It was worth the price of admission to watch Cavendish level that poor Shimano Doode. Wow! I am sure it was unintentional, but he sure gave that guy a bump.... HARD.
Personally, I think that was ALL Cavendish's fault, and he should've been penalized for it. He clearly jumped into the guy. And if you watch the footage from the front, you can see he pushed his whole body into that guy.
He 'claimed' that the road was already turning, but if you look at the video from above, the barriers were still going straight indicating the road hasn't started to turn yet.
@Scott - I totally agree... It was like roller derby, but I don't think he meant to put the guy on the ground. He certainly was not afraid of making contact tho....
If you go back a few frames earlier, the guy looks back and sees Cav on his wheel. He then veers left away from the white center line, which is when Cav initially kicks and tries to pull around to the right. The guy then recovers back right onto the white line and starts to drift right over the white line as the road is about to go left. If Cav stays right, he doesn't come close to the apex of the turn and would lose just based on having to take a very outside line. Cav was just starting his sprint and fighting for the inside line, while the other guy didn't hold his line and veered left and then right.
I don't know, I still think Cav was way too aggressive and he definitely caused it. If apologizing to the 'victim' is all you have to do to even your playing field, then Cav already did that too. I think he should've apologized for sure, as he was way more to blame than Veelers, IMO.
Way to go Froomey! That was an impressive 2nd place after Tony Martin just crushed everyone else. The overall standings are just amazing deficits already. Seeing Mont St Michel like that definitely makes me want to go back to France (I missed it the last two times I've been).
The GC faves will definitely have to throw everything they have at Froome come the Alps.
Re: Cav ... Things happen so fast and furiously @the end of a sprint, I don't believe there was time for conscious thought on his part to slam into Villar. But: Cav was certainly already pissed that his team failed him. Steegmans had already pulled off, while Villars was still leading Kittel out. So Cav is fuming, trying to stay on the wheel of Griepal and/or Kittel. Then Villars pulls out at the proper time, and fades in front of Cav heading left as the road is veering left. Cav instinctively wanted him out of the way, and felt,given his rep, he had rights to the space, and Villars should have pulled off the other direction. So he takes the line he feels is his, and gives Villars a shove to remind him of his place in the pecking order.
The sprinters and lead out trains can police themselves. They dont need fans to do it for them.
Anyway, Omega and Sky are supposedly the top two teams in the race ... See the TTT results. ALL they have to do these three weeks is (a) lead out Cav in the sprints or (b) protect Froome on the flats and support him on the hills. And they each failed big time. That Froome will win GC, and Cav will probably win at least twice more speaks to their individual prowess.
So we're left with Saxo/Belkin fighting for third, and Qunitana and Kwiatkowski fighting for white. Rolland and Sagan look unaasailable, while Froome is headed for the biggest victory margin since LA days.
Posted By Al Truscott on 10 Jul 2013 04:49 PM But: Cav was certainly already pissed that his team failed him. Steegmans had already pulled off,
After watching it again, I think Cav made a tactical error. He did not follow his man to the front, but instead intentionally pulled off early to sit on Griepel or someone else's wheel. If he had stayed on his teammate, then he would have been led right up to the front near the bend on the inside. Once he got off his teammate, the teammate went all the way to the front and only pulled off when Cav was no longer in tow.
Steegmans started the sprint for Cavendish but he hesitated. Cavendish was sitting on Veeler's wheel. Veelers, who was supposed to start the sprint for Kittel, looks to his right and finds not Kittel there but Cavendish. So he thinks 'Oh, Cavendish, I'm not gonna start the sprint for YOU' so he doesn't go full on and drifts a bit into Cav's lane. Cavendish sees hit and immediately knows what Veelers is doing. He says 'Fuck you Veelers' and leans into him to teach him a lesson... but Veelers crashes.
Who's at fault? I think it's hard to say. I don't think Cav had any intention to make someone crash. Veelers had every intention to hinder Cav in the sprint, Cav had every intention to scare Veelers but not to cause a crash. So, I guess it's an accident then.
Schleck STILL can't TT and Contador STILL does that weird scoot back in the saddle thing. Watch him TT -- over the course of about 20 pedal strokes (yes, I counted) he slides forward on the saddle...then scoots back. Slides forward...and scoots back. Over and over and over.
He's been doing this for year and it drives me NUTS!
Granted, I don't think anyone from his leadout has survived to the final 500 this year? but that's two stages now that Cav has made Phil look like a jackass. He called the one for Cav the other day that he got beat out on the line, and today he proclaimed that it would be to no effect when Kittel launched off his wheel in the sprint, because "no one can catch Cav at this point in a sprint" right as Kittel rounded his wheel and edged him out... again.
The Manx Missile seems to be having a lot of misfires this year.
Sagan's consistecncy and just plain smart riding deserves a bit of note from commentaters; he makes it look easy, just picking up his 3rd or 4th, and keeping up when sprinters cant on TT and hills.
Posted By Rich Strauss on 11 Jul 2013 09:13 AM <p>Schleck STILL can't TT and Contador STILL does that weird scoot back in the saddle thing. Watch him TT -- over the course of about 20 pedal strokes (yes, I counted) he slides forward on the saddle...then scoots back. Slides forward...and scoots back. Over and over and over. </p> <p>He's been doing this for year and it drives me NUTS! </p>
I wish they would leave the overhead camera shot in place for the final sprint. Sure, watching them grit their teeth is interesting, but those fisheye camera shots from the front make it nearly impossible to really get a perspective of who is doing what. At least they show it on the replay- I guess I should be happy with that.
And back to the discussion of the thin jerseys- Kittel looked almost naked at the end of the stage! He obviously had a very different kit on for the podium.
Well, that was fun. It's always better to see some real racing instead of the usual 3 minute breakaway, caught in the last 10 km, on a flat stage. Omega and Taxo-Sinkoff proved the strongest teams, and there's at least a glimmer of hope that Contador can pull off something with a bit of (whatever the Spanish word for "panache" is) on one of the last 8 stages, like he did in the Vuelta last year.
I guess I may need to eat my words regarding the depth/grittiness of Sky, and the probability of Froome winning by 7 minutes. But at least those other two teams are living up to the reps their riders collectively have. Chavenel is a horse (thoroughbred), Terpstra is a strong classics type rider, add in Tony Martin, Kwiatkowski, and Steegmans, and I don't see why Cav ever loses. Wait til the finish at dusk around the Arc - he'll get his third win. The collective of Rogers, Kreuziger, Roche, Paulinho, & Noval is proving Contador still has the charisma to inspire support from a world-class group or riders.
I think today's stage showed why the Tour is 3 weeks and getting in yellow early on is risky. Sky lost Boasson Hagen yesterday and is now down to 7 riders. And again they weren't good enough to control the race causing more than a minute of time loss in a flat stage. These things happen in the Tour, and it was great to see Saxo going all out for it! Great day for Belkin also with Mollema moving up to 2nd and he hasn't waisted any energy so far in the Tour. I just hope he'll race for 1st and not for 2nd.
One other thing ... for the past week, I've been wracking my brain trying to think whom Pierre Rolland reminds me of on the podium, with his expression an odd combination of confusion, frown, and smile. Today, it clicked - he's Lena Headey, Queen Cersei on Game of Thrones.
Also, I get a kick out of these guys who show up at the tour, denying they're going for the KOM. Then, all of a sudden, we see polka dot helmets, socks, sunglasses, shorts and saddle. No plans, huh?
At that level it is easy to get that stuff made overnight if needed. I remember some documentary about the company that made the leaders jerseys for the Tour. They basically have one for each team, at some size that would basically 'fit' everybody (i.e. just big enough for the biggest riders). THey then make the real jerseys in the evening / overnight so the riders have something in their size to race in the next day. No reason why the same can't be done by teams for shorts, wrapping a helmet or bike frame, etc.
Being surrepticiously prepared was one aspect; the other is: does Chris Froome have yellow shorts? Or Kwiatskowski? Pierre goes a little over the top with his outfit, IMO. Although, if you've got it, flaunt it, huh?
And poor Peter Sagan - I can't tell the difference between his jersey and the regular Cannondale ones, on casual glance at the TV.
A great lesson today for bike racers. Pay attention to the winds - even on a flat stage - and stay towards the front if you're in it for the GC. Why in the heck was Froome so far back when the break from Saxo-Tinkoff and Belkin was made?!? Seems like a rookie mistake and also seems as though their Director Sportif didn't prepare/warn them for it.
I think it speaks to experience. A few years ago, LA caught the wind break while AC fell behind a little, all due to WIND!
Team Sky seem to be falling apart, when Froome needs them the most, as they're approaching the Alps. Shame, because I really want to see him win (more than I did Wiggo last year).
WOW! What an awesome stage!! I was all prepared to just fast forward to the end with the standard ho-hum of a flat stage, but I'm so glad I didn't! I may have to watch it again (well, ok, maybe I'll just watch the highlights). I was of course happy to see Andy didn't get caught out and pleased to see Jacob in the final break-a-way group (even though I knew he had no chance of winning the stage).
It seemed like Sagan just kinda sat up at the finish. Second place good enough for points?
Oh- and as a little peep who lives in a windy place, I have to say that I really empathized with those guys that got spit out the back early on. That's me. I may not be super on the hills, but at least I have a small chance of keeping up. If I lose a wheel in the wind I'm toast!
Key points ...114-108 km to go, is when the inital split happens just after a sharp RH turn from a head to a side wind in the middle of a tiny village. Then, @ 32 km to go, just entering an open field, Taxo puts the hammer down. Reports are it was just a two second conversation between Roche and Rogers, with a nod from AC. You can see Froome at the front of the split, talking into his phone presumable asking for help, when he should have just jumped on it immediately. As Cav said in his interview, you've got five seconds, that's all, then they're gone.
Poor Valverde ...
While Froome appears the strongest rider, I enjoy and admire the spontaneity and courage of Contador, along with the depth, quality, and leadership (Bjarne Riis) of his team. Froome implied in his interviews that he would be trying to win on Mt Ventoux, or at least not ride defensively, but rather to put more time on Taxo and Linksys riders. I'll be pulling for AC and his boys. Truly a multinational collection. What are they, a Danish team with a Spanish GC guy, Czech climber, Aussie and Irish support, Italian sprinter ... ?
Interesting to hear OPQS and Belkin had planned this strategy for today. It was obvious for both teams after exploring the stages a few months ago so they talked and decided to work together even before today's stage. Great move with some of the best team efforts ever. And Riis is the smartest director sportif in the Tour!
I am stunned at how poorly Sky seems to be doing. That team is just crumbling before our eyes. It amazing how they were getting schucked out the back today. If this was college football they would walk onto the field under a shower of "over-rated" chants.
I feel really bad for Valverde, but am super interested to see if Valverde and Movistar will work to get Quintana higher into the standings and keep attacking Froome. Always great to see a former GC contender show some team spirit and put in the work for somebody else. It will be a bummer if that team just sits up now....
Hats off to the Saxo guys for capitalizing on an amazing day and cracking the thing open! Six strongmen in a 14 man break. Awesome.
As far as yesterday's stage...we all know there's so much to team strategy, inside that peleton, that doesn't really convey to the TV coverage, but yesterday's stage put all that out in the open, very easy (and enjoyable) to watch that play out.
I'm another that thinks Froome can't do this alone and Team Sky has shown too many times that it may crack on every stage. 3 weeks is too much work without a consistent team.
Comments
Personally, I think that was ALL Cavendish's fault, and he should've been penalized for it. He clearly jumped into the guy. And if you watch the footage from the front, you can see he pushed his whole body into that guy.
He 'claimed' that the road was already turning, but if you look at the video from above, the barriers were still going straight indicating the road hasn't started to turn yet.
http://velonews.competitor.com/2013/07/news/idiot-fan-throws-urine-at-cavendish-during-tour-de-france-time-trial_294527
@Keith - you must be right. I heard the ref was blaming the guy that fell.....
It also appears that Quintana is not much of TT'er.... But faster than Schleck....
Way to go Froomey! That was an impressive 2nd place after Tony Martin just crushed everyone else. The overall standings are just amazing deficits already. Seeing Mont St Michel like that definitely makes me want to go back to France (I missed it the last two times I've been).
The GC faves will definitely have to throw everything they have at Froome come the Alps.
The sprinters and lead out trains can police themselves. They dont need fans to do it for them.
Anyway, Omega and Sky are supposedly the top two teams in the race ... See the TTT results. ALL they have to do these three weeks is (a) lead out Cav in the sprints or (b) protect Froome on the flats and support him on the hills. And they each failed big time. That Froome will win GC, and Cav will probably win at least twice more speaks to their individual prowess.
So we're left with Saxo/Belkin fighting for third, and Qunitana and Kwiatkowski fighting for white. Rolland and Sagan look unaasailable, while Froome is headed for the biggest victory margin since LA days.
After watching it again, I think Cav made a tactical error. He did not follow his man to the front, but instead intentionally pulled off early to sit on Griepel or someone else's wheel. If he had stayed on his teammate, then he would have been led right up to the front near the bend on the inside. Once he got off his teammate, the teammate went all the way to the front and only pulled off when Cav was no longer in tow.
Who's at fault? I think it's hard to say. I don't think Cav had any intention to make someone crash. Veelers had every intention to hinder Cav in the sprint, Cav had every intention to scare Veelers but not to cause a crash. So, I guess it's an accident then.
Schleck STILL can't TT and Contador STILL does that weird scoot back in the saddle thing. Watch him TT -- over the course of about 20 pedal strokes (yes, I counted) he slides forward on the saddle...then scoots back. Slides forward...and scoots back. Over and over and over.
He's been doing this for year and it drives me NUTS!
Granted, I don't think anyone from his leadout has survived to the final 500 this year? but that's two stages now that Cav has made Phil look like a jackass. He called the one for Cav the other day that he got beat out on the line, and today he proclaimed that it would be to no effect when Kittel launched off his wheel in the sprint, because "no one can catch Cav at this point in a sprint" right as Kittel rounded his wheel and edged him out... again.
The Manx Missile seems to be having a lot of misfires this year.
Sagan's consistecncy and just plain smart riding deserves a bit of note from commentaters; he makes it look easy, just picking up his 3rd or 4th, and keeping up when sprinters cant on TT and hills.
Imagine what it's doing to his nuts....
And back to the discussion of the thin jerseys- Kittel looked almost naked at the end of the stage! He obviously had a very different kit on for the podium.
Well, that was fun. It's always better to see some real racing instead of the usual 3 minute breakaway, caught in the last 10 km, on a flat stage. Omega and Taxo-Sinkoff proved the strongest teams, and there's at least a glimmer of hope that Contador can pull off something with a bit of (whatever the Spanish word for "panache" is) on one of the last 8 stages, like he did in the Vuelta last year.
I guess I may need to eat my words regarding the depth/grittiness of Sky, and the probability of Froome winning by 7 minutes. But at least those other two teams are living up to the reps their riders collectively have. Chavenel is a horse (thoroughbred), Terpstra is a strong classics type rider, add in Tony Martin, Kwiatkowski, and Steegmans, and I don't see why Cav ever loses. Wait til the finish at dusk around the Arc - he'll get his third win. The collective of Rogers, Kreuziger, Roche, Paulinho, & Noval is proving Contador still has the charisma to inspire support from a world-class group or riders.
One other thing ... for the past week, I've been wracking my brain trying to think whom Pierre Rolland reminds me of on the podium, with his expression an odd combination of confusion, frown, and smile. Today, it clicked - he's Lena Headey, Queen Cersei on Game of Thrones.
Also, I get a kick out of these guys who show up at the tour, denying they're going for the KOM. Then, all of a sudden, we see polka dot helmets, socks, sunglasses, shorts and saddle. No plans, huh?
Being surrepticiously prepared was one aspect; the other is: does Chris Froome have yellow shorts? Or Kwiatskowski? Pierre goes a little over the top with his outfit, IMO. Although, if you've got it, flaunt it, huh?
And poor Peter Sagan - I can't tell the difference between his jersey and the regular Cannondale ones, on casual glance at the TV.
I think it speaks to experience. A few years ago, LA caught the wind break while AC fell behind a little, all due to WIND!
Team Sky seem to be falling apart, when Froome needs them the most, as they're approaching the Alps. Shame, because I really want to see him win (more than I did Wiggo last year).
It seemed like Sagan just kinda sat up at the finish. Second place good enough for points?
Poor Valverde ...
While Froome appears the strongest rider, I enjoy and admire the spontaneity and courage of Contador, along with the depth, quality, and leadership (Bjarne Riis) of his team. Froome implied in his interviews that he would be trying to win on Mt Ventoux, or at least not ride defensively, but rather to put more time on Taxo and Linksys riders. I'll be pulling for AC and his boys. Truly a multinational collection. What are they, a Danish team with a Spanish GC guy, Czech climber, Aussie and Irish support, Italian sprinter ... ?
Great pic showing hard work, with Ten Dam, Sep, Mollema and Boom racing hard.
I am stunned at how poorly Sky seems to be doing. That team is just crumbling before our eyes. It amazing how they were getting schucked out the back today. If this was college football they would walk onto the field under a shower of "over-rated" chants.
I feel really bad for Valverde, but am super interested to see if Valverde and Movistar will work to get Quintana higher into the standings and keep attacking Froome. Always great to see a former GC contender show some team spirit and put in the work for somebody else. It will be a bummer if that team just sits up now....
Hats off to the Saxo guys for capitalizing on an amazing day and cracking the thing open! Six strongmen in a 14 man break. Awesome.
I'm another that thinks Froome can't do this alone and Team Sky has shown too many times that it may crack on every stage. 3 weeks is too much work without a consistent team.
thoroughly enjoying the racing this year.
http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2010/07/behind-scenes-of-team-htc-columbia-and.html