There’s only one Denis Menchov!
AC looks most vulnerable I have ssen him in a good while
Great win for AG2R.Well done Christophe!
Roche came in there in good group with hand in air.Ahead of Wiggins and others looking for top 15/10 placing.Dangerous tactics from Schleck and Contador.Contador didn’t look strong at all and there won’t be many more opportunities to put him under pressure so Schleck may regret not putting the hammer down
Outstanding stuff. C’man!
People over-reacting - 15 seconds is nothing, Sanchez and Menchov won’t make up 2 minutes plus.
I don’t care as long as Menchov gets 3rd. Out of the way Sanchez your greaseball.
Agree advantage didn’t prove to be much though disagree with you in that Menchov could easily make up 2 minutes on Schleck in the timetrial.Contador didn’t look strong and this was a finish that suited Schleck so I think he really should have tried to attack Contador more.
Three more days in mountains will tell a lot though only really tomorrow and Thursday where GC contenders can gain significant time.
I’d be in a state of shock if Menchov is within two minutes of Schleck come the time trial. He is bound to blow out at some stage in the mountains.
It was a lot more than 15 seconds when we were posting on it. Gap closed after the chasing pair started to work and got company and Menchov ran out of steam ahead.
Which was always going to happen.
He may gain time on him but not so sure he will gain much more for the following reasons.
- This is the first time in a long time that Menchov hasn’t done the Giro so he should be fresh(look at performances of Evans,Basso,Wiggins etc to see how Giro has affected them).
- He has Gesink who is now probably best climbing domestique given Menchov’s position.
- Menchov is a guy who has best grand tour pedigree outwith Contador so he can handle stress of last week. Only two real chances for Schleck left and even tomorrow’s stage has long downhill to the finish.
- He is climbing very well
If Menchov is within three and a half minutes of Schleck I think he has a chance of beating him.Messing around today suited Contador more than Schleck.
No it wasn’t. Did you watch it? Neither of them idd any work for a minute or so.
Yes I did watch it, what I saw was Contador/Schleck not caring in the slightest about Menchov and Sanchez. When they decided to chase them down they did so with absolute ease. Hence why people are over-reacting, Contador/Schleck aren’t weak and they weren’t suffering, they simply don’t respect Menchov and Sanchez. And they are right - this Tour is completely a two horse race.
I think it was Van Den Broeck and Rodriguez who did the work. If they were on their own time gaps could have been bigger.
Fair points, and I thought the part in bold myself at the time. However, Menchov has a history of having one off disaster days in the mountains where he loses minutes and minutes - possibly this year will be different, we’ll see.
But Contador and Schleck aren’t the same type of rider. Contador tried to take a bit of time out of Schleck and it didn’t happen for him. Fair enough. Schleck must know he is going to lose time in the Time Trial. He saw that Contador wasn’t going to attack himself anymore and he knew that Menchov was up ahead. Schleck simply isn’t good enough as a time trialist to allow Menchov to take time out of him in the mountains. Nor is he good enough to settle for parity with Contador in the mountains. There was some merit in Contador backing off to let Schleck worry about chasing but the decision from Schleck to settle for a small loss today is bizarre IMO.
But it’s all about opinions obviously. We’ll see what happens but I don’t see many chances left for Schleck.
Would disagree with you about Contador.He looked very suspect today.Lacked punch and his attacks weren’t as strong as usual.Astana worked all day to set it up for stage and in the end Contador didn’t have it.This was a stage he wanted to win and I am pretty convinced he wanted to take yellow also.He can only be thankful that Schleck didn’t attack him as today could have been the day to put time in him and he (contador) may not have an off day again.
Some fine points, the Tourmalet will tell how strong Contador, Schleck, Sanchez and Menchov really are. I would be delighted if Contador was weak - he is suspect, and I can’t see Schleck pulling out enough time in the mountains to beat him in the GC.
Good point well made. Also add in the fact that Contador wasn’t strong today and it makes Schleck’s hesitancy all the more baffling. Also what the fook was he at heading back to get food for on the Port de Pailheres when Sorensen or Fuglsang could have done the job.Wasted energy
Roche finished 18th today 2’27 down. Ahead of Basso and Kloden by a couple of seconds. Kreuziger was 3’03 down while Wiggins lost nearly five minutes. Lance 15 minutes down!