USAZorro

Profile:



Map:

diphthong

some big straightaways here for the big diesels: cancellara, leipheimer, evans.
picking leipheimer.

USAZorro

bump

Caretaker

Tony Martin to repeat his win of this stage in the Dauphiné.

InReverse

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wOEPkse_PI 6:36
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFPu6ZYAQBM 6:13
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLo76D3yNoc 0:19
https://velonews.competitor.com/2011/...e-trial_170589

Don't get too mathematical. Crashes happen in TTs. I can't find the one where someone crashed on dry road and started throwing his bike. I can't remember who he was either.

But I did find a pretty good video of Cancellara doing it right.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HA03vSHPBJo

OrionKhan

That one from the Giro a couple of years ago with Menchov was an exciting race. All ton of credit had to go to the mechanic in the team car. He had the new bike to Menchov by the he got up off the ground. Amazingly fast bike change after a crash.

DXchulo

Andy
Frank........0:53
Evans........0:57
Voeckler.....2:10
Cunego......3:31
Contador....3:55
Sanchez.....4:22
Basso.........4:40

It's Evans' race to lose. Don't forget that he rode the exact same TT at the Dauphine, which the Schlecks didn't ride. He has a double advantage tomorrow.

DXchulo

or


?

dstrong 

In the Dauphine', the last place rider was 10'26" behind the winner, Tony Martin. We'll see if the yellow gives AS wings. Evans will be two minutes ahead of AS on the road so AS will know how Evans is doing the whole way...whether he can do anything about it is another matter. We'll see if Frank can be 1:13 better than Voeckler, 2:34 better than Cunego and 2:58 better than Contador to hang on to the podium.

Jed19

I think Cadel Evans has finally got himself a TdF GC win after all these years. I just can't see either of the Schlecks coming within a minute of his TT finish tomorrow.

And I like the focus I saw all over his face in today's Stage 19.

SouthFLpix

I think Evans is going to put 1.20 into Andy Schleck and take yellow to Paris.

Even though I think Andy was the stronger rider overall, Cadel was more crafty throughout the 3 weeks, and that's why he's probably going to win his 1st TDF.

DXchulo

What makes you say Andy was stronger overall? He had one great day, but Cadel has been consistently strong. TTs are part of the race.

Jed19

It is that classic lesson being repeated before all our eyes. Ceteris paribus, experience trumps strength. CEvans has ridden brilliantly in this Tour, in the sense that he has done what he has to do by not being too emotional. Just steady and very focused. I like his chances tomorrow.

SouthFLpix

He was stronger on all the climbs, but tactically he just didn't attack when he needed to. All he did was look at Contador when for most of the TDF Contador was behind him and Evans was in front. Today was his last chance to put time into Evans going into the TT, why did he follow Contador's 'kamikaze' attack 60 miles away from the finish?

So he expended all that energy and great climbing ability following a guy almost 5 minutes down on GC. If he had just focused on Evans, he could have put time into him today, and that will probably be the difference between winning and losing.

What about in his interview today where he basically says that he expects the yellow jersey to magically make him a great time trailist? That does not seem like sound strategy to me.

MinnMan

Yeah, but that great day was downright heroic. I didn't see anything comparable from Evans (or Frank, or AC, or anybody else....) Up until yesterday, I was rooting for Evans, but after seeing that stage, I'm hoping AS holds on for the win.

MinnMan

Personally, I wish the last stage weren't a TT. A mountain stage is a much more dramatic finish.

dstrong 

Yup...TT's make for really boring TV until the last half-dozen riders.

MinnMan

I don't get why people keep saying this. Sure he was following AC, but how was he supposed to put more time into Evans except by mounting an attack on AC? Don't you think he would have if he had the means to do so? He was following AC b/c it was his best strategy to put as much time on Evans as possible whilst not blowing up and risking both the stage and his legs for tomorrow.

SouthFLpix

^^^
I disagree. I think following a guy 60 miles from the finish is not a good way to conserve energy. He could have let Contador get away, while riding safely in the peloton marking Evans until the last 5k. Could he dislodge him in the last 5k? I think so. Andy is a better climber then Evans.

Contador was no longer a GC threat. No one needed to chase him.

chasm54

I agree. It's going to be tight, but even though the TT is quite short I can see him putting a minute into Andy Schleck. And while I have never been a big fan of Evans, if he wins the Tour he'll have earned it. He has ridden a brilliant race, been active, and done a lot of the work himself. Chapeau.

MinnMan

But when AC attacked, Evans fell behind all the rest, part because he had bike trouble. Are you suggesting AS should have hung back and waited for him? He and the rest of the GC pack followed behind AC and in so doing they were all putting as much time as they could into Evans. Sounds like the right move to me. The fact that Evans caught up later is to his credit, but I don't think it's right to say that AS's strategy there was b/c he was fixated on AC.

Perp

If Andy had the legs to stay with Contador, he would have gotten that extra 5x seconds AC got over both of them.

I think the initial plan was to start the last climb w/out Evans there and AS and AC work together to put as much time on everyone as possible.

Andy gets yellow, Contador gets podium, win win for them.

SouthFLpix

When Contador took off, only Schleck followed and that's what forced Evans and the rest of the GC guys to react. Schleck should just have let him go.

I think maybe he was thinking back to Floyd Landis's 'great escape', but the thing with Landis was that he could descend so quickly that no one could put even a second into him while he was descending. Normally when there is a long descent a group will come together again, and that's what happened today. Even Basso came back, and unlike his countryman Nibali, he's a horrible descender. I heard one person compare his descending skills to a pre-schooler on a tricycle.

MinnMan

well OK, I see that point. But it seems to me that being up with AC turned out to have been a great way to put time into Evans b/c Evans fell back at that point. If everybody would have let AC go, then AS would have needed some other opportunity to drop Evans, which may or may not have arisen or may have required that AS mount his own sustained attack.

DXchulo

Fun quote from Johnny Schleck. Is he playing mind games or what?