Jul 11, 2011 at 06:24 PM
Posted By: WilliamDCis it just me or did Hoogerland get a wax recently?No, just you got a wax recently.
Training to Race: Faster, Stronger, Awesomer
Jul 11, 2011 at 06:43 PM
nah . . . i think he got one too
Jul 11, 2011 at 06:52 PM
The truth is in the eye of the beholder...
BTW, great piece of news: no crashes today in the TdF!
BTW, great piece of news: no crashes today in the TdF!
Jul 12, 2011 at 10:28 AM
Interesting analysis from Gilbert: he thinks leopard-trek has done the best job in the race so far and I'd have to agree....at least as far as setting themselves up on the GC. They have done a total of 3K on the front. All tour. Pretty awesome.
Jul 12, 2011 at 11:39 AM
3km on the front. Amazing, maybe Kissena should try that.
Jul 14, 2011 at 10:21 AM
It seems like they were saving it for today. Can't wait to see Jens take over!
Jul 15, 2011 at 11:26 AM
RE: Mavic neutral bikes "In fact, there are riders in the peloton who have never even used clips and straps." I'm sure that applies to a serious minority but comments like that'll make ya feel old.
Jul 15, 2011 at 11:31 AM
speaking of...
Jul 15, 2011 at 03:16 PM
Are they using the CAAD 10 now?
Jul 15, 2011 at 04:20 PM
After the stage today, Jérémy Roy said "Je ne suis pas un champion. Je fais avec mes moyens" (I'm not a champion. I make do with my limited abilities".) A lot of local riders who see themselves as champions should take note.
Jérémy added: "J'ai monté le Galibier à 380 watts pendant 39 minutes. C'est mon seuil, il est loin de celui des favoris du Tour. (Riding up the Galibier I averaged 380 watts during 39 minutes. That's my threshold, it's way below the numbers of the Tour favorites.)
Jérémy added: "J'ai monté le Galibier à 380 watts pendant 39 minutes. C'est mon seuil, il est loin de celui des favoris du Tour. (Riding up the Galibier I averaged 380 watts during 39 minutes. That's my threshold, it's way below the numbers of the Tour favorites.)
Jul 16, 2011 at 06:01 PM
Interesting commentary on Thor's move from Carmichael:
The world champion saw that the gap to Roy was stable, which meant that Roy didn’t have the power to go any faster. So Hushovd maintained the 15-18 second gap to Roy until he got closer to the finish line. This is something amateur racers can learn from: Hushovd waited until he could launch one big move to win the race. As a racer, you only have the energy for a handful of maximum-intensity efforts, and at the end of a hard day of racing you probably only have the energy left for one. Hushovd waited until he could attack Moncoutie, continue right past Roy, and make it all the way to the finish line in one prolonged effort. If had made his move earlier, there was a chance that one or both of the other riders could rejoin him, and then he might not have the energy left to make another big move
The world champion saw that the gap to Roy was stable, which meant that Roy didn’t have the power to go any faster. So Hushovd maintained the 15-18 second gap to Roy until he got closer to the finish line. This is something amateur racers can learn from: Hushovd waited until he could launch one big move to win the race. As a racer, you only have the energy for a handful of maximum-intensity efforts, and at the end of a hard day of racing you probably only have the energy left for one. Hushovd waited until he could attack Moncoutie, continue right past Roy, and make it all the way to the finish line in one prolonged effort. If had made his move earlier, there was a chance that one or both of the other riders could rejoin him, and then he might not have the energy left to make another big move
Jul 16, 2011 at 06:02 PM
Daily stage-race podium girls are by far the hottest of all the tasty ladies working the tour podium ceremonies this year.
Jul 16, 2011 at 06:27 PM
@Marc: Did you mean to whisper that to someone or did I forget non-sequitur day again? Either way, I'd like to see Stephane translate that into French.
Here's Google Translate's take: "Daily filles podium étape de la course sont de loin la plus chaude de toutes les dames savoureuse travailler les cérémonies podium tournée de cette année."
Here's Google Translate's take: "Daily filles podium étape de la course sont de loin la plus chaude de toutes les dames savoureuse travailler les cérémonies podium tournée de cette année."
Jul 16, 2011 at 08:43 PM
@Jeffrey, nah, I intend all my base and semi-crude (crudités?) comment to be read by all. Because I'm all class. I was inspired by the many lovely ladies I spied out on the roads today wearing bike shorts. None of whom were, or would ever consider riding with us jamokes; which actually makes them more attractive to me because they clearly have good sense to go along with their good looks.
In other news...I'm interested to see if Tom Danielson will be able to bounce back from a bad day, or will he be haunted by the ghosts of his past. He's always struck me as a mentally weak rider. He's either very good, or very, "meh." My boy VandeVelde looked good today, too bad he's doing the worker bee thing again this year.
In other news...I'm interested to see if Tom Danielson will be able to bounce back from a bad day, or will he be haunted by the ghosts of his past. He's always struck me as a mentally weak rider. He's either very good, or very, "meh." My boy VandeVelde looked good today, too bad he's doing the worker bee thing again this year.
Jul 16, 2011 at 09:43 PM
What a lame stage. Bring back the blatant dopers who attack balls out and kill each other. They're all cheating anyway.
Jul 16, 2011 at 10:30 PM
Interesting series of Tweet's by Lance Armstrong on Voeckler. I was wondering how long he'd have to hang on before this talk started. Is it possible??
lancearmstrong Lance Armstrong
If Voeckler makes it to the top w/ the leaders today then we have to say he can win the TdF. He's got 2 mins and they can't shake him.
lancearmstrong Lance Armstrong
lancearmstrong Lance Armstrong
He wasn't "swinging off the back" 2day. He was 1 of the strongest. The others weren't assertive and/or aggressive enough 2 make a selection.
7 hours ago
lancearmstrong Lance Armstrong
He has 2:06 on Evans. Final TT is 42km. He's French. It's the Tour de FRANCE. He won't lose 2:06 in the final time trial ASSUMING...
7 hours ago
lancearmstrong Lance Armstrong
He keeps them close on Alpe d'Huez. His teammate Pierre Rolland has been a rockstar and has to continue to be.
7 hours ago
Lastly, the dude knows how to suffer. Will be fun to watch. Enjoy.
6 hours ago Favorite Retweet Reply
lancearmstrong Lance Armstrong
If Voeckler makes it to the top w/ the leaders today then we have to say he can win the TdF. He's got 2 mins and they can't shake him.
lancearmstrong Lance Armstrong
lancearmstrong Lance Armstrong
He wasn't "swinging off the back" 2day. He was 1 of the strongest. The others weren't assertive and/or aggressive enough 2 make a selection.
7 hours ago
lancearmstrong Lance Armstrong
He has 2:06 on Evans. Final TT is 42km. He's French. It's the Tour de FRANCE. He won't lose 2:06 in the final time trial ASSUMING...
7 hours ago
lancearmstrong Lance Armstrong
He keeps them close on Alpe d'Huez. His teammate Pierre Rolland has been a rockstar and has to continue to be.
7 hours ago
Lastly, the dude knows how to suffer. Will be fun to watch. Enjoy.
6 hours ago Favorite Retweet Reply
Jul 17, 2011 at 12:41 AM
I think I ran into one of them too...
Jul 17, 2011 at 05:44 AM
^ classic
also, i agree with jeff
also, i agree with jeff
Jul 17, 2011 at 01:00 PM
Jul 17, 2011 at 01:07 PM
What happened?
Jul 17, 2011 at 01:13 PM
face plant in a ditch.
some hard man quotes here:
On Sunday morning he compared his eight stitches to the 33 received by Johnny Hoogerland, saying: “Start. Still 25 fewer than Johnny.....”
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/ten-dam-continues-in-the-tour-de-france
some hard man quotes here:
On Sunday morning he compared his eight stitches to the 33 received by Johnny Hoogerland, saying: “Start. Still 25 fewer than Johnny.....”
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/ten-dam-continues-in-the-tour-de-france
Jul 17, 2011 at 04:04 PM
Noses optional in bike racing.
Jul 17, 2011 at 05:19 PM
Jules wrote, quoting Chris Carmichael
"The world champion saw that the gap to Roy was stable, which meant that Roy didn’t have the power to go any faster. So Hushovd maintained the 15-18 second gap to Roy until he got closer to the finish line. This is something amateur racers can learn from: Hushovd waited until he could launch one big move to win the race. As a racer, you only have the energy for a handful of maximum-intensity efforts, and at the end of a hard day of racing you probably only have the energy left for one. Hushovd waited until he could attack Moncoutie, continue right past Roy, and make it all the way to the finish line in one prolonged effort. If had made his move earlier, there was a chance that one or both of the other riders could rejoin him, and then he might not have the energy left to make another big move"
I disagree with carmichael on several levels.
Seems to me he's putting a level of deliberate planning that was absent from Hushovd's thinking. Was Hushovd really thinking as he got dropped by Roy on the Aubisque, 'I'll catch David Moncoutie on the way down, let him ride with me, attack him at 2.5k to go, catch Roy at 2k to go and attack him and solo in?' My guess is that Hushovd would rather not have lost so much time going up and probably would have preferred to catch Roy much sooner on the way down. That was a hard chase back.
But considering how much time Thor ceded to Roy on the way, up having Moncoutie along for the ride was a benefit. Even if Moncoutie was just sitting on, David was actually helping Thor go faster. Thor did have to worry that Moncoutie was going to attack him around the time Thor attacked. Both David and Thor knew that it would be easier to dispatch Roy if it was only two-up going into the finish rather than three. And I doubt Thor would have attacked Roy if he had caught him with 10k to go. And you can never be certain that the tiring rider up ahead is that much more fatigued than you--after all, Thor used lots of energy to catch back up.
However, I know that when I saw the corners and the rises with 3k to go, I was hoping Thor would attack, and as he caught up to Roy, I expected him to ride right by.
There's only so much we amateurs an learn from this. In amateur racing, we're not hooked up to radios, so we aren't getting instantaneous updates from the director, whose can see the exact split on TV. In cyclocross, this is a good lesson to learn. But not on many times do we have a huge gap on the field and only two competitors to dispatch. And especially not if we're cresting a mountain a few minutes behind someone.
"The world champion saw that the gap to Roy was stable, which meant that Roy didn’t have the power to go any faster. So Hushovd maintained the 15-18 second gap to Roy until he got closer to the finish line. This is something amateur racers can learn from: Hushovd waited until he could launch one big move to win the race. As a racer, you only have the energy for a handful of maximum-intensity efforts, and at the end of a hard day of racing you probably only have the energy left for one. Hushovd waited until he could attack Moncoutie, continue right past Roy, and make it all the way to the finish line in one prolonged effort. If had made his move earlier, there was a chance that one or both of the other riders could rejoin him, and then he might not have the energy left to make another big move"
I disagree with carmichael on several levels.
Seems to me he's putting a level of deliberate planning that was absent from Hushovd's thinking. Was Hushovd really thinking as he got dropped by Roy on the Aubisque, 'I'll catch David Moncoutie on the way down, let him ride with me, attack him at 2.5k to go, catch Roy at 2k to go and attack him and solo in?' My guess is that Hushovd would rather not have lost so much time going up and probably would have preferred to catch Roy much sooner on the way down. That was a hard chase back.
But considering how much time Thor ceded to Roy on the way, up having Moncoutie along for the ride was a benefit. Even if Moncoutie was just sitting on, David was actually helping Thor go faster. Thor did have to worry that Moncoutie was going to attack him around the time Thor attacked. Both David and Thor knew that it would be easier to dispatch Roy if it was only two-up going into the finish rather than three. And I doubt Thor would have attacked Roy if he had caught him with 10k to go. And you can never be certain that the tiring rider up ahead is that much more fatigued than you--after all, Thor used lots of energy to catch back up.
However, I know that when I saw the corners and the rises with 3k to go, I was hoping Thor would attack, and as he caught up to Roy, I expected him to ride right by.
There's only so much we amateurs an learn from this. In amateur racing, we're not hooked up to radios, so we aren't getting instantaneous updates from the director, whose can see the exact split on TV. In cyclocross, this is a good lesson to learn. But not on many times do we have a huge gap on the field and only two competitors to dispatch. And especially not if we're cresting a mountain a few minutes behind someone.
Jul 18, 2011 at 05:02 PM
Via Lequipe:
"The chance to Thomas Voeckler in the Pyrenees is also a decline in the performance of the best climbers: Thursday, Schleck group Voeckler-Contador climbed the Plateau de Beille in 46'53, reports www.sportsscientists.com, against 44'17 Contador and Rasmussen for''in 2007, 45'40''to Armstrong and Basso in 2005 and 43''30''to Pantani in 1998 (an increase of slightly shorter)."
The article at sportscientist is a great read btw.
"The chance to Thomas Voeckler in the Pyrenees is also a decline in the performance of the best climbers: Thursday, Schleck group Voeckler-Contador climbed the Plateau de Beille in 46'53, reports www.sportsscientists.com, against 44'17 Contador and Rasmussen for''in 2007, 45'40''to Armstrong and Basso in 2005 and 43''30''to Pantani in 1998 (an increase of slightly shorter)."
The article at sportscientist is a great read btw.
Jul 18, 2011 at 10:36 PM
http://video.bicycling.com/video/Tom-Danielson-Post-Stage-14;Tour-de-France-2011-Videos
interesting. Doesn't know the climbs. He also sounds sick. I guess that is what happens when you destroy your body for 2+ weeks.
interesting. Doesn't know the climbs. He also sounds sick. I guess that is what happens when you destroy your body for 2+ weeks.
Jul 18, 2011 at 11:07 PM
probably too busy training 8 hrs a day to geek out on youtube videos chronicling historic races
Jul 19, 2011 at 12:27 AM
It's amazing, as cat.4 and 3, we're going to the Catskills to see the course and he has not even seen the Galibier and talks about it as if he was a tennis player who was going to participate in a Gran Fondo there.
Jul 19, 2011 at 06:53 AM
@Stephane. Totally agree. Back in the day, Danielson used to go on about how amazing it was to ride with Lance and how much he learned from him, but apparently scouting out stages was not one of the things.
Jul 19, 2011 at 11:33 AM
Not scouting stages: amateur (hence my performance at Pawling a couple of weeks back!).
Even I've ridden the Galibier. Thought I should check it out in case I ever hit the TdF. I'm so much more pro than Danielson.
Even I've ridden the Galibier. Thought I should check it out in case I ever hit the TdF. I'm so much more pro than Danielson.
Jul 19, 2011 at 02:27 PM
is it just me or does andy seem like a wuss