thehammerdog

Andy road great, what a day he kicked much in the way of arse......however. I fear he shot his wad. I cannot see how he is able to go back to back days of hard core climbing and expect to have any gas in the tank for the TT on Saturday. Frank may be in the best situation for today, if he is able to drop the hammer it may be the older brother who wears Yellow. Cadel worked very hard to keep close and stay within a decent time. Andy, if he is able to ride like a the long and lean goat that he is, will become a hero.
Great tour so far.

veloboy971

+1, it will be interesting indeed to see if he can pull off another good one today.

infinitemass

I think with Frank there to watch Cadel and Alberto showing he`s no threat without his drugs, Andy can wait until he`s much closer to the finish to go. That and he has been improving his TT quite a bit. We`ll see!

LowCel 

Moving to pro.

veloboy971

Contador would likely be dominating the tour in the same way DESPITE the way he rode the Giro if he was on drugs...

Britguy

I thought it was an awsome stage yesterday, they are all heros just for completeing it. What Andy did was incredible but I agree with you thehammerdog, after a performance like that how the hell can they do it all again today. The one we are all forgetting is Thomas V, that guy is turning himself inside out just to hold on to the yellow, he looked destroyed yesterday at the end but if the rest are hurting......I agree though that Frank is probably in the best postion for today.

thehammerdog

Tommy V is showing us all that we can usually push our bodies harder than we ever thought. He has stepped up a grade or two from where I think we & he though he was...Phil Ligget is simply anti TV and has dissmissed him all week....Today is HUGE..

FlashBazbo

I will be the lone voice . . . I don't think Andy intends to win the Tour. I think the strategy (including yesterday) is to support Frank. I also think this is why the peloton didn't take Andy's attack more seriously. They have long realized that it's all about Frank this year.

Does anyone remember how Carlos Sastre won the Tour? Remember -- the Schlecks were on that team and served as the misdirection. Sastre stayed close and then "came out of nowhere" on Alpe d'huez. Andy is this year's misdirection in support of Frank -- who will "come out of nowhere" on Alpe d'huez.

thump55

I am too drunk from the playing the "Stephen" Roche drinking game to comment on what happened.

SpongeDad

Had he taken a less aggressive move, he'd have to pick up more time today. Hard to see how he made his chances worse. Cadel hesitated too long, but then did a monster job clawing back time so he's he may have shot his wad too. Everybody else is out of the picture. If Andy can't gain another minute or more today, then Cadel beats him in the TT for yellow.

Pscyclepath

Me, I'd rather see Tom Voeckler find another layer in his suitcase of courage, and ride into Paris in yellow this weekend. That would really make this Tour special...

Dubbayoo

It appears Andy had a spare wad to shoot. I'm not sure Frank has it but I do think he should stay with the pack in case the leaders get caught, then he can jump near the end.

whitemax

Slim to no chance of that. Being on the podium, which is doable would be phenomenal.

DiabloScott

It's only a 41km time trial tomorrow... I don't think it will be very decisive at all.

Chris516

I was thinking the same thing.

Maybe it is just me, but when I see Tommy Voeckler ride compared to the likes of Contador, the Schleck brothers, Ivan Basso, etc.; Tommy Voeckler has a real 'blue collar' honest look on his face as he goes through the mountain stages. I don't get that impression from any of the other riders.

DXchulo

The Dauphine used the same route this year. Evans put 1:19 into Van Den Broeck, 1:29 into Gesink, and 2:07 into Sanchez.

Not everybody was there, but Wiggins (1:09) and Brajkovic (3s) were the only GC guys who beat him.

SouthFLpix

I dont think the 57 seconds Andy Schleck has is going to be enough. He should have sat in the peloton today, forgot about Contador, and attacked in the last 5k to put time into Evans. Even a 30 second gain would have been huge. I think trying to follow Contador today might have lost him the Tour.

Nick Bain

F Schleck. I am so sick of the commentators love affair with him. All he seems to do is wheel suck and look at other riders like he's going to molest them.

daveF

I believe you are only watching July races! https://www.cyclingnews.com/races/75t...tage-9/results
Andy lost 2:19 to Levi on a 32k time trial. His brother lost 2:53. Cadel might not be time trialing quite as well as Levi did (Levi lost only 13 seconds to Fabian) but Andy better be a lot more motivated than he was at the TDS.

kleinboogie

Hanging with Contador didn't lose Andy the tour. A stronger rider did. Just as it does every year.

DiabloScott

Yeah you're right... I was thinking the differences after Alpe would be larger than they are. Cadel's going to take the jersey away for sure... and good on him.

thehammerdog

Evens seems to be a good guy worked like a dog the past two days mostly alone. Why he played it that way, allowing that to happen who knows. Putting 1 min seems very doable given that Andy must be tired and not the TT guy Cadel is.
Great tour this year