TDF Stage 12

[TeleAl]

I have no clue what happened today except that
the French won it on Bastille Day,
as predicted in Stage 11 thread.

Just let me say this to all y'all arguing on the TDF threads,
ruining my stoke:
Fuck off and go back to the Ski/Snowboard Forum
and find a NSR to argue about.

With that said, I hope you all stay here and comment about the TDF,
cheer for whomever you want,
make ridiculous predictions and analysis
and just enjoy the TDF.

Keep the STOKE going!

Got it? Hope so. And thanks in advance.

[Artie Fufkin]

Disco loses Triki Beltran in a crash(apparently he did not know he had been in a crash, that's not a good sign), this will be the first time since 2001 that they do not finish the Tour with the whole team in tact. It seems as though this could be a significant loss leading up to the Pyranees, but they are still strong. Should be great weekend of racing.

Edit: for spelling - Triki Beltran not Tricky Beltran

[Stu Gotz]

Disco loses Tricky Beltran in a crash(apparently he did not know he had been in a crash, that's not a good sign), this will be the first time since 2001 that they do not finish the Tour with the whole team intact.

Beltran: Hey Lance, Did i crash back there?
Lance: No. Now get to the front and push the pace.

[Crinkle]

a mediocre day on the tour. nothing major, the french win on Bastile day again which is cool. Once again the last big descent was fuggin hairy. All those steep switch back turns, yikes.

[lph]

It was cool to see the french guy win.

other than that, it was downright boring. can't expect every stage to be as exciting as the last couple.

thank god for TiVo.

[atomicboy]

Translated by google from Spanish - This would really blow as he has great form in his first TDF. This will help the LA fans as it could give LA an even greater chance at a stage win Sat or Sun.


THE DOCTOR OF THE TEAM ASSURES THAT THE Situation is VERY SERIOUS"

A knee lesion could cause the abandonment of Valverde

When everybody of the cycling looks at young Alejandro Valverde, great sensation of the Tour of France next to the eternal champion Armstrong, the Spanish cyclist who is a protagonist, but this time for an impending withdrawal because of its knee problems again.

Valverde has had pains in his knee that have followed him since the team time trial, that have increased during the two days of cold in the Alps and that alarmed the team Illes Balears after its exhibition in Courchevel.

The slopes have harmed him

"It is being treated with antiinflamatorios and ultrasonic tests", commented today Eusebio Unzúe, director of Illes Balears. The pains these last days have increased", Unzúe admitted that added that the slopes of the alpine, with its many climbs, have harmed its possible recovery since the knee she/he cools down and its problems are increased when the following ascent begins."

Unzúe expressed the desire that in a couple of warmer days she/he recovers and it can be in its best level in the Pyrenees", although his start tomorrow is in question, and he may be reserved for the Turn to Spain.

The problems in the knees of Valverde have followed him for years due to the demands they are subjected to and to the little recovery that is given them. "If the pains are increased, it is not logical to force and to want to make a good Tour that will be difficult if these problems continue, to sacrifice the rest of the season or to cause an even bigger lesion", says doctor Jesús Hoyos.

Valverde showed today its concern before the stage, although he hoped to recover more between today and tomorrow."

If it doesn't improve, he retires

But when concluding today's stage, there were not good sensations among the members of the Balearic team. Valverde avoided making declarations, what accentuates even more the concern about its health. The face and the declarations of Unzúe were loaded with pessimism. "The nuisances continue. If before the Pyrenees it continues without improving, the best thing will be that he gets off the bicycle", he affirmed.

"In the stage it has passed it quite bad at the beginning, when the peloton went to tugs. Then, the escape went and he pedalled more comfortablly inside the platoon, although he visited the doctor to see if it could calm him the incessant pain in the knee.

"The only thing that we can make is to continue treating him and see if it improves", he added.

Vicente Hoists, masseur of the Illes Balears, declared overwhelming: "Alejandro has the tendon irritation quite badly and the situation is serious."

The pain of the abandonment would be double, given the great form of Valverde, great winner in Courchevel. "Physically he can do it, but the knee...", a resigned Unzúe concluded.

Lastly, who drops out first Heras or Mayo? Or both on the same day to prepare for the Vuelta.

[Artie Fufkin]

Translated by google from Spanish - This would really blow as he has great form in his first TDF. This will help the LA fans as it could give LA an even greater chance at a stage win Sat or Sun.


THE DOCTOR OF THE TEAM ASSURES THAT THE Situation is VERY SERIOUS"

A knee lesion could cause the abandonment of Valverde

I have not seen this reported, where did you see the article?

[atomicboy]

I have not seen this reported, where did you see the article?

sorry for the crude posthttp://www.marca.com/edicion/noticia...653838,00.html

[Artie Fufkin]

sorry for the crude posthttp://www.marca.com/edicion/noticia...653838,00.html

Thanks, I might have picked up the print version of that newspaper when I was Spain during the 2002 Vuelta. Unfortunately I don't speak Spanish, but I was able to somewhat figure out what was happening in the race by the names and the times.

That's a bummer for Valverde, hopefully he sticks it out and gives Lance a run in the Pyranees. But on the other hand the Vuelta is pretty important for the Spaniards, so it would be understandable if he were to drop out and recover for the Vuelta

[atomicboy]

I read somewhere that Valverde was not going to ride in the Vuelta this year. His schedule was one for the classics and the tour specifically while Mancebo was going to ride both the Tour and the Vuelta as team leader. I could be wrong but I thought I read that on the CSC site back in January but things could have changed and he may be a DS for Mancebo.

[Plakespear]

Typical post-mountain stage: Large break full of journeymen with no GC hopes gets away early and stays away. The big guns play it mellow, waiting for the big mtn stages. Expect to see more stages like this the next few days.

[Artie Fufkin]

Translated by google from Spanish - This would really blow as he has great form in his first TDF. This will help the LA fans as it could give LA an even greater chance at a stage win Sat or Sun.


THE DOCTOR OF THE TEAM ASSURES THAT THE Situation is VERY SERIOUS"

A knee lesion could cause the abandonment of Valverde

He's gone, he's dropping out right now in the feedzone in Stage 13. Bummer, but he had a great showing in the most exciting stage so far.

[Tap]

bend, oregon rider Chris Horner in the break, doesn't look like it's gonna hold tho

[Artie Fufkin]

bend, oregon rider Chris Horner in the break, doesn't look like it's gonna hold tho

They were 9 minutes ahead for awhile but they are getting reeled back in quickly. He's ridden a good tour so far, he has hung with some of the best in the mountains and has gotten in a few breaks, he's making the most of the race. I would have liked to seem him get after it on the climbs this weekend, but he might have burned himself out today.

[Cornholio]

Chris Horner is a Moron.

Welcome to Europe, Chris, land of 46mph sprints.

I was so, so bummed to see Horner sucking wheel in the final kilometer instead of killing it. The duo could have stayed away, but he fucked it up. So, now he got nothing (but some Saunier TV time) for his effort and we're headed back to the mountains tomorrow.

Tomorrow's stage, by the way, is brutal. Welcome to the big leagues, dood.

[atomicboy]

I don't know what they were thinking in the last KM either. With one KM to go they needed to give one last assult instead it looked as though they were about to break out the wine and cheese and have a toast to the tour as they crossed the line together. Then again maybe they were spent but they needed to give it one last shot for the win.

[Telephil]

Chris Horner is a Moron.

Welcome to Europe, Chris, land of 46mph sprints.

I was so, so bummed to see Horner sucking wheel in the final kilometer instead of killing it. The duo could have stayed away, but he fucked it up. So, now he got nothing (but some Saunier TV time) for his effort and we're headed back to the mountains tomorrow.

I don't know that I would go that far. I'm pretty psyched to see him riding as well as he is. I think it's pretty safe to say he wasn't planning on winning, so while some of his moves maybe haven't been the smartest, it seems to me that Saunier Duval is now working for him since he is the highest man in GC for their team.

[Egon]

Question: I was looking at the sprint point standings, and noticed that a few riders have negative points. How does one get negative sprint pts?

[Cornholio]

Also, duh, this is about stage 13... my bad.

Anyway, if he really wanted the glory he shouldn't have played around like that before the finish. I'm psyched he's doing well, too, but that was a rookie move. After all that effort... what a heartbreaker! And, I'm afraid that he's going to be dead for tomorrow. Have you seen those climbs? (Check 'em out on Google Earth! Rad!)

At least it made an otherwise sure-to-be-boring stage pretty interesting.

[Artie Fufkin]

Chris Horner is a Moron.

Welcome to Europe, Chris, land of 46mph sprints.

I was so, so bummed to see Horner sucking wheel in the final kilometer instead of killing it. The duo could have stayed away, but he fucked it up. So, now he got nothing (but some Saunier TV time) for his effort and we're headed back to the mountains tomorrow.

Tomorrow's stage, by the way, is brutal. Welcome to the big leagues, dood.

I was put off by Horner last year after his whining at the Olympic Trials, but you have to give the guy some respect after what he has done this year. He came back from a broken leg and with just 3 weeks of training and made the podium at the USPro, plus he won a stage at the Tour de Suisse. In my opinion he has rode a good tour, he is getting in the breaks and riding agressively. He definitely has potential to win a stage, maybe not this year.

I agree that he should have saved himself for the mountains this weekend.

Edit: Just watched the finish, holy shit that was close, they would have had with a little help from Horner at the end, Chavenel was trying to get him to pull. At least he was out there getting after it.

[atomicboy]

http://velonews.com/images/gallery/8478.11884.f.jpg

Now this just makes our country look bad. No wonder the French hate us and what is with the polka dots...where is the yellow.

[atomicboy]

These little jabs will only make this weekend much more interesting. I want to see one of two things:

1) Armstrong put another performance in like Tuesday's stage or

2) I would like to see Armstrong bonk hard on Saturday as that would make for a memorable day of racing come Sunday

"Lance Armstrong is not invincible. I’m certain he can be beaten, and I believe that I can be the one to beat him.” Michael Rasmussen, second on GC, 38 seconds behind Armstrong, seems to be gathering confidence by the minute, writes Susanne Horsdal.

In Friday’s edition of the Danish paper BT, Rasmussen further explains that he has noticed Armstrong showing signs of weakness compared to earlier years. “In other years he’s more or less just taken off from the peloton once we reached the first climb. And he neither could nor did on Tuesday’s stage to Courchevel,” says the Rabobank rider, who’s got his systems set on attack once the race reaches the Pyrenees.

“I’ve never been riding as fast as I am right now, so now’s the time to take a chance. The only chance I have is to attack in the Pyrenees because I need to increase the distance to those close to me on the GC. Its riders like Ivan Basso, Jan Ullrich and Santiago Botero I need to distance. They all ride a better time trial than me. But I believe that I can beat a rider like Basso even though he’s been riding strongly. I still believe that I’m better than him in the mountains,” says Rasmussen.

[Artie Fufkin]

These little jabs will only make this weekend much more interesting. I want to see one of two things:

1) Armstrong put another performance in like Tuesday's stage or

2) I would like to see Armstrong bonk hard on Saturday as that would make for a memorable day of racing come Sunday

My prediction for tomorrow is Rasmussen is in yellow at the end of the day. Rasmussen wins the stage, Basso or Ulrich second, Lance in 3rd and Lance drops to 2nd on GC. Disco maintains Lance's 2nd place on GC until the ITT at the end of the week and Lance gets the yellow after the TT and goes on to win his 7th TdF.

In reality Lance will throw down the hammer extend his GC lead and wear the yellow until the end of the race, a race in which the Maillot Jaune was worn by Americans all but one day.

[Duker]

These little jabs will only make this weekend much more interesting. I want to see one of two things:

1) Armstrong put another performance in like Tuesday's stage or

2) I would like to see Armstrong bonk hard on Saturday as that would make for a memorable day of racing come Sunday

"Lance Armstrong is not invincible. I’m certain he can be beaten, and I believe that I can be the one to beat him.” Michael Rasmussen, second on GC, 38 seconds behind Armstrong, seems to be gathering confidence by the minute, writes Susanne Horsdal.

In Friday’s edition of the Danish paper BT, Rasmussen further explains that he has noticed Armstrong showing signs of weakness compared to earlier years. “In other years he’s more or less just taken off from the peloton once we reached the first climb. And he neither could nor did on Tuesday’s stage to Courchevel,” says the Rabobank rider, who’s got his systems set on attack once the race reaches the Pyrenees.

“I’ve never been riding as fast as I am right now, so now’s the time to take a chance. The only chance I have is to attack in the Pyrenees because I need to increase the distance to those close to me on the GC. Its riders like Ivan Basso, Jan Ullrich and Santiago Botero I need to distance. They all ride a better time trial than me. But I believe that I can beat a rider like Basso even though he’s been riding strongly. I still believe that I’m better than him in the mountains,” says Rasmussen.

I liked him better when i thought he was humble.

[Platinum Pete]

http://velonews.com/images/gallery/8478.11884.f.jpg

Now this just makes our country look bad. No wonder the French hate us and what is with the polka dots...where is the yellow.

Those gapers are Texans, which by way of their state constitution is an idependent nation.