roturn wrote:
That`s his 3rd crash today.!!! WTF.
Whole Leopard tactic is gone now.
Wouldnt really say it was gone. Gerdemann is still up there (even if he doesnt seem in the greatest climbing form), and even Voigt is still ahead of the peloton - although presumably he will now be waiting
Edited by SportingNonsense on 16-07-2011 15:05
Might not otherwise been there? The peloton has still 8296579346 riders. It has no use to send riders in the breakaway if you're not going to attack from far, but I guess Frändy will retire without attacking from more than 10km to the finish.
Edited by kumazan on 16-07-2011 15:06
kumazan wrote:
Might not otherwise been there? The peloton has still 8296579346 riders. It has no use to send riders in the breakaway if you're not going to attack from far, but I guess Frändy will retire without attacking from more than 10km to the finish.
Its irrelevant how many riders are still in the peloton now, the break hasnt been caught yet, and wont be caught until some way up Plateau du Beille, when the peloton will be much reduced and so having an extra rider to help out - even for a short period - becomes quite valuable
The point is, with the pace they are setting in the peloton, Voigt and Gerdemann would be there regardless, so unless they want to climb all they way up Plateau de Beille riding tempo, having them in the break is useless.
Edited by kumazan on 16-07-2011 15:14
Posts: 216 Joined: 06.01.11 Location: London PCM$: 100.00
RE: Earlier posts about Cavendish being towed up the mountain
@itvcycling ITV Cycling
Jose Joaquin Rojas has accused Mark Cavendish of being towed up climbs - but the race director is having none of it itv.co/qD9UxS
Link = http://www.itv.co...owing-row/
Spoiler:
Pescheux dismisses Rojas's towing claim against Cavendish
Tour de France officials have moved to defuse a spat between the rivals for the sprint competition, after Jose Joaquin Rojas accused current incumbent Mark Cavendish of holding on to his team car on climbs.
"There is no problem with Cavendish at all, none at all," said race director Jean Francois Pescheux. "Cavendish is a leader and he is under surveillance in the race – like all the team leaders are ... Rojas is always looking for excuses to win."
Pescheux was responding to accusations by Rojas, reported by Gazzetta dello Sport, that Cavendish was being towed up mountains as the Tour hit the Pyrenees.
"Phil [Gilbert] and I complained about Cavendish,” Rojas said. "Cavendish keeps hanging on to cars on the climbs."
However, Omega Pharma-Lotto manager Herman Frison contradicted Rojas's claim, saying: "Philippe has not complained. He just had a little chat with Pescheux. The conversation was not about Cavendish."
At last year's Giro d'Italia Movistar's Fran Ventoso made a similar accusation against the HTC-Highroad sprinter.
Cavendish said at the time: "If I stop to pee, if I crash and change a wheel, I always have a race official – as well as an ice-cream truck and a marching band – all watching me," Cavendish said at the time.
"It's always the same. If I'm dropped but I finish inside the time limit, it means I cheat. If I can cheat, then I'm David Copperfield."
Cavendish leads Movistar's Rojas by 15 points in this year's green jersey competition, who in turn is a further 11 points ahead of Omega Pharma's Gilbert.
Posts: 7860 Joined: 04.03.07 Location: UK / France PCM$: 100.00
kumazan wrote:
The point is, with the pace they are setting in the peloton, Voigt and Gerdemann would be there regardless, so unless they want to climb all they way up Plateau de Beille riding tempo, having them in the break is useless.
Say the break gets caught half way up the plateau de beille. By then Leopard will have got rid of most of the big power riders.
Jens when caught by the peloton could get on the front, provide support for Andy and Frank, but also make it very difficult for the others to attack,
It's a tactic we've seen this team do countless times in the past, and it usually works.
There's no point slapping a schleck - Sean Kelly on "Who needs a slap"
kumazan wrote:
The point is, with the pace they are setting in the peloton, Voigt and Gerdemann would be there regardless, so unless they want to climb all they way up Plateau de Beille riding tempo, having them in the break is useless.
Say the break gets caught half way up the plateau de beille. By then Leopard will have got rid of most of the big power riders.
Jens when caught by the peloton could get on the front, provide support for Andy and Frank, but also make it very difficult for the others to attack,
It's a tactic we've seen this team do countless times in the past, and it usually works.
A classic Saxo Bank tactic, and it's genius. It gives help to your best rider when he usually wouldn't have his helpers around him. It could be the x factor that a rider needs to win.
kumazan wrote:
The point is, with the pace they are setting in the peloton, Voigt and Gerdemann would be there regardless, so unless they want to climb all they way up Plateau de Beille riding tempo, having them in the break is useless.
Lets see how many are left by the time Gerdemann is joined by the Schlecks.
I dont get what your problem with the tactic is though - except a general dislike for all things Schleck. Various teams have used it to good effect on these sorts of stages in the past - as recently as Luz Ardiden when Ruben Perez, having been in the break, did some work to help Samuel Sanchez' group establish itself.
kumazan wrote:
The point is, with the pace they are setting in the peloton, Voigt and Gerdemann would be there regardless, so unless they want to climb all they way up Plateau de Beille riding tempo, having them in the break is useless.
Lets see how many are left by the time Gerdemann is joined by the Schlecks.
I dont get what your problem with the tactic is though - except a general dislike for all things Schleck. Various teams have used it to good effect on these sorts of stages in the past - as recently as Luz Ardiden when Ruben Perez, having been in the break, did some work to help Samuel Sanchez' group establish itself.
My problem with that tactic is that is something we've seen 53835 times, and it is not sometyhing which really affect the race that much. If anything, it helps that race being boring for another X kilometers. If you want to know a good tactic for a mountain stage you might want to check up how the 2005 Vuelta was won (pre-disqualification).
And if i got my facts right. Every winner on Plateu de Beille has also won the TDF that year!
