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Tour de France Preview and Discussion thread
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| Levi4life |
Posted on 21-01-2011 08:04
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A much needed result for Lafarge. Unless Caruso pulls out something amazing in the next mountain stage I don't see him holding on to a top 5.
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| CrueTrue |
Posted on 21-01-2011 08:11
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Great solo effort by Caruso, and I'm glad we didn't let any of the GC favourites back in the game.
A shame that Dekker lost more seconds to Spilak, but again, can't do much. If Dekker wants to win this, it has to be done on the next stage (more or less). |
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| SotD |
Posted on 21-01-2011 08:27
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Contador almost throwing away on stage 16 with that shitty attack move. He did a very nice recovery though... At th 17th stage he took back the mountains jersey, but on the final climb he decided to open the fight up again. Bad move.
Chapeau to Caruso... Never thought he would be a threat to Contador, now it seems he will finish in 5th or 6th. Contador still in top 10 and my crashed helpers are trying their best to get back into top30. Seems a bit too tough though.
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| jolly_antunes |
Posted on 21-01-2011 11:20
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There are no words to describe Kash's performance...
PS: I only had time to read the whole thing now, great great reporting Smowz 
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| SportingNonsense |
Posted on 21-01-2011 11:43
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Good to see Uran realising today is a good day to use energy on KoM points, and look to maintain a high position there - the worry being if he continues to do so tomorrow, energy needs to be saved for the Tourmalet. Plus an Iglinski Top 10 on the stage, and Galimzyanov holding on, just keeping within the time limit to stay in the race.
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| rjc_43 |
Posted on 21-01-2011 12:36
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Pity Thire went out the back, and that Le Mevel couldn't get away into the break of the day, would have been a good chance to move up the KoM rankings. Still, can't complain on what was quite a successful Tour for me so far, especially for a team without any really good climbers, sprinters, or anything else apart from a TTist. |
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| dave92 |
Posted on 21-01-2011 13:45
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we really should have helped chase caruso down. Credit to him, but riders 5-12 in gc and their teams have made a mistake letting him go like that
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| SotD |
Posted on 21-01-2011 13:49
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Yeah Coppel gave you a nice first week there... Both you and Vesuvio have had a decent Tour so far I think... At the end you will probably be the biggest winners after the Top 3 GC riders... But seems they will all be lesser attractive positions they are battleing for...
I'm very interested in the PT rankings after this race. "Knock-on-wood" - it seems that I won't lose too much ground on neither Pearl, Lipton, Wikipedia, La Gazzetta or Domina. So the finishing races will be VERY interesting. Seems Vesuvio will get our tails, which will be very dangerous seeing those final hilly races...
I'm still thinking La Gazzetta could take 2nd or 3rd PT with Cunego, but it seems very very interesting if everything stays this way until the end of the Tour... I would be forever thrilled if Contador could make up pluchkin by a couple of minutes in the next stage, and taking Caruso by 2-3 aswell. Seems unrealistic but would be amazing...
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| SotD |
Posted on 21-01-2011 13:52
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dave92 wrote:
we really should have helped chase caruso down. Credit to him, but riders 5-12 in gc and their teams have made a mistake letting him go like that
Agreed... I would've loved that 7th place GC... 6th was the dream, but 7th was definately good enough. Hopefully Caruso used up all of his energy on that stage, and that it will cost him some minutes on the next... I think Contador might lose quite some time because he will attack for mountain points... And evidently he will lose the jersey because he will gather 6-10 points through the stage and then lose 20 in the final climb...
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| SportingNonsense |
Posted on 21-01-2011 13:54
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SotD wrote:
I'm very interested in the PT rankings after this race. "Knock-on-wood" - it seems that I won't lose too much ground on neither Pearl, Lipton, Wikipedia, La Gazzetta or Domina. So the finishing races will be VERY interesting. Seems Vesuvio will get our tails, which will be very dangerous seeing those final hilly races...
Very true - we came in to this with a close battle developing from 2nd to 12th - Vesuvio being at the bottom end of that, but probably doing the best of those 11 teams in the TDF by merit of Uran's leadership earnings. With the current 4 bottom teams now having riders in the Top 5, theres less points to go around for everyone else in that 2nd-12th battle (which could even be joined by previous relegation zone teams like Philips) - and so it could well remain very close.
And not forgetting Sony Ericsson, it as good as seals it for them that none of their "closest" rivals have made any sort of charge here.
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 07-12-2025 15:31
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| SotD |
Posted on 21-01-2011 13:57
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True... And Pedreza has been overperforming a bit I think. I wouldn't have had him for top 15 before this race. And I definately woudn't have had him in any top 8s of the stages...
So Sony is a definite winner (Also with Trofimov there to secure him points in the hills)...
2nd place is really up for grabs. I think Vesuvio and La Gazzetta are the best suited for the remaining 2 podium spots, but hopefully Sammy and Ulissi can keep performing decently.
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| SportingNonsense |
Posted on 21-01-2011 14:04
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It would be fun if my team could make a late charge, but Id be surprised if I can get as high as 2nd. I do have hopes in every remaining race excluding TONE, but then so will many others. While TONE is a bit of a lottery, both Asturias and Deutschland are going to be hotly contested, and we've already seen that the hill races provide anything but consistency.
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| SotD |
Posted on 21-01-2011 14:11
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SportingNonsense wrote:
It would be fun if my team could make a late charge, but Id be surprised if I can get as high as 2nd. I do have hopes in every remaining race excluding TONE, but then so will many others. While TONE is a bit of a lottery, both Asturias and Deutschland are going to be hotly contested, and we've already seen that the hill races provide anything but consistency.
True. I'm also pretty happy with my team for those last races except TONE. Sam Bewley will be my key rider there, but last year Hushovd stood no chance, so I wouldn't expect Bewley to either.
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| SportingNonsense |
Posted on 21-01-2011 14:14
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Are you sure Bewley is there? I assumed he would be, but when I checked on your planner just now, he isnt - with Sammy Sanchez and Nolf there instead.
In terms of TONE, a lot depends on the AI. Will the puncheurs try to capitalise on the opening stages and then look to hold on, or will we say relatively surprising names battling for the win up the Huy, thus setting the 'tone' for the race.
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| alexkr00 |
Posted on 21-01-2011 17:53
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It looks like Gesink won't miss the top 10. Even if Phinney gains back one minute, Gesink should do a better time - trial than Henao Montoya and keep his place in the top 10.
At least now I know what Gesink needs to be a podium contender in the Tour: a higher mountain stat.
Edited by alexkr00 on 21-01-2011 17:53
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| SportingNonsense |
Posted on 21-01-2011 17:59
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Ffs. Attacking with what, 80km to go on with so much flat?
Ridiculous gameplay, ridiculous move and a complete waste. Nothing was ever to be gained doing that, only lost. And proven. Gah.
Luckily the TT ought to salvage 5th place from Schleck. Id have taken that at the start of the race, but the way race went for the first 2/3rds, anything less than 5th would be poor.
Edited by SportingNonsense on 21-01-2011 18:11
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| Smowz |
Posted on 21-01-2011 18:17
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SportingNonsense wrote:
Ffs. Attacking with what, 80km to go on with so much flat?
Ridiculous gameplay, ridiculous move and a complete waste. Nothing was ever to be gained doing that, only lost. And proven. Gah.
Luckily the TT ought to salvage 5th place from Schleck. Id have taken that at the start of the race, but the way race went for the first 2/3rds, anything less than 5th would be poor.
SN, You can take Uran out of Columbia but you cannot take the Columbian out of Uran But he did seriously struggle on the climb, nice to see him supported by his two teammates though!
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| SportingNonsense |
Posted on 21-01-2011 18:25
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If he wanted to be a mad Colombian, he should have done it on the Caruso stage from this morning. At least then if you do get caught, youre not going to then suffer for it.
And yep, Iglinski is a great support - if only AI would let him attack a bit more when Uran was on his better days, he could have targeted a Top 15 maybe. And a rider like Medvedev is invaluable to just stick into all 3 GTs as support for on the mountains. He may get dropped on the flat early on, but thats good, because it means he has a lower salary 
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| CrueTrue |
Posted on 21-01-2011 18:42
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Alright, beaten fair and square by Spilak. Well done by Dekker for archiving the team goal (top-3), and hopefully, this will end all the talk about relegation  |
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| SportingNonsense |
Posted on 21-01-2011 18:44
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But isnt Dekker due his annual TDF crash?
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