Up with Voigt! Down with Phonak!
Hooray for one of our favorite cyclists, Jens Voigt. As is his style, he suffered through a long breakaway to get a stage win, and his CSC team could really use it after practially everything for them in this Tour had gone wrong so far.
The other big development is that Phonak gave away Landis' yellow jersey. Oscar Pereiro made up a 28 minute gap on Landis to take the overall lead. Phonak is saying that they decided to give up the lead to take pressure off the team, and really, that's a good idea because this team is afraid of pressure. My assessment of their ability to defend the lead and control the race is simple: they stink. Landis is stronger than Pereiro in the mountains and the time trial, so he's likely to overtake him. Really, it may be to their benefit to relieve themselves of the burden of the yellow jersey.
This definitely makes the race more interesting, but it's time for me to rip Phonak severely.
Giving up 30 minutes in 1 stage is ridiculous. And it's not like when USPS gave up 30 minutes to non-contenders like O'Grady and Andrei Kivilev in 2001. They gave away 30 minutes to Oscar Pereiro, who finished 10th in each of the last 2 Tours. For the second consecutive day Phonak gave a mulligan to a proven climber. Just because a guy was bad one day in the Pyrenees doesn't mean he can't ride in the Alps. It's unlikely, but why tempt fate? Why give a guy motivation?
I don't expect Pererio or Popovych to make the final podium, but there is a bigger problem here. There is no reason for any other team to respect Phonak. They refuse to defend the jersey and control the race. They have no authority on the race like Disco/USPS did for Lance. Even when Lance would give up the jersey in week 1, everyone knew his team still controlled the race, they were just waiting for the mountains; his team was a proven juggernaut. Phonak could have won respect by limiting the breakaway to 10 minutes or so. It would show they have control yet still show that they weren't worried about Pereiro.
Phonak is not proven as a team that can control anything. They intimidate no one. They have loudly declared to the peloton that they are weak and ineffective. Rabobank and Telekom dictated the race in the one big mountain showdown--they have more control than Phonak. Even freakin' AG2r defended the jersey! When we get to the Alps, Menchov will attack, and Rabobank will support him. Menchov has every reason to believe this is his race to win. It's a good thing for Floyd that he can climb.
The other big development is that Phonak gave away Landis' yellow jersey. Oscar Pereiro made up a 28 minute gap on Landis to take the overall lead. Phonak is saying that they decided to give up the lead to take pressure off the team, and really, that's a good idea because this team is afraid of pressure. My assessment of their ability to defend the lead and control the race is simple: they stink. Landis is stronger than Pereiro in the mountains and the time trial, so he's likely to overtake him. Really, it may be to their benefit to relieve themselves of the burden of the yellow jersey.
This definitely makes the race more interesting, but it's time for me to rip Phonak severely.
Giving up 30 minutes in 1 stage is ridiculous. And it's not like when USPS gave up 30 minutes to non-contenders like O'Grady and Andrei Kivilev in 2001. They gave away 30 minutes to Oscar Pereiro, who finished 10th in each of the last 2 Tours. For the second consecutive day Phonak gave a mulligan to a proven climber. Just because a guy was bad one day in the Pyrenees doesn't mean he can't ride in the Alps. It's unlikely, but why tempt fate? Why give a guy motivation?
I don't expect Pererio or Popovych to make the final podium, but there is a bigger problem here. There is no reason for any other team to respect Phonak. They refuse to defend the jersey and control the race. They have no authority on the race like Disco/USPS did for Lance. Even when Lance would give up the jersey in week 1, everyone knew his team still controlled the race, they were just waiting for the mountains; his team was a proven juggernaut. Phonak could have won respect by limiting the breakaway to 10 minutes or so. It would show they have control yet still show that they weren't worried about Pereiro.
Phonak is not proven as a team that can control anything. They intimidate no one. They have loudly declared to the peloton that they are weak and ineffective. Rabobank and Telekom dictated the race in the one big mountain showdown--they have more control than Phonak. Even freakin' AG2r defended the jersey! When we get to the Alps, Menchov will attack, and Rabobank will support him. Menchov has every reason to believe this is his race to win. It's a good thing for Floyd that he can climb.
posted by uberschuck at 12:17 PM
1 Comments:
I am at a loss for words. When I've had more time to digest this, I will rip on Phonak even more, as this deserves a full post. This was a disgraceful ride by Landis and Phonak.
Oh yeah, Voigt is awesome.
Post a Comment
<< Home