2011 Cycling thread.

[rufus]

Re: 2011 Cycling thread.

Joaquin Rodriguez wins the final two mountain stages back to back, Bradley Wiggins of Sky wins the Dauphine overall.

And simultaneously, we start the Tour de Suisse. Where Andy Schleck proceeds to drop his chain in the opening prologue. The guy's an idiot on the bike. Hopefully Contador waited for him this time.

[Titleist]

Re: 2011 Cycling thread.

Good one rufus!

J.M. Soler returned to life, much like Rujano with a big win in Suisse! Its a nice route in Suisse this year, 108 K tomorrow with an HC and a Cat. 1 in it. Cunego and F. Schleck were there with Soler.

Of note Andy got out climbed today by sprinter Rojas today...he is certainly right where he wants to be!

[rufus]

Re: 2011 Cycling thread.

Been behind in my Suisse viewing, but I just had to say those climbs on stage 3 were awesome. Narrow twisty roads, fog and rain, and equally narrow and twisty descents. Nice to see the attack and the bommbing of the descent from Cunego, maybe some of the best riding he's done in years. Fun stage.

[MattS]

Re: 2011 Cycling thread.

Velogames has Tour entries open.

[PrezdeJohnson09]

Re: 2011 Cycling thread.

Velogames has Tour entries open.

Hoping to make a comeback this year after I went from first to worst.

The First Lady should be joining too. She would have won the USCHO group if she would have joined the group in time.

[Probert]

Re: 2011 Cycling thread.

I'll be honest I really expected to come here and read a long list of posts congratulating Levi on his fine win in the Tour de Suisse . I really can not believe that Cunego bungled it so badly in the final TT losing 2 minutes to finish second to the wheelsucker. On the other hand my Tour de Suisse team did very well I finished in the top 125 and would have done much better if Juan Marcio Soler hadn't crashed out.

[Titleist]

Re: 2011 Cycling thread.

I just checked the velogames, do we have a league yet, and have managed to put together a team I don't like, but could win every stage.

I also managed to get Gesink on the team, but he was almost hurt yesterday and not sure what to do. He was in the final selection of the Dutch NC and made, a kind of pointless, attack. Then he started softpedelling and kind of grabbed at his knee. Then pulled out. Rabo released a statement that he hadn't adjusted to sea-level after returning from a high altitude camp. I could make a straight swap from VDB2 but not sure he is quite as strong as Gesink...

And sorry Probert, I still support Cunego and oppose Retirement Shack in everything they do.

[Probert]

Re: 2011 Cycling thread.

My Team

Alberto CONTADOR SBS
Andy SCHLECK LEO
Egoi MARTINEZ EUS
Chris Anker SÖRENSEN SBS
Mark CAVENDISH THR
Jérémy ROY FDJ
Chris HORNER RSH
Cyril GAUTIER EUC
Anthony ROUX FDJ
Basically betting my team on Cav, Andy and AC figure Horner may get a top 10 and Martinez could get KOM hopefully the French guys can get in a break and get a stage win.

Mini League Info
League Name: USCHO
League Code: 27233039

[Titleist]

Re: 2011 Cycling thread.

In...My team is built on the big 3 of Contador, Cav, and Gilbert (I think he wins 2-3 stages and challenges for the Green if he wants it.)

Alberto CONTADOR SBS
Tony MARTIN THR
Robert GESINK RAB
Chris Anker SÖRENSEN SBS
Mark CAVENDISH THR
Philippe GILBERT OLO
Jimmy ENGOULVENT SAU
Anthony RAVARD ALM
Thomas VOECKLER EUC

Not loving the CAS or Tony Martin pick, but its the best I can do. I'd love to scrape a 2nd "all rounder" in favor of another domestic so I could get a Samu or something bit rules is rules and I historically am in my post Giro malaise for this event.

[rufus]

Re: 2011 Cycling thread.

I'll probably make some changes here, but my tentative lineup from a few days ago was this:

Contador
Wiggins
Gadret
Arroyo
Ciolek
De Gendt
Duque
Roche
and surprisingly, Leipheimer.

Not sold on him though, and might try to figure some way to add Kloden instead.

[MattS]

Re: 2011 Cycling thread.

Alberto CONTADOR
Andy SCHLECK
Remy DI GREGORIO
Pierrick FEDRIGO
Mark CAVENDISH
Jérémy ROY
Stuart O'GRADY
Daniel NAVARRO
Brent BOOKWALTER

Not sold on him though, and might try to figure some way to add Kloden instead.

I thought about Wheel Sucker because I think he is in good form. However, I was worried about too many GC'ers on Radioshack.

[Titleist]

Re: 2011 Cycling thread.

rufus, wow, Roche and Gadret on the same team. Aren't you afraid Nico will finally kill Gadret for the incident last year?

[PrezdeJohnson09]

Re: 2011 Cycling thread.

I noticed no one has Fabian Cancellara right now.

Is there a reason people are staying away from him this year? Is he no longer a virtual lock to win the time trials anymore or is he in poor form right now?

As i've said countless times I only follow this sport during the Tour so please any help would be appreciated for this "fairweather" cycling fan

[MattS]

Re: 2011 Cycling thread.

I noticed no one has Fabian Cancellara right now.

Is there a reason people are staying away from him this year? Is he no longer a virtual lock to win the time trials anymore or is he in poor form right now?

As i've said countless times I only follow this sport during the Tour so please any help would be appreciated for this "fairweather" cycling fan

There is only one ITT this year in Stage 20 so while Cancellara could very well win it, that is most likely the only real points he will give a team. Although Leopard-trek could I suppose win the TTT, but I would think that Garmin at least will do better. Also in my mind with the ITT in the next to last stage why take the chance that he will even still be in the Tour. I could very well see him drop out by then or be so spent that he's might not win. Bottom line for me is that there are better ways to spend those 8 points. But be warned I usually finish crappy in the standings so take my "advise" with a huge grain of salt!

[rufus]

Re: 2011 Cycling thread.

rufus, wow, Roche and Gadret on the same team. Aren't you afraid Nico will finally kill Gadret for the incident last year?

Refresh my memory, I don't recall.

I thought about Wheel Sucker because I think he is in good form. However, I was worried about too many GC'ers on Radioshack.

yeah, that's an issue too, and while Levi and kloden will probably finish pretty high overall, I don't think either can hang for points on the mountain stages. They'll be there, but come in around 10-15th, 30 seconds or a minute back, and so not score much in the fantasy standings.

My final roster:

Contador
Wiggins
Van Den Brouck
Gadret
Greipel
De Gendt
Ignatiev
Roche
Gilbert


I really wanted to call them Levi's Wheelsuckers, though.