OK, I’m trolling a bit here, but Basso looks like a dingleberry dangling from my dog’s butt. Everytime they show him, he’s hanging off the ass end of the peloton or the CSC team during the TTT. I see Vino, Jan, the entire Disco Team, and Julich in the top 30 ALL THE TIME. He’s either hurting or he’s riding careless, either way he’s either not physically into this or not mentally into this. At first I thought maybe it was just that the cameras were catching him at bad times (especially the last 3 km of the TTT), but you never see any of the other team leaders playing in the backyard. Why is Basso? At the very least, he owes it to guys like Julich who could be top 5 GC contenders to get his butt to the front and ride smart.
Assuming Basso is not at his best, and it’s pure speculation at this point, who’s the “man” then? Will they just waste Julich and Sastre by towing Basso around for a few stages, or will they let one of them compete for GC? Julich looked strong in the TTT, the opening TT, and looked strong towing the peloton up the final climb today.
OK, I’m trolling a bit here, but Basso looks like a dingleberry dangling from my dog’s butt. Everytime they show him, he’s hanging off the ass end of the peloton or the CSC team during the TTT. I see Vino, Jan, the entire Disco Team, and Julich in the top 30 ALL THE TIME. He’s either hurting or he’s riding careless, either way he’s either not physically into this or not mentally into this. At first I thought maybe it was just that the cameras were catching him at bad times (especially the last 3 km of the TTT), but you never see any of the other team leaders playing in the backyard. Why is Basso? At the very least, he owes it to guys like Julich who could be top 5 GC contenders to get his butt to the front and ride smart.
The first mountain stage is going to be great!!!
Maybe its a rope a dope like
Armstrong pulled in 2001 or 02?
Maybe, but in my opinion you really would have to be a dope to sit at the back end of more than 100 riders going into corners at 60 km per hour! Seems like a lot to risk for a simple mind game.
Why do you mean it doesn’t sound good for his TdF ambitions? I can’t see how the two things are related. It’s not like he have to pull out of TdF to make it to Denmark.
Do you think it ruins his preparations for TdF 2006?
Saw this on Bicycling Mag’s site. Bradley McGee’s thoughts about CSC and their role in today’s crash:
"So, let me vent a little for a minute. What the #$*&@& was CSC thinking? On the last climb of the day they went ballistic. In aid of what? As we were climbing I rode up to Bobby Julich and asked him straight up what the hell they thought they were doing. Bobby said, “We have our reasons.”
Now, I’m not saying that it was certain that if CSC hadn’t chased, then Christophe wouldn’t have taken that corner so fast, wouldn’t have gone down, and we would have won. But if CSC hadn’t taken over at that point, things would have ended differently. In this sport what goes around comes around and what CSC did today will probably come back to them later. They had no remotely good reason to chase."
I think he’s riding smart.
Sit in the back and save every ounce of energy for mountains. Make your competitors think your sucking too. Lance on the Alp D’uez stage comes to mind.
We saw his form at the Giro… I don’t think he’s out of shape. I think he’s going to make Lance and Vino hurt.
The mountains stages this year are going to be the best ever!!!
I’m willing to side with the “playing possum” crowd. Even if he’s on bad form, these are hardly the kind of days that keep people trolling on the long end of the peloton…
I will agree, though, that riding at the back is extremely risky…though somewhat less so with the “same time” rule extended out to 3km…they don’t have to ride so tightly…and right now they know that none of the big boys are going to break off the front. Interesting strategy, if my first assumption above is true…we’ll see if it pays off for Riis, Basso, and the rest.
"So, let me vent a little for a minute. What the #$*&@& was CSC thinking? On the last climb of the day they went ballistic. In aid of what? As we were climbing I rode up to Bobby Julich and asked him straight up what the hell they thought they were doing. Bobby said, “We have our reasons.”
Was CSC unhappy about the Lotto and QuickStep not slowing the pace to let Basso get back after his flat and so wanted to make it hard for their sprinters? Like McGee said what goes around comes around
Obligation - no, but as was said, what goes around, comes around. You keep the pace high when my team leader is trying to get back on, I’ll keep it high over a climb to put your sprinter in difficulty. Anyway I’m not saying that is what was going on, just wondering. Gerard might be able to shed some light.
Obligation - no, but as was said, what goes around, comes around. You keep the pace high when my team leader is trying to get back on, I’ll keep it high over a climb to put your sprinter in difficulty. Anyway I’m not saying that is what was going on, just wondering. Gerard might be able to shed some light.
Try to read my post here: http://forum.slowtwitch.com/gforum.cgi?post=453517;#453517
The pace of the peloton had nothing to do with Basso. I’d be suprised if the sprinter teams even noticed that he got a flat. People get flats, the race continues. If they slowed every time somebody got a flat, the race would be 15 mph.
Why do you mean it doesn’t sound good for his TdF ambitions? I can’t see how the two things are related. It’s not like he have to pull out of TdF to make it to Denmark.<<
What I mean is that you win the Tour de France and I would think you’d immediately go to something bigger. Not that the Tour of Denmark isn’t a big race.