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Tour de France: Stage 8 Live Thread (Sunday, July 9, 2006)
VeloNews.com ^ | July 9, 2006 | VeloNews.com

Posted on 07/08/2006 10:00:05 PM PDT by nutmeg

Stage 8: St-Méen-le-Grand to Lorient - 181km

Course: Huge crowds are expected on this hilly run through cycling-mad Brittany. The stage starts at the birthplace of three-time Tour champion Louison Bobet, who worked in the family bakery at St. Méen-le-Grand before becoming a cyclist. The biggest crowds will be on the Cat. 3 Mûr-de-Bretagne and on the sprint line in Plouay - where Hincapie won the ProTour classic last year. The final 20km is on wide highways with a fast run-in to Lorient, where the finish is on the slightly curving and flat Avenue Jean Jaurès.

History: Lorient last saw a stage finish in 2002 when Santiago Botero dealt Armstrong a rare time-trial defeat - by 11 seconds over 52km. In the last of six road stages to finish here, in 1998, Hincapie came within two seconds of taking the yellow jersey after Jens Heppner got clear of Hincapie's nine-man break in the streets of Lorient to win the stage and the jersey. One of the most famous breakaways in Tour history ended here in 1960, when Frenchman Roger Rivière raced home ahead of fellow pre-race favorites Gastone Nencini, Jan Adriaenssens and Hans Junkermann, more than 14 minutes ahead of the peloton!

Favorites: The day after a time trial there will be big time gaps between the leaders and the rest, so expect a breakaway to make it to the finish. Any one of the many French riders from this region would love to win - the most likely are Benoît Vaugrenard (Française des Jeux) or Sébastien Hinault (Crédit Agricole).

Graphics by CyclingNews.com


TOPICS: Sports
KEYWORDS: cycling; tdf; tdfstagethread; tourdefrance
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To: Baynative
I'm surprised Hollywood hasn't done a movie on Virenque. He has all the right qualities: French, druggie, cheater, liar, nice smile, loser. Needless to say not one of my favorites (sorry). I was really sad that Ullrich and Vino have missed this Tour however.

On another note: its amazing that riders keep killing themselves on breaks like they do when very few succeed. It great for the audience (and maybe the sponsors also).
21 posted on 07/09/2006 6:19:48 AM PDT by razzle
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To: Vision
That seems unlikely, a team would be unprotected on the flats w/o sprinters. LA had complete control of team selection, curious that he never put together his 'dream team'...

I heard Lance say his dream team includes no sprinters, he only wants mountain men.

22 posted on 07/09/2006 7:04:31 AM PDT by Ready4Freddy ("What time is it? You mean now?")
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To: razzle
Define 'succeed' - note that the usual suspects in the escapes are the leaders for the maillot vert.

On another note: its amazing that riders keep killing themselves on breaks like they do when very few succeed.

23 posted on 07/09/2006 7:10:16 AM PDT by Ready4Freddy ("What time is it? You mean now?")
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To: razzle

Also - it depends on who's in the escape, and if teams in the peloton care to pursue. It's looking more & more today like the teams leading the peloton don't care enough about Calzati to try to reel him in...


24 posted on 07/09/2006 7:35:03 AM PDT by Ready4Freddy ("What time is it? You mean now?")
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To: Vision
although what happened to Levi Leipheimer? He lost like 3 minutes.

He lost more than 6 minutes! The worst part is that he said he doesn't know why. He said he "just didn't feel well on the bike". Very troubling.

25 posted on 07/09/2006 7:45:01 AM PDT by luv2ski
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To: All
A bit unusual to see the Combativité awarded prior to the finish.... (not that Calzati isn't the obvious candidate today, of course!

16:40 - 5km To Go...

Calzati appears destined to win his first Tour de France stage. He is less than 5km from the finish. He began the stage in 76th place on general classification and has just been awarded the Most Aggressive Rider prize by the jury. He was 7’12" behind Gonchar.

26 posted on 07/09/2006 7:45:13 AM PDT by Ready4Freddy ("What time is it? You mean now?")
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To: nutmeg
I am sorry to sound like a hard a** but Julich should have known that that tight left hand turn was there. He misjudged it on the fly but had he done his homework, he would have known exactly how to approach and negotiate it safely. He was the only rider who fell in that turn yesterday. Landis rode the entire course with his coach in the morning before the stage. He was the only rider on the course.
I remember an ITT a couple of years ago when Ullrich had a chance to catch Lance. It was raining and nasty. Ullrich tried to take a roundabout too fast and crashed into the hay bales. Lance went on to win (the day and the TT). Afterward, it was clear why it happened the way it did: Lance had ridden and studied the course on his bike. Ullrich had watched a video of it on the TV in his nice warm, dry room.
27 posted on 07/09/2006 7:49:58 AM PDT by luv2ski
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To: luv2ski
He's not a winner. Just happy to be there.
28 posted on 07/09/2006 7:54:08 AM PDT by Vision ("...cause those liberal freaks go to farrrrrr")
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To: luv2ski

I'm thinking that Jullich's diary on ESPN the day before said that he was going to drive the first 15km of the ITT course, then ride the rest.


29 posted on 07/09/2006 7:55:41 AM PDT by Ready4Freddy ("What time is it? You mean now?")
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To: Ready4Freddy; luv2ski
Yup, see nutmeg's link in post #4. Dunno if he did it, but perhaps just seeing that turn from a car window wasn't enough?

My pre-stage plan will also be important. For me, it's about as much relaxation as possible. Relax, think positive, go to bed early. I elected not to go see the time-trial course Friday night, so I didn't have the pressure of having it all on my mind. In the morning, I'll have a little breakfast, drive the first 15 kilometers of the course, then ride the rest of it. Riding the course is the only way to get a true taste of what it will be like at race time. If it was up to me, I'd like to ride the whole course, but there might not be time.

30 posted on 07/09/2006 8:00:46 AM PDT by Ready4Freddy ("What time is it? You mean now?")
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To: nutmeg
I've been trying to see, in the sprint finishes, exactly how much the riders were deliberately crowding each other. Today, although one might say "no harm, no foul," it seemed clear to me that McEwen was deliberately moving to the right (actually LENGTHENING his line by a minute amount) to cut off the next closest rider. I don't imagine that this is anything exceptional at all but the cameras gave us a rare, clear view from above and slightly behind the finishers.

It is exciting to watch Robbie even if he is a feisty little bastard! They all are, I suppose. There are no shrinking violets in the TdF.

31 posted on 07/09/2006 8:06:03 AM PDT by LK44-40
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To: LK44-40
Yeah, it's more like the maneuvers in the key in International Basketball rules (NBA having dispensed w/ even their own rules against pushing & other contact :)

exactly how much the riders were deliberately crowding each other....

32 posted on 07/09/2006 8:11:34 AM PDT by Ready4Freddy ("What time is it? You mean now?")
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Comment #33 Removed by Moderator

Comment #34 Removed by Moderator

To: Baynative

That article is a good description of the tactics the teams employ when considering what to do about an escape. One important thing to note was that yellow jersey-wearer Gonchar's T-Mo team had Matthias Kessler in the break, so they were protected somewhat - a rider on the GC leader's team is under no obligation to assist w/ a break (since no one is expected to attack his leader), he gets to tag along w/o taking his turns at the front.


35 posted on 07/09/2006 12:08:28 PM PDT by Ready4Freddy ("What time is it? You mean now?")
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To: nutmeg

I read in Velo News that Gontchar (sp?) was pulling a 55-11 top gear in the ITT! It was easy to see he was crunching a big gear, but that is huge.
http://www.cyclingnews.com/road/2006/tour06/?id=results/tour067


36 posted on 07/09/2006 6:28:33 PM PDT by HangThemHigh (Entropy's not what it used to be.)
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Stage 8 results, stats, injury reports, etc:

VeloNews.com

CyclingNews.com

37 posted on 07/09/2006 10:08:09 PM PDT by nutmeg ("We're going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good." - Hillary Clinton 6/28/04)
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Photos from Stage 8:


George Hincapie of the US, left, and teammate Paolo Savoldelli of Italy talk prior to the 8th stage of the 93rd Tour de France cycling race between Saint-Meen-le-Grand and Lorient, western France, Sunday, July 9, 2006. (AP Photo/Alessandro Trovati)


Spectators play bagpipe music as the pack rides through the village of Plessala, western France, during the 8th stage of the 93rd Tour de France cycling race between Saint-Meen-le-Grand and Lorient, western France, Sunday, July 9, 2006. (AP Photo/Alessandro Trovati)


Stage winner Sylvain Calzati of France, left, and Mario Aerts of Belgium, second left, climb Mur-de-Bretagne ascend, passing under a French and Brittany flag during the 8th stage of the 93rd Tour de France cycling race between Saint-Meen-le-Grand and Lorient, western France, Sunday, July 9, 2006. Sergiy Gonchar of the Ukraine retains the overall leader's yellow jersey. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)


Didi Senft of Germany, aka "El Diablo", holding the French and the Italian flags and a placard encoutaging the French soccer team, urges riders near Lochrist, western France, during the 8th stage of the 93rd Tour de France cycling race between Saint-Meen-le-Grand and Lorient, western France, Sunday, July 9, 2006. France will play Italy in the soccer World Cup Final in Berlin later Sunday. (AP Photo/Alessandro Trovati)


Sylvain Calzati of France reacts as he crosses the finish line to win the 8th stage of the 93rd Tour de France cycling race between Saint-Meen-le-Grand and Lorient, western France, Sunday, July 9, 2006. (AP Photo/Vincent Michel)


Overall leader Sergiy Gonchar of Ukraine waves from the podium after the 8th stage of the 93rd Tour de France cycling race between Saint-Meen-le-Grand and Lorient, western France, Sunday, July 9, 2006. Sylvain Calzati of France won the stage. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

38 posted on 07/09/2006 10:19:58 PM PDT by nutmeg ("We're going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good." - Hillary Clinton 6/28/04)
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To: Doctor Raoul; RaceBannon; evilC

Fellow "devils": Check out that red devil in #38! He shows up at the Tour de France every year. Maybe we can recruit him if Hillary runs in '08... ;-)


39 posted on 07/09/2006 10:21:35 PM PDT by nutmeg ("We're going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good." - Hillary Clinton 6/28/04)
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To: whattajoke; CyberCowboy777; Aeronaut; jern; concentric circles; Petronski; Voss; stylin_geek; ...
Tour de France ping!

Stage 8 results, stats, injury reports and photos posted in #37 and #38.

Please FReepmail me if you want on or off my Tour de France 2006 list.

40 posted on 07/09/2006 10:25:01 PM PDT by nutmeg ("We're going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good." - Hillary Clinton 6/28/04)
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