Another tanked one for Horner

DepartFictif said:

shame...
Still many stages to come en moyenne montagne...

dumbass,

wait for the chung plot. LANCE and zebraskie put a minute into everyone
else. horner did okay, ie. didn't tank.

"DepartFictif" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
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Quoted message said:

shame...
Still many stages to come en moyenne montagne...

what makes you say that? first finisher for his team would be better than
expected and a minute off everyone but DZ and LA isn't exactly tanking.

I'd guess that CSC and Discovery really have their positions and
equipment dialed for TTs... and Saunier Duval doesn't. Lance for
instance, averaged almost 10% faster than Horner, which translates to a
30% power difference if everything else is the same. I'd believe a 10%
difference... max.

OK. Admittedly Horner didn't do too bad. However 2 mins down is huge.
He's an all rounder and therefore can't afford to loose that much time
if he is wanting a good GC.

Being 1st of his team is irrelevant. Pretty much a bunch of Spanish
hill guys. More to the point, he's right there with Beloki who,
although back in better form than he's been for a while, is also not a
TT rider, and is slightly tubby and not in great shape.

Rogers is near him too, but he messed it up, Moreau used to be good,
but he's taken a plunge.. Boonen is 10s up on Horner.. I know the
Vendee is Flat and windy, but still Boonen ain't no TT rider, + he
started "en touriste" and was giving interviews as he went up the
ramp...

Yuriy Krivstov is a good rider, but no TT specialists.. Hunters a hard
guy who will adapt to most terrains, but he's no TT rider either...
that's for the ones I know.. some of the other guys I've only see in
results or on TV and I'm not too sure about them.

Horner didn't do a terrible TT, but it is by no means a good TT.
I would just like to see Horner do well

Quoted message said:

OK. Admittedly Horner didn't do too bad. However 2 mins down is huge.
He's an all rounder and therefore can't afford to loose that much time
if he is wanting a good GC.

I'd suspect Horner's ambitions would place a higher priority on winning a
stage than trying to crack the top-10 (which would be a very difficult thing
to do). It's not as if he's going to be around for several more Grand Tours,
nor is it that likely that the difference between him coming in 33rd or 14th
in the GC would be nearly as meaningful as winning a stage. A stage win
would be something he can take with him everywhere he goes, and nobody would
question that it's a rare and wonderful thing.

As for Horner putting out 30% less power than Lance, hey, that makes perfect
sense to me if the goal is to be ready for whatever opportunity might come
along in the next few days. Why not have the best-possible legs for the next
couple of stages?

I should have known it wouldn't take long for the Horner bashing to start...

--Mike Jacoubowsky
Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReaction.com
Redwood City & Los Altos, CA USA

"DepartFictif" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

OK. Admittedly Horner didn't do too bad. However 2 mins down is huge.
He's an all rounder and therefore can't afford to loose that much time
if he is wanting a good GC.

Being 1st of his team is irrelevant. Pretty much a bunch of Spanish
hill guys. More to the point, he's right there with Beloki who,
although back in better form than he's been for a while, is also not a
TT rider, and is slightly tubby and not in great shape.

Rogers is near him too, but he messed it up, Moreau used to be good,
but he's taken a plunge.. Boonen is 10s up on Horner.. I know the
Vendee is Flat and windy, but still Boonen ain't no TT rider, + he
started "en touriste" and was giving interviews as he went up the
ramp...

Yuriy Krivstov is a good rider, but no TT specialists.. Hunters a hard
guy who will adapt to most terrains, but he's no TT rider either...
that's for the ones I know.. some of the other guys I've only see in
results or on TV and I'm not too sure about them.

Horner didn't do a terrible TT, but it is by no means a good TT.
I would just like to see Horner do well

A stage win
would be something he can take with him everywhere he goes,

I don't know... are you sure he can fit it in his bags?

If he wins one.. maybe there'll be no stopping him.. a bit like him and
making kids.