Tour de France 2007

Man, I don't care who is doing what and who is laying claim to the moral high ground. WHAT A RACE this year! Vino who just won't lay down. And then that fantastic battle for the overall victory. Wow. This should come down to seconds on the TT. Contador will attack on the d'Aubisque but so far no indication that he can open up a gap on Rasmussen and keep it after he sits back down in the saddle.

How does that dude lose 29 minutes to the leader in one stage on Sunday, then come right back the next day to win the next stage?

Answer: He didn't get resupplied with stuff until Sunday night. Probably was supposed to get it Sunday morning and the shipment didn't show up in time.

ghost of Floyd Freakin Landis wrote:

How does that dude lose 29 minutes to the leader in one stage on Sunday, then come right back the next day to win the next stage?

Answer: He didn't get resupplied with stuff until Sunday night. Probably was supposed to get it Sunday morning and the shipment didn't show up in time.

or, more realistically, he had a classic jour sans like we used to see in tour riding all the time. the freakish era of strong GC riders riding hard everyday and recovering in 24 hours from a hard performance to ride just as hard the next day may have been an anomaly.

two big things that seem very important thing

1) ras was essentialy let go on stage 8 because the contenders didn't think he was a threat

oops

wish they could get those three minutes back now

2) on that very stage contodor had to change his wheel and lost about 30 seconds

those seconds seem very important

basically in summary ras got very lucky because the leaders got him go that one day when they really shouldn't have and also when valv tanked ras had a huge carrot

Runningart2004 wrote:

Futhermore:

Which is more exciting:

a) 73 home runs in a year

b) 40 home runs in a year

a) 2:05 marathon

b) 2:09 marathon

a) 300lb linemen running across the field taking out a running back

b) 300lb linemen jogging across the field missing a running back.

I'm guessing all A's?

Alan

What is more exciting:

A) a boxing match where two guys beat each other

B) a free for all in which knives and guns are permissible

I'm guessing the answer is B. Somebody contact the networks.

Wow, what another exciting day in the Tour. Looking back, should Contrador/Discovery attacked earlier on the final climb? Rasmussen was damn tough throughout, but he did appear to be vulnerable. I wonder if today was the day to really test Rasmussen, as he has a rest day before the final mountain stage.

I don't see Rasmussen losing unless he cracks to either Contrador or Evans, which I'm don't really see happening. Maybe, just maybe, Team Discovery can use their strength to give Contrador a chance to gain some time on Rasmussen, but he has defending the yellow jersey very well so far.

Looking ahead to the time trial, Evans still seems in reach of Contrador (~1:30 minutes), but can he make up 4 minutes on Rasmussen, assuming the standings stay relatively similar after Wednesday's stage?

With one more mountain stage and the time trial, what are your picks?

wondering seriously wrote:

two big things that seem very important thing

1) ras was essentialy let go on stage 8 because the contenders didn't think he was a threat

oops

wish they could get those three minutes back now

2) on that very stage contodor had to change his wheel and lost about 30 seconds

those seconds seem very important

basically in summary ras got very lucky because the leaders got him go that one day when they really shouldn't have and also when valv tanked ras had a huge carrot

I've wondered the same thing about the importance of that stage and the peloton's underestimation of Rasmussen. But to his credit, he continues to ride very well and there is no reason to not expect Rasmussen to have one big stage in the mountains regardless. But I do hope Contrador can muster one more great mountain stage and gain some time on Rasmussen. It's too bad that Vino has been so up and down, as he sure adds a lot of excitement to the race. Obviously, he got ahead today because of yesterday's disaster, but it would have been that much more intriguing to have him one great time trial away from the yellow jersey.

It's been a lot of fun watching the Tour, but it rarely disappoints.

contador probably needs 30" on rasmussen to feel comfortable overhauling him in last TT. if he get's that 30" PLUS the stage win, then it's a net 38" at least on ras and that would be huge. i'm gonna bet that disco will be able to gang up on wednesday and launch contador to do just that.

i see:

1. contador

2. rasmussen

3. evans/kloeden

for podium. with levi just barely off! if kloeden can hang on on wednesday and keep the rubber side down on saturday, he'll overtake evans.

I thought yesterday's stage with 5 guys attacking each other on the final climb was one of the most exciting things I have ever watched on the tour.

this may be stating the obvious, but I think the last mtn. stage is a gonna' be a battle royale, and I think that Disco is gonna' throw everything they have at Rasmussen.

tt splits

ras

chrono 1 18.0 km 29th at 00:01:42

chrono 2 35.6 km 22th at 00:02:40

chrono 3 38.5 km 17th at 00:02:37

chrono 4 49.0 km 13th at 00:02:53

arrivee 54.0 km 11th at 00:02:55

cont

chrono 1 18.0 km 24th at 00:01:36

chrono 2 35.6 km 11th at 00:02:03

chrono 3 38.5 km 8th at 00:01:49

chrono 4 49.0 km 7th at 00:02:11

arrivee 54.0 km 7th at 00:02:18

evans

chrono 1 18.0 km 6th at 00:00:57

chrono 2 35.6 km 3th at 00:01:12

chrono 3 38.5 km 2th at 00:01:01

chrono 4 49.0 km 2th at 00:01:17

arrivee 54.0 km 2th at 00:01:14

kloden

chrono 1 18.0 km 3th at 00:00:34

chrono 2 35.6 km 4th at 00:01:16

chrono 3 38.5 km 3th at 00:01:19

chrono 4 49.0 km 3th at 00:01:38

arrivee 54.0 km 3th at 00:01:39

based on those splits of the flatter part it seemes that cont will only be partially faster than ras on the last tt which means he will have to absolutely destroy him on wensday. I don't think he can do it all on the last climb, disco will have to start early

I agree. I know I'm stating the obvious, but it's really in Rasmussen's hands and I would be surprised if anyone can really gap him on Wednesday. I think it would incredibly exciting to see Contrador within :30 to a minute going into the final time trial, but I'm guessing that Rasmussen will cover all of Discovery's moves on Wednesday. Regardless, he's going to be in for a long day with numerous attacks, and as someone else mentioned, a "battle royale."

Contrador is still behind by 2:23. He won't put that on Razzy during two stages (mountain and TT only ones left that matter).

Alan

"I attacked Rasmussen to try to challenge him," said Contador. "I saw that he was a little worse than yesterday, but he was able to follow me. On Wednesday, I am going to play for it all. Second place doesn't matter. I am going to risk all to win. If I end up in sixth, it doesn't matter."

Words. Nothing more. Contador can't do it without his team and DSC and Contador went apeshit today and look what happened? Nothing. Razzy is just too strong in the mountains. They'll have to gun it from the start and they won't because they all still have to finish the Tour. I bet Contador burns out, has a 1:00 or more lead heading into the last climb to the finish and eats shit. Razzy knows where he stands. 2:30 is a lot to make up in two stages. It won't happen. The only hope is for DSC to attack like they did today and hope Razzy is too fatigued for the TT (on Saturday?).

If they didn't get it done today then how can they do it tommorrow? Today's stage was more difficult.

Alan

Clearly you haven't either. Its an immune function mediated condition that effect the skin and joints. Its NOT an allergy to the sun. Treatment for that may include (depending on the type of psoriasis) bombardment with UV rays... but im sure you already knew that. So, surveys says, WAAAAAHHHHH, wrong answer. I don't know what he has but its NOT an allergy to the sun.

or he just bagged the first day in the pyrenees...which would allow he to feel good today. It wasn't a Landis type of blow up and then magically be recovered the following day. He waved bye bye and then just "jogged" it in. He just looked like (to me) he bagged it. I was thinking he was going to rip away today. And $20 he will Wed. His tour is over. He can only shoot for stage wins at this point. But yes he's dirty....just like everyone else in that race.

Runningart2004 wrote:

Words. Nothing more. Contador can't do it without his team and DSC and Contador went apeshit today and look what happened? Nothing. Razzy is just too strong in the mountains. They'll have to gun it from the start and they won't because they all still have to finish the Tour. I bet Contador burns out, has a 1:00 or more lead heading into the last climb to the finish and eats shit. Razzy knows where he stands. 2:30 is a lot to make up in two stages. It won't happen. The only hope is for DSC to attack like they did today and hope Razzy is too fatigued for the TT (on Saturday?).

If they didn't get it done today then how can they do it tommorrow? Today's stage was more difficult.

Alan

disco didn't through everything they had today. They pretty much chilled and then contodar attacked way way to late. I think once he realized ras was hangingn he was just playing with him and gaining the mental edge. Maybe this is all wrong but today was a boring stage until 2km from the top.

great tour this year!!

phil and paul kept talking about how much contador was making ras hurt but what i saw was a desperate contador trying to get rid of ras and not being successful.

it is ras's race to lose at this point but i think we are looking at the next champion of the tour (08) with contador. that guy is killing the tour.