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?
See, that really makes me scratch my head. It's one thing to be happy for an old friend, but they're not on the same team. Lance is on record saying that he wanted someone besides his teammate in yellow, his teammate btw who was only, what, 6 seconds off the lead..
I find this whole situation so puzzling.
Astana being around next year is a big question mark. As has been posted Contador now seems to be planning on leaving next year anyway. Add to that Vinokourov is coming back next year and plans to be the leader. Vino has also stated that Bruyneel will be gone.
With Lance supposedly starting up Livestrong-Trek next year it is a good bet that Bruyneel will come along to be director. I think Lance respects Bruyneel enough that the decision to go with Contador wouldn’t sour the friendship/partnership but it isn’t necessarily in Bruyneel’s best interest to back Contador.
I think Lance already said Bruyneel is on board to go with him. It’s amusing to think that Vino is stating it, as if he has anything to do with it. :-) Poor Vino. He’ll never be taken seriously again.
I watched the Phil/Paul show this morning. It’s thoroughly confusing, even having seen it happen live.
Vino was saying that before the tour started. I understand wanting to get rid of Lance and AC but getting rid of a director like Bruyneel just seems foolish.
Bear in mind that GH was the only one who had a chance of taking the yellow from Nocentini today, given the situation. LA & AC, et al, were over 5' behind at the end.
The scoring based on cumulative time can really confuse the issue.
There are only 2 people who would have been able to lead the peleton & catch the breakaway today.
Eddy Merckx. And Mike Ditka.
;)
And correct me if I'm wrong, but team Astana did take the lead today to bring the breakaway back. For awhile. Right? Or is it just a matter of limiting the time, not bringing back the break.
Oh I agree with you, for sure. Just saying I thought Lance already said he expects talks to result in a Bruyneel-led squad.
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And at his espense, for that matter. He's just an old softy, that Lance is, always has been. ;)
Yeah. Soft & mushy like a marshmallow. No ego at all. ;)
Columbia attacks Garmin's stage 14 tactics
...the biggest talking point to emerge from stage 14 was Columbia-HTC’s attack on Garmin-Slipstream’s racing tactics.
Astana, who rode most of the stage at the head of the peloton, was replaced at the front in the final hour by AG2R and Garmin-Slipstream. The latter sent riders to the front in what Columbia-HTC perceived to be a bid to help Nocentini’s AG2R team and foil Hincapie’s bid for yellow.
Columbia-HTC’s Bob Stapleton couldn’t hide his anger at the stage finish.
"I’m really disappointed and at the right time I’ll talk to Jonathon [Vaughters]. The fact is we’ve won nearly 60 races this year and they’ve won less than 10 so they’re probably tired of seeing our guys in jerseys and I understand that. But to hurt George Hincapie in that way just doesn’t seem right to me. He’s the most liked cyclist in America and the second most known,"
"Maybe I’ll talk to his boss. He seems a little more forward thinking. If I was in their shoes why would I chase? You tell me why we’d waste our team energy for no reason. Their tactics were obvious and disappointing. It was a big effort to pull the jersey off his back."
"...We’ve had our revenge. In the scoreboard it’s not a contest and if you look at the Tour it’s no contest but I don’t know why you’d do that with George. That would have been a victory for everyone and would have got attention all over the US. An American in yellow would magnify the sport incredibly. How many more chances is he ever going to have? It’s something every athlete would aspire to."
Vaughters, who wasn’t at the race today and followed the final kilometres of the stage, countered: "I was assuming that we were working to keep Wiggo [Bradley Wiggins] and Christian [Vande Velde] out of trouble. From what I saw from the television some of our guys were just on rotation at the front. that’s pretty normal if you’re trying to keep out of trouble.
"Bob is always negative about our team and he has been for months now. I really don’t know why but it seemed to start a long time ago. Obviously Cavendish was upset with us at the Giro and I don’t know what brought that about and Bob has been consistently upset, yes they win a lot more than us but I don’t why they’re upset."
Vaughters later posted on Twitter: "That had nothing to do with George or Columbia. Wiggo almost lost 15 seconds the other day due to a split. We can't have that happen again."
Garmin-Slipstream's war of words with Columbia-HTC blew up at this year’s Giro d’Italia when Mark Cavendish called their bid to focus on the team time trial disrespectful. Since then the two teams have had several spats in the media, with Cavendish also questioning Garmin’s tactics in his book, Boy Racer.
Stage 14 Recap - Colmar to Besancon - and Life on Tour-Chris Brewer - Livestrong.com
"......today saw a chance at yellow for one of America’s great riders and close friend of Lance, George Hincapie. George was part of a successful 12-man escape that saw Serguie Ivanov solo away for a fine stage win. However the drama was that George sat back 5’25” back on GC, and with the break all but guaranteed to win, could AG2R get the peloton back in time to save Nocentini’s race lead for one more day?
"...Astana came to the front and patrolled the peloton for much of the stage, AG2R right behind them monitoring things. With 80kms the gap was 6’54”, at 40km 7’40” but AG2R was now applying the pressure. At 20km the gap was 6’27”, and then at 10km Ivanov launched on his way to a soilid stage win and the peloton was in full flight.
"George’s group came in 16” after Ivanov and the waiting game began, he needed them to come in at 5’42” or more. AG2R tried to keep chasing but then Garmin came to the front and really upped the tempo The Columbia team made it to the front to try and block (slow down) the peloton, but it was going to be close! As Columbia brought them in the time was 5’36” for the peloton and Nocentini’s lead had been saved by a scant five seconds…"
A tale of five seconds - The Besancon-Hincapie polemic, in their own words - Velo News.com
Armstrong: "The break goes, George is in there, he's the best placed rider on GC, which means he has a chance at the yellow jersey. For our team, that's a good thing, and for me personally, it's a great thing, because he's my best bud in the peloton. The scenario of George in yellow was perfect for our team. His team would have ridden (at the front) all day tomorrow. It's exactly what we wanted."
Different locales, different stages, and somehow the Ricoh representatives slipped in even though they are from the Tour of Austria. They seemed to fit in. It's all Le Tour, a lot of beauty, a lot of drama, and a lot of effort.
As much as I like George, and I really do, I have a nagging feeling. I realize the politics of this race are set well in advance, but who set George up to make the break and run for the yellow today?
Why does every other team have to go along with it without question? Are there legitimate reasons why other teams wouldn’t want that? George as a person deserves it, no question.
I’m learning about the politics of these teams so bear with me.
STAGE 15 - Pontarlier > > Verbier - 207.5 km
Sunday, July 19, 2009
High Mountains - A sporting perspective
The Tour enters a new phase with this foray into the Swiss Alps: the contest between climbers will resume while the front-runners’ ranks will be thinned. There is just one week to go before the finish in Paris.
So, after more than twos weeks of racing the 164 survivors in the Tour de France pedal into Switzerland today with a mountaintop finish at Verbiers.
It is the first time the Tour has finished here and the race could not be more finely poised with eight seconds covering the top four riders.
Perhaps it will also put a fuller perspective on who is the leader of the Astana team - Lance Armstrong and Alberto Contador - as the two champions will be forced to go head to head on the climb to the finish. They start today separated by just two seconds.
The 207 kilometres stage leaves Pontarlier in the French department of the Doubs, and will end high in the Swiss Alps almost certainly with a new leader of the overall classification.
There are four small climbs en route and then the much more testing climb of the Col des Mosses, which is encountered after 135 kilometre. The last climb to Verbier is unrelenting for the last five miles, so seconds could open up to minutes by the line.
(Stage Preview - versus.com; All else - letour.com)
STAGE 15 - Pontarlier > > Verbier - 207.5 km
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Profile of Last Kilometers
Route
Peleton observed a minute of silence for those killed / injured in the accident during Stage 14.
Breakaway of 10 riders has 4’ lead atm.
Leaders are in the feedzone, approx 1/2 through the Stage.
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