Tour de Georgia

bobke said:

I predict Danielson will try to defend
Landis and Zabreeskee will try to blow him apart in the ITT

The ITT is for climbers, so...
Popo will surprise.

Any takers?

I'd say Landis..... there is no stopping him.... apart from team CSC who in stage one, won ! Can anyone stop them ?

whiteboytrash said:

I'd say Landis..... there is no stopping him.... apart from team CSC who in stage one, won ! Can anyone stop them ?

We will know when the riders reach Rome tomorrow.😄

lwedge said:

We will know when the riders reach Rome tomorrow.😄

The riders are nearing the streets of Rome... There is a 10 minute gap. Phonak has moved to the front of the field and the pace seems to be coming up ever so slightly.

Landis and Zabriskie. I notice they both use SpeedPlay.

bobke said:

I predict Danielson will try to defend
Landis and Zabreeskee will try to blow him apart in the ITT

The ITT is for climbers, so...
Popo will surprise.

Any takers?

Yes, Popovych surprised and took the stage today!!!!!!!!!!!
Sprinted up the last hill and took the stage!!!!!!!!!!! generally a sprinters stage, this may mean he takes the leader;s jersey we'll see.

bobke said:

Popo will surprise.

Surprise !!!!

velonews.comgeorgiaonmymap14.htmlOpen ↗

lwedge said:

Surprise !!!!

velonews.comgeorgiaonmymap14.htmlOpen ↗

I am clairvoyant!!!!!!!!

FREE POPO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

funny about popo, this is the same stage where lance won the sprint in 2004. wonder if old tex gave his boy a little pep talk before the stage?

whiteboytrash said:

I'd say Landis.....

Landis smokes ITT, sets up Georgia showdown with Danielson.

It all comes down to Brasstown.

cyclingforums.comnewreply.phpOpen ↗

lw

barnstorm said:

funny about popo, this is the same stage where lance won the sprint in 2004. wonder if old tex gave his boy a little pep talk before the stage?

yep tex gave him a lot of advice... told him to win then drop a minute 53 on the next stage..... LOL !

lwedge said:

Landis smokes ITT, sets up Georgia showdown with Danielson.

It all comes down to Brasstown.

Yeah, but Landis was projected to smoke the ITT. He probably gained less time on Danielson than he would have hoped. :p

And it was not solely and necessarily to Landis' benefit that Popo lost so much time, although Landis did want to gain time on Popo. Since Popo lost so much time, he will be functioning as climbing domestique to Danielson on Brasstown Bald, along with Egoi Martinez, and, to a lesser extent, J McCarthy and T Lowe.

whiteboytrash said:

yep tex gave him a lot of advice... told him to win then drop a minute 53 on the next stage..... LOL !

LOL indeed. My co workers are wondering what the hell I had for lunch thanks to that outburst. Actually, though, this does look at lot like big tex's tt performance from last year's tdg so maybe you are right again trashy boy.

Lance's 2005 TT result from the TDG

9 Lance Armstrong (USA) Discovery Channel 1.46

Popo's 2006 result

7 Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr) Discovery 1.52.84

Higher placing but more time lost. Close enough. I am going with the trash taker on this one. Maybe he will sit on Landis's wheel on Brasstown while Danielson takes race leadership again this year. The differences will be, probably warmer weather (it was snowing last year) and no barnstorm on Brasstown this year.

By the way, since I have actually seen this climb, it is like the finish of Fleche Wallone..... for 5k!!!! It is absolutely sick.

musette said:

Yeah, but Landis was projected to smoke the ITT. He probably gained less time on Danielson than he would have hoped. :p

And it was not solely and necessarily to Landis' benefit that Popo lost so much time, although Landis did want to gain time on Popo. Since Popo lost so much time, he will be functioning as climbing domestique to Danielson on Brasstown Bald, along with Egoi Martinez, and, to a lesser extent, J McCarthy and T Lowe.

I agree. A 4 second lead is not "Smok'n" to me. Do you or anyone else know if there will be a time bonus for the Basstown stage ?

Lw

Last year there was no time bonus for Brasstown B win.

I remember, because, after it was evident Danielson and Leipheimer were ahead of him, LA still decided to drop Landis and finish without Landis. LA said that part of the reason (at least) was that he was unsure whether there were time bonuses for 3rd, and he thought that differential could make the difference in a tight race between Danielson and Landis for GC. So LA took third "just in case". I suppose another strategic reason why LA would drop Landis, after Landis had been dropped by Danielson and Leipheimer, was to demoralize andis, in case that little bit of effect (if any) might cost Landis a second or two and somehow make the difference. 😉

Very impressive ITT by Danielson.

Looks like the sessions with Dr Ferrari are paying off!

barnstorm said:

By the way, since I have actually seen this climb, it is like the finish of Fleche Wallone..... for 5k!!!! It is absolutely sick.

Not to one up you or anything Barnstorm, but I did this climb in a ITT years ago when it was part of the Pepsi Twilight criterium weekend. I was a Cat 3 and had a 39*27 gear set-up, and could barely push the pedals in the middle section people affectionately referred to as "The Wall" - 20%+. Within 60 seconds of starting my HR reached a new max of 195. Brasstown kicked my ass, no two ways about it.

This climb is a nasty one, considering how short it is. I marvel at how fast these guys can climb it.

Mark

113 secs in 40 Kms, almost 3'' per Km, that's a disastrous result for someone who fancies the TdF GC.

Well done for Danielson! I think he can do better than Landis tomorrow, actually Landis' climbing abilities don't impress me much.

[font=Verdana]With little TommyD's peak being set for the Giro and Landis for the Tour you would of expected TommyD to win the ITT by a long way.... Landis would still be in full training and he still beat a guy who would be beginning his taper.... this is very concerning for Disco.

Landis would have slept well last night knowing this fact.

…and Paolo would of slept even better ! :p
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musette said:

Yeah, but Landis was projected to smoke the ITT. He probably gained less time on Danielson than he would have hoped. :p

And it was not solely and necessarily to Landis' benefit that Popo lost so much time, although Landis did want to gain time on Popo. Since Popo lost so much time, he will be functioning as climbing domestique to Danielson on Brasstown Bald, along with Egoi Martinez, and, to a lesser extent, J McCarthy and T Lowe.

Since he is now only 4 seconds back on Landis, Danielson must now be the favorite to win the race as he is the better climber. His TTing skills have improved a lot compared to last year which is a good sign for him as a rider. A good day for TD. Floyd showed that he is a strong TTist and is on good form, lets hope he's just as good, if not better at the TdF. We'll see how his climbing pans out of the Brasstown stage.

Dissapointing result for Zabriskie, though I reckon he can still take at least one of the time trials at the Giro, even if it is the TTT.

Dimos said:

actually Landis' climbing abilities don't impress me much.

[font=Tms Rmn]He (Landis) was dropped during the climb in stage 2 of the Tour of California but was able to catch the group on the decent. Things shouldn't change today in Chattanooga but tomorrows stage will be the day of reckoning.[/font]
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[font=Tms Rmn]lw
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