sput·nik

finally getting the cableguy in here today, so i'll be able to catch up on coverage tonight.

i was thinking that without Boonen around this year, we wouldn't see the QuickStep train pulling back the breaks every day like we did last year.. i think we got spoiled by all those timely catches in the last kilometer.

Thor will continue to excel in the rolling hilly stages where a bit of climbing is necessary to stay in the mix. Hard to see him getting beat for green, I suppose.

Cheers for France.. having the yellow on a countryman's shoulders is big, even though it shouldn't last beyond this afternoon. hopefully the weather isn't too wet so they can take some risks today.. otherwise not much time is gonna change hands in 30k.,

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and those who were seen dancing
were thought to be insane
by those who could not hear the music . . .

Cerebro

Quickstep did a fair amount of work trying to catch the breakaway yesterday.
Dry weather so far, 1hr before Cancellara starts.

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sput·nik

well an interesting day, glad to finally be watching.

evans is going to be so damn tough. the guy always looks like everything is going exactly to plan... no doubt he is pleased with the last 2 days.


i'm glad to see menchov came through with a good show to keep close and hopefully valverde rebounds and gets feisty again soon enough. then theres cunego, sastre, sammy sanchez & andy schleck all still within 2 minutes.. i'm hoping the time gaps might be just enough to encourage a little action on thursday.

ricco dropped over 3 minutes, but i'm assuming he still has good form for the climbs. given that he'll have something to prove & that the serious bunch probably won't dig in too deep to chase him if he goes, he'll be my pick for Super Besse.

live coverage for me tomorrow morn, big sprint finish.

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and those who were seen dancing
were thought to be insane
by those who could not hear the music . . .

Cerebro

should be awesome for the sprinters, not too many sprint finishes left. Cavendish has plenty to prove. Go Robbie.
You forgot to mention Kirchen, he looks tough.
I just hope Cadel can keep out of trouble.
It was great to see Cadel's splits improving through the TT, to beat Cancellara was pretty impressive; and I liked seeing Valverde's first split.

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sput·nik

talk about a last second catch

hincapie with the huge pull from about 3-1k to go.


mmm.. live coverage pwns.

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and those who were seen dancing
were thought to be insane
by those who could not hear the music . . .

Cerebro

Cool that you've got it sorted.
Good for Cavendish.
Yeah, I didn't think they had him.
PS: Please come back and play v3d4, you know we loves you.

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sput·nik

just starting to get exciting now today..


v3d4 your guy will come back strong, keep watchin.

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and those who were seen dancing
were thought to be insane
by those who could not hear the music . . .

Cerebro

he looks good atm, definitely exciting.

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sput·nik

a perfect finish by ricco.. i was certain he had it once i saw him sitting on valverde's wheel with about 3k to go.


sure enough though, evans stays calm & cool.. sprints to v's wheel for no timegap.

fun little stage indeed, the last little pitch was a great introduction to the climbers. bummer for schumacher, but kirchen is a deserving man for the yellow.

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and those who were seen dancing
were thought to be insane
by those who could not hear the music . . .

Cerebro

Yeah, I felt sorry for Schu.
It was great to see all the contenders coming to the front in that climb, and a bit of an eye opener to see many fall off the back.
Frank Schleck was there, Cadel had no help, lots of interesting stuff.

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sput·nik

profile for tomorrow shows a little cat.3 poke that wraps up 10k before the finish. along with a bunch of minor climbs on teh day, you'd think we'll see some breakaways from polkadot contenders and that a big bunch sprint with all the boys would be pretty unlikely.. tough luck for the sprinters.
hopefully robbie can find a lane on saturday before they head into the 2 days of pyrenees.. i'll definitely be rooting for him with ya.

sunday will be another day for polkadot points, probably no major moves..
but monday will be huge. right before the rest day & plenty of recovery days afterwards.,, someone has to take a chance that day to shake up cadel if there is to be any hope.

the Tourmalet is really something else.. i'm not too familiar with the Hautacam. gotta love the summit finishes,



i'm expecting CSC to play some cards.. my money will be on the older schleck

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and those who were seen dancing
were thought to be insane
by those who could not hear the music . . .

Cerebro

Frank will be going for GC, so I'll go with Andy.
No-one will talk about Cunego after yesterday.

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sput·nik

Maybe Cunego should consider opening a salon with Pellizotti.

pelo perfecto

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and those who were seen dancing
were thought to be insane
by those who could not hear the music . . .

Cerebro

he's crap.
Caisse d'Epargne
great team.

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sput·nik

quite.

sub 4 hour century through the mountains, no problem for the boys.

gotta love these short, stiff little climbs towards the end of the stages..
might not please the sprinters but sure makes for exciting TV.

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and those who were seen dancing
were thought to be insane
by those who could not hear the music . . .

sput·nik

Positive EPO test for Manuel Beltran from stage 1 just bombed the scene today.

another former armstrong teammate a doper? noway..

sounds like about 2 dozen guys are being targeted almost daily after coming in right at 50% hematocrit in blood tests just prior to the start.

ahwellz, that's racin.

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and those who were seen dancing
were thought to be insane
by those who could not hear the music . . .

Cerebro

which team? is the team out?

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sput·nik

LiquiGas,

they removed him as soon as the A results came back so apparently that will allow them to stay.

first break of the news

minor update - liquigas to stay

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and those who were seen dancing
were thought to be insane
by those who could not hear the music . . .

sput·nik

the kid is fast.

mad respect, he looks a great team guy... all confidence surely, but plenty personable & appreciative of his mates. already interviews like a vet, even. hard to give up on my old favorites, but he's golden for the future no doubt.


more than anything, awesome that everyone stayed upright in the chaos at the end. all the favorites headed into the mountains.. i'm sure they're all just hoping the weather improves now.

tomorrow looks like a bit of a beast, but i still think the real attacks will be saved for monday.

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and those who were seen dancing
were thought to be insane
by those who could not hear the music . . .

Cerebro

Hopefully the leader board gets a bit stirred up on Monday, I'll be off the net for a week or more, so hope you dont find yourself alone in this thread mate
But yeah, he did it pretty easily.

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