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Tour de France (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter bianconero
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I can't stand Astana. You have a guy who won silver at the Olympics last year doing donkey work for Armstrong and Contador. If Armstrong, Leipheimer, Contador, and Kloden were competing against each other instead of helping Contador and Armstrong to dominate the field then we might actually have a Tour worth watching.
But now it's going to be Astana controlling the Peleton day after day and pacing in the mountains until Armstrong and Contador feel like winning the stage. I hope the Schleck bros get pissed enough to get a little crazy in Les Alps.
It was nice to my Garmin boys keeping pace though.
But now it's going to be Astana controlling the Peleton day after day and pacing in the mountains until Armstrong and Contador feel like winning the stage. I hope the Schleck bros get pissed enough to get a little crazy in Les Alps.
It was nice to my Garmin boys keeping pace though.
It's been a great Tour this season with Cavs and Thor going neck and neck for the Green jersey, the Schleck bros pushing Contador to give a brilliant performance, and Lance Armstrong actually riding as a teammate and proving you can still be successful without winning.
The big question is: What happens next? Astana is assuredly going to scatter to the winds with Bruneyl stepping out and Vinokorav making noises about coming back to the team. Lance is starting his own team to be sponsored by Radio Shack, but it will be interesting to see who follows him there. My money is on Kloden, Sastre and maybe Hincapie but certainly not Lipheimer or Contador. Contador is making noises about perhaps joining the anti-doping American team of Garmin-Slipstream. I could see Levi Leipheimer joining Colombia-HTC or Lotto. It's going to be a crazy off season with many contracts running out and many riders switching teams.
The big question is: What happens next? Astana is assuredly going to scatter to the winds with Bruneyl stepping out and Vinokorav making noises about coming back to the team. Lance is starting his own team to be sponsored by Radio Shack, but it will be interesting to see who follows him there. My money is on Kloden, Sastre and maybe Hincapie but certainly not Lipheimer or Contador. Contador is making noises about perhaps joining the anti-doping American team of Garmin-Slipstream. I could see Levi Leipheimer joining Colombia-HTC or Lotto. It's going to be a crazy off season with many contracts running out and many riders switching teams.
No way. But what he achieved is still amazing though.
Contador already said he doesn't mind staying with Astana. So he'll probably stay at least one more season, and then join Alonso's Spanish team in 2011. Besides the guys you mentioned, I think that Leipheimer and Bruyneel (manager) will also join Radio Shack.
One of the downsides was the team time trial having too much weight on the GC. They should stop organizing those, or make them easier because it really gives a major advantage for the rich teams, which sucks. Another things that annoyed me from time to time is some rather tough mountain stages not having a finish uphill. What's the freaking point of that?
All in all pretty good Tour. Some nice mountain stages mainly due to the Schleck bros, good battle for the Green Jersey, no doping facts (yet), and some unexpected newcomers with Martin, Nibali and especially Wiggins. It's also great to finally have a Belgain rider again who can compete with the best uphill. Van den Broeck; remember that name, because he'll be creating some fireworks in the coming years.
Contador already said he doesn't mind staying with Astana. So he'll probably stay at least one more season, and then join Alonso's Spanish team in 2011. Besides the guys you mentioned, I think that Leipheimer and Bruyneel (manager) will also join Radio Shack.
One of the downsides was the team time trial having too much weight on the GC. They should stop organizing those, or make them easier because it really gives a major advantage for the rich teams, which sucks. Another things that annoyed me from time to time is some rather tough mountain stages not having a finish uphill. What's the freaking point of that?
All in all pretty good Tour. Some nice mountain stages mainly due to the Schleck bros, good battle for the Green Jersey, no doping facts (yet), and some unexpected newcomers with Martin, Nibali and especially Wiggins. It's also great to finally have a Belgain rider again who can compete with the best uphill. Van den Broeck; remember that name, because he'll be creating some fireworks in the coming years.
I disagree.
When the Schleck brothers were all alone with Contador, neither of them attacked. Yes, I know, Contador's the strongest of them all, but who cares? You attack. Pantani attacked Armstrong, without having the slightest chance of winning. You TRY to win. But no, the Schlecks granted Contador the yellow yersey in exchange for the stage. Poor form.
Mont Ventoux was the same story. Andy Schleck was thinking about Frank so much that he didn't even try to ride away from Contador. All in all the Schlecks were pretty poor. They're strong and they might even do better in the future, but their mentality was awful.
When the Schleck brothers were all alone with Contador, neither of them attacked. Yes, I know, Contador's the strongest of them all, but who cares? You attack. Pantani attacked Armstrong, without having the slightest chance of winning. You TRY to win. But no, the Schlecks granted Contador the yellow yersey in exchange for the stage. Poor form.
Mont Ventoux was the same story. Andy Schleck was thinking about Frank so much that he didn't even try to ride away from Contador. All in all the Schlecks were pretty poor. They're strong and they might even do better in the future, but their mentality was awful.
I was speaking in general. I thought the Schlecks brought the best out of Alberto. Especially in the TT.
I think the Schleck's lack of attack on Contador was due to Astana being so strong. For the Schlecks to brake the field they had to use and immense amount of energy. And once they were alone with Contador I honestly don't think they had enough left in them to attack. And their "joined at the hip" mentality is a bit annoying because I'm pretty sure Andy's "stand by your man" approach to brother Frank cost him.
But whatever, I think this bode's well for the sport's future.
I think the Schleck's lack of attack on Contador was due to Astana being so strong. For the Schlecks to brake the field they had to use and immense amount of energy. And once they were alone with Contador I honestly don't think they had enough left in them to attack. And their "joined at the hip" mentality is a bit annoying because I'm pretty sure Andy's "stand by your man" approach to brother Frank cost him.
But whatever, I think this bode's well for the sport's future.
Exactly. When the Schleck bros were alone with Contador, Andy was reluctant to attack because he probably felt he couldn't get away from Contador anyway. So he would only risk getting isolated and then countered by Contador himself. Also without the help of Franck, it's likely Andy would have never gained that much time over his competitors.
I don't think Andy was being a coward. If you're riding at (or very close) to your limit, the only thing you can do is use tactical common sense. Not even Contador, who was for sure the best rider that day, could get away. So they were riding at a sick tempo, creating a big distance between them and the other stage candidates. All 3 of them won the max they could achieve.