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2012 Stage Races

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Bond.ShaneBond said:
You will be missed dman! Where are you headed?
Click to expand...
Headed to Africa for 2 months. Will stop by the hometown of "Britain's" Chris Froome on the way, but its mostly a camping trip. Spewing I'm gonna miss the Vuelta, but I'm sure ill be having too much fun to care :D
 
Euska currently trying to do something resembling a TTT. They aren't even close to being in a line.
 

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Like a Bos.

Stage 4 profile does not exist on the official site or on steephill. Watch it for the surprise, they could have dropped a mountain north of Brussels.
 
Bond.ShaneBond said:
Like a Bos.

Stage 4 profile does not exist on the official site or on steephill. Watch it for the surprise, they could have dropped a mountain north of Brussels.
Click to expand...
Really didnt expect Bos to win after seeing the run in. I know he supposedly has good bike handling skills, but he is often caught in the wrong spot in a sprint. Almost went the celebration a bit early though. Degenkolb was right on him.
 
That final circuit was ridiculous, the roads were narrow, twisty and confusing. How about when ten of them went along the footpath. Carlton's cough very unpleasant as well. It is also a shock seeing the lack of crowd compared to le Tour and the Olympics.

Looking forward to tonight's mystery stage.
 
They didn't drop a mountain in, Jonathan Strange style. Fairly standard sprint, Kittel is always winning in this field if he is in the peloton. Tommeke hits the lead as well.
 
Tough stage last night, plenty of sharp turns and big roundabouts in the final 20km. Lack of barriers meant that many cyclists took shortcuts around those roundabouts, as well as going on the pavement. Nizollo with the tightest of wins, he jumped off the front and managed to hold on.

Short ITT tonight and then Sunday should be a belter, it is a course worthy of a one-day race with 16 short, steep climbs. Tonight Phinney should win, Turbo Durbo will be chasing the lead. Contador will give us a look at how he is travelling, but it is pancake flat. WIll need to be on top of his game. So far Eneco has been underwhelming, needed more echelons.
 

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Another victory for the mighty OGE, with the Canadian Tuft the slightly surprising victor ahead of Phinney and Boom. In the words of Carlton Kirby, "Eneco got Tufted." AC came in 6th behind the specialists and is looking nice for the Vuelta. Getting a very positive reception from the people as well, we have missed the big man.

All of a sudden Eneco is heating up. It has been a dull race so far, but tonight's stage looks brilliant and there are a few possible overall winners as well. Have a look at the profile:

profile07.pdf

Sorry about that, this is the best profile I can find. But, it is bloody tough. Here is the top 12:

1​
Svein Tuft (Can) Orica GreenEdge​
19:56:57​
​
2​
Lars Boom (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team​
0:00:04​
​
3​
Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Omega Pharma-Quickstep​
0:00:16​
​
4​
Jens Mouris (Ned) Orica GreenEdge​
0:00:25​
​
5​
Luke Durbridge (Aus) Orica GreenEdge​
​
​
6​
Sebastian Langeveld (Ned) Orica GreenEdge​
0:00:37​
​
7​
Niki Terpstra (Ned) Omega Pharma-Quickstep​
0:00:39​
​
8​
Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Omega Pharma-Quickstep​
0:00:47​
​
9​
Jonathan Castroviejo Nicolas (Spa) Movistar Team​
0:00:48​
​
10​
Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Team Saxo Bank / Tinkoff Bank​
0:00:49​
​
11​
Lieuwe Westra (Ned) Vacansoleil-Dcm Pro Cycling Team​
​
​
12​
Tom Boonen (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quickstep​
0:00:55​
​

Hmmm. Intriguing. We will have OGE supporting Tuft, Rabo helping Boom and OPQ Chavanel. Add in the wildcards of Westra and Contador who have a sniff and it looks like being a terrific finish to this boring week of racing. The final climb, the Muur is legendary in cycling. It has traditionally featured decisively in Tour of Flanders, but was controversially omitted this year. It is steep, cobbled, difficult and features three times tonight. Well worth a look as we won't get to see San Sebastian on Tuesday, this is our last cycling before la Vuelta.

Personally, I think Chavanel will take it out. Can't see Tuft surviving, but Boom is a chance. Unsure how effective the whippet-like Contador will be on the cobbles, but I would love to see him have a go.

 
Well I certainly underestimated Boom yesterday, not sure how I missed that. It was a very exciting stage, the Muur is just a brilliant climb. It tore the peloton to shreds, about 50 cyclists had a big fat DNF next to their names. Well done to Boom and Ballan, both rode strong races. Contador was also impressive, for him to fourth in the Eneco Tour is bloody impressive and has to be ominous for his Vuelta rivals. Saxo Tinkoff looked alive for one of the first times all season as well, they rallied around him last night.

Overall it is not a very good race, despite the lead jersey changing hands five times.. The final stage was gripping, the rest of the week could be put into a five minute highlight package with time to spare.

1. TA (Interesting, varied course, 3 possible winners going into the final ITT.)
2. TdS (Decided on the final stage, Sagan.)
3. GdT (TTT + 3 mountain stages. Not bothering with flat stages FTW or wasting mountains.)
4. PN (Technically tight until the finish, though Wiggo always looked the winner. Bit of a dull course.)
5. TT (Keisse's win and the epic scenery, including gorges.)
6. CdD (Result never in doubt, course poorly weighted.)
7. ET (Terrific final stage, the rest was dull.)
8. TC (Queen stage snowed out, overall race over very early. Still had a strong field with some fun attacks.)
 
US Pro Cycle Challenge in Colorado got underway this morning, it is on Eurosport. Farrar won the sprint to break his drought. The course looks fairly ordinary, most days looks like Tour stages with mountains neutralised too far from the finish. Stage 6 to Boulder looks like it could cause some GC problems, but realistically the race will be decided on the final day TT. This has been the pattern for many stage races this year, unfortunately. As for the big men, the defending champion Levi is probably favourite but will be challenged by a bunch of insane Nibali attacks. Horner and Brajkavic will push for a podium, and I suspect Cadel will be riding for Tejay.

I will take a USA podium:

1. Levi
2. Tejay
3. Horner

EDIT: I just watched the stage and it was pretty good. A decent break got away including Nibali, Danielson and Velits but were eventually reeled in. Danielson was pick of the day, and Garmin featured prominently all day. Commentary left a bit to be desired, with Brian Smith saying he didn't think Farrar started today 500m from the line. Happy for Farrar, he deserved a win.
 
Stage 2 was pretty brutal, it was basically all seemingly held on one never ending stretch of highway. The picture constantly broke up, the commentators were bored. It is amazing watching a professional broadcast where the commentators aren't even interested. The graphics were wrong, the editing was poor. Tejay got a good win, but due to the editing he seemingly came from nowhere.

Stage 3, on the other hand, was a monster. Great win to Danielson, he only just held on. He has been very aggressive all week and he deserved the wi for making the race. Never thought he would win until there was about 100m to go. BMC put in a decent chase to ensure Tejay remained in yellow. Unfortunately the peloton was dull, nobody bothered attacking on the climb due to the long descent and drag to the finish line.
 
Great riding from Leigh Howard in the Tour of Britain. His stage win was a great ride and he has consistently been taking it up to Cav. I had been a bit disappointed that I hadn't heard anything much of Howard this year but its great to see him finishing strongly. He is our next big time sprinter and teams will be taking him more seriously next year after this performance.
 
Quite right, Cav got boxed in pretty badly but Howard did what he had to do. Good win for the lad.
 

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Into the lead again for Howard :thumbsu:

Fun stage last night, it was tough with plenty of hills and headwinds. There was a lot of attacking, it felt a bit like a one-day race.
 
It was a stage where everyone had a chance. A bit bumpy but not so much that the sprinters with some idea how to ride a little uphill would be dropped. The front group was a decent size and there were plenty of attacks. Howard just stayed at the back of the front group and was pulled along and took the overall lead back. He will lose it tonight but credit to him for working to get it back on a stage not really suited for him.
 
It was an exciting stage, again. Personally I think this has been an excellent race. The bumpy stages have encouraged and rewarded aggressive riding, and it is good to see a one week race not decided by a ITT. Samu did a lot of work for Urtasun last night, and the Golden One was delighted that his teammate was able to finish the job. It is also good to see Basso active as well in a minor race. Tiernan-Locke, the race leader, is in line for his third GC win for the year and probably a signing to a major team. One to watch in 2013.
 
As far as I am aware Greenedge still don't look like they will have a GC contender next year for the major stage races. What are your thoughts on them continuing as they have this year with some sprint and possible stage wins and also targeting the white jerseys in a couple of the big tours?

Borbidge and Meyer both need to improve their climbing a bit but if they were set for it I am thinking both could give it a shot if the team were behind them.
 
I don't mind it as they have been so successful this season, but I am sure that in the long run they will turn their eyes to GC. Porte springs immediately to mind as somebody they will hopefully target in the future. I agree with your names, Meyer especially.
 

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