Many have doubted if Alberto Contador will reach his former level of greatness in this year’s Tour de France. The Spaniard hasn’t won any of the stage races he has been riding and so far he’s only got one stage win this season. However, what many tend to forget is that this year the plan has been different. Alberto Contador was mentally drained after his turbulent 2012-season and he needed a longer winter break than usually. Therefore, he started out 2013 three kilos heavier than the preview years, and naturally this has affected his results.
Instead of being close to his best level during the first part of the season - as he usually is - Contador has planned everything around the Tour de France. At Dauphiné he said he was on 75 % and according to his best friend and teammate, Jesus Hernandez, Alberto Contador is now ready to fight for the overall win.
What Hernandez means is that Contador didn't have his Clenbuterol to burn off the excess fat.
Okay, I know he isn't the best anymore but he's been getting better, and top 10s are likely. I'm pretty damn fricking sure that's more than fricking Jack Bauer can do. WTF are they even thinking!!!!!!!!!??????????????
Edit: Ragequit on cycling.
Edited by baseballlover312 on 27-06-2013 02:14
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy
baseballlover312 wrote:
Tyler Farrar not in the Tour lineup for Garmin.
...
WTF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Okay, I know he isn't the best anymore but he's been getting better, and top 10s are likely. I'm pretty damn fricking sure that's more than fricking Jack Bauer can do. WTF are they even thinking!!!!!!!!!??????????????
Edit: Ragequit on cycling.
Bauer is going to help for the TTT, instead of get dropped..
baseballlover312 wrote:
Tyler Farrar not in the Tour lineup for Garmin.
...
WTF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Okay, I know he isn't the best anymore but he's been getting better, and top 10s are likely. I'm pretty damn fricking sure that's more than fricking Jack Bauer can do. WTF are they even thinking!!!!!!!!!??????????????
Edit: Ragequit on cycling.
Bauer is going to help for the TTT, instead of get dropped..
He's in the race to slightly help in 1 specific stage?
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy
baseballlover312 wrote:
Tyler Farrar not in the Tour lineup for Garmin.
...
WTF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Okay, I know he isn't the best anymore but he's been getting better, and top 10s are likely. I'm pretty damn fricking sure that's more than fricking Jack Bauer can do. WTF are they even thinking!!!!!!!!!??????????????
Edit: Ragequit on cycling.
Bauer is going to help for the TTT, instead of get dropped..
He's in the race to slightly help in 1 specific stage?
Pretty sure he's going to help out more on all 21 days of racing compared to Farrar.
baseballlover312 wrote:
Tyler Farrar not in the Tour lineup for Garmin.
...
WTF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Okay, I know he isn't the best anymore but he's been getting better, and top 10s are likely. I'm pretty damn fricking sure that's more than fricking Jack Bauer can do. WTF are they even thinking!!!!!!!!!??????????????
Edit: Ragequit on cycling.
Bauer is going to help for the TTT, instead of get dropped..
He's in the race to slightly help in 1 specific stage?
Pretty sure he's going to help out more on all 21 days of racing compared to Farrar.
Farrar can get top 10s and maybe a couple of top 5s in sprints. Bauer can do what? I think they pretty much have climbing covered with Hesjedal, Martin, Vande Velde, Danialson, Talansky, and Dennis no? Navardaskus wa sgreat in the Giro. Millar is questionable. So is Bauer.
I just don't understand. He is the team's main sprinter, and represents the teams country. Now maybe he isn't the best sprinter, but he;s their best sprinter. And for him no to do a GT is ridiculous IMO.
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy
baseballlover312 wrote:
Tyler Farrar not in the Tour lineup for Garmin.
...
WTF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Okay, I know he isn't the best anymore but he's been getting better, and top 10s are likely. I'm pretty damn fricking sure that's more than fricking Jack Bauer can do. WTF are they even thinking!!!!!!!!!??????????????
Edit: Ragequit on cycling.
Bauer is going to help for the TTT, instead of get dropped..
He's in the race to slightly help in 1 specific stage?
Pretty sure he's going to help out more on all 21 days of racing compared to Farrar.
Farrar can get top 10s and maybe a couple of top 5s in sprints. Bauer can do what? I think they pretty much have climbing covered with Hesjedal, Martin, Vande Velde, Danialson, Talansky, and Dennis no? Navardaskus wa sgreat in the Giro. Millar is questionable. So is Bauer.
I just don't understand. He is the team's main sprinter, and represents the teams country. Now maybe he isn't the best sprinter, but he;s their best sprinter. And for him no to do a GT is ridiculous IMO.
And what is Garmins ultimate goal? GC.
So what would Farrar do that, other than "get in the way" of Garmins actual goal there?
From my point of view, there are 5 guys that are good in the mountains, so mountain support is covered.
Then they've got 4 guys that are going to be very good on the flat and can totally sacrifice themselves for the leader, because they've got no aspirations other than to help the leader and maybe slip into the breakaway, as well as those flat guys being good on climbs too.
And finally, almost everyone is good at TTing and I think Garmin are going to be targetting the TTT as a possible stage win, which is more than Farrar was going to do anyway, plus making sure the leaders dont lose time on the day will be crucial for the ultimate goal.
Now what would Farrar do? Waste valuable energy off of the support riders just so he can get a few Top 10's at the Tour? Get dropped on the climbs rendering him useless as a teammate to the climbers that are trying to fulfill Garmins #1 goal at the Tour?
baseballlover312 wrote:
Tyler Farrar not in the Tour lineup for Garmin.
...
WTF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Okay, I know he isn't the best anymore but he's been getting better, and top 10s are likely. I'm pretty damn fricking sure that's more than fricking Jack Bauer can do. WTF are they even thinking!!!!!!!!!??????????????
Edit: Ragequit on cycling.
Bauer is going to help for the TTT, instead of get dropped..
He's in the race to slightly help in 1 specific stage?
Pretty sure he's going to help out more on all 21 days of racing compared to Farrar.
Farrar can get top 10s and maybe a couple of top 5s in sprints. Bauer can do what? I think they pretty much have climbing covered with Hesjedal, Martin, Vande Velde, Danialson, Talansky, and Dennis no? Navardaskus wa sgreat in the Giro. Millar is questionable. So is Bauer.
I just don't understand. He is the team's main sprinter, and represents the teams country. Now maybe he isn't the best sprinter, but he;s their best sprinter. And for him no to do a GT is ridiculous IMO.
And what is Garmins ultimate goal? GC.
So what would Farrar do that, other than "get in the way" of Garmins actual goal there?
From my point of view, there are 5 guys that are good in the mountains, so mountain support is covered.
Then they've got 4 guys that are going to be very good on the flat and can totally sacrifice themselves for the leader, because they've got no aspirations other than to help the leader and maybe slip into the breakaway, as well as those flat guys being good on climbs too.
And finally, almost everyone is good at TTing and I think Garmin are going to be targetting the TTT as a possible stage win, which is more than Farrar was going to do anyway, plus making sure the leaders dont lose time on the day will be crucial for the ultimate goal.
Now what would Farrar do? Waste valuable energy off of the support riders just so he can get a few Top 10's at the Tour? Get dropped on the climbs rendering him useless as a teammate to the climbers that are trying to fulfill Garmins #1 goal at the Tour?
Imo it makes more sense not to bring him.
Here's what farrar can do. Take up 1 team spot and wheel hop a top 10 or 5 without any support needed.
Apparently Jack Bauer is a world class climber. And how much protecting do the GC guys need on a flat road? They have 8 guys for the GC hopes.
It makes no sense for a team not to bring there main sprinter to le Tour. In fact, he probably won't be doing any GTs. Makes no sense.
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy
baseballlover312 wrote:
Tyler Farrar not in the Tour lineup for Garmin.
...
WTF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Okay, I know he isn't the best anymore but he's been getting better, and top 10s are likely. I'm pretty damn fricking sure that's more than fricking Jack Bauer can do. WTF are they even thinking!!!!!!!!!??????????????
Edit: Ragequit on cycling.
Bauer is going to help for the TTT, instead of get dropped..
He's in the race to slightly help in 1 specific stage?
Pretty sure he's going to help out more on all 21 days of racing compared to Farrar.
Farrar can get top 10s and maybe a couple of top 5s in sprints. Bauer can do what? I think they pretty much have climbing covered with Hesjedal, Martin, Vande Velde, Danialson, Talansky, and Dennis no? Navardaskus wa sgreat in the Giro. Millar is questionable. So is Bauer.
I just don't understand. He is the team's main sprinter, and represents the teams country. Now maybe he isn't the best sprinter, but he;s their best sprinter. And for him no to do a GT is ridiculous IMO.
And what is Garmins ultimate goal? GC.
So what would Farrar do that, other than "get in the way" of Garmins actual goal there?
From my point of view, there are 5 guys that are good in the mountains, so mountain support is covered.
Then they've got 4 guys that are going to be very good on the flat and can totally sacrifice themselves for the leader, because they've got no aspirations other than to help the leader and maybe slip into the breakaway, as well as those flat guys being good on climbs too.
And finally, almost everyone is good at TTing and I think Garmin are going to be targetting the TTT as a possible stage win, which is more than Farrar was going to do anyway, plus making sure the leaders dont lose time on the day will be crucial for the ultimate goal.
Now what would Farrar do? Waste valuable energy off of the support riders just so he can get a few Top 10's at the Tour? Get dropped on the climbs rendering him useless as a teammate to the climbers that are trying to fulfill Garmins #1 goal at the Tour?
Imo it makes more sense not to bring him.
Here's what farrar can do. Take up 1 team spot and wheel hop a top 10 or 5 without any support needed.
Apparently Jack Bauer is a world class climber. And how much protecting do the GC guys need on a flat road? They have 8 guys for the GC hopes.
It makes no sense for a team not to bring there main sprinter to le Tour. In fact, he probably won't be doing any GTs. Makes no sense.
Is Jack Bauer a world class climber? Hah, no, but Danielson,, Hesjedal, Martin, Talansky, Vandevelde, and Dennis are all good climbers.
They have Ryder as the leader, but if things dont go to plan Martin or Talansky can step up, and they've still got lots of backup support in the mountains.
It also makes no sense for a team to bring a mediocre sprinter to the Tour when they are trying to go all out for the GC, especially when that same sprinter is afraid to ride fast anywhere but the super wide roads of America because he's afraid to crash.
You keep saying it makes no sense. It makes perfect sense for a team focusing on 1 thing. In the past Garmin has gone for the split focus thing, and its never really worked either way. Hesjedal got 7th, pretty much on his own, apart from minor support some days, and Farrar still isn't really consistent enough to get as much support as he used to be getting. This is the first time they are really going for GC completely, and Im excited to see what they can do.
You need to calm down and stop being such a fanboy about this. If you care about him riding a GT, I bet he could do the Vuelta, but no, some week long American stage race is more important to him, so it doesn't matter anyway.
baseballlover312 wrote:
Here's what farrar can do. Take up 1 team spot and wheel hop a top 10 or 5 without any support needed.
Apparently Jack Bauer is a world class climber. And how much protecting do the GC guys need on a flat road? They have 8 guys for the GC hopes.
It makes no sense for a team not to bring there main sprinter to le Tour. In fact, he probably won't be doing any GTs. Makes no sense.
Top 5s and 10s in sprints won't bring in any media coverage whereas top 10s in GC will bring in far, far more. So for someone like Vaughters who knows the business of this sport inside and out, dumping Farrar is basically the most intelligent thing that he could do. Also I would like to point out that Farrar missing out was entirely based on form. As you can see from this interview: https://velonews.c...hip_287747
“After the nationals I have the Tour de Suisse, and it looks like there’s a couple of sprint opportunities there, and then also just some good training leading into July,” he said. Only afterward will he know if his legs are sound enough to be in the serious Tour sprint discussion.
“We’ll take it one step at a time,” he said. “We’ll see now the nationals and Suisse go, and how I’m riding, and then we’ll make some more plans.
“I think we’re going to have a really big GC push this year, just the way our team has been riding, with Dan Martin and Andrew Talansky and [Ryder] Hesjedal. We have so many good GC riders, we’ll see what I’m riding like when we get a little closer to the start.”
So he has no one to blame but himself. He got a podium on one stage at TDS (despite the fact that there were one or two more where sprinters were competitive) and was completely anonymous at the Nats, so the legs just clearly aren't there. Taking a second-string sprinter to the TDF is a risky call in the first place and if they don't have the legs then that is even worse.
Jack Bauer is going to be far more valuable in the TTT and if the team get into yellow then Bauer + Navardauskas could pretty much work on the front all day without having to use up the energy of their climbers. His selection makes sense from a GC point of view and is the best thing from the team. I applaud Vaughters for doing what is right by the squad, rather than sticking with a longer-term rider.
Choosing Baauer over Farrar is choosing the TTT win over 5 top 10's on stages. Simple choise.
It's quite intresting for the TTT. Martin will be dropped after like 5 kilometres so no way they can wait for him. So now way he will even come close to a high GC place.
baseballlover312 wrote:
Tyler Farrar not in the Tour lineup for Garmin.
...
WTF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Okay, I know he isn't the best anymore but he's been getting better, and top 10s are likely. I'm pretty damn fricking sure that's more than fricking Jack Bauer can do. WTF are they even thinking!!!!!!!!!??????????????
Edit: Ragequit on cycling.
Bauer is going to help for the TTT, instead of get dropped..
He's in the race to slightly help in 1 specific stage?
Pretty sure he's going to help out more on all 21 days of racing compared to Farrar.
Farrar can get top 10s and maybe a couple of top 5s in sprints. Bauer can do what? I think they pretty much have climbing covered with Hesjedal, Martin, Vande Velde, Danialson, Talansky, and Dennis no? Navardaskus wa sgreat in the Giro. Millar is questionable. So is Bauer.
I just don't understand. He is the team's main sprinter, and represents the teams country. Now maybe he isn't the best sprinter, but he;s their best sprinter. And for him no to do a GT is ridiculous IMO.
And what is Garmins ultimate goal? GC.
So what would Farrar do that, other than "get in the way" of Garmins actual goal there?
From my point of view, there are 5 guys that are good in the mountains, so mountain support is covered.
Then they've got 4 guys that are going to be very good on the flat and can totally sacrifice themselves for the leader, because they've got no aspirations other than to help the leader and maybe slip into the breakaway, as well as those flat guys being good on climbs too.
And finally, almost everyone is good at TTing and I think Garmin are going to be targetting the TTT as a possible stage win, which is more than Farrar was going to do anyway, plus making sure the leaders dont lose time on the day will be crucial for the ultimate goal.
Now what would Farrar do? Waste valuable energy off of the support riders just so he can get a few Top 10's at the Tour? Get dropped on the climbs rendering him useless as a teammate to the climbers that are trying to fulfill Garmins #1 goal at the Tour?
Imo it makes more sense not to bring him.
Here's what farrar can do. Take up 1 team spot and wheel hop a top 10 or 5 without any support needed.
Apparently Jack Bauer is a world class climber. And how much protecting do the GC guys need on a flat road? They have 8 guys for the GC hopes.
It makes no sense for a team not to bring there main sprinter to le Tour. In fact, he probably won't be doing any GTs. Makes no sense.
Is Jack Bauer a world class climber? Hah, no, but Danielson,, Hesjedal, Martin, Talansky, Vandevelde, and Dennis are all good climbers.
They have Ryder as the leader, but if things dont go to plan Martin or Talansky can step up, and they've still got lots of backup support in the mountains.
It also makes no sense for a team to bring a mediocre sprinter to the Tour when they are trying to go all out for the GC, especially when that same sprinter is afraid to ride fast anywhere but the super wide roads of America because he's afraid to crash.
You keep saying it makes no sense. It makes perfect sense for a team focusing on 1 thing. In the past Garmin has gone for the split focus thing, and its never really worked either way. Hesjedal got 7th, pretty much on his own, apart from minor support some days, and Farrar still isn't really consistent enough to get as much support as he used to be getting. This is the first time they are really going for GC completely, and Im excited to see what they can do.
You need to calm down and stop being such a fanboy about this. If you care about him riding a GT, I bet he could do the Vuelta, but no, some week long American stage race is more important to him, so it doesn't matter anyway.
Sorry, I really don't value 8 domestiques much over 7.
Loook at the lineup of this years Tour. It's not like they have a realstic chance at a podium. Don't forget that I am a Garmin fanboy as a whole. Unless they want KOM with Martin, going for team or something, they aren't winnning anything. Taking one less mediocre domestique for the ride isn't a big loss.
Edited by baseballlover312 on 27-06-2013 13:33
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy
Garmin taking Farrar to the TDF would be like Sky taking Swift. Neither of them can challenge the top sprinters or help the team leader, so what's the point. Yes, they could both get stage top tens but so what! If you're a Garmin fan, you should be happy they're not taking him because year after year, they've been taking Farrar to the Tour and he's done nothing, except for one lucky stage win where Hushovd dragged him to the line and all the other sprinters got taken out by some mad Frenchman at the last corner. He just isn't quick enough. Simple.
You need strong rouleurs like Bauer if you want any chance of a decent GC result. Look at Sky with Pate last year and it will be Stannard this year. They can just pull the peloton along for pretty much the whole day. They're not world class climbers and they don't need to be because the rest of the team can do the climbing (in Garmin's case, Dennis, Danielson etc.). The climbers will be completely fresh when they get to the climbs because Bauer, Millar and Navardauskas have been doing the work whereas Farrar would probably be sitting at the back of the peloton waiting to get a ticket for the bus.
Garmin taking Farrar to the TDF would be like Sky taking Swift. Neither of them can challenge the top sprinters or help the team leader, so what's the point. Yes, they could both get stage top tens but so what! If you're a Garmin fan, you should be happy they're not taking him because year after year, they've been taking Farrar to the Tour and he's done nothing, except for one lucky stage win where Hushovd dragged him to the line and all the other sprinters got taken out by some mad Frenchman at the last corner. He just isn't quick enough. Simple.
Farrar was the only rider who could even come close to Cavendish on flat Tour stages in both '09 and '10
Edited by Spilak23 on 27-06-2013 14:38
