Viva Le Tour - Tour de France 2011

[Grahaml]

So how does the time trial actually work? Every rider is completely by themself? Do they ever catch the rider in front? How long is the gap when they send each rider off? 1 min? 2 mins?

Yes, it's solo. The early riders are spaced by 2 minutes and later on by 3 minutes. Drafting is illegal if they do catch the rider in front which is fairly common. A rider like Cancellara might even catch the 2 riders in front. Usually there will only be around 10-12 take it full on seriously, depending on what positions are in doubt and how many think they're a chance to win the stage.

[geppscrossrams]

So how does the time trial actually work? Every rider is completely by themself? Do they ever catch the rider in front? How long is the gap when they send each rider off? 1 min? 2 mins?

Every rider is by themselves. Starts off in reverse classification order with riders leaving 2 mins apart. The last few riders to leave (not sure how many) have a gap of 3 mins. If a rider catches up with another rider in front they are not allowed to slipstream so need to ride straight pass.

[Grahaml]

Found the commentary about Contador interesting. They kept saying if he gets within 2m30 of Cadel, Cadel would have to worry. Usually those guys are pretty good, but no way will Contador get a 1 minute lead back in a time trial. If anything, Cadel would take time off him! That's exactly why it got to 1m and he didn't want any part of the chase. Let Frank and Andy protect Frank's podium finish. Cadel could have let it get to 3 minutes before he really bothered to chase it down hard.

Damn I'm excited now. This SHOULD finally be it. Not over by any stretch, but I think last year Contador was simply marking Schleck and would have taken around 2-3 minutes had he produced anything like his usual performance. Cadel is around the same class as Contador on a time trial, so once Andy falls behind, he might dig deep and then start to drop back much quicker when (and if) he can't keep that up. And hopefully Cadel has that bike checked over and over for any issues. Don't want him losing seconds changing a friggin bike in the time trial!

[dedja]

That man Cadel has balls ... big ones.

Love how he told Andy Schleck to piss off near the top of l'Alp d'Huez.

[Grahaml]

That man Cadel has balls ... big ones

He's had a great team this year. They've not had the ability to stick during the mountain passes, but few teams have the ability to appoint more than 1 serious climber, but they've always kept him up front, looked after him and made sure he's kept everything for when he needs it. Far cry from pervious years and I think it's all down mostly to Hincapie running the show. Must inspire you to finish the job on a day like today.

[dedja]

The thing I like is that he still looks strong. In past years when he was expected to take the lead in the time trial he was spent ... not this year it seems.

[Grahaml]

The thing I like is that he still looks strong. In past years when he was expected to take the lead in the time trial he was spent ... not this year it seems.

100% agreed. He's worked less hard on meaningless stages, made his rivals work harder to create chances and vitally for just about the first time since we found out Contador was actually a magnificent time trialler is injury free.

[whufc]

Are these proffesional cyclists the toughest men in world sport?

If there not their bloody damn close.

Great tour and whoever wins is a TRUE champion.

[Dirko]

Are these proffesional cyclists the toughest men in world sport?

If there not their bloody damn close.

Great tour and whoever wins is a TRUE champion.

They're freaks. I did a 1hr on the bike with my trainer yesterday and I can't move

[Dirko]

[Jim05]

Yeah saw that. The fans a are disgrace, dangerous enough sport without having to worry about these idiots. Saw one fan throw water at one of the riders. Good to see Contador try to punch one of the pricks who got in his face. The french police are a joke, dont ever want to get to the day where a fence is put up

[Sploosh]

If I was competing, I'd LOVE a fence put up instead of having to try and navigate through that kind of mess near the end. At times, it was very hard to see where the actual course was through the crowd of idiots on the road.

[Grahaml]

From Cadel's diary on his website: Tomorrow, very simple: ride fast from point (a) to point (b).

[Swooper16]

Fingers crossed Cadel can do the business tonight and cement his place alongside the likes of Bradman, Perkins, Fraser, Boyle Warne etc as a legend of Australian sport.

His mental resiliance over this tour & in particular the last 2 stages has been incredible. To twice work his way back into contention with no help on successive days will go into Australian folklore.

[RustyCage]

Any idea roughly what time Cadel is expected out?

[Sploosh]

Any idea roughly what time Cadel is expected out?

I was wondering the same. I guess watching time trials on TV won't be as tactically exciting as the last few nights. The SBS broadcast finishes at 1:30(ish), so if he's a few from the end, maybe Cadel is finishing about 1:00 or just after?

[am Bays]

Are these proffesional cyclists the toughest men in world sport?

If there not their bloody damn close.

Great tour and whoever wins is a TRUE champion.

They're F***ing freaks. One of the great experiences as budding hack sport scientist was to watch Stuie O'grady, Brett Lancaster, Brett Aitkin and the like do their final VO2 tests at SASI prior to them going to the World Champs in the mid 90s. To see them hold 450 + watts and hit maxVO2s of 85 mls/kg/min makes you realise how much different to the average hack athlete they really are.

Mind you they aren't much different to Olympic marathoners, swimmers, triathletes, rowers etc. Try running a km in 3 min, then think World record pace for the marathon is 42 consecutive kms at under 3 min/km. I can just do a km in 4 mins then I'm rooted for the next 4 mins, then it becomes a 4:10 km.....

Elite athletes different species.

[fuzz]

Any idea roughly what time Cadel is expected out?

. Pretty sure it is 12.06 a.m.

[dedja]

approximately?

[pels]

Another awesome stage last night, great viewing.
I reckon its a genuine 50/50 bet tonight.
There is nothing definite about this TT,anything can happen.
Lets hope Evans can do it but its going to be tough.