2008 Tour De France : Stage 1 Brest - Plumelec 195 km Saturday, July

Travis44

I'm wondering if Valverde will fight to hold on to the yellow jersey, or will he just give it up at the time trial?

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Crankyfeet

He'll go as fast as he can at the Time Trial... but will most likely lose it anyway IMO.

You're not suggesting that he is going to soft pedal the Time Trial in stage 4... while going for the GC are you?

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thunder

think he prolly meant wrt stages 2 and 3. Conflated surrendering time to a GC competitor, to give another team the responsibility of working on the front.

Crankyfeet

That's funny... I thought he said the time trial.

When they cut to that overhead shot about 300m from the finish... and Kirchen had about 25 yards on the field... I saw Piti making that move round the corner like the rest of the field were standing still (sh!t he's got some explosive acceleration on climbs) and I thought it might be Evans... after seeing Cadel not that far behind in the front-on shot... and having similar colors.

Not to be though.

I just thought Valverde's sprint at the end there was amazing. He literally had the ability to go 5-10 mph faster than the field, and look like he was on a Sunday stroll at the end.

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thunder

he did say the tt, but he could not have been thinking.

From here on, you don't want to sacrifice time to your GC competitors first, but you would prefer some other team doing the pulling.

Ofcourse, if you are in virtual GC, you are still the only guy your competitors have their eye on and wish to attack.

Powerful Pete

If I am not mistaken in the post-race interview he said he wanted to keep the jersey for the coming 2-3 stages - he probably meant through the TT.

This is his first yellow, racing for a French sponsor, and no one knows if he can hold for the whole three weeks. I think they will take the risk and keep the jersey as long as they can. Good PR and money.

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Crankyfeet

He can want to as much as he likes... but if Cancellara takes more than 7 secs out of him in the TT and they both finish in the bunch on the next two stages... he won't have much choice but to offload it.

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Scotttri

Thats definately on the cards, I think Evans can even take at least two seconds out of him

helmutRoole2

Beautiful stage today, I thought. Well conceived by the course designers. In a way, this could pass as a TTT while eluding more to the final outcome. There was some powerful team play leading up to and going up the climb, but in the end Valverde, whose team was near the front but not stuck on it, triumphed.

I could be wrong -- completely -- but to "sit in" a climb like that and then drill the final 500m for a convincing win bodes well to Valverde. Don't be surprised to see him hold the yellow all the way to the end. I mean, he's very quick, but to roll along with the other gc contenders and then drill it like he did... to do that means he was sitting on some mighty powerful reserves. He may be quicker than all the other gc contenders, but on a climb, when your legs are shot, your legs are shot. Remember, Zabel won this stage a couple years back, and with 1k to the line this year he was nowhere's to be seen, so you know the pace was ramped up early. The knock against Valverde is, he can't climb. They used to say that about Armstrong.

I'd place bets on Valverde to win it all after seeing today's stage. I could be wrong, but I just really don't think so.

PM me for my retro-doping theory... If you look at his performance at Daulphin you might figure it out on your own.

Also, how about those Versus commercials for the Tour rolling the footage backwards... Nice, but, maybe a little premature?

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limerickman

Fantastic win for Valverde : superb turn of power in the final 200kms.

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.."But finally the last thing I’ll say to the people who don’t believe in cycling, the cynics and the sceptics. I'm sorry for you. I’m sorry that you can’t dream big. [I]I'm sorry you don't believe in miracles. You should believe in these athletes, and you should believe in these people. I'll be a fan of the Tour de France for as long as I live. And there are no secrets" - this is a hard sporting event and hard work wins it - Armstrong 2005 TDF
morelike hypocrisy.

Crankyfeet

He set off early for his sprint at the 200km mark. No one was expecting that...

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limerickman

Put it down to jet lag - should have read last 200m's.

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.."But finally the last thing I’ll say to the people who don’t believe in cycling, the cynics and the sceptics. I'm sorry for you. I’m sorry that you can’t dream big. [I]I'm sorry you don't believe in miracles. You should believe in these athletes, and you should believe in these people. I'll be a fan of the Tour de France for as long as I live. And there are no secrets" - this is a hard sporting event and hard work wins it - Armstrong 2005 TDF
morelike hypocrisy.

Crankyfeet

I know what you meant mate... ... and that it was a typo. I thought it just read funny.

Where you been?

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