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Discovery Channel - TdF 2011
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| Squire |
Posted on 28-09-2011 19:35
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 20.07.2011: Tour de France
Stage 16
Bagneres de Bigorre - Luz Ardiden: 157.0km
Tactics meeting
The climb to Luz Ardiden is the last chance to make a real difference before the final time trial. On current form, Contador is favourite to end Leipheimer's stint in the yellow jersey. The Spaniard probably wants a nice cushion to Levi before the TT, so he's certain to attack today. The stage is very short, but that doesn't hide the fact that it's the queen stage of the Tour. Col d'Aspin and the famous Tourmalet preceeds the final climb.
To better be able to help Levi later on, we sent Haimar Zubeldia in today's breakaway. Across the Col d'Aspin, he led the race together with Nieve (Euskaltel) & Seeldraeyers (Quick-Step).
Zubeldia proved to be the strongest of the escapees. Close to the top of the Tourmalet, he had left his former companions, but gotten three new ones. Van den Broeck (10th overall), Wiggins (12th overall) and Vorarlberg's Gerhard Trampusch (21st overall) attacked on the Tourmalet and came up to Haimar. Interesting move.
Trampusch is in the running for the polkadot jersey, and took full points atop the Col du Tourmalet and with them the lead in the KoM competition. Our own Remy Di Gregorio was unable to defend it today.
Our tactics didn't quite work out, as Zubeldia couldn't hang in there until Luz Ardiden. At the start of the final climb, only Trampusch & Van den Broeck were ahead of the whittled down favourites group.
Once again on a mountain top finish, Levi was in trouble when Schleck & Contador cranked up the tempo! This was a sad but not very unexpected sight.
But in a strong show of resistance, Levi clawed his way back to the wheels of Schleck & Contador, who had now caught the last remaining escapees, Trampusch (Vorarlberg) and Van den Broeck (Silence - Lotto).
As I had predicted, Contador was on a mission today! 2km from the top, the Astana rider set off! This was an accelration neither Levi nor Schleck could match.
But, who's this?! Breakaway man Gerhard Trampusch wasn't dead yet! The Austrian found some new life and went in pursuit of Alberto Contador!
Sensationally, Trampusch caught and passed Contador close to the finishing line! I bet the Spaniard had not expected this when he attacked!
And the winner on Luz Ardiden is Gerhard Trampusch of Vorarlberg and Austria! A baffled Contador could only get 2nd, nine seconds back. The clock had started ticking for Leipheimer's yellow jersey...
Levi finished in 5th place just behind Schleck, while a resurgent Kai Reus got 3rd. The time was the most important thing though, and the clock stated that 1'10 had passed since Contador crossed the line. Leipheimer was 47 seconds too slow. Bye, bye yellow jersey.
Our pre-race hope for the white jersey, Roman Kreuziger, had another bad day in the mountains. The Giro 2010 winner finished 15th on the day to make the horrible day for Discovery complete. Yellow and polkadot lost, and Kreuziger losing two places on the GC by falling down to 8th.
Today's winner
Results
| 1. | Gerhard Trampusch  | Vorarlberg – Corratec | 4h51'08 | | 2. | Alberto Contador  | Astana | + 9 | | 3. | Kai Reus | Rabobank | + 42 | | 4. | Andy Schleck  | Saxo Bank | + 1'02 | | 5. | Levi Leipheimer | Discovery Channel | + 1'19 | | 6. | Jurgen Van den Broeck | Silence – Lotto | + 1'50 | | 7. | Vladimir Efimkin | AG2R La Mondiale | + 2'01 | | 8. | Bradley Wiggins | Garmin – Transitions | s.t. | | 9. | Christophe Le Mével | Française des Jeux | + 2'31 | | 10. | Robert Gesink  | Quick-Step | s.t. |
GC
| 1. | Alberto Contador | Astana | 65h50'25 | | 2. | Levi Leipheimer | Discovery Channel | + 47 | | 3. | Andy Schleck | Saxo Bank | + 3'04 | | 4. | Robert Gesink | Quick-Step | + 4'40 | | 5. | Kai Reus | Rabobank | + 4'52 | | 6. | Juanjo Cobo | Saunier Duval | + 8'17 | | 7. | Vladimir Karpets | Katusha | + 8'58 | | 8. | Roman Kreuziger | Discovery Channel | + 9'07 | | 9. | Michael Rogers | T-Mobile | + 10'32 | | 10. | Jurgen Van den Broeck | Silence – Lotto | + 11'17 |
Points ranking
| 1. | Andy Schleck | Saxo Bank | 192 | | 2. | Fabian Cancellara | Liquigas | 150 | | 3. | Alberto Contador | Astana | 141 |
Mountain ranking
| 1. | Gerhard Trampusch | Vorarlberg - Corratec | 181 | | 2. | Rémy Di Gregorio | Discovery Channel | 138 | | 3. | Robert Gesink | Quick-Step | 122 |
Youth ranking
| 1. | Robert Gesink | Quick-Step | 65h55'05 | | 2. | Roman Kreuziger | Discovery Channel | + 4'27 | | 3. | Bauke Mollema | Rabobank | + 28'38 |
Team classification
| 1. | Discovery Channel | 194h55'50 | | 2. | T-Mobile | + 10'13 | | 3. | Rabobank | + 13'40 |
Gerhard Trampusch? He's been around for ages, never doing anything outside the Tour of Austria. Today he gets his moment with a brilliant win atop Luz Ardiden. He also pretty much wraps up the polkadot jersey by being first to the top of the Tourmalet as well.
The other big story of the day is Alberto Contador's reward for being 2nd on the stage: the Maillot Jaune! He's now well set to win his third Tour, as Levi Leipheimer is almost a minute back in the standings. Levi did fairly well today, but Contador is just on a different level.
Tomorrow the riders get a well-deserved rest day. The next stage is the last one containing mountains, but they are too far from the finish to make it really interesting. Will the rest of the Tour be a parade march for Contador? |
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| poiup11 |
Posted on 28-09-2011 20:13
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Yes! Thanks for the update, Squire! Sad that Leipheimer counldn't hang on  maybe you can make a surprise on the TT? But really nice with a update |
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 24-11-2024 14:05
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| Schleck96 |
Posted on 28-09-2011 20:20
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God damn that alberto! |
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| kopfan |
Posted on 28-09-2011 20:21
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Bad luck, good to have you back though
Former Manager Team Kingspan Continental
CT Div2 - ManGame
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| Squire |
Posted on 28-09-2011 21:32
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Nice to hear the story has been missed!  I won't promise regular updates again, but it's not dead until the season is over.
@poiup11: In the first long ITT, Contador crushed Leipheimer, so don't get your hopes up. Interesting things may still happen, though... |
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| dienblad |
Posted on 28-09-2011 21:44
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Yes, it´s back!!!! Don´t think 1st will be possible, so good luck in hanging on to 2nd. And hope the Dutchies on 4 and 5 pass Schleck!
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| pcm2009fan |
Posted on 28-09-2011 22:29
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Gerhard who? 
Anyway you're doing well, let's hope you can secure that second at least! |
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| FreitasPCM |
Posted on 28-09-2011 22:32
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This has been the epic-est (or something like that ) story since alex's Columbia one, but, of course, others have been excellent too, but this one is here for nearly (?) 2 years and it still goes on and on. It would be hard to keep the lead with Contador in that shape, but the podium is still possible, and looks even more certain as the stages pass. |
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| markene2 |
Posted on 29-09-2011 16:22
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Domestique
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Read trough all the pages now, interesting stories, like the team changes, and the comebacks . Keep up the good work!
Venga Vino
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| lluuiiggii |
Posted on 29-09-2011 17:01
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Yeah, an update! Great
Well Contador is just in another level, however a 2nd place and the teams classification are very good results, and there shouldn't be much trouble keeping that.
Oh, and what a ride by Trampusch!
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| cunego59 |
Posted on 29-09-2011 21:09
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You're just impressive I love that this story is still running, although it's rather a marathon than a sprint 
Decent ride by Leipheimer I think, 2nd overall is still a success imo, even if you aimed for more.
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| alexanderlens |
Posted on 30-09-2011 08:32
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Could you be able to post K. Reus stats (GC: 5)? |
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| dienblad |
Posted on 30-09-2011 09:01
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alexanderlens wrote:
Could you be able to post K. Reus stats (GC: 5)?
Look at page 56, somewhere in the middle. There you'll find his stats!
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| alexanderlens |
Posted on 30-09-2011 09:12
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thanx, I can't believe it! How is this possible? MO: 81??????
Edited by alexanderlens on 30-09-2011 09:17
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| Squire |
Posted on 03-10-2011 21:10
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alexanderlens wrote:
thanx, I can't believe it! How is this possible? MO: 81??????
Random potential
Again, thanks for the comments everybody!
Great to still see so many followers even though the story is updated slower than Andy Schleck's time trials! |
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| RHW |
Posted on 23-10-2011 15:23
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Keep it coming! Great story. |
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| YvesStevens |
Posted on 23-10-2011 18:02
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Such a BIG story |
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| Squire |
Posted on 20-01-2012 10:19
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22.07.2011: Tour de France
Stage 17
Pau - Bayonne: 278.0km
Tactics meeting
So, after the last mountain top finish of the Tour, Levi Leipheimer is 47 seconds down on Alberto Contador. Judging by the stage 13 time trial, there is no way of beating the Spaniard against the clock. Therefore, today is D-day if we want to give ourselves a fighting chance. Here's the plan: We will station a few men in the early breakaway to aid Levi when he tries to emulate teammate Floyd Landis' attack five years ago. There is an awful long way from the last mountain to the finishing line today, but you don't win the lottery if you don't buy a ticket, right?
Phase one of our grand plan to make Levi win the Tour went by successfully. Rémy Di Gregorio and Sergio Paulinho were our representatives in the breakaway. This was a strong group, with riders like Rolland (Silence-Lotto), Weening (Rabobank) & Sinkewitz (T-Mobile). Hopefully, Levi would get a chance to put their strength to good use.
But look! The King of Luz Ardiden, Gerhard Trampusch (Vorarlberg), also wanted to play Landis! He bridged the gap to the breakaway on the first climb. That was good, because the more strong riders in the break, the better for us.
Just before the second serious climb came the big moment! Levi Leipheimer's attack! I wonder what Contador thought about this.
As the loyal domestiques they are, Paulinho and Di Gregorio sat up to wait for Levi. Our masterplan was rolling along nicely.
When Levi reached them, their lead over the pack was almost 3 minutes. An FDJ rider was picked up along the way. So far so good, but what a ride they had to produce if they were to hold on for the last 85km!.
The first cracks started to appear at the last KoM sprint of the day, with 74km remaining. The main breakaway was still two minutes ahead, the pack had eaten up half of our trio's advantage, and Di Gregorio & Paulinho were cooked.
Unfortunately, after a brave attempt, it was all over with 55km remaining. The Landis attack came to a disappointing end. Levi had spent 80km out front, and was really feeling it in his legs. The breakaway with Trampusch & co was caught not long after.
With no breakaway out front, other riders had an incentive to try their luck, and who did? Andy Schleck! The rider sitting 3rd overall, 3 minutes behind Contador, broke away with a select group containing Valverde, Reus (4th), Gesink (5th), the Katusha duo Karpets (7th) & Cunego and World champion Cancellara. Alarm bells ringing!
Now something peculiar happened. Having lost Vinokourov to a crash on stage 11, Contador's Astana team had no one to do the chasing. The remaining Discovery domestiques Kreuziger & Klöden couldn't apply much pressure either, because that would crack the tired Levi. The Schleck group's advantage grew!
Having soon broken all his breakaway companions, Andy Schleck was landising along! He now led the Contador & Levi group by 3 minutes! He was riding into yellow!
This couldn't go on for much longer. Disregarding his team leader Leipheimer, Roman Kreuziger (8th) broke away from the peloton. Tour leader Contador seized the opportunity, and joined the chase along with Wiggins (11th) and Cobo (6th).
After a sensational ride, Andy Schleck raised his arm to celebrate a marvellous victory in Bayonne! Additionally, a Maillot Jaune was awaiting him on the podium. Had the Luxembourger won the Tour? We had to wait for the Contador group to come in.
But first it was the rest of Schleck's breakaway group. Valverde had his best day so far in this Tour, taking 2nd.
Time went by, and we had to wait 4 and a half minute before V.Efimkin led home the Contador & Kreuziger group, containing a lot of broken men. Levi Leipheimer was even further back, finishing 5 minutes behind the new race leader Andy Schleck. Levi's 2nd place overall now seems lost.
Today's winner
Results
| 1. | Andy Schleck | Saxo Bank | 7h00'41 | | 2. | Alejandro Valverde | Caisse d'Epargne | + 1'19 | | 3. | Kai Reus | Rabobank | + 2'03 | | 4. | Damiano Cunego | Katusha | s.t. | | 5. | Vladimir Karpets | Katusha | s.t. | | 6. | Fabian Cancellara | Liquigas | s.t. | | 7. | Robert Gesink | Quick-Step | s.t. | | 8. | Vladimir Efimkin | AG2R La Mondiale | + 4'37 | | 9. | Juanjo Cobo | Saunier Duval | s.t. | | 10. | Bradley Wiggins | Garmin – Transitions | s.t. |
GC
| 1. | Andy Schleck | Saxo Bank | 72h54'10 | | 2. | Alberto Contador | Astana | + 1'33 | | 3. | Levi Leipheimer | Discovery Channel | + 2'52 | | 4. | Robert Gesink | Quick-Step | + 3'39 | | 5. | Kai Reus | Rabobank | + 3'51 | | 6. | Vladimir Karpets | Katusha | + 7'57 | | 7. | Juanjo Cobo | Saunier Duval | + 9'50 | | 8. | Roman Kreuziger | Discovery Channel | + 10'40 | | 9. | Michael Rogers | T-Mobile | + 12'05 | | 10. | Bradley Wiggins | Garmin - Transitions | + 13'15 |
Points ranking
| 1. | Andy Schleck | Saxo Bank | 227 | | 2. | Fabian Cancellara | Liquigas | 170 | | 3. | Alberto Contador | Astana | 155 |
Mountain ranking
| 1. | Gerhard Trampusch | Vorarlberg - Corratec | 203 | | 2. | Rémy Di Gregorio | Discovery Channel | 157 | | 3. | Robert Gesink | Quick-Step | 122 |
Youth ranking
| 1. | Robert Gesink | Quick-Step | 72h57'49 | | 2. | Roman Kreuziger | Discovery Channel | + 7'01 | | 3. | Bauke Mollema | Rabobank | + 31'44 |
Team classification
| 1. | Discovery Channel | 216h12'48 | | 2. | T-Mobile | + 10'13 | | 3. | Rabobank | + 11'06 |
What a day. Looking at the profile, one wouldn't expect this stage to be the most exciting of the entire Tour, but what a day of racing we've had. Where Levi failed his Landis attack, Andy Schleck succeeded bigtime! The new Maillot Jaune did something that will be remembered for a long time. But has he won the Tour?
Contador hasn't really been his usual self this Tour de France, and today is further proof. Now it all hangs on the final time trial. Can he take back 1'33 on Andy Schleck?
Levi Leipheimer didn't win the lottery today, but at least he tried. Schleck's spectacular performance relegates our leader to 3rd, and as long as something totally unforeseen doesn't happen, Levi will be 3rd in Paris. A podium place is still a podium place, and I don't regret telling him to try for the win. I'm just thinking about what could have been if Levi had done like Andy Schleck did, and attacked later. Ah well, we can't change anything that has happened.
The peloton now has two flat stages in which to recover from this leg-breaking day, before the final time trial decides everything.
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| miggi133 |
Posted on 20-01-2012 11:32
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Good to see you back to writing!!!
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| roturn |
Posted on 20-01-2012 12:15
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Great to see you back, Squire.
Always liked your story a lot although I haven`t commented that much here.
Edited by roturn on 20-01-2012 12:16
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