Le Tour de France

[Horton's halftime iceberg]

Viva Bradley, go time trial

 

[Brixtaan]

There's no coming back for Bradley now.He was ganged up on by Astana and the Schlecks who both had much to gain by removing him.Armstrong virtually stopped in the road when Contador went ,blocking Wiggins and losing his momentum.Armstrong then piggy-backed Bradley to the top and left him for dead when he'd got him there.Van de Velde was in no position to help and Wiggind perished.

The whole thing looks and feels drug-free though this year.Notice that everyone is hurting and there are no 4-mountain solo breakaways?

 

[perseus]

I think Armstrong will win tomorrow and take two minutes out of Andy Schelk and three minutes out of the other Schelk. But only seconds out of Contador.

1 021 Alberto CONTADOR ESP AST 72h27'09'' 00''
2 031 Andy SCHLECK LUX SAX 72h29'35'' 2'26''
3 036 Frank SCHLECK LUX SAX 72h30'34'' 3'25''
4 022 Lance ARMSTRONG USA AST 72h31'04'' 3'55''
5 023 Andréas KLÖDEN GER AST 72h31'53'' 4'44''
6 058 Bradley WIGGINS GBR GRM 72h32'02'' 4'53''

So after tomorrow it could be:

1. Contador 00
2. Armstrong 3.40
3. Andy Schelk 4.06
4. Kloden 4.54
5. Wiggins 4.68
6. Frank Schelk 6.10

or something like that. Saturday would be an anti-climax though with no change to the higher order. On Saturday there will be an early breakwway with some back markers. I have not double-checked the form book.

 

[1066familyman]

Oh well, not quite as much time gained as many were hoping for from Wiggins today, but still a decent TT nonetheless.

I suppose that's about it now as far as the top 3 positions in the GC are concerned ? Can't really see things changing from here. Wiggins will need to find something truly truly amazing on Saturday and hope for an equally amazing performance from Vande Velde to help him.

Even the oustanding Schleck brothers will have their work cut out to put Frank onto the podium with Andy.

Still looking forward to Saturday regardless though.

 

[Stat Brother]

Armstrong will not make the podium in Paris.

I give up (except for this bit)

It's a shame the TT didn't work out as BW expected.
I can't see anyone, except Contador making time on Ventoux.
It's going to be crazy to watch, as it's just comes down to a sprinting hill climb.
I think someone might die on his arse, (poor choice of phrase, re Ventoux, I know) but I have no idea who.

 

[Pantani]

The only way Wiggins will over take Armstrong now is if Armstrong cracks on the way up Ventoux. Pretty unlikely I feel. It wil stay as it is pretty much, as the only riders capable of taking significant time out of the others are first and second already.

 

[Exmouth Seagull]

I agree that it's a great performance but when you look at what was expected, I say it's got be a disappointment.

It would be a bit like Man U finishing 3rd in the Prem and winning the League Cup - most people would have that down as a good enough season but I bet Fergie would be disappointed.

Okay;

Today Cavendish broke the all-time British TDF stage wins record, he's the first rider since Lance Armstrong in 2004 to win five stages in one TDF, and who would bet against him making it six in Paris on Sunday?

Do you still consider that to be a disappointment?

Personally I think 5 stage wins is more remarkable than 4th on GC. Somebody is 4th on GC every year, but who remembers them? Winners of 5 stages in one year are few and far between, and much more memorable.

Mind you, this has easily been the best year for the Brits in the TDF since I started following it about 20 years ago. 5 stage wins from Cav and Wiggo in 4th with one big mountain stage left is brilliant, Millar has been lively too. Great stuff.

 

[1066familyman]

Okay;

Today Cavendish broke the all-time British TDF stage wins record, he's the first rider since Lance Armstrong in 2004 to win five stages in one TDF, and who would bet against him making it six in Paris on Sunday?

Do you still consider that to be a disappointment?

Personally I think 5 stage wins is more remarkable than 4th on GC. Somebody is 4th on GC every year, but who remembers them? Winners of 5 stages in one year are few and far between, and much more memorable.

Mind you, this has easily been the best year for the Brits in the TDF since I started following it about 20 years ago. 5 stage wins from Cav and Wiggo in 4th with one big mountain stage left is brilliant, Millar has been lively too. Great stuff.

I take your point entirely about 5 stage wins being more remarkable than 4th on GC. It's hard to disagree with that. Fantastic ride from Cavendish today too in getting the stage win on a stage that really challenged him. However, what I would say is that I think the original poster was talking about expectation.

Cavendish was expected to pull off more than just one or two stage wins in this Tour. He's without a shadow of a doubt the fastest sprinter in the world by a fair margin at the mo, and he also has a very good team behind him to catapult him to the finish line for those stage wins. I certainly wouldn't wish to take anything away though from what has been a remarkable Tour for him.

However............in terms of individual performance and expectation, Wiggins, for me, has even surpassed Cavendish. Yes, we all knew he could time trial, but who really thought he could undergo such a massive transformation and really hold his own when push comes to shove ( i.e. in the mountains ) the way he has in this Tour ? Not even his team had him down as team leader, yet Christian Vande Velde has gladly conceeded this position to Wiggins. Yes, Vande Velde didn't come into this Tour in his best shape, but for Wiggins to perform the way he has has been nothing short of a revelation, not least of all for Garmin Slipstream themselves I imagine. The Schlecks have each other to lean on when it counts, and the strength in depth of the Astana team is there for all to see. Wiggins however has pretty much had to go it alone when the real challenges have been set and to date on this Tour he's shown a stubborness and coming of age that for me, British or not, has been the outstanding performance in this years Tour, certainly in terms of personal achievement anyway. Who knows where this could ultimately lead for Wiggins once he gets a bit more experience under his belt ? Maybe I'm getting a bit carried away ?, but on the strength of this performance, I wouldn't mind betting that within the next 5 years Wiggins will be pulling on the famous Maillot jaune in Paris

 

[perseus]

Rank Dossard Name Country Team Time Gap
1 021 Alberto CONTADOR ESP AST 77h06'18'' 00''
2 031 Andy SCHLECK LUX SAX 77h10'29'' 4'11''
3 022 Lance ARMSTRONG USA AST 77h11'39'' 5'21''
4 058 Bradley WIGGINS GBR GRM 77h11'54'' 5'36''
5 023 Andréas KLÖDEN GER AST 77h11'56'' 5'38''
6 036 Frank SCHLECK LUX SAX 77h12'17'' 5'59''
7 095 Vincenzo NIBALI ITA LIQ 77h13'33'' 7'15''
8 051 Christian VANDE VELDE USA GRM 77h16'26'' 10'08''


I can't see any change until the end.

 

[Exmouth Seagull]

Wiggins has had a great tour, surpassed my expectations by far, but he hasn't really done anything spectacular, put in two strong time trials and hung on in there in the mountains. It bodes well for the future, but he hasn't yet shown any of the aggression required by a tour winnner.

I really hope Wiggo storms up Ventoux and claims a podium place, but in honesty I will be watching nervously hoping he doesn't go to pieces and slip further down the GC.

 

[Exmouth Seagull]

2KM to go on Mt Ventoux and it's been a damp squib so far. Wiggins doing well to cling onto the back of the yellow jersey group to defend his 4th place.

Will there be fireworks now?

 

[Exmouth Seagull]

Wooo-Hooo, Wiggins just holds on to 4th by a few seconds, awesome.

The stage was a big anti-climax, but from a British point of view who cares. Lets hope Cav can do the business again tomorrow to finish a brilliant year for our riders.

 

[1066familyman]

Yes, no major upsets on Mt Ventoux, but then I don't think anyone really expected any in all fairness. Perhaps if Frank Schleck had had more left in the tank then we could have seen something really exciting, but thankfully for Wiggins it all held together in the end. Wiggins' effort to hold onto the big guns today and secure his 4th place GC finish was yet another solid performance that has truly signalled that he's arrived when it comes to road racing.

Read recently that he now loves the Tour so much that he's even willing to sacrifice gold medals in 2012 to concentrate on Le Tour de France.

 

[Stat Brother]

It's going to be an interesting few years, watching Wiggo.

From track hero - close to a zero - track hero - grand tourer in the Cadel Evans stylee - ?.

Can anyone see BW settling for top 10, each grand tour. Cos if he doesn't he's going to have to add, agressive mountain climber to his arsenal. Fanbloomingtastic, bring it on.

 

[skr80]

How much can Wiggy improve though - given his age? Is he at his peak now, or is there more to come?

 

[Barrel of Fun]

I don't know why the Brits are botheering. They are never going to win the whole thing.

 

[1066familyman]

I don't know why the Brits are botheering. They are never going to win the whole thing.

Oi !, you just worry about the egg chasing and leave the decent sports to the rest of us to fret over.

 

[Barrel of Fun]

I was hoping Stat Brother might have something to say about that, after a few run ins during the Olympics. We shall see..!

 

[The French Mistress]

How long before the results of drug tests are published and we get loads of disqualifications ??

 

[1066familyman]

How much can Wiggy improve though - given his age? Is he at his peak now, or is there more to come?

Funnily enough I had this in mind the other day and went and sought the ages of a few riders out of interest.

Andy Schleck 24
Frank Schleck 29
Contador 27
Wiggins 29
Kloeden 34
Tony martin 24


I think Armstrong is about 36 and I'm pretty sure Leipheimer is over 30 too.

That list suggests Brad will have his work cut out. I think aside from age Wiggins will improve for the next few years at least, because compared to most of the others I've mentioned he's still got some experience to catch up on and, as Stat Brother says, has room for development in terms of being a force in the mountains.

I think Nico Roche at 25 could develop into a rider of some quality in years to come, although he'll be hard pushed to match his father.