Viva Le Tour - Tour de France 2011

[pels]

Evans wins his 1st TDF stage, beating the dirty dog Contador.
Hushovd stays in Yellow, best result for Evans doesn't need the yellow so early on.

[NFC]

That was sensational.

Well done Cadel!

[Grahaml]

Evans wins his 1st TDF stage, beating the dirty dog Contador.
Hushovd stays in Yellow, best result for Evans doesn't need the yellow so early on.

Actually it's his second, but the first was somewhat belated. Unfortunate he didn't get to salute at the end. Probably relief and exhaustion mixed with not really being sure. Contador I'm sure was expecting to get past and was so certain he'd preplanned the celebration then realised right on the line he wasn't quite so sure.

Some observations though.

1. First time Evans attacks with success in the TDF. No time, but Contador tellingly didn't get to him. Contador and Schleck have both had his measure before on attacks.

2. Andy Schleck lost time. Not a disaster, but not a good sign for him either. Rarely do you see a GC rider dropping back one day and going ahead later on.

3. BMC are twice the support Lotto were. Evans wouldn't have been near the front at the end with his old crew and also would probably not have the confidence in them to use his power to attack. Makes a hell of a difference knowing you have someone who will be there tomorrow for you.

4. Contador, for a guy who has had so much racing lately with the Giro not so far back, looked far less of a rider than he has previously. Still looks strong, but not the peerless untouchable force we're used to seeing.

5. Cavendish looks down on his sprint form. Gave up meekly for the intermediate after failing to really fire on other sprints. Given his previous poor intermadiate sprint record and the abundance of undulating stage finishes rather than pure flat roads he looks unlikely to really challenge for green for mine.

Cadel has burned our hopes before, despite working harder than anyone else in the race (IMHO) but the signs this year are better than ever before. Just so long as he keeps the bike upright for once so he can really see how close he can get.

[Jase]

So glad I went to bed with 20Km's to go...

My own fault... stupid boy...

[Squawk]

Good summary Grahaml - couldn't have said it any better!

Perhaps my greatest comfort last night was that twice Cadel had to go back for mechanical issues in the final 40km, yet he managed to overcome all that (and a new bike) to get to the finish first. It's like Lady Luck is with him so far, given the misfortunes dished out to the likes of Contador.

Realistically, that was a solid outcome for Cadel and another little mental blow for Contador who will be stewing over the fact that in the opening stages, nothing has "gone right" for him. Stage 1 he lost 80 seconds to the leader and 77 to Cadel' stage 2 he lost 28 seconds and 24 to cadel; and stage 3 a big rival had two mechanical issues and still pipped him over the line.

[Mop Up]

Gday Folks, just got put onto this from the Gambling thread.. good read in here!!

Thing I was most glad to see last night was although it wasn't overly suited to AC, it was the first time I've ever seen a grimmace and some real pain in his face.
Maybe the Giro is taking it's toll already. No-ones done that double since the 90s

Great work by Evans, gets a win and stays outta Yellow for the time being which could be a blessing in disguise. Seems to be riding with lots of confidence, very comfortable.

Tonight could be good if the forecasted winds stick around, with the route going along the coast for a way. GC contenders will have to be real alert and up the front.

I've gone for an outsider tonight in Rojas... hopefully keep my tipping success up ( 2 from 2 in the gambling thread)

[mickey]

Wind and narrowish roads are causing havoc tonight... crashing everywhere, couple of riders having to abandon.... a good nights racing so far.

[Grahaml]

Wind and narrowish roads are causing havoc tonight... crashing everywhere, couple of riders having to abandon.... a good nights racing so far.

Was a little bit disappointing in the end. All those spills, riders having trouble on the first attack 80km or so out. Then nothing in the last 50ks. I was expecting an Astana style attack from a few years ago when they split the peleton in 2 in a crosswind and eliminated half the top 10 threats in one go. Could have been the crashes and riders trying to return that stopped that, but if there was some respite for a while a team like Leopard (or whatever it is) with Voigt, Cancellara and O'Grady could have come up and tried something. Surely BMC, Sky and a few sprinters teams who had their men near the front would have jumped on like the day Vino suddenly told his blokes to rip up the road.

But there will be a few sore bodies and maybe a few withdrawals overnight. And yet again, Contador is having the Cadel luck while Cadel sails through without a hassle. Couple of years ago he had Popovych on his team who was useless suddenly that one year until he went on a breakaway in the mountains. This year he's got Hincapie who is doing everything Pop should have.

[Jase]

Fell asleep again, woke up for the presentations...

[mickey]

Would have loved to see BMC take off when contador went down.

[Grahaml]

Only Contador does dirty tricks like that.

[mickey]

A long stage tonight 200km+ and the rain is falling.. breakaway is @ 10 minutes so far with 112km still to ride

[Grahaml]

So far the breakaways haven't really threatened to stay away at all. The main field hasn't even had to seriously chase them down, probably because they've only been 4 or 5 riders. Hopefully tomorrow we get a 12-15 man breakaway and give the sprinters teams some work to do.

But yet again, another perfect stage for Cadel. Contador got dropped off briefly to change his bike and Evans just sat near the front with teammates all around him the whole day. Even looked briefly like he was keeping his options open for the final sprint until he saw he was outgunned. Makes you wonder how much he really does have in his legs if he's feeling that good with Contador looking decidedly jaded and Andy Schleck a poor time triallist.

[Squawk]

Wind and narrowish roads are causing havoc tonight... crashing everywhere, couple of riders having to abandon.... a good nights racing so far.

Was a little bit disappointing in the end. All those spills, riders having trouble on the first attack 80km or so out. Then nothing in the last 50ks. I was expecting an Astana style attack from a few years ago when they split the peleton in 2 in a crosswind and eliminated half the top 10 threats in one go. Could have been the crashes and riders trying to return that stopped that, but if there was some respite for a while a team like Leopard (or whatever it is) with Voigt, Cancellara and O'Grady could have come up and tried something. Surely BMC, Sky and a few sprinters teams who had their men near the front would have jumped on like the day Vino suddenly told his blokes to rip up the road.But there will be a few sore bodies and maybe a few withdrawals overnight. And yet again, Contador is having the Cadel luck while Cadel sails through without a hassle. Couple of years ago he had Popovych on his team who was useless suddenly that one year until he went on a breakaway in the mountains. This year he's got Hincapie who is doing everything Pop should have.

I remember that well - it was amazing to watch that organised split at the time.

I'm thinking that all the teams are a little out of sync with the standings - there have been so many unusual happenings in the first week - that they're not really quite sure whether to try and exploit the current circumstances now or wait and see what happens in the next fortnight. They seem to be prefering the latter!

[Grahaml]

Yes, a lot of riders and teams are putting off making moves until much, much later down the track. Often the only time a GC rider will seriously attack is the last climb of the tour, this year at L'Alp d'Huez I expect the same. But I think a lot of teams are now becoming too conservative. Especially Leopard-Trek. With Cancellara, Voigt and O'Grady on their roster they can drive better than anyone and knowing neither Schleck is a good time trialler so they need time in hand, why would the seemingly dismiss a chance?

It's not like a breakaway hasn't decided the tour either. When Landis "won" the tour, he got yellow on a solo breakaway through the mountains where tempo is more important than slipstreaming. when he was stripped, the next placed guy was a bloke who took 1/2 an hour on a breakaway earlier on. That was only about 5 years ago and nobody has really tried it since. The guys looking at the moment for 5th-10th, by not taking a chance are settling for 5th-10th and giving themselves no chance to win or take a podium spot.

[mickey]

Tonights stage

[dedja]

pancake flat ...

[mickey]

Thats why Cavendish is $1.50 to win tonights stage

[dedja]

the sprinters to have some fun at the end, otherwise a leisurely ride for everyone else ... token rest day.

[The Sleeping Giant]

Unfortunately, Cadel could crack in the 2nd half of the tour. Not as tough mentally as some others. This tour does look "flatter" than some recent tours though.