# Tour de Suisse



## EuroSVT (Sep 15, 2011)

Don't want to toss out a spoiler, but Liqui looks to have come stacked to do damage in this one :thumbsup:


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## dougydee (Feb 15, 2005)

EuroSVT said:


> Don't want to toss out a spoiler, but Liqui looks to have come stacked to do damage in this one :thumbsup:


I look forward to seeing how Sagan goes in the mountains.


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## weltyed (Feb 6, 2004)

i wanna see how cancellarra grows during the race.

oh, it was fun seein franck almost kiss it on that hairpin. guts not to put a foot down on that.
i hate hairpins on time trials.


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## EuroSVT (Sep 15, 2011)

Looking for good things from Sagan...he's impressive again on todays stage


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## foto (Feb 7, 2005)

Great stage finish today, very animated. Some very gutsy riding.


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## spookyload (Jan 30, 2004)

Frank looked pretty strong today. I thought he might pull it off. Guess he ran out of gas a little too soon.


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## Cinelli 82220 (Dec 2, 2010)

Regarding Liquigas:

If the sponsor is pulling out the riders may be doing their best to look good for possible future employers.


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## albert owen (Jul 7, 2008)

Is "Schleck"the Luxembourgese word for not winning?.


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## EuroSVT (Sep 15, 2011)

I'm still an FNG as far as following pro cycling, but why did nobody even try to challenge on todays second sprint bonus. Just let Sagan have it. Looked like a ton of people wanted the first time bonus? Also, I don't usually get to excited watching TT's, but seeing the flow & aggression that Cancellara put into it...that was bad ass!


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## 55x11 (Apr 24, 2006)

EuroSVT said:


> I'm still an FNG as far as following pro cycling, but why did nobody even try to challenge on todays second sprint bonus. Just let Sagan have it. Looked like a ton of people wanted the first time bonus? Also, I don't usually get to excited watching TT's, but seeing the flow & aggression that Cancellara put into it...that was bad ass!


I think after the way Sagan dominated the atoc, and considering his 3-men leadout, and the fact that these are small number of points, most people wait till the sprinter finishes. It's all or nothing. Besides, I don't think there are any serious sprinters who really care so much about points classification in TdS. Stage wins - maybe.


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## foto (Feb 7, 2005)

By the way, where in the world did Rui Costa come from??? And how did he overtake Gadret, Nieve, and Franky? That was unexpected.


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## MattSoutherden (Jun 24, 2009)

foto said:


> By the way, where in the world did Rui Costa come from??? And how did he overtake Gadret, Nieve, and Franky? That was unexpected.


Why is it unexpected? He won a stage of the Tour at a medium mountain finish last year. And he's won hill stages in the Tour of Switzerland before, too.


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## weltyed (Feb 6, 2004)

i wonder if liquigas will have anything left in the tank for france? sagan has been on a tear. basso kind of fizzled in the giro, unless he is trying to get on for le Tour. nibali had a strong showing at dauphine, but wiggo and evans looked stronger.

aside from teh early classics, this is the time of year that toys with your brain so much. who is holding back and who is bad? who is peaking too soon? how will the teams manage things? GC, mountains, points or stages? everyone is freaked out by the amount of time trialing, but wiggo hasnt won the thing yet...


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## Marc (Jan 23, 2005)

EuroSVT said:


> Can't watch it until 5:00 EST, but the live tracker states the peloton just got stopped at a railway crossing?


Funny thing...only half the peloton. Hence the chaos.


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## EuroSVT (Sep 15, 2011)

Can't watch it until 5:00 EST, but the live tracker states the peloton just got stopped at a railway crossing?


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## foto (Feb 7, 2005)

MattSoutherden said:


> Why is it unexpected? He won a stage of the Tour at a medium mountain finish last year. And he's won hill stages in the Tour of Switzerland before, too.


I didn't expect a handful of pure climbers to pop, and then get beaten by a classics guy with a perfectly timed jump.

It was very awesome, and not what I expected.

and btw, I am not sure I would call two HC climbs a medium mountain stage.


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## EuroSVT (Sep 15, 2011)

They said Sagan had a pedal issue in the last 500 meters and still beasted it


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## foto (Feb 7, 2005)

Baden Cooke got a terrible lead out.


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## EuroSVT (Sep 15, 2011)

Foto, you able to watch live? I couldn't find a link


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## Keski (Sep 25, 2004)

Stage 1






Stage 2






Stage 3


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## dougydee (Feb 15, 2005)

foto said:


> Baden Cooke got a terrible lead out.


Not really the type of finish that sets itself up well for an organised lead out.


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## foto (Feb 7, 2005)

Well, with those three lefts in the last 300m, it would seem it would be better to be in second or third wheel, then in first.

In retrospect, it is pretty obvious Greenedge went to early.


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## foofighter (Dec 19, 2008)

Sagan is really a great bike handler, to dab a foot and clip back in AND still pull and win the sprint is just nuts


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## weltyed (Feb 6, 2004)

that run in was insane. to the corners you add precipitation? i was expecting a complete wipeout.


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## Creakyknees (Sep 21, 2003)

Holey moley Sagan is on fire right now. Will be interesting to see him head to head v Cav.


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## EuroSVT (Sep 15, 2011)

1 Kilometer to go, Liquigas up front...you already know what's about to happen


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## gamara (May 20, 2002)

This is looking more & more like a repeat of TOC. Sagan is an animal!


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## allison (Apr 19, 2006)

gamara said:


> This is looking more & more like a repeat of TOC. Sagan is an animal!


Summer of Sagan


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## wtfbbq (Apr 5, 2012)

Creakyknees said:


> Holey moley Sagan is on fire right now. Will be interesting to see him head to head v Cav.


Ditto that. Sagan sure has learned how to win. He's got confidence and form.


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## Durt (Jul 28, 2008)

WTF?! Sagan is just unstoppable! He's a machine!
I love it and he's Slovak like my ancestry. I just really hope it's all for real and not chemically aided. 
I'm sorry, was that too cynical? Sad that I think that way but it seems that he's just on a whole other level.


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## foto (Feb 7, 2005)

Sagan vs Cavendish = Cavendish wins.


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## Creakyknees (Sep 21, 2003)

Durt said:


> WTF?! Sagan is just unstoppable! He's a machine!
> I love it and he's Slovak like my ancestry. I just really hope it's all for real and not chemically aided.
> I'm sorry, was that too cynical? Sad that I think that way but it seems that he's just on a whole other level.


nah, I think he's just 23 years old and has the magic of youth and talent.


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## foofighter (Dec 19, 2008)

foto said:


> Sagan vs Cavendish = Cavendish wins.


that all depends on how tricky the sprint road is, if there's a slight incline or twisty streets, i would give it to Sagan because he's a great bike handler as he's proven.

On a dead flat sprint, Cav for sure...that's if he can "drag is body over the climbs"

regardless this year's TdF is going to look great


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## OnTheRivet (Sep 3, 2004)

foto said:


> Sagan vs Cavendish = Cavendish wins.


Anything that isn't pan flat and airstrip straight Sagan beats Cav every time.


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## foto (Feb 7, 2005)

OnTheRivet said:


> Anything that isn't pan flat and airstrip straight Sagan beats Cav every time.


I'd like to see Sagan diceing it with the best at some legit races, he is on fire this year.


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## Dan Gerous (Mar 28, 2005)

Sagan is a freak of nature, has been for years. He has been on the World Championships podium in mountain biking and cyclocross already... He's gifted physically and mentally so while his performances are quite amazing, it's not all that surprising if you ask me. Has he raced straight against top sprinters though? Tour of California and now in Suisse, we can't say the fields are stacked with major sprinters...

I hope he develops more to be a Classics rider than a sprinter though, sprinting/sprinters get boring (just a personal opinion). Seeing how he did this spring, I think he could be much more... well he already is more than a sprinter, I just hope he goes into that direction further.


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## MRFIXALL4 (May 19, 2003)

Team Sky Vs Team Liquigas = Liquigas on the podiums.


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## foofighter (Dec 19, 2008)

DG - I agree but it would appear that he's moving in the righter direction. He's right there in the mix on the big climbs and is able to be up at the pointed end of the spear when it comes time to deliver. He too seems to have that 6th sense that Cav has to be able to work his way around traffic...although I think Cav has honed that skill pretty good.


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## Creakyknees (Sep 21, 2003)

foto said:


> I'd like to see Sagan diceing it with the best at some legit races, he is on fire this year.


yeah because 2.HC stage races are just for posers.


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## Creakyknees (Sep 21, 2003)

Dan Gerous said:


> . Has he raced straight against top sprinters though? Tour of California and now in Suisse, we can't say the fields are stacked with major sprinters....


yeah Boonen, Farrar and Freire are nobodies.


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## OnTheRivet (Sep 3, 2004)

Creakyknees said:


> yeah Boonen, Farrar and Freire are nobodies.


Haussler, Swift, VanAvaermat, Rojas, Bole, Cooke.


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## foto (Feb 7, 2005)

OnTheRivet said:


> Haussler, Swift, VanAvaermat, Rojas, Bole, Cooke.


yeah yeah yeah. Couple of important names missing from the list:

Cavendish, Greipel, Goss, Kittel. But i get what you are trying to say. The kid is fast. Well No duuuuuuuuuh.


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## foto (Feb 7, 2005)

Anyway, I hope Sagan becomes the next classics God, and doesn't worry too much about contesting bunch sprints.


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## masornia925 (Jan 14, 2011)

+1 for Sagan, def makes things interesting instead of hearing the usual excuses and complaints from the normal riders. I mean the kid goes out there and makes things happen with little to no leadout


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## Keski (Sep 25, 2004)

Stage 4


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## EuroSVT (Sep 15, 2011)

They might be in violation of all the rest, but rule #9 has been enjoyed by all at this years TdS


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## Keski (Sep 25, 2004)

Stage 5


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## Creakyknees (Sep 21, 2003)

man they have some sketchy finishes in this year's race


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## EuroSVT (Sep 15, 2011)

Sketchy indeed


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## Keski (Sep 25, 2004)

Stage 6


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## den bakker (Nov 13, 2004)

Creakyknees said:


> man they have some sketchy finishes in this year's race


did the schlecks steal your account?


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## Keski (Sep 25, 2004)

Stage 7


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## foto (Feb 7, 2005)

Shaping up to be an exciting race! Hope to see some attacks tomorrow.


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## Keski (Sep 25, 2004)

Stage 8


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## burgrat (Nov 18, 2005)

Anyone watching the final stage (#9)? Should be a good one. 

Live now:
Sport-livez.com || Channel 2


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## Marc (Jan 23, 2005)

burgrat said:


> Anyone watching the final stage (#9)? Should be a good one.
> 
> Live now:
> Sport-livez.com || Channel 2


I have a german stream on over here, no UK Eurosport this weekend at all it seems. :cryin:


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## EuroSVT (Sep 15, 2011)

foto said:


> Shaping up to be an exciting race! Hope to see some attacks tomorrow.


Plenty of attacks, abandons, and a brutal pace so far. Sucks that Levi had a technical.


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## rufus (Feb 3, 2004)

Valverde busted his balls for Costa today, dropped on the next to last climb, but fought his way back to the group before the top, and then pulled practically the whole way on the final climb before giving it up with about 4k to go. And Costa sure showed his appreciation at the finish.


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## Dan Gerous (Mar 28, 2005)

den bakker said:


> did the schlecks steal your account?


Ha Ha Ha! :thumbsup:


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## coop (Jun 8, 2008)

Great win for Costa! Valverde was very impressive with his help for his team mate. Nice to see a stage race this year being animated from a distance further than 3k's (thanks to Frank for that). Levi is still the biggest wheel sucker in the world. Even others in the peloton are starting to call him out on it. Tommy D looked good, but bad positioning yesterday and following Schleck today showed that his tactical sense needs more work. It didn't help that he never had a team mate make a single selection during the climbs in race. Gesink is turning into a bit of an enigma. Never really showed too much this week, but his team was always at the front. Could be he's building form slowly after his injury??


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## foto (Feb 7, 2005)

Agreed. Even beat the Giro in terms of excitement. What's up with that?


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## scottmilk9 (Jul 31, 2006)

coop said:


> Levi is still the biggest wheel sucker in the world. Even others in the peloton are starting to call him out on it.


As much as I try to support or cheer for Levi, I would have to agree. I kept wondering when he was gonna go on the attack, as usual it never happened.


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## Keski (Sep 25, 2004)

Stage 9


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## foto (Feb 7, 2005)

ugh, does Bob Roll have a speech impediment?


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## foto (Feb 7, 2005)

poor frank, he really did the best he could without a mountain top finish.


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## kirbdoggy (Jan 6, 2012)

Thanks for posting the stage videos. I would have otherwise missed it.


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## 1LaneLam (Jun 19, 2012)

Frank would've had it if the finish was on top of a HC climb.


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