Velominati Super Prestige: Tour de France 2012, Stage 11
During the 1969 Tour de France, Felice Gimondi and Ray Poulidor were fined for taking a ride from a lorry up the Tourmalet. What about Merkcx? Well, he was towing the lorry.
Its an old joke, but like any good joke, it stays funny no matter how many times you hear it. I bet it’s even funnier if you know what a lorry is. I knew a girl named Lori once – wasn’t funny at all – though she would give a ride to anyone who asked, so I’m assuming that’s the joke.
Merckx decimated the 1969 Tour in a way we haven’t seen in ages. On July 15 of that year, The Prophet started the day with an almost unassailable lead of somewhere around 8 minutes. Not enough, obviously. So it was, then, that his rivals’ tails wagged at the sight of him flustering with his gears near the top of the Tourmalet. A mechanical, obviously, sure to cost him loads of time. In fact, he was just moving Sur La Plaque into my personal favorite gear for climbing – the 53×17. They wouldn’t see him again that day and four hours later, his solo effort would net him another 8 minutes’ lead.
If anyone at this Tour de France wants to beat Bradley Wiggins, they’re going to have to set aside the in-vogue last-mountain attack or start putting a lot more stock in poisn’d entrails, eyes of newt, and wool of bat. Unless their strategic plan involves deliberately crashing the entirety of Team Sky or having them all come down with a synchronized sniffle, they’re going to have to start riding their bikes hard from a lot farther out than the 5km banner.
Stage 11 is the test, even though Stage 10 is also a test and may already prove me right or wrong (it will be one of those, I’m sure of it). But Stage 11 sees the finish to La Toussuire where Floyd Landis cracked and lost a mountain of time before regaining it the next day and subsequently testing positive for beer-induced testosterone. Its not a very steep climb, but its hard enough to suck if you blow up. It won’t be hard enough to drop an in-form Wiggins, so Nibali and/or Evans will have to hit the road a lot sooner than the last climb if they’re going to start making inroads. And if my boy Fränkie Schleck wants a chance at the win, he should probably start the stage today.
It’s time to ride with the breath of a cannibal.
You know the drill: get your picks in by the time the countdown clock goes to zero for a chance to win a pair of fizik R3 road shoes and two pair of DeFeet socks.
So that’s contingent on Nibbles long shot fade out a la LBL and Wiggins playing steady game and riding in on Cadels wheels. Also big big IF Frank turns up to play like he did last year on the Galibier. Will be great to watch and I can’t wait for the fireworks to start!
Voeckler will for sure be in the attacj again to secure his mountain jersey. Nibali will go for it in the descents! Go go go, looking forward to it….
VSP PICKS:
1. Thomas Voeckler
2. Pierre Roland
3. Vicenzo Nibali
4. van den Broeck
5. Cadel Evans
Voeckler will for sure attack to defend his Mountain jersey. Also Nibali will attack in the descents, as will van den Broeck… I’m looking forward to the stage today!
VSP PICKS:
1. Jurgen VdB
2. Schleck
3. Nibali
4. Sorensen
5. Menchov
VSP PICKS:
1. Nibali
2. Evans
3. Wiggins
4. Schleck
5. Valverde
Wiggles is to Cuddles as Mary’s little lamb. Those in GC (podium) contention will be swallowed by the Big Sky. So I think a flyer will stick, but who? Frank “The course is too long, too short, not steep enough, too time-trialy” Schleck is a good guess, but His Whininess has become too annoying to me to select. So, I’m left with bad guesses.
Will it be Rolland and Martin’s Laugh-In?
Janez says, “Have you seen my Wiggs around? I feel naked without him.”
Have the shoes but not a clue.
VSP PICKS:
1. Rolland
2. Rui Costa
3. Evans
4. Wiggans
5. Froome
Can’t imagine he would have figured in today’s results but the gap between Wiggo, Frooome and the rest in the TT is going to be even bigger now. Faboo is out
“Goodbye #TDF12. I am not only bike rider.i am a husband as well.My family needs me to be close for the pregnat and to assist.”
VSP PICKS:
1. wiggins
2. Cadel
3. Froome
4. Nibali
5. Van Den Broeck
I’m guessing it would be a most flagrant abuse of the petit principle to use the next 56 minutes to see whether the early breaks might contain riders that have a chance of staying away for the duration before making a last minute amendment to my picks.
VSP PICKS:
1. Rolland
2. Martin
3. Thibaut
4. Voekler
5. Schleck
I fancy I may just have nailed this one on the head
VSP PICKS:
1. Hoogerland – population “Heros”
2. Jen Claude Ten Dam
3. Barking Mollema
4. Scarface
5. Sandy Caesar Salad
Looks like bad news for anyone with Tommy V in their picks.
Something is quirky for my picks. This may be a repeat. Sorry if it is.
ugh.
c’mon Cadelephant! Get the fuck up there.
Go Cadel go!
Easy Tejay, don’t go dropping your leader.
@Mikael Liddy
got a bit carried away didn’t he
@Adrian yeah I wonder (read: hope) Evans realised he was never getting any more than 20 seconds away from the group & decided not to absolutely bury it in the red.
@Mikael Liddy
60km is a long way to go if you bury yourself…..great to see him give sky a poke though. Makes it much more fun…
I’m in class! What’s going on?
Also wonder if he was testing Sky or seeing if he could wear them down a bit before a final all out attack on the final climb
@RedRanger
evans attacked, made about 30s and found tejay but was unable to make it stick and is now back with the Sky bunch
@RedRanger about 1/3 the way up the Croix de Fer BMC sent Tejay up the road & then Evans went up to him knowing they had Moinard coming back from a break. Sky still had Rogers, Porte & Froome around Wiggo and paced their way back to him by about 5k to go up the climb.
Now waiting for Cuddles & Nibbles to light up the descent.
@Adrian
Yeah I hope so, I mean that was from further out than Andy’s effort on Stage 18 last year.
In other news, Tejay isn’t a bad bet for the next US GC hope.
@Mikael Liddy
I think it’s all going to come down to la toussuire! Tejay GC why not, young talent. Just needs to live halfway up a mountain and sleep in a tent in his living room.
@Adrian
How’s his sweariness?
@Mikael Liddy
As an Amercian I imagine it’s more in the bullsh*t and a**hole camp than the w**nker and c word Queens English.
Rolland is currently throwing his toys out of the pram for not getting any help in the descent.
@Adrian
Unless he’s the “darn it” and “heck” variety.
@Adrian
Sorry, “d@arn it” and h#ck”.
@Blah
Gosh!
@Blah
steady on old chap, there could be women and children reading!
@Mikael Liddy
Wash your mouth out, by g@lly!
Fuckity fuck Delgado’d fuck fuck….
@Dan_R
ouch
I can see my feet remaining bare and cold at the end of this stage!
Rolland descends like @xyxax
On the final climb, all the big GC boys together except Menchov who is having une jour sans
I find myself wishing Contador was riding…
SOMEONE FUCKING ATTACK!!!!
@Adrian
ha! +1 on that one.
@Mikael Liddy
Seconded. Just not steep enough when Wiggo has teammates left to chase anyone down.
@Mikael Liddy
I’m waiting on Nibbles.
@ChrisO
Contador is probably thinking the same….
I also find myself wondering where Evans and Nibali’s teams are… they have Van Garderen and Basso with them respectively but if they are going to beat Wiggins they need to have Hincapie, Szmyd and a couple of others fighting fire with fire. Throw in Vanendert and Van Den Broeck and you might have a race.
Nibali talks about needing allies but he and Evans can’t attack the whole Sky team on their own.
@ChrisO
Dude could dance on the pedals and you could count on an attack. But there goes Nibbles!!! Go, baby, go!
Crazy to attack before the 10k mark. I think they held off well. Going too far out only gives Sky the chance to pull it in diesel style. They have to crack Froome if they want to get to Wiggo.
Go Nibbles
here we go