Chasing The Tour | Stage 9

July 10, 2012

The 41.5km time trial from Arc et Senans to Besançon right before the mountain stages has given the General Classification a big shake-up. Although Cadel lost 1:43 to Wiggins there's still two more weeks of racing to be done and I need to keep reminding myself that there more than two men fighting for the win. This means that the race is still unpredictable and there are a lot of favorites who have slipped out of GC contention who will take their opportunities when they can. Cadel doesn't seemed to phased by his deficit and it's not over until the fat lady sings in Paris.

: Fabian Cancellara set the fastest time for much of the race, but he didn’t look like he was firing on all cylinders

: Sylvain Chavanel approaching first time-check up the steepest part of the climb. The roars of the French crowd were deafening

: Fans came out in droves along roadside with televisions, BBQs, beer, televisions, music.

: Peter Sagan pedals his way to 105th place at 6:46 down from Wiggins’ winning time

: Heaps of Aussie fans on the course today cheering on Cadel

: While nearly everyone else rode on the bars in this section Wiggins stayed in the TT position

: Cadel Evans powering up the 14% climb approaching the first time-check

: Bradley Wiggins on his way to winning stage 9 and strengthening his hold on the yellow jersey

: Bradley Wiggins amongst the media frenzy after the finish

Quiz

Thank you to Jamie Jowett for supplying

1. Name the rider who rode for each of these teams – Ceramiche Panaria, Milram, Cervelo, Garmin-Cervelo, Orica Green Edge?

2. Which city was Brad Wiggins born?

3. How many English born riders are on Team Sky in the Tour?

4. Where is Orica Green Edge’s Michel Albasini from?

5. How many times has the La Planche des Belles FIlles climb featured in the Tour before?

tags: Tour de France 2012

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Hardo

I’m not sure why but I’m loving this years tour more than most…. but then again, I say that every year.
http://twitter.com/adamwallen Adam Allen

Lancasta, Ghent, 7 (?), Switzerland, 0.
http://twitter.com/adamwallen Adam Allen

Lancasta, Ghent, 7 (?), Switzerland, 0.
jules

3. 0?
jules

3. 0?
http://twitter.com/ScottDavis Lee Davis

ROFL at question 3. Is the Aussie having a little cry because Evans got beaten
- Anonymous
  
  Well team sky is hardly the English euskadi euskaltel is it.
- JBS
  
  OK, I’ll bite.
  
  Wrong on so many levels. Nobody is denying Wiggins, Cav, Froome etc are British, hell you only need to hear Wiggo speak to know he is. Its just an interesting little trivia point that none of the members of the self styled British team were born in England. Two key words in that sentence, “born” and “England”.
  
  Should we Aussies be having a little cry because the best cycling site in the country is run by a Canadian expat?
- JBS
  
  OK, I’ll bite.
  
  Wrong on so many levels. Nobody is denying Wiggins, Cav, Froome etc are British, hell you only need to hear Wiggo speak to know he is. Its just an interesting little trivia point that none of the members of the self styled British team were born in England. Two key words in that sentence, “born” and “England”.
  
  Should we Aussies be having a little cry because the best cycling site in the country is run by a Canadian expat?
  - http://www.chromaticdramatic.com/ Chromatic Dramatic
    
    Doh… I was reading the question wrong. I thought it was about the entire Sky squad (not just those at the tour), but you’re right, the question is “born” in England.
  - Marcus
    
    I would deny Froome is British. Born in Kenya, moved to South Africa as a young fella, only took up a British cycling licence in 2008 because of licensing problems with his Kenyan heritage. He is less British than Kevin Pieterson.
    - JBS
      
      I thought it was the other way around (born in SAfr).
      
      Deny all you like, go for your life. My point was more that I don’t really care and that I didn’t get any jingoistic inference from the question as Lee Davis was implying. If Froome wants to call himself British, good luck to him. But he wasn’t born in England and that was the question.
      - Dan williams
        
        I love that you Australians seem to believe that Sky has to be a team of only Brits. Does anybody care that Greenedge isn’t full of Australians? Don’t think so.
        It is a pro cycling team not the national squad.
        
        JBS
        
        Let me check….yes I did write it, “I don’t really care”! Froome rides for Sky and came second in the TT, end of story. Country of origin irrelevant to those facts.
        
        He also wasn’t born in England, which was part of the answer to a TRIVIA question. If you want to read any more into that, it says a hell of a lot more about you than me.
        
        JBS
        
        Let me check….yes I did write it, “I don’t really care”! Froome rides for Sky and came second in the TT, end of story. Country of origin irrelevant to those facts.
        
        He also wasn’t born in England, which was part of the answer to a TRIVIA question. If you want to read any more into that, it says a hell of a lot more about you than me.
        
        daga
        
        It’s just a trivia question folks, Chill!
        
        Abdu
        
        Well spotted. Yep, but funny how testy people get.
- Tim
  
  Well Evans is a Grand Tour winner. Wiggins, is not (yet). Still 2 weeks to go.
  
  Plus Wiggins is an angry nanna.
  - Notso Swift
    
    He does have the tendency to go Postal
    But usually when things do not go his way, so that will be the real test, how he recovers from a set back or two.
    - JBS
      
      Agree, its starting to look like the 2011 Vuelta for Sky all over again (except Cobo is well off the pace).
    - Joshua McDougall
      
      US postal?
      - Notso Swift
        
        LOL, Well to paraphrase Wiggo: F#$& C#%^ just because you don’t put the effort in W!%&*@
    - Abdu
      
      Funny how when Cadel got grumpy the English media sniped at him and called him Cuddles (the French would haven’t thought up that name), and yet Wiggo cracks the sh1ts they love it. I reckon he’s well entitled to, but don’t be a hypocrit and tell me he isn’t showing brittleness…? Note this clip is NSFW with Wiggo starting to crack and ripping out the C bomb again
      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-erZJKtRBWI
- Tim
  
  Well Evans is a Grand Tour winner. Wiggins, is not (yet). Still 2 weeks to go.
  
  Plus Wiggins is an angry nanna.
- jules
  
  “Is the Aussie having a little cry because Evans got beaten”
  
  which aussie? the author/publisher of those questions is a canadian ex-pat
- Abdu
  
  As someone who knows the trivia nerd who supplies these, it’s not a whine at all. I know for a fact trivia nerd was telling people Wiggo would win the Tour.
  
  Looking at Orica GreenEdge’s roster of Canucks, Swissmisses etc no ones being jingoistic, except maybe a few Orica GreenEdge people but let them I say, they’re the ones putting in the coin and hard work.
  
  It’s shaping up to be a great Tour. All credit to Wiggo whatever happens, he’s worked damn hard and earned the yellow jersey (so far)…
- Abdu
  
  Boohoo, the trivia question asked where Albasini was born, why the mean comments about Orice GreenEdge having (wait for it) non Aussies on the team…? If I wanted inane and irrelevant comments, Bracksasshat is around somewhere? Have a cuppa mate, no need to get all antsy, it is just a trivia Q…
John

I don’t think Tina Arena would be pleased to hear herself referred to as “the fat lady”.
- Wish I was on the bike…
  
  Nor Posh Spice :-)
- http://www.cyclingTipsBlog.com cyclingTips
  
  Oops…didn’t mean to imply that!
http://www.chromaticdramatic.com/ Chromatic Dramatic

Answers

1) Brett Lancaster
2) Ghent
3) Three
4) Switzerland
5) One
http://www.chromaticdramatic.com/ Chromatic Dramatic

Answers

1) Brett Lancaster
2) Ghent
3) Three
4) Switzerland
5) One
JBS

1) Lancaster
2) Ghent
3) None
4) Switzerland
5) None

First day I’ve known all the answers, wahoo!
JBS

1) Lancaster
2) Ghent
3) None
4) Switzerland
5) None

First day I’ve known all the answers, wahoo!
- Notso Swift
  
  And all 100% correct as far as I am aware
- Notso Swift
  
  And all 100% correct as far as I am aware
  - JBS
    
    Cheers, I was hoping I wasn’t pulling Zabel at San Remo with that celebration.
- http://www.chromaticdramatic.com/ Chromatic Dramatic
  
  I must read questions correctly. When I saw your answer for question 5) I thought, that is not correct… and it may not be! Depends what they mean by “before”. Before this this tour, or just before the posting of this quiz. If the latter then it is one. If the former then it is 0…. I think the intention is your interpretation.
  - JBS
    
    Yeah, I had to stop and think too, “before the 2012 Tour started” or “before today”?
ed

Finally some people’s denial that Wiggins can win the Tour may be coming to an end.

Sure there are still two weeks to go and a lot of opportunities to attack and steal back some time but any contender wanting to win this year will need at least two minutes over Wiggins going into the final TT. That means Cadel needs to make up 4 minutes, Menchov 5 and Jurgen VdB 7!

Strong TT performance and marking the climbers worked for Big Mig. Luckily for Wiggins Alberto is MIA this year as he could turn this race upside down in one mountain stage.
- Michael in Sydney
  
  I am one of those in de nile but I think we should not get carried away. Without a doubt Wiggens went a long way to winning the TDF but that is not winning it. From what I have seen Evans seems pretty relaxed about the time gap, hot happy, but he seems to have a plan to get what I think is a minimum of 2 minutes ahead of Wiggens before the last TT.
  
  At this stage it looks more likely that it will be a Sky win than necessarly a Wiggens win. I am really impressed with Froome. So there may be some tension in the Sky camp, Nabali, bless his Italian cotten socks has made it clear that he is a man on a mission, Van Dan Broeck and Menchov will also want to make their mark and will all attack in the mountains. The other thing is that Menchov, Nabali and Evans have all won grand tours and know what it takes. Will that out weight that Wiggens and Froome had lost a grand tour they could have won and what they learnt from that. Wiggens has certainly learnt something about preperation from his 2010 tour.
  
  So the ball is in Sky’s court at this stage and they certainly seem to be able to play now. As the race progresses will they be able continue? Remmeber they are really at least 2 riders down in the mountains and possibly 3 if you include Berine.
  
  So now it is Wiggens to loose and Evans and the rest to win. From a race perspective it is a shame that there is no captain of the Shack!
  - jules
    
    it will be fascinating to watch whether Wiggo can cope with the pressure of a 3 week Tour in yellow, but if he keeps riding with the form he’s shown, he will just ride away with it without every being seriously challenged.
  - randomactsofcycling
    
    It is Wiggins’ to lose and from now on Sky will have to defend against every other teaming the race. I think Evans will find some surprising allies.
    There is also the question of fatigue. Wiggins does not really have as good a GT pedigree as Evans or Menchov. He even cracked last year against Cobo at la Vuelta.
    Fatigue will play a HUGE factor in the last TT.
Steel

How does Froome beat Cancellara in a 40km time trial? No, I’m not implying drugs are involved for the tin foil hat brigade. More a question of what has happened between the prologue and now to reverse the results like that.
- Zoncolan
  
  And how about TJ Vangarderen? That kid has grand tour victories in his future for sure.
- Paolo
  
  Wiggo said its because of sacrifices,dedication, altitude training camps, all year training plan from the swimming coach… and Cancellara was out with a broken collarbone for a few weeks. Oh wait, Froome was out with a blood disease for almost 2 months in Feb/April as well. Now I’m confused…
  - Dear Leader
    
    When you start to justify your results then you are in trouble.
  - Dear Leader
    
    When you start to justify your results then you are in trouble.
- jules
  
  cancellara has expended a lot of energy defending the yellow. he’s also not as invincible as in previous years and the TT was hillier than the prologue, which played more to froome than cancellara.
  
  also your parts are here
Steel

How does Froome beat Cancellara in a 40km time trial? No, I’m not implying drugs are involved for the tin foil hat brigade. More a question of what has happened between the prologue and now to reverse the results like that.
JBS

If you ignore the Sky riders for a moment and you use Cancellara as the bench mark, and lets be honest, he is always the bench mark, Cadel had a pretty reasonable ride. Within a minute of Canc, check. Gained time on Nibali, Mechov, Schleck, check. Finished top ten, check. Almost exactly what I would’ve said before the stage started.

Now throw Wiggins and Froome in and its holy cr#p! That says to me Cadel had a good day, but the Sky boys had a sensational one!
- Dear Leader
  
  It just too good to be true! I am hoping that it is true.
  Especially after two hard mountain days unlike Wiggo and Froome, Spartacus did not have to do much in the prior two days so that he can explode in the ITT. It just bring back bad memories of Stefan Schumacher 2008, Astana 2009, US postal.
mb

Beating Cancellara (who was flying) by a minute? With a
teammate in 2nd……

The last person who did that, who could also climb, was
caught eating Spanish beef, and Lance before that….

Eyebrow raise

Not about beating Evans, that was expected (maybe not by that
margin) but to beat Cancellara by a minute (and even Menchov by 2
minutes…….. )
I very much hope the past hasnt tainted me too much, I like Wiggins and Sky, honestly, but that was a surprise
- Greg
  
  I agree. For 2 Sky riders to be that much faster than Fabian smells a bit fishy. It just doesn’t seem possible that there can be that much difference between those 2 and the rest.
  - Sean Doyle
    
    So you’re saying the fish is tainted now? Man you can’t eat anything now.
    
    I don’t believe in miracles. Just sayin’.
    - Abdu
      
      Hmmm, Wiggins has been training his scrawny butt off, is an awesome TT’er, Faboo broke his clavicle in 4 places a while ago, the TT was 50 km’s long… Seriously, the only thing to query is the yellow skinsuit Euhh.
  - http://twitter.com/_DuxDucis_ Andrew Pickell
    
    Funny thing is, Wiggins and Froome have beat Cancellara before.
    
    Check the results from Stage 10 of the Veulta last year.
Michal

Could it be that Sky’s money is getting not only best riders, but also best science info to have an edge over the rest, yet be still clean? Hope Cadel will not get intimidated by this. He can do only his best and so far that made for awesome race. I can see Cadel persevere for top spot in Paris again!
http://twitter.com/antosullivan Ant OSullivan

Anyone know? Did the riders towards the end have a stronger tail wind ?
- http://twitter.com/antosullivan Ant OSullivan
  
  answer to my own question: Yes but not by much, the wind was strongest (tailwind) around the time Cadel started.
  http://www.eurometeo.com/english/condition/city_LFGJ/latest_24
  last few km were into a headwind.
http://www.cyclingTipsBlog.com cyclingTips

Just woke up. Always interesting to see the direction the discussion takes.

Answers to the trivia Q’s:

Q. Name the rider who rode for each of these teams – Ceramiche
Panaria, Milram, Cervelo, Garmin-Cervelo, Orica Green Edge?

Brett Lancaster.

Q. Which city was Brad Wiggins born?

A. Ghent.

Q. How many English born riders are on Team Sky in the Tour?

A. One – Mark Cavendish.

Q. Where is Orica Green Edge’s Michel Albasini from?

A. Switzerland.

Q. How many times has the La Planche des Belles FIlles climb
featured in the Tour before?

A. Never.
- JBS
  
  re Cavendish: Pretty sure the Isle of Man isn’t part of England CT. British Isles yes, England no.
  
  (trying to justify my earlier celebration here).
  - http://twitter.com/ralasdair Alasdair
    
    You’re right, it’s not. Technically, it’s not even part of the UK…
http://twitter.com/hmoffatt Hamish Moffatt

How many seconds did Wiggins lose by not wearing a visor? Is that a rookie TT mistake?
- Craig
  
  He started with it and must have ditched it along the way.
Sean Doyle

When you’re soft pedaling a TT you don’t need no damn visor.
Mero2007

Who’s the person under the glasses on picture one ?
- http://www.cyclingTipsBlog.com cyclingTips
  
  It’s Greg Henderson!

Chasing The Tour | Stage 9

July 10, 2012

Quiz

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