What no one noticed on stage 16
There was a sprint bonus in between the category 2 and category 1 climbs. Stuart O'Grady and Thor Hushovd took a stab at it. Neither one is a climber, but O'Grady picked up 6 points and Hushovd picked up 4. Zero for McEwen and Zabel. Hushovd creeps into second place now, one point ahead of Zabel, and now 12 behind McEwen. Meanwhile, McEwen says he's worried about staying within the cut-off time in the Alpe d'Huez time trial. Remember a few days ago I said that it's no biggie for McEwen to pick up 1 point on Hushovd, but if it were reversed, I'd make a big deal about it? There you go.
As for the nitpicking of Armstrong, put it into perspective. The guy just sprinted to a stage win in the Alps and picked up the yellow jersey, but you find a problem with it. Cheap gin indeed!
We should not have expected a massive attack from Lance Armstrong today. When he attacks the contenders, he does it on the biggest climbs and at stage ends--a category 1 or HC climb. Stage 15 had 7 categorized climbs, but the last three were category 2 or 3. The last killer one was 50-60 km from the finish. Why attack on the day before Alpe d'Huez when there isn't much to gain? Why attack when he's got time over everyone? Once Voeckler cracked, I suspect Lance was content to ride to the finish without going hard so that he could conserve energy for tomorrow. Jan Ullrich's attack changed the tempo of the day. So, in exchange he got the stage and put time on Mancebo and Totschnig. Thanks for the assist, Jan.
Anything left in the tank, Jan?
photo from www.grahamwatson.com
Ullrich's move was certainly an act of desperation, and it didn't work the way he wanted. But it shows that both in his team and on his race he's going down swinging. The question is...did he tire himself too much today? How will he do on Alpe d'Huez? Will he claw back enough to be within striking distance of the podium for the final time trial?
And, oh, by the way, Floyd Landis earned his yearly salary today, pulling back all the leaders in the mountains, including Ullrich. When did he become a climber?
Note: I neglected to include this in the team preview that I did before the Tour started, but Vinokourov (reportedly) stayed out of the Tour because of a crash he suffered in the Tour of Switzerland in June. He busted his shoulder and wasn't ready to ride. At least that's what the team says.
There was a sprint bonus in between the category 2 and category 1 climbs. Stuart O'Grady and Thor Hushovd took a stab at it. Neither one is a climber, but O'Grady picked up 6 points and Hushovd picked up 4. Zero for McEwen and Zabel. Hushovd creeps into second place now, one point ahead of Zabel, and now 12 behind McEwen. Meanwhile, McEwen says he's worried about staying within the cut-off time in the Alpe d'Huez time trial. Remember a few days ago I said that it's no biggie for McEwen to pick up 1 point on Hushovd, but if it were reversed, I'd make a big deal about it? There you go.
As for the nitpicking of Armstrong, put it into perspective. The guy just sprinted to a stage win in the Alps and picked up the yellow jersey, but you find a problem with it. Cheap gin indeed!
We should not have expected a massive attack from Lance Armstrong today. When he attacks the contenders, he does it on the biggest climbs and at stage ends--a category 1 or HC climb. Stage 15 had 7 categorized climbs, but the last three were category 2 or 3. The last killer one was 50-60 km from the finish. Why attack on the day before Alpe d'Huez when there isn't much to gain? Why attack when he's got time over everyone? Once Voeckler cracked, I suspect Lance was content to ride to the finish without going hard so that he could conserve energy for tomorrow. Jan Ullrich's attack changed the tempo of the day. So, in exchange he got the stage and put time on Mancebo and Totschnig. Thanks for the assist, Jan.
Anything left in the tank, Jan?
photo from www.grahamwatson.com
Ullrich's move was certainly an act of desperation, and it didn't work the way he wanted. But it shows that both in his team and on his race he's going down swinging. The question is...did he tire himself too much today? How will he do on Alpe d'Huez? Will he claw back enough to be within striking distance of the podium for the final time trial?
And, oh, by the way, Floyd Landis earned his yearly salary today, pulling back all the leaders in the mountains, including Ullrich. When did he become a climber?
Note: I neglected to include this in the team preview that I did before the Tour started, but Vinokourov (reportedly) stayed out of the Tour because of a crash he suffered in the Tour of Switzerland in June. He busted his shoulder and wasn't ready to ride. At least that's what the team says.
posted by uberschuck at 6:53 PM
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