# Le Tour de France: Stage 3 discussions



## uzziefly (Jul 15, 2006)

I'm loving EuroSport on tv for sure.

The coverage started with almost 140km left for this stage.

So far, nothing much. Armstrong had a mechanical. Back in the peloton.

Breakaway has 10minutes but it's hovering now so yeah. (8'23"now)

Boonen was interviewed earlier before the start.

Cancellara and Cavendish were joking at the start.

That's all.


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## Slow Eddie (Jun 28, 2004)

Pick up the pace, people! This ain't no recovery ride...


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## Slow Eddie (Jun 28, 2004)

Point taken. Although, Bjarne must be following the thread, as Saxo's working a little more.


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## uzziefly (Jul 15, 2006)

120.4km left. Time to watch 2 and a half men on DVR first and then tune in again.

10'56" gap now.


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## weltyed (Feb 6, 2004)

flat stage with a sprint finish. only reeasons to watch the entire thing:
- crashes
- breakaway that *might* succeed
- obligatory pictures of cows


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## uzziefly (Jul 15, 2006)

weltyed said:


> flat stage with a sprint finish. only reeasons to watch the entire thing:
> - crashes
> - breakaway that *might* succeed
> - obligatory pictures of cows


Why do you call fat people cows?   

I wanna switch away, but I like the commentary.
I'll watch it.

I think. 

God I hate this stage. Not really.

I hate flat stages.


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## culdeus (May 5, 2005)

Tour 2009 this time with 3 YES THREE!!!! mountain finishes. 

HOLD ON TO YOUR ASS


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## Fredke (Dec 10, 2004)

uzziefly said:


> I wanna switch away, but I like the commentary.
> I'll watch it.


"The Manx missile is sitting in his hole, waiting to be launched."

Does all this kind of thing make anyone else think versus ought to hire this guy as a co-commentator?









"_I hope you're good at counting backward, baby, because my Manx missile is ready to launch!"_


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## Andrea138 (Mar 10, 2008)

I can't wait for a radio-less stage


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## uzziefly (Jul 15, 2006)

Fredke said:


> "The Manx missile is sitting in his hole, waiting to be launched."
> 
> Does all this kind of thing make anyone else think versus ought to hire this guy as a co-commentator?
> 
> ...


I'm bored......

I like Hincapie's shades.


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## slowdave (Nov 29, 2005)

contador and evansmiss the break but armstrong is in


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## Sojourneyman (Jun 22, 2007)

crosswind!

That makes things more interesting


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## bergertron (Jan 21, 2008)

Colombia HTC pulling away big time....


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## slowdave (Nov 29, 2005)

big jens is driving the pace in the back group, i thought belgian teams were good in the wind, wheres silence and quickstep


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## weltyed (Feb 6, 2004)

now it gets interesting. and not just the stage. if this first group stays away...


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## AcesFull (Jun 10, 2003)

What a great stage. It's nice to see the wind play an important role.


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## Andrea138 (Mar 10, 2008)

Think with yer dipstick, Jimmy!


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## weltyed (Feb 6, 2004)

dooooowd. columbia played this like astana (i think) two years back.

LA and two other astana boys, along with ALL of columbia in the first group. cancellara is there (so yellow is safe), as are some skil/shimano riders.

it would be awesome if they stay away...adding more suds to the astana soap opera


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## jd3 (Oct 8, 2004)

I've never seen a break like this where a whole team gets away. This should be good.


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## Marc (Jan 23, 2005)

jd3 said:


> I've never seen a break like this where a whole team gets away. This should be good.


A long 18kms left for that break..


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## Sojourneyman (Jun 22, 2007)

probably sets astana up for the TTT, they didn't look to do anything in all that.

edit: Popo or Haimar takes a pull in the break


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## weltyed (Feb 6, 2004)

columbia is playing this like a warm-up for the TTT. the white elephant falls away to recoup for tomorrow. 

but they are also gonna make skil/shimano work, then blast the n00bs outta the water.
"welcome to le tour."


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## uzziefly (Jul 15, 2006)

Damn. I realized I'm watching it a little delayed from my DVR coz I paused it... 

Ok I'll not check it till later.


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## RkFast (Dec 11, 2004)

Flat, booring stage. Nothing going on. 

LOLOLOLOL


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## bergertron (Jan 21, 2008)

5 mi to go....


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## Andrea138 (Mar 10, 2008)

JB can lick me for not giving the order to get Contador up to the leaders. Not playing favorites my left cheek.


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## weltyed (Feb 6, 2004)

from CN: the lead group:
The riders in the front group are as follows: *Thor Hushovd *and Hayden Roulston (Cervelo Test Team), *Lance Armstrong*, Yaroslav Popovych and Haimar Zubeldia(Astana), *Fabian Cancellara *(Team Saxo Bank), Ruben Perez Moreno (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi, *Mark Cavendish, Bernhard Eisel, George Hincapie, Kim Kirchen, Tony Martin, Maxime Monfort, Mark Renshaw and Michael Rogers *(Team Columbia - HTC), Stéphane Auge, Samuel Dumoulin, and Christophe Kern (Cofidis), Jérôme Pineau (Quick Step), Maxime Bouet (Agritubel_, Linus Gerdemann and Fabian Wegmann (Team Milram), *Cyril Lemoine, Fumiyuki Beppu, Koen de Kort, Simon Geschke, Jonathan Hivert and Thierry Huppond (Skil-Shimano) *


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## rocco (Apr 30, 2005)

RkFast said:


> Flat, booring stage. Nothing going on.
> 
> LOLOLOLOL



This is what cycling is all about. If this is boring to anyone then I suggest watching cycling isn't for them.


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## Marc (Jan 23, 2005)

rocco said:


> This boring? This is what cycling is all about. If this is boring then I suggest watching cycling isn't for you.


I think there might be an HTML sarcasm markup hidden in there grasshopper...


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## weltyed (Feb 6, 2004)

LA urges the group to keep working...

ok, here we go. tinfoil hat on:
astana works here to get LA time on conti. tomorrow they take the TTT and put LA in yellow. the world stands in awe that LA is in yellow. they make teams work against LA, while keeping conti up there? out-saxobank everyone? 

or it could all be a fluke.


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## culdeus (May 5, 2005)

the versus feed online just crapped the bed.


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## slowdave (Nov 29, 2005)

cav or hushovd for the win?


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## OldEndicottHiway (Jul 16, 2007)

Grrrr. I wanted a rematch.


Still what a trip, man! Great move by Columbia....funny they were stating before the race, "We have to save ourselves for tomorrow so we're not going to expend ourselves chasing any breaks or working at the front." 

Tricky little bastards.


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## weltyed (Feb 6, 2004)

From CN:


> The Columbia team not only wants to give Cavendish the stage win, they also hope to *extend Cancellara's grip on the yellow *and move Rogers up in the GC


.

isnt fabian riding for saxo bank? what am i missing here?


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## rocco (Apr 30, 2005)

Marc said:


> I think there might be an HTML sarcasm markup hidden in there grasshopper...



Yeah "LOLOLOLOL"... I got that... my reply was intended as general rhetorical comment. Perhaps my edit makes it more obvious.


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## slowdave (Nov 29, 2005)

weltyed said:


> LA urges the group to keep working...
> 
> ok, here we go. tinfoil hat on:
> astana works here to get LA time on conti. tomorrow they take the TTT and put LA in yellow. the world stands in awe that LA is in yellow. they make teams work against LA, while keeping conti up there? out-saxobank everyone?
> ...


i had thought that but contador is going to bewatched more than sastre


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## allison (Apr 19, 2006)

awesome stage!


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## iliveonnitro (Feb 19, 2006)

WOW that was amazing!


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## rocco (Apr 30, 2005)

slowdave said:


> cav or hushovd for the win?


Cav... of course.


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## iliveonnitro (Feb 19, 2006)

What do you think Contador thinks of this??


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## culdeus (May 5, 2005)

Cavendish deserved that for his team more than anyone. I mean seriously Columbia basically said F the TTT with that ride.


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## weltyed (Feb 6, 2004)

i cant wait to get home and watch this.

and read everyone go to town with speculation!

remember when the giro was taking place and everyone was talking about how le tour couldnt compete this year and would be dull? i know we are only three stages in, but holy carp! with the TTT tomorrow, things could get crazy with conjecture.


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## brentster (Jul 12, 2007)

Lance in Yellow tommorow night!!!!!!! Amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## jd3 (Oct 8, 2004)

That was fun to watch. Change in overall will be interesting.


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## Falling Snow (Apr 2, 2008)

That was unbelievable! Wow.


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## rocco (Apr 30, 2005)

iliveonnitro said:


> WOW that was amazing!



Gotta say... LA may be the old man but he knows what he's doing.


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## jd3 (Oct 8, 2004)

Does the effort by Columbia hurt their TTT tomorrow. Will they recover?


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## Andrea138 (Mar 10, 2008)

iliveonnitro said:


> What do you think Contador thinks of this??


I hope he stabs JB in the liver.

...and shame on Lance for pushing the break against the team captain/GC man.


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## rocco (Apr 30, 2005)

iliveonnitro said:


> What do you think Contador thinks of this??



The old man just showed me how it's done.


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## culdeus (May 5, 2005)

jd3 said:


> Does the effort by Columbia hurt their TTT tomorrow. Will they recover?


i doubt they care. They won the giro ttt already, and this stage today might go down in history if it ends up mattering.


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## PJay (May 28, 2004)

*time diff counts? or all = same time*

hi - was the lead group far enough ahead of the peleton to get a quicker time? what time diff is necessary at the end to get a quicker time than the peleton?


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## j3fri (Dec 31, 2006)

wad a race...... one of the best stage for sure this yr... team columbia has shown it again.. they ripped the field apart with 25km to go or so... wad a performance...

hushovd came close but wad a waste.. kudos to mark cavendish and team columbia htc....


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## OldEndicottHiway (Jul 16, 2007)

Andrea138 said:


> JB can lick me for not giving the order to get Contador up to the leaders. Not playing favorites my left cheek.



I was wondering about that. It'll be interesting to see what commentary comes out after some post race analyses. Personally, I think Contador just got caught out like the rest of the peleton, and LA sure wasn't about to give him a head's up as to what was going on. 

That make s me very happy.


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## rocco (Apr 30, 2005)

PJay said:


> hi - was the lead group far enough ahead of the peleton to get a quicker time? what time diff is necessary at the end to get a quicker time than the peleton?



39 seconds... Armstrong is now 3rd on GC. Contador is 4th, 19 seconds behind Armstrong


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## velomoto (Oct 6, 2005)

JB may have just thrown AC under the bus....


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## Frith (Oct 3, 2002)

Wonder how much today's stage will push High Road up in the team classification.

Also how much did Cav get paid to make the phone sign while pointing to HTC (a phone company) on his jersey.


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## brentster (Jul 12, 2007)

Andrea138 said:


> I hope he stabs JB in the liver.
> 
> ...and shame on Lance for pushing the break against the team captain/GC man.


How did he push the break? Wasn't he just a passenger?


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## kb1dqh (Oct 28, 2007)

How did JB throw Conti under the bus? None of the non-Astana rivals made time on Conti, so now they have two threats incase Conti doesn't come through in the mountains. If Armstrong had waited, how will the team be better off?


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## weltyed (Feb 6, 2004)

PJay said:


> hi - was the lead group far enough ahead of the peleton to get a quicker time? what time diff is necessary at the end to get a quicker time than the peleton?


there will be time gaps. sounds like over 30 seconds. major shuffling in GC for a sprint stage, and this early.

todays stage *may* have been historic, depending on how the tour pans out. i just wanna flip to the last page to see how it ends, then watch it unfold.
damn you, linear timeline!


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## j3fri (Dec 31, 2006)

team columbia can relax tml for the ttt after such an amazing performance today...

2 stages win so far.. well done..

amazing day today.. i even saw evans working at the front trying to limit loss...


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## jd3 (Oct 8, 2004)

They just interviewed George H. Columbia got mad because none of the other teams would help chase down the break. Columbia saw a chance and took off. Don't make George mad. 

Overall as of stage 3.
1 Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Team Saxo Bank 9:50:58 
2 Tony Martin (Ger) Team Columbia - HTC 0:00:33 
3 Lance Armstrong (USA) Astana 0:00:40 
4 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Astana 0:00:59 
5 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Garmin - Slipstream 0:01:00 
6 Andreas Klöden (Ger) Astana 0:01:03 
7 Linus Gerdemann (Ger) Team Milram 
8 Cadel Evans (Aus) Silence - Lotto 0:01:04 
9 Maxime Monfort (Bel) Team Columbia - HTC 0:01:10 
10 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Astana 0:01:11 
11 Michael Rogers (Aus) Team Columbia - HTC 0:01:13 
12 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Liquigas 
13 George Hincapie (USA) Team Columbia - HTC 0:01:17 
14 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas 0:01:18 
15 Gustav Erik Larsson (Swe) Team Saxo Bank 0:01:22 
16 Mikel Astarloza Chaurreau (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 0:01:25


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## rocco (Apr 30, 2005)

brentster said:


> Lance in Yellow tommorow night!!!!!!! Amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



We'll see... Depends how well Cancellara/Saxo does versus Armstrong/Astana. I think Astana is the favorite to win the TTT but it's not a forgone conclusion that Astana/Armstrong will beat Cancellara/Saxo by enough to put LA in yellow.


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## JohnHemlock (Jul 15, 2006)

velomoto said:


> JB may have just thrown AC under the bus....


Not sure I understand this thinking. 15% of the peloton got away for 40 seconds with 2.5 weeks to go. Unfortunate for Alberto but I don't think there was a master plan at work.


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## OldEndicottHiway (Jul 16, 2007)

velomoto said:


> JB may have just thrown AC under the bus....



Oh for crap's sake. 

Only a tiny handful of riders out of a peleton HOW big, were head's up about what was going on at the front. Cancellara saw it, LA saw it, and went with them. 

There was no _time_ for the teams to organize and get in on the break; once it happened it happened quickly and it was over.


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## BassNBrew (Aug 4, 2008)

Andrea138 said:


> I hope he stabs JB in the liver.
> 
> ...and shame on Lance for pushing the break against the team captain/GC man.


I suspect they're trying to place three on the podium. Conti will crush LA in the mountains as well as everyone else in the break today. The best thing for Conti is having the other contenders having to mark Armstrong and take some of the focus off of him.


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## rocco (Apr 30, 2005)

Andrea138 said:


> I hope he stabs JB in the liver.
> 
> ...and shame on Lance for pushing the break against the team captain/GC man.



That makes no sense... prolly why JB is ProTour DS and you're not. BTW, did you even notice that LA did no work to push the split?


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## 55x11 (Apr 24, 2006)

So - the important question now - can Astana pull 7 seconds during TTT on Columbia (probably yes), and 40 seconds on Saxobank (probably not, but not entirely out of question).

I don't think Lance can finish on the podium, never mind winning, but getting a yellow jersey is not a bad way for a comeback.


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## BassNBrew (Aug 4, 2008)

Also interesting to note that Saxo and Columbia expended huge amounts of energy today which plays nicely into Astana's hands.


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## j3fri (Dec 31, 2006)

i wonder what would lance and contador tok abt later... wad will jb say abt today performance..


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## velomoto (Oct 6, 2005)

Andrea138 said:


> JB can lick me for not giving the order to get Contador up to the leaders. Not playing favorites my left cheek.


That's what I'm talking about by "under the bus"


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## j3fri (Dec 31, 2006)

BassNBrew said:


> Also interesting to note that Saxo and Columbia expended huge amounts of energy today which plays nicely into Astana's hands.


yeah... silence lotto as well.. they were pulling quite a bit,even evans contributed but csc expended lots energy today..


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## danl1 (Jul 23, 2005)

weltyed said:


> LA urges the group to keep working...
> 
> ok, here we go. tinfoil hat on:
> astana works here to get LA time on conti. tomorrow they take the TTT and put LA in yellow. the world stands in awe that LA is in yellow. they make teams work against LA, while keeping conti up there? out-saxobank everyone?
> ...


Probably more strategery in that thought than practical realities would allow, but I share it. On the other hand, you just don't let the yellow break. Imagine how this plays out if Fabian flats?

As it developed, I doubt Astana could have either slowed the break or sped the peloton enough to bring Contador back on. Crosswinds splitting the peloton seem to do odd things. By the time it showed as a 'real' break, I'm not sure I'd call LA and Popo back to try to bring Contador up.

It's early. JB's probably letting them have their fun in the flat stages. Gonna be fun watching LA with a jersey full of bottles up Ventoux.


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## Len J (Jan 28, 2004)

velomoto said:


> That's what I'm talking about by "under the bus"


The entire rest of the peleton couldn't close down the break...what makes you think that 6 remaining riders from Astana could by themselves................??????

Len


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## BassNBrew (Aug 4, 2008)

velomoto said:


> That's what I'm talking about by "under the bus"


They stand to gain much more time for Contador in the TTT then chasing down the break today and bringing the rest of the GC contenders along for a free ride.


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## PJay (May 28, 2004)

*3 astana on podium? i suspect this also..*



BassNBrew said:


> I suspect they're trying to place three on the podium. Conti will crush LA in the mountains as well as everyone else in the break today. The best thing for Conti is having the other contenders having to mark Armstrong and take some of the focus off of him.


if there ever was a conceivable chance, it is this yr.


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## j3fri (Dec 31, 2006)

after cav won,can see him and lance congratulating each other for the job well done...


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## Andrea138 (Mar 10, 2008)

Len J said:


> The entire rest of the peleton couldn't close down the break...what makes you think that 6 remaining riders from Astana could by themselves................??????
> 
> Len


The chase looked incredibly unorganized. If the remaining Astana guys had sat on the front and worked the way the guys in the break were working, and the Astana guys in the break had just sat in instead of pulling, then they could have at least cut down on the gap.


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## brentster (Jul 12, 2007)

Andrea138 said:


> The chase looked incredibly unorganized. If the remaining Astana guys had sat on the front and worked the way the guys in the break were working, and the Astana guys in the break had just sat in instead of pulling, then they could have at least cut down on the gap.


Then they would have used up a lot of their energy for tomorrow's TTT.


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## Spunout (Aug 12, 2002)

rocco said:


> We'll see... Depends how well Cancellara/Saxo does versus Armstrong/Astana. I think Astana is the favorite to win the TTT but it's not a forgone conclusion that Astana/Armstrong will beat Cancellara/Saxo by enough to put LA in yellow.


You are forgetting Columbia. Tony Martin is ahead of LA on GC. Saxo will do good work, but Columbia will beat Astana soundly.


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## den bakker (Nov 13, 2004)

brentster said:


> Then they would have used up a lot of their energy for tomorrow's TTT.


that's what Popovich did today....


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## uzziefly (Jul 15, 2006)

Andrea138 said:


> JB can lick me for not giving the order to get Contador up to the leaders. Not playing favorites my left cheek.


Yeah I'm sure JB didn't give permission for them to go for it too. 

If Astana were bothered, they'd have chased the break down. But, they didn't. They knew what was going on.

None of their riders in the back group even rode NEAR the front actually. They probably wanted Lance to be pushed up a little.

Could well be team drama. Push, get LA up there, try for yellow, keep it for a day, let it go, then let Contador fly up in the mountains.


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## uzziefly (Jul 15, 2006)

weltyed said:


> From CN:
> .
> 
> isnt fabian riding for saxo bank? what am i missing here?


CN is well, on drugs.


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## uzziefly (Jul 15, 2006)

rocco said:


> The old man just showed me how it's done.


Or: Damn paella better be worth it. I was sooo dreaming of it when I got caught out.


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## uzziefly (Jul 15, 2006)

kb1dqh said:


> How did JB throw Conti under the bus? None of the non-Astana rivals made time on Conti, so now they have two threats incase Conti doesn't come through in the mountains. If Armstrong had waited, how will the team be better off?



Columbia worked their butts off. No one really worked properly in the main pack. That's the difference.

And, if Astana were to chase anyway, they would be foolish to waste more matches. Besides, Contador is only a handful of seconds back on LA, the main GC guy for the front group. No issue at all. 

And, it also makes more sense perhaps to get LA back into a good time.


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## Coolhand (Jul 28, 2002)

Andrea138 said:


> JB can lick me for not giving the order to get Contador up to the leaders. Not playing favorites my left cheek.


He shouldn't have to. Riis must have played favorites too then- and about 8 other DS's as well. AC needs to pay attention. So does Cadel, Andy S, Sastre and others. Sorry Andrea, I don't see it. BTW- if you had your "radio free" wish- ole AC is going to be lost.


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## den bakker (Nov 13, 2004)

Coolhand BTW- if you had your "radio free" wish- ole AC is going to be lost.[/QUOTE said:


> because it did him so much good today....


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## Coolhand (Jul 28, 2002)

Andrea138 said:


> The chase looked incredibly unorganized. If the remaining Astana guys had sat on the front and worked the way the guys in the break were working, and the Astana guys in the break had just sat in instead of pulling, then they could have at least cut down on the gap.



Yeah but _you never chase down a protected rider_- Bike racing 101. Let the others work and save your team for the TTT. It would have been a complete Noob move to chase. Lotto, Saxo Bank and others were trying hard to bring it back- Astana got the best of both worlds. Free time for a protected rider, AC still in 4th losing very little real time. 

Plus bonus- Lance gets the yellow if they win the TTT, taking all the pressure off AC till the mountains. Then they CSC them on the climbs- you have to watch Levi, Lance and AC- perfect. AC will get an easier ride instead of being completely marked in the mountains.

They could send Levi, then Kloden, then Lance, then finally AC (or any combination thereof). Good luck chasing that. And if one of the three gets free-- AC is explosive enough to bridge solo to them, then its race over. 

Brilliant day for Columbia and Astana.

Ruinous day for Garmin (team overrated IMHO), Lotto, and Saxo Bank (except for Sparticus- whose clearly the man.)


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## Coolhand (Jul 28, 2002)

den bakker said:


> because it did him so much good today....


It did- he didn't panic. He didn't waste a lot of effort. He didn't lose much real time to anyone like Andy S. His team did very little work and will kill it going into the TTT. If Lance takes yellow- all the pressure is off him until the mountains. Also with 3 legit cards (ala CSC last year) you can't just mark him alone. Watch for a repeat of the Alp last year. AC going to be fine, unless he has forgotten how to climb in the last two weeks. Now more than ever its his race to lose- he's in the perfect spot.


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## Coolhand (Jul 28, 2002)

Skil-Shimano-- Chapeau!


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## Coolhand (Jul 28, 2002)

iliveonnitro said:


> What do you think Contador thinks of this??


That the Tour is now his to lose. Garmin, Lotto and Saxo Bank were forced to use a ton of effort- and he got to sit in. Columbia went all in on this stage and now is less of a threat tomorrow. Assuming Astana now kills it in the TTT, all AC needs to do now is wait until the mountains and put it away. Bet ole "Cuddles" Cadel Evans isn't much fun to be around right now.


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## Coolhand (Jul 28, 2002)

Spunout said:


> You are forgetting Columbia. Tony Martin is ahead of LA on GC. Saxo will do good work, but Columbia will beat Astana soundly.


After the amount of work the last two days they put in? Probably not.


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## JSR (Feb 27, 2006)

Coolhand said:


> After the amount of work the last two days they put in? Probably not.


Yeah, it's one thing for Columbia to call out Garmin's TTT capability in the Giro. It's another thing entirely to TTT at the TdF. Astana, if they can ride cohesively, will stomp.


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## Andrea138 (Mar 10, 2008)

Ok, so you don't have your guys chase... but what's with the Astana guys (Popo and Aguirre) swapping pulls (and burning matches) with Columbia up in the break? Why didn't they conserve energy and just sit in since their "GC guy" was back in the chase group?


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## BassNBrew (Aug 4, 2008)

Andrea138 said:


> Ok, so you don't have your guys chase... but what's with the Astana guys (Popo and Aguirre) swapping pulls (and burning matches) with Columbia up in the break? Why didn't they conserve energy and just sit in since their "GC guy" was back in the chase group?


You only need five to finish the TTT. Makes sense to burn a couple of matches today if your rivals are igniting entire books of matches. Astana had two guys pulling, Columbia had the entire team involved. Saxo looked like they had several riders leading the chase group. Maybe JB was trying to use these two to whip up the pace and cause damge across the board. Personally I think JB wants as many guys at the top of the leader baord as possible so he has several cards to play over the next couple of weeks. It's possible after the TTT that Astana has 3-4 riders in the top five with a 1/2 minute time advantage on all the GC contenders.


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## jsedlak (Jun 17, 2008)

You noobs complaining about the favortism need to stop being paranoid conspiracy theorists...

http://www.astana-cyclingteam.com/race_recaps/tdfst0309.html


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## Andrea138 (Mar 10, 2008)

What- you think that he's gonna post on their website about cooking breakfast for LA?


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## yessl (Nov 1, 2005)

rocco said:


> The old man just showed me how it's done.


Here's a quote from golf.com talking about Anthony Kim vs Tiger yesterday. It is completely applicable to today's stage too!!! 

"...was a bit like Luke facing Vader in Empire Strikes back — not ready to match light sabers with the big man. Luke lost an arm that day. Also learned that the big man was his daddy."


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## jsedlak (Jun 17, 2008)

You think he would make such an obvious move as to accidentally drop Contador by 40 seconds? I think he saw a perfect opportunity to inflict pain on other teams while possibly giving Lance a nice buffer for when the roads ramp up.

Let's not forget that Evans, Sastre, Schlecks and other main GC guys were stuck behind the breakaway. It isn't as if there was a boat full of GC contenders floating away.

By forcing/allowing C-HTC and Saxo to drive at ridiculous speeds, Astana can save a lot of energy for when they need it in 2 weeks. Taking quick pulls at the front with two guys isn't going to hurt them in the end, but pulling with all 9 like C-HTC would.

Seems like strategy 101 to me.


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## Coolhand (Jul 28, 2002)

It also helped defend the team classification which they are winning. Cervelo Test Team seemed to leave Sastre out to dry so the "god of Thunder" could lose again- a much bigger deal to me. CVV also let down by Garmin (assu,omg he has any form after his Giro crash).

Astana played all the right cards, as did Skil Shimano and _of course_ Columbia, who seems to have a real DS rather than a preening media hog of a DS.


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## BassNBrew (Aug 4, 2008)

jsedlak said:


> You think he would make such an obvious move as to accidentally drop Contador by 40 seconds? I think he saw a perfect opportunity to inflict pain on other teams while possibly giving Lance a nice buffer for when the roads ramp up.
> 
> Let's not forget that Evans, Sastre, Schlecks and other main GC guys were stuck behind the breakaway. It isn't as if there was a boat full of GC contenders floating away.
> 
> ...


Nah...you're making this too complicated. Everyone hates Contador and is conspiring against him. This would also include all the rest of GC guys who could have closed the gap but didn't just to stick it to Conti.


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## Coolhand (Jul 28, 2002)

Sastre's DS must hate him then- as he didn't seem intent of chasing rather he let Thor get punked again by the Manxman. That was the move I was surprised about.


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## rocco (Apr 30, 2005)

Coolhand said:


> He shouldn't have to. Riis must have played favorites too then- and about 8 other DS's as well. AC needs to pay attention. So does Cadel, Andy S, Sastre and others. Sorry Andrea, I don't see it. BTW- if you had your "radio free" wish- ole AC is going to be lost.



Hey man, If JB wasn't playing favorites and was planing ahead for the TTT he would have moved his team car just in front of the second group/AC and towed them/him back up to the front/LA.


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## brentster (Jul 12, 2007)

rocco said:


> Hey man, If JB wasn't playing favorites and was planing ahead for the TTT he would have moved his team car just in front of the second group/AC and towed them/him back up to the front/LA.


How cool that would be!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They should have a stage where drafting behind the team cars are allowed - and I'm not talking about a time trial either. You'd see riders all huddled behind their car's but then jumping over to others. Sort of like roller derby. :thumbsup:


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## jsedlak (Jun 17, 2008)

I can't wait for the radio free stages... there had better be constant aggression!


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## jsedlak (Jun 17, 2008)

brentster said:


> How cool that would be!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They should have a stage where drafting behind the team cars are allowed - and I'm not talking about a time trial either. You'd see riders all huddled behind their car's but then jumping over to others. Sort of like roller derby. :thumbsup:


Yeah! Give them some chains and torque wrenches to beat each other with as well!


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## rocco (Apr 30, 2005)

Spunout said:


> You are forgetting Columbia. Tony Martin is ahead of LA on GC. Saxo will do good work, but Columbia will beat Astana soundly.



I'm not forgetting anything... I said, "We'll see". Martin is only 7 seconds ahead of Armstrong. Columbia might win the TTT but don't forget that Martin and Columbia have way, way, way more work than Astana over the last 3 days. My bet would be on Astana not Columbia. We'll see.


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## brentster (Jul 12, 2007)

jsedlak said:


> Yeah! Give them some chains and torque wrenches to beat each other with as well!


Ok. Now you're getting rediculous.


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## Blue 58 (Aug 6, 2008)

*AC at fault?*

Bicycling.com reported that Le Mevel (Francaise des Jeux) blamed AC for not sticking with the break. 29 riders got away and he says AC was the 30th rider in the peloton (Le Mevel said he was 31st, right behind him) and AC didn't respond. If true, maybe reveals a lack of instinct and experience that LA alluded to earlier in the year.


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## LostViking (Jul 18, 2008)

Loved the interviews of Mark and Lance at the end (on VS):
Mark "They rode like Juniors!" referring to the peloton not catching on to Columbia-HTCs move.
And Lance essentially agreeing, implying that AC was an idiot for not seeing what Columbia was up to and high-tailing it to the front like he and Cancellara did. 
Gracious in Victory? Hell no. But fun to hear and see.


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