Poor team tactics for Euskaltel

On 6 Jul 2004 10:02:52 -0700, [email hidden] (Richard Adams)

Quoted message said:

All 8 Euskaltel riders were caught by the gap. Even Maillot
Jaune, Thor Hushovd couldn't expect the lead group to wait
up, with Jens Voigt in the break.

I was a bit surprised that E-E couldn't close the gap, with
the whole team back, along with undoubtably more than a few
who would help work to close the gap. I have to wonder if
Mayo was more seriously injured than thought.

Several of the other Euskaltel riders came off in the crash,
which happened where they were massed, well up at the front
of the bunch. It wasn't just a matter of dropping back to
help him. They pretty much only had help from Credit
Agricole in the chase, and they had been pulling at the
front all da, while the front group was being pulled by
three basically fresh teams.

Roger

The poor tactics were in the 20 kms before the crash when
they were nervously wasting energy riding at the front. When
Mayo crashed he was alone. It took too much time to regroup.
They waited and werent caught by the gap. And then they
still had to tackle the cobbles. It was ugly to see them
aiming desperately for the grass, they must have lost an
aweful amount of time on that first cobbled section. And how
could those shaken skinnies ever close the gap when so many
strong teams were riding in the 2 first groups?

On Tue, 06 Jul 2004 18:55:35 GMT, "Bart Van Hoorebeeck" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

The poor tactics were in the 20 kms before the crash when
they were nervously wasting energy riding at the front.

??? Accepted wisdom is generally that staying at the front
is exactlky what they should have been doing, since then
most of the crashes happen behind you. Just not all of them.

Roger

Bart Van Hoorebeeck said:

The poor tactics were in the 20 kms before the crash when
they were nervously wasting energy riding at the front.
When Mayo crashed he was alone. It took too much time to
regroup. They waited and werent caught by the gap. And
then they still had to tackle the cobbles. It was ugly to
see them aiming desperately for the grass, they must have
lost an aweful amount of time on that first cobbled
section. And how could those shaken skinnies ever close
the gap when so many strong teams were riding in the 2
first groups?

Euskaltel blew their wad too early. Postal, T-Mobile,
Phonak, and CSC started moving up in the last 6 or 7 km
before the pave, and it's no coincidence that those teams
are going to do well in tomorrow's TTT. When Euskaltel
finally got their act together at the front of the second
group there was no way they were going to close the gap.

"Roger Hughes" <[email hidden]> schreef in
bericht "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Bart Van Hoorebeeck said:

The poor tactics were in the 20 kms before the crash when
they were nervously wasting energy riding at the front.

??? Accepted wisdom is generally that staying at the
front is exactlky what they should have been doing, since
then most of the crashes happen behind you. Just not all
of them.

Wisdom is being there at the right moment. Not for tens of
kilometers in advance. Agreed what his teams did wasnt
tactically wrong, they simply arent up to that kind of work
and were doing their utter best riding at the front (while
Ekimov etc were probably smirking just behind )

Has anyone information on where Mayo was when he crashed?
Just before he was shown the group was shown USPS-led, with
only 25 riders and all the rest reconnecting in a row. From
that I guess Euskaltel was still hanging around near the
front when the crash happened.

My point was: Mayo doesnt deserve smack for "hanging at the
back" as he wasnt (I assume).

On Tue, 6 Jul 2004 21:25:51 +0200, "Robert Chung" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Euskaltel blew their wad too early. Postal, T-Mobile,
Phonak, and CSC started moving up in the last 6 or 7 km
before the pave, and it's no coincidence that those teams
are going to do well in tomorrow's TTT. When Euskaltel
finally got their act together at the front of the second
group there was no way they were going to close the gap.

USP had been up there in numbers as far back as the
regrouping after the Muur prime. Indeed, it's very rare not
to see them up near the front.

Roger

Quoted message said:

All 8 Euskaltel riders were caught by the gap.

They were not caught by the gap, they waited for mayo that
felt to bring him up upfront, but never made it.

Bart Van Hoorebeeck said:

"Roger Hughes" <roger@hughes-USUALANTISPAMSTUFF-
translations.com> schreef in bericht
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Bart Van Hoorebeeck said:

The poor tactics were in the 20 kms before the crash
when they were nervously wasting energy riding at the
front.

??? Accepted wisdom is generally that staying at the
front is exactlky what they should have been doing, since
then most of the crashes happen behind you. Just not all
of them.

Wisdom is being there at the right moment. Not for tens of
kilometers in advance. Agreed what his teams did wasnt
tactically wrong, they simply arent up to that kind of
work and were doing their utter best riding at the front
(while Ekimov etc were probably smirking just behind )

Has anyone information on where Mayo was when he crashed?
Just before he was shown the group was shown USPS-led,
with only 25 riders and all the rest reconnecting in a
row. From that I guess Euskaltel was still hanging around
near the front when the crash happened.

My point was: Mayo doesnt deserve smack for "hanging at
the back" as he wasnt (I assume).

According to the French television commetary, Mayo and
Euskaltel weren't able to keep in the front and Mayo was in
the middle being shuffled towards the back when he crashed.
So I don't think it was bad tactics, just bad racing.

"Bart Van Hoorebeeck" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Wisdom is being there at the right moment. Not for tens of
kilometers in advance. Agreed what his teams did wasnt
tactically wrong, they simply arent up to that kind of
work and were doing their utter best riding at the front

(while

Quoted message said:

Ekimov etc were probably smirking just behind )

Lefevere predicted it right from the beginning, although it
didn't stop a couple of his guys going down. The Spanish
teams basically panicked before the cobbles and there was
more tension than was really necessary. It was really a lack
of experience riding classics that cost Mayo and Menchov
their GC today, and that lack of experience also affected
other riders who were caught up in the crash.

Postal and T-Mobile rode smartly, while Phonak probably did
a bit too much but still survived with Hamilton intact. And
I was very impressed by Heras and Liberty Seguros to hang
with the boyz in front. An interesting stage.

Jeff