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Smowz' Saxobank story - 2010 Season complete!
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| mb2612 |
Posted on 27-02-2011 11:46
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Nicely done, I'm really enjoying your reports when I don't have to analyse everything for it's potential benefit to Santander
 [url=www.pcmdaily.com/forum/viewthread.php?thread_id=33182] Team Santander Media Thread[/url]
Please assume I am joking unless otherwise stated |
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| wackojackohighcliffe |
Posted on 27-02-2011 11:54
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looking really good so far. |
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| Smowz |
Posted on 27-02-2011 12:52
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17 July, 2010: Revel, France
The battle is on and we are here in the Pyreenees now - looks like Andy is in good enough shape. It is always good to get that yellow jersey on your back and I think we have a chance of snicking this race.
We need more time, but after Gap Contador looks vunerable - we also have to watch Sanchez and Menchov. Like Contador they are better than Andy against the clock.
After Gap we had one sprinters stage won by Liquigas's Bennati.
...before a nasty looking one into Mende.
Again this is a stage in which someone like Contador can be vunerable, once again we used domestiques to good measure and a lead group of three emerged. Sammy Sanchez, classics Maestro Gilbert and Andy in yellow - this was exactly what we wanted.
Astana and Rabobank are scrambling behind and Andy has to keep the pace up on this steep finale.
Gilbert cannot quite live with this - for Phillipe this is slightly uncomfortable he is used to classics not on form GT men. Sammy Sanchez though is proving a real tough nut this year and manages to come around Andy in the finale to register a win. It was disappointing as we only managed to nurdle 12 more seconds off of Berti.
Today we had another flattish one, Gilbert was in the break so we eased off and allowed the break to take it - with none of the sprinters teams interested either. Much easier for Gilbert to take it.
The second set of big mountains are upon us and we know we have to go for it with that 50km flat ITT to come.
GC:
Spoiler | Rank | Name | Team | Time | | 1 | Andy Schleck | Team Saxo Bank | 63h50'04 | | 2 | Alberto Contador | Astana | + 28 | | 3 | Samuel Sánchez | Euskaltel - Euskadi | + 1'39 | | 4 | Denis Menchov | Rabobank | + 2'41 | | 5 | Roman Kreuziger | Liquigas - Doimo | + 4'21 | | 6 | Bradley Wiggins | Sky Professional Cycling Team | + 4'37 | | 7 | Andreas Klöden | Team RadioShack | + 4'40 | | 8 | Christian Vande Velde | Garmin - Transitions | + 4'48 | | 9 | Levi Leipheimer | Team RadioShack | + 4'49 | | 10 | Nicolas Roche | AG2R La Mondiale | + 5'11 | | 11 | Kevin De Weert | Quick·Step | + 5'12 | | 12 | Simon Spilak | Lampre - Farnese Vini | + 5'13 | | 13 | JoaquÃm RodrÃguez | Team Katusha | + 5'16 | | 14 | Christophe Le Mével | Française des Jeux | + 5'36 | | 15 | Lance Armstrong | Team RadioShack | + 5'57 | | 16 | Michael Rogers | Team HTC - Columbia | + 6'09 | | 17 | Kim Kirchen | Team Katusha | + 6'13 | | 18 | Yaroslav Popovych | Team RadioShack | + 6'27 | | 19 | Bauke Mollema | Rabobank | + 8'42 | | 20 | Dario Cataldo | Quick·Step | + 8'56 | | 21 | Robert Gesink | Rabobank | + 9'24 | | 22 | Sandy Casar | Française des Jeux | + 9'28 | | 23 | Tony Martin | Team HTC - Columbia | + 10'01 | | 24 | Daniel Navarro | Astana | + 10'26 | | 25 | Yury Trofimov | Bbox Bouygues Télécom | + 11'42 | | 26 | Chris Anker Sørensen | Team Saxo Bank | + 12'28 | | 27 | Carlos Barredo | Quick·Step | + 14'08 | | 28 | Christophe Kern | Cofidis, le crédit en ligne | + 14'32 | | 29 | Hubert Dupont | AG2R La Mondiale | + 14'51 | | 30 | Thomas Voeckler | Bbox Bouygues Télécom | + 16'04 |
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| Smowz |
Posted on 27-02-2011 12:59
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Well done in the last stage. Pulling back 2 minutes on that stage is impressive. This looks like the real Tour last year, Contador and Schleck in their own world.
Indeed - with Sanchez and Menchov not so far back in like a second world. Everyone else like Wiggins, Radioshacks, Vandervelde, Kreuzinger unable to seperate themselves.
Super nice results. Loving Saxobank.
Looking forward following the rest of the season.
Yes just racing the races between Tour and Vuelta - looks like I will probably just about get the season done. Vuelta is where we try to win with the other Schleck, very possible when you consider that AI tends to have knackered riders in it.
Nicely done, I'm really enjoying your reports when I don't have to analyse everything for it's potential benefit to Santander
Hehe - I am still trying to beat a bloody Spainard here (well two if we include Sammy Sanchez). So Chihuahua will be hiding behind the sofas time?
looking really good so far.
Good so far - but unlike in the real life tour I think we can believe that Contador will gain minutes in that last TT. No more hilly ones Contador is at a stat disadvantage we have got to try and get something more off of him in the mountains. In short we need another gap like we got in Gap.
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| Smowz |
Posted on 27-02-2011 18:53
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21st July 2010: Pau, France
Just had Frank shouting at me non stop all morning it seems an overreaction to me, something very fishy is going on. Yes yesterdays big third mountain stage did not go as we had hoped, but Andy is still in yellow and I think he has something left for the showdown on the Tormalet.
It's the pyrenees and this is Andy's stage if he is going to win the Tour he has to win it here. We couldn't have done much more on Ax 3 Domaines. The climb is not quite long enough really for Andy to put the boot in.
Actually then it was Contador who looked pretty ace - we must remember that Berti is a very fine climber in his own right.
He pushed the pace on the Pailheres, but it was all together with about 30 or so riders by the bottom of the final climb. I saw on the monitor that Contador was a little way back, Andy was in prime position so I gave the word to go.
This was it really, one of those big times to try and put the boot in. Contador though had enough to scramble up pretty much with Andy.
The climb just wasn't quite tough enough, but credit to Schleck the younger he kept pushing it to take the stage win.
This day may be remembered as the day when we realised Lance was definately too old for the challenge.
Spoiler | Rank | Name | Team | Time | | 1 | Andy Schleck | Team Saxo Bank | 5h12'33 | | 2 | Alberto Contador | Astana | + 9 | | 3 | Denis Menchov | Rabobank | + 1'01 | | 4 | David Moncoutié | Cofidis, le crédit en ligne | s.t. | | 5 | Bauke Mollema | Rabobank | s.t. | | 6 | Samuel Sánchez | Euskaltel - Euskadi | s.t. | | 7 | Christian Vande Velde | Garmin - Transitions | s.t. | | 8 | Roman Kreuziger | Liquigas - Doimo | s.t. | | 9 | Kevin De Weert | Quick·Step | + 1'27 | | 10 | Robert Gesink | Rabobank | s.t. | | 11 | JoaquÃm RodrÃguez | Team Katusha | s.t. | | 12 | Nicolas Roche | AG2R La Mondiale | s.t. | | 13 | Andreas Klöden | Team RadioShack | s.t. | | 14 | Michael Rogers | Team HTC - Columbia | s.t. | | 15 | Daniel Navarro | Astana | s.t. | | 16 | Simon Spilak | Lampre - Farnese Vini | s.t. | | 17 | Bradley Wiggins | Sky Professional Cycling Team | s.t. | | 18 | Kim Kirchen | Team Katusha | + 2'02 | | 19 | Dario Cataldo | Quick·Step | s.t. | | 20 | Yury Trofimov | Bbox Bouygues Télécom | s.t. | | 21 | Christophe Le Mével | Française des Jeux | s.t. | | 22 | Chris Anker Sørensen | Team Saxo Bank | + 2'43 | | 23 | Levi Leipheimer | Team RadioShack | s.t. | | 24 | Rémi Pauriol | Cofidis, le crédit en ligne | s.t. | | 25 | Yaroslav Popovych | Team RadioShack | + 2'51 | | 26 | Christian Knees | Team Milram | + 3'15 | | 27 | Francis De Greef | Omega Pharma - Lotto | + 3'23 | | 28 | Haimar Zubeldia | Team RadioShack | + 5'47 | | 29 | Jean-Christophe Peraud | Omega Pharma - Lotto | s.t. | | 30 | Sérgio Paulinho | Team RadioShack | s.t. | | 31 | Carlos Barredo | Quick·Step | s.t. | | 32 | Charles Wegelius | Omega Pharma - Lotto | + 5'55 | | 33 | Damien Monier | Cofidis, le crédit en ligne | + 6'03 | | 34 | Jakob Fuglsang | Team Saxo Bank | s.t. | | 35 | Amaël Moinard | Cofidis, le crédit en ligne | s.t. | | 36 | Rafael Valls | Footon - Servetto | s.t. | | 37 | Lance Armstrong | Team RadioShack | s.t. | | 38 | Christophe Kern | Cofidis, le crédit en ligne | s.t. | | 39 | Amets Txurruka | Euskaltel - Euskadi | s.t. | | 40 | Chris Horner | Team RadioShack | s.t. |
The Bales stage was a worry give the descent - these have not been too kind to Andy (actually readers help me out here whats best to do with the riders - dot,relay,or stay at front on downhills?)...
But this was a day that Contador was on a bad one - as Andy duelled away with a strong Chris Anker Sorenson.
Only Denis Menchov was able to follow making a rare attacking move.
Andy held himself together on the downhill to take more valuable seconds.
Spoiler | Rank | Name | Team | Time | | 1 | Andy Schleck | Team Saxo Bank | 5h06'18 | | 2 | Samuel Sánchez | Euskaltel - Euskadi | + 57 | | 3 | Alberto Contador | Astana | s.t. | | 4 | Roman Kreuziger | Liquigas - Doimo | s.t. | | 5 | Simon Spilak | Lampre - Farnese Vini | s.t. | | 6 | Bradley Wiggins | Sky Professional Cycling Team | s.t. | | 7 | Kevin De Weert | Quick·Step | s.t. | | 8 | Bauke Mollema | Rabobank | s.t. | | 9 | Christian Vande Velde | Garmin - Transitions | s.t. | | 10 | Kim Kirchen | Team Katusha | s.t. | | 11 | Sérgio Paulinho | Team RadioShack | s.t. | | 12 | Dario Cataldo | Quick·Step | s.t. | | 13 | Andreas Klöden | Team RadioShack | s.t. | | 14 | Nicolas Roche | AG2R La Mondiale | s.t. | | 15 | Tony Martin | Team HTC - Columbia | s.t. | | 16 | Christophe Le Mével | Française des Jeux | s.t. | | 17 | JoaquÃm RodrÃguez | Team Katusha | s.t. | | 18 | David Moncoutié | Cofidis, le crédit en ligne | s.t. | | 19 | Yury Trofimov | Bbox Bouygues Télécom | s.t. | | 20 | Michael Rogers | Team HTC - Columbia | s.t. | | 21 | Haimar Zubeldia | Team RadioShack | s.t. | | 22 | Lance Armstrong | Team RadioShack | s.t. | | 23 | Maxime Monfort | Team HTC - Columbia | s.t. | | 24 | Daniel Navarro | Astana | s.t. | | 25 | Robert Gesink | Rabobank | s.t. | | 26 | Robert Kiserlovski | Liquigas - Doimo | s.t. | | 27 | Levi Leipheimer | Team RadioShack | s.t. | | 28 | Chris Horner | Team RadioShack | s.t. | | 29 | Chris Anker Sørensen | Team Saxo Bank | s.t. | | 30 | Denis Menchov | Rabobank | s.t. | | 31 | Luis León Sánchez | Caisse d'Epargne | + 2'49 | | 32 | Yaroslav Popovych | Team RadioShack | s.t. | | 33 | Sylwester Szmyd | Liquigas - Doimo | s.t. | | 34 | Hubert Dupont | AG2R La Mondiale | s.t. | | 35 | Rein Taaramäe | Cofidis, le crédit en ligne | s.t. | | 36 | Rafael Valls | Footon - Servetto | s.t. | | 37 | Charles Wegelius | Omega Pharma - Lotto | s.t. | | 38 | Jakob Fuglsang | Team Saxo Bank | s.t. | | 39 | Amaël Moinard | Cofidis, le crédit en ligne | s.t. | | 40 | Sandy Casar | Française des Jeux | s.t. | | 41 | Amets Txurruka | Euskaltel - Euskadi | s.t. | | 42 | Gorka Verdugo | Euskaltel - Euskadi | s.t. | | 43 | Jean-Christophe Peraud | Omega Pharma - Lotto | + 3'37 | | 44 | Damien Monier | Cofidis, le crédit en ligne | s.t. | | 45 | Vladimir Karpets | Team Katusha | s.t. | | 46 | Christophe Riblon | AG2R La Mondiale | s.t. | | 47 | David López | Caisse d'Epargne | s.t. | | 48 | Christophe Kern | Cofidis, le crédit en ligne | s.t. | | 49 | Thomas Löfkvist | Sky Professional Cycling Team | s.t. | | 50 | Romain Sicard | Euskaltel - Euskadi | s.t. |
The GC though still for me saw Contador far too close:
Spoiler | Rank | Name | Team | Time | | 1 | Andy Schleck | Team Saxo Bank | 74h08'55 | | 2 | Alberto Contador | Astana | + 1'34 | | 3 | Samuel Sánchez | Euskaltel - Euskadi | + 3'37 | | 4 | Denis Menchov | Rabobank | + 4'39 | | 5 | Roman Kreuziger | Liquigas - Doimo | + 6'19 | | 6 | Christian Vande Velde | Garmin - Transitions | + 6'46 | | 7 | Bradley Wiggins | Sky Professional Cycling Team | + 7'01 | | 8 | Andreas Klöden | Team RadioShack | + 7'04 | | 9 | Nicolas Roche | AG2R La Mondiale | + 7'35 | | 10 | Kevin De Weert | Quick·Step | + 7'36 | | 11 | Simon Spilak | Lampre - Farnese Vini | + 7'37 | | 12 | JoaquÃm RodrÃguez | Team Katusha | + 7'40 | | 13 | Levi Leipheimer | Team RadioShack | + 8'29 | | 14 | Michael Rogers | Team HTC - Columbia | + 8'33 | | 15 | Christophe Le Mével | Française des Jeux | + 8'35 | | 16 | Kim Kirchen | Team Katusha | + 9'12 | | 17 | Bauke Mollema | Rabobank | + 10'40 | | 18 | Robert Gesink | Rabobank | + 11'48 | | 19 | Dario Cataldo | Quick·Step | + 11'55 | | 20 | Yaroslav Popovych | Team RadioShack | + 12'07 | | 21 | Daniel Navarro | Astana | + 12'50 | | 22 | Lance Armstrong | Team RadioShack | + 12'57 | | 23 | Yury Trofimov | Bbox Bouygues Télécom | + 14'41 | | 24 | Chris Anker Sørensen | Team Saxo Bank | + 16'08 | | 25 | Tony Martin | Team HTC - Columbia | + 17'57 |
I spoke to Andy yesterday morning and we decided if he was feeling good we would go for it.
Credit to Andy he got away with about 90 seconds gap at the top of the last climb the Aubisque...
... and now I have Frank screaming at me saying I have ruined Andy's chances and also pointing out that he believes he should have been here to help his brother.
We had created a selection and there are a lot of very tired riders around Pau today.
Stage results from that one into Pau:
Spoiler | Rank | Name | Team | Time | | 1 | Samuel Sánchez | Euskaltel - Euskadi | 5h44'46 | | 2 | Simon Spilak | Lampre - Farnese Vini | s.t. | | 3 | Roman Kreuziger | Liquigas - Doimo | s.t. | | 4 | Bradley Wiggins | Sky Professional Cycling Team | s.t. | | 5 | Alberto Contador | Astana | s.t. | | 6 | Michael Rogers | Team HTC - Columbia | s.t. | | 7 | Christian Vande Velde | Garmin - Transitions | s.t. | | 8 | David Moncoutié | Cofidis, le crédit en ligne | s.t. | | 9 | Kevin De Weert | Quick·Step | s.t. | | 10 | Andreas Klöden | Team RadioShack | s.t. | | 11 | Levi Leipheimer | Team RadioShack | s.t. | | 12 | Bauke Mollema | Rabobank | s.t. | | 13 | Andy Schleck | Team Saxo Bank | s.t. | | 14 | Robert Gesink | Rabobank | s.t. | | 15 | Nicolas Roche | AG2R La Mondiale | s.t. | | 16 | JoaquÃm RodrÃguez | Team Katusha | s.t. | | 17 | Lance Armstrong | Team RadioShack | s.t. | | 18 | Denis Menchov | Rabobank | s.t. | | 19 | Chris Horner | Team RadioShack | + 2'43 | | 20 | Yury Trofimov | Bbox Bouygues Télécom | + 4'43 | | 21 | Christophe Le Mével | Française des Jeux | + 5'23 | | 22 | Kim Kirchen | Team Katusha | + 5'47 | | 23 | Daniel Navarro | Astana | s.t. | | 24 | Robert Kiserlovski | Liquigas - Doimo | s.t. | | 25 | Tony Martin | Team HTC - Columbia | s.t. | | 26 | Sérgio Paulinho | Team RadioShack | + 6'19 | | 27 | Yaroslav Popovych | Team RadioShack | + 7'07 | | 28 | Maxime Monfort | Team HTC - Columbia | s.t. | | 29 | Hubert Dupont | AG2R La Mondiale | s.t. | | 30 | Luis León Sánchez | Caisse d'Epargne | s.t. | | 31 | Vladimir Karpets | Team Katusha | s.t. | | 32 | Damien Monier | Cofidis, le crédit en ligne | s.t. | | 33 | Haimar Zubeldia | Team RadioShack | s.t. | | 34 | Christophe Kern | Cofidis, le crédit en ligne | s.t. | | 35 | Charles Wegelius | Omega Pharma - Lotto | s.t. | | 36 | Amaël Moinard | Cofidis, le crédit en ligne | s.t. | | 37 | Jakob Fuglsang | Team Saxo Bank | s.t. | | 38 | Sandy Casar | Française des Jeux | s.t. | | 39 | Chris Anker Sørensen | Team Saxo Bank | s.t. | | 40 | Thomas Löfkvist | Sky Professional Cycling Team | s.t. | | 41 | Pierre Rolland | Bbox Bouygues Télécom | + 9'07 | | 42 | Amets Txurruka | Euskaltel - Euskadi | + 9'55 |
GC before the last mountain stage:
| Rank | Name | Team | Time | | 1 | Andy Schleck | Team Saxo Bank | 79h53'41 | | 2 | Alberto Contador | Astana | + 1'34 | | 3 | Samuel Sánchez | Euskaltel - Euskadi | + 3'37 | | 4 | Denis Menchov | Rabobank | + 4'39 | | 5 | Roman Kreuziger | Liquigas - Doimo | + 6'19 | | 6 | Christian Vande Velde | Garmin - Transitions | + 6'46 | | 7 | Bradley Wiggins | Sky Professional Cycling Team | + 7'01 | | 8 | Andreas Klöden | Team RadioShack | + 7'04 | | 9 | Nicolas Roche | AG2R La Mondiale | + 7'35 | | 10 | Kevin De Weert | Quick·Step | + 7'36 | | 11 | Simon Spilak | Lampre - Farnese Vini | + 7'37 | | 12 | JoaquÃm RodrÃguez | Team Katusha | + 7'40 | | 13 | Levi Leipheimer | Team RadioShack | + 8'29 | | 14 | Michael Rogers | Team HTC - Columbia | + 8'33 | | 15 | Bauke Mollema | Rabobank | + 10'40 | | 16 | Robert Gesink | Rabobank | + 11'48 | | 17 | Lance Armstrong | Team RadioShack | + 12'57 | | 18 | Christophe Le Mével | Française des Jeux | + 13'58 | | 19 | Kim Kirchen | Team Katusha | + 14'59 | | 20 | David Moncoutié | Cofidis, le crédit en ligne | + 18'12 | | 21 | Daniel Navarro | Astana | + 18'37 | | 22 | Yaroslav Popovych | Team RadioShack | + 19'14 | | 23 | Yury Trofimov | Bbox Bouygues Télécom | + 19'24 | | 24 | Dario Cataldo | Quick·Step | + 22'14 | | 25 | Chris Anker Sørensen | Team Saxo Bank | + 23'15 |
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| mb2612 |
Posted on 27-02-2011 19:09
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nice, you should have it from here, although it depends alot on recovery stats.
[url=www.pcmdaily.com/forum/viewthread.php?thread_id=33182] Team Santander Media Thread[/url]
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Posted on 23-11-2024 19:49
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| roturn |
Posted on 27-02-2011 19:45
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This will be a very close decision with the very long time trial. Hope Andy can win it. |
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| Pellizotti2 |
Posted on 27-02-2011 20:04
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You are doing great so far, hopefully Schleck can gain some more seconds on Tourmalet to defend the jersey on the TT.
I really like your style of reporting. Keep it up, I'm really enjoying it.
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| Alakagom |
Posted on 27-02-2011 20:17
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+1 Really enjoyable to read, hope Andy can do it, i am 100% he can, but still 
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| Smowz |
Posted on 27-02-2011 20:59
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All: Indeed the TT is key and was hanging over me throughout the pyrenees!
23 July 2010: Bordeaux, France
Here we are for the race of truth - who has the most left in his legs. We will concede that it is looking like our three rivals the Conta, better than we thought Sanchez and the wheel sucking Menchov will go faster in the TT. How much faster? Well as Andy has been the one animating the mountains(and the small matter of whipping the Italians in the Giro!) - I am betting quite a lot. Enough to lose the race? How long is a peace of string?
Nygaard, Frank Schleck, Fabian and even it seems Andy him are questioning the energy he used up - particular pointing to the Giro. Frank is now saying that Andy never wanted to do it.
It is probably nerves - I just hope he is up to it tomorrow - the Tour is there for the taking. For me it would be a travesty if he lost it, though quite what Contador was up to on the Tormalet stage I have no idea. Not having the jersey does strange things I guess.
The press had been comparing Andy to Merkcx and Charly Gual with the way he had attacked on stage 16. They forgot though it was unsuccessful (hell he nearly got dropped at the end). But this had rankled two time winner Contador as he attacked on the Marie Blanque! He had five minutes at the top of the Souler, but a joint Rabo, Eusketel, Saxo effort brought it back to 2.30 by the bottom of the Tormalet.
However domestiques had run out and much was left for Andy to do himself as it was between 15km and 10km to go where he did most of the work to massively reduce the gap. He took a breather as we gradually reeled him in and with 4km to go Berti was back with us. Simon Spilak is the Lampre man having a great ride.
Still with 4000m of climbing left it was time to nab some time, Andy accelerates again with 2700m to go.
It was a bit tetchy and a tad too early as in the last kilometer Sanchez and Menchov zoomed past. Menchov taking the stage this time, but crucially behind Andy gained yet more time on the rival.
Spoiler | Rank | Name | Team | Time | | 1 | Denis Menchov | Rabobank | 4h58'47 | | 2 | Samuel Sánchez | Euskaltel - Euskadi | s.t. | | 3 | Andy Schleck | Team Saxo Bank | + 29 | | 4 | Simon Spilak | Lampre - Farnese Vini | + 1'19 | | 5 | Levi Leipheimer | Team RadioShack | s.t. | | 6 | Andreas Klöden | Team RadioShack | s.t. | | 7 | Alberto Contador | Astana | s.t. | | 8 | Christian Vande Velde | Garmin - Transitions | s.t. | | 9 | Roman Kreuziger | Liquigas - Doimo | s.t. | | 10 | Bauke Mollema | Rabobank | s.t. | | 11 | David Moncoutié | Cofidis, le crédit en ligne | + 1'45 | | 12 | Robert Gesink | Rabobank | + 2'55 | | 13 | Nicolas Roche | AG2R La Mondiale | s.t. | | 14 | Kevin De Weert | Quick·Step | s.t. | | 15 | Michael Rogers | Team HTC - Columbia | + 3'19 | | 16 | Bradley Wiggins | Sky Professional Cycling Team | s.t. | | 17 | Daniel Navarro | Astana | + 4'31 | | 18 | Yury Trofimov | Bbox Bouygues Télécom | + 5'19 | | 19 | Lance Armstrong | Team RadioShack | + 7'03 | | 20 | Hubert Dupont | AG2R La Mondiale | s.t. | | 21 | Chris Anker Sørensen | Team Saxo Bank | + 7'11 | | 22 | Luis León Sánchez | Caisse d'Epargne | s.t. | | 23 | Rein Taaramäe | Cofidis, le crédit en ligne | s.t. | | 24 | Daniel Martin | Garmin - Transitions | + 7'19 | | 25 | Christophe Le Mével | Française des Jeux | s.t. | | 26 | JoaquÃm RodrÃguez | Team Katusha | + 7'43 | | 27 | Amaël Moinard | Cofidis, le crédit en ligne | + 7'51 | | 28 | Jakob Fuglsang | Team Saxo Bank | + 9'59 | | 29 | Kim Kirchen | Team Katusha | + 10'39 | | 30 | Tony Martin | Team HTC - Columbia | + 10'55 | | 31 | Sandy Casar | Française des Jeux | + 11'03 | | 32 | Jean-Christophe Peraud | Omega Pharma - Lotto | s.t. | | 33 | Carlos Barredo | Quick·Step | + 11'11 | | 34 | Cyril Gautier | Bbox Bouygues Télécom | + 11'19 | | 35 | David López | Caisse d'Epargne | s.t. | | 36 | Cyril Dessel | AG2R La Mondiale | s.t. | | 37 | Maxime Monfort | Team HTC - Columbia | + 11'35 | | 38 | Dario Cataldo | Quick·Step | s.t. | | 39 | Guillaume Bonnafond | AG2R La Mondiale | s.t. | | 40 | Dimitri Champion | AG2R La Mondiale | s.t. | | 41 | Maxime Bouet | AG2R La Mondiale | s.t. | | 42 | Damien Monier | Cofidis, le crédit en ligne | s.t. | | 43 | Chris Horner | Team RadioShack | s.t. | | 44 | Charles Wegelius | Omega Pharma - Lotto | + 11'43 | | 45 | Nicolas Vogondy | Bbox Bouygues Télécom | s.t. | | 46 | Christophe Riblon | AG2R La Mondiale | s.t. | | 47 | Sérgio Paulinho | Team RadioShack | s.t. | | 48 | Rafael Valls | Footon - Servetto | + 11'51 | | 49 | Christian Knees | Team Milram | s.t. | | 50 | Thomas Voeckler | Bbox Bouygues Télécom | s.t. | | 51 | Thomas Löfkvist | Sky Professional Cycling Team | s.t. | | 52 | Christophe Moreau | Caisse d'Epargne | s.t. | | 53 | Haimar Zubeldia | Team RadioShack | + 11'59 | | 54 | Christophe Kern | Cofidis, le crédit en ligne | s.t. | | 55 | Robert Kiserlovski | Liquigas - Doimo | s.t. | | 56 | Yaroslav Popovych | Team RadioShack | s.t. | | 57 | Pierre Rolland | Bbox Bouygues Télécom | + 12'07 | | 58 | Sylvain Chavanel | Quick·Step | s.t. | | 59 | Vasil Kiryienka | Caisse d'Epargne | s.t. | | 60 | Johan Van Summeren | Garmin - Transitions | + 12'15 |
So fifty more second added on... will it be enough?
GC:
| Rank | Name | Team | Time | | 1 | Andy Schleck | Team Saxo Bank | 84h52'57 | | 2 | Alberto Contador | Astana | + 2'24 | | 3 | Samuel Sánchez | Euskaltel - Euskadi | + 3'08 | | 4 | Denis Menchov | Rabobank | + 4'10 | | 5 | Roman Kreuziger | Liquigas - Doimo | + 7'09 | | 6 | Christian Vande Velde | Garmin - Transitions | + 7'36 | | 7 | Andreas Klöden | Team RadioShack | + 7'54 | | 8 | Simon Spilak | Lampre - Farnese Vini | + 8'27 | | 9 | Levi Leipheimer | Team RadioShack | + 9'19 | | 10 | Bradley Wiggins | Sky Professional Cycling Team | + 9'51 | | 11 | Nicolas Roche | AG2R La Mondiale | + 10'01 | | 12 | Kevin De Weert | Quick·Step | + 10'02 | | 13 | Michael Rogers | Team HTC - Columbia | + 11'23 | | 14 | Bauke Mollema | Rabobank | + 11'30 | | 15 | Robert Gesink | Rabobank | + 14'14 | | 16 | JoaquÃm RodrÃguez | Team Katusha | + 14'54 | | 17 | David Moncoutié | Cofidis, le crédit en ligne | + 19'28 | | 18 | Lance Armstrong | Team RadioShack | + 19'31 | | 19 | Christophe Le Mével | Française des Jeux | + 20'48 | | 20 | Daniel Navarro | Astana | + 22'39 | | 21 | Yury Trofimov | Bbox Bouygues Télécom | + 24'14 | | 22 | Kim Kirchen | Team Katusha | + 25'09 | | 23 | Chris Anker Sørensen | Team Saxo Bank | + 29'57 | | 24 | Yaroslav Popovych | Team RadioShack | + 30'44 | | 25 | Dario Cataldo | Quick·Step | + 33'20 | | 26 | Tony Martin | Team HTC - Columbia | + 34'10 | | 27 | Sandy Casar | Française des Jeux | + 36'17 | | 28 | Hubert Dupont | AG2R La Mondiale | + 41'00 | | 29 | Christophe Kern | Cofidis, le crédit en ligne | + 42'49 | | 30 | Carlos Barredo | Quick·Step | + 45'37 | | 31 | Jakob Fuglsang | Team Saxo Bank | + 45'41 | | 32 | Luis León Sánchez | Caisse d'Epargne | + 46'11 | | 33 | Robert Kiserlovski | Liquigas - Doimo | + 47'37 | | 34 | Maxime Monfort | Team HTC - Columbia | + 49'50 | | 35 | Thomas Voeckler | Bbox Bouygues Télécom | + 50'21 | | 36 | Sylvain Chavanel | Quick·Step | + 51'18 | | 37 | Christophe Moreau | Caisse d'Epargne | + 51'58 | | 38 | Christophe Riblon | AG2R La Mondiale | + 54'40 | | 39 | Daniel Martin | Garmin - Transitions | + 55'09 | | 40 | Rafael Valls | Footon - Servetto | + 55'14 |
As an aside one jersey winner is assurred here is Boassen Hagen winning another stage this one into Bordeaux
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| Pellizotti2 |
Posted on 27-02-2011 21:45
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World Champion
Posts: 10121
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What was Contador thinking? Attacking on the first climb of the day. That was a suicide mission, but it was great for Schleck. I think he will do it.
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| Smowz |
Posted on 28-02-2011 21:39
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Team Leader
Posts: 6479
Joined: 09-04-2009
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25 July,2010: Paris, France
Just finished with an attempted clear the air talks with Bjarne, the Schlecks and Cancellara. Let me be clear here - I will carry out my Saxo DS duties until the end of the season then I am outta of this ship.
Riis is looking for someone to blame for losing his Golden Tickets - all he has done and yet it is all going seemingly down the drain. Yet, he still texts immiediately after about Contador - I am not going to take that step, he is now unquestionably in my mind the second best stage racer in the world if that!
I confess though this has been a Tour for the ages - a real tussle between the front four. Sanchez shocked from time to time, Contador twice showed glimpses of his attacking ability - the crazy attack on in the pyrenees was hardly out of 'hog-man' Brunyeel's copybook ... and Schleck time and again punishing the riders with that smooth climbing ability.
The 50 plus km time trial actually enhanced this race, it gave riders like Menchov a chance and after doing little of note all season the Russian saved it all for this - he won that fateful stage in Paulliac.
The Rabobank KoM jersey winner set a time of 1.07.49! It was a real sizzler and reminded us of how he had won Grand Tours in the past. The man nows how to come good at the end of tours.
You compare that to the perfomances of Canc...
1.09.14
and Der Kaiser II
1.10.57
and you realise that the ride was a serious assault not just at the stage but a run at the yellow jersey, he had started the day 4.10 back.
He certainly did enough to overtake Sammy Sanchez who was 62 seconds ahead at the beginning of the day.
But the Basque rider could certainly not be disgraced with a Cancellara matched 1.09.14 as well. Alas his head would slump as he realised that even this fantastic ride was not enough.
Of course this was going to put Contador under pressure - but Berti was riding well enough.
on his way to 1.08.22, this was good enough to hold off Menchov by 73 seconds. It also meant that Andy had to come home in 1.10.45 to hold the yellow jersey. That's a better time than Tony Martin!
Our tactic was to save something for the last 10km, by the second check though we knew we were losing ground rapidly only having the provesional yellow by single digits.
The clock rolled over the 1.10.45 mark and up to 1.11.05 - we'd lost the yellow jersey by twenty seconds.
Spoiler | Rank | Name | Team | Time | | 1 | Denis Menchov | Rabobank | 1h07'49 | | 2 | Alberto Contador | Astana | + 33 | | 3 | Bradley Wiggins | Sky Professional Cycling Team | + 58 | | 4 | Samuel Sánchez | Euskaltel - Euskadi | + 1'25 | | 5 | Fabian Cancellara | Team Saxo Bank | s.t. | | 6 | Levi Leipheimer | Team RadioShack | + 1'27 | | 7 | Christian Vande Velde | Garmin - Transitions | + 1'35 | | 8 | Roman Kreuziger | Liquigas - Doimo | + 2'12 | | 9 | Michael Rogers | Team HTC - Columbia | + 2'43 | | 10 | Lance Armstrong | Team RadioShack | + 2'48 | | 11 | Edvald Boasson Hagen | Sky Professional Cycling Team | + 2'50 | | 12 | Luis León Sánchez | Caisse d'Epargne | + 3'01 | | 13 | Tony Martin | Team HTC - Columbia | + 3'08 | | 14 | Andreas Klöden | Team RadioShack | + 3'10 | | 15 | Andy Schleck | Team Saxo Bank | + 3'17 | | 16 | Kim Kirchen | Team Katusha | + 3'27 | | 17 | Stijn Devolder | Quick·Step | + 3'30 | | 18 | Vladimir Karpets | Team Katusha | + 3'33 | | 19 | Jean-Christophe Peraud | Omega Pharma - Lotto | + 3'34 | | 20 | Simon Spilak | Lampre - Farnese Vini | + 3'43 | | 21 | Marco Pinotti | Team HTC - Columbia | + 4'02 | | 22 | Robert Gesink | Rabobank | + 4'05 | | 23 | Nicolas Vogondy | Bbox Bouygues Télécom | + 4'12 | | 24 | Christian Knees | Team Milram | + 4'13 | | 25 | Lars Boom | Rabobank | + 4'14 | | 26 | David Millar | Garmin - Transitions | s.t. | | 27 | Yaroslav Popovych | Team RadioShack | + 4'19 | | 28 | Sylvain Chavanel | Quick·Step | + 4'34 | | 29 | Maxime Monfort | Team HTC - Columbia | + 4'37 | | 30 | Kevin De Weert | Quick·Step | + 4'39 | | 31 | Thomas Löfkvist | Sky Professional Cycling Team | s.t. | | 32 | Jakob Fuglsang | Team Saxo Bank | + 4'40 | | 33 | Sérgio Paulinho | Team RadioShack | + 4'41 | | 34 | Chris Horner | Team RadioShack | + 4'43 | | 35 | Damien Monier | Cofidis, le crédit en ligne | + 4'44 | | 36 | Lars Ytting Bak | Team HTC - Columbia | + 4'46 | | 37 | Vasil Kiryienka | Caisse d'Epargne | + 4'48 | | 38 | Nicolas Roche | AG2R La Mondiale | + 4'49 | | 39 | Christophe Riblon | AG2R La Mondiale | + 4'52 | | 40 | Dimitri Champion | AG2R La Mondiale | + 5'00 | | 41 | Haimar Zubeldia | Team RadioShack | + 5'03 | | 42 | Rémy Cusin | Cofidis, le crédit en ligne | + 5'15 | | 43 | Philippe Gilbert | Omega Pharma - Lotto | + 5'19 | | 44 | Linus Gerdemann | Team Milram | + 5'23 | | 45 | David Zabriskie | Garmin - Transitions | + 5'25 | | 46 | Bauke Mollema | Rabobank | + 5'31 | | 47 | Charles Wegelius | Omega Pharma - Lotto | + 5'33 | | 48 | Filippo Pozzato | Team Katusha | + 5'42 | | 49 | Carlos Barredo | Quick·Step | s.t. | | 50 | Rein Taaramäe | Cofidis, le crédit en ligne | + 5'43 |
Thoughts tumble out now in hindsight and of course Riis, Schleck the elder and all the media have their theories... the Giro being the main one hung on to as to why Schleck lost the tour.
For me - I cannot deny the had Andy not raced the Giro perhaps he would have had more for this. But would Andy have had to confidence to attack over and again in the mountains? The Suisse perhaps sapped him too but he needed the fitness boost - in race there were plenty of gains he made on Gap and Bales that he had no right too - perhaps on the Tormalet we should have been able to make Berti's foolhardy escape damage him.
But you saw what happened, Andy blew... well good luck to them in their project I am sure Andy - vs three time winner Contador will be a highlight next year. I will play no part I am sure.
The final stage saw Contador in yellow for only the second day in the race - unfortunately the last day.
and to continue with the theme of service as per normal Mark Cavendish won the final sprint.
I have to bring up the final GC on my laptop one last time - I sag twenty damn seconds.... that prologue, Rousses we should have matched Sammys acceleration... perhaps we mistimed Mende or Tormalet?
| Rank | Name | Team | Time | | 1 | Alberto Contador | Astana | 92h45'58 | | 2 | Andy Schleck | Team Saxo Bank | + 20 | | 3 | Denis Menchov | Rabobank | + 1'13 | | 4 | Samuel Sánchez | Euskaltel - Euskadi | + 1'36 | | 5 | Christian Vande Velde | Garmin - Transitions | + 6'14 | | 6 | Roman Kreuziger | Liquigas - Doimo | + 6'24 | | 7 | Levi Leipheimer | Team RadioShack | + 7'49 | | 8 | Bradley Wiggins | Sky Professional Cycling Team | + 7'52 | | 9 | Andreas Klöden | Team RadioShack | + 8'07 | | 10 | Simon Spilak | Lampre - Farnese Vini | + 9'13 | | 11 | Michael Rogers | Team HTC - Columbia | + 11'09 | | 12 | Kevin De Weert | Quick·Step | + 11'44 | | 13 | Nicolas Roche | AG2R La Mondiale | + 11'53 | | 14 | Bauke Mollema | Rabobank | + 14'04 | | 15 | Robert Gesink | Rabobank | + 15'22 | | 16 | JoaquÃm RodrÃguez | Team Katusha | + 18'17 | | 17 | Lance Armstrong | Team RadioShack | + 19'22 | | 18 | David Moncoutié | Cofidis, le crédit en ligne | + 23'58 | | 19 | Christophe Le Mével | Française des Jeux | + 24'52 | | 20 | Kim Kirchen | Team Katusha | + 25'39 | | 21 | Daniel Navarro | Astana | + 26'06 | | 22 | Yury Trofimov | Bbox Bouygues Télécom | + 27'13 | | 23 | Yaroslav Popovych | Team RadioShack | + 32'06 | | 24 | Tony Martin | Team HTC - Columbia | + 34'21 | | 25 | Chris Anker Sørensen | Team Saxo Bank | + 34'27 | | 26 | Dario Cataldo | Quick·Step | + 37'55 | | 27 | Sandy Casar | Française des Jeux | + 39'19 | | 28 | Christophe Kern | Cofidis, le crédit en ligne | + 45'43 | | 29 | Hubert Dupont | AG2R La Mondiale | + 45'56 | | 30 | Luis León Sánchez | Caisse d'Epargne | + 46'15 | | 31 | Jakob Fuglsang | Team Saxo Bank | + 47'24 | | 32 | Carlos Barredo | Quick·Step | + 48'22 | | 33 | Maxime Monfort | Team HTC - Columbia | + 51'30 | | 34 | Robert Kiserlovski | Liquigas - Doimo | + 52'27 | | 35 | Sylvain Chavanel | Quick·Step | + 52'55 | | 36 | Thomas Voeckler | Bbox Bouygues Télécom | + 54'21 | | 37 | Christophe Moreau | Caisse d'Epargne | + 55'20 | | 38 | Christophe Riblon | AG2R La Mondiale | + 56'35 | | 39 | Linus Gerdemann | Team Milram | + 58'46 | | 40 | Daniel Martin | Garmin - Transitions | s.t. | | 41 | Chris Horner | Team RadioShack | + 59'07 | | 42 | Rafael Valls | Footon - Servetto | + 1h01'11 | | 43 | Pierre Rolland | Bbox Bouygues Télécom | + 1h04'23 | | 44 | Pierrick Fédrigo | Bbox Bouygues Télécom | + 1h04'46 | | 45 | Vladimir Karpets | Team Katusha | + 1h05'48 | | 46 | David López | Caisse d'Epargne | + 1h08'00 | | 47 | Sérgio Paulinho | Team RadioShack | + 1h08'12 | | 48 | Amets Txurruka | Euskaltel - Euskadi | + 1h12'49 | | 49 | Rémy Di Gregorio | Française des Jeux | + 1h12'57 | | 50 | Damien Monier | Cofidis, le crédit en ligne | + 1h12'59 | | 51 | Thibaut Pinot | Française des Jeux | + 1h13'56 | | 52 | Cyril Dessel | AG2R La Mondiale | + 1h14'12 | | 53 | Alexandre Vinokourov | Astana | + 1h14'18 | | 54 | Jean-Christophe Peraud | Omega Pharma - Lotto | + 1h14'41 | | 55 | Rinaldo Nocentini | AG2R La Mondiale | + 1h17'48 | | 56 | Romain Sicard | Euskaltel - Euskadi | + 1h18'42 | | 57 | Gorka Verdugo | Euskaltel - Euskadi | + 1h18'46 | | 58 | Vasil Kiryienka | Caisse d'Epargne | + 1h19'24 | | 59 | Oliver Zaugg | Liquigas - Doimo | + 1h19'36 | | 60 | Johan Van Summeren | Garmin - Transitions | + 1h19'58 | | 61 | Nicolas Vogondy | Bbox Bouygues Télécom | + 1h20'26 | | 62 | Sylwester Szmyd | Liquigas - Doimo | + 1h22'31 | | 63 | Amaël Moinard | Cofidis, le crédit en ligne | + 1h23'02 | | 64 | Jérôme Pineau | Quick·Step | + 1h23'22 | | 65 | Juan Mauricio Soler | Caisse d'Epargne | + 1h23'35 | | 66 | Charles Wegelius | Omega Pharma - Lotto | + 1h23'54 | | 67 | Maxime Bouet | AG2R La Mondiale | + 1h23'59 | | 68 | Rigoberto Urán | Caisse d'Epargne | + 1h26'25 | | 69 | Eros Capecchi | Footon - Servetto | + 1h27'48 | | 70 | Arkaitz Durán | Footon - Servetto | + 1h30'07 | | 71 | Alexandr Kolobnev | Team Katusha | + 1h30'12 | | 72 | Anders Lund | Team Saxo Bank | + 1h32'07 | | 73 | Jérémy Roy | Française des Jeux | + 1h32'08 | | 74 | Lars Ytting Bak | Team HTC - Columbia | + 1h32'49 | | 75 | Rein Taaramäe | Cofidis, le crédit en ligne | + 1h37'51 | | 76 | Samuel Dumoulin | Cofidis, le crédit en ligne | + 1h38'18 | | 77 | Gilberto Simoni | Lampre - Farnese Vini | + 1h40'54 | | 78 | Cyril Gautier | Bbox Bouygues Télécom | + 1h42'09 | | 79 | Haimar Zubeldia | Team RadioShack | + 1h44'29 | | 80 | Rémi Pauriol | Cofidis, le crédit en ligne | + 1h44'30 | | 81 | Thomas Löfkvist | Sky Professional Cycling Team | + 1h47'03 | | 82 | Guillaume Bonnafond | AG2R La Mondiale | + 1h48'19 | | 83 | Laurent Lefèvre | Bbox Bouygues Télécom | + 1h48'42 | | 84 | Dimitri Champion | AG2R La Mondiale | + 1h50'43 | | 85 | Francis De Greef | Omega Pharma - Lotto | + 1h51'51 | | 86 | Julien El Fares | Cofidis, le crédit en ligne | + 1h54'03 | | 87 | Xabier Zandio | Caisse d'Epargne | + 1h55'25 | | 88 | Fabian Cancellara | Team Saxo Bank | + 1h57'48 | | 89 | Andriy Grivko | Astana | + 1h59'56 | | 90 | Markus Fothen | Team Milram | + 2h03'05 | | 91 | Stijn Devolder | Quick·Step | + 2h05'58 | | 92 | Alexandre Botcharov | Team Katusha | + 2h10'14 | | 93 | Mathieu Sprick | Bbox Bouygues Télécom | + 2h12'23 | | 94 | Christian Knees | Team Milram | + 2h13'00 | | 95 | Laurent Didier | Team Saxo Bank | + 2h14'50 | | 96 | David Zabriskie | Garmin - Transitions | + 2h15'13 | | 97 | Arnold Jeanneson | Caisse d'Epargne | + 2h18'30 | | 98 | Ryder Hesjedal | Garmin - Transitions | + 2h18'52 | | 99 | Marco Pinotti | Team HTC - Columbia | + 2h20'27 | | 100 | Edvald Boasson Hagen | Sky Professional Cycling Team | + 2h33'03 |
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| Kami |
Posted on 28-02-2011 21:42
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3485
Joined: 19-06-2009
PCM$: 200.00
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To bad you missed out on the win, but more realistic top 4? 
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| wackojackohighcliffe |
Posted on 28-02-2011 21:49
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 7681
Joined: 19-02-2008
PCM$: 200.00
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Shame but great to have some realistic racing. |
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| mb2612 |
Posted on 28-02-2011 21:52
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Team Leader
Posts: 5759
Joined: 18-05-2008
PCM$: 200.00
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bad luck
[url=www.pcmdaily.com/forum/viewthread.php?thread_id=33182] Team Santander Media Thread[/url]
Please assume I am joking unless otherwise stated |
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| valverde321 |
Posted on 28-02-2011 22:14
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World Champion
Posts: 12986
Joined: 20-05-2009
PCM$: 530.00
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Kami wrote:
To bad you missed out on the win, but more realistic top 4?
Yeah, and then it gets horrible. Hesjedal 98th. 
But good reports anyway. I guess you've returned now that the Man-game season is just about over, and you don't have anymore stages to report or very few left.
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| SportingNonsense |
Posted on 28-02-2011 22:18
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Team Manager
Posts: 33046
Joined: 08-03-2007
PCM$: 200.00
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Must be fun to be able to summarise more than 1 stage in one post, without a huge amount of pictures, rather than the Man-Game style. Id argue that this method is probably better for stories anyway - particularly with the added behind the scenes stuff, so its good to read. Just a shame you missed out by so little!
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| FreitasPCM |
Posted on 28-02-2011 23:09
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 8389
Joined: 08-09-2009
PCM$: 200.00
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Results are preety realistic, eh?
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| Pellizotti2 |
Posted on 01-03-2011 07:51
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World Champion
Posts: 10121
Joined: 01-05-2010
PCM$: 200.00
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Too bad you lost the Tour with just 20 seconds, but as already said: Very realistic results and very nice reporting.
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| Smowz |
Posted on 01-03-2011 08:14
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Team Leader
Posts: 6479
Joined: 09-04-2009
PCM$: 200.00
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To bad you missed out on the win, but more realistic top 4?
Shame but great to have some realistic racing.
Results are preety realistic, eh?
Those four, Sanchez, Menchov, Schleck and Contador were a cut above everyone else. Behind that it was bit more interesting - mainly the time triallers coming to teh fore but Wiggins could not break into the top five - that was Vandevelde.
Riders like Vinokourov and Hesjedal were clearly off form - they were very good in the early season. Armstrong? never was seen as team leader despite having clearly scheduled for this race (as had Kloden and Leipheimer).
I was lucky to get the gap I did on the Chambury-Gap stage (the hilly one after the Alps) - after that well in hindsight it may have been a mistake to attack on the first Tormalet stage (long flat finish). It left Andy short on that big Tormalet finish. The TT, not really sure I could have done it better - perhaps made Andy go quicker earlier but Conta, Menchov are about six points stronger and with similar recovery that equates to a lot of time over a long distance.
Glorious failure tastes okay!
Must be fun to be able to summarise more than 1 stage in one post, without a huge amount of pictures, rather than the Man-Game style. Id argue that this method is probably better for stories anyway - particularly with the added behind the scenes stuff, so its good to read. Just a shame you missed out by so little!
I wanted to try and keep this story fresh and different than the other stories. Certianly from my own perspective I didn't really think I could compete with the level of detail others put into their reports. This story was always going to be about the results in the big races... whereas if I took someone like Europcar I may want to expand on other races!
But good reports anyway. I guess you've returned now that the Man-game season is just about over, and you don't have anymore stages to report or very few left.
Well the sooner a Man Game season finishes the sooner the next begins! Actually been quite busy at work in January/February - though I have been doing some stuff on SN's Man Game project also. I hope some of the regular story writers and readers will apply for positions for teams in the Man Game next year - it does very much need some good forumites
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