? Big surprise.
Evans looking really, really sharp. Schlecks losing some ground. The weather might play some part in that but I doubt it. Cavendish wasn't far behind Andy either, haha. Crazy.

The coming days will be super exciting! It's so open still.
 
M

magnificent83

Member
What's the consensus on the Schlecks, I know Andy is considered to be better but everyone (TV and ITT) have said that Andy is not in great shape to get the yellow jersey so shouldn't he defer to Frank since it seems he's in better form to attempt for yellow?
 
R

rithvikgv

Neo Member
Holy crap! Skipped the TV feed thinking it would be a breakaway win followed by a boring ass bunch sprint. Have to catch the highlights now.

It's not looking good for the Schlecks. :( Gotta be Evans' to lose, doesn't it?
 
K

Kabouter

Member
That was fantastic :D
Very unexpected and awesome attack, to finish what I thought was one of the most fun stages so far. Great win by Thor as well by the way.
Can someone beat Evans now?
 
Z

Zakath

Neo Member
Andy Schleck must be so depressed looking at the stage tomorrow, very long descent after Sestrières and exactly the same kind of finish as today with the Côte de Pramartino.

Ouch, very interesting finish indeed : "On a narrow, very twisting back road, this 6.7km climb averages 6.2 percent, but it has a 12-percent section just before a summit that’s only 7km from the line in Pinerolo. The 3km-long, switchback descent averages a vertiginous 15 percent and that’s where the stage can be won and lost.".
 
S

seanoff

Member
Andy complaining that the finish was downhill.

Fuck me son, learn to ride a bike. This is a test of your cycling not a Andy Schleck benefit.

"It was a dangerous finish. I didn't feel super on the climb, when he [Contador] attacked. I rode badly down hill, I had to unclip on the first corner and was gapped 150 m. I couldn't coast to the bottom," Schleck said.

Asked about losing 1m 9s to Evans, Schleck said: "I don't think it means anything. I am confident and my form is good. I showed it and I am going to show it again.
"I will keep my head up for the next days. I am pretty disappointed, but if this [is] what people want to see - a race decided on a downhill ... I don't think that ... I think the [course] was badly chosen. We don't want to see riders crashing or taking risks.

"Everyone has families at home. A finish like this should not be allowed."


So Andy only wants mountain top finishes in the Alps, maybe we could also nuetralise the stages when they have to go down. many of the Cols have ski stations, they could choose to take the ski lifts down rather than ride.

soft cock. never win the tour with that attitude. god knows what he makes of some of the cobbled classics.
 
K

Kung Fu Jedi

Member
Bitch complaint out of Andy who just plain looked out of sorts today. Losing time to Evans is not going to work in his favor when he needs to be well ahead of him before going into the individual time trial on Saturday. He can try to play it off, but today Evans served notice just as much as Contador did.
 
S

speedpop

Has problems recognising girls
Seems vastly unreasonable to complain about descent finishes. I enjoy uphill finishes as much as anyone, but sometimes it's great to see riders put their nerves on the line.
 
K

Kung Fu Jedi

Member
speedpop said:
Seems vastly unreasonable to complain about descent finishes. I enjoy uphill finishes as much as anyone, but sometimes it's great to see riders put their nerves on the line.
Click to expand...

Agreed, and descending is a technical skill that not everyone has. Good descenders should get a chance to show off their skills too.
 
D

Darth Sonik

we need more FPS games
Fuck Andy Schleck. Seriously fuck him.

I was never a fan of his, or his brother for that matter, but now I can't stand him.

What's the point of being a great climber? If you can't descend for toffee.

This is why I love descent finishes, it sorts the men from the boys. It produces great performances were riders gaining time are not babysat by their team mates (although today's winner used his team mate to great effect) and have to use their skills, nerve, strength & judgement to overcome their opponents.

I was slightly disappointed that Edvald got done so easily by Thor, I was expecting a better fight from him.

All the same, great job by Thor, Edvald, Ryder, Cadel, Alberto, Samuel, Thomas, (even) Frank & everyone else not named Andy Schleck. Oh and to Andy Schleck... FUCK YOU.
 
T

Tarazet

Member
Andy wasn't in great form coming into the Tour, it's only tactical games and teamwork that have kept him in the hunt so far. I won't be surprised at all to see him pop before Paris when the course really gets selective, but it's also going to take someone else who is in super form to make it happen. Cadel is the only one at this point.
 
K

Kabouter

Member
Tarazet said:
Andy wasn't in great form coming into the Tour, it's only tactical games and teamwork that have kept him in the hunt so far. I won't be surprised at all to see him pop before Paris when the course really gets selective, but it's also going to take someone else who is in super form to make it happen. Cadel is the only one at this point.
Click to expand...
Rob Ruijgh is going to come up from behind and make you eat those words!

Seriously though, Rob Ruijgh is awesome. Hopefully he keeps growing as a rider
 
K

kottila

Member
Darth Sonik said:
Fuck Andy Schleck. Seriously fuck him.

I was never a fan of his, or his brother for that matter, but now I can't stand him.

What's the point of being a great climber? If you can't descend for toffee.

This is why I love descent finishes, it sorts the men from the boys. It produces great performances were riders gaining time are not babysat by their team mates (although today's winner used his team mate to great effect) and have to use their skills, nerve, strength & judgement to overcome their opponents.

I was slightly disappointed that Edvald got done so easily by Thor, I was expecting a better fight from him.

All the same, great job by Thor, Edvald, Ryder, Cadel, Alberto, Samuel, Thomas, (even) Frank & everyone else not named Andy Schleck. Oh and to Andy Schleck... FUCK YOU.
Click to expand...
To his defense, he did have to drag Thor up the mountain and close down two attacks that were meant to tire him out. But he should've started the sprint himself and he was sleeping when Thor attacked
 
C

Chris R

Member
Roy is seriously impressive, ever attacking even if they don't quite succeed. Always in the breakaways. Going to suck if he is doping :(
 
T

Tarazet

Member
I wonder more and more about Voeckler. He has been winning races on bumpy terrain this year. This may turn out to be a race like 2006 where one big breakaway winds up selecting a surprise winner because none of the "favorites" have the form to isolate each other.
 
M

magnificent83

Member
Tarazet said:
I wonder more and more about Voeckler. He has been winning races on bumpy terrain this year. This may turn out to be a race like 2006 where one big breakaway winds up selecting a surprise winner because none of the "favorites" have the form to isolate each other.
Click to expand...

I think even if he survives the mountains in yellow, the time trial will do him in. The gap between him and Evans is just too small for him to stay in yellow on Sunday (barring any mishaps like say a French fan interfering with the time trial to ensure Voeckler wins the Tour)
 
K

Kabouter

Member
Tarazet said:
I wonder more and more about Voeckler. He has been winning races on bumpy terrain this year. This may turn out to be a race like 2006 where one big breakaway winds up selecting a surprise winner because none of the "favorites" have the form to isolate each other.
Click to expand...
Well, we certainly shouldn't say he doesn't have a shot at the yellow in Paris. At the same time though, there's a lot of huge climbs still to come, Voeckler needs only to have one bad day and he's out of it. Hopefully though, he makes it through the Alps (and the time trial, which he is notoriously bad at). It'd be fun if a rider like him proved all the wait-and-see GC contenders wrong.

In the end, I think Evans is the man to beat.
 
T

Tarazet

Member
Kabouter said:
Well, we certainly shouldn't say he doesn't have a shot at the yellow in Paris. At the same time though, there's a lot of huge climbs still to come, Voeckler needs only to have one bad day and he's out of it. Hopefully though, he makes it through the Alps (and the time trial, which he is notoriously bad at). It'd be fun if a rider like him proved all the wait-and-see GC contenders wrong.

I think Evans is the man to beat.
Click to expand...

Evans is the top "favorite," but technically, Voeckler is the man to beat as long as he has a GC advantage. In my estimation, he will only fall out of yellow before the ITT if Rolland also has a bad day. That guy is sensational, and I'm sure that as long as Voeckler has him, he'll stay in yellow.
 
D

DrM

Redmond's Baby
Andy should check his brother how to drive downhill in wet.

Climbs for today stage:
Km 71.5 - Côte de Sainte-Marguerite - 2.8 km climb to 7.4 % - Category 3
Km 85.5 - La Chaussée (montée de Briançon) - 1.4 km climb to 8.3 % - Category 3
Km 96.5 - Col de Montgenèvre (1 860 m) - 7.9 km climb to 6.1 % - Category 2
Km 117.0 - Sestrières (2 035 m) - 11.1 km climb to 6.3 % - Category 1
Km 171.0 - Côte de Pramartino - 6.7 km climb to 6 % - Category 2
 
K

koji

Member
Andy is such a little whiny bitch, good thing Contador attacked yesterday, a real champion attacks. I hate to see them being so damn careful. Evans is going to win this tour but he doesn't have the "champion attitude" either...

Oh and respect for the Norwegians, Thor is in great shape, if he's in that shape in spring he can win the Belgian classics and Roubaix.
 
mocolostrocolos

mocolostrocolos

Member
So proud of Contador attacking yesterday. I'm from Pinto, I live two blocks where he used to.

But, Evans will win. Also, I'm hoping Samu to be on the podium.
 
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