# Chris Horner



## Jason1500 (Apr 1, 2008)

He has been the star of Team Radioshack this race IMO. I wonder what place in the GC he would be in right now if he didn't help Armstrong when he fell in stage 8.


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## Beethoven (Jul 28, 2005)

To say nothing of his great interviews. What a class act.


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## Creakyknees (Sep 21, 2003)

+yepsters


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## harlond (May 30, 2005)

Horner lost 3:55 to the favorites group on Stage 8, and if you give that back, he's 1 second behind Gesink in 7th.

Horner's had a great tour. Paulinho also must count as the star for RS. Certainly not a great tour for the Shack, given their ambitions, but for most teams, a stage win, team GC, and a top ten GC placing (assuming Horner can hold it) is a good outcome. Milram would take any part of that.


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## spookyload (Jan 30, 2004)

Horner was let free on the last two climbs of stage 8. He came in well before Armstrong in fact. Brajkovic was the one strapped with riding tempo for Armstrong. A damn solid ride indeed for him. Particularly since he had to baby sit Leipheimer during the ToC.


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## nims (Jul 7, 2009)

Jason1500 said:


> He has been the star of Team Radioshack this race IMO. I wonder what place in the GC he would be in right now if he didn't help Armstrong when he fell in stage 8.


Well, what is the likelihood he would have managed to get into a breakaway like he did had he not been that far back.


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## spookyload (Jan 30, 2004)

nims said:


> Well, what is the likelihood he would have managed to get into a breakaway like he did had he not been that far back.


Excellent point. Sastre pulled the same move the year he won. He went from insane time back to leading. Had Horner been nine minutes down, they would have brought the whole break back and he would still be nine minutes down.


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## albert owen (Jul 7, 2008)

Jason1500 said:


> He has been the star of Team Radioshack this *season *IMO.


fixed


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## snowman3 (Jul 20, 2002)

Ditto. Very glad to see Horner + Ryder in top 10. Ryder had a great tour as well!


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## Francis Cebedo (Aug 1, 2001)

... is now the team leader!


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## WeakMite (Feb 20, 2005)

Team Sky should have signed Horner for the 6 mil they gave Wiggins... seeing that Horner (riding as a domestique) is 30 minutes ahead of him on GC.



10:37 - 10 on GC - Christopher Horner (USA) Team Radioshack
41:03 - 24 on GC - Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Sky Professional Cycling Team


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## Argentius (Aug 26, 2004)

Horner is pretty impressive -- makes me play the "what if" game quite a bit. Glad to see him representing!


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## weltyed (Feb 6, 2004)

wiggo could still make that up during the ITT



WeakMite said:


> Team Sky should have signed Horner for the 6 mil they gave Wiggins... seeing that Horner (riding as a domestique) is 30 minutes ahead of him on GC.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


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## 55x11 (Apr 24, 2006)

Argentius said:


> Horner is pretty impressive -- makes me play the "what if" game quite a bit. Glad to see him representing!


I am really impressed by his ride today - but I think it is a bit depressing for him and Radioshack that their 5th man in lineup prior to Tour start (behind Lance, Levi, Klodi and perhaps Jani) turns out to be their strongest GC man. With good time trial he should defend his 10th or even move up a spot - not that it matters in grand scheme of things.

Of course had he not lost time supporting others he wouldn't be allowed to go in a breakaway with Armstrong, but I think he could have been easily top 10 had Radioshack supported him from the start.


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## AJL (Jul 9, 2009)

Yeah, whatever team support RS gave Levi, they should have given Horner instead. Levi was dead on the road today whereas Horner rocked.


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## jorgy (Oct 21, 2005)

weltyed said:


> wiggo could still make that up during the ITT


snicker


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## spookyload (Jan 30, 2004)

He writes a really good blog for the Oregonian newspaper online as well. Great articles with details about how the stages unfolded for him. As a shameless plug, they posted an article I wrote too.

http://blog.oregonlive.com/horner/index.html


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## mmoose (Apr 2, 2004)

Without him, Casse may have something to cheer about in this tour.

LA slides across the roundabout...So CH hauls the team lead to back of the group and then stays with until JB and LA give up hope...and then they remember the team competition and that Casse is up the road...so he has to go race hard up that last mountain with a deficit. 

CH has had a helluva tour. I doubted him before. Years ago, there was a thread here, asking why CH wasn't racing in Europe. Couple days ago, LA should have chased down the break and given CH his chance at a stage win.


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## Beethoven (Jul 28, 2005)

mmoose said:


> . Couple days ago, LA should have chased down the break and given CH his chance at a stage win.


I'm pretty sure that was the plan. Just didn't work out that way.


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## JSR (Feb 27, 2006)

I'm a huge Horner fan. I think he could place top ten at the TdF, or any GC, every year if given the chance to ride for himself.

Having said that, I don't think he could every podium, barring some sort Sastre-type lucky day. He's an excellent climber, but can't break away from the best, as the Tourmalet showed today. And he can put in a top-15 TT on a good day, but that's about it.

What I really like, though, is that his head is always in the game. He's not sitting around waiting for something to happen. He's always looking to animate events. And his dedication to team results is on a par with Voigt. He'll do whatever it takes for a result, cheerfully and professionally.

JSR


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## AJL (Jul 9, 2009)

JSR said:


> I'm a huge Horner fan. I think he could place top ten at the TdF, or any GC, every year if given the chance to ride for himself.


Unfortunately Horner has had too many seasons ruined by crashes, etc. to be built up as a GC guy.


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## stevesbike (Jun 3, 2002)

AJL said:


> Unfortunately Horner has had too many seasons ruined by crashes, etc. to be built up as a GC guy.


plus when he was at Lotto he wasn't even given a TT bike for training. Pretty hard to be a GC guy when you're not working on specific skillset. It takes years of consistent training to develop a gc rider


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## cyclejim (Mar 31, 2004)

JSR said:


> I'm a huge Horner fan. I think he could place top ten at the TdF, or any GC, every year if given the chance to ride for himself.
> 
> Having said that, I don't think he could every podium, barring some sort Sastre-type lucky day. He's an excellent climber, but can't break away from the best, as the Tourmalet showed today. And he can put in a top-15 TT on a good day, but that's about it.
> 
> ...


I cracked up the other day during the break with LA, riding pretty hard- they passed some guy in a crazy looking suit and Chris glanced over and cracked a cheesy grin.


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## AJL (Jul 9, 2009)

stevesbike said:


> plus when he was at Lotto he wasn't even given a TT bike for training. Pretty hard to be a GC guy when you're not working on specific skillset. It takes years of consistent training to develop a gc rider


No wonder some domestiques suck so bad at TTing, sheesh!


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## 55x11 (Apr 24, 2006)

Beethoven said:


> I'm pretty sure that was the plan. Just didn't work out that way.


I am actually still surprised nobody attacked as soon as they got close to Barredo. Casse and Radioshack had two guys in breakaway each, and it was clear with Fedrigo and Cunego and Casar that by waiting for "bunch spring" their chances of a win would be as good as by letting Barredo go off and take the win by himself. So why not try some kind of setup in the final km? I guess they were all too tired after 9 hours or so in the saddle, but still. What was the point of that? Did Moreau and Armstrong and Horner really think they could win the bunch sprint from a small group? It would make about as much sense as McEwen going for a Tourmalet stage win....


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## Beethoven (Jul 28, 2005)

The ultimate triumph for Lance would not have been winning the stage, but leading out Horner for the win, and I'm pretty sure that's what Horner taking out that piece of paper and Lance talking to him was all about. Neither had the power to do it.
Horner's video interview after stage 8 was the most humane thing in the entire Tour, imo.


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## hawker12 (Oct 19, 2003)

SO impressed with Horner this year. He really did it all, both on and off the bike. At his age this may certainly be his last Tour, but he was the complete package this year. Wonder how high he would have finished if he had been the GC team leader?


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## fab4 (Jan 8, 2003)

How come Horner doesn't wear gloves? Is he always smiling or grimacing?


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## bigmig19 (Jun 27, 2008)

Where are the Horner haters? Is it not moronic that this guy who is "on the bubble" with everything (TDF rosters, olympic team) is beating Levi and lance? Is he the 10th best guy or the best? Good god. Most underappreciated guy in US cycling. Hes beating the guys who had to "break the news" to him last year that he wasnt good enough for any roster spot last year. Irony of all time.


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## JSR (Feb 27, 2006)

bigmig19 said:


> beating the guys who had to "break the news" to him last year that he wasnt good enough for any roster spot last year. Irony of all time.


Good points, but in fairness, he got his shot at team leader for the Vuelta. Unfortunately his year of bad luck wasn't over yet!

JSR


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