July 22, Stage 19: Modane - Alpe-d'Huez 109km

mahoo

cool shot of europcar boys coming over the line there... was that voigt dishing out the hi 5s before that too

Captain Havoc

I'm going for FDJ to go TTT style.

manafana

cadel so strong today, be glad see him win it myself,

8/13 now to take enough time out of andy

AG2R

Captain Havoc wrote: »

I'm going for FDJ to go TTT style.

I'm going E-mail them know with that Idea. I think they might so it :pac:

kmart6

G'wan Cav...nice to see him leading them in! Rojas beside him so he's safe!

John.Icy

Nico 25 minutes down...I'm almost positive I saw him in the grupetto.

tuathal07

John.Icy wrote: »

Nico 25 minutes down...I'm almost positive I saw him in the grupetto.

Yeah he was in there alright.

kmart6

That's the only place he could be really!

Captain Havoc

Just outside, how hard is that for them?

AstraMonti

What an amazing day again! Fantastic ride by Rolland, he deserved that win. Too bad for Tommy, he fought with everything he had and more.

kmart6

AG2R will get a podium place anyway so that's one positive for them!

John.Icy

Awh man, you can tell Andy knows he needs a miracle to keep the yellow...damn shame...

kmart6

What are you on about?!?! Nico spent the last two stages out in the break, putting in a huge amount of effort, considering the first two weeks he had that can be considered a result that he got his legs back a bit!!

You are being way too harsh on him!!! He had feck all training coming into the Tour due to the injuries he got in the Dauphine...he couldn't walk they were so bad and had a fecking hole in his elbow!!

Ease up on him FFS!

milosh

Was Nico eliminated. I don't see him on the live tracker results.

tuathal07

kmart6 wrote: »

You are being way too harsh on him!!!

Agreed.

For sure his Tour has been a little disappointing given his stated goal of a top 10 finish but in the context of his season its not surprising. Today was a day off for him, given his exertions over the past 2-3 days.

Once he got dropped early on the first climb, it made no sense to leave the grupetto.

kmart6

milosh wrote: »

Was Nico eliminated. I don't see him on the live tracker results.

C'mon the answer to that is in the posts above!

barrabus

John.Icy wrote: »

Awh man, you can tell Andy knows he needs a miracle to keep the yellow...damn shame...

hard to be sure of that:
In 2009 in the annecy time trial
Evans was 12th at + 01' 14"
AS was 21 at + 01' 45"

In 2008 on the last saturday time trial
Evans was 7th at + 02' 05"
AS was 30th at + 04' 02"

AS will be last to leave tomorrow so he'll know what he has to do.

cantalach

Anyone know what was the fastest time recorded on the Alpe today?

blorg

John.Icy wrote: »

Awh man, you can tell Andy knows he needs a miracle to keep the yellow...damn shame...

That seems to be the consensus but Sean Kelly disagrees:

Guardian wrote:

It 's the question on everyone's lips:
can Cadel Evans take 58 seconds or more out of
the Schlecks in tomorrow's time trial and ride
himself into yellow in the penultimate stage of
the Tour ? On Eurosport, Sean Kelly offers his
opinion: "No , I don' t think so," he says. "It ' ll be
very tough, a real tall order, but on a Tour like
this that has been so full of surprises , who
knows what might happen?"

BTH

cantalach wrote: »

Anyone know what was the fastest time recorded on the Alpe today?

41:52

http://twitter.com/#!/jsachse
Not gospel, but the best I can do right now. Re-tweeted by Inner Ring so should be OK.

manafana

barrabus wrote: »

hard to be sure of that:
In 2009 in the annecy time trial
Evans was 12th at + 01' 14"
AS was 21 at + 01' 45"

In 2008 on the last saturday time trial
Evans was 7th at + 02' 05"
AS was 30th at + 04' 02"

AS will be last to leave tomorrow so he'll know what he has to do.

in 09 evans was out of the top20 in gc so that wasnt driving him to well like it was AS, andy has prob improved since 08 so wont be losing 2mins, but then you've got look at today seemed like andy had less left than cadel at the line

Morrisseeee

Andy in yellow tomorrow, a horrible irony for him if he doesn't do a brilliant TT !!
This Rolland fella, he's awesome (as they say in the USA), if he had been in that break instead of Tommy he might have won the TDF.

After three weeks of loyal service to his team leader, Pierre Rolland was given the chance to race for himself and he didn’t let anyone down. The 24-year-old is the first Frenchman to win on Alpe d’Huez since Bernard Hinault in 1986.

“I said I wanted to do everything possible to defend the yellow jersey of Thomas but on the climb of the Galibier, he told me, ‘Seize your chance, don’t worry about me’. This is also where I see that he is a great champion, one who was able to tell me to go at the right time. I immediately wanted to prepare myself for something by attacking in the valley. Still, this is a climb that I know very well one that I’ve reconnitoired more than a dozen times last year.
“When I found myself with two Spaniards, I knew they knew each other very well. So I told myself that I would not finish second, it was win or nothing. I knew at turn one, I could push the big chainring early on this climb at such a pace because I did it many times in training. This is a stage that I’ve watched dozens of times on video, with Armstrong, Pantani... I studied their cadence. And now it’s me who has won! It will take me a little time before I realize what I’ve done.
“As for the suggestions that I could win the Tour de France... well, we must not forget that I’m only 24, and I have 10 wonderful years. I know I’m going to train to be at the highest level, and not have regrets when my career is over.”

Brian?

blorg wrote: »

That seems to be the consensus but Sean Kelly disagrees:

Hmmmmmmmm. It's going to be interesting, very interesting. I could see Evans easily taking a minute out of Andy in any other situation, but on with the yellow on his back and the tour at stake............ maybe not.

For once, I don't actually care who wins between them, Andy deserves it for his attack yesterday and Evans derserves for his agression in the Pyrenees and even today.

Does anyone else think that Contador blew the tour because of the Giro? I think it shows just how hard it is to win both in the same year. Will he have a a go at the Vuelta?

R3D_D3V1L

I dunno, I think people are underestimating Andy in the time trial, i read an interview with him before the tour and he said he was working really hard on his time trial and has improved alot, I think Cadel knows this too hence why he tried to attack him near the end of the stage today.

My only worry about Andy is that he doesnt have the legs for tomorrow. Should be a close. Cant wait!! :D

furiousox

Ok just before we go can I say sorry for some of my earlier posts on this thread...

I posted a photo which at the time I thought was 'humourous' but I realise now it wasn't the correct time or place to do so.
I then followed up with a couple of posts which were a bit confrontational.
If you've seen any of my previous posts over the last couple of years in the Cycling forum you'll know today's were a bit out of character.
I'm afraid I'll have to put it down to a couple of stressful days at work which left me with a short fuse today.
FWIW I can see now that along with quite a few others Contador put in a hell of a ride today, especially after suffering so much yesterday.
So again, genuine apologies to anyone I might have upset earlier.

Now, back to the racing and C'MON CADEL!!

ednwireland

briankeating wrote: »

Does anyone else think that Contador blew the tour because of the Giro? I think it shows just how hard it is to win both in the same year. Will he have a a go at the Vuelta?

pretty much

i think this year has pretty much killed guys competing for 2 tours (maybe a giro - vuelta double)

doubt he'll ride the vuelta

Brian?

ednwireland wrote: »

pretty much

i think this year has pretty much killed guys competing for 2 tours (maybe a giro - vuelta double)

You're probably right.

doubt he'll ride the vuelta

I hope he does to be honest, I love watching the guy in the mountains. He didn't have the legs to win today, but what a ride. Talk about going out with a bang as TDF champion. When is "the case" actually going to sorted out?

I think he went into this year with the intention of giving a lot of people 2 fingers and was confident he could win the giro and the tour. He might have done it as well if it wasn't for the crashes in the first week, we'll never know.

John.Icy

kmart6 wrote: »

What are you on about?!?! Nico spent the last two stages out in the break, putting in a huge amount of effort, considering the first two weeks he had that can be considered a result that he got his legs back a bit!!

You are being way too harsh on him!!! He had feck all training coming into the Tour due to the injuries he got in the Dauphine...he couldn't walk they were so bad and had a fecking hole in his elbow!!

Ease up on him FFS!

Roches best performance came in the first day of high mountains actually when he moved up to tenth overall.. The legs got worse since that day, till the breaks where he managed to find some kick in them.

Is there that much of a problem saying Roche is in very bad form? Becuase he is, and we know of his early season. You sware people told him to never get on a bike ever again. Calm down man.

AG2R

mloc123

This posted before?