# Stage 18 TT Chatter



## SilasCL (Jun 14, 2004)

Nibali just went out, Wiggins will be heading out soon...

Cancellara set the best time so far, no surprise.


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## jd3 (Oct 8, 2004)

It's time for the big boys to show what they've got.


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## SilasCL (Jun 14, 2004)

Pretty poor time for Hincapie, he must be hurting pretty badly from his crash...


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## jd3 (Oct 8, 2004)

SilasCL said:


> Pretty poor time for Hincapie, he must be hurting pretty badly from his crash...


He may be a whiner, but he's a tough sob whiner.


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## jd3 (Oct 8, 2004)

Wiggins is using an elliptical chain ring


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## SilasCL (Jun 14, 2004)

Both Lance and Wiggins looking quite comfortable and fast.


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## llama31 (Jan 13, 2006)

I'm worried about Paul Sherwin...he's getting a little too excited.


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## weltyed (Feb 6, 2004)

how does the spitting rain look?

i missed fabians time by 2 minutes (i had him 2 minutes faster)


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## llama31 (Jan 13, 2006)

Lance on a yellow bike...that must irritate AC just a little more


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## weltyed (Feb 6, 2004)

llama31 said:


> I'm worried about Paul Sherwin...he's getting a little too excited.


has he completely and utterly lost his mind? or will that happen around about the time a rider leaves the start house? and that rider? a certain andy schleck.


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## llama31 (Jan 13, 2006)

*More Lance mania*



weltyed said:


> has he completely and utterly lost his mind? or will that happen around about the time a rider leaves the start house? and that rider? a certain andy schleck.


He was just getting a little manic when LA started, but he seems to have settled down now.


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## jd3 (Oct 8, 2004)

llama31 said:


> Lance on a yellow bike...that must irritate AC just a little more


I think the gloves are off.


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## weltyed (Feb 6, 2004)

llama31 said:


> Lance on a yellow bike...that must irritate AC just a little more


are you serious? im reading at work. a yellow bike...that either points to the fact he thought he would be in yellow here or he doesnt really care what others think. 
or both.

(i know its probably one of those special paint jobs he has been running, but...)


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## SilasCL (Jun 14, 2004)

weltyed said:


> how does the spitting rain look?
> 
> i missed fabians time by 2 minutes (i had him 2 minutes faster)


Saw a bit while they were focusing on Lance. The rain isn't a problem, and these roads are wide open with few sharp turns.


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## stevesbike (Jun 3, 2002)

can't believe Lance spends so much time in a wind tunnel to get that position


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## culdeus (May 5, 2005)

"goes out like a fire"

What the hell does that even mean?


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## SilasCL (Jun 14, 2004)

Wiggins fastest at the first time check by a second. See how he does on the climb.


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## jd3 (Oct 8, 2004)

Wiggins fastest at 1st check pt.


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## llama31 (Jan 13, 2006)

> can't believe Lance spends so much time in a wind tunnel to get that position


In all the years of watching Lance I never noticed how much of a hunchback he has. Is that new?


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## weltyed (Feb 6, 2004)

wiggo better not blow himself up going so hot so soon


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## stevesbike (Jun 3, 2002)

llama31 said:


> I'm worried about Paul Sherwin...he's getting a little too excited.



I hear he's mistakingly called his wife 'Lance' in bed...


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## jd3 (Oct 8, 2004)

Kloden is 3erd at 1st check pt. Wiggins is 19 seconds ahead of Kloden


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## llama31 (Jan 13, 2006)

Kloden! He's going ok but wiggins is gaining on him


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## weltyed (Feb 6, 2004)

llama31 said:


> In all the years of watching Lance I never noticed how much of a hunchback he has. Is that new?


The Wife just noticed that last night.

its been there. long enough some people thought he was stuffing stuff down his shirt for some aero-advantage.


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## jd3 (Oct 8, 2004)

Lance 3erd, 9 sec down to Wiggo


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## llama31 (Jan 13, 2006)

Lance down 9 on wiggins, ahead of Kloden and Cancellara. Way to go old man!


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## FondriestFan (May 19, 2005)

llama31 said:


> In all the years of watching Lance I never noticed how much of a hunchback he has. Is that new?


He's had surgery on his back, I believe. Hence the position.


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## coreyb (Aug 4, 2003)

iirc, the hunchback is related to an old back injury


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## Dwayne Barry (Feb 16, 2003)

Wiggins fades at second time check, and Nibali on a very bad ride it looks like.

Kloden fades as well and still behind Wiggins.


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## SilasCL (Jun 14, 2004)

Sastre drops a stink bomb on course today. Can the gendarmes get a shovel out to the finish line to clean up that mess??


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## jd3 (Oct 8, 2004)

Frank S 44 sec down on Wiggo at 1st check


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## SilasCL (Jun 14, 2004)

Contador smashes the first time check...wow.


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## llama31 (Jan 13, 2006)

Contador just said f*ck you all!


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## Snakebit (Mar 18, 2002)

SilasCL said:


> Contador smashes the first time check...wow.


He's a maniac.


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## Dwayne Barry (Feb 16, 2003)

Game completely over?

Contador up on Wiggins by 18 seconds at first time check.

Armstrong loses time at second time check.


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## llama31 (Jan 13, 2006)

I don't like AC much, but he's leaving no doubt, which is cool.


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## RSPDiver (Jun 3, 2006)

SilasCL said:


> Contador smashes the first time check...wow.


Super-human, you might say.


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## culdeus (May 5, 2005)

Is it a foregone conclusion to anyone else that if Lance misses the podium it won't be to Wiggins?


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## Wookiebiker (Sep 5, 2005)

RSPDiver said:


> Super-human, you might say.


I had the same thought


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## Snakebit (Mar 18, 2002)

llama31 said:


> I don't like AC much, but he's leaving no doubt, which is cool.


Aww, what's not to like? Lance is just aging, aging well but aging and his successor is in place. All the top riders have hearts and egos the size of the mountains they climb and they can all look like a-holes from time to time. You have to admire the talent and ability and the absolute courage it takes to ride at that level.


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## blackhat (Jan 2, 2003)

is LA riding a new bike? phil and paul haven't mentioned anything...


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## jd3 (Oct 8, 2004)

Lance needs 30 sec over Franc and 1:29 on Andy


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## SilasCL (Jun 14, 2004)

culdeus said:


> Is it a foregone conclusion to anyone else that if Lance misses the podium it won't be to Wiggins?


Ligget just said that Frank Schleck has already given up 1:20 to Wiggins. Puts Wiggins 10 seconds of the Luxembourger. Certainly possible that Wiggins will be 2nd or 3rd after today.


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## llama31 (Jan 13, 2006)

> Aww, what's not to like?


I don't mind a-hole champions. I don't like whining and he seems to whine some and I don't like stupidity, but he'll improve that with time.

I DO admire his talent and his aggressive style.


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## coreyb (Aug 4, 2003)

llama31 said:


> I don't like AC much, but he's leaving no doubt, which is cool.


This may be true, but I've seen to many time trials where people blow themselves up to trust early time checks


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## Gregpape23 (Jul 29, 2008)

ouch, lance not looking good at the second time check
42 seconds behind wiggo.


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## jd3 (Oct 8, 2004)

blackhat said:


> is LA riding a new bike? phil and paul haven't mentioned anything...


Yes and yes they did


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## llama31 (Jan 13, 2006)

Ooof...Lance down 42 to Wiggins. Ventoux is going to be interesting.


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## den bakker (Nov 13, 2004)

Gregpape23 said:


> ouch, lance not looking good at the second time check
> 42 seconds behind wiggo.


behind a french rider no less


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## SilasCL (Jun 14, 2004)

jd3 said:


> Lance needs 30 sec over Franc and 1:29 on Andy


Lance is losing time to Kloden and Wiggins is right behind him. Andy Schleck is also riding pretty well. Look for Lance in 5th at the end of the day.


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## llama31 (Jan 13, 2006)

Conti slowing....good point coreyb


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## blackhat (Jan 2, 2003)

jd3 said:


> Yes and yes they did


sorry, that was poorly written sarcasm.


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## coreyb (Aug 4, 2003)

What was andy's split at the first check?


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## llama31 (Jan 13, 2006)

Will anybody catch Cancellara?


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## SilasCL (Jun 14, 2004)

coreyb said:


> What was andy's split at the first check?


Not sure, but he just came in around 45 seconds down at 28k. Basically even with Lance.


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## OldEndicottHiway (Jul 16, 2007)

Lance looks like he didn't recover well after yesterday's thrash fest. I thought he might have toasted himself on the last effort down the backside...



Popped into the breakroom at work here real quick and I saw he looks...sigh, not good. 


Tough, tough, tough deal. 

Oeh is sad again. 


Edit to add: Not real sad. He's still in there. That little effer.


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## SilasCL (Jun 14, 2004)

llama31 said:


> Will anybody catch Cancellara?


Contador has a shot. He has a big cushion.


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## jd3 (Oct 8, 2004)

Conti 1st at top of the hill


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## llama31 (Jan 13, 2006)

Contador 30 s up on wiggo at the top of the climb.

he'll catch cancellara, methinks.


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## ttug (May 14, 2004)

*oh my*

if a podium place is dependant on Lances Ventoux performance, there will be no podium for him at all.


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## ttug (May 14, 2004)

*Andy lost only 47 seconds t the hill*

Andy was down 47 seconds....Kloeden is done.


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## jd3 (Oct 8, 2004)

Lance back on the podium


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## DarkSaturn (May 11, 2007)

Armstrong started with 58 seconds over Wiggins, already given back 44 of them. Will be close at the line.

Edit: Looks like 11 seconds


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## Len J (Jan 28, 2004)

LA is 45 sec down to Wiggins at time check 4.

He's toast

len


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## ttug (May 14, 2004)

*Lance gets 15th at 50 minutes*

Lance was in at 50 minutes...NOT GOOD, NO PODIUM that I can see


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## llama31 (Jan 13, 2006)

> if a podium place is dependant on Lances Ventoux performance, there will be no podium for him at all


He'll have to worry about the schlecks. PRESUMABLY he can handle wiggo on Ventoux.


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## Snakebitten (Jun 26, 2008)

Wow Conti will win....15 secs ahaed of Cancellara now Won it by 3 seconds this guy aint human lol


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## SilasCL (Jun 14, 2004)

GC after today will be?

Contador
Andy Schleck
Armstrong
Wiggins
Kloden
Frank Schleck


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## OldEndicottHiway (Jul 16, 2007)

Len J said:


> LA is 45 sec down to Wiggins at time check 4.
> 
> He's toast
> 
> len



Not so fast, Len. He's still in the overall running, eh? He looked in pain from the get-go though.

I'm at work so I can't see what's going on.


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## DarkSaturn (May 11, 2007)

Contador dropped 30 seconds to Cancellara between 3 and 4, only 15 second cushion left. Cancellara is getting the stage.


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## jd3 (Oct 8, 2004)

Frank lost 30 or so sec to LA. Andy only lost about 15.

Conti wins


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## DarkSaturn (May 11, 2007)

3 seconds...


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## Len J (Jan 28, 2004)

LA picked up 15 sec on andy & 1:05 on frank...not enough to podium.

Len


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## unai (Oct 10, 2003)

i guess we know who is the new "patron" of the peloton!


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## SilasCL (Jun 14, 2004)

SilasCL said:


> GC after today will be?
> 
> Contador
> Andy Schleck
> ...


This is correct, from Lance to Frank Schleck is only about 30 seconds. Wide open for third place.


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## OldEndicottHiway (Jul 16, 2007)

jd3 said:


> Frank lost 30 or so sec to LA. Andy only lost about 15.
> 
> Conti wins




Geez. They rode well. Good for them. 

And good job to Flea, overtaking Cancellara is no small feat.


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## j3fri (Dec 31, 2006)

EXCITING BATTLE FOR 3RD THIS SAT....

3-6 separated by less than a min....

la,wiggins,kloden,frank...

contador has more or less secured his tdf,andy shud have podium at least... so the battle will be for 3rd...

contador will be working for la and kloden vs andy and schleck and wiggins


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## Len J (Jan 28, 2004)

OldEndicottHiway said:


> Not so fast, Len. He's still in the overall running, eh? He looked in pain from the get-go though.
> 
> I'm at work so I can't see what's going on.


He only put 15 seconds in Andy & 1:05 on Frank...........it's hard to see that he will not lose at least that on ventoux.

Len


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## jd3 (Oct 8, 2004)

I think Andy surprised most of us with that ride.


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## damonripper (Jul 9, 2009)

I really expected Lance to burn one in near to Cancellara's time but he gave up more than I thought.

Wiggins delivered well, but I thought he would take the whole thing.

Andy Schleck was impressive, I did not expect that from him.

Contador really showed why he should be in yellow.


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## RSPDiver (Jun 3, 2006)

Phil sounds like someone took away his birthday. Maybe he's just exhausted from saying "Armstrong" and "Livestrong" eleventy billion times.


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## j3fri (Dec 31, 2006)

impressive ride from contador.. after such a hard stage yesterday,he still can tt faster than cancellara...


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## Len J (Jan 28, 2004)

LA is 1:14 behind Andy

And up on 

Wiggins by 11 sec
Klodin by 13 sec
Frank by 14 seconds.

Saturday is gonna be awesome

Len


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## j3fri (Dec 31, 2006)

the race is still open,anyone can crack this sat like sastre,evans and menchov.....

IF contador cracked,will kloden and la wait for him>????


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## nate (Jun 20, 2004)

llama31 said:


> I don't mind a-hole champions. I don't like whining and he seems to whine some and I don't like stupidity, but he'll improve that with time.
> 
> I DO admire his talent and his aggressive style.


I keep seeing people calling Contador a whiner. What am I missing? When has he whined? Am I just not paying any attention? I admittedly don't watch many of the interviews, but I've never seen him as a whiner.


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## SilasCL (Jun 14, 2004)

New GC:

1 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Astana 73:15:39 
2 Andy Schleck (Lux) Team Saxo Bank 0:04:11 
3 Lance Armstrong (USA) Astana 0:05:25 
4 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Garmin - Slipstream 0:05:36 
5 Andreas Klöden (Ger) Astana 0:05:38 
6 Fränk Schleck (Lux) Team Saxo Bank 0:05:59 
7 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas 0:07:15 
8 Christian Vande Velde (USA) Garmin - Slipstream 010:08 
9 Mikel Astarloza Chaurreau (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 0:12:38 
10 Christophe Le Mevel (Fra) Française des Jeux 0:12:41


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## j3fri (Dec 31, 2006)

nate said:


> I keep seeing people calling Contador a whiner. What am I missing? When has he whined? Am I just not paying any attention? I admittedly don't watch many of the interviews, but I've never seen him as a whiner.


i thought its only mark cavendish who whine in this tour... never heard contador whine once at all


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## rensho (Aug 5, 2003)

j3fri said:


> the race is still open,anyone can crack this sat like sastre,evans and menchov.....
> 
> IF contador cracked,will kloden and la wait for him>????


Kloden might. No way in hell LA will wait.


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## ttug (May 14, 2004)

*no, not now*



j3fri said:


> the race is still open,anyone can crack this sat like sastre,evans and menchov.....
> 
> IF contador cracked,will kloden and la wait for him>????


Unless AC wrecks or cracks hard, very hard.......no, its iover.

The fight now is for podium spots AC can attck and recover on climbs far better than any of the hopefuls. The only way again to get him is multiple all out attcks ala 2003 stage 8, I do not see anyone doing that given AC;s climbing style we have seen.


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## jd3 (Oct 8, 2004)

Len J said:


> Saturday is gonna be awesome
> 
> Len


Yup...


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## j3fri (Dec 31, 2006)

rensho said:


> Kloden might. No way in hell LA will wait.


looks like kloden wont have podium no matter wad now.. even if he is in better form this sat,he will work for lance so lance can get 3rd.....


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## coreyb (Aug 4, 2003)

Len J said:


> Saturday is gonna be awesome


And people were complaining about this tour being boring...


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## j3fri (Dec 31, 2006)

coreyb said:


> And people were complaining about this tour being boring...


it was for 1st 2 weeks but exploded in 3rd.....

3rd week is just damn happening.. cav and hushovd and the battle for podium...


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## ttug (May 14, 2004)

*possibly*



j3fri said:


> looks like kloden wont have podium no matter wad now.. even if he is in better form this sat,he will work for lance so lance can get 3rd.....


Thats about right.

By the way, the Ventoux route this year, was it the same as 2000?


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## Snakebitten (Jun 26, 2008)

I know LA wants Ventoux bad but I dont see it happening for him. I see him cracking with Wiggins, Sastre etc because he is going to go all out. He just cant at this point. He finnished 16th in the TT and event he has dominated. I really expected him to be in th e top ten. Could be a sign. No one is beating AC.


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## j3fri (Dec 31, 2006)

sastre,evans and menchov might attack early for stage win at ventoux... sastre probably could if they let him go...


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## Snakebitten (Jun 26, 2008)

j3fri said:


> sastre,evans and menchov might attack early for stage win at ventoux... sastre probably could if they let him go...


The only guy I see going after any of those 3 is AC. I think AC wants to put an exclamation point on this TDF especially after last year and now with LA looming over the sport. What better way to end it with a dagger in the heart of everyone else. I think he has a psychological advantage over everyone at this point. Everyone else is showing the effects of the 3 weeks except AC. Thats like a boxer punching a guy with everything he has and the guy is still standing there unhurt. He's like the Mike Tyson of bike racing. You cant drop him, you cant out climb him and now you cant out time him in a TT. What the hell is anyone else to do lol. Im an LA supporter but this kid is an assassin. Litterally to his own teammates as well..lol.


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## Spunout (Aug 12, 2002)

j3fri said:


> contador will be working for la and kloden vs andy and schleck and wiggins


you'll have to explain how Contador is going to do this. Is he going to push them up to Andy and Frank?


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## Spunout (Aug 12, 2002)

Snakebitten said:


> What better way to end it with a dagger in the heart of everyone else.


...or a nail in the coffin of LA.


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## jptaylorsg (Apr 24, 2003)

llama31 said:


> Lance on a yellow bike...that must irritate AC just a little more


I understand you can read a lot into it, but isn't it basically a "Livestrong" thing ...?


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## barry1021 (Nov 27, 2005)

j3fri said:


> the race is still open,anyone can crack this sat like sastre,evans and menchov.....
> 
> IF contador cracked,will kloden and la wait for him>????


I wouldn't worry about Contador cracking. THe odds are much higher that his whole team will crack before he does. If you consider this an "open" race you are welcome to your opinion, I don't. Contador was brilliant, there are "subtle" accusations in this thread that he is using. Maybe he is, but he hasn't been caught and either was Lance so they both are on the same level as far as that is concerned. 2nd and 3rd may be open and I really don't care that much where Lance finishes or Schleck or the others. I don't think this Tour stood out in terms of excitement. Contador showed his supremacy in the Pyranees and proved it in the Alps. I thought his two explosive moves in the hills were the most exciting part of te Tour. Watching Lance recover after being dropped confirmed his tenacity and greatness but hardly decided much.

b21


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