GrumpyOldGuy

Yeah, it was Rodriguez, I like Dan Martins comment "Everyone is going to have a bad day, the one who has the least bad day's will win" sounds pretty much it to me.

Love it, never say die attitude. Like when they asked him on Saturday how he felt about his time loss.........."Theres always tomorrow" he said.

I forgot who I picked, so I had to go take a lookie see again, and .......well, I figure my guys are just late starter's.

Oh yeah, after the race I watched the tennis which was also fantastic in my opinion - theres no doubt sport in HD is terrific, and I dunno, but the sound also seems better on HD channels, maybe its just me, but on HD I find I need to turn the sound down, on normal channels I cant hear a friggin thing.

Yeah, was thinking the same, its strange how all of a sudden I am bored if the tour / Giro / Vuelta etc isnt on, under normal circumstances I read or do something else, but now I sort of feel like I am in limbo.

I havent tried the ethical pods, and I wont now, but its a similar issue with the Caffee Luxe pods, the coffe is very weak and after a few seconds it looks to me like its just hot water. Nespresso Sandton told me that only the Nespresso pods have a special foil top, the rest use a sort of plastic top which can often melt in the machine, I was told they see it regularly, and Nespresso DOES void the warranty, no matter what the makers of the generic brands say, so unless you feel like fighting it out in court, if you do use a generic pod and it melts in your machine, they are going to void the warranty and make you pay to repair it.

- Ha, Ha, Parmantige Hoender - thats classic, where you dig that one up.?

Hmm, I cant bring myself to even type the name B................L - personally I think the man is a dinosaur and the sport will be better off without him. ...but that said, I dont believe LA would have just followed along like a lamb either, he is far too clever for that, I think he would most certainly have had a say in the race tactics, and would have certainly called the shots on the road if things started going pear shaped. As for Quintana, right now he is "White" hot - BUT yeah, lets see next year, there have been many one season wonders, Rujano been a good example in point, but only the test of time will tell if he can stick it out, if he does, I think he will almost certainly be a serious challenger for the big tours.

No sure, which is why I say they will try keep it now, what I meant was LA would have waited a bit, maybe until the TT to take the jersey, or even later until Sat / Sun.

Hmm, I once tried those Caffee Luxe pods as well, awful, waste of time, effort and money. It will be really a tough call to beat the Nespresso pods in my opinion.

Aaah okay - a Warthog then, I was sitting scratching my chin wondering what it was, I ended up thinking it was one of those Dassie type things that look like a big Guinea pig.

​Yes, but for how long must be the logical question I guess. It seems only Froome was able to recover sufficiently after Saturday and the rest of the team were just not able to. Which of course begs the question, with a leader considerably stronger than the team how will they ever support him.?

Yeah, I think maybe SKY made a tactical error on Saturday by going all out to get the leaders jersey. All it has done is put the team under severe pressure and actually lost one very, very good climber. Armstrong, for whatever he was, was a master tactician, he would never have done that, and if by default he got the leaders jersey so early, he was quick to dump it at the soonest possible opportunity. Personally I think SKY will try and keep the jersey now, but frankly I think it would be better if they gave it up for the week at least. A bit like Bruce Fordyce and his formula for winning Comrades, which is still used and considered standard running lore, No one has really improved on LA's formula for winning the tour, and frankly SKY has been following this formula to perfection all the way up to Saturday, so I dont know, maybe they just got over excited by the day as it unfolded, but I doubt they will make that mistake again.

What the dickens is a Shallow Pig.?

I have always been a Valverde fan, but this year he is in the condition of his life, if he doesn't make podium, it will not be for lack of trying.

Yah, Quintana is quite a revelation, but not sure how a tiny lightweight will do at the TT, anyway I guess we will see. I dont think the stage was as tough as all are making it out to be, these are professional athletes, its what they do and there were quite a few non climbers in the peleton most of the way, Jens been one of them, so if he was able to hold on the pace wasn't that tough for the GC guys. Personally, I think they just measured their efforts, SKY made a mistake yesterday I think and in hindsight the other teams didn't want to do likewise, I can also say I dont think Movistar or Saxo want the jersey just yet, so keep the pace up, move Valverde into second keep the pressure of the jersey on SKY and as a by product of the day they eliminated a good climber Kiryienka and ensured it will only be one rider from SKY on the platform if thats how it goes. Good day for Saxo and Movistar.

Yah, he looked a lot more comfortable today, what we might be taking as a sign of weakness may just be him measuring his efforts,...but today I thought he looked a lot more like the "old" 'Berto.

Sure, but I would also like to see a beak down of the splits and the wattage etc that the Sports Science Institute often puts out because they just have to be freaky numbers. Human Physiology hasn't changed that much in the last few years, so something has changed the numbers, be it training, nutrition, equipment or just plain a once off natural phenomenal athlete, either way I think it would make some really interesting reading.

Hah, yeah agreed, third place actually, because Porte went up that climb faster than 'Berto ever did even in his best year 2010. They say the numbers dont lie, so if 'berto at his all time best could not have even held onto Porte up that climb, then I dont see any kind of a chance for anyone else unless something untoward happens to the two of them.

So if I look at that, 'Berto was never going to match Froome up the climb, his best time ever was still roughly 50 sec slower than Chris today. So if we extrapolate that forward, he actually wasn't far off his best time up the climb in 2010 so it would be safe to assume he ('berto that is) climbed at pretty much the best he ever has. or, at least pretty close to it. .........I guess everyone may as well just go home.

So did I, considering his recent form, I was quite surprised. Perhaps he will try for a stage win somewhere.?

I think Quintana got stage fright, he looked quite comfortable physically, but it seemed he was doubting himself, almost like "how can I be so far ahead of the big names" I think we will see a lot more of him in the Alps.

Hmm, I dont know, its still 2000 kms and two weeks to go but..........I have never seen anything like that before.

I am interested to see how Andy's form is at the moment. The two P's have been going out of their way to talk him up so that should be interesting. I was impressed with Cannondale yesterday, its seldom one sees such single mindedness in a team without GC ambitions towards a goal and their tactics were great, shelling the sprinters put everything in their favor and they capitalized superbly, it was a great stage to watch.

Indeed, this is a very different Saxo team to the lackluster one at the Giro, they are making a statement here riding at the front and keeping 'Berto well supported, more than anything though they appear a lot more motivated, something I never felt at the Giro.