Le Tour!

Voekler! What else can you say. They brought back almost 2 minutes.

NFN Frank is a dumb fuck. He got 8 seconds on Evans but also probably got Evans drag himself to gain back another 5 or 10 on his brother. If Evans is within 1:30 he can get these guys.
 
Wow, very nice effort. That's impressive. They clearly underestimated what he could do out there. I'd also say the BMC camp overestimated what Evans (and the chase) could do to close the gap. They let him get way too far up on the first climb.

Contador, damn. Spain takes a double whammy.

Gotta love Voekler.

So I found the full results from last year:
http://velonews.competitor.com/2010/07/tour-de-france/tour-de-france-stage-19-results_123032#stage

Schleck destroyed Evans in last year's TT. Why is Evans touted as some animal on the TT?
 
Norm said:
Schleck destroyed Evans in last year's TT. Why is Evans touted as some animal on the TT?
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I think Evans was totally out of it last year. He was pretty much done in the Pyrenees last year if I recall correctly. Pretty sure he was taking it it "easy" for the rest of the tour. Here are the 2009 TT results:

http://www.roadcycling.com/articles/2009_Tour_de_France_Results_-_Stage_18_002910.shtml

Evans still only had 30 seconds ahead of Andy in 2009 TT, and I'm pretty sure Andy got better in the TT since 2009. So I don't know why people say Andy will get destroyed in the TT. I guess he sort of got destroyed (1:44) by Contador in 2009, but in 2010, Cantador only beat Andy by 34 seconds or so in the TT. Yea, Andy might get destroyed by Cancellara, but by the other GC contenders, not so much. I have a hard time seeing them put over 1min on the TT over Andy.

As I said before, the other guys do have an edge on Andy in the TT, but Andy is not chop liver either esp if he's got the yellow on his back.
 
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soundz said:
I think Evans was totally out of it last year. He was pretty much done in the Pyrenees last year if I recall correctly.
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His elbow got tore up pretty good (broken?) in an early crash last year. He defended valiantly, but was too beat up. If he's riding this strong, his TT'ing may be back on form. Not sure what an on-form Evans can take out of Andy in the TT, but this may be a very tight finish.
 
Ditto on that - Evans was done last year.

Interesting to look at though is the fact that on the steeper 1 st climb Andy opened up the initial gap very quickly; about 2:15. He cathces his teammate (well planned) on the decent and they rail it to the base of the CdG climb and get over 3:46 lead (simply becuse his mate wastes himself for him). The other GC guys sit back and let Evans do all the work. He still paces himself and lets the gap go out so he's not totally wasted. At 9k to go it was still 3:30; Evans is riding conservative. On the more moderate slopes of the CdG Evans turns it up, drops most of the lead pack and gets back 1:15 with no help.

The Schlecks still need to attack hard at AdU. Evans has ridiculous form right now and has the potential to throw down a HUGE TT. I can't count him out yet. Contador - done. Prediction - A. Schleck, Evans, Voekler 1,2,3 in Paris.
 
Predictions?

Heard an interview with Andy, who basically was like, "F it, if I want to win I had to take a risk." I'm not a big fan but you have to respect the move and his quote.

It should be clear today to BMC that Evans is all alone. He needs to mark Andy and stick on his wheel.

On that note, both Phil and the ITV guys think that it is a 100% certainty than Evans beats Andy in the TT by more than a minute. Seems a lot but they know the game, so I guess that's the case.

I think Voekler tries to match anything today. If he lets it go, he loses yellow. If he tries and fail, he still loses yellow. Anyone else get the feeling that he really just wants the yellow jersey run to be over? It's almost like it's a burden he just wants to let go of but can't because it is what it is.

Seems like at this point only 4 people are even in the running for a podium, Evans, Voekler, and the Schlecks.
 
is contador that strong in the TT? could he really have made up the gap he had on this stage? not sure why they chased if hes so far back.
 
Norm said:
Anyone else get the feeling that he really just wants the yellow jersey run to be over? It's almost like it's a burden he just wants to let go of but can't because it is what it is.
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No way. He is surprising everyone. He has had plenty of opportunities to relinquish the jersey with honor but continues to battle. The French are chiseling statues of him now.


Today's stage is a reminder of 2006. Floyd Landis had a bad day. Then he goes out on a suicide mission on Stage 17 and wins himself the tour. Unfortunately, it did end up being a suicide mission.
 
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BiknBen said:
No way. He is surprising everyone. He has had plenty of opportunities to relinquish the jersey with honor but continues to battle. The French are chiseling statues of him now.
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I've heard several commentators say the same thing. Without question he's throwing it all down. I was rooting for Evans but I'd rather to see Voekler hang in there and keep it. Though not looking real likely...
 
BiknBen said:
Today's stage is a reminder of 2006. Floyd Landis had a bad day. Then he goes out on a suicide mission on Stage 17 and wins himself the tour. Unfortunately, it did end up being a suicide mission.
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Is there any way Contador and Schleck are working together here? Contador cedes the win to get himself on the podium? Or is he just leaving it *all* out there because he's got nothing to lose?

I should have taken the day off.
 
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