334 replies to this topic Post Order

[Christie]

Another great stage today. Dramatic attack by Conto, drama with Evans having a mechanical and chasing back.
Sammy Sanchez paced Roland up to Conto, then Roland dropped them both!
The Schlecks managed to hang on to Evans, so it wil be up to Andy to defend 57s! Place your bets, but its going to be close!

[deanbean]

I really liked the way Sammy Sanchez came up to Rolland and congratulated him, he would have been rather pissed at the way he dragged Rolland up the mountain, and was then attacked. Rolland is a name for the future, the way he stuck it out today.

[GrumpyOldGuy]

Christie, on 22 July 2011 - 07:19 , said:

Another great stage today. Dramatic attack by Conto, drama with Evans having a mechanical and chasing back.
Sammy Sanchez paced Roland up to Conto, then Roland dropped them both!
The Schlecks managed to hang on to Evans, so it wil be up to Andy to defend 57s! Place your bets, but its going to be close!

Agreed, another great day.

I wonder if Sammy anticipated the attack by Rolands?

They had a little chat and Pierre wouldnt contribute so Sammy was committed, good tactics by Pierre, but I wonder if in hindsight Sammy would have switched off.?

[scotty]

GrumpyOldGuy, on 22 July 2011 - 07:11 , said:

Come now Scotty, lets not go there, why cant we just all celebrate courageous and valiant efforts like that of Andy yesterday and 'Berto today. Theres nothing wrong with acknowledging such efforts, no matter where your alliance lies.

A great two days of solid courageous racing by two great champions, I dof my hat to both.

Nothing short of a wonderfull effort by Evans has kept him in the race, full marks to him,...... and what of Voeckler.....theres a special place in peoples hearts for athletes like him, the man deserves a special medal, I dont think ANYONE else would have suffered like that to try and stay in the race.

Probably was a bit harsh but my dislike for Contador clouds my usually level sense. Agree with you on Voeckler courageous fight till the end, surpassing most peoples expectations.

[Puncheur]

All over to the final TT...
Much closer than last year.

Phew!

[GrumpyOldGuy]

scotty, on 22 July 2011 - 07:39 , said:

Probably was a bit harsh but my dislike for Contador clouds my usually level sense. Agree with you on Voeckler courageous fight till the end, surpassing most peoples expectations.

- Not fighting bud, I like your level thinking, I just thought it would be a pity if the discussion ended up about dopeing and not the great day's racing.

Yeah, I am really sorry Voeckler cracked, I think the mental stress got to him as well and he lost it a bit, throwing water bottles around and shouting what I imagine were a few choice words, but, none the less I think he has forever written himself into the book of the tour.

[akneethling]

slowtwitch, on 22 July 2011 - 05:55 , said:

WELL DONE EVENS
BABY SLEG WILL NEED TO TT FOR HIS LIFE BUT AT LEAST HE'S IN YELLOW TONIGHT!
AWESOME

Come on man....... he sat on Andy's wheel for most of that ride to the start of the last climb, and halfway up it........ he has the audacity to tell other guys to get on the front and work, however, he only gets on the front of the group it when it suits him.......... Which is inevitably when there are no other options........

PATHETIC

[GrumpyOldGuy]

Give Contador his due he never looks for excuses -

Alberto Contador (6th overall at 3'55'') estimated the efforts of his victory in the Giro ' I came on the Tour to win, knowing that to achieve the double was very difficult, he said, but I did not find the legs of the Giro. I have given the maximum I had, but I could not change the outcome of the Tour de France.

[Thug]

Quite interesting to see that both Armstrong & Pantani climbed Alph d'Huez 3 minutes quicker than Contador.

[GrumpyOldGuy]

I just google translated this so the english is poor, but you will understand.


Seems the speeds were down quite a bit today in comparison to some ascents, even though it was gruelling it was about 4 minutes slower than the record by Pantani.

There was no record of ascent on Alpe d'Huez Friday on the 19th stage of the Tour de France after a short stage of 109 km, but the sequence starting with the Telegraph - Galibier the best climber in the final climb was Samuel Sanchez, with 41'45'' over the 13 km climb. He leads the overall ranking Alberto Contador (41'54'') and Pierre Rolland (42'22'').

These three riders and all the leaders of the 2011 Tour de France climbs are far from the fastest in history: Marco Pantani had flown over the rise in 1997, climbing in 37'35''. In 2004, Lance Armstrong joined the summit in 37'36''after a stage against the clock.

[Moridin]

akneethling, on 22 July 2011 - 08:28 , said:

Come on man....... he sat on Andy's wheel for most of that ride to the start of the last climb, and halfway up it........ he has the audacity to tell other guys to get on the front and work, however, he only gets on the front of the group it when it suits him.......... Which is inevitably when there are no other options........

PATHETIC

Uncalled for comment. You obviously have not watched the whole race. I think he earned the right to do some wheelsucking.

[Dangle]

akneethling, on 22 July 2011 - 08:28 , said:

Come on man....... he sat on Andy's wheel for most of that ride to the start of the last climb, and halfway up it........ he has the audacity to tell other guys to get on the front and work, however, he only gets on the front of the group it when it suits him.......... Which is inevitably when there are no other options........

PATHETIC

I quite agree here.
As for Contador, I totally disliked the little bugger, but after today I have to have some admiration for his gutsiness.

[akneethling]

Moridin, on 22 July 2011 - 09:36 , said:

Uncalled for comment. You obviously have not watched the whole race. I think he earned the right to do some wheelsucking.

I actually have watched the whole race...........

Just 1 quick question for you SIR...........

How many times did Evans do work at the front of the group.......... Not his team...... HIMSELF? Then tell me how Many attacks he has made on the big Climbs? Now do the same for Andy and Frank......... Lemme know what you come up with

Furthermore......... did you see the difference in attitude between Evans and the other GC contenders when no help was coming from behind? HUGE DIFFERENCE in attitude brother........... Guess its expected, SINCE HE IS AN AUSSIE...... lol

The only reason he worked on the Galibier is because HE HAD NO OTHER ALTERNATIVE. And even then he wasn't happy......... he still expected evryone else to do all the work........... I'll say it again........ PATHETIC

[nochain]

Just some quick commends..busy with the jock so I might miss the TT..
Yesterday's racing was insane!!In the 10 years I have been following cycling I have never seen anything like that!!
Amazing ride by Contador,Andy,Evans and Voeckler...this stage will go down as my favourite for many years and will be hard to beat.That was like a allout price fight with the best in the bussiness leaving everything out on the road!!!!!

[akneethling]

Better than the Col Du Galibier Stage?