It seems odd to me that Disco, en masse, cracked today. I almost think that maybe they are saving themselves for tomorrow, letting T-Mobile burn a lot of energy the day before the hardest stage of the tour. I think Lance wants to win the stage tomorrow bad…he hasn’t won a stage yet, and its the stage that goes past the Casartelli memorial. I predict that Disco will be back to their old selves tomorrow, setting an insane pace until Lance can launch himself off the front of the final climb.
Spot
I think you are spot on correct. I can’t be that each Discovery rider, after an easy day no less, all had a bad day at the same time. DavidK
I think they were genuinely spit out by Tmobile initially and then Johan told them to shut things down and save the legs for tomorrow. Realistically, Lance should have had Popovich and Salvodelli with him today. They genuinely got spit out and then perhaps sandbagged (although Popo was not that far back).
Dev
I agree there Paul. They weren’t actually sandbagging. I don’t think the plan was to leave him alone, and I was also suprised that Popy was not with him. They also knew of the ensuing attacks today. I think they were a little surprised at the speed of T-mobile and Johan said to let them burn up today. He probably just wanted Lance to minimize the time damage done, and Lance did the rest. The tour is not won in one day, and he knows that and that is Discovery’s goal. It is anyone’s guess as to T-mobile’s goal(s).
I was impressed by Lance today though. You have to wonder how much of his success is from his team (a lot for sure), but he is quite a cyclist and tactitian.
I suspect the Disco team will do well tomorrow as well. It is always interesting to see Jan get better as the tour goes. Basso seems to be coming into form again in Pyrenees as well.
The reason I thought they might be sandbagging is that shot of all them still riding together in that one pack…normally, dudes crack one at a time and slip off the back…it seemed kind of wierd to see them all still together.
Spot
Seemed like lance was waiting to see if Popo could catch up before he made the jump up to the break. Since Popo was struggling, they probably said f-it, just go… Lance looked super strong today but crossing the finish he looked pretty beat up too… I bet he’s going to want some help tomorrow and I bet he gets it…
Why would Disco blow today when the most important stage is tomorrow. It is all about working to make it count. T-Mobile worked hard to make it NOT count. Johan probably told the guys to make sure that no matter what happens today, you are ready for the BIG day tomorrow.
Jimmy S.
FIRELUV
I was rather surprised by the mass disappearance of the disco boys, but hopefully they’ll be back with fresh legs tomorrow. I did find it interesting the dynamics going on with T-Mobile. Ullrich and Kloden seemed to pull Armstrong back up to Vino. I was really impressed how Armstrong dealt with the attacks on his own, and was able respond and use what ever resources he had available to hi.
From Carmichael’s report today:
“The big question on many minds is whether the Discovery Channel team is as strong as it was last year. This question, of course, is coming up because Lance’s teammates were all left behind when T-Mobile attacked en masse at the bottom of the Port de Pailheres. The Discovery Channel team is very strong, but the tactical move by T-Mobile was specifically designed to prevent Lance’s team from setting a strong pace all the way up the penultimate climb. It worked because only the top riders in the peloton, the men aiming to stand on the podium in Paris, were able to follow the acceleration. T-Mobile didn’t just disarm Discovery’s strategy, they isolated all the team leaders, including their own.”