Last year with Fassa, he had the worst position ever but its much improved since he made the move to CSC. I expect that he will lose about 1.5 - 2 mins to Armstrong on the final, flat 55K TT.

Dave from VA

Basso will most likely lose time in the final TT, but it is not exactly flat. Very rolling and looks fairly difficult for a finall TT.

He has improved a lot, but people like Armstrong, Ullrich and Hamilton are different. You can wake those guys up at 3am and they'll ride a strong TT, with Basso it is a lot more tentative. But he is not going to lose 6min like last year in the long TT (he lost less in the second TT as the rain was a nice equalizer).

Basically the position is there, the Watts are there, but whether or not that comes together depends on his mindset. How long can you concentrate on keeping right at your max, how positive do you feel about suffering, etc. We're doing everything we can to give him a psychological boost, we just brought two new frames over to France that we'll build up for him. All those little things help, you should see those guys when you bring them a new toy. So if everything goes OK he'll ride his first toy, an R2.5 Bayonne (superlight R2.5), at Alpe d'Huez and then the P3 SL (lighter P3) on Saturday. That's all we can do, after that it's up to him.

Gerard

didn't lance train a ton on the d'huez this year? knowing the course very well makes for a huge advantage. you can apply yourself a lot more efficiently if you know what to expect around every turn.

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http://www.barefootrunning.org

Frame weights please!

Dave from VA

Gerard,

Interesting comments ...
I was wondering for a reasonably competitive age-group TT'r if there are significant benefits to be gained from wind-tunnel testing? Hey you could promote a trip to MIT for Cervelo owners or something along those lines? :)

Most of us spend big $$ on bikes, wheels, skinsuits, aero helmets and the like but the basic body position is still the most influential, correct? I'd be willing to spend $$ equal to a set of race wheels if I could gain a noticeable improvement in flat TT's ...

rmur

Sounds risky. What about tweaking the position, shaking all the bugs out, getting the feel for a new bike? Seems like it's breaking the first rule of racing - don't try anything new on race day. But what do I know; I'm not the expert.

He's better positioned on the bike (which wasn't very hard), but he still isn't a top time-trialist. He lost the italian TT championships to Dario Cioni which is not a specialist either. I'm guessing he'll lose 3min to Ullrich, 2:30 to Armstrong and Kloeden.

And I still remember when Jan went past him in the first TT last year. He looked like he was standing still! Riis' methods are good, but not THAT good :-)

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"Yeah, no one likes a smartass, but we all like stars" - Thom Yorke


smartasscoach.tri-oeiras.com

In last year's tour, Basso wasn't so on Armstrong as he is this year. He was fighting for the white jersey competition so you can't compare it, cause this year he's fight for GC.

Basso has really improved in his TT skills and maybe he is the only one who can and will be a treath to Lance. If he stays within a margin of 2 min to Lance, i'll bet you we won't lose that much time. Remember Izidro Nozal in last year's vuelta? Remember Aitor Gonzalez ?

When you are fighting for so great achievement, you give it 110%, it seems like you have extra power and I think Basso is the only man who really has a chance to beat Lance.

I would say he will lose no more that 20'' at Alpe D'Huez and will make the ride of his life in the final TT.

I also think Ullrich will cross the line in Paris in the podium!

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Is this like a Portuguese invasion or something? The Paulo-Klep double team action attaking you from every side so you can't say anything back!

I don't think he'll stick around with the big guns on the final TT. However, I wouldn't be surprised if he won the mountain TT! Lance certainly looked very strong when he came around him two stages ago for the win...but, Basso is the only guy that seems to be able to hang with Lance when the road gets really steep. I hope he at least makes it very interesting...he's a great rider. Heck the WORST guy in the tour is great. What I mean to say is Basso is one of the handful of very best top riders remaining in the tour.

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Quid quid latine dictum sit altum videtur
(That which is said in Latin sounds profound)

"I'd be willing to spend $$ equal to a set of race wheels if I could gain a noticeable improvement in flat TT's ... "

Wasn't John Cobb at one time offering wind tunnel testing for AG'ers as part of his bike fit camp. Seems to me it was *only* about $3500.

I think Basso's Alpe dHuez performance will give some indication - so far in the mountains he hasn't really set the pace himself so the uphill TT will show how mentally able he is to keep it on the rivet himself. But I suspect he will lose 2 to 3 minutes to the winner in the final TT (probably Armstrong). Over that distance it doesn't take much difference to lose several minutes.

I don't think Ullrich will shine in the last TT. He will be too blasted from trying to limit his losses in the mountains to have that much left unless he gives up the chase and saves it for the TT.

He also lost half an hour on everybody at the Dauphine-Libere, so I guess he's not a top climber either? Data without context is a dangerous thing. Basso was training straight through the Italian TT champs, he did 200k or so on his TT bike the day before. Did Cioni?

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Gerard Vroomen
3T.bike
OPEN cycle

I assume LA will start last again in both remaining time trials ... good assumption? How much of an advantage will it be to know the times/splits of the other GC contenders? From a newbie (4-year) TDF fanatic, that seems like quite an advantage - especially Wednesday on the mountain he knows so well. It certainly seemed to help last year in the rain once Jan went down. Thoughts from those more expeprienced in the major tours?

Chubby

It's a tough decision between being conservative and giving the riders something to get excited about. In the end it is decided by the rider, they build up the new bikes, he rides it and then decides what to do. Some riders are super easy-going, others are very picky, Basso is somewhere in the middle.

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Gerard Vroomen
3T.bike
OPEN cycle

"Seems like it's breaking the first rule of racing - don't try anything new on race day"

It's true, but I think this is a "rule" that get's regularly broken by top professional athletes who are very confidant in their abilities and the advice of their advisors. I think the rule is meant more for "new" people who may not be as confidant, or who have direct access to top advice.

As an aside, I think that at the top, many of the "rules" get broken with a surprising regularity. You think the Kenyans only do 10% of their training at a fast pace. Think again!

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

I'm guessing not, it was Cioni's last race before a rest period. But I do seem to remember reading an interview with Bjarne Riis saying that the Italian TT Championships were an objective to Basso and Peron. It was under that assumption that I said that.

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"Yeah, no one likes a smartass, but we all like stars" - Thom Yorke


smartasscoach.tri-oeiras.com

Its a huge advantage to start after you competion. As you wrote it gives you knowledge of what is going on ahead of you and you can compensate accordingly. For example, if Basso explodes on the Alpe d'Huez TT (highly unlikely) you can be sure that Lance will back it down a notch and conserve some engery for the next day.

Gee, can I buy one of each of those frames in a size 51 please? Forward them down to me in Florida and send the bill along.

Bjarne did say that, it was an objective in that is was Basso's last chance to really gauge his strength and he wanted to see where he stood. But it wasn't important to win it, he didn't taper for it. Peron definitely went for the win (but finished second).

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Gerard Vroomen
3T.bike
OPEN cycle

aargh $3500 is more like a bike than a wheelset! Isn't JC passe now anyway that USPS don't work with him any longer?

Sure, August for the P3 SL, September for the R2.5 Bayonne. We'll add it to your tab :-)

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Gerard Vroomen
3T.bike
OPEN cycle

So what you're saying here is that I need to be in touch with you to make predictions about CSC riders, I can't trust what Bjarne says. :-)

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"Yeah, no one likes a smartass, but we all like stars" - Thom Yorke


smartasscoach.tri-oeiras.com