TdG TTT

Eldrack said:

Well, this one's turning out to be a bit of a thriller unlike most TTT's we've seen. Even on such a short course the teams are loosing riders to the time cut left right and centre, probably thanks to the really steep hill on each of the four laps. And Slipstream have beaten CSC!!!

Also, the time gaps aren't too devastating for any of the teams so far, so it hasn't destroyed the GC competition like TT's in these short tours often does.

Interesting that Botero was dropped. Hamilton was not. I would have expected the opposite. The last time I saw pics of Hamilton, it was obvious he was carrying extra weight.

Botero does has a history of erratic performances...

Rock did not do that great.

Nice to see Slipstream beat Astana, the doper express.

Bro Deal said:

Nice to see Slipstream beat Astana, the doper express.

Yeah... I was lead to believe, after reading this forum for over a year, that clean guys don't stand a chance against dopers. Either the theory is wrong, or Slipstream is doping, or nearly everyone else is clean. I know the response is going to be that the doped teams don't dope for these small events. But I think dopers dope at varying degrees for nearly any event.

Crankyfeet said:

Yeah... I was lead to believe, after reading this forum for over a year, that clean guys don't stand a chance against dopers. Either the theory is wrong, or Slipstream is doping, or nearly everyone else is clean. I know the response is going to be that the doped teams don't dope for these small events. But I think dopers dope at varying degrees for nearly any event.

A TTT takes a lot of coordination and you can improve your time dramatically with practice. A 2 sec. win by slipstream doesn't mean much in terms of individual rider fitness. Also, you saw the Slipstream A team beat a second tier Astana team that has no intention of peaking for this race. One more point; there is no evidence that slipstream is any cleaner than any other pro team this year.

Has Tommy D. gotten over his back problem? He did not get dropped on a tough TTT course.

Don't think he's quite over it, he was wearing a back brace today apparently.

Eldrack said:

Don't think he's quite over it, he was wearing a back brace today apparently.

That was misreported. It was a cooling vest.