2008 Tour de France : Stage 4 Cholet 29 km Individual time trial Tuesday, July 8

coneofsilence

Valverde is 48 seconds down....
Cadel was 22 at the first check...

tcklyde

Vs. putting a camera in Vaughter's car following Millar has proved to be totally stupid. Love Vaughters saying "fuck" on air.

Schumacher more than 30 secs on Canc? Umm...

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TheDarkLord

Evans finishes at 36:11 - 6 secs better than 'Spartacus', and 27 sec behind Schumacher.

Edit: Millar has just posted a 36:02! Has the wind changed a bit, or did Cancellara have a bad day?

jhuskey

Wind, I think had some to do with it.

Lim: I can look it up, but do you remember or know what the record is for most changes of the yellow in TDF history?

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TheDarkLord

Valverde loses 67 sec to Evans; Kirchen finishes with same time as Millar (although the official site lists Millar's time as 36:03 rather than 36:02). Looks like Schumacher will be in yellow today.

limerickman

Off the top of my head, I don't know which TDF had most changes in GC.

Suggest it would be outside of the Indurain/Armstrong/Hinault/Merckx/LeMond eras.
Sneaking suspicion that 1962 had the most wearers of the yellow jersey but I am probably wrong.

__________________
.."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.

TheDarkLord

A number of people have overestimated Valverde's TT skills. If you recall, Chicken (who is not known for TT skills either) passed him in the Albi TT during the last Tour. But then of course, the profile of the Albi TT was very different from this one.

limerickman

I did nominate Schumacher (message 37).

Maybe the kiss o'death is wearing off!

Well done Schumacher!

__________________
.."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.

jhuskey

It may very well be worn on several backs during this race.

__________________
Whenever I can't get excited about riding I just fantasize about someone else's bike.

thunder

"if it is too good to be true, it probably is" - Chris Boardman


Now Boardman was perhaps the greatest tter to go around, I reckon he would agree this is a bullshit performance.

I am pretty comfortable saying this, because Schumacher has a history.

1. When at Skil-Shimano back in 2005 he was controlled non-negative to some stimulant in a flu medication. Originally suspended, UCI or a national federation turns it over, with a statement from his GP mother that she prescribed this drug inadvertantly.

2. 2007 World Champs. 2 weeks before the worlds he had an out-of-competion test which found his hematocrit was over 50. Indication of some type of illegal blood boosting. He said he had a case of diarrhea.

3. 2007/8 off-season controlled positive for cocaine.


The guy is also an arrogant wanker according to cyclingheroes.


What was/is he running? I think he is running artificial hemaglobin, and a bus gas concoction prior to the timetrial. He also got an autologous blood transfusion before the Tour.

Schumacher is not the only guy whose performance was straight out of the bullshit doping bag, but I feel comfortable alleging this because of this guy's history. He does not stand alone however, and is one of many.

ad9898

Still think a minute isn't enough for Evans over Valverde. My prediction is for Evans to lose 1.30ish on Hautacam alone..

peterlip

Most yellow jersey wearers in one year:
8 in 1958 & 1987.

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limerickman

Very good.
Thanks.

1987 (Roches year) was one year that I did have in mind but I knew that there was another year in which the jersey changed hands more often.

__________________
.."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.

jhuskey

Thanks, I just found it myself and also reminded that Merckx has the record for total # of days in yellow at 96.

__________________
Whenever I can't get excited about riding I just fantasize about someone else's bike.