Looks indeed like Valverde peaked too soon this year. And Cunego's letting down as well...

Let's see how CSC finishes off the work they've been doing all day. I think this could be Andy Schleck's day, he's been showing excellent form the past days. But Sastre seems determined to make a good performance on Hautacam as well. And what to say about Ricco...

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Nope, Andy is out of it too.
Let's see how Evans performs on the Alps with a 1s gap over Frank Schleck.

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quote:

Originally posted by nettwerk Nope, Andy is out of it too.

That came a bit as a surprise for me actually Let's hope he can still find the force to go for a stage win.

And although Evans' team isn't that strong (Popovych disappoints massively, the Silence management won't be happy with that), I think he'll be the victor in Paris. Only Menchov and Sastre seem to have what it takes to keep up with him, but they still need to close the gap in the GC. And only Sastre has the team for that, Menchov is as isolated as Evans. And what to think of Ricco? He has the team, but will he be able to keep this form until Paris, seeing he has already given it all in the past Giro?

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My money is on the two CSC men, Sastre and F. Schleck, mainly because they have a great team behind them, they seem to be in a good form (sure, Schleck dropped off the Saulnier Duval duo, but I'm to think it had more tactics than other thing)... and that Evans is almost alone in the Tour.
Huge letdown for me today was Valverde, wasn't expecting him to drop out of the main group even before the end of the Col du Tourmalet climb and to lose six minutes to Piepoli... let's see if the rest day is good to him and the Caisse d'Epargne team.
Ricco... I dunno what to think of him. Didn't watch the Giro, so I couldn't ses his performance there, but I think it's a bit too early for him to grab the yellow jersey this year. Next one, though...

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Ah, but Evans has the on thing the CSC men lack: an excellent timetrail. Especially the next one over more than 50 kilometres will be decisive so close after the Alps. Even if Evans has lost time on Sastre and Schleck, he can easily make up 3 minutes or more. And honestly, I don't see the CSC guys taking that much time on Evans. Sastre hasn't got his explosivity anymore, and Schleck still needs to prove he can maintain a high form throughout the full 3 weeks. Therefore I fear Menchov the most. He's uphill pretty much in the same league as Evans, and he's also an excellent timetrialist. So if he's still within a minute or so of Evans after the Alps, anything can happen. It would be nice to have a final timetrial again like the one last year

And Valverde still claims that yesterday's loss was expected and not at all fatal, but I have my doubts about that...

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quote:

Originally posted by Jasperovitsj Ah, but Evans has the on thing the CSC men lack: an excellent timetrail. Especially the next one over more than 50 kilometres will be decisive so close after the Alps. Even if Evans has lost time on Sastre and Schleck, he can easily make up 3 minutes or more. And honestly, I don't see the CSC guys taking that much time on Evans. Sastre hasn't got his explosivity anymore, and Schleck still needs to prove he can maintain a high form throughout the full 3 weeks. Therefore I fear Menchov the most. He's uphill pretty much in the same league as Evans, and he's also an excellent timetrialist. So if he's still within a minute or so of Evans after the Alps, anything can happen. It would be nice to have a final timetrial again like the one last year

I don't know... if Evans happens to have a bad day at the Alps, if the CSC guys can provide a performance like yesterday, they could get a good gap before the last days. But yeah, it's a lot of "if's"; however, for the sake of the argument, I'll keep my bet

quote:

Originally posted by Jasperovitsj And Valverde still claims that yesterday's loss was expected and not at all fatal, but I have my doubts about that...

Five minutes are five minutes, I don't think it would be impossible to bridge that gap and fight for the yellow jersey... but for Valverde, however, I'd say it is impossible. Even if he managed to get close to Evans, Schleck, Menchov, Sastre, he'd still lose time like hell in the final TT, so yeah, he's pretty much out of it. Better start fighting for a top-ten place...

Almost forgot: another disappointment yesterday was Zubeldia. For a top-ten finisher last year, losing 25 minutes on the first real hard mountain stage is completely blowing up chances of another good TdF.

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Last edited by nettwerk on Jul-15-2008 at 11:35

Ricco tested positive for 3rd generation EPO, after the first timetrial in Cholet. He's taken out of the Tour, and his entire team abandons the race as well. How stupid can one be?

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4 stage wins for Cavendish!

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Zagreb, Bangkok, Rio de Janeiro

I'm glad it's only 3 people who got busted for doping so far as of now......

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quote:

[11:58] Bas //: fuck he's hot

quote:

Originally posted by partyhopper 4 stage wins for Cavendish!

He's truly a phenomenon
Tomorrow he might even take his 5th win, if he can survive that 4th category climb at 10 kilometres from the finish line. But I don't see him going all the way to Paris this year, not after he's ridden the entire Giro and with his Olympic ambitions. But I don't see who can stop him from winning the green jersey next year.

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Piepoli also got sacked for violating the ethical code, now we know how the old man did it...

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