I hate crashes ... But I've seen Cav hit the deck like that at least half a dozen times in the past few years, and he *never* gets hurt - he doesnt even seem to bleed. His helmet was mangled, the back of his shirt ripped up, but all his bones, joints and skin are intact - he must know how to fall.
Right, it was a new bike - the first one was for show, the second one for dough - probably easier on the climbs.
Look for Sagan to win maybe 3 more: stages 5, 8, & 12. After today's "run" across the line, if he "swims" the next time, maybe we should accept him as a wannabe triathlete? And, according to Bobke, the first one WAS the Funky Chicken.
Okay, I will concede the funky chicken point.
I think Sagan may also find a way to get some of those Hushvod style solo wins/sprint points we've seen the in past few years.
I hate crashes ... But I've seen Cav hit the deck like that at least half a dozen times in the past few years, and he *never* gets hurt - he doesnt even seem to bleed. His helmet was mangled, the back of his shirt ripped up, but all his bones, joints and skin are intact - he must know how to fall.
He doesn't get hurt, but he looked extremely shaken up today, more than I've seen in the past (hey, that was a bad fall).
Cav made a point of finishing the Giro and has lost weight and seems to be in a tough minded, take no crap mode. He is one tough little bugger and don't need no stinking train to win and will concede nothing to Sagan or anyone else. He wants his stages before he bails for London. I miss Tommeke. He's probably clubbin' in Ibiza.
Ok, so here is a really obvious thing to say, these guys are amazing...
fun to watch the guys in the middle and rear of the Pelaton not working as hard as the guys up front and yet they are all going 30 MPH...
Any guess as to what the average Cassette these guys are using for the flatter stages? I swear they showed one guy who's largest ring on the rear cassette appeared to be a 12 or something crazy small for a "easy" gear option.
and don't get me started on the guys jumping over the medians of the road like its no big deal....Or the guy getting back to the pelaton by drafting off his support car no less than 3 inches from the rear bumper...
Cav looked totally out of it riding to the finish line, helmet in pieces..made me wonder if he had a concussion or he was just flaming hot mad...hard to tell.
Greipel's bike handling skills were might impressive today, even as he stomped on Tyler Farrar to stay upright! Came unclipped on both feet, and still managed the win at the end of the stage.
Cav looked totally out of it riding to the finish line, helmet in pieces..made me wonder if he had a concussion or he was just flaming hot mad...hard to tell.
I thought the same thing- but based on the un-edited vocal display at the beginning of today's stage, I'd say flaming hot mad. Not sure if it will make it to the evening recap show- but the censors were obviously a little slow on the button this morning!
I wonder how much Sky's supposed protection of Cav at the end of today's stage was just as much to keep Wiggo out of trouble as it was to keep Cav in position.
Great finish today. I thought for a second the break-a-way would make it until WOW- the sprinters made them look like they were riding backwards. Wow.
Great bike handling skills but also nice of Basso to provide Griepel with a crash barrier on which to straighten himself out and get clipped in again...and then win the stage!
Too far. He's gonna have to salvage his tour by trying for a stage win. A reasonable option for him since no one is really gonna worry about him attacking on a climb and getting ahead. That's my Hedge Hogs only hope now.
Oh, and poor Fabianne, he looked a little sad picking up the yellow jersey today. Not sure if that's because he knows it's the last time or if it's because he was pissed about the crash. He apparently barely missed getting caught up in it as well.
@ Rich, I think Schleck is 2:30 back after today. Unless he has unaccountably improved his TT skills, he's almost certainly out. @ Nemo, in the interview I read, he said it was the crash -- very close call. They also had guys lose time behind that mess.
I have been a roadie, but can't imagine a crash in a group that big at 35-40 mph. Ouch!
Biggest loser today was Garmin. VDV and Hejedahl lost > 12:00 and Tom Danielson abandoned. That and Dave Z gets caught 1 km from the line.
Real race starts tomorrow. Not a super hard day, but the finishing climb is a brute; it's long and has stretches of 11 and 13%. We will at least see who has the legs to contend.
The little Hulkster avoids a broken chain in front of him and then out sprints Greipel, train and all. He sat on his wheel from about 2k out and refused to let anyone get him off of it. Awesomeness.
Dave Z is a great interview. What a space shot he is....
Today's abandons: Astarloza, Danielson, Dupont, Erviti, Freire, Poels, Txurruka, Wynants, Vigano. Possible more won't start tomorrow. That was one hell of a crash. Still haven't heard what caused it.
This is Joe Dombrowski. Note the pink jersey, winner of the Girobio (Baby Giro). The next Schleck. Rides for Bontrager Livestrong. He's only 20and a nice kid, so be gentle.
This is Joe Dombrowski. Note the pink jersey, winner of the Girobio (Baby Giro). The next Schleck. Rides for Bontrager Livestrong. He's only 20and a nice kid, so be gentle.
Hope you feel better.
Nice. That's the skinny lil' bastard (one of them) who snagged ALL of the Strava KOM's in my local mountains during Stage 7 of the Tour. Tell him that I and a lot of other LA hommies in the SGV have something for him when he comes back here!!
This is Joe Dombrowski. Note the pink jersey, winner of the Girobio (Baby Giro). The next Schleck. Rides for Bontrager Livestrong. He's only 20and a nice kid, so be gentle.
Hope you feel better.
Ooooooh, me likie!!!!! Me likie very much! Where is that drooling smiley when you need him?
Awesome team work from Sky today. Even saw Cav grabbing some bottles. When was the last time you saw a world champion do that? He will expect a LOT of work at the Olympics from Froome and Wiggo.
Awesome ride by Froome today, one of the best I've seen. To pull like that for 2k and then go over the top of Evans and take the win. Evans may have been marking Wiggins but it sure seemed like he was working his ass off too.
Yeah, I didn't quite get the Garmin tactics either.
Radio Shack: yeah, I think Francine looked back and saw he was riding near Fabian and decided he needed to get off his ass and do something.
With Wiggins and Evans dropping EVERYONE in the race save Nibali - I can safely go on my two week trip to CO, where I don't have cable, knowing how the race will turn out. Monday should decide between the top two, with Nibali third. Then, the only exciting thing will be stage wins.
And Sky ... Bo-hog to Rogers to Porte to Froome to Wiggins - and Cadel is fighting on all alone. No contest, just like the bad old days of US Postal. (I'm not equating their "training" practices.)
Did anyone else see Sagan doing a wheelie as he crested the top of the last climb (a 20% grade), grinning that Elvis sneer?
You conceding? Come on! This isn't the Postal era- now, everyone has THAT day now. First day of hills. No biggie.
Okay, I'm not doing the math and it looks like it's playing out the way everyone thought it would but....that's ONE day, ONE climb.
And as much as I like the Phil Paul show, if Phil remind us one more time that Cav is (choose one) still breathing, taking a dump, missing his baby, getting bottles, adjusting his socks.....Pleeeeze. They're good. We get it. UK pride. God save the queen. But there is other stuff going on.
Cadel will be right there. Sagan is irrepressible and fun. Lots of longer, grindy, climbs coming up. Stay tuned!
Since last year's Vuelta, I have yet to see Sky stub its toe with their Overwhelming Force model in stage race climbs. Nor has Cadel, much less Nibali, shown they can TT faster than Gen'l Burnsides. And everyone else with a # ending in "1" has crashed or lost big time already.
Where was Sylvester Szmyd? Basso? TVG? Etc? There are only two more uphill Mtn finishes.
Wow- that was a pretty exciting stage. I didn't get to see the early break-a-way with Jens but hope they cover it in the recap. Was great to see a break-a-way rider survive for the win today- he dug deep! Also really nice to see 3 Trek boys (including Frank) in the chase group- although I still can't quite figure out what their goals are at this point.
Take Wiggo out of the mix and you had quite a nice bit of juicy young meat to ogle during the podium ceremony today (although I hope to see Tejay in white again soon).
Comments
I hate crashes ... But I've seen Cav hit the deck like that at least half a dozen times in the past few years, and he *never* gets hurt - he doesnt even seem to bleed. His helmet was mangled, the back of his shirt ripped up, but all his bones, joints and skin are intact - he must know how to fall.
Okay, I will concede the funky chicken point.
I think Sagan may also find a way to get some of those Hushvod style solo wins/sprint points we've seen the in past few years.
He doesn't get hurt, but he looked extremely shaken up today, more than I've seen in the past (hey, that was a bad fall).
He wants his stages before he bails for London.
I miss Tommeke. He's probably clubbin' in Ibiza.
fun to watch the guys in the middle and rear of the Pelaton not working as hard as the guys up front and yet they are all going 30 MPH...
Any guess as to what the average Cassette these guys are using for the flatter stages? I swear they showed one guy who's largest ring on the rear cassette appeared to be a 12 or something crazy small for a "easy" gear option.
and don't get me started on the guys jumping over the medians of the road like its no big deal....Or the guy getting back to the pelaton by drafting off his support car no less than 3 inches from the rear bumper...
Cav looked totally out of it riding to the finish line, helmet in pieces..made me wonder if he had a concussion or he was just flaming hot mad...hard to tell.
I thought the same thing- but based on the un-edited vocal display at the beginning of today's stage, I'd say flaming hot mad. Not sure if it will make it to the evening recap show- but the censors were obviously a little slow on the button this morning!
I wonder how much Sky's supposed protection of Cav at the end of today's stage was just as much to keep Wiggo out of trouble as it was to keep Cav in position.
Great finish today. I thought for a second the break-a-way would make it until WOW- the sprinters made them look like they were riding backwards. Wow.
Great finish!
Great bike handling skills but also nice of Basso to provide Griepel with a crash barrier on which to straighten himself out and get clipped in again...and then win the stage!
It's official; Peter Sagan IS the Incredible Hulk:
Greipel can gripe about falls, but Sagan hit the deck the day before, didn't seem to affect him.
@ Nemo, in the interview I read, he said it was the crash -- very close call. They also had guys lose time behind that mess.
I have been a roadie, but can't imagine a crash in a group that big at 35-40 mph. Ouch!
Biggest loser today was Garmin. VDV and Hejedahl lost > 12:00 and Tom Danielson abandoned. That and Dave Z gets caught 1 km from the line.
Real race starts tomorrow. Not a super hard day, but the finishing climb is a brute; it's long and has stretches of 11 and 13%. We will at least see who has the legs to contend.
Dave Z is a great interview. What a space shot he is....
I haven't seen the DaveZ interview but will watch it tonight
Maybe he can pull out something special for Garmin in the TT's.
Nemo,
This is Joe Dombrowski. Note the pink jersey, winner of the Girobio (Baby Giro). The next Schleck. Rides for Bontrager Livestrong. He's only 20and a nice kid, so be gentle.
Hope you feel better.
Nice. That's the skinny lil' bastard (one of them) who snagged ALL of the Strava KOM's in my local mountains during Stage 7 of the Tour. Tell him that I and a lot of other LA hommies in the SGV have something for him when he comes back here!!
"Yeah, well they're not dead, so it's all cool..." (When asked by Hummer how his team was after the crash.)
Ooooooh, me likie!!!!! Me likie very much! Where is that drooling smiley when you need him?
Wouldn't you love to hear the conversations that are going on behind closed doors of the hotel the Radio Shack team is at tonight?
Awesome ride by Froome today, one of the best I've seen. To pull like that for 2k and then go over the top of Evans and take the win. Evans may have been marking Wiggins but it sure seemed like he was working his ass off too.
Yeah, I didn't quite get the Garmin tactics either.
Radio Shack: yeah, I think Francine looked back and saw he was riding near Fabian and decided he needed to get off his ass and do something.
With Wiggins and Evans dropping EVERYONE in the race save Nibali - I can safely go on my two week trip to CO, where I don't have cable, knowing how the race will turn out. Monday should decide between the top two, with Nibali third. Then, the only exciting thing will be stage wins.
And Sky ... Bo-hog to Rogers to Porte to Froome to Wiggins - and Cadel is fighting on all alone. No contest, just like the bad old days of US Postal. (I'm not equating their "training" practices.)
Did anyone else see Sagan doing a wheelie as he crested the top of the last climb (a 20% grade), grinning that Elvis sneer?
You conceding? Come on! This isn't the Postal era- now, everyone has THAT day now. First day of hills. No biggie.
Okay, I'm not doing the math and it looks like it's playing out the way everyone thought it would but....that's ONE day, ONE climb.
And as much as I like the Phil Paul show, if Phil remind us one more time that Cav is (choose one) still breathing, taking a dump, missing his baby, getting bottles, adjusting his socks.....Pleeeeze. They're good. We get it. UK pride. God save the queen. But there is other stuff going on.
Cadel will be right there. Sagan is irrepressible and fun. Lots of longer, grindy, climbs coming up. Stay tuned!
Great ride by Spartacus, btw.
Since last year's Vuelta, I have yet to see Sky stub its toe with their Overwhelming Force model in stage race climbs. Nor has Cadel, much less Nibali, shown they can TT faster than Gen'l Burnsides. And everyone else with a # ending in "1" has crashed or lost big time already.
Where was Sylvester Szmyd? Basso? TVG? Etc? There are only two more uphill Mtn finishes.
Take Wiggo out of the mix and you had quite a nice bit of juicy young meat to ogle during the podium ceremony today (although I hope to see Tejay in white again soon).