# Stage 7: Tourus to Station des Rousses - 165km



## weltyed (Feb 6, 2004)

There is another thread with some predictions here:
http://forums.roadbikereview.com/showthread.php?t=218274

So, HTC was able to deliver Cavs twice in a row. Let's just hope it doesn't go to his head...

Stage 7 is the first stage with "real" climbs. They aren't HUGE hills, but each of the six climbs are more than I could do. Probably a bit early for a GC threat to go allballs out, and there is still a mountain stage Sunday with a day of rest Monday. 

Lots of predictions in the other thread, but I will go with a Linus Gerdeman. He had a bad giro, and is sure to be chomping at the bit. If he is healthy. There is always Sanchez, another of my favorites.


----------



## muscleendurance (Jan 11, 2009)

hmm, you acknowledged the other thread but yet went ahead and made your own


----------



## skyphix (Jul 26, 2007)

muscleendurance said:


> hmm, you acknowledged the other thread but yet went ahead and made your own


I believe this one is probably intended to be more along the lines of the "standard" discussion rather than a who-will-win debate.


----------



## muscleendurance (Jan 11, 2009)

skyphix said:


> I believe this one is probably intended to be more along the lines of the "standard" discussion rather than a who-will-win debate.


In that case there will be a group of 20-30 riders at the finish, the main GC guys will be watching each other and intending NOT to take the jersey [armstrong, contador] Evans will take his chance for the yellow jersey [he is 1min ahead of cantador and 2 ahead of armstrong] and everyone else in between will be out of the top ten who is there now, they have been gifted that from the cobbled stage.

Evans will take yellow, armstrong and contador will be GLAD to give it away
and Evans will be glad to take a yellow jersey of the tour, His first think?
and will be glad to have it for a few days+ before the big dogs start playing for keeps in the pyrenees.


----------



## Haridic (Jun 9, 2008)

hahaha pretty specific? 

I reckon we'll have a couple of decent, Non-GC threats, ride away in a breakaway. Since no one wants yellow this early and it doesnt look like its got the makings for a bunch sprint i highly doubt they'll be caught. My money is on any number of decent climbers. May as well say Tommy Voeckler , he's been rather too quiet this year


----------



## OldEndicottHiway (Jul 16, 2007)

muscleendurance said:


> hmm, you acknowledged the other thread but yet went ahead and made your own



With respect, It seems Welty has graciously taken on the annual burden of posting the primary predictions/discussions thread, complete with stage profiles. 



Much appreciated Welty.  :thumbsup:


----------



## jd3 (Oct 8, 2004)

Edvald Boasson Hagen


----------



## 55x11 (Apr 24, 2006)

Could it be that Freire (or even Thor?) makes it to the top in the big group?


----------



## il sogno (Jul 15, 2002)

OldEndicottHiway said:


> With respect, It seems Welty has graciously taken on the annual burden of posting the primary predictions/discussions thread, complete with stage profiles.
> 
> 
> 
> Much appreciated Welty.  :thumbsup:


Same here. Thanks, Welty. :thumbsup:


----------



## il sogno (Jul 15, 2002)

Luis León Sánchez


----------



## dougydee (Feb 15, 2005)

muscleendurance said:


> Evans will be glad to take a yellow jersey of the tour, His first think?
> and will be glad to have it for a few days+ before the big dogs start playing for keeps in the pyrenees.


Evans has had the yellow jersey before, in 2008 I think for about 4 days. Ideally I'd say he wouldn't want the yellow this early. His team just doesn't have the strength to hold onto it for 2 weeks, but given the race situation it looks probable that Evans will hold the yellow.


----------



## albert owen (Jul 7, 2008)

il sogno said:


> Luis León Sánchez


+1

Tony Martin might have a good day as well.

I also predict with 100% certainty that Cavendish won't win this one


----------



## gs15step (Mar 4, 2010)

Geraint Thomas in yellow by the end of the day!


----------



## moabbiker (Sep 11, 2002)

Basso takes the stage.


----------



## boneman (Nov 26, 2001)

*My picks*

Cavendish is back and the train's working well. Renshaw's been nothing but incredible.

I don't see the big favorites contesting this one. I think they're just going to sit in, keep an eye on each other and save themselves for the following day's stage to Morzine.

Sammy Sanchez
Luis Sanchez
Cunego
Matt Llloyd


----------



## OldEndicottHiway (Jul 16, 2007)

boneman said:


> *I don't see the big favorites contesting this one. I think they're just going to sit in, keep an eye on each other and save themselves for the following day's stage to Morzine.*



I agree.

That's all I'll venture to guess.

Right now I only know I have coffee, Le Tour, and it's a beautiful morning.


----------



## RkFast (Dec 11, 2004)

OldEndicottHiway said:


> Right now I only know I have coffee, Le Tour, and it's a beautiful morning.



+1

Bagged the 7AM club ride rollout for an AM with the tour, some coffee and my fam.

Nice day for a ride, but this aint bad. Not bad at all.


----------



## jd3 (Oct 8, 2004)

Tommy V off the front while the autobus begins to fill up in the back.


----------



## Brad the Bold (Jun 8, 2010)

Cancellara is being dropped. Changes in the GC are afoot.

I like the sprint finishes but Col's are better through the body of the race.


----------



## RkFast (Dec 11, 2004)

Worried about Spartacus right now.

Oh, what would he do if he lost the Yellow jersey....and yellow bottles....and yellow socks.....and and yellow shoes....and yellow bar tape...and yellow hoods....and yellow computer......and yellow bike....and yellow headset spacers.....and yellow underwear....and yellow glasses.....and yellow gloves....and his yellow bottle of DZ Nuts?


----------



## Brad the Bold (Jun 8, 2010)

Spartacus has needed help back to the peleton twice on this Cat 2. It may be doubtful he will stay in contact on the last col.


----------



## jd3 (Oct 8, 2004)

He will have no problem catching back up on the downhill. He will have a problem staying there when the road goes back up.


----------



## jhamlin38 (Oct 29, 2005)

why is armstrong alone, while astana is thick in the bunch? is it a tactic? or is this the true caliber of the team?


----------



## jorgy (Oct 21, 2005)

Is Kloden's move a tactical bluff, part of a plan to be further executed tomorrow?


----------



## jhamlin38 (Oct 29, 2005)

okay. I see another Shack rider. only one other. I'm liking basso and evans more and more, albeit only the first uphill stage...


----------



## jhamlin38 (Oct 29, 2005)

...and I actually like the Gold fuji bling. it's like Lil Wayne designed the team kit.


----------



## Keski (Sep 25, 2004)

live streams being closed everywhere...arrrrrrrrgggggghhhhh


----------



## CARBON110 (Apr 17, 2002)

what's happening?!

CN is soooo slow


fill us in, I'm away from the castle


----------



## Salsa_Lover (Jul 6, 2008)

I'm so happy for Chavanel

on Spa some said he won thanks to the crash and the neutralizing of the race by Cancellara.

Today he shown it was not a lucky day.

well done Sylvain !


----------



## g29er (Mar 28, 2009)

Fabian lost some serious time. Over 10 minutes...


----------



## Salsa_Lover (Jul 6, 2008)

14 minutes lost ! and it was just an small mountain


----------



## albert owen (Jul 7, 2008)

Nice ride by Chavanel. Big Guns keeping their powder dry. 
Fireworks tomorrow? Let's hope so, or I'll have to go back to this year's Giro for a bit of excitement.


----------



## nayr497 (Nov 8, 2008)

Yep, I like these threads from Welty. Gives me a bit of a preview of the stage, a recap of the previous one, and some other info all in one place.

Plus, most of the people who usually respond are true fans, excited for the race, and offer some guesses, all while being courteous and having fun.

Good on ya'll


----------



## jhamlin38 (Oct 29, 2005)

can levi win a tour stage this year? I'd say he's about due.


----------



## OldEndicottHiway (Jul 16, 2007)

Well done Chavanel, again!

Watch out for Andy, he looked like he could've read the Sunday paper sipping tea all the way up the last climb. 

I now want a Footon kit. I can freak everyone out as they drive down the road thinking they just saw a nekkid woman on a bicycle riding by.


----------



## den bakker (Nov 13, 2004)

OldEndicottHiway said:


> Watch out for Andy, he looked like he could've read the Sunday paper sipping tea all the way up the last climb.


only problem is that it looks like he will read the paper alone since his team more or less collapsed. Loosing Fuglsang like that was not good for saxo bank.


----------



## OldEndicottHiway (Jul 16, 2007)

den bakker said:


> *only problem is that it looks like he will read the paper alone since his team more or less collapsed*. Loosing Fuglsang like that was not good for saxo bank.


He looked a bit like a lost kitten in the interview after the race. He did say "To be honest, it was a lot harder than I thought it was going to be".

Cadel...not a squeak from him. Will be interesting to see how he does tomorrow.


----------



## OldEndicottHiway (Jul 16, 2007)

nayr497 said:


> Yep, I like these threads from Welty. Gives me a bit of a preview of the stage, a recap of the previous one, and some other info all in one place.
> 
> *Plus, most of the people who usually respond are true fans, excited for the race, and offer some guesses, all while being courteous and having fun.*
> Good on ya'll



So agree on that. I'm all for a bit of tempered snarkiness and a few well-placed jabs, but some of the threads can get downright ugly and well, annoying as all heck. Makes me want to stay out of here when I see that stuff and leave the chimpanzees to beat their chests and steal eachothers bananas.


----------



## M-theory (Jul 16, 2009)

OldEndicottHiway said:


> He looked a bit like a lost kitten in the interview after the race. He did say "To be honest, it was a lot harder than I thought it was going to be".
> 
> Cadel...not a squeak from him. Will be interesting to see how he does tomorrow.



Yeah ,while Andy and the rest were vacationing in California, this should have been just another routine day for Cadel after having done the Giro. Look forward to seeing what Cadel does tomorrow.


----------



## Kaleo (Jun 15, 2008)

Cadel was taking in the scenery, his teammates though seemed to have taken the Scenic route. Big George faded pretty quickly as did Ballan, don't know how much these guys are going to be for Cadel, I was disappointed the BMC squad, again nowhere to be found around Cadel. Not that he really wants the Yellow jersey now, but with a better team it would probably not have been that hard for him to get it today and pull back Chavenel.


----------



## jd3 (Oct 8, 2004)

OldEndicottHiway said:


> I now want a Footon kit. I can freak everyone out as they drive down the road thinking they just saw a nekkid woman on a bicycle riding by.


:yikes:


----------



## jd3 (Oct 8, 2004)

Bbox kept today from being a pleasure cruise for the big guns.


----------



## nate (Jun 20, 2004)

Not much appreciation of Quick Step yet? They had a brilliant stage, solidifying Pineau's King of the Mountain lead and putting Chavanel back in yellow while getting him his second stage win of the 2010 Tour. Bbox put on a lot more pressure than I think most expected from this stage, but Quick Step clearly had a great day.


----------



## Keski (Sep 25, 2004)




----------



## Ventruck (Mar 9, 2009)

I know he's not trying to talk big or anything, but gj Chavanel. Kinda showed he could earn that jersey in a "legit" fashion.

Fabian fell way back, but then again, he's not expected to be in the yellow on that team. Being "insightful", probably good for him to reserve himself for later.


----------



## Keski (Sep 25, 2004)




----------



## spade2you (May 12, 2009)

Very nicely done, although the ~4 hour slot bumped a few things I still had to watch on my DVR. Oh well.

BTW, what were B Box wearing around their necks? Some kind of cooling system?


----------



## Sojourneyman (Jun 22, 2007)

Impressive ride today from Johan Van Summeran, or however it's spelled. Stayed with the lead group and is in the top 10 GC. I'd love to see Ryder with the leaders tomorrow and maybe JVS can help.


----------



## ukbloke (Sep 1, 2007)

jorgy said:


> Is Kloden's move a tactical bluff, part of a plan to be further executed tomorrow?


Quite possibly - I think Saxo Bank did the same with Fuglsang. These guys are not threats on GC now and also spent less energy than if they'd stayed with the lead group. I expect them to be sent up the road tomorrow to provide timely assistance on the final climb.


----------



## AdamM (Jul 9, 2008)

Bravo to BBox, Chavanel and Pineau for making this a fun stage to watch. Much tougher than folks figured on and that may make tomorrow's stage all the better. 

- The Astana domestiques showed up - esp Navarro. 
- Vino's having fun 
- Liquigas's GC duo looked good.
- Same goes for Armstrong and Levi. 
- Big George and the BMC support for Cadel not so good. 
- Time to take Van Den Broeck seriously - made it look easy today.
- Saxo looked off their game a bit - for Saxo. 
- Kloden - what's the point?


----------



## Dan Gerous (Mar 28, 2005)

I think many teams knew the GC fight would be satsus quo today with the climbs not being hard enough to seprate the favorites. So they didn't want to burn their domestic before tomorrow, it would explain so many top riders being alone in the front at the end. What would have Klöden done up there? George? They would only have burned energy that will probably be much more needed tomorrow.


----------



## den bakker (Nov 13, 2004)

Dan Gerous said:


> I think many teams knew the GC fight would be satsus quo today with the climbs not being hard enough to seprate the favorites. So they didn't want to burn their domestic before tomorrow, it would explain so many top riders being alone in the front at the end. What would have Klöden done up there? George? They would only have burned energy that will probably be much more needed tomorrow.


yep, no biggie, in case of a flat you just wait for the service car. Cadel has particularly good experiences with that.


----------



## Dwayne Barry (Feb 16, 2003)

den bakker said:


> only problem is that it looks like he will read the paper alone since his team more or less collapsed. Loosing Fuglsang like that was not good for saxo bank.


A weak team of course can cost you in a stage race but it almost never does. The fact is someone else's team almost always takes responsibility if it's necessary because they stand to lose out as well. Almost all time differences are created on the final climb (and in TTs) where having a team mate by your side is usually neither here nor there. Almost invariably in GTs the strongest rider wins whether he's on the strongest team or the weakest.


----------



## Dwayne Barry (Feb 16, 2003)

jhamlin38 said:


> why is armstrong alone, while astana is thick in the bunch? is it a tactic? or is this the true caliber of the team?


No worries, Lance's boys will come good after the rest day like they always do, unless they've lost their nerve this year


----------



## den bakker (Nov 13, 2004)

Dwayne Barry said:


> A weak team of course can cost you in a stage race but it almost never does. The fact is someone else's team almost always takes responsibility if it's necessary because they stand to lose out as well. Almost all time differences are created on the final climb (and in TTs) where having a team mate by your side is usually neither here nor there. Almost invariably in GTs the strongest rider wins whether he's on the strongest team or the weakest.


if you have a (only one) team member that is strong enough to sit at a certain point it does not make much sense to isolate yourself in order to save that guys strength. It's not likely Hincapie will be of much help anyway on a long steep climb.


----------



## cheddarlove (Oct 17, 2005)

spade2you said:


> Very nicely done, although the ~4 hour slot bumped a few things I still had to watch on my DVR. Oh well.
> 
> BTW, what were B Box wearing around their necks? Some kind of cooling system?


I am dying to find that out!


----------



## il sogno (Jul 15, 2002)

I'm happy for Chavanel. He worked hard for both wins and both yellow jerseys so far this Tour.


----------



## The Moontrane (Nov 28, 2005)

*Johan Van Summeren’s Garmin Stats*

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/39924020


----------

