Paris-Nice, Stage 3: Post-Race
by Jen See on Mar 10, 2009 12:10 PM EDT
in Live Races
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A dramatic day of racing today, as the race lead passed to French rider Sylvain Chavanel of Quick-Step. It looked like a day for the sprinters with only three category three climbs on the menu. The teams of the sprinter and the race leader, Alberto Contador, controlled an early break of five with ease. Everyone expected a sprint.
With 50 kilometers left to ride, Rabobank overturned all expectations. The boys in Orange went to the front and went big. In an unusual turn of affairs, race leader Alberto Contador got caught behind the split with no team-mates for help. Rabobank and Quick-Step worked together, widening the gap precipitously. Windy and rainy conditions helped their cause. At the finish, both teams benefitted, though Quick-Step came out the double winner. Sylvain Chavanel took the stage win and the race lead. But Rabobank's climber, Juan Manuel Garate sits just 33 seconds down in second. Tomorrow's stage covers a bumpy, classics style course and perhaps the opportunity for more drama.
The new general classification:
Sylvain Chavanel Quick-Step
Juan Manuel Garate, Rabobank, 33 sec.
Juan Antonio Flecha, Rabobank, 36 sec.
Former race leader Alberto Contador sits 6th after today's hijinx at 1.03. Luis Leon Sanchez is close behind, 1.12 behind French rider Sylvain Chavanel. Neither Spanish favorite is completely out of the race, with a climbing finish on Stage 6 still to ride. No doubt Sylvain Chavanel will ride out of his mind to keep the jersey, and climber Juan Manuel Garate may well retain his high position in the general. Still a long way to Nice.
Here are the stage results.
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Sylvain Chavanel is yellow and green jerseys
Stephen Augé is in the polka dot jersey (tough climbing today)
Kevin Seeldrayers is in white jersey
So, did Contador lose this race today?
Evans lost 2005 Paris-Nice to Bobby Julich in a similar manner, as cyclingnews reminded some of us yesterday.
I guess I’d like to see the GC situation before writing Bert off, and the fact that the new leaders aren’t exactly known for their climbing skills should go to his favor.
He is my VDS captain (surprise, surprise!) but I can’t help thinking of this development as welcome – the race will be much more interesting from now on.
Ô col Bayard, Ô Tourmalet, à côté du Galibier, vous êtes de la pale et vulgaire bibine !
I dunno
AC can’t be much more than a minute down (if that, I haven’t seen updated GC yet). Will Chava be able to limit his losses on la Montagne de Lure to less than a minute on Friday?
01' 03"
Not too much to worry about ahead of him. Garate the only real climber.
1. CHAVANEL Sylvain 41 QUICK STEP 9h 29’ 24"
2. GARATE Juan Manuel 22 RABOBANK 9h 29’ 57" + 00’ 33"
3. FLECHA Juan Antonio 21 RABOBANK 9h 30’ 00" + 00’ 36"
4. SEELDRAYERS Kevin 46 QUICK STEP 9h 30’ 01" + 00’ 37"
5. ROELANDTS Jürgen 16 SILENCE – LOTTO 9h 30’ 04" + 00’ 40"
6. CONTADOR Alberto 51 ASTANA 9h 30’ 27" + 01’ 03"
http://www.letour.fr/2009/PNC/LIVE/us/300/classement/index.html
Mark
yep
A couple of hard climbing stages on the menu still, so not sure I’d write off the faves just yet.
But certainly the race just got very interesting indeed.
Sure did.
Bert will pull a Sastre though, when they go up. He’s just GOTTA be pissed off at the whole world right now. I’m thinking there will be fireworks when it goes up on the big day!
OK, work now….really I must.
"....Up Sestriere on a rental clunker in jeans and loafers? Brother, lemme buy you a beer."
by Rolls on Mar 10, 2009 12:40 PM EDT up reply actions
Bert
Um, he just won a flat time trial rather convincingly. What do we really think he’s going to do on a serious climb? It’s not even close to over for him. I’d call him the favorite still.
CQRanking.com, you complete me.
by Chris Fontecchio on Mar 10, 2009 3:27 PM EDT up reply actions
I agree...
…which is why I can both be happy for my VDS that he’s likely to win and as a sports fan that its not gonna be so easy for him.
Yes that's what I was trying to say..
Pulling a Sastre = leaving everyone behind on the big climb in convincing fashion, a la L’Alpe in the ’08 TdF!
"....Up Sestriere on a rental clunker in jeans and loafers? Brother, lemme buy you a beer."
by Rolls on Mar 10, 2009 4:19 PM EDT up reply actions
si very interesting
what’s truly surprising to me is not that Contador got caught out but that the whole Astana team was not there. Contador was solo when chasing back, no teammates. where were they?
plenty of theories in the live thread
One would think that he would have at least one “bodyman” at his side all day and that guy would be with him but he was completely alone.
Did your favourite rider just win Montepaschi Strade Bianch Eroica Toscana? OK then.
Usually, it's Noval
The minder, I mean.
Early season mistake – that is why they hold training races.
yep I would have expected at a minimum one rider with him
and the rest of the team (+/- 1) at the front given that they have the yellow jersey.
very surprising.
Even without any teammates,
his efforts to rejoin the front group was really impressive. He’s not afraid of hard work or getting his hands dirty, that’s for sure.
"I didn't look for him and I didn't see him. If you base your race on another rider, most of the time you lose."
Tom Boonen
I haven't received
mah bigass stimulus check yet so I need to go get work done. What a great stage that was, hope tomorrow is as good.
"....Up Sestriere on a rental clunker in jeans and loafers? Brother, lemme buy you a beer."
by Rolls on Mar 10, 2009 12:18 PM EDT reply actions
it's a little dated
but here are some ideas for you when you do get your stimulus check: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FwJduPtCvSM
Heh. Excellent. Hilarious, even if dated.
My fav lobbyist got hired into the administration so I’m good to go. Free money for all bike people! Werd.
"....Up Sestriere on a rental clunker in jeans and loafers? Brother, lemme buy you a beer."
by Rolls on Mar 10, 2009 12:28 PM EDT up reply actions
Excellent stage today!
Astana, Caisse and Saxo-Bank got caught unguarded today, look for a payback coming soon. Excellent stuff.
Saxo aren't going to like the fact that they got beat at their own game
missing out in the crosswinds…………………..
Did your favourite rider just win Montepaschi Strade Bianch Eroica Toscana? OK then.
yeah. We can expect major mayhem in the coming stages
by these teams, especially if they join forces
by Bruce Suomi on Mar 10, 2009 12:57 PM EDT up reply actions
There's a new sheriff in town
New Rabobank DS: Royal Tenenbaum
You got to brew some recklessness into them.
I’m not talking about dance lessons. I’m talking about putting a brick through the other guy’s windshield. I’m talking about taking it out and chopping it up.
Did your favourite rider just win Montepaschi Strade Bianch Eroica Toscana? OK then.
But you were never dying.
I know…..and now I’m gonna live.
"I didn't look for him and I didn't see him. If you base your race on another rider, most of the time you lose."
Tom Boonen
There are no teams
Did your favourite rider just win Montepaschi Strade Bianch Eroica Toscana? OK then.
Royal O'Reilly Tenenbaum 1932-2001
Died Tragically Rescuing His Family From The Wreckage Of A Destroyed Sinking Battleship
"I didn't look for him and I didn't see him. If you base your race on another rider, most of the time you lose."
Tom Boonen
Gawd
That is such a great quote. Makes the hair on the nape of my neck stand at attention. All racing would be better with that attitude.
"....Up Sestriere on a rental clunker in jeans and loafers? Brother, lemme buy you a beer."
by Rolls on Mar 10, 2009 1:04 PM EDT up reply actions
Double Bravo
I won’t stop myself from teasing them w/r/t moves that aren’t going to get them a win, but I do love watching them hone their smashing-the-peloton abilities. Someday when they figure out why they’re making these moves, it will be damned impressive.
CQRanking.com, you complete me.
by Chris Fontecchio on Mar 10, 2009 3:28 PM EDT up reply actions
Or
get a Classics rider who can sprint (sorry Oscar).
Anybody get really psyched for Flanders/PR today, after watching the bankers string it out? Anyone? Beuller?
"I didn't look for him and I didn't see him. If you base your race on another rider, most of the time you lose."
Tom Boonen
I am.
Yes.
"....Up Sestriere on a rental clunker in jeans and loafers? Brother, lemme buy you a beer."
by Rolls on Mar 10, 2009 4:16 PM EDT up reply actions
I've been psyched for Flanders/PR
for several months now.
Certainly not
the ittle spanish stageracer that was sitting in the back today saying:
“Who the fuck invited those asshole belgians to this race anyway? We were having a perfectly nice race until those fuckers went loco. When those idiots started taking their rainjackets I thought they were more stoopid than my old Tio Ernesto. I started freezing just from looking at them and had to go back to the car to get a warm drink.No I’m thinking that rainjacket thing might have been a secret signal that no one has told me about. This kind of shit never happens in Murcia”
Did your favourite rider just win Montepaschi Strade Bianch Eroica Toscana? OK then.
The funny part about that
is that the rabos who tore the shit apart were Dutch and spanish
"Never swing a small stick. " Andy Hampsten
But belgians at heart
The only native belgian was Seeldrayers and he’s a tiny 60kg climber.
Did your favourite rider just win Montepaschi Strade Bianch Eroica Toscana? OK then.
Contador ain't no Iban Mayo, that's for sure
Speaking of which, did I just miss his name on the VDS rider list or did he quietly retire and I missed it (highly possible)?
"I didn't look for him and I didn't see him. If you base your race on another rider, most of the time you lose."
Tom Boonen
doping suspension
TAS (finally) upheld a doping suspension and he’s out. Saunier Duval didn’t race him last year while the appeal was grinding through the process.
No one
should ever, ever ask me that question.
CQRanking.com, you complete me.
by Chris Fontecchio on Mar 10, 2009 7:55 PM EDT up reply actions
Fantastic today!
Looking at the GC I see the following:
- Chavanel is in yellow after stage 3, just like he did last year. He can do some climbing but he’s no Rebellin and I can’t see him hanging when it gets truly steep- or even tomorrow (see below). But great work from him taking advantage of Rabo’s aggressiveness.
- Rabobank- Truly this was a Northern Classics stage with the winds and all. As such it makes some sense that the riders who’ve been in Spain and Italy would get caught out. Still outside of Garate, these guys will be ancient history in a day or two. A Northern Classic does not a stage race make.
- Garate. The real leader at the moment. The big question in looking towards Nice is can Garate hold his lead over the other GC contenders? The fact that most of his team (including him) just went balls out today is not a good sign in the long run and it’s guaranteed that he’ll be isolated in the next couple of days. Still, beating him will not be easy for anyone. What will be interesting to see is how his team works for him. So far this season we’ve seen awful team work by the Northern Classics guys but excellent team work at Murcia in support of Menchov. Can the NC guys learn a thing? It would be good for them in looking ahead toward the big Cobbles races.
- The main chasers: Contador, Lulu Sanchez, Colom/Karpets, Jens!/Frank Schleck, Sam San. All these guys are within 1:39. All of them were/are looking to peak later on in the week. Can they pull back Garate? One thing to look at is where their teammates are after today. Most are way back in the GC and the stage today and obviously they were told when Rabo went nuts to let them go and save their bullets. Considering that its not just one team I’m talking about, I imagine all sorts of pressure on Rabo tomorrow from Astana, Katusha. Saxo, C d’E, and the Euskies. That pressure will not let up until Nice either. Honestly I imagine one of these teams and their GC rider winning and not Rabo/Garate.
Pressure on rabo
you don’t think QS will work to defend teh jersey while they can?
"Never swing a small stick. " Andy Hampsten
QS
Sure they will work to defend their jersey. They may even keep it for one, perhaps two days.
But.
Chavanel is no goat and when the road starts going up, meaning thet we’ll be moving away from a Northern Classics type of environment, who on QS wil be there to defend? Seeldrayers maybe, though again he worked real hard today while most of the teams I mentioned above didn’t.
Barredo
He’s in an interesting position. He’s in the think of it with the other pre-race GC favorites. He’s not the climber they are but this course isn’t that tough for one of his abilities on hills. The question then is, how much will he work for Chavanel, knowing that if he does he’ll probably be sacrificing his GC hopes? Today he hung with the GC guys and didn’t go on the Rabo break. Since he did that I expect that he won’t be helping Chavanel- other teammates will do that- and he’ll stay mirroring Contador, Schleck, Karpets, Colom, Jens!, Samu, Monfort, Lulu.
So he has a chance, definitely. Normally I wouldn’t say he has much of a chance with all those other guys, and I won’t today either. He’ll be an isolated QS climber among the big boys, looking at clawing their way back into contention. He better be on his toes tomorrow.
"QS...will work to defend their jersey"
When was the last time Quick Step ever did THAT?
Thanks, Chav!
Hm
green jersey. Or that bloody awful Eneco Tour thing maybe.
CQRanking.com, you complete me.
by Chris Fontecchio on Mar 10, 2009 3:29 PM EDT up reply actions
So bad they changed its name....It's become the Tour of Benelux.
They must hope people think it’s an exciting new race, when in fact, it isn’t.
Sorry
I miss read your post. I thought you were asking who would be there to help defend Chav. And I agree with your thoughts. i’d like to see what Barredo can do if given the chance.
"Never swing a small stick. " Andy Hampsten
yes, i'm also very keen to see what Barredo can do...
You may very well think that; I couldn't possibly comment.
Garate:
No, you are corrrect, he will not be up for the task.
"....Up Sestriere on a rental clunker in jeans and loafers? Brother, lemme buy you a beer."
by Rolls on Mar 10, 2009 1:09 PM EDT up reply actions
agreed - fantastic day!
a great day for Chav and Seeldrayers, and a storming day for Rabo, even if they didn’t win the stage. i’ll be interested to see what QS does with this…
You may very well think that; I couldn't possibly comment.
A good one here
feltet.dk
Can’t find it in english, googletranslate. Basically they want him to use T-A to develop explosiveness that will benefit him in the finales of the Ardennes-classics, where they hope for big results from him.
Did your favourite rider just win Montepaschi Strade Bianch Eroica Toscana? OK then.
Probably not
My bet is that he will go for the Montelupone-stage.
Did your favourite rider just win Montepaschi Strade Bianch Eroica Toscana? OK then.
Yes and no I think
Thanks Jens for pointing out that article. I think Gesink will be near the top of the GC at T-A but not really that close. The ITT stage will put space between him and the real GC contenders. It does makes sense to use T-A for Ardennes prep.
In English...
here:
http://www.pezcyclingnews.com/?pg=fullstory&id=6842&status=True&catname=Latest%20News
Scroll down to “Big Hopes for Gesink”
by Merry Crankster on Mar 10, 2009 2:41 PM EDT up reply actions
What Jens say
Crashdan: "Veni Vidi Vici beats Wing Kong Exchange... … and I’ll change my signature to a backwards smile for a month."
Franzoi wins Parijs-Roubaix and I win a date with the VDS of Team Txirrindulariak..
What happened to Evans?
I watched only the last 15km – how did Cadel lose 10 minutes?
Ô col Bayard, Ô Tourmalet, à côté du Galibier, vous êtes de la pale et vulgaire bibine !
don't think evans cared. according to cn's stage 3 rpt, conta was in the 4th group and worked his way up to the 2nd
"Wizard's first rule. People are stupid. They will believe anything they want to be true or fear to be true." -- Terry Goodkind
thanks, it looked like a huge loss of time for a strong guy like him, so I wondered if he crashed or something...
Ô col Bayard, Ô Tourmalet, à côté du Galibier, vous êtes de la pale et vulgaire bibine !
Meh
Evans did basically the same last year. he’s here for training purposes. We may wee him work hard on the Queen stage. That’s it though.
yeah
though 10’ seems like kind of a lot given it was relatively flat and Rabo didn’t step on the gas until the last 50k or so. I guess l’autobus took their sweet time getting in…
Coffee and a pastry?
Looks like just about the time one would need to stop and enjoy a nice warming cup of coffee and a delicate pastry….
Or a beer.
Have you seen the commercial with the tandem riders that get a flat outside a bar and go inside to have one as the peloton goes by and then they suddenly notice a picture on the wall that has “papa” doing the same?
"The most wasted day is that in which we have not laughed."
Why take any risks?
It was a windy stage with bad weather. Why take risks to stay at the front when he is just there for training? It also makes sense to find the bus and chill if he isn’t going to compete for the overall – he now has a better chance of chasing a stage win which will make the sponsors happy and give him a nice early season result. Fifth at Paris-Nice isn’t worth all that much for a rider like Evans, but a stage win is a always a nice result. Smart riding from Evans today.
+1
i agree with this analysis – he would not give up that time without knowing what he was doing. he had nothing really to defend and nothing to gain by joining in the fray today.
You may very well think that; I couldn't possibly comment.
and maybe the cold
got to him a bit – from his website
You may very well think that; I couldn't possibly comment.
no problemo
For stages where there are suprises, I like to have a summary thingy. But don’t always get around to writing them. D’oh ;-)
Yahoo! First points in PN with Langeveld... You rock!
Crashdan: "Veni Vidi Vici beats Wing Kong Exchange... … and I’ll change my signature to a backwards smile for a month."
Franzoi wins Parijs-Roubaix and I win a date with the VDS of Team Txirrindulariak..
That's good news... Very good news...
Crashdan: "Veni Vidi Vici beats Wing Kong Exchange... … and I’ll change my signature to a backwards smile for a month."
Franzoi wins Parijs-Roubaix and I win a date with the VDS of Team Txirrindulariak..
Rabobank is doing great
After his victory in Murcia Menchov remarked that the team has become a lot better since last season. His explanation was the coming into age of the talented youngsters. This could be a very interesting season for Dutch cycling fans. Too bad I don’t have a single Rabo on my team…
Question, since you get dutch news
Is Breukink moved to a different position since last year? It seems to me you hear from Dekker and others but never Breukink. Is he promoted or shoved in the background?
Did your favourite rider just win Montepaschi Strade Bianch Eroica Toscana? OK then.
So...here we are, Tirreno-Adriatico Eve
Anybody excited about that race? Not that I’m bummed about not getting points today, but my T-A team is much stronger than their P-N brethren.
He has no charisma--Thomas Dekker, on Cadel Evans
lol.. The same issue...
Have you seen the sprinters line up? Their is no ending of it.. Their are 18! ‘top’ sprinters.. (Guys like Breschel, Ciolek and McEwen included) That’s HUGE… They made one thing clear… If their can be possibly a sprint.. Their will be one..
Line-up..
Ciolek
Breschel
Petacchi
Gerdemann
Gasparotto
Gesink
Iglinsky
Basso
Martens
Sivtsov
Crashdan: "Veni Vidi Vici beats Wing Kong Exchange... … and I’ll change my signature to a backwards smile for a month."
Franzoi wins Parijs-Roubaix and I win a date with the VDS of Team Txirrindulariak..
Seen the sprinters line up?
Hey, I’ve got a good chunk of it: Ciolek, Boasson Hagen, and some guy named Cadenfish…Cashinvish…it’ll come to me…
I also have Gerdemann and Lovkvist to battle it out for the win, along with Dekker if he’s at all in form (probably not—he says he lost two weeks worth of training after the Etoile crash) and Andy Schleck, who might enjoy the 21% grade of Montelupone. I expect Gerdemann to want revenge on the race that took him out for most of the season last year—and on Lovkvist for shooting past him in Eroica the other day. But then again, Lovkvist did beat him handily—and came in 3rd in T-A last year. Might be his year to win it.
Also have Rui Costa, Svein Tuft, Van Avermaet, and Vansummeren. 11 guys, including top sprinters and serious GC contenders. If I don’t come out of T-A with a pile of points, I may throw myself off the nearest spreadsheet.
He has no charisma--Thomas Dekker, on Cadel Evans
Never heard of the guy...
He wouldn’t be THAT good… And have you seen the climbs before the finishes in etappe 1 and 2 (:
And I’m with you… A double suicide… Yahoo
Crashdan: "Veni Vidi Vici beats Wing Kong Exchange... … and I’ll change my signature to a backwards smile for a month."
Franzoi wins Parijs-Roubaix and I win a date with the VDS of Team Txirrindulariak..
Cavwho?
Never heard of ’em.
Tirreno, should be fun for the sprinters. Otherwise, not so much. But really, today was s’posed to be routine in France, and look what happened…
Ahem. Did I mention the 21% grade on Montelupone?
Crazy steep. No fun for the sprinters there!
He has no charisma--Thomas Dekker, on Cadel Evans
Yeah first three are flat.. Then they are is some serious climbing
Crashdan: "Veni Vidi Vici beats Wing Kong Exchange... … and I’ll change my signature to a backwards smile for a month."
Franzoi wins Parijs-Roubaix and I win a date with the VDS of Team Txirrindulariak..
Rui Costa
Rui COsta where?!! Tirreno, he should kick some ass and win a stage :P
by semprenaroda on Mar 10, 2009 7:07 PM EDT up reply actions
Wish it was this morning all over again?
Well now it can. The final kilometres of todays stage. You can boo rabo bank, and cheer on France’s new national hero along with the commentators.
“C’est parfais, c’est parfais…allez Sylvain tu peux le fair”
I have never heard such a depressed play-by-play as when Flecha opened up his sprint.
"Never swing a small stick. " Andy Hampsten
LOL! I had a good look at the 'how do you call it' pic? graphic? of Veloki....
Crashdan: "Veni Vidi Vici beats Wing Kong Exchange... … and I’ll change my signature to a backwards smile for a month."
Franzoi wins Parijs-Roubaix and I win a date with the VDS of Team Txirrindulariak..
So you spotted the red/black thing in a Wallonie flag..
But not the Dutch flag on the Eifeltower?
Crashdan: "Veni Vidi Vici beats Wing Kong Exchange... … and I’ll change my signature to a backwards smile for a month."
Franzoi wins Parijs-Roubaix and I win a date with the VDS of Team Txirrindulariak..
LOL, the power of suggestion
If we’d never done the country flag graphics, you’d probably never thought of the swish as a flag.
Either that, or if Rabobank wins, it was an unexpected premonition. ;-)
La Montagne de Lure
Anyone have an idea of the specifics of the climb? If it’s more of a power climb on wide roads without switchbacks I wouldn’t count Chavanel out.
"I love him and he loves me back"
Photo from PEZ
Did your favourite rider just win Montepaschi Strade Bianch Eroica Toscana? OK then.
a bit late for this thread,
but what happened to Haussler who was in the break with the rabo guys and then dropped back. WTH??? Any ideas?
Lots of riders got dropped on the smallish climbs
and couldn’t get back on. Gilbert suffered the same fate.
Did your favourite rider just win Montepaschi Strade Bianch Eroica Toscana? OK then.
Youtube footage
Not sure if somebody posted this already but it’s sure a good watch.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=let-20s5i4c
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