Posted on 07/02/2010 11:30:15 AM PDT by Ready4Freddy
I also checked up on Footon-Servetto, one reason they have so many new-to-the-TdF riders is that they had to do a bit of house cleaning after some doping problems a few years ago. Footon-Servetto was not allowed to enter the TdF last year.
‘morning, Dolly. LOL on LeBron, didn’t know that you had TMZ set as your homepage too! ;>)
Also heard that Lindsay Lohan will be the official wine taster, and somehow involved in the doping process.
15:17 - Icepacks For Lancaster
The lead-out specialist for the Cervelo team, Brett Lancaster, has just dropped to the back of the peloton to retrieve some ice bags from the team car. The temperature was 22.5 earlier today but it’s warming up as the race moves south. At the site of the finish, it’s over 30 degrees Celsius and that explains why the Australian has stuffed the ice bags inside his jersey. Others, like Eisel (THR) are removing their undershirts as it warms up today...
15:16 - Lead Down To Five Minutes
The peloton is almost 100km from the finish of stage six, the longest of the Tour in 2010. It is now five minutes behind Perget, Lang and Perez Moreno.
15:07 - Vansummeren Misses Objective
In the team meeting this morning, the Garmin-Transitions squad asked Johan Vansummeren to try and put himself in the escape today. The move came early - instigated by Perget in the first kilometer - but the tall Belgian rider missed out on being involved. And so it’ll be lead-out duties again today...
15:04 - Two HTCs Now
Maxime Monfort has joined his HTC team-mate Bert Grabsch at the front of the peloton which is now 5’35” behind the escapees.
We have a DIDI SENFT sighting! The Peleton just passed him with about 42KM left. Eurosport gave him a few seconds of air time.
17:01 - Three Lead By 1’10”
At the 198km mark the peloton is 1’10” behind. Sivtsov has assumed his position at the head of the peloton. There are riders from Katusha to his left while RadioShack men are to the right.
17:00 - All The Fallen Riders Racing Again
All the riders who crashed just before the site of the sprint in Luzy are back on their bikes and racing again.
16:58 - Crash In Peloton
There has been a crash involving several riders in the peloton. Boom (RAB) was one of the riders caught up...
Cavendish again!!! What a jump, he just smoked by Tyler, who did all he could to close.
I’m amazed and gratified that Tyler was there, he was still hurting 2 days ago if not yesterday. Couldn’t drive from out of the saddle.
Overall after Stage 6, no real changes in GC. Lance/Contador both 3” back of leaders in the Stage.
1. CANCELLARA Fabian 13 TEAM SAXO BANK 28h 37’ 30”
2. THOMAS Geraint 39 SKY PRO CYCLING 28h 37’ 50” + 00’ 20”
3. EVANS Cadel 121 BMC RACING TEAM 28h 38’ 09” + 00’ 39”
4. HESJEDAL Ryder 54 GARMIN - TRANSITIONS 28h 38’ 16” + 00’ 46”
5. CHAVANEL Sylvain 131 QUICK STEP 28h 38’ 31” + 01’ 01”
6. SCHLECK Andy 11 TEAM SAXO BANK 28h 38’ 39” + 01’ 09”
7. HUSHOVD Thor 95 CERVELO TEST TEAM 28h 38’ 46” + 01’ 16”
8. VINOKOUROV Alexandre 9 ASTANA 28h 39’ 01” + 01’ 31”
9. CONTADOR Alberto 1 ASTANA 28h 39’ 10” + 01’ 40”
10. VAN DEN BROECK Jurgen 101 OMEGA PHARMA - LOTTO 28h 39’ 12” + 01’ 42”
11. ROCHE Nicolas 81 AG2R LA MONDIALE 28h 39’ 12” + 01’ 42”
12. VAN SUMMEREN Johan 58 GARMIN - TRANSITIONS 28h 39’ 17” + 01’ 47”
13. MENCHOV Denis 191 RABOBANK 28h 39’ 19” + 01’ 49”
14. WIGGINS Bradley 31 SKY PRO CYCLING 28h 39’ 19” + 01’ 49”
15. MILLAR David 57 GARMIN - TRANSITIONS 28h 39’ 36” + 02’ 06”
16. KREUZIGER Roman 44 LIQUIGAS-DOIMO 28h 39’ 54” + 02’ 24”
17. SANCHEZ Luis-Leon 161 CAISSE D’EPARGNE 28h 39’ 55” + 02’ 25”
18. ARMSTRONG Lance 21 TEAM RADIOSHACK 28h 40’ 00” + 02’ 30”
19. ROJAS Jose Joaquin 169 CAISSE D’EPARGNE 28h 40’ 02” + 02’ 32”
20. LÖVKVIST Thomas 37 SKY PRO CYCLING 28h 40’ 04” + 02’ 34”
3 category 2 climbs tomorrow. I bet we see some changes in the overall.
Besides having a great set of "wheels", Cav has a super sense for tactical position as he starts his launch. I'd love to see him on the track.
Yes! The last two climbs are ~14 & ~16 km at 4.3 & 5%, respectively.
A little teaser for tomorrow!
Ahh, makes sense that F-S were a wildcard at one point. I’d like to be able to righteously condemn a team that had to do housecleaning due to doping... but then I think there might be three teams left in the darned thing.
@leilani - I’m not pulling for Contador but I’m an Anybody-But-Armstrong girl ;) I respect and admire Lance for his abilities and accomplishments, and for what he’s done to elevate cycling and all that. But I think it’s past time for him to move on.
I’m with you. I was a big Lance fan, but I think with the comeback, he’s turned himself into a Bret Farve sort of figure. Once you walk away, you should have the stones to stay away. I wish him well, but I think it is his turn to let others have their time in the spotlight, not hang around like an aging attention addict. I do admire him for actually being competitive and finishing on the podium last year. I doubt he will this year, although I could be surprised.
I am a Contador fan however. He reminds me a lot of the young Lance, and I would have LOVED to see a showdown between those two when they were both in their prime. I guess Contador is a favorite because he started on the Discovery team right before they broke up. Given the circumstances, he handled Lance’s showing up on the Astana team that Contador clearly should have been the leader of pretty well. Its great to see someone who does so well, and does most of the talking on the road, where it counts.
I’m with you! No beef against Contador. I thought he handled Lance’s strong-arming (ha) last year very well. And showed them all besides. What I wonder is, when it becomes apparent that Lance can’t win, will he just give up?
As to the team, there would not have been an Astana if LA hadn't joined the team. As to who was the leader, Contador had to earn that spot.
when it becomes apparent that Lance can’t win, will he just give up?
He's announced that this will be his last Tour. He won't give up during the TdF this year, if that's what you mean.
It was puzzling watching the 2 Garmin riders lead the way today without Tyler on their wheel. If Farrar intended on just sticking with Cav, there was no point in them doing so. Someone Garmin-ish made some tactical errors today.
One thing's for sure, the only way he could possibly win it up against these young whippersnappers is by beating them on strategy & saddle sense.
He's still doing pretty damn well for a 38 year old who hasn't gotten into 'the zone' yet, though. Look at all the talented guys in their prime he's leading at the moment! So I'd say he certainly has a right to be there even if he doesn't win.
But my hunch is that he's really riding this year to get the RS team off the ground anyway. He still brings a lot of press & fan attention + sponsorship money wherever he goes, and I was glad to see him take it all over to a new US team instead of a Kazakhstani one & try to build up a 'Lance legacy franchise', if you will, there from scratch.
But ewwwwww, Contador completely lost me on sportsmanship grounds last year when he kept going rogue on team strategy & cavalierly minimized all his teammates' hard work to get him on that podium. It wasn't just his ego clashing with Lance's (that was all quite understandable, really); it was his domestiques & the rest of the team support to whom he gave such inexplicably unmagnanimous short schrift in their group victory.
He just doesn't seem to me to be the kind of guy who deserves much loyalty from anyone, including the fans, but everybody else's mileage will surely vary. Perhaps his current teammates weren't paying too much attention to all that stuff last year & they can give him their full self-abnegating dedication this Tour. He better hope they weren't paying close attention!
No question he's an A M A Z I N G athlete though. It would have indeed been fantastic to see both Alberto & Lance go head to head while they were both in their prime.
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