Posted on 07/02/2010 11:30:15 AM PDT by Ready4Freddy
Also I would like to add my thanks for the thread. It has been very good this year.
4 RSH riders in top 25. Contador put 31” on Andy today.
Overall GC after Stage 19:
1. CONTADOR Alberto 1 ASTANA 89h 16’ 27”
2. SCHLECK Andy 11 TEAM SAXO BANK 89h 17’ 06” + 00’ 39”
3. MENCHOV Denis 191 RABOBANK 89h 18’ 28” + 02’ 01”
4. SANCHEZ Samuel 181 EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI 89h 20’ 07” + 03’ 40”
5. VAN DEN BROECK Jurgen 101 OMEGA PHARMA - LOTTO 89h 23’ 21” + 06’ 54”
6. GESINK Robert 195 RABOBANK 89h 25’ 58” + 09’ 31”
7. HESJEDAL Ryder 54 GARMIN - TRANSITIONS 89h 26’ 42” + 10’ 15”
8. RODRIGUEZ OLIVER Joaquin 77 KATUSHA TEAM 89h 28’ 04” + 11’ 37”
9. KREUZIGER Roman 44 LIQUIGAS-DOIMO 89h 28’ 21” + 11’ 54”
10. HORNER Christopher 23 TEAM RADIOSHACK 89h 28’ 29” + 12’ 02”
11. SANCHEZ Luis-Leon 161 CAISSE D’EPARGNE 89h 30’ 48” + 14’ 21”
12. PLAZA MOLINA Ruben 168 CAISSE D’EPARGNE 89h 30’ 56” + 14’ 29”
13. LEIPHEIMER Levi 25 TEAM RADIOSHACK 89h 31’ 07” + 14’ 40”
14. KLÖDEN Andréas 24 TEAM RADIOSHACK 89h 33’ 03” + 16’ 36”
15. ROCHE Nicolas 81 AG2R LA MONDIALE 89h 33’ 26” + 16’ 59”
16. VINOKOUROV Alexandre 9 ASTANA 89h 34’ 13” + 17’ 46”
17. LÖVKVIST Thomas 37 SKY PRO CYCLING 89h 37’ 13” + 20’ 46”
18. DE WEERT Kevin 133 QUICK STEP 89h 38’ 21” + 21’ 54”
19. GADRET John 85 AG2R LA MONDIALE 89h 40’ 31” + 24’ 04”
20. SASTRE Carlos 91 CERVELO TEST TEAM 89h 43’ 04” + 26’ 37”
21. MORENO FERNANDEZ Daniel 107 OMEGA PHARMA - LOTTO 89h 46’ 05” + 29’ 38”
22. MOREAU Christophe 166 CAISSE D’EPARGNE 89h 50’ 28” + 34’ 01”
23. ARMSTRONG Lance 21 TEAM RADIOSHACK 89h 55’ 47” + 39’ 20”
24. WIGGINS Bradley 31 SKY PRO CYCLING 89h 55’ 51” + 39’ 24”
25. CASAR Sandy 62 FDJ 90h 02’ 19” + 45’ 52”
Not that it really matters except perhaps for Managers renegotiating their contracts, and teams wooing sponsors, but I think it’s great that RSH is leading the Team classification so handily.
And look at SKY in their first season, not too shabby!
1. TEAM RADIOSHACK 267h 55’ 00”
2. CAISSE D’EPARGNE 268h 04’ 15” + 09’ 15”
3. RABOBANK 268h 22’ 49” + 27’ 49”
4. AG2R LA MONDIALE 268h 36’ 10” + 41’ 10”
5. OMEGA PHARMA - LOTTO 268h 46’ 01” + 51’ 01”
6. ASTANA 268h 51’ 16” + 56’ 16”
7. QUICK STEP 269h 01’ 23” + 1h 06’ 23”
8. EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI 269h 18’ 02” + 1h 23’ 02”
9. LIQUIGAS-DOIMO 269h 24’ 14” + 1h 29’ 14”
10. BBOX BOUYGUES TELECOM 269h 49’ 18” + 1h 54’ 18”
11. SKY PRO CYCLING 270h 00’ 28” + 2h 05’ 28”
12. TEAM SAXO BANK 270h 20’ 02” + 2h 25’ 02”
Andy set to tie Jan Ullrich’s 3 consecutive White jerseys.
Geraint Thomas of Wales (SKY) started out quite well as 2nd to Andy, but fell off the pace after the first week. He was impressive in the TT today. ~2/3 of the Top 10 yoots are 25 this year, so Geraint may have a very good White Jersey year in 2001.
1. SCHLECK Andy 11 TEAM SAXO BANK 89h 17’ 06”
2. GESINK Robert 195 RABOBANK 89h 25’ 58” + 08’ 52”
3. KREUZIGER Roman 44 LIQUIGAS-DOIMO 89h 28’ 21” + 11’ 15”
4. EL FARES Julien 174 COFIDIS LE CREDIT EN LIGNE 90h 09’ 49” + 52’ 43”
5. GAUTIER Cyril 155 BBOX BOUYGUES TELECOM 90h 41’ 39” + 1h 24’ 33”
6. FUGLSANG Jakob 14 TEAM SAXO BANK 90h 54’ 59” + 1h 37’ 53”
7. VALLS FERRI Rafael 219 FOOTON-SERVETTO 90h 58’ 54” + 1h 41’ 48”
8. ROLLAND Pierre 156 BBOX BOUYGUES TELECOM 91h 03’ 09” + 1h 46’ 03”
9. THOMAS Geraint 39 SKY PRO CYCLING 91h 16’ 32” + 1h 59’ 26”
10. ROJAS Jose Joaquin 169 CAISSE D’EPARGNE 91h 18’ 25” + 2h 01’ 19”
The innocent also need lawyers to help prevent a railroad job.
Chapeau, R4F!!!
and Merci buckets! for the great thread!
Did Bobke say at the ned of the coverage that there will be no TT next year?
I presume that Tom & Cameron are on a press blitz for that (latest) awful movie of his. Isn’t she in it too?
sigh. Is there anyone here that doesn’t despise Contador 100% without question?
The route hasn't been set for 2001, and I doubt the decision's been made.
Not too many, it doesn't seem. But, by all means, please feel free to supply the "fair & balanced" for this thread in case Contador's Mom stops by here to read. After all, we wouldn't want her to feel bad seeing that he's so outnumbered here. ;-)
Naw I’m not a big fangirl of his. I was really hoping that Andy would be able to overcome him. Just noticing that there doesn’t seem to be even one person that isn’t 100% against Alberto. I’m with Phil Liggett when it comes to whether or not he should have stopped and waited for the mechanical problem to be fixed. “It’s a bike race!”
[thinking....thinking....]
OK. Alberto is indeed an amazingly gifted athlete. And his mother also probably loves him very, very much. ;-)
(But it's not likely to make much of a difference next year when a skinny Luxembourger is gonna mow him down!)
For that reason I am still furious with Cantador for attacking Schleck when his chain came off. That was a dirty move IMO. Not only did he attack, he pushed as hard as his possibly could on the descent and to top it all off, lied about not knowing about Schleck's mechanical problem. If it wasn't already bad enough we can add the winking and "we-both-know-I-let-you-win" from Tourmalet.
Plus I'm confused. The guys on tv said that these nicety gentlemanly customs only came in during the modern era. The Eddie Merckxes in their day wouldn't dream of not taking advantage of someone's mechanical mishaps. It's a race of bodies and equipment. Otherwise they'd be in a footrace.
I didn't see stages of this year's race for the last 3 days.. was on travel. I dunno what happened there.
Schleck attacked initially but when his chain came off, Contador took off. There was nothing wrong with Contador attacking back but not when Schleck was by the side of the road with his chain off.
In all the years I have followed the Tour (since 1995) there has been mutual respect between the top competitors and an understanding that they will not attack in a time of misfortune. Perhaps Eddie Merckx would have done things differently. I don’t know but in this era, the unspoken rule is that you don’t attack if your adversary suffers an unfortunate problem with his bike. They didn’t attack Sanchez when he had that bad accident yesterday. He was in 3rd at the time.
There is precedence in other sports, too: they stop football, basketball and baseball games if a player is injured as soon as possible. The teams are then allowed to substitute so they are not at a disadvantage.
I don’t see that as being the same really, since they don’t actually stop the play. They hold the game after the play is over. But w/e. I guess we just disagree about the cutthroat nature of the sport and where the acceptable lines are. If someone takes advantage of another’s mechanical misfortune, he’s taking the chance that, should the same fate befall him, no one will give him quarter in return. That’s his choice to make. I think that culture is enough, and it should be left to the athletes to suss out, without the fans calling them names if they decide to go that route. It’s just another strategy to me, not “cheating.” We all know nice guys finish last, except I suppose in St. Lance’s case, but it’s a sport rife with doping cheaters, so .. zzzzzzz.
As for Contador lying about not seeing Andy’s predicament, yeah, that’s lame. Very weak. Liars should be called out as liars under all circumstances. So. IDK.
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