Battle for Top Ten

by Hons on Jul 21, 2010 1:12 PM EDT

We've all heard about the battle for the yellow jersey and the third step on the podium, but another race that is very interesting to me right now is the race for the last 2 spots in the top ten. Garmin showed yesterday that they are very serious about defending Ryders 10th place (how else are they going to sell these shirts?). But the difference between 9th and 15th is 1:50, and all of these guys have something to fight for.

Details on the flip...

9	Alexander Vinokourov (Kaz) Astana	0:07:12
10	Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Garmin - Transitions	0:07:51
11	Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Liquigas-Doimo	0:07:58
12	Ruben Plaza Molina (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne	0:08:02
13	Luis León Sánchez Gil (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne	0:08:19
14	Christopher Horner (USA) Team Radioshack	0:08:52
15	Carlos Sastre (Spa) Cervelo Test Team	0:09:02

I'll go through them in order:

Vino: duh, he always has something to fight for, but if he has to work for Bert tomorrow, then he could loose some time.

Ryder: H'es shown this year that he is the CVV/Wiggo of this year. Powerful TT and knows his limits on the climbs. Those limits are well below those of Schleck/Bert, but he's been finishing aronud the same time if not above the others in this list.

Kreuziger: Now that Basso is ill, Liquigas have exactly one hope for a strong GC finish...and he hasn't been impressing many this year with his climbing...but has a strong TT

Plaza/LuLu/Horner: All of these guys are fighting for the team classifications. So expect them to be very motivated.

Sastre: last I checked, tomorrows stage has a bit of climbing in it, and this guy loves to climb. And according to him, he has his eye on tomorrows stage win. I for one refuse to write him off till the climbing ends.

So who do you pick for the last two top-10 places? My picks...Ryder and Vino...but reverse their places..Vino is going to loose some time tomorrow.

**************************************

Edit after stage 17

Well that clear things up a bit.

6	Robert Gesink (Ned) Rabobank	0:06:41
7	Joaquin Rodriguez (Spa) Team Katusha	0:07:03
8	Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Garmin - Transitions	0:09:18
9	Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Liquigas-Doimo	0:10:12
10	Christopher Horner (USA) Team Radioshack	0:10:37

The top 10 now seem like a lock unless someone seriously explodes chicken style on Saturday (Lulu is 11th and over 2' back on Horner). The order of places 5-10 could change up a bit thought. We've got some decent, some great and some rather poor TTers in that list.

Will this list stay the same in Paris? The only one that I ould see dropping would be Gesink (sorry Chris). I don't see J-Rod getting passed by Ryder, and I don't think that Kreuz can pull out a minute on the Canadian. I guess Kreuz has been all over the place this year, and Horner is riding better than ever...btu Horner into 9th is a bit of a stretch.

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Comments

This is fun.

I say Vino for #9 because he’ll TT his way out of any time loses tomorrow.

is harder. A toss-up between Lulu, Kreuziger, and Hesjedal.

by ursula on Jul 21, 2010 1:55 PM EDT reply actions

Or 7th

if he stays with JRod (1’27") and Gesink (2’11") on the Tourmalet, he passes them both on Saturday.

I’ll take Kreuziger for 10th. Lulu is going to have some problems tomorrow.

by Mr 60 Percent on Jul 21, 2010 7:30 PM EDT up reply actions

Let's see how they've stacked up against each other lately

St 16:
Plaza/Horner gain 6.45 on the rest getting them to where they are now.

St 15:
Vino 3.29
Hej 3.55
Kreuz/Ssastre 4.08
Plaza 5.18
Lulu/Horner 5.44

st 14:
Sastre 1.49
Hejd/Vino 2.00
Lulu 2.02
Horner 2.26
Kreuz 3.03
Plaza 3.17

Based on their respective climbing legs so far in the Pyrenees Vino is out climbing Hej by a hair. I predict that Astana is going to be on the defensive for so long tomorrow that Vino will get used up long before they get to the Tourmalet, leaving Hej free to climb into 9th tomorrow.

However, Vino out TTs Hej everytime according to CQ. However, Hej has never ridden a tour for himself. He was 2.51 behind Bert last year in the final ITT. I’m curious to see what he can pull off this week.

by Hons on Jul 21, 2010 3:30 PM EDT reply actions

Yeah

it is always interesting to see a former worker suddenly given permission to go hard in the ITT. Sometimes they rocket up the standings, sometimes they don’t.

Vlaanderens Mooiste

by Koppenberg on Jul 21, 2010 4:55 PM EDT up reply actions

Vino slaughters Hesjedal in the final TT, no doubt

Hesj needs to do the same as Andy and put in 1-2 minutes on the Tourmalet

by Jens on Jul 21, 2010 6:13 PM EDT up reply actions

Tough job for Hesjedal

For some reason, how do I say this nicely, I wonder what Vino is “on” if it is not his bike. Kinda suspicious…

by RoadRash911 on Jul 21, 2010 9:01 PM EDT up reply actions

Maybe Vino saves himself for another victory in Paris.

Woof

by flying dog on Jul 21, 2010 9:03 PM EDT up reply actions

I think it'll be tough for Hesjedal

I think Vino and Kreuziger are the best of them

"You know if there's any contact at all Cristiano Ronaldo's gonna go down...maybe even just a puff of wind"

by agl on Jul 21, 2010 3:38 PM EDT reply actions

Don't forget the battle for 18th place

Roche has 1’50" on Gadret.

by Mr 60 Percent on Jul 21, 2010 7:37 PM EDT reply actions

Gadret will pull a gadret

and bury him with his pace on the climb. Roche will fall off the back wheel of Gadret, and he will just throw his hands up in the air and accelerate.

"You know if there's any contact at all Cristiano Ronaldo's gonna go down...maybe even just a puff of wind"

by agl on Jul 21, 2010 7:51 PM EDT up reply actions

Gadret by 37 min.s

crosses line, has shower and a g&t, props lawn chair up beside finish line, flips Roche off as he crosses line

I'm feverished, or the way you want to spell it

by plinytheelder on Jul 21, 2010 8:30 PM EDT up reply actions

Ryder's tour has been one of the highlights of the month for me

Not only am I pleased he’s riding so well, but he also acts as a “clean” benchmark. I believe totally he rides clean, I can therefore measure others against him (as per how I see his “characteristics” and theirs) and it leaves me feelingm upbeat. ,I wish him all the best, and I hope he makes top ten.

by andrewp on Jul 21, 2010 8:50 PM EDT reply actions

If it rains tomorrow, there could ba a really big shake up.

I know Vino and Ryder can handle shitty weather.

It will beintresting if Sastre could use it to his advantage.

by Ryan_Liles on Jul 21, 2010 11:47 PM EDT reply actions

I know, I hope the descents are safe

by RoadRash911 on Jul 22, 2010 2:14 AM EDT up reply actions

Remeber the last time Vino was competing for the 10th slot.

The dude attacked on the Champs and won the stage!
In the process of doing so, he bumped Levi down to 11th.

It was an awsome day.

by Ryan_Liles on Jul 21, 2010 11:51 PM EDT reply actions

5th and 6th place, wasn't it?

Vlaanderens Mooiste

by Koppenberg on Jul 22, 2010 1:50 AM EDT up reply actions

Yes, it was for 5th, I forgot.

My point was that for Vino, the race doesn’t end until the cross the line on the Champs.
When he won that stage, I felt it was just straight badd-assmenship to surprise the sprinters, win the stage, and bump Levi down a slot.

Totally one of the best Champs. stages ever!

by Ryan_Liles on Jul 22, 2010 4:01 AM EDT up reply actions