In article <[email hidden]>,
Mike Jacoubowsky said:My prediction, which might allow for some extra crow in my diet next week,
is that Contador, Pop and Gusev have got a good chance at cracking
Rasmussen, leaving, unbelievably (at least that would have been the case two
weeks ago) Contador as the winner. (I don't see Levi as being a huge factor
because, as he's said himself, he has problems instantly following attacks,
just like Rasmussen, so it's difficult to see him initiating them).
You listen to the guy in interviews, and watch him when he's racing since
carrying the Yellow Jersey, and he seems terribly nervous and ill-at-ease
with his situation. I wasn't giving it much though until I looked at a photo
my son took at the top of today's Port du Bales climb, and he really doesn't
look the part of someone who will survive the final time trial.
Go look at a photo of him last year. He looks about as at-ease as Lance
In Chemo. Who he also resembles, sans super-sized head scar.
Quoted message said:Not the gameplan Discovery entered the TdF with, but certainly a better
outcome than they had hoped for.
I think Chicken has as good a chance as any in the end.
The fact of the matter is jours sans are wildly unpredictable (Vino? 30
minutes??), and there's maybe five riders left in contention, and it
looks like the margin of victory will be small. No more than two minutes
I would guess, and very possibly less than a minute.
If Rasmussen just doesn't do it on Wednesday, he's boned like a
McNugget. Evans really has to gain time on Wednesday to be in, Klodi and
Leipheimer really have to gain time on Wednesday, or hope that Chicken
falls fowl of a non-negative result (must be all that new blood this
year...). That's my guess. Also, even if Rasmussen were to fall apart in
the TT, 4th and 5th still have to overtake 2nd and 3rd.
Contador might actually TT into the win,
--
Ryan Cousineau [email hidden] http://www.wiredcola.com/
"I don't want kids who are thinking about going into mathematics
to think that they have to take drugs to succeed." -Paul Erdos