OK, no more tickets onto the chickens bandwagon. No matter what happens now, he has proven himself the strongest guy in the race. HE has earned the yellow jersey respect, countered every attack against him, and pulled Contrador to the win today, because that was his duty being in yellow. Levi rode smart, and he may be able to podium now that most of the big names cracked. He is also in a pretty good spot to pick up any pieces or bad luck fron the chicken or contrador…What a great race…
"…What a great race… "
Incredible. Everything I love about bike racing.
Agree, Rasmussen has shown he’s the strongest rider.
scott
Rasmussen looked pissed when he realized he’d have to pull all the way to the top.
Clearly Contrador was the one that was pissed as he seemed to tell the Chicken that if he is the man in Yellow that he better do some work. Great vet move by the rookie.
Awesome racing by the way.
That was a really good race today. Interesting to see some big names crack a bit and Vino drop off a cliff. Contador looked great, and we’ll see how well these guys stand up over the next couple days. I was a bit surprised at how good Levi looked. Even though he didn’t have the acceleration, he never really looked to be in trouble. I wonder if anyone wants to reassess their opinions of Discovery, given how many people wrote them off before the tour started.
I expect Contador and Rasmussen to give back chunks of time in the next time trial. The last one really suited them well, and the roads dried out for them. I think Levi needs to catch and put about 2 minutes into Cadel. It’s still a 5 man race, but Levi can’t fall any further back.
I am not a Rasmussen fan, I personally don’t believe he is clean.
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This was Ras specialty so today really showed nothing we did not already know.
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levi was strong but doesn’t have the burst in his legs. Kind of like Jan vs. Lance.
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In the post race interview Ras said he was trying to hold Contador back.
… I kinda want to believe… but I most certainly don’t.
Contador is my bet!
I am not a Rasmussen fan, I personally don’t believe he is clean.
Aren’t they testing him after every stage now? Wouldn’t he have tested positive by now?
Contador will win multiple Tours, but I don’t know about this year. I just have a gut feeling his youth will be his undoing. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him have a bad day in the mountains. Still he is really an impressive talent.
I am really pulling for Levi, I really like him, but he seems to be missing that extra gear. He doesn’t get near the respect he should. He is a very talented rider, everyone in that final group of 6 are in another class altogether.
I think I say this daily, but - there is no test for blood doping with your own blood
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“… I kinda want to believe… but I most certainly don’t.”
I don’t want to break any forum rules, I just personally have a bad gut feeling. Maybe part of it is just his personality doesn’t vibe with me. Given the extreme “heat” on all these riders, missing ooc tests seems ridiculous! His comments since then haven’t exactly been forthcoming. Beating in competition doping tests no longer renders one clean.
oh, I was thinking testosterone
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I expect Contador and Rasmussen to give back chunks of time in the next time trial. The last one really suited them well, and the roads dried out for them. I think Levi needs to catch and put about 2 minutes into Cadel. It’s still a 5 man race, but Levi can’t fall any further back.
I am not a Rasmussen fan, I personally don’t believe he is clean.
- The difference in the road conditions was not important between the Chicken and his major contendors. Are you seriously going to argue over a few minutes?
- Typically there is less differential in the second time trial than the first due to tiredness, however it is true that the first one had some nice hills in it for the Chicken
- OK he and Contadores may give some time back to the others in the final TT. However there are 2 more days in the Pyrenees left yet. I think today turned out better than Rasmussen might have planned for. I really think he was waiting for tomorrow to have is big day. We will see.
As for who can win.
Rasmussen must be favourite in my book. However if not him then.
- Contador can climb and do a reasonable TT. Has the best chance to beat Rasmussen
- Evans. I think he will get killed tomorrow or Tuesday
- Leipheimer. Defended very well today, will need to do the same again and Tuesday and then have the trial of his life
- Kloden. Came out OK today but was at the limit of breaking. Not sure if he can handle 2 more days in the Pyrenees without losing an insurmoutable amount of time.
However I think it will play out between Contador and the Chicken. The others all showed some signs of cracking at the edges today and will be out of the game by Tuesday evening.
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This was Ras specialty so today really showed nothing we did not already know.
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levi was strong but doesn’t have the burst in his legs. Kind of like Jan vs. Lance.
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In the post race interview Ras said he was trying to hold Contador back. \\
1.) What we do know is that the others that cracked are weak, and that was a lot of contenders today. I also think that everyone just thought that Contrador could accelerate away from the chicken, that didn’t even come close to happening…
2.) Agree completely, but he is in a great position to pick up any pieces.
3.) I think that he said that he was trying to hold his own team back, but that they just wanted to go. It doesn’t make sense that he would hold COntrador back, in fact the opposite as I saw it. He was urging him on since they both benifited from the time gaps. It was only the last 1 1/2 k that Contrador probably got the word in his ear to sit on and sprint him at the finish…
ANd how about Boogerd and Popo… Those were two strong domestics out there today. THey killed themselves on the climb and still hung on for top placings.
And I think that the chicken has made a deal with Solar. He gets KOM and works for him in the really tought parts when he is isolated. Did you see him offer the chicken some water, then they had a little conversation, and right after SOlar attacked. The chicken waited and then tried to close the gap on his own. That happened a couple times, and they had several little conversations. Definately a deal there, and a good one for both teams…And they didn’t challenge Solar on the first climb either, they could have had a team mate take those last points, but let him have them unchallenged…
Vino’s ride yesterday clearly blasted his legs for today. It is possible the same could happen for Chicken and Contador. Levi, Cadel and Kloden stopped responding to the surges. Whether they could or couldn’t respond only they know, but we’ll see who still has legs the next 2 days. I still think Rasmussen can lose a ton of time in the TT. He was 40 seconds behind Evans and 36 seconds behind Levi in the Prologue! That was 8k long.
It was fascinating to watch Solar. He started in dots today (second to Ras - then lagit at one point and then back in second after the finish). That guy is amazingly sloppy on the bike. Completely with craned neck, left knee flare at the top of the pedal stroke, offering water to the yellow jersey, attacking, putting his hand up for water too close to the finish. He looked like a kid who just stumbled into a race. It even appeared to me as he rode over the line that kept on it like he didn’t realized the stage has just ended. I watched without sound and would have loved to have heard the British Style Council comment on Solar’s grace.
Ian
Absolutly, he is a kid in a candy store… All over the bike, dropped a couple times, taking water from the crowd and drinking it, and somehow able to recover from what looks like a complete cracking, to attacking right away… He is fun to watch, and I bet he and the chicken are having dinner tonight.
When he offered Rasmussen the water he nearly took down the entire pack. If I was a contender, I would have kept my distance from him.