Posted on 07/04/2009 8:09:14 AM PDT by Mom MD
Today is day one! Armstrong riding. Astana is back! Predictions? Other comments? Does someone have the ping list from last year?
Some of it is what does it take to earn it? Hincapie was driving the breakaway for all of what I watched. OK, he didn’t go with Ivanov but it didn’t look like anyone else in the breakaway could either. Maybe he could have lifted the rest of the breakaway those needed six seconds maybe he couldn’t.
On the other hand, AG2R was incapable of closing the gap. Nocentini isn’t a GC threat. Hincapie really isn’t either. So while Garmin does have two riders in the top ten only Vande Velde is a confirmed GC contender (seemingly over his crash) Wiggins is not as yet. The overall damage of having Vande Velde down 1:30 to Hincapie as opposed to down 1:24 to Nocentini isn’t that big a deal.
Astana with the exception of Contador didn’t make a move to keep Nocentini out of yellow. Garmin working for no obvious reason to keep someone who isn’t a GC contender out of yellow served no real purpose. Add to that the rider they kept out of yellow is George Hincapie it is easy to understand how fans and other riders are upset at the move. Especially Lance Armstrong who definitely owes Hincapie a lot. Probably more than can be quantified.
If it had been any other rider losing out on the yellow I don’t think there would be near the outcry.
” No, but there’s an ITT 2 days before Ventoux, in Annecy.”
What’s your take on Lance vs Contador going into the TT.
If they are close I think Lance takes the lead, and then Brunell orders contador to support.
Interesting to see if he will do that.
I don’t think Contador will be denied. He is capable of riding a brilliant time trial. We’ll see what Lance still has left....
I don’t see Brunyeel ordering Contador to support Lance - Contador will be the star of the team for many years to come, it would be unwise to sour him on the team/race leader. I’m sure there are a myriad of other teams that would like to have his services.
Even if Lance is for real, and that is still to be determined, he at best has 1-2 years. Contador is the future of Astana.
Nicely said!
Did you see the post stage interview with Lance? Frankie asked him how he felt today and he said “OK” but without enthusiasm. It was not exactly inspiring. I am a BIG Lance fan and absolutely want him to win but I was a little concerned about his comments today.
Maybe he was just tired after a long day at the office. ;-)
Placement before Annercy will be important, in that the leader between LA & AC will start after the other in the ITT.
Contador did well in the 1st ITT, something like 20” on LA in a short (15.5km) TT. But he also started several places behind LA, a huge advantage. So I’d look for some jockeying to get the better start in the ITT. I don’t think they’ll be 2” apart by the time they arrive in Annercy (a 40.5 ITT, btw). They’re both capable of amazing things in the ITT.
Mom MD has some good points above, but I see Johann just letting them both go - whoever wins it, wins it.
been at work all day, so I haven’t seen anything yet.
The only caveat is Lance is the master of the poker face and playing the press, so the only thing for sure is that you cannot trust what he says or how he looks in an interview.
We’ll see what he has on the road.
I am a big Lance fan, but I think the comeback was a mistake. I don’t want him to end up a laughing stock ala Brett Farve.
Have you seen this: http://tourdetwit.com?
I pulled it off a message board on Versus. It has all the twitter urls for everyone in the TdF that is tweeting in one spot. Cool!
GH is a class guy who was far more than Lance's domestique. He's held his own for 14 Tours. Garmin should learn respect. I hope they have a bad day in the mountains.
:-D
When George was talking right after the race, he wasn’t aware that Astana pulled back and ended up not being the team setting the pace of the peloton? right?
Cause Phil & Paul spent quite a lot of time during the live race talking about how Astana was working hard to pull the breakaway back.
So.... I’m confused :)
"Garmin just wanted to prevent another American team from taking the yellow jersey. It's not right," Astana manager Johan Bruyneel said. "It's not very sporting.
"It's a story that I think will continue," he said.
"Given the history we have with George, I would have liked him to take the jersey — but independent of that, I don't think it was a fair way of racing," he added.
Columbia sustained a second blow Saturday: its star sprinter, Mark Cavendish of Britain, was fined and penalized by Tour officials for blocking his rival Thor Hushovd in a final sprint. The two men are competing for the green jersey awarded to the Tour's best sprinter.
Cavendish was demoted to last place in the stage, vastly denting his hopes of taking home the green jersey by depriving him of points he could have gained in the discipline. Hushovd has the green jersey.
DANG.
...uhm. what?
...uhm. what?
Yup, watch the start of the sprint right at the end, Thor is forced to the right, almost into the wall.
George would almost certainly have had a good deal more than 2 minutes if Astana hadn't taken up pacemaking. Astana really couldn't let George get too much time (or the guy a minute or so behind George who was also in the break) because George is a strong rider and if given enough time might have been able to hold on in the mountains. They were playing a game of trying to give just enough time to get George in Yellow but not enough to compromise their GC contenders. Astana was clearly limiting the time the break had, they've said as much themselves. Limiting the gap is not chasing. They were not trying to bring George back. Garmin, on the other hand, was. They brought of all their top guns to the front and went hard for something like the last 50K. Moreover, in contrast to Astana riders who wanted Hincapie to get the yellow, post-race comments from Garmin riders suggest that they were told to chase and that they weren't happy about it. Lance to Millar when Garmin was chasing down Hincapie: ‘What are you guys doing?’ Millar: ‘I don’t know.’’ Garmin's Dave Zabriskie after the stage: "Pawns in their game..."
Interesting.
Thanks, luvvy.
Exactly right.
Contador is gone from Astana next year. http://www.velonews.com/article/95052
5 Seconds That'll Last a Lifetime
Rich Hincapie responded to today's stage and George's loss in an email to us:
"I'm super disappointed at Today's stage. At the end of the day the world knows what happened no matter what was said. Its sad to see that after all the years people don't give George the respect he deserves. There aren't many people like George in this world and even less athletes with his character. In the days of 'me me me' George is rare. He will come out ahead, maybe not in this tour but ultimately in life."
Rich also spoke to Juliet Macur for a NYT article and wrote about the disappointment on his blog. Earlier today on the Hub, we posted that "Twitter lit up like nothing we've seen before" when George was denied the win. We've also never see so much, "wasn't me" after a race. Everyone is blaming everyone else with Garmin insisting, "We weren't out to ruin anyone else's day in yellow. We came here to win the Tour de France."
The Astana camp also went on the defensive right after the end of the stage, with Lance turning to Twitter to undo the negative press earned when George slammed Astana during the post-ride interview on Versus.
"Sounds like there's quite a bit of confusion over this one... Noone [sic], and I mean noone[sic], wanted George in yellow more than me," Armstrong commented on his feed. "Our team rode a moderate tempo to put him in the jersey by at least 2 mins. Ag2r said they would not defend then they started to ride."
Garmin, Astana, Ag2R..., if it's all seems a bit complicated, there's a good posting at the Village Voice's blogs that covers not only the controversy but also provides a look at the Twitter explosion this has caused.
The better to get back on that ‘Spanish nutritional regimen’?
Come to think of it, does Astana really have a future past this year? Will Borat’s home country be able to fund it? ;)
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