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A Tale of Two
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| sutty68 |
Posted on 04-09-2012 14:10
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 34654
Joined: 22-08-2010
PCM$: 200.00
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Great to see Jurgen cope with Contador  |
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| Ian Butler |
Posted on 04-09-2012 14:32
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 21854
Joined: 01-05-2012
PCM$: 400.00
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Thanks for the many comments!
@Katusha: Top 10 would be extremely good, but he's riding extremely well so it may be possible.
@JuanMotr: It's too bad they can't ride 1 and 2 like Froome and Wiggins 
@fcancellara: Thanks!
@johannes-w: He appears to meet De Gendt anywhere where a time trial is held Maybe Eric will beat De Gendt at the next NC, or at the WC!
@sutty68: Yeah, but Contador hasn't been the same since his suspension. VDB is really strong, though!
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| Ian Butler |
Posted on 04-09-2012 14:50
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 21854
Joined: 01-05-2012
PCM$: 400.00
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Le Tour De France - Stage 12
What a stage, short but oh so sweet!
I started back in white. You know what, it doesn't matter. I look better in white than in yellow anyway!
The team worked hard again, we have really developed into a climbing team over the last few years, with hard workers as De Clerq, De Greef, Vanendert...
On the final climb, I was left with Jurgen. I looked at him: "same plan?". He nodded: "same plan"
I moved up the pace a notch.
The Belgian press have not been too kind of Van Den Broeck lately, doubting his abilities to lead this team in Tour de France. I don't know if it's that what caused it, but with 5km left to go he passed me by and gave quite a demonstration!
Nobody could keep up with him!
And he took the win! What a show of power! This is what he worked for all these years, he's finally doing it: Jurgen is winning the Tour!
I finish almost 3 minutes later.
Result
| 1 | Jurgen Van den Broeck | Lotto-Belisol | 4h43'43 | IanButler | | 2 | Pierre Rolland | Team Europcar | + 16 | | | 3 | Fränk Schleck | Radioshack Nissan Trek | + 42 | | | 4 | Alberto Contador | Team Saxo Bank | s.t. | | | 5 | Chris Froome | Sky Pro Cycling | + 1'03 | | | 6 | Vincenzo Nibali | Liquigas-Cannondale | s.t. | | | 7 | Samuel Sánchez | Euskaltel Euskadi | s.t. | | | 8 | Andy Schleck | Radioshack Nissan Trek | + 1'43 | | | 9 | Thomas De Gendt | Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team | + 2'00 | | | 10 | Cadel Evans | BMC Racing Team | + 2'17 | | | 11 | Roman Kreuziger | Astana Pro Team | s.t. | | | 12 | Jelle Vanendert | Lotto-Belisol | s.t. | IanButler | | 13 | Juan José Cobo Acebo | Movistar Team | s.t. | | | 14 | Igor Anton | Euskaltel Euskadi | + 2'42 | | | 15 | Eric Lombaerts | Lotto-Belisol | + 2'52 | IanButler | | 16 | Arnold Jeannesson | Cofidis, Le Crédit en Ligne | + 3'10 | | | 17 | Wout Poels | Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team | + 3'34 | | | 18 | Robert Gesink | Rabobank Cycling Team | + 3'45 | | | 19 | Daniel Martin | Team Garmin-Barracuda | + 4'24 | | | 20 | Nicolas Roche | Ag2r La Mondiale | s.t. | |
GC
| 1 | Jurgen Van den Broeck | Lotto-Belisol | 47h54'48 | IanButler | | 2 | Alberto Contador | Team Saxo Bank | + 51 | | | 3 | Vincenzo Nibali | Liquigas-Cannondale | + 1'39 | | | 4 | Chris Froome | Sky Pro Cycling | + 2'34 | | | 5 | Andy Schleck | Radioshack Nissan Trek | + 3'19 | | | 6 | Thomas De Gendt | Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team | + 3'45 | | | 7 | Pierre Rolland | Team Europcar | + 4'13 | | | 8 | Samuel Sánchez | Euskaltel Euskadi | + 4'24 | | | 9 | Eric Lombaerts | Lotto-Belisol | + 4'47 | IanButler | | 10 | Roman Kreuziger | Astana Pro Team | + 5'30 | | | 11 | Robert Gesink | Rabobank Cycling Team | + 6'08 | | | 12 | Wout Poels | Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team | + 6'23 | | | 13 | Cadel Evans | BMC Racing Team | + 6'26 | | | 14 | Fränk Schleck | Radioshack Nissan Trek | + 6'43 | | | 15 | Tony Martin | Omega Pharma-Quick-Step Cycling Team | + 8'52 | | | 16 | Juan José Cobo Acebo | Movistar Team | + 9'30 | | | 17 | Rein Taaramae | Cofidis, Le Crédit en Ligne | + 14'06 | | | 18 | Steven Kruijswijk | Rabobank Cycling Team | + 15'21 | | | 19 | Sergio Luis Henao | Sky Pro Cycling | + 15'27 | | | 20 | Igor Anton | Euskaltel Euskadi | + 16'50 | |
Points
| 1 | Peter Sagan | Liquigas-Cannondale | 166 | | | 2 | Matthew Goss | Orica-GreenEDGE | 115 | | | 3 | Jurgen Van den Broeck | Lotto-Belisol | 111 | IanButler | | 4 | Tony Martin | Omega Pharma-Quick-Step Cycling Team | 101 | | | 5 | Alberto Contador | Team Saxo Bank | 97 | |
KoM
| 1 | Christophe Riblon | Ag2r La Mondiale | 48 | | | 2 | Luis León Sánchez | Rabobank Cycling Team | 46 | | | 3 | Mathias Frank | BMC Racing Team | 40 | | | 4 | Jurgen Van den Broeck | Lotto-Belisol | 36 | IanButler |
Combativity Award
Christophe Riblon.
Today was a bad day for many riders, arriving too late.
Among those unable to continue in this Tour De France are Cavendish, Kittel, Degenkolb, Démare, Viviani and many more.
In other news: De Gendt will go to Radioschack next season! |
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| PCM rulezz |
Posted on 04-09-2012 14:57
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Protected Rider
Posts: 1467
Joined: 21-05-2011
PCM$: 200.00
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It's looking better with every stage you ride
Winners never quit, quitters never win.
It's difficult not to be happy when you're surrounded by Belgians. - Mark Cavendish
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 24-11-2024 10:58
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Bot Agent
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Joined: 23.11.09
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| FreitasPCM |
Posted on 04-09-2012 15:04
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 8389
Joined: 08-09-2009
PCM$: 200.00
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Looking really good for Van den Broeck, while Eric's also inside the top-10.  |
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| Katusha |
Posted on 04-09-2012 15:20
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Free Agent
Posts: 114
Joined: 20-01-2012
PCM$: 300.00
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Excellent ride for VDB.Perhaps Vanender work for Eric.After VDB Of course! |
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| ste_18 |
Posted on 04-09-2012 16:08
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Protected Rider
Posts: 1430
Joined: 06-08-2012
PCM$: 200.00
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Excellent race for VDBand great job of Eric for VDBV |
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| Ian Butler |
Posted on 04-09-2012 16:13
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 21854
Joined: 01-05-2012
PCM$: 400.00
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@PCM rulezz: Kind of like De Gendt in real life
@FreitasPCM: It would be great to kep both of them there
@Katusha: That might be possible. But now VDB still needs him to take some more time on Contador for the final TT.
@ste_18 Thanks |
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| sutty68 |
Posted on 04-09-2012 16:14
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 34654
Joined: 22-08-2010
PCM$: 200.00
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Great victory for Van den Broeck, putting a little bit more daylight between himself and Contador |
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| Ian Butler |
Posted on 04-09-2012 16:22
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 21854
Joined: 01-05-2012
PCM$: 400.00
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Le Tour De France - Stage 15
I skipped the flat stages for all of you following. You probably caught them on tv anyway! Today we didn't plan on an early battle. It's been a long week and everyone's looking forward to the rest day. Add the fact that it was 34°C, nobody felt like attacks all day long.
So the breakaway was quickly formed and quickly gathered a maximum marge of 21'01".
KoM jersey wearer L.L. Sanchez was part of it and took most of the points.
Like always, I did my fair share of the work.
The breakaway made it to the finish, with Frank winning the stage!
And, who could've predicted that, after the final descend the battle opened up. Accelerations and attacks. So I had to give full gas on the flat. Some riders weren't set on just riding to the finish line.
My work took its toll. In the final km it wasn't entirely flat, about 2-3%, so I was unable to hang on. It's been a hard Tour so far for me too.
Result
| 1 | Mathias Frank | BMC Racing Team | 4h59'22 | | 2 | Sergio Pardilla | Euskaltel Euskadi | s.t. | | 3 | Fabian Wegmann | Team Garmin-Barracuda | s.t. | | 4 | Moreno Moser | Liquigas-Cannondale | s.t. | | 5 | Cameron Meyer | Orica-GreenEDGE | s.t. | | 6 | Thomas Voeckler | Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team | s.t. | | 7 | Luis León Sánchez | Rabobank Cycling Team | s.t. | | 8 | Christophe Kern | FDJ-BigMat | s.t. | | 9 | Romain Bardet | Ag2r La Mondiale | s.t. | | 10 | Chris Horner | Radioshack Nissan Trek | s.t. | | 11 | Peter Velits | Omega Pharma-Quick-Step Cycling Team | s.t. | | 12 | Rémy Di Gregorio | Cofidis, Le Crédit en Ligne | s.t. | | 13 | Massimo Codol | Acqua & Sapone | s.t. | | 14 | Cyril Gautier | Team Europcar | + 37 | | 15 | Christian Knees | Team Argos-Shimano | + 5'47 | | 16 | Thomas De Gendt | Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team | + 8'56 | | 17 | Chris Froome | Sky Pro Cycling | s.t. | | 18 | Pierre Rolland | Team Europcar | s.t. | | 19 | Alberto Contador | Team Saxo Bank | s.t. | | 20 | Fränk Schleck | Radioshack Nissan Trek | s.t. | | (...) | | 25 | Jurgen Van den Broeck | Lotto-Belisol | s.t. | IanButler | | (...) | | 37 | Eric Lombaerts | Lotto-Belisol | + 9'56 | IanButler |
GC
| 1 | Jurgen Van den Broeck | Lotto-Belisol | 62h27'22 | IanButler | | 2 | Alberto Contador | Team Saxo Bank | + 51 | | | 3 | Vincenzo Nibali | Liquigas-Cannondale | + 1'39 | | | 4 | Chris Froome | Sky Pro Cycling | + 2'34 | | | 5 | Andy Schleck | Radioshack Nissan Trek | + 3'19 | | | 6 | Thomas De Gendt | Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team | + 3'45 | | | 7 | Pierre Rolland | Team Europcar | + 4'13 | | | 8 | Samuel Sánchez | Euskaltel Euskadi | + 4'24 | | | 9 | Roman Kreuziger | Astana Pro Team | + 5'30 | | | 10 | Eric Lombaerts | Lotto-Belisol | + 5'47 | IanButler |
Points
| 1 | Peter Sagan | Liquigas-Cannondale | 265 | | | 2 | Matthew Goss | Orica-GreenEDGE | 187 | | | 3 | Romain Feillu | Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team | 162 | | | 4 | Philippe Gilbert | BMC Racing Team | 133 | | | 5 | Jurgen Van den Broeck | Lotto-Belisol | 111 | IanButler |
KoM
| 1 | Luis León Sánchez | Rabobank Cycling Team | 63 | | | 2 | Mathias Frank | BMC Racing Team | 61 | | | 3 | Christophe Riblon | Ag2r La Mondiale | 48 | | | 4 | Pierre Rolland | Team Europcar | 40 | | | 5 | Jurgen Van den Broeck | Lotto-Belisol | 36 | IanButler |
Combativity Award
Today's Combativity Award goes to the first attacker of the day, French Champion Thomas Voeckler!
See you after the rest day! |
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| Ian Butler |
Posted on 04-09-2012 16:23
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 21854
Joined: 01-05-2012
PCM$: 400.00
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@sutty68: Thanks, I believe he'll need it for the final TT! |
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| sutty68 |
Posted on 04-09-2012 16:26
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 34654
Joined: 22-08-2010
PCM$: 200.00
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Stage 15 was a chance to replenish some energy before the next battle with Contador |
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| Ian Butler |
Posted on 04-09-2012 17:58
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 21854
Joined: 01-05-2012
PCM$: 400.00
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We're looking forward to it 
Jurgen has never been this close to winning the Tour. But it's difficult to predict how much time he'll lose in the time trial. So we'll keep on attacking until we reach Paris |
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| PCM rulezz |
Posted on 04-09-2012 18:33
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Protected Rider
Posts: 1467
Joined: 21-05-2011
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I think he needs between 1'30" - 2' before the TT. Let's hope he can do that with the help of Eric.
Imagine, a Belgian wins the 100th edition of Le Tour de France. That's just unbelievable
Winners never quit, quitters never win.
It's difficult not to be happy when you're surrounded by Belgians. - Mark Cavendish
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| TheManxMissile |
Posted on 04-09-2012 19:00
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 18187
Joined: 12-05-2012
PCM$: 0.00
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PCM rulezz wrote:
I think he needs between 1'30" - 2' before the TT. Let's hope he can do that with the help of Eric.
Imagine, a Belgian wins the 100th edition of Le Tour de France. That's just unbelievable
He definatly needs at least 1'30"!! Otherwise Ian is cheating, or PCM is truly broken...
A Belgian winning, more believable than a british 1-2 or Andy winning.... oh wait...
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| Miguel98 |
Posted on 04-09-2012 19:02
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World Champion
Posts: 10497
Joined: 23-06-2011
PCM$: 200.00
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Andy winning? Don't go there. |
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| Ian Butler |
Posted on 04-09-2012 19:03
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 21854
Joined: 01-05-2012
PCM$: 400.00
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TheManxMissile wrote:
PCM rulezz wrote:
I think he needs between 1'30" - 2' before the TT. Let's hope he can do that with the help of Eric.
Imagine, a Belgian wins the 100th edition of Le Tour de France. That's just unbelievable
He definatly needs at least 1'30"!! Otherwise Ian is cheating, or PCM is truly broken...
A Belgian winning, more believable than a british 1-2 or Andy winning.... oh wait...
I ain't cheating
However, Contador's TT stat is only 76, strangely enough. I thought it'd be more. But 1'30" sounds about right, I think. |
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| JuanMotr |
Posted on 04-09-2012 19:34
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Domestique
Posts: 701
Joined: 29-07-2011
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what a great team work from Eric he can be proud ... man, even I am proud!! |
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| glpsace |
Posted on 04-09-2012 22:17
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Amateur
Posts: 19
Joined: 17-08-2010
PCM$: 200.00
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Hello everyone,
I´m from Portugal and, despite following this awesome forum for quite a long time, it is my first post around here.
Maybe because of the language barrier, or even because I prefer to read without making much fuss, the truth is that I never felt the urge to step in.
So, I really just want to thanks Ian for this absolutely inspiring story, that I´ve been following with the greatest interest. A fantastic tale that make us all dream but with its dose of drama and reality check.
I feel more related to Eric, because it is the sort of rider that I always admire and look in the real world. Nevertheless, both Stijn and Eric paths are addictive to follow.
My particular favourite "moment" was when Eric put aside his personal interestes and agenda in favour of the team and his leader. Excelente stuff that also tells me a little about the creator of this plot
Anyway, just wanted to thank you deeply for this very hard and demanding work, that you gift us with, without asking nothing in return.
Really admirable and certainly very noble of you.
Thank you my friend!
GLP |
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| sutty68 |
Posted on 04-09-2012 23:08
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 34654
Joined: 22-08-2010
PCM$: 200.00
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glpsace - I don't know why you were worried about the language barrier, you have written perfect English
Oh and welcome aboard |
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![imgur.com/KlJUqDx.jpg[/img[img]]https://imgur.com/yUygrQ.jpg](https://imgur.com/KlJUqDx.jpg[/img[img]]https://imgur.com/yUygrQ.jpg)
